Tariq Ali

The Protocols of the Elders of Sodom

Published by Verso, 2009

Provocative and witty essays on the giants of world literature

Written over the last four decades, these provocative essays and diary entries explore the links between literature, history and politics. Training a critical, imaginative and occasionally a satirical eye on the works of varied writers—including Cervantes, Tolstoy, Proust, Joyce, Musil, Roth, Powell, Platonov, Solzhenitsyn, Grossman, Munif, Goytisolo and Rushdie—Ali discusses common themes as well as polarities, first impressions and re-readings, always seeking to contextualize the text in the political and historical milieu of its creation. Inviting the reader to share in the frustrations and pleasures of world literature and showcasing Ali’s range and polemical verve, this collection will be sure to attract critical attention and a wide readership.

Buy from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk

Read an extract here

Reviews: The Independent, Scotland on Sunday, The Socialist Review

Literature

From the archive

  • The Obama Syndrome reviewed in the Kathmandu Post
    January 5, 2011

    The Obama Syndrome reviewed by Anthony Wentzel for the Kathmandu Post, December 24 2010

    Normally, I wouldn’t recommend judging a book by its cover. But in the case of Tariq Ali’s latest release The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad, the image on the cover speaks volumes about the ideas contained within. A surreal picture stares back at the viewer: the face of US President Barack Obama, but with a fragment missing. Where the missing fragment of Obama’s face should be is an all too familiar grin, that of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Ali’s thesis is established even before the first page is flipped: Obama does not signal a departure from the status quo of American politics, but instead represents a continuation of the policies of those who ruled  …

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  • Interview: ‘Pakistan and the Global War on Terror’
    November 30, 2009

    ‘Pakistan and the Global War on Terror’, an interview with Tariq Ali by Mara Ahmed and Judith Bello for Counterpunch, November 30, 2009

    Mara Ahmed and I were given the opportunity to interview Tariq Ali when he spoke at Hamilton College in Upstate New York on November 11, 2009, during his recent speaking tour of the United States. Tariq, a native of Pakistan who lives in England, is a well known writer, intellectual and activist. He has traveled all over Southwest Asia and the Middle East while researching his books. Mara, who is working on a film highlighting the opinions of the Pakistani people regarding the current situation in Pakistan and the Western initiated ‘Global War on Terror’, had a lot of questions for Tariq about the internal state of Pakistan. I wanted to ask Tariq for his  …

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  • ‘How do the 99% compare with mass protests of the past – and can they succeed?’
    October 25, 2011

    ‘How do the ninety-nine percenters compare with mass protests of the past – and can they succeed?’, by Tariq Ali for the Sunday Herald, October 23 2011

    “A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth glancing at,” wrote Oscar Wilde, “for it leaves out the one country at which humanity is always landing. And when humanity lands there, it looks out, and seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of Utopias.” The spirit of that 19th century socialist is alive among the idealistic young people who have come out in protest against the turbo-charged global capitalism that has dominated the world ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    The Occupy Wall Street protesters who have taken up residence at the heart of New York’s financial distract, are demonstrating against a system of  …

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