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The Murder of Aziz Khan book cover
The Murder of Aziz Khan
1967
First Published
3.97
Average Rating
320
Number of Pages
First published in London in 1967, The Murder of Aziz Khan has acquired an important place in the history of English language Pakistani literature. It presents a picture of Pakistani society in its earliest years in the persons of Aziz Khan, who represents ancient and traditional values, and the Shah brothers, who are out to exploit the resources and the people of the new country for their personal gain. The story is built around this central conflict. The Shah brothers are determined to possess Aziz Khan’s land, which he refuses to sell. Intricately plotted, the story gradually unfolds, revealing the emotions of its characters; it exposes the ruthless brutality of the Shah brothers and the effects of moral corruption on them; and finally, in brilliant prose imbued with an astonishing poetic intensity, the book describes the suffering of Aziz Khan with such poignancy that it seems a symbolic vision of a wound in the heart of the new nation.
Avg Rating
3.97
Number of Ratings
59
5 STARS
39%
4 STARS
34%
3 STARS
14%
2 STARS
12%
1 STARS
2%
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Author

Zulfikar Ghose
Zulfikar Ghose
Author · 6 books

Zulfikar Ghose (born in Sialkot, India (now Pakistan) on March 13, 1935) is a novelist, poet and essayist. A native of Pakistan who has long lived in Texas, he writes in the surrealist mode of much Latin American fiction, blending fantasy and harsh realism. He became a close friend of British experimental writer B. S. Johnson, with whom he collaborated on several projects, and of Anthony Smith. The three writers met when they served as joint editors of an annual anthology of student poets called Universities' Poetry. Ghose also met English poet Ted Hughes and his wife, the American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath, and American author Janet Burroway, with whom he occasionally collaborated. While teaching and writing in London from 1963–1969, Ghose also free-lanced as a sports journalist, reporting on cricket for The Observer newspaper. Two collections of his poetry were published, The Loss of India (1964) and Jets From Orange (1967), along with an autobiography called Confessions of a Native-Alien (1965) and his first two novels, The Contradictions (1966) and The Murder of Aziz Khan (1969). The Contradictions explores differences between Western and Eastern attitudes and ways of life.

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