Book Reviews - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: The Dalai Lama`s Cat by David Michie

The Dalai Lama`s Cat, a novel by David Michie. Hayhouse publishers. After a mercifully brief spell of picking up books that were less than enthralling, I`m back on track, thanks be. The Dalai Lama`s Cat is another treasure I have come to a bit late. But if there`s one thing this book teaches me, it…

Book review: Is Shakespeare Dead by Mark Twain

Is Shakespeare Dead by Mark Twain. Think about it. The work is by that satirist extraordinaire Mark Twain, the man who could and did string sentences so sharp, they could be wielded like a sabre. The subject is the Bard of Avon. And the title? It`s Is Shakespeare Dead? Now tell me which Lit major,…

Book review: God Help The Child by Toni Morrison

God Help The Child by Toni Morrison. A Chatto and Windus publication. Within a couple of pages, the reader is sucked into the vortex of a powerful story told in a powerfully effective style. This is the eleventh work of the extraordinarily accomplished writer and Nobel Laureate. A girl child is born to the mother…

Book review: The House that BJ Built by Anuja Chauhan

The Deliciously Deviant Book That AC Wrote You know, when after prolonged gorging on balushahi, khubani ka meetha, kalakand, gulab jamun, malapua, you turn to a plain Cornetto ice cream? You bite into it and it turns out to be anything but plain: the buttery-smooth ice cream blends with the crunchy waffle it is wrapped…

Book review: Don`t Let Him Know by Sandip Roy

What lies beneath? It all starts with a letter. A plaintive letter written by someone who feels wronged, dumped. A letter meant for someone now far away in an Illinois campus town, and read by someone else, one who has just plighted troth with the person the letter is addressed to. And inside the letter,…

Book review: Mad in Heaven By P G Bhaskar

Comic caper Chennai strolls casually through this hectic and hilarious story. Once in a blue moon comes a book that settles upon the bustling city of Chennai (Madras) for its chosen locale and tells the story of its denizens; only, the city plays such a major part wittingly or otherwise, that it becomes the second…

Feature: Attacking Atticus

Attacking Atticus: What happens when characters overshadow their creators Intermixed with the excitement about Harper Lee’s new book, To Set A Watchman, which is actually an old book since the manuscript dates back to 1957, is widespread dismay that the man who shone with a clear sense of purpose and fair play in To…

Book review: Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy

Solace seekers It is now somewhat par for the course that each new book by Anuradha Roy is accompanied by a steadily growing buzz. To add to that buzz is a blurb from a Washington Post reviewer that actually reads thus: “This is why you read fiction at all.” So. Is all the hoopla justified?…

Books: Me and my favourite reads

SHELF ESTEEM The Ayatollah and I weren’t on the same page What are you reading right now? The Patna Manual of Style by SIDDHARTH CHOWDHURY, though in a mystified fashion. Which book, author or series do you reach out for when you just want a comfort read? Life at Blandings or any of…

Book review: A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces

Briefly, but with feeling First, the good news. They are all here: Tagore, Premchand, Manto, Chughtai. R K Narayan, Amrita Pritam, Ruskin Bond, Gulzar, Anita Desai. Thakazhi, Basheer, Paul Zacharia, Mahasweta Devi, Ambai, U R Ananthamurthy. Vikram Seth, Irwin Allan Sealy, Cyrus Mistry, Shashi Tharoor, Vikram Chandra. And the cherry on the icing? This compilation…