Book Reviews - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: Empire of the Moghul : Traitors in the Shadows by Alex Rutherford

Aurangzeb: zealot or strategist? This is the sixth in the Empire of the Moghul series by Alex Rutherford (the pen name of Diana and Michael Preston) , and for a reviewer newly come to the series, that could have been a disadvantage. However, it is not, simply because Traitors in the Shadows stands alone…

Book review: All That Could Have Been by Mahesh Bhatt with Suhrita Sengupta

The fact that this story is the base for the soon to be released film Hamaari Adhuri Kahaani casts its own shadow, as does the fact that this is supposed to be the love story of Mahesh Bhatt`s parents. Come to think of it, the fact that one part of the duo which has authored…

Book review: Chinese Whiskers by Pallavi Aiyar

This is more a brief take than review. Chinese Whiskers (Harper Collins) is not a new book. Dated 2010, it follows Smoke and Mirrors, author Pallavi Aiyar`s excellent dispatches from China. Chinese Whiskers is a charming tale of two Beijing cats, the gorgeous Soyabean and his slightly scruffy companion Tofu, who go to live with…

Books: The Hindu`s Lit for Life Fest, 2014: Sidelights

The Hindu’s three-day Lit for Life Fest, 11-13 January 2014. I will confess: I went for Colin Thubron. The takeaways from Day One of the Lit for Life fest for me was Pablo Bartholomew’s deeply disturbing Bhopal Disaster slideshow offset by his ponderous, dispassionate commentary. Barkha Dutt talked of women in India getting pawed every day and…

Books: Very Very Brief Takes

A quick look at some good books Sarnath Banerjee`s latest graphic novel ABSOLUTE JAFAR (HarperCollins books).In which the reader is drawn into the tale of the artist/author`s alter ego Brighu, his circle of friends, his quietly content life in Delhi, his falling in love with Pakistani Mahruk and trying to forge a life together which…

Book excerpt: Smoke and Mirrors, an Experience of China by Pallavi Aiyar

The author is walking around the Potala with an interpreter from the Chinese ministry. A Danish journalist starts to ask the latter questions about Tibet. The woman is upset. The author tells her that in India, people often disagree with each other on a topic and that’s okay.“But in China, it’s different,“ says the…

Book review: The Wildings by Nilanjana Roy

This is the briefest of takes –raves, rather — than a review. Just finished reading one of the most charming books that have come my way this year. Nilanjana Roy’s The Wildings. It’s a fable, there’s a moral or two in there somewhere and it’s very polished prose but ultimately, its the irresistible charm that…

Book excerpts: Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie

The Great Writer is an agent provocateur of the first water. And what an ego! The reader flinches at all he throws at Wife Number 2; winces as his relationship with Wife Number 1 sours; cringes at his derisive description of Wife Number Three as the Illusion. And yet, there are great big tranches of…

Book review: Leaving Home with Half a Fridge

Life after divorce Part primer, part memoir, this book takes readers down the post-breakup road. Memoirs are tricky to write. Beyond a certain point, your memories might just not be the stuff of interest, leave alone inspiration to readers. What you reveal, what you veil, what you gloss over, what you decide to delve deep…

Book review: Neil Gaiman`s Books

I have come late to the Neil Gaiman party but OMG, now that I am here, I am having a riotous time.What a delectable feast The Ocean at the End of the Lane is. A man in search of his identity? A fantasy? A moral fable of how quirky good trumps untold horrors? A book that lays bare all…