Monday, April 16, 2012

Saadat Hasan Manto is the gold standard of South Asian fiction

according to Daisy Rockwell in an article about another writer. Tributes by Tariq Ali: Remembering Saadat Hasan Manto and write up with links to some of his writings
Remembering Saadat Hasan Manto
Here are translations of some of his writings
TOBA TEK SINGH
Khol Do
Thanda Gosht
The Dog of Tetwal
The assignment
Mera Sahib
Ten Rupees and Mozelle
From this artcle by Manto about Ismat Chughtai, it seems that Manto was not a diplomatic person. He writes to his wife:
"I met Ismat. You will be surprised to know that as a woman she is exactly like you. I am bitterly disappointed."
An artcle about his alcoholism,
An article about his characterization of an Anglo-Indian woman.
A traveller meets two taxi drivers who knew TOBA TEK SINGH in New York city .
His one time teacher Faiz Ahmed Faiz thought "Manto was not a great artist but he was honest, talented and straightforward.”. For me the gold standard of south Asian fiction is still Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's "Mahesh". P.S. More articles at Viewpoint http://www.viewpointonline.net/manto-in-india.html http://www.viewpointonline.net/manto-in-usa.html http://www.viewpointonline.net/manto-is-universal.html http://www.viewpointonline.net/manto-in-oslo.html From the first I learn that there is a lane in Delhi named after Manto.

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