Book Reviews - Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

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…

Book review: Foreign by Sonora Jha

In that limbo An NRI is forced to face issues concerning herself and her country, issues she had turned her back on. Foreign works on two levels. It is about Katya (Katyayini) Misra acknowledging how she feels now she’s back in India after years away. She looks wincingly at the dismal situation in a small…

Book review: The Hunters by Chris Kuzneski

Good ol’ treasure hunt A crack team, a legendary treasure and a train named Ludmilla….This has all the ingredients for a rollicking potboiler. Chris Kuzneski seems done with the Payne and Jones series of thrillers for the time being. In his new thriller, The Hunters, he employs the familiar direct, forceful style of storytelling that has…

Book review: Three Ghost Story Books

Creepy tales A triad of mysteries, two of them with other-worldly beings, makes for a rewarding read. Jessica Faleiro’s Afterlife, is a collection of stories featuring Goan ghosts in Goan locales. The Fonseca clan gathers to celebrate Savio’s 75th birthday and, for some reason not really explained, one by one, they begin to tell of…