Ties by Domenico Starnone My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Validation is a monster we carry within us – we seek it in abundance for the tiniest of things to the biggest of matters; and in the sordid event of its unavailability in external sources, we turn inwards and grab it nonetheless. We validate ourselves; … More Book Review – Ties by Domenico Starnone (2014)
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars When the weapon inflicting a wound is done with its work, it hops onto to its next victim with a repugnant nonchalance. It doesn’t look back, it has barely any emotion. But it does not do the disappearing act before leaving behind the story of … More Book Review: Warlight by Michael Ondaatje (2018)
The Only Story by Julian Barnes My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars “Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question.” This sentence, which introduced this most recent book of Julian Barnes to his potential readers, … More Book Review: The Only Story by Julian Barnes (2018)
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars I finished reading the book late last night. As Elio bid a final goodbye to Oliver, I stood by him. The mist in his eyes and heart was in mine too. And I hovered my glance on his name and let … More Book Review: Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman (2007)
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Words. This book is all about words – words written, words unwritten, words spoken, words unspoken, words imagined, words deleted, words carried, words discarded, words believed, words treasured. And why wouldn’t it be? At the heart of this book, is the book … More Book Review: The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (2005)
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Forgetfulness was a gift, a talent to be nurtured. In the war of remembering and forgetting, what side do we choose? Or do we choose at all? Isn’t life that, which happens when we are busy planning it? In the seductively opiated heavens of narrow-alleyed … More Book Review: Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil (2012)
It was a rainy evening about seven years ago when I entered a book store. It was the perfect refuge – warm lights, thin crowd, a tea bar and loads of books. I marched to the tea bar, ordered a ginger- mint tea, placed my bag on a chair in the seating area and hopped … More What I Talk About When I Talk About Murakami
So, I found a splendid group of bibliophiles during 2017 which brought a hemisphere of positive energy into my life. I wrote about them at length yesterday. And because we are readers, books always wafted over our discussions like saffron in the kahwa chai. Now that a new year has walked in and we are looking … More Best Reads of 2017 – Chennai SRRs speak
The Fox Was Ever The Hunter by Herta Müller My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Imagine your heart is a sheet of paper and Müller’s words, the needle – and then, let the typewriter go berserk. Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang. The words hit you, one after another, and her ink doesn’t run dry. … More Book Review: The Fox Was Ever The Hunter by Herta Müller (1992)
In Custody by Anita Desai My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars ‘The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” It is befitting to quote Rumi to introduce the middle-aged protagonist of this book who sends swirls of a bruised dream into the air even while chugging along life with a rusted body. Deven, … More Book Review: In Custody by Anita Desai (2007)
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