Category: Book Review

Book Review: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016)

August 10, 2017

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars [Originally appeared here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/reviews/review-the-underground-railroad/articleshow/56417934.cms?] Shaping a work around the theme of slavery and its many tentacles is a bit like shaping a lump of rigid clay into something cohesive and stable. On one hand, excessive pressure on misery squashes the vein of the narrative … More Book Review: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (2016)

Book Review: Centre Court by Sriram Subramanian (2017)

July 19, 2017

Centre Court by Sriram Subramanian My Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars This is that time of the year when the lush green grass just doesn’t spring to hallowed life but turns sentinels to the unparalleled spectacle of crowning glory in the pantheon of sports – it is time of Wimbledon. It is, arguably, the mecca … More Book Review: Centre Court by Sriram Subramanian (2017)

Book Review: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda (1924)

July 7, 2017

Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Tempting as it may appear to wrap the poetic pearls from this collection of Neruda’s heartbeats into a warm shawl of erotic wool, do resist it and pause. These loquacious verses that assemble at the nape of a … More Book Review: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda (1924)

Book Review: The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares (1940)

June 30, 2017

The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Insane. Insane. Again. Insane. “Then I resumed my efforts, moving to other parts of the wall. Chips fell, and, when large pieces of the wall began to come down, I kept on pounding, bleary-eyed, with an urgency that was far greater … More Book Review: The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares (1940)

Book Review: This House of Clay and Water by Faiqa Mansab (2017)

June 23, 2017

This House of Clay and Water by Faiqa Mansab My rating: 5 of 5 stars Forbidden Love – A diktat in itself, unleashed on unsuspecting hearts like an ouroboros where forbidden swallows love and yet appears whole, showing no signs of damage. No one knows the pain except the latter that is now usurped by … More Book Review: This House of Clay and Water by Faiqa Mansab (2017)

Book Review – In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri (2016)

June 2, 2017

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri My Rating:  4 of 5 Stars A few months back, I began planning for a vacation to a foreign country, tentatively scheduled for March/ April. This time suited me professionally as my work commitments were a tad less tight. My brother, who generally makes it to these family vacations, … More Book Review – In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri (2016)

Book Review: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (2017)

May 30, 2017

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars [Originally appeared here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/li…%5D How does a lament sound? Like a distorted sonorous wave? Hitting the crest with a shrill cry and falling to quietude with mangled whimpers? Or like a prolonged stream of soiled garble, comprehensible only to its beholder? … More Book Review: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (2017)

Book Review – The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1880)

May 26, 2017

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars I finished reading this book at precisely 0205 hours a week ago. The night still lay majestically over the impending dawn, and in its blackened stillness, swayed the echoes of this imperious book. The walls of my room, at once, turned into a … More Book Review – The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1880)

Book Review: Cry, Heart But Never Break by Glenn Ringtved (2001)

April 4, 2017

Cry, Heart But Never Break by Glenn Ringtved My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Even to the most-learned men and women, few things are as scary, swamping and tearing as death. Like an end, that ultimate exit, beyond which everything becomes void and nothing remains to return, it hovers over us like a spying cloud, … More Book Review: Cry, Heart But Never Break by Glenn Ringtved (2001)