Sheila Kumar - Comfortably Numb

Book review: The Mountain: My Time on Everest by Ed Viesturs and David Roberts

Not a new release but a gem I stumbled on. The book is titled The Mountain (Touchstone Publishers). It further clarifies: My Time On Everest. And then, just in case you were still floundering, there is a tagline that reads: The Irresistible Lure of the World`s Highest Peak. It is written jointly by mountaineer Ed…

Book review: The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing

And once in a while, the reader needs to go back to her bookshelf, pick up an old favourite and slowly sink into the world inside those pages. The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing (Harper Perennial)was my pick for a TBT read. What a masterly depiction of human frailty. Within a few pages, the…

Book review: Maps for a Mortal Moon by Adil Jussawalla

Adil Jussawalla`s Maps for a Mortal Moon is, quite simply, a feast. The cover states that the book is a compilation of essays and entertainments. Well, every page lives up to that stated promise. I have this habit of reaching for the pen to note down notable lines when I am reviewing a book. Where…

Book review: The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer

Still and tranquil The Art of Stillness/Adventures in Going Nowhere/Pico Iyer/A TED Book And now the peripatetic traveler, the veteran travel writer, switches tracks and writes this eulogy about going nowhere. About sitting still, about being at peace with yourself and your surroundings. A totally irresistible concept, if you think about it. It`s an art…

Book review: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (Penguin Publishers) Sometimes one comes to an absolute classic late in the day. And sometimes, that is quite the best way to come to a classic. You start to read, you settle into a deep absorbed quiet as the story takes you by the head, heart, the very bones. And…

Book review: Return of the Butterfly by Moni Mohsin

Return of the Butterfly by Moni Mohsin I just made the acquaintance of the Butterfly. She knows all of Lahore, half of Isloo (er, Islamabad to us ?), half of Dubai and a good spattering of Delhi also; her understanding of world affairs is not too nuanced, she mixes her metaphors all the time but…

Book review: Scion of Ikshvaku by Amish

Amish’s Scion of Ikshvaku: A tame Ram, a valorous Sita and the Big Bang Theory India / Opinion/ Sheila Kumar| Wednesday, July 29, 2015 Agreed, Lord Ram is whole different kettle of, er, spinach from Shiva – Amish Tripathi’s focus, protagonist and swashbuckling hero in his earlier runaway hit trilogy – but Ram Chandra,…

Book review: The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami`s The Strange Library (Harvill Secker, London). Translated from the Japanese by Ted Goossen. So. Is this a fable for children and adults alike? Maybe. Is this another The Little Prince, another Alice, another Jonathan Livingston Seagull? Not really. Is this a story with a moral? Well, the jury is out on that too….

Book review: The Seasons of Trouble by Rohini Mohan

The Seasons of Trouble by Rohini Mohan. HarperCollins Books. This is really of the lest- we- forget genre. We have had some competent, even accomplished wordsmiths chronicling the conflict and after in Sri lanka, the likes of Nirupama Subramanian (Voices From A War Zone), Samanth Subramanian (This Divided Island), Romesh Gunesekera (most recently Noontide Toll)…

Book review: Ten Kings by Ashok Banker

Ashok Banker`s Ten Kings (Amaryllis) takes a tale from the Rig Veda, a tale of what has to be one of the most unequal battles ever, breathes nuanced flesh and blood into it, infuses it with the right amount of colour, and presents it as yet another morality tale, of how puny good can sometimes…