Something in my head rang "A Case of Exploding Mangoes," and down the article it finds out that the guy is the one who wrote it.
Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
11–20 of 56 posts
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#12What warrants this story making it to the front page of HN?
[deleted]
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#13What warrants this story making it to the front page of HN?
People pushing the “up” button
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#14The skeptical part of me says none of this actually happened and that the article is just a piece of publicity stunt. The other part thinks the author is too careless/not paranoid enough: he just guaranteed himself a spot on a watchlist by publicly admitting that he deceived the officers who interrogated him.
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#15Blank page, and outline.com doesn't seem to like the site. Anyone have a tl;dr?
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Talk about having a clause that you can bend in any direction when needed. :/ But fair enough. The story isn't really that uninteresting.
I greatly prefer "off-topic, but interesting" to "interesting, but off-topic". Stuff belonging to the former category can be eye-opening at times.
> off-topic, but interesting
> interesting, but off-topic
I believe you just said the same thing twice, you only reversed the order (I think the "but" here just is an AND) :-)
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#17> "In a press conference last December, he issued a heartfelt plea: if journalists filed positive stories for just six months, [...] would become a great nation. Mostly, [...] journalists obliged."
Hmm.
The story of a novelist being detained by customs and subject to political interrogation to see if the novel is sufficiently patriotic is not unique to Pakistan, either. Even in countries which pride themselves on free speech.
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#18The skeptical part of me says none of this actually happened and that the article is just a piece of publicity stunt. The other part thinks the author is too careless/not paranoid enough: he just guaranteed himself a spot on a watchlist by publicly admitting that he deceived the officers who interrogated him.
And knowing Pakistanis both are equally possible.
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#19Blank page, and outline.com doesn't seem to like the site. Anyone have a tl;dr?
Pakistani novelist visits Bangladesh. Shortly after his return, he is subject to a visit and interrogation by Pakistani security services. They demand a detailed explanation of the plot, which he embellishes to make as patriotic as possible and hide the subplot about disappeared activists in Pakistan. He talks about his other, first novel:
> My first novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, grew out of my frustrated attempts to investigate the plane crash that killed General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, Pakistan’s military dictator, and half a dozen top generals, along with the US ambassador to Pakistan.
> A Case of Exploding Mangoes had to be printed in India; the publishers in Pakistan found it a bit over the top and disrespectful to the establishment. To the surprise of everyone, nothing bad happened to me when it came out: no lawsuits, no ban.
Re: Explaining a Novel to Pakistani Intelligence
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I greatly prefer "off-topic, but interesting" to "interesting, but off-topic". Stuff belonging to the former category can be eye-opening at times.
> off-topic, but interesting > interesting, but off-topic I believe you just said the same thing twice, you only reversed the order (I think the "but" here just is an AND) :-)
It makes perfect sense when you think about it.