The Dog of Tithwal
Stories
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- $23.99
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
“[Manto’s] empathy and narrative economy invite comparisons with Chekhov. These readable, idiomatic translations have all the agile swiftness and understated poignancy that parallel suggests." ---Boyd Tonkin, Wall Street Journal
Stories from "the undisputed master of the modern Indian short story" encircling the marginalized, forgotten lives of Bombay, set against the backdrop of the India-Pakistan Partition (Salman Rushdie)
By far the most comprehensive collection of stories by this 20th Century master available in English.
A master of the short story, Saadat Hasan Manto opens a window onto Bombay’s demimonde—its prostitutes, rickshaw drivers, artists, and strays as well probing the pain and bewilderment of the Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs ripped apart by the India-Pakistan Partition.
Manto is best known for his dry-eyed examination of the violence, horrors, and reverberations from the Partition. From a stray dog caught in the crossfire at the fresh border of India and Pakistan, to friendly neighbors turned enemy soldiers pausing for tea together in a momentary cease fire—Manto shines incandescent light into hidden corners with an unflinching gaze, and a fierce humanism.
With a foreword by Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Vijay Seshadri, these stories are essential reading for our current moment where divisiveness is erupting into violence in so many parts of the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This sardonic collection from Manto (1912–1955), some of which appeared in previous translations in Bombay Stories, reflects the ruptures in India during the Partition. Many of the stories evoke human foibles, such as when a young man ensconced in an office pines for a woman he has only met over the phone in "Kingdom's End," which also pokes fun at religious concepts such as "the dominion." The story ends on a darkly humorous note when the young man dies, after saying weeks earlier that he had been "dying to meet" the woman. The title story centers on a stray dog vacillating between a cohort of Pakistani soldiers and a cadre of Hindu soldiers positioned on two opposing hilltops, as each side attempts to secure the dog's allegiance. In "Licence," Abu runs a lucrative chauffeur business until he becomes enamored with Nestia, a young woman he eventually marries. Before the story ends, he's in prison and she's forced to give up coach driving for prostitution. Throughout, the author's clever use of irony and dark humor speaks truth to power and to the characters' flimsy received notions. Manto's stories succeed as surprising reflections on the human condition.
More Books by Saadat Hasan Manto, Khalid Hasan, Aatish Taseer & Muhammed Umar Memon