Book Reviews - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Book review: The Last Wave by Pankaj Sekhsaria

The Last Wave: An Island Novel by Pankaj Sekhsaria (HarperCollins Books). This book meticulously lists the many woes that assail the Andaman Islands, and sadly enough, the list is a long one. Harish Kumar comes to the Andaman Islands to … well, it’s not clear what his purpose is. What he sees, who he meets…

Book review: Transgressions by Vaiju Naravane

Avalanche of secrets Adultery, betrayal, loneliness, family friction… all put together with quiet assurance. Journalist and editor Vaiju Naravane’s first book is about the troubled relationships people enter into and exit from in life. Kranti Goray is a proverbial Maharashtrian girl next door who emerges rather violently from her chrysalis, becomes something of a…

Book review: The Blind Lady`s Descendants by Anees Salim

The bungalow of tales The Blind Lady’s Descendants. The title of Anees Salim’s book has a Márquez-like ring to it; what’s more, the story plays out very like a Márquez tale, slowly reeling the reader in and soon getting her/him thoroughly invested and involved in the fraught family drama being played out on the…

Book review: The Treasure of Kafur by Aroon Raman

More than just a treasure hunt One helping of history, one helping of fantasy and a spicy mix of adventure make for a thrilling read. In the author’s note, Aroon Raman states that he has not hesitated to play fast and loose with historical facts. This is a disarming confession, and one that has the…

Book review: The Gypsy Goddess by Meena Kandasamy

A carnage recalled Reading about the worst Dalit massacre in TN back in 1968, the reader recognises with a shock that neither people nor times change much. Poet-activist Meena Kandasamy’s first novel, The Gypsy Goddess, is a rambunctious read. Now, this is an odd way to talk of a book that is a retelling of…

Book review: A Strange Kind of Paradise by Sam Miller

A Foreign View One peculiar idiosyncrasy of this reviewer is to read the Acknowledgements page first. In A Strange Kind of Paradise, Sam Miller has an ‘Apologies and Acknowledgements’ page, wherein he apologises to fans of many real-life as well as fictional Indians, and there is mention of Padma and Parvati Patil, last met in…

Book review: Land Where I Flee by Prajwal Parajuly

Reunion rites In his second book, this time a full-fledged novel, acclaimed author Prajwal Parajuly brings to readers the tale of a family reunion with all the pleasant and less than pleasant emotions attendant on such events. Land Where I Flee is peopled by the dysfunctional family of Chitralekha Nepauney, Aamaa to her not too…

Book review: Colour of Gold by Gita Aravamudan

Sepia shot with gold Nostalgia weaves a soft and gauzy curtain through Gita Aravamudan’s second work of fiction, Colour of Gold. The story moves between the KGF that was: bustling, thriving, happy even if fraught with all the dangers attendant on mines and mining, and the KGF that now stands a pale shadow of its…

Book review: The Hundred Names of Darkness by Nilanjana Roy

Survival strategies The Hundred Names of Darkness, writer Nilanjana Roy’s second book in the cat series, makes a pitch for animals and humans to live peacefully together. Any sequel to a critically acclaimed novel comes with its own baggage, but Nilanjana Roy manages to manoeuvre her way through the inevitable obstacle path of expectations, to…

Book review: Adrift by V Sudarshan

Survival saga A taut account of five men and a woman lost at sea. This slim volume that tells a taut tale; the true story of six people in a dinghy, drifting on the high seas with just their wits to keep them alive. In actual fact, it was just the equanimity of one individual…