Book Reviews - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: The Oracle of Karuthupuzha by Manu Bhattathiri

Of human nature Over the course of three books, Savithri’s Special Room and Other Stories, The Town That Laughed, and now The Oracle of Karuthupuzha, Manu Bhattathiri has spun into being the little hamlet of Karuthupuzha somewhere in Kerala, peopled it with a fair share of average and eccentric denizens, and regularly stirred up little storms in…

Book review: The Heart Asks Pleasure First by Karuna Ezara Parikh

In her remarkable debut work THE HEART ASKS PLEASURE FIRST, (Picador India Books) Karuna Ezara Parikh takes the reader gently by the hand and leads them to a circular house in `Lalabad` where they meet the wonderful Gyan and Asha and their daughter Daya; then across the border to Pakistan where they meet Aaftab preparing…

Book review: Anti-Clock by VJ James

The coffin-maker`s tale Hendri the coffin-maker is consumed by hatred for his Nemesis, Satan Loppo. He yearns to see Loppo lowered into the coffin he has personally prepared for him. Taking off from this peg, ‘Anti- Clock’ by V. J. James has a sweeping arc touching on many subjects, and the philosophical ruminations that Hendri…

Book review: The Forest I Know, a gathering of tanka verses by Kala Ramesh

the forest i know, a gathering of tanka verses by Kala Ramesh. HarperCollins Books. Tanka is a five-line lyrical form of poetry which originated in Japan, and Kala Ramesh peppers the pages of this book…

Book review: A Beginner`s Guide to Japan by Pico Iyer

Pico Iyer, that consummate Japanophile, is back to doing what seems to be a labour of love: parsing his adopted land, the Land of the Rising Sun. But don`t be fooled. A BEGINNER`S GUIDE TO JAPAN is no breezy read. You will pore over each line, trying to decipher the unwritten meaning as much as…

Book review: Rumours of Spring by Farah Bashir

A life of loss Farah Bashir’s poignant memoir is set in the Kashmir of the nineties. It`s a coming-of-age novel, only, in that particular period, coming of age meant navigating the challenges of living in the lethal shadow of conflict. The memoir examines a combat zone, the survival skills and state of mind that needs…

Book review: My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff

`We must talk about Jerry` MY SALINGER YEAR by Joanna Rakoff. Bloomsbury Books, 2014 release. Obviously, the author will have Salinger fans at the second word in the book`s title, but it really is a lovely read, all of it. The peg is irresistible: a young New Yorker freshly graduated having majored in literature, goes…

Book review: Return of the Brahmin by Ravi Shankar Etteth

Excitement redux The Brahmin, that enigmatic Machiavellian warrior-strategist, is back, and engages the reader as intensely as he did when Ravi Shankar Etteth first introduced us to the character in 2018. For the necessary recap aimed at those who have yet to read the first book, the Brahmin is spymaster to Ashoka, ruler of Pataliputra, eventual…

Book review: It`s a Wonderful Life by Ruskin Bond

IT`S A WONDERFUL LIFE: Roads to Happiness by Ruskin Bond, Aleph Books. So, before the cynics (and yes, there are a few about) go into a spasm of eye-rolls at this latest offering from the Ruskin Bond factory, I need to say this: so, yes, not all the short pieces featured in this book are…

Book review: Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

My Wednesday review of this week is going to be a most enthusiastic one. Just finished reading IKIGAI, The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles (Penguin UK Books), and I totally recommend everyone has a go at this. It`s a neat but not dumbed down simplification of…