Book review: Manto - bridging a literary divide

The genius of Manto is brought to life for English readers with Mujahid Eshai’s translation

It is possible that the recent celebration of Saadat Hassan Manto’s centenary revived the conversation about the quixotic, tortured writer who dealt with cultural dislocation and a personal life of abject poverty. Yet author/translator Mujahid Eshai felt compelled to introduce the ‘bad boy’ of Urdu literature — also hailed as the Maupassant of his time — to second-generation Pakistani readers who primarily relate to the English language with his translation of Manto’s works, Manto on and about Manto, into English. Although Eshai is a chartered accountant by profession, he captures Manto’s portrait with an inordinate skill which is also reflected in the passages he has chosen to translate.

Born into a Kashmiri home, Manto reluctantly migrated to Lahore at the time of Partition. Although hampered by financial insecurity, he became a superb archivist of his environment. He wore many hats. In his favoured city of Bombay, he dabbled in screen writing and wrote radio plays for All India Radio in Delhi along with writing political commentary for newspapers. But, it is his stark and explicit short stories which define an author whose unfettered genius would alter the style of expression of his day. Regretfully, his short life span reaching mid-forties left behind only the ghost of notoriety — he was repeatedly charged for writing works considered to be obscene. None of his lawsuits, however, resulted in conviction and various poets, authors, editors and public intellectuals sprung to his defence



In this simply written and highly readable book, the first 96 pages transport the reader to Lahore’s courtrooms. Manto’s fatigue rises from the pages as one reads about the interminable waits in dusty corridors for magistrates to appear, fortified with cheap cigarettes bought one at a time and quick snorts from a hip flask. The translator has chosen this section wisely for its dramatic appeal and the book becomes a page-turner.

The latter half is more personal and there is a charming inclusion of correspondence from Manto’s writer friends, Krishan Chander and Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi. This is enhanced by a comic profile of Ismat Chugtai, one of Manto’s friends by the writer himself.

Finally a short essay by Manto on writing about human sexuality — which is largely the reason for his infamy — hints at Freudian consciousness. His ability to transport the reader into a realm of possibilities, however, automatically adds another measure of success to his merit as a writer.

Postcript, what does not serve the book well is the missing dates on some of the sections of the book. Apparently Manto did not date his writings; nevertheless some chronological research could have helped address this issue. From the production point of view, the publisher Sang-e-Meel, falls short on the stock used — the blueish-white paper with uneven spacing hints at a cost-cutting mentality. The cover design is also inferior as it is overworked and looks unprofessional. Perhaps the publisher will take this into account when the second edition is printed.

Nazneen Sheikh is an author and has written several adult and young-adult fiction books.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, December 21^st, 2014.