Bitter Fruit : The Very Best Of Saadat Manto

by Saadat Hasan Manto, Khalid Hasan (Translator)

Widely renowned as the best short story writer in Urdu, Manto's stories were mostly written against the milieu of the Partition. Bitter Fruit presents the best collection of Manto's writings, from his short stories, plays and sketches, to portraits of cinema artists, a few pieces on himself, and his letters to Uncle Sam which have references to communism, Russia, politics after the Partition and his own financial condition. The concluding section of the book has acknowledgements and reminiscences from Saadat's friends and relatives. Bitter Fruit includes stories like A Wet Afternoon, The Return, A Believer's Version, Toba Tek Singh, Colder Than Ice, The Assignment, Odour, By The Roadside, Bribing the Almighty, The Kingdom's End, The Woman in the Red Raincoat, The Room with the Bright Light, The Great Divide, The Angel, Siraj, An Old Fashioned Man, The Price of Freedom, It Happened in 1919, The Girl from Delhi, A Man of God, Free for All, and A Tale of 1947. There is a collection of sketches too. Manto used to write radio plays and this book has one of the dramas he penned, called In This Vortex. His short stories bring out the most delicate nuances of human nature.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, India, Pakistan, Literature, Classics, Indian Literature

700 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2009

About the author

Saadat Hasan Manto (Urdu: سعادت حسن منٹو, Hindi: सआदत हसन मंटो), the most widely read and the most controversial short-story writer in Urdu, was born on 11 May 1912 at Sambrala in Punjab's Ludhiana District. In a writing career spanning over two decades he produced twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of reminiscences and many scripts for films. He was tried for obscenity half a dozen times, thrice before and thrice after independence. Not always was he acquitted. Some of Manto's greatest work was produced in the last seven years of his life, a time of great financial and emotional hardship for him. He died a few months short of his forty-third birthday, in January 1955, in Lahore.

Reviews

[Neha Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without giving an impression of bragging I would say that I have read quiet a lot of fiction authors.. but till date I have not found someone like Manto.. in fact I have no words to describe my adoration for him..I think his death happened at an age when most of the authors only start gaining fame, and we lost the master of short stories. There can be a debate as to whether Manto was an Indian or Pakistani writer but it doesn’t matter because they say artists have no nationalities.. I read him once and I wish to read him again & again.. his words create such images in my mind as if everything he is saying is happening right in front of my eyes... and after reading each of his story, I sit back & start thinking how it would have been in those times, what he would be thinking when he wrote that, what inspired him to write it, is it true story or not... as if it is a play & the characters are alive & telling their own story.. I think as many authors I have read Manto is the most close to life & a natural writer... even if he writes a single sentence it turns out to be a story with a fast paced start & the most shocking & ironic ending. He could write a story on anything and give it the most poignant angle.

Coming to the book ‘The Bitter Fruit’ is a collection of his short stories with some of the evergreen ones like ‘Toba Tek Singh’, ‘The Return’, ‘The Gift’, ‘The Assignment’, ‘Colder than Ice’ (he was accused for vulgarity in this story).. One can feel that a lot of these stories are a piece form his life as they revolve around his time spent in the film world or the experiences during the partition in 1947. In fact I was quiet surprised to find that Manto could also write well in other forms like characters sketches,plays, letters to Uncle Sam, newspaper articles on film characters, note to readers, and his own story.

The film star sketches just show the vastness of Manto’s talent & him being able to create a story out of anything. He is frank to the point of inviting wrath from the people who he sketches, describing their facial features to their personalities in the most honest & cut to the point. You can’t help but actually start seeing facts in his stories. Though he has written about film stars & their scandalous personal lives but the sketches are no less dramatic or colourful like the films they acted in. He has described some of the big stars like Ashok Kumar, Nur Jahan, Nargis, Naseem Bano, Sitara Devi, and personalities like Jinnah bringing them to life and light the way they were behind the screen/ public light. He narrates his experiences as they were without mincing his words or hiding any facts.

There was a phase when he used to write plays for Radio and his plays again have his distinct touch of being frank & on the face, like the artist who decides to open an animal fodder farm because of financial crisis – only Manto can think of such hilarious situations. He would go to the publishers to ask for money for his writings & when they would say he needs to submit a story then he would sit right there & write one for them. I have never heard any other author being able to roll out his beautiful creations just like that. The sad part is that he was given only Rs 25-50 for such creations which now are considered literary masterpieces. His letters to Uncle Sam bear a touch of after partition politics in Pakistan, the cold war between America & Russia, the hot winds of communism, the growing rift between India & Pakistan and both the nations vying for affections of America. He takes a pot shot at the rising communist propaganda, misguided Progressive writers movement, his own poor financial situation & how the artists are being treated in a post freedom Pakistan.

Finally in his note to readers & the write up of his nephew Hamid Jalal shows the dual face of Saadat Hasan & Manto. How Saadat Hasan was a father, husband, family man sensitive to his family needs and how Manto was a writer, artist, alcoholic & a man who could not come to terms with his post partition situation in Pakistan. He was devastated due to the accusations from the conservative strata of the society calling him a pornographic writer trying to get fame out of writing cheap & vulgar stories. He was notorious for his age of writers as he put things in black & white without giving a religious touch to his stories or glorifying Islam & defaming other religions or letting politics run his thoughts. He wrote what he felt or what he thought not caring for the so called moral police but his innocent stories became the target and they crucified him on the altar of religion & so called ‘pure’ society. The alcohol & dubious sympathisers pushed him to the edge and there was no return from there. Manto’s tragic end has only made his family bitter and horrified of the fall of a writer in a not so liberal world. Just like his stories Manto’s life & death was short & ironic where he received his fame only after he was hated in his living days. I wish they put the epitaph he had written for himself where he wanted it to be.

"In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful Here lies Saadat Hasan Manto and with him lie buried all the secrets and mysteries of the art of short-story writing.... Under tons of earth he lies, still wondering who among the two is greater short-story writer: God or He."

[Rakhi Dalal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manto was a controversial writer of his times and while reading his stories you come to understand why that might have been the case. These stories, which I imagine to have been inspired from real life instances, present to us the ethos of a world long gone, of a country which witnessed turmoil of Partition and of the people who lived through those times. Manto writes plainly, even blatantly and with sarcasm at times. Perhaps that is why the stories leave such an impact on the reader. A few of his stories left me shaken in terror and I could only imagine the horrors that the people who went through the violence of Partition must have faced. He is a writer who must be read, for his stories lay bare before us the bestiality of human nature which inflicts torture on others in times of extreme turbulence. He doesn't give hope, maybe because he was cynical and had remained distressed most of his life. But he is definitely to be read. Recommended.

[Katia N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saadat Hasan Manto has had a relatively short live. He was born in Punjab in 1912 and died in 1955 Lahore, in the newly created Pakistan. Barely 43 years. But the majority of this years he was writing. His language was Urdu. He has never finished any formal education; failed the school’s exams; dropped out of the university as well. In spite of it, he started from translating Victor Hugo and Oscar Wilde. His translations has been published and that has started off his literary career. He has become an editor of a magazine and has started to write short stories. His life has fallen on the almost turbulent period in Indian history. He was 7 when the massacre in Armister took place. His youth took place on the background of political movements for independence. He was not very political though. He has spend his best years in Bombay working for a magazine related to the film industry. Then came independence followed by religious violence on the scale never imaginable. He witnessed this. He lived through this. Then came Partition. He did not want to leave Bombay even then. However he was asked to leave his job allegedly due to overrepresentation of muslims. So he went to Lahore to join his family. But he never was happy since then. He missed Bombey; his heavy drinking has killed him in 6 years, but he never stopped writing even when he was drinking.

Reading his stories, i could not help wondering why I’ve never heard about him before? Why is he not better known worldwide, but especially in the english speaking world. His writing is terrific - so controlled and economic, but so poignant at the same time, creating such a nuanced psychologic images just in a fews sentences. Additionally, the themes of his stories are universal. Two main topics stood out for me - the life of women, majority of them are prostitutes; and the nature humanity versus violence (be it war, revolution or communal killings) - what happens to a human being facing something incomprehensible, how it skews the whole definition of being human. And his voice never goes anywhere near sentimentality, never capitalises on the horror of subject matter.

It has been a few weeks since I’ve read this book. However some of these stories simply stay in my mind. In “Last Salute” two friends, who fought together for the British, are appeared to be in the different sides of India-Pakistan War following Partition. They are physically within short distance hiding from each other with their trapped regiments. They’ve recognise each other voices. Then the request for a favour and the tragedy follows. In “A Tale of 1947” Mumtaz, a muslim man is leaving for Pakistan, “the country he knows nothing off”. Three of his best friends, who are all Hindus are seeing him off. He has decided to leave after the one of these friends received the news of his uncle’s murder and acknowledged: “If Hindu-Muslim killings start here, I do not know what I will do… I do not know. I might kill you.” So Mumtaz is leaving. But before that, he is trying to talk to them one last time about what matters to him: what is religion, what does it mean to be devoted, what is the human decency. He says: “Only a naive could believe that religion could be eliminated with a gun. Why cannot they understand that faith, belief, devotion, call it what you will is a thing of the spirit; it is not physical. Guns and knives are powerless to destroy it.” And he follows on with a story of the Hindu pimp he happened to know as an example of the most decent man. The story is just 5 pages but it tells you much more than an average novel.

“Toby Tek Singh”, the one of his most well known stories, is Manto’s Ward No. 6 and Other Stories. It is set in a lunatic asylum which is now in the process of exchange of its Hindu and Muslim inhabitants due to Partition. And the one man just simply refuse to leave. So much depth and poignancy is conveyed in this image.

And now about the prostitutes. In his life time, Manto has received 6 charges of indecency. I’ve read those stories. And only “indecency” I found how good they were. He managed to charge the atmosphere and convey the feelings hardly with any reference to sex. More importantly, how he cares about these women, how he could see the individual behind the setting. And all of it without sliding to the usual tropes of deprivation and moral compromises. These women are alive, fighting their daily problems and set backs and try to be happy like any other women. In spite of the obvious, there is no sense of victimhood which often prevails in such stories. In “A Woman’s Life” the main character experiences a sort of epiphany in Joyce’s sense of the world. In “Ten ruppies” a young girl around 12 who still plays with the dolls is being procured by her own mum. But she does not realise that what she is doing is not normal. She just lives her life and brings her sunny disposition to her engagements. In “Mummy” the white brothel’s owner is looking after a very ill young Hindu man while everyone else has given up on him. Not all of the stories are about the oldest profession. The variety of his themes are wide. But all of them are united by his desire to understand and depict the human condition. I know how cliche this sounds, but the stories are far from any cliches.

This book is the one of his most comprehensive in English. Translation is smooth and the translator claims he tried to convey the style of the original. I believe it worked. The book contains his short stories, sketches, biographical portraits and a play. I have to admit that I have not read the portraits and the play yet. But the short stories are the one of the best short stories I’ve ever read.

[Ashok Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manto is a genius. After you have finished this book, you yearn for more. The short stories, sketches, portraits, and letters are set during the pre-partition era and you are being transferred to a period when the partition was at the peak, when sporadic incidents of riots were common when Ashok kumar was a super star who was a good friend of Manto. And of course, his favorite city was Mumbai (Bombay then)which he calls his second home. It makes you think why he left Bombay. Although he was in Pakistan, he thinks he is there because of what he learned in Bombay. He calls himself walking talking Bombay. He was the most controversial short story writer as he always spoke his mind. His stories reflected his personality. He died young at the age of 43 but will always be remembered as someone who was different; someone who stood by his principles.

[Hemani · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mastery of Hasan's writing is most evident in his ability to convey all the intricacies of human desire *without* actually saying anything overtly. He is deceptively simple and makes the reader work for the illumination. In a word: brilliant.

You'll want to purchase your own copy of this collection because the short stories deserve multiple readings followed by lively discussions with friends who will most assuredly become a captive audience after you relay one of Manto's plots or gossip about one of his characters. Too, his essays are cunning, provocative, insightful and laced with his notoriously sharp wit. His "Letters to Uncle Sam" had me in stitches!

If you want to gain a unique perspective about partitioned India and Pakistan, then this gritty, fleshy, comical and macabre collection is well worth your time, your money, and the extra weight in your bag (you won't want to put it down).

[frogbear · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is possible to get shocked (even in 2018) when reading saadat hasan manto because he seems to take a perverse joy in writing about how ordinary the fucked up is, but his words could not have been written without deep compassion and love, the kind that comes from clear sight

[Ramesh Prabhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the introduction by translator Khalid Hasan and then reading Manto's account of his friendship with Ashok Kumar, the Bollywood superstar of the Forties and Fifties, I fell in love with the book. I had borrowed it from the Just Books library, so I would have to return it at some point. The thought of having to give it back saddened me, though, so I decided to order my own copy on Flipkart. This way, I can take my time over reading the very best of Saadat Hasan Manto.

[V.B. Eudaimonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now only I came across his books when I was shopping for books. I just gave it a try and when I read his books, I was flabbergasted by the topics which he chose to write. He explains the present scenario of the society in such an impeccable manner. Then after reading the first book, I was tempted to read other works by this fabulous author.

[Nisar Masoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bitter Fruit (2009) is an English-language compilation of Saadat Hasan Manto's oeuvre of Urdu writings. It does not comprise of all of his writings but contains an abundance of his short stories, flash fiction, a single play, biographies of famous personalities, autobiographical notes by Manto, and biographical notes dedicated to him by his friends and family.

Before starting the review I'd like to mention that Khalid Hasan's translation skills are awesome. I have read translations of Russian and Polish literature but they are usually off point, but Hasan's interpretations hit the mark every time. I didn't find any part confusing nor did I feel the quality of the translated work, whether fictional or non-fictional, drop at any point.

I'd also like to add that this not my first review of a Manto-related work. I have previously reviewed the Nandita Das directed and Nawazuddin Siddiqui starring 2018 biopic Manto. You can read my review of it here.

The book kicks off with Manto's short stories. I am not certain whether these are all of Manto's works seeing that he had produced twenty-two collections of short stories during his lifetime. Most of them take place either just before, during, or right after the Partition. Although, I liked almost all of the stories, I have still made a list of the ones which I favored the most (in order of preference):
1. Toba Tek Singh
2. Colder Than Ice (Thanda Gosht)
3. A Man of God
4. Doing God's Work
5. The Last Salute
6. The Return (Khol Do)
7. Free for All
8. The Gift (Kali Shalwar)
9. Odour
10. The New Constitution.

The above are my top ten favorites out of the total fifty-one tales. I also felt that some stories were repetitive in nature in the sense that the theme of Partition overshadowed the tone of a minority of the narratives. I am also not sure how many of the stories were semi-biographical as I found at least two stories, Siraj and Baba Gopi Nath, with Manto. The Supplication is a story where Manto is not depicted as an individual but later on when I came upon the autobiographical notes, I found out that Manto had experienced what one of the main characters went through in that story. Thus, it could be possible that the stories in which Manto was not a figure might've had semibiographical elements in it.

I am also glad that Manto's best-known works such as Toba Tek Singh, Colder Than Ice (translation of Thanda Gosht), The Return (translation of Khol Do), The Gift (translation of Kali Shalwar), and Odour (Boo) show up in the top-twenty order of the short-stories' table of contents. The Gift shows up after the first ten stories but it nevertheless is part of the foremost lineup. Toba Tek Singh is the second story though it should be the first as it is perhaps Manto's best-known story, and in my opinion, his finest piece of fiction. What I disliked about the translated versions were their titles. Colder Than Ice and Odour do justice to their original namesakes, however, The Return and The Gift are far cries from their actual names. Thus, I think it would have been a better idea to have written the Urdu titles alongside the English ones.

The most unimpressive story was A Strange Tale as Manto tried his best at taking a more literary approach to this yarn compared to his other stories but instead of being awed by it I was left confused. Other stories which were letdowns include Green Sandals and Night Whispers.

The following segment is Drama which contains one play by Manto titled In This Vortex. In my viewpoint, this script played out like an average HUM TV drama. The story was predictable though the dialogues were good and the ending was unforeseeable.

What follows the Drama section is Sketches. These are works of flash fiction comprising of tales ranging from one sentence to a few paragraphs in length. I loved all of them and they actually came across as superior to their longer counterparts. It was difficult to choose which ones I favored the most but the best were Losing Proposition and Pathanistan. Again, this section was perfect showcasing Manto's prowess at saying so much in so little words.

The next section is Portraits. Here, the only biographical account which was not Manto's was the first entry, Jinnah Sahib, which is a retelling by one of Mohammad Ali Jinnah's former drivers about his time spent under the late Founder of Pakistan. The other biographical entries are Manto's own accounts and include entries about his famous friends such as Ashok Kumar and Shyam, his mentor Bari Alag, other renowned celebrities such as Nargis, Kuldip Kaur, and Nur Jehan, and many more. All of the parts in Portraits were absorbing which led to my newly found awareness of Manto's talent for non-fiction writing.

Portraits is followed by a very unique section titled Letters to Uncle Sam. There are a total of nine letters which Manto had written to America in a literary sense but these had never been published during his lifetime. All of them are entertaining to read and show Manto's wide knowledge of international politics which would could not have been ascertained by reading the works preceding this segment.

The penultimate section is Manto on Manto which contains four entries namely To My Readers, A Day in Court, Manto on Manto, and Manto's Epitaph. These are also worth reading and again prove that Manto was as talented a writer of non-fiction as he was of fiction.

The last section is Appendixes which includes three entries—Uncle Manto by Hamid Jalal, Manto Family Conversations, and Friends of Manto Reminisce about Him. I always wondered what Manto's close associates thought about him and his writings and I was pleased that the translator included these insightful notes. Manto's nephew Hamid Jalal's thoughts, both before and after his uncle's death, were thought-provoking and showcased his own skill as a writer.

To end with, Bitter Fruit is probably the ultimate collection of fictional and non-fictional works by Saadat Hasan Manto. Not of all the book's contents are excellent but the majority of them are, and for a 700-plus page book, that's more than enough motivation to have a go at it. Manto might not have been as celebrated when he was alive as he is now, but it is amazing that his legacy has left such an everlasting imprint on the literary world—and I am certain there is no other Urdu writer who has written so freely on taboo subjects (in the case of Pakistan) such as rape, sex, prostitution, drinking, etc.

You can read a copy of this review here: https://www.literaryretreat.com/bitte...

[Shubham Joshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manto's favorite friend Shyam (a contemporary actor) recalls the days when Manto was disillusioned after his migration to Lahore. Manto told Shyam in clear cut fashion "Saadat Hassan will perish, but Manto will live on forever".

It is this unwavering honesty that kept Manto alive. His body of work will keep him breathing and flourishing in the times to come. After Partition, Manto always faced a conflict. Is he Pakistan's greatest short story writer or Hindustan's, which because of the British had ceased to exist. He couldn't find an answer.

Salman Rushdie provides one. He is South-Asia's greatest short story writer.

This is Manto. Unwavering. Outspoken. Fearless.

Bitter Fruit, an anthology of works translated from Urdu to English by Khalid Hasan in almost perfect fashion carries several of his short stories, his sketches, radio plays, descriptions, essays and his satirical Letters to Uncle Sam.

Saadat Hasan Manto is the undisputed king of short stories.
The study of Urdu literature is incomplete without the mention of Mir Taqi Mir and Ghalib. I say Manto is a name that fits in between them without which Urdu literature would have it's foundation but not it's flair.

Manto failed thrice in his intermediary exams; thrice in Urdu, the same language he would end up championing. He never passed his exams while he was admitted in Aligarh Muslim University.
Yet, somehow Manto came to capture the reality of the Indian Subcontinent in ways that were haunting; his subjects were acute revelations, his storytelling was pristine. Premchand captured the plight of the downtrodden, Manto uplifted the marginalized.

There have been several allegations against Manto.
Allegations of 'fayeshnighari' (Obscenity), of cultural corruption, of misogyny and of producing a body of literary work that is so derogatory that even a slight consideration of it as literature is a considered a crime against the art itself.

Yet when you read Manto, and his highly cited Partition story Toba Tek Singh, you feel as if you are not worthy of living. It sends you down a lane filled with existential crisis looming out of the ghost of his plot, which by the way his every short story does and if you are not careful enough you just might end up in hell; trembling, shivering and captivated with Insanity rather than Insaniyat.
In the end when he writes 'Bishen Singh ke halaq se ek jordaar cheekh nikli. Darmeyaan ke us paar Pakistan tha, aur is paar Hindustan. Darakht ke beech, jis zameen ka koi naam nahi tha, Toba Tek Singh khada tha', he ably captured the entire gist of Partition in these haunting lines. His Partition stories gave me far-far better insight of Partition than history courses could ever aim for.

Manto faced several trials on charges of Obscenity; thrice in British India and thrice in Pakistan.
He writes in his first letter to Uncle Sam - "I faced 3 trials in undivided India, and here in Pakistan I have already been tried once. Yet Pakistan is still a young nation."
His disdain for the entire conception of Pakistan can be clearly seen. Pakistan is still a new boat that has just left the harbor, yet boats do drown.

It is this wit, this sardonic humor, his ability to satirize political situations that made him a cross-platform genius. No one can believe that Manto would have predicted with so pinpoint accuracy, this political maneuvering from Uncle Sam back in the days when the Cold War hadn't even started and Communism was not yet a existential threat to the politco-social fabric of America.
He writes in his 4th letter to 'Chacha Sam' as he called him -

"Regardless of India and the fuss it is making, you should sign a military pact with Pakistan because you are seriously concerned about the stability of the world's largest Islamic State since our mullah is the best antidote to Russian communism. Once the military aid starts flowing, the first people you should arm are the Mullahs. I think the only purpose of military aid is to arm these mullahs. I am your Pakistani nephew uncle and I know your moves. Everyone can now become a smart-ass, thanks to your style of playing politics."

Manto himself claimed that his best years were those of Bombay, where the vibrant intellectual environment made him flourish and seek the most out of his own self. He became friends with several famous actors and screenwriters and wrote stories about the neo-noir life of the majestic city of Bombay.

No one clearly knows why Manto ever left Bombay, the city he loved, the people he adored and the sidelined characters that were drawn from the real struggles that Bombay threw at each and every ones face. Albeit, he did choose Lahore, thinking that this is the epitome of Punjab, a thriving metropolitan city that had for centuries been a center of pluralism and religious harmony and tolerance. He had for several years lived in Amritsar, the other great Punjabi city.
His passionate connect towards Punjab is reflected when the other great Urdu short story writer, Rajinder Singh Bedi visited him. Bedi asked him why does he never write in Punjabi, the language Manto claimed has utmost flair. Manto replied in sparkling fashion, the fashion that makes him Manto, "If I could write in Punjabi the way I write in Urdu, I would never in my life touch the solid black ink pen and stroke it in right to left direction."

Manto always had trouble with one thing - How can lies be told as truths and truth be converted into lies ? There was a quality in Manto that I have never witnessed in any writer before, a quality that glows out in each and every work of his. Manto managed to tell the tale, especially visible in his later Partition stories, without ever taking sides. Manto says that literature can never always be a medium for the expression of desire. Literature must in parts at least should tell the truth, the reality as it is, not as it should be, coated with desires and other seductions and fascinations that he considered supreme adulterants.

Several feminists have blasted him for misogyny, for always showing weak female characters, characters that were always on the margins and ire of society. Manto throughout his life rejected it. And in the same way I reject it too. No man today irons saris, no man today cooks food, no man today makes pickle and no man today combs and shapes the hair of their beloved. I am included in this list of men who are hypocrites. Manto at least taught me to be honest with myself.

For his stories he said in Government College,Lahore - "If you can't bear my stories, it's because we live in unbearable times. Who I am I to dress society which is itself naked. I am a writer that writes with a white chalk on a black board, so that the blackness of the board becomes more prominent. My stories act as a mirror in which society can see itself. If a ugly faced man is disappointed at the fact of his ugly face, who am I to be blamed for it."

Manto also had a premonition that in future the same Pakistani government that dislikes him now would award him its highest civilian award. He said if he ever lived up until that day, he would out rightly reject it.

He wrote his own epitaph, showing his justified arrogance :

'Here lies Saadat Hasan Manto, with him buried all the arts and mysteries of short-story writing.., under tons of earth he lies wondering who of the two is a greater short story writer- God or he.'

Pakistan was established under the spiritual guidance of Allama Iqbal, but there is something that needs to be mentioned.

We have always dreamt the glorious visions of Iqbal, but have forgotten the nightmares of Manto.

Khalid Hasan's translation is majestic and quite carefully captures the enigma of Manto that continues to thrive today.
I am Manto, you are Manto. We all are Manto.

[YouMo Mi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic English translations of Manto's Urdu short stories, plays, letters, and essays. I will have to read the original Urdu versions, but if the English renditions are any indication, the stories bring out Manto's mastery of varied story-telling techniques that touch upon a range of taboo subjects in the Subcontinent that still resonate strongly today. What I love about Manto is his uncanny ability to inject a wry and irreverent sense of humor/dark comedy to otherwise grim and depressing subject matter(prostitution, rape, murder,fanaticism, lust etc.) and make it compelling, readable, and meaningful. Manto isn't overly sentimental or melancholy, which most writers indulge in when recounting the horrors of Partition or social injustices in India/Pakistan. Rather, Manto is a master of subtlety, often ending stories abruptly (e.g. just as a character exits), to leave the reader (sometimes uncomfortably) digesting and pondering what has just transpired.

Other than his famous short-stories (Toba Tek Singh and Tanda Ghosht), particular favorites of mine were "A Tale of 1947" (a semi-autobiographical account of his reluctant departure from Bombay to Pakistan), "Bribing the Almighty" (humorous account of an honest man trying to overcome economic uncertainties), "The Last Salute" (heartfelt tale of cross border skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani soldiers recognizing each other from pre-Partition regiments), "The Dog of Titwal" (similar story of the senselessness of war), "By the Roadside" (poetic account of unrequited love and social stigma/tragic circumstances of out-of-wedlock childbirth), and "Wild Cactus" (this can almost be characterized as Manto venturing into the horror genre). Some of his stories can make one a bit uneasy, but perhaps that is a dose of medicine every society needs.

There are collections of sketches (including the famous but brief "Garland" about the irony of mobs in Lahore trying to destroy a statue of the great philanthropist Sir Ganga Ram), essays (recounting Jinnah's demeanor and social life from peers) and letters (there are 9 letters from faithful nephew Manto to "Uncle Sam" taking sarcastic aim at targets from international and domestic politics and Bollywood in general). A large portion of the book is dedicated to Manto's time in Bombay's film industry.

What truly opened my eyes was the very provocative and uncensored subject matter Manto writes about (sex, drugs, violence, etc.), no less in the Urdu language over 50 years ago. My enthusiasm in visiting public libraries in Pakistan was recently dashed when I realized the vast majority of Urdu books available were on pre-modern poetry, religion, history (a.k.a. religious apologetics), and the Urdu language itself. This probably has more to do with censorship (something Manto confronted throughout his life) than a lack of creative minds in the Subcontinent. There have been plenty of brave voices confronting social ills/taboo subject matter in the Subcontinent and Pakistan in particular, but art and literature can more deeply resonate at a personal level in confronting the status quo and pushing the envelope of freedom of speech.

To that end, Manto should be required reading for lovers of the art of story-telling or those with an interest in modern South Asia in general.

[Sujay Malik · Rating 5 out of 5]

To do justice to this review would be a difficult task because of sheer quality of stories that I ended up reading. The emotions, narratives and manner of storytelling in each of the masterful stories is so compelling that you would not just enjoy them but also it would linger on deep in your minds even after they have ended.

These are stories that talk to you and pull you out of slumber if you are in one. I feel the pain, the sordid eventualities that partition dished out, the downright sinister mentalities and the agonising portrayal of the tumultuous times gone by. You have to have felt the pain to have brought it down on paper so brilliantly.

To think that he was accused of vulgarity is preposterous. He sometimes told stories that happened in reality. It is amusing to note that the actual happenings were not vulgar and crass but being brought down into the form of stories was.

The sketches, short takes as well as his sarcastic overtones are sure to leave you spell bound. An author way ahead of his times. This book is a must read.

[Tushar Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some stories had this ability to engross me within 1 page, but then many authors are able to do that. What Manto was able to achieve through some stories, was goosebumps, after the story ended, and a lingering thought even after a couple of days of having read it.

Some such stories in particular - Colder than Ice (Thanda ghosht), The Return (Khol Do), Odour (Boo). Yes, some of them have been probably rightly charged with 'obscenity', but they do seem to be true depiction of the times, and not just those times, perhaps for a certain strata of the society, even current times, and that is what is hard hitting.

The only reason the book doesn't get a 5 is because some stories simply didn't make any sense to me at all! Seemed like they were written in a jiffy to make a quick buck, to get them published somewhere, or perhaps I don't have the literary genius to understand them yet.

I do wish to read the stories in his original urdu, if I ever get to learn the language well enough!

[Rav Sav · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I heard that Manto was a writer that was continually boycotted and banned in India, I figured it was because of the typical "puritanical culture reaction to media" reasons but after reading these stories, some of them are DARK. Still, Manto writes in such a beautiful manner and develops exquisite scenes, it's no wonder he is considered the best Urdu writer. Wholeheartedly recommend this book of short stories.

[Bahuguna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manto : Afsana-nawaz-e-hindustan

[P · Rating 1 out of 5]

not a good translation

[Bodhisatta Biswas · Rating 4 out of 5]

It goes without saying that original works are better than the translated ones. But Bitter Fruit still manages to unfurl the trauma faced constantly faced by Manto in his mind, which is reflected in his stories of partition. His sketches, portraits and letters to Uncle Sam bring out the observant and humorous aspects of the author, while his nephew's account of 'Uncle Manto' would surely move the reader. Why did society not give such a writer his due? Why did he have to borrow money to survive? Why did he have to drink himself to death?

I would pick the not-so-spoken about stories of Manto as my favorites - Kingdom's End, A Wild Cactus, A Believer's Version. In the end, the book leaves you sad; after you have walked Manto's journey with him during partition era, you feel like a part of you is glad you were not Saadat Hasan Manto.

[Mukul Khattar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such pain in the stories that it transforms you from within and transports you to a time which your ancestors saw. It seems as if I lived through it - such was the emotion that was brought out from the stories. I wonder how would the untranslated version read.

So effective has been the impact that I wish we have another Manto that could write about the present times that has sufferings and emotion of its own.

[Soumya Saxena · Rating 5 out of 5]

He claimed himself to be the best short story writer and there is no doubt that he was. I read his work both in English and Urdu, and if you can then please read in Urdu, each and every story is a masterpiece which very easily stir your conscience and change how you see the world. The honesty with which he write, not trying to present any of his thoughts in a subtle manner but as harsh as things are in reality, it mirrors his brilliance and quest to write what he exactly felt.

[Granaz Baloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading this book , if i born that days i really tried to meet Manto at any cost .Each single short story is unique with every aspects in this book.sometimes i thought how he had written these stories ? What type of emotions and feelings he
had?

[Preeti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book leaves a profound thought behind with each story. The stories are from that era which was both dynamic and exhilarating to the commonest of a man. The ending of each story is wonderfully created to overwhelm the readers. A must read!

[Amrita Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great compilation of Manto's works. Amongst the myriad stories available, his brings you closest to the India-Pakistan emotional journey. His work pushes you to have the post-read conversations to get deeper insights.

[Sandeep · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essential reading, take any of the short stories in this omnibus... every one of them is fantastic ! Manto was a writer of exceptional talent and his short stories are nothing short of beautiful

[Siddhartha · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the Greatest books I ever read. Sadly, I never heard his name mentioned during my life in India though he is one of greatest Indian Story teller ever. I am so happy I read his book especially this wonderful collection of his stories, sketches and other writings in one book.

[Gopal Krishan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manto had perfect art of storytelling.Most of stories are about partition of India,feelings n emotions of people.Translation from original Urdu language to English is praiseworthy.Difficult times in Mumbai forced him to move to Lahore.Interesting reading.

[Chirag Vegad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Soul-jolting! You'll never the might and the audacity of a pen of you haven't read his pickings in this book. Although Manto used to write in Urdu, Khalid Hasan has done justice to its soul through his translation in English.

[Amit Kurien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manto is King!

[Xylosx · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read if you live in the Indian subcontinent. Chilling stories based around the time of partition (1947).

[Neha Vyas]

Manto makes you squirm. But that's most important for a society like ours.

[Srishti Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

my most treasured book of all times. It brought me to the author who has inspired me from the very first word I set my eyes upon. Manto made me meet myself through his words.