Book Reviews - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: Raakshas by Piyush Jha

On a knife’s edge There is a twist at the end of Raakshas — India’s No.1 Serial Killer, but you will find no spoilers here. As long as you don’t look for subtlety, the account of ‘India’s numero uno’ serial killer is a racy read. The main protagonists, a lady ACP, Maithili Prasad, and the…

Book review: Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar, Translated by Jerry Pinto

Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar, translated from the Marathi by Jerry Pinto (Penguin Books). This book was published in Marathi in 2006 and translated into English in 2013. The reader falls deep into the story almost at the start and then there`s no coming out till the tale has been told. It is a story…

Book review: Friends in Wild Places by Ruskin Bond

Let me begin the review of Ruskin Bond`s Friends in Wild Places (Speaking Tiger Books) by quoting a passage near the end. Below my cottage was a forest of oak and maple and Himalayan rhododendron. A narrow path twisted its way down through the trees, over an open ridge where red sorrel grew wild, and…

Book review: With a Little Help from my Friends by Dev Lahiri

The Headmaster`s Story Highly intelligent. Quicksilver character. Maverick. Quick study. Impassioned. Born educationist. All these words fit Devapriya Lahiri , former Headmaster of Lawrence School, Lovedale, as well as Welhams Boys, Dehradun, to a t. It`s been an eventful, even chequered career for the educationist who has recently written his memoir, called With A Little…

Book review: A Hero for Hire by Zac O`Yeah

Hari, namma hero Back in 2013, when Hari Majestic made his appearance on the Bangalore gumshoe shuffle, my book blogpost had this to say: The hero is utterly irresistible with his well-oiled hair, a startling addiction to chicory, and a heart of gold. Everyone greets everyone else with “oota aiytha?” (had food?), there are people rejoicing…

Book review: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George RR Martin

Even as winter is coming This book needs to come with a disclaimer: it is being reviewed by one who remains untouched by the Game of Thrones saga by the redoubtable George R R Martin. That is because I have not — yet — read the books or watched the cult television series. This book…

Book review: The Noodle-maker of Kalimpong by Gyalo Thondup with Anne F Thurston

The Noodle Maker Of Kalimpong: The Untold Story Of My Struggle For Tibet by Gyalo Thondup with Anne F. Thurston (Random House India). Jeremy Bernstein says in his 1987 New Yorker article: There is something profoundly moving about the Tibetan way of life. About its religious essence. One feels instinctively that if this civilization were crushed…

Book review: Aleph Books` City Monographs

Cry, the beloved city It is neither compulsory nor mandatory but I feel the need to make this admission: I am not an outsider. Though not of Kannada origin, I have been a resident of Bangalore/Bengaluru since the start of the 80s. That`s been over three decades, during which I have lived, worked, married, learned…

Book review: Pradyumna by Usha Narayanan

A karmic burden There is valour, cowardice, glory, shame, sex, lies and deception in Pradyumna’s story. What do we know of Pradyumna? That he was Krishna and Rukmini’s eldest born who, even as he lay in his crib, was snatched away by an asura. Taken deep into the netherworld, the boy grows up to be something…

Book review: Ahmedabad, A City in the World by Amrita Shah

This is more a brief take than a review. Ahmedabad, a City in the World by Amrita Shah (Bloomsbury).Gandhi`s chosen city. Ahmed Shah`s domain. Commercial stronghold. Textile treasure-house. Crucible for the diamond industry. Land of the Sabarmati. Home to the prestigious IIM-A. Hindu revivalist lab. A city brought to heel by a flamboyant strongman who…