Less by Andrew Sean Greer My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars How long can you walk in another person’s shoes without feeling the pinch of it? A few minutes? Some hours perhaps? Or a couple of days? Now, what if I tell you it doesn’t hurt to walk in those shoes? Will you choose to … More Book Review: Less by Andrew Sean Greer (2018)
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski My Rating: 2 of 5 Stars Ham on Rye is flanked by sauces of happenstance and its delectability depends on the preferences of one’s reading tongue. Mine, for one, could not bear its sour, unsavoury ingredients. In this bildungsroman, which is semi-autobiographical too, the protagonist, Henry Chinaski loads his … More Book Review: Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski (1982)
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars [Originally appeared here (with edits)] How does a car-ride feel across a long, stretched road? Bumpy? Restless? Exhilarating? Tiresome? While a whole bunch of elements might prompt us to arrive at one or many words, there is, perhaps, a single word that can bring … More Book Review: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (2016)
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)
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)
The Shape of Water | Directed by Guillermo del Toro | Starring Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars The night has dropped by. I have said hello. She has settled on my window sill. The moon is invisible from my meagre window. But I am drunk. A little. … More Movie Review: The Shape of Water (2018) by Guillermo del Toro
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars The best paragraph of this book comes in the last chapter when Davis tells Aza why he chose to disclose a truth when hiding it seemed far more profitable for the stakeholders (including himself), and Aza accepts it without demur as … More Book Review: Turtles All The Way Down by John Green (2017)
The Golden House by Salman Rushdie My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars [Originally appeared here.] The world has turned a cacophony of unrelenting voices, where people in high offices as well as pedestrian consorts battle every day to be one up. The lines have blurred as issues have bulldozed their way, against most conventions, right … More Book Review: The Golden House by Salman Rushdie (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)
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