In 2024, along with my PhD writing, I did some things I read, including some non-fiction. That I am both aware of and guilty of. But, for the last few months, I have been preparing documents for my thesis statement presentation scheduled for next week. Therefore, these last few months and weeks have been more thesis than anything else. But recently, I had some time to get back to reading and writing other things.
Recently, I completed a few books I had read halfway through, wrote reviews for those books I had read in between, and even managed to read fiction in a day. In this newsletter entry, I will list out some of the things I have read, written, and found interesting:
Despite much of the academic work and other commitments, I have managed to watch a lot of movies. In recent days, I have tried to restrict myself from this torment and rather focus on things that matter--maybe read fiction instead. But, among the things I watched was this heartwarming sibling drama: "His Three Daughters" on Netflix. The whole movie is set in a cramped apartment in New York, narrating how three estranged sisters await their father's death--and navigate through their differences. I found this movie really lovely. Do check out the review here.
There were two books I had read on South Asia some months ago, and I had not written their reviews. So, these last few days, I sat through and jotted down a few thoughts on the two books.
Farzana Shaikh's book Making Sense of Pakistan discusses how multiple, often-contradictory visions of Pakistan have caused Pakistan's present to be as fraught as it is. She outlines how Islam and its various interpretations became a unifying and mobilising tool for the Pakistani state. Check my review of the book here.