‘History is the consequence not only of people’s actions, but also of their forgetfulness.’ I couldn’t help but mull over this sentiment of the author in the light of the dastardly attack on him last year – an attack that, eventually, impacted his vision in one eye and movement of one arm. An attack for … More Two Centuries of Fable or Truth?
I might have missed young Latif if I had met him at a hotel or a lodge; bellboys are, after all, a part of that moving crowd which gathers (almost) no mass. But in Salim’s story, he is the hero. A hero who has a hairstyle like none other, a hero who takes care of … More Listen to his knock
Of late, I have been wary of picking up a chunkster to read – no, not because they have lost their appeal but because I have come to attach greater value to the time I have at hand. Almost to the point of being miserly to let it go without doing my best dance with … More Friendship in the frigid weather of life
The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz ZafónMy Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Somewhere on the path of life, when adulthood looms large and we end up seeing the horizons of the impending twilight more frequently than we would wish to, there are stops of childhood sped past that we reminisce the most – … More Doppelgänger, nee, Shadows?
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)
Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Confession , as a word, has a strong connotation – prelude to its utterance is a hesitation, and that hesitation alone, is sufficient to engulf the confession-maker with an odour that reeks of both delay and guilt. But Mishima’s protagonist can take … More Book Review: Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima (1958)
Call Me By Your Name | Directed by Luca Guadagnino | Starring Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars I tried thrice – writing down my thoughts about this movie – and failed all three times. Every time I would begin scribbling, my fingers would come to a gradual stop, … More Movie Review: Call Me By Your Name by Luca Guadagnino (2017)
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)
Swing Time by Zadie Smith My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars [Originally appeared here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/li…] There is something about every life: ripe with memories, rife with punctures, crowded yet distinct, deceptively omniscient but a puzzle to its only custodian. Zadie Smith’s narrator in ‘Swing Time’ attempts to hold this fleeting, substantial thing in her hand and poke it … More Book Review: Swing Time by Zadie Smith (2016)
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