memoir Archives - Comfortably Numb

Book review: Perhaps Tomorrow by Pooranam Elayathamby with Richard Anderson

This stark tale, told absolutely without the slightest frill to embellish it, is basically a tale of triumph, of navigating one`s way through all the odds stacked in one`s path and coming through, banner held aloft. The `one` here is the co-narrator Pooranam Elayathamby alias Sandy. Born into a poor Sri Lankan Tamil household, any…

Book review: Is There Still Sex in the City by Candace Bushnell

Chick-lit for older chicks? Here, relationships and ageing are more engaging than either sex or the city. With its standout title, Candace Bushnell`s memoir Is There Still Sex In The City? sets up some major expectations, of beautifully made-up, expensively dressed young women dealing with the trials and tribulations of love, sex and everything in…

REVIEW: WHEN I HIT YOU by MEENA KANDASAMY

When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy. Juggernaut Books There`s no getting around it, this book is a wrenching read for the reader, all the more so for the female reader. The unnamed narrator, a poet flying high but yet to get to the top of her game, decides to, rather suddenly, marry a man…

BOOK REVIEW: THE PIGEON TUNNEL by JOHN le CARRE

The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre Reminiscences from the spy who can string a sentence or two. And how. Behind the smoke and the mirrors, this book, by this onetime MI5 agent, is a master class in the art of story-writing, because every one of these stories from his life are fascinating anecdotes. And…

LITERARY REVIEW: MOONGLOW by MICHAEL CHABON

Memory chaser Moonglow By Michael Chabon. 430 pages. 4TH Estate Publishers, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, London. Price 12.99 Pounds Sterling. Michael Chabon’s Moonglow is a feel-good story with darkness at its heart. Chabon, a novelist who has frequently moved between themes and genres, presents this as a family memoir. Then again,…

BOOK REVIEW: SEPIA LEAVES by AMANDEEP SANDHU

Sepia Leaves by Amandeep Sandhu. Rupa Publications. This book was written in 2008 but the topic, sadly, is one that never really goes out of date or loses its relevance. I say `sadly` because the subject matter here is one weighted with sorrow. Sandhu`s book is the account of an eight-year-old boy in Rourkela who…

REVIEW: SUNDAY HERALD: LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT WE ATE by PADMA LAKSHMI

A tasteful tell-all Sheila Kumar, July 17, 2016 Lead review If Padma Lakshmi’s memoir is more memory and less food, it does not matter. Warmth and…

FEATURE: DEV LAHIRI ON EDUCATIONAL REFORM

Education `Schools today are not about education, they are about certification` A public school headmaster puts forward some forthright views on the education system. By Sheila Kumar Highly intelligent. Quicksilver character. Maverick. Impassioned. Born educationist. All these words fit Devapriya Lahiri , former Headmaster of Lawrence School, Lovedale as well as Welhams Boys, Dehradun, to…

REVIEW: WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS by DEV LAHIRI

The Headmaster`s Story With A Little Help From My Friends by Dev Lahiri. Rupa Publications Highly intelligent. Quicksilver character. Maverick. Quick study. Impassioned. Born educationist. All these words fit Devapriya Lahiri , former Headmaster of Lawrence School, Lovedale, as well as Welhams Boys, Dehradun, to a t. It`s been an eventful, even chequered career for the educationist…

REVIEW: MRS FUNNYBONES by TWINKLE KHANNA

Neat cute Mrs Funnybones by Twinkle Khanna (Penguin ) does that difficult to do thing: it sheds the baggage naturally accruing to a book written by a former starlet now star wife. What`s more, it sheds that weight while not repudiating a single fact of the author`s life and lifestyle. Meaning, it isn`t quite tales…