Indian writers of English fiction began to grow huge internationally in the '80s and the '90s, but Pakistani writers have begun to do the same only in the last decade. While there have been many brilliant novels with international recognition, let us examine these four which are probably the best of the lot.

Moth Smoke by Mohsin

Hamid (2000)

"The alienation is so thick you can cut it with a knife," writes Peter Gorden, describing the atmosphere of Mohsin Hamid’s debut novel, Moth Smoke. With the richness of historical symbolism, the novel describes the decline of Darashikoh, a person on the fringes of upper-class elite in a Pakistan suffering from economic crises after the 1998 nuclear explosions. Daru’s deterioration is best described by Hamid’s own metaphor: a moth spiraling around the candle, seduced by its flame, revolving, falling, until it makes contact with the fire… the moment of union, and… the moth has been reduced to smoke and ash. The novel explores Daru’s obsession with drugs after losing his job in a bank, his affair with his best friend’s wife and finally his entry into the world of crime. "The book explores the idea of how you arrive at truth with conflicting narratives, which is what you do in law," said Hamid in an interview, and these multiple narratives are one of the best features of this novel. Hamid talks of arriving at truth, but the reader, he doesn’t find a single truth anywhere… he just uncovers different versions of the truth. Is truth just the totality of these versions? The novel begins with a trial, and you are the judge, and the novel ends without a sentence, because it is you who have to decide whether Daru is guilty or not. And unless you are a 'fundo’ (a word oft employed in the novel), you would not be able to answer this question of innocence. The life which Hamid describes is dark and gloomy, but his style, with which he does so, is charming and gripping. The novel was a winner of Betty Trask Award, was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and was a New York Times Notable Book of The Year.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (2007)

'Some books are acts of courage... Extreme times call for extreme reactions, extreme writing. Hamid has done something extraordinary with this novel.’ This is how The Washington Post praises Mohsin Hamid on his second novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. With exceptional skill, Hamid makes use of a gripping, fast-paced monologue about a young Pakistani’s experience in America to unsettle the pre-existing assumptions in the reader’s mind and induces a fresh dialogue on the topic, equipped with the psychological experience of the novel’s protagonist. At a café in Lahore, Changez narrates his story to a mysterious American stranger. He is a Princeton-graduate, an employee at a top-notch firm, earning a lot of money, apparently living the American dream, but then September 11 happens, and it forces Changez to think about who he is, and where he belongs. Simultaneously, there is an on-going love story, which serves perhaps more to give the novel an allegorical touch, of Changez being involved with a pretty, neurotic and damaged girl. But why is Changez narrating all this to the unknown, nervous American? Like Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist too has a very fluid, ambiguous and surprising end; an ending that reflects the reader’s own view of the world back at him. The novel was short listed for the 2007 Booker Prize. It also won an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and the South Bank Show Annual Award for Literature, among many others.

The Geometry of God

by Uzma Aslam Khan (2008)

"Elegant, sensuous and fiercely intelligent, The Geometry of God takes an argument that is in danger of becoming stale - that of fundamentalism vs free thinking among Muslims - and animates it in a wonderfully inventive story that pits science against politics and the freedom of women against the insecurities of men." Kamila Shamsie reviews the most recent novel by Uzma Aslam Khan which made quite a name for itself in literary circles this year. The novel explores a controversial issue in a controversial era: the Zia rule in Pakistan, and the massacre of science in the name of Islam. The story is about a paleontologist Zahoor who is doing research on evolution and fossils while Zia is Islamizing knowledge in the country. During a fossil-dig in Salt Range, Zahoor’s grand-daughter Amal discovers a fossil of the oldest known primitive whale. At the same time, Amal’s baby-sister Mehwish goes blind and it falls to Amal to take care of her. And then there is Nouman, the neurotic, confused character whose father is a minister in the Party of Creation, which attempts to create a pure Islamic science. Nouman encounters Zahoor and can’t help being drawn to him. The relationship of Nouman, Zahoor, Amal and Mehwish creates a parallelogram that is the central crux of this multiple narrative, and tells the spectacular story of love and friendship amidst an ideological war.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif (2008)

Albums topping the charts around the world (mid-September):

* Australia: Metallica’s 'Death Magnetic’

* Canada: Metallica’s 'Death Magnetic’

* France: Metallica’s 'Death Magnetic’

* Italy: Metallica’s 'Death Magnetic’

* UK: Metallica’s 'Death Magnetic’

* US: Metalli…hold on, let’s make things a little more simple…

* <Insert name of country here>: Metallica’s 'Death Magnetic’ … there you go!

- 'Just Stand Up!’ is collaboration by female vocalists, released to raise money to fight cancer. The proceeds from the single will go to the 'Stand Up to Cancer’ charity.

- The song features vocals by Beyoncé Knowles, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Leona Lewis, Keyshia Cole, Miley Cyrus, LeAnn Rimes, Natasha Bedingfield, Melissa Etheridge, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Ciara and Ashanti.

Lyrics:

(Everything will be all right, yeah)

The heart is stronger than you think

It’s like it can go through anything

And even when you think it can’t

It finds a way to still push on, though

Sometimes you want to run away,

Ain’t got the patience for the pain

And if you don’t believe it look into your heart

The beat goes on

[Bridge]

I’m telling you things get better, through whatever

If you fall, dust it off, don’t let up

Don’t you know you can go be your own miracle You need to know

[Chorus]

If the mind keeps thinking you’ve had enough

But the heart keeps telling you don’t give up

Who are we to be questioning, wondering what is what

Don’t give up, through it all, juststand up

It’s like we all had better days

Problems getting all up in your face

Just because you go through it

Don’t mean it got to take control, no

You ain’t gotta find no hiding place

Because the heart can beat the hate

Don’t wanna let the mind keep

playing you

And saying you can’t go on…

You don’t gotta be a prisoner

in your mind

If you fall, dust it off, you

can live your life

Let your heart be your guide

And you will know that you’re good

If you trust in the good

Everything will be all right

Light up the dark, if you follow your heart

And it will get better, through

whatever…

You got it in you, find it within

You got in now, find it within now

Through it all, just stand up.

-Alice in Chains will release their first new album in nearly 13 years, with William DuVall replacing the band’s late frontman Layne Staley, who passed away in 2002.

- Kanye West’s fourth studio album '808s and Heartbreak’ will be released in November, and will feature the single 'Love Lockdown’.

- +44 and former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and ex-Crazy Town member Adam Goldstein (a.k.a. DJ AM) are recovering after being injured in a plane crash, and are suffering from second and third degree burns. The other four passengers – two pilots and two close friends of the musicians – did not survive the crash.

- Britney Spears plans to release her new album 'Circus’ on the 2nd of December – the singers 27th birthday. The album’s first single, 'Womanizer’, was released last month.

- Live Earth will become a single united event when it is held in Mumbai in December later this year; the choice of venue reflects an effort to "bring the issue of climatic change to the developing world".

"We’re not entirely certain…we generally just go with our gut. I dunno. We are obtuse and quite abstract, really. We play a game but it’s not strictly the game. Sometimes it really works and sometimes...actually,

usually it really works." – Damon Albarn of 'The Gorillaz’. The animated band has released two albums – their 2001’s self-titled debut, and 2005’s 'Demon Days’. Although it had previously been stated that there would be no more Gorillaz albums, the Blur frontman has revealed that he is once again working with Jamie Hewlett on the band’s forthcoming third record.