Continued from Part II:
Two very compelling tales involve Jehangir, the “Bulsara Bookworm”. In “The Collectors”, he’s the boy whom Dr. Mody takes a fancy to. Shunned by other children of the Baag for his quiet, introvert nature, he finds solace in philatelic sessions with Dr. Mody before [...]
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Posted in Authors, Book reviews, India authors, Indians writing in English, Rohinton Mistry, South Asian Writers, South Asian literature, fiction, indian english, literature, short story on September 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Continued from Part I
Through two other stories, Kersi tells us more of his life. In “Of White Hairs and Cricket”, we see a silent, growing rift between him and his father. Every Sunday, Kersi’s father asks him to remove white hairs from his head using a pair of tweezers, a task that Kersi detests. [...]
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Posted in Book reviews, India authors, Indians writing in English, South Asian Writers, South Asian literature, critique, fiction, indian english, literature, novel on September 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
To give readers nuances of Bengali life, Vikram Seth uses some clichés, like a mother awed by Tagore and the household poetry of the Chatterjees. This doesn’t come off as too tiresome, since Tagore was(and still is) a tremendous influence in Bengal and art and literature have [...]
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Posted in Authors, Book reviews, India authors, Indians writing in English, Rohinton Mistry, South Asian Writers, South Asian literature, indian english, literature, short story on September 22, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
“Swimming Lessons…” is a collection of eleven short stories by the accomplished Rohinton Mistry. Being a Parsi himself, it comes as no surprise that he should choose a Parsi residential society as the setting. Although they can be read individually, the stories are interconnected through recurring characters [...]
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In Divisadero, his new book, Michael Ondaajte traverses the lives of three siblings who grow up together and are separated after a traumatic experience. In parallel, he also explores the life of a relatively lesser known(possibly fictitious?) French writer.
Spoiler warning: If you’d rather skip the plot, click here.
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Posted in Authors, Book reviews, Booker Award winners, India authors, Indians writing in English, Salman Rushdie, South Asian literature, fiction, indian english, literature, novel on September 16, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Introduction and Theme
Before disbursing trite compliments and proposing it as a masterly work of postmodern literature, it must be explained what sets this book apart and why one must attempt to read it. I deliberately use the word “attempt”, since it is not an easy book to read. Not for everyone. A category of [...]
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Posted in A Suitable Boy, Book reviews, India authors, Indians writing in English, Titles, Vikram Seth, fiction, indian english, literature, novel, poetry on September 8, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Here’s rhyme dedicated to Vikram Seth’s mangum opus that I recently concluded. Honestly, the last three lines are more for the sake of the poem and do not refelct my actual feelings. Though managing such a bulky(and mine was hard-bound) book is irksome(just think of carrying around outdoors), one does get used to it.
A fine [...]
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Title: A Suitable Boy Author: Vikram Seth Read: Aug 2007
The fictitious city of Brahmpur in the fictitious state of Purva Pradesh, with its fair mix of Hindus and Muslims, is the reflection of a north Indian city, like Lucknow, famous for it’s Nawabi heritage. Purva in many Indian languages means North or Uttar, [...]
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