British-Pakistani writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, political activist, and public intellectual, born in
Lahore in 1943; studied at
Oxford; member of the editorial committee of the
New Left Review and
Sin Permiso, contributor to
The Guardian,
CounterPunch, and the
London Review of Books; author of several books, including
Pakistan: Military Rule or People's Power (1970),
Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991),
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006),
Conversations with Edward Said (2005),
Bush in Babylon (2003),
Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002),
A Banker for All Seasons (2007),
The Duel (2008),
The Obama Syndrome (2010)[3] and
The Extreme Centre: A Warning (2015)
[info source: wiki]
I had a long discussion yesterday on
Facebook with some friends, a discussion that was far from being devoid of controversies and misunderstandings; it was about an article in
NY Times authored by
Tarik Ali and giving his analysis of the
1917 October Revolution. It happens that I am just reading one of his film scenarios (consecrated this time to the
Trials of Spinoza). I also have read some time ago a couple of his books. His opinions are radical, thus controversial, while the consistency of his writing makes him a valuable source of information and reflection. I think that in order to understand a topic you need to read opinions that you agree with as well as opinions contrary to your views. It is the only way to enrich your approach of various events and phenomena and to get a good balance over them.
(A Life in Books)Labels: Tarik Ali
