In Central Asia, they're known as the "books that won’t be read." Yet regional leaders keep churning them out.
The latest book is “Mortality Is Invincible Power” by Uzbek President Islam Karimov. It’s an ironic title for a book written by a leader known as one of Central Asia’s most authoritarian. Karimov, like other strongmen in the region, is a prolific writer, with more than 30 million copies of his books in circulation.
Last week, Uzbek state television showed the presidential book-launch ceremony, where participants praised Karimov’s new work as “the best book on philosophy and morality since the times of Socrates,” the ancient Greek who was one of the founders of Western philosophy.
Mahmud Tohir, an Uzbek poet, has read Karimov’s new book. He says it could be “a spiritual guide not only for Uzbeks but also for all the other nations of the world."
| State television compared Uzbek President Islam Karimov's latest book to the writings of Socrates (file photo) |
clipped from: www.rferl.org 