The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad
'The mullah left the fort with the boy walking beside him and the little puppy, who had been with his new owner less than a month, trotting behind.' The boy - known as Tor Baz, the wandering falcon - journeys between tribes. Where does he come from, and what is his story? He meets men who fight under different flags, and women who risk everything if they break their society's code of honour. Set in the decades before the rise of the Taliban, Jamil Ahmad's stunning debut takes us to the essence of human life in the forbidden areas where the borders of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan meet. The media today speak often about 'the tribal areas' - a remote region; a hotbed of conspiracies, drone attacks and conflict. Now, for the first time, this traditional, honour-bound culture is revealed from the inside. Jamil Ahmad is seventy-eight years old and has spent long years among the peoples of the frontier. In The Wandering Falcon, he describes a world of custom and cruelty, of love and gentleness, of hardship and survival, a fragile, unforgiving world that is changing as modern forces make themselves known. With the fate-defying story of Tor Baz, he has written an unforgettable novel of insight, compassion and timeless wisdom.
SuperbThe work of a gifted story teller who has lived in the world of his fiction, and who offers his readers rare insight, wisdom and - above all - pleasure -- Mohsin Hamid
The power and beauty of these stories are unparalleled in most fiction to come out of south Asia * Guardian *
Reverberant, deeply moving, starkly compassionate * Sunday Times *
A work of powerful and daunting beauty * India Today *
Mesmerising -- Neel Mukherjee * The Times *
A wonderful debut * The Economist *
The most memorable fiction I read this year -- Jeremy Paxman * Guardian *
The power and beauty of these stories are unparalleled in most fiction to come out of south Asia * Guardian *
Reverberant, deeply moving, starkly compassionate * Sunday Times *
A work of powerful and daunting beauty * India Today *
Mesmerising -- Neel Mukherjee * The Times *
A wonderful debut * The Economist *
The most memorable fiction I read this year -- Jeremy Paxman * Guardian *
Jamil Ahmad was born in Jalandhar in 1933. As a member of the Civil Service of Pakistan, he served mainly in the Frontier Province and in Balochistan. He was Political Agent in Quetta, Chaghi, Khyber and Malakand and later, commissioner in Dera Ismail Khan and Swat. He was posted as minister in Pakistan's embassy in Kabul at a critical time, before and during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and his last assignment in the government was Chief Secretary Balochistan. He lives in Islamabad with his wife, Helga Ahmad.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780241145425 |
| ISBN 10 | 0241145422 |
| Title | The Wandering Falcon |
| Author | Jamil Ahmad |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Year published | 2011-07-28 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |