Comfortably Numb - Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: Mayadevi`s London Yatra by Bulbul Sharma

Human foibles, gently exposed The latest book from consummate storyteller Bulbul Sharma is a collection of old published tales and new stories. Here the story isn’t as much king as the characters are. Drawn up with an eye for delightful detail, each character — sweet, strong, eccentric, creepy — totally take over the story and…

Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life by Upamanyu Chatterjee

The quest for a higher spiritual purpose This story charts the spiritual journey of Lorenzo, who as the title states, is on a quest to find the meaning of life. The author says in his note at the start, ‘This is a true story. That is to say, like many true stories, it is a…

Book review: Three Women in a Single-room House by K Srilata

Through many lives, softly This slim volume of poetry packs a deceptive punch, fights above its weight, and what`s more, mostly wins too. Like the title indicates, the collection has a core story, as well as many stories within stories to tell, and does so with a touch of sentiment, wistfulness and the occasional preening…

Book review: Chandni Chowk The Mughal City of Old Delhi by Swapna Liddle

CHANDNI CHOWK, The Mughal City of Old Delhi by Swapna Liddle. Speaking Tiger Books, out in 2017. In all the years I lived and worked in Delhi, the old parts of the city always had me in thrall, even as much of the new city repelled me. Now I live far away from Delhi but…

Column: All who wander are lost but happily so

The Popcorn Brain syndrome Tech terminology has unleashed another kicker on us, telling us all about the popcorn brain and how to avoid developing one. The term refers to a multitude of kernel-like thoughts jostling about in one`s brain, rather than one or more substantial concepts. It was coined by a researcher at the University…

Book Look: Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

OUR MAN IN HAVANA by Graham Greene. Penguin Books. So. How does this black comedy, this satirical send-up of the world of espionage measure up many many years after it was written by the Master in 1958? Very well, I would say. The story of how a hapless British vacuum cleaner salesman in Havana was…

Book review: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE by Claire Keegan. Faber Books. This slim volume punches way, way above its weight, and leaves the reader full of emotions, the way a really good book does. The story takes us to a small village in Ireland where people are all eking out an extremely hard living in extreme weather…

Book review: City on Fire by Zeyad Khan

This is a memoir, a political novel, a coming-of-age story. In his debut work, journalist Zeyad Khan casts a largely dispassionate eye at his hometown Aligarh; the gaze kindling to warmth and affection as the book progresses. Look at the way he introduces us to Aligarh, a city of a million people in western UP,…

Book review: Chronicle of an Hour and a Half by Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari

Prelude to a riot In his debut work, sets the mise-en-scene at a measured pace, introducing the reader to the various characters of Vaiga village in the foothills of the Western Ghats, with the rain in the vanguard of the cast. Even for Kerala, this is torrential rain, pouring down relentlessly, bringing down trees, old…

Book review: This is Salvaged by Vauhini Vara

Rooted in reality Vauhini Vara’s debut, ‘The Immortal King Rao,’ a Finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, was, simply put, an amazing book. As a work of speculative fiction, it had an imagined world of impressive proportions. In this, her second book, a collection of short stories firmly rooted in reality, Vara changes…