The Wandering Falcon
The blurb:
After decades working in the remote tribal regions of Pakistan, eighty-year-old debut author Jamil Ahmad sat down to write this novel about a formidable, wild place where Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan meet and the people living there, who are constantly subjected to extremes--both of place and culture.
The Wandering Falcon
Review:
Eighty-year old Jamil Ahmad's debut novel is a work of a lifetime. Working as a civil servant for decades in the northwest tribal regions of Pakistan, Ahmad learned about the area, the people, and their stories. The Wandering Falcon
Beautifully written, The Wandering Falcon
Personally, I found it a fascinating read. I was particularly affected by stories where the traditional tribal culture would come against the indifference, opportunism, and bureaucracy of local authorities and national governments. While some stories show life before the national borders were enforced, one also covers the cost and the manner of their implementation. The Wandering Falcon is an unusual and powerful read, a glimpse into little known and understood cultures and people.
ISBN-10: 1594488274 - Hardcover $25.95
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover (October 13, 2011), 256 pages.
Review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine Program and the publisher.
About the Author:
Jamil Ahmad was born in 1930. He joined the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1954 and served mainly in the Frontier Province and Baluchistan. He was also development commissioner for the Frontier and chairman of the Tribal Development Corporation, and was posted as minister in Pakistan's embassy in Kabul at a critical time, before and during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He lives in Islamabad with his wife, Helga Ahmad, a nationally recognized environmentalist and social worker. This is his first book.
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