Book Review: ‘Letters from an Indian Summer’ by Siddharth Dasgupta
Format: Paperback Language: English Publisher: Fingerprint! ISBN: 9788172345495 Pages: 328 Price: INR 250 Reading ‘Letters from an Indian Summer’ is like having delicious mughlai mutton curry for seven days in a row. Mind you, every meal – day and night, night and day – for a week straight. What are the consequences? Well, there’s constipation, gastric...
Book Review: ‘Indians at Herod’s Gate: A Jerusalem Tale’ by Navtej Sarna
Language: English Format: Hardcover Publisher: Rainlight ISBN: 9788129134516 Pages: 182 Price: INR 500 “The door to his hospice was never closed. Silver, food and blessings due to the kindness of the Almighty Creator – all were distributed from there to all corners. Yet no one came to the sheikh for material assistance since he himself...
Book Review: ‘The Avatari’ by Raghu Srinivasan
Format: Paperback Language: English ISBN: 9789350095744 Publisher: Hachette India Pages: 500 Price: INR 399 It is hard not to like a book like Raghu Srinivasan’s debut novel ‘The Avatari’. For once, the thriller genre of Indian literature finally has something to show for – something that can be hailed as world-class when it comes to writing,...
Book Review: ‘Flash Boys’ by Michael Lewis
Format: Hardcover Language: English Publisher: Allen Lane ISBN: 9780241003633 Pages: 274 “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke So the suspicions were right, it would appear. The US stock markets were rigged, controlled by a select few individuals. And if not all, atleast...
Book Review: ‘1Q84’ by Haruki Murakami
Format: Paperback Language: English [translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin & Philip Gabriel] Publisher: Vintage ISBN: 9780099578079 Pages: 1318 Price: INR 599 It’s a Barnum and Bailey world, Just as phony as it can be, There is no point denying that ‘1Q84′ by Haruki Murakami is a work of indulgence. However, there are indeed a...
Book Review: ‘The Country is Going to the Dogs!’ by Anurag Mathur
Format: Paperback Language: English ISBN: 9788129131102 Publisher: Rupa Publications Pages: 168 Price: INR 195 Miss Fifoo, the so-called sizzling sex siren of sin city, has gone missing. Seventy-something retired bureaucrat Radhey Radhey Kumar, also known as RR, is approached by the principal of her alma mater to look into the matter because he’s been living...
Book Review: ‘The Sceptical Patriot’ by Sidin Vadukut
Format: Paperback Publisher: Rupa Publications ISBN: 9788129129031 Pages: 208 Price: INR 250 Let me begin this review with a disclaimer before I’m accused of bias. None of the praise that might be directed towards this book stems from the admiration I have for Mr. Vadukut’s columns & travelogues in Mint (where he’s an editor) and...
Book Review: ‘The Virgins’ by Siddharth Tripathi
Format: Paperback Language: English Publisher: Fingerprint ISBN: 9788172344542 Pages: 320 Price: INR 250 ‘The Virgins‘ is a coming-of-age novel set in Varanasi of the 90s, tracing the lives of the three protagonists (Guggi, Bhandu & Pinku) as they find their way through the maze of ‘sexpot‘ escapacades. Guggi is a spoilt brat, a rich landlord’s...
Book Discussion: ‘Treasure of Kafur’ by Aroon Raman
There is a moment in the latter half of this book where Dattatreya, the protagonist, is engaged in battle with anti-Mughal forces as a scout when he suddenly falls off his horse because of an attack from an assailant (whose identity shall remain undisclosed for obvious reasons). And this is perhaps the point where this...
Book Review: ‘Supertraits of Superstars’ by Priyanka Sinha Jha
Format: Paperback Language: English ISBN: 9788129129789 Publisher: Rupa Publications Pages: 186 Price: INR 195 ‘Supertraits of Superstars‘ starts out by describing an average week in the life of legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan. It sets the tone for the rest of this self-help book, which also happens to be journalist Priyanka Sinha Jha‘s debut. ‘Supertraits...
Book Review: ‘Ghalib Danger’ by Neeraj Pandey
Format: Paperback Language: English Publisher: Blue Salt (Penguin Books Imprint) ISBN: 9780143421016 Price: INR 250 If one had to point out why Neeraj Pandey is one of the most respected writer-directors in the Indian film industry right now, the answer would be because of the highly original & extremely entertaining stories he seeks to tell...
Book Review: ‘Chander Pahar’ by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay
Language: Bengali Format: Hardcover Publisher: Signet Press ISBN: 9789350400401 Pages: 176 Price: INR 80 Before I start to write a review, I’d like to take the opportunity to pat my own back. For there was a time when I really thought I’d never get around to reading Bengali literature – but here I am, having...