PULP FICTION

C.M. Naim's 'informal history' of early Urdu crime fiction sees the genre getting its rightful place in the literary canon

- Alok Rai

URDU CRIME FICTION, 1890-1950 An Informal History by C.M. Naim ORIENT BLACKSWAN ₹875; 308 pages

Growing up in a relentlessly high-minded household, I had little acquaintance with the pulp fiction that formed a large part of the cultural production of my hyper-literary Allahabad. The prime 'culprit', Ibne Safi, of Jasoosi Duniya, produced a thriller a month for years on end. My acquaintance therewith was limited to fleeting glimpses of lurid covers at railway station bookstalls.

It is, therefore, something of a pleasant surprise to discover that two of my most beloved high-literary Urdu scholars-Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and C.M. Naim-have committed their fascination with this world of glossy pulp to print. Faruqi translated four 'novels' by Ibne Safi, and C.M. Naim has now written an 'informal history' of Urdu Crime Fiction, 1890-1950.