DAWN Tuesday Review, Mar 26-April 1, 1996

EIGHT DAYS A WEEK

Pura Chand Aur Adha Geet

If you read one book this week, read Pura Chand Aur Adha Geet...

An anthology of poems by Azhar Niaz, who belongs to a special breed of poets who thrived in the Karachi University around the late eighties and early seventies (good old days!). They found their loudest mouthpieces in the short-lived Mahmood Kanwar and a spiritual father in Qamar Jameel. Azhar's poems included in this anthology are a selection from poems  written in the good old days as well as the new ones. They carry the 'crude romanticism,' half-baked psychology and banal experimentation which was the mark of his brigade. The book is also studded with numerous twists on the language which will provide added pleasure to the reader.

Highly readable for originality, wit and mind-teasing play with ideas. So are the ghazals included in this book which are different in their tone. The book is published by Dia Publications, PO Box 1468, Islamabad. We are sure you won't regret becoming poorer by a hundred rupees for this pleasurable treat.