The Snake Charmer narrates the poignant and passionate story of two brothers in Afghanistan, during the time of the Russian invasion. The elder, a writer and poet, is a modernist, who joins the Communist movement. The younger, a traditionalist, adheres to Islamic religious beliefs. The conflict between their values threatens to tear asunder their family ties and loyalties. Set against a backdrop of violence and war between foreign powers, acid-throwing against women who adopt Western dress; brutality and rape in police prisons; and political revenge under the Communist regime, the brothers live to see their lives dramatically changed and yet manage to retain their deep love for each other. This deeply moving story, told with uplifting humour, sears into our minds the tragedies that haunt present-day Afghanistan Ð the importance of Islam as a controlling force; the upheaval and destruction caused by the Russian and American wars; the rise of the Taliban and global terrorism. Bashir SakhawarzÕs writing captures the political and philosophic lyricism of the revered Afghan mystic poet, Rumi. It is the story of a society little known Ð passionate and bold, beautiful and erotic, courageous and daring, richly human and deeply tragic.

How and why did students at Kabul University engage in political activism or refrained from it between 1964 and 1992? Based on oral history interviews with former students, this book reveals how they - as many others around the world at the same time - were galvanized by and disappointed with promises of progress dominating local and international politics. During the 1960s, the international influences on campus encouraged students' engagement with competing political ideologies. Collective student protest against the monarchy turned into hostilities between opposing political groups within the student body claiming to lead Afghanistan towards independence and prosperity. After the coup d'état by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) in 1978, none of the ideologies which had previously incited students provided hope for a better future anymore. Many students who had fought for the PDPA earlier were repelled by the government's violence and those who stood up against the regime were persecuted and fled the country. Overall, the dynamics of political activism at Kabul University reflect the deep intertwinement of the Global Cold War and local struggles for inclusion and independence.

The Snake Charmer narrates the poignant and passionate story of two brothers in Afghanistan, during the time of the Russian invasion. The elder, a writer and poet, is a modernist, who joins the Communist movement. The younger, a traditionalist, adheres to Islamic religious beliefs. The conflict between their values threatens to tear asunder their family ties and loyalties. Set against a backdrop of violence and war between foreign powers, acid-throwing against women who adopt Western dress; brutality and rape in police prisons; and political revenge under the Communist regime, the brothers live to see their lives dramatically changed and yet manage to retain their deep love for each other. This deeply moving story, told with uplifting humour, sears into our minds the tragedies that haunt present-day Afghanistan - the importance of Islam as a controlling force; the upheaval and destruction caused by the Russian and American wars; the rise of the Taliban and global terrorism. Bashir Sakhawarz's writing captures the political and philosophic lyricism of the revered Afghan mystic poet, Rumi. It is the story of a society little known - passionate and bold, beautiful and erotic, courageous and daring, richly human and deeply tragic.

An extensive collection of contemporary Asian and Middle Eastern poetry includes the work of four hundred contributors from a variety of backgrounds, in a thematically organized anthology that is complemented by personal essays.

Another delightful installment in the internationally acclaimed series featuring Chief of Police Bruno. It's summer in St. Denis for chief of police Bruno Courrèges, and that means a new season of cases. This time there are three weighing on his mind. First, there’s the evidence that a veteran of the French Resistance is connected to a notorious train robbery; then, the burglary of a former British spymaster's estate; and, finally, the murder of an antiques dealer whose lover is conveniently on the lam. As Bruno investigates, it becomes clear that they are connected--however, figuring out how will take every skill he possesses. Add in juggling the complex affections of two powerful women, maneuvering village politics, and managing his irrepressible puppy, Balzac, and Bruno has his hands full once again.

Why does Mark's Jesus speak in parables? Why does Plato's Socrates make bad arguments? Why are Beckett's novels so inscrutable? And why don't stage magicians even pretend to summon spirits anymore? In a series of captivating chapters on Mark, Plato, Beckett, Mallarm , and Chaucer, Joshua Landy not only answers these questions but explains why they are worth asking in the first place. Witty and approachable, How to Do Things with Fictions challenges the widespread assumption that literary texts must be informative or morally improving in order to be of any real benefit. It reveals that authors are sometimes best thought of not as entertainers or as educators but as personal trainers of the brain, putting their willing readers through exercises designed to fortify specific mental capacities, from form-giving to equanimity, from reason to faith. Delivering plenty of surprises along the way--that moral readings of literature can be positively dangerous; that the parables were deliberately designed to be misunderstood; that Plato knowingly sets his main character up for a fall; that metaphor is powerfully connected to religious faith; that we can sustain our beliefs even when we suspect them to be illusions--How to Do Things with Fictions convincingly shows that our best allies in the struggle for more rigorous thinking, deeper faith, richer experience, and greater peace of mind may well be the imaginative writings sitting on our shelves.