Imagine a town. An alley in it. Houses lining the alley on both sides. You get a peek into each one of them. And find the same story. Different versions but same story. Man in control; woman, his vehicle. He owned her, rode her, flaunted her, pushed her and upgraded to a modern version when … More Small acts of resilience in a tainted alley
It was your year of last things,but you were luminous,within those final fires. LAST. Such an enormous word. So deep that one may spill an entire lifetime between its spaces and remain bereft of any desire to add a single extra syllable during their remaining time ahead. A bracket that holds the precious and the … More Of youth journals and parallel lives
Homo Irrealis by André AcimanMy Rating: 5 of 5 Stars I am the gap between what I am and what I am not. Even before the essays – beautiful, wise, full yet strangely wistful – begin to sing, this quote of the maverick Fernando Pessoa finds place. And that rounds up the mood of the … More Life, as you don’t see it
Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives by Sudha Murty My Rating: 3 of 5 Stars The book, ‘Three Thousand Stitches’ is much like its title – a couple of events of the same canvas (read Sudha Murty’s life), each adding some value to the canvas that it has helped weave and in the end, giving a … More Book Review: Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives by Sudha Murty (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)
A Personal Anthology by Jorge Luis Borges My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Borges and I I: Borges: I: Borges: I: Do you like silence? Borges: What silence? I: The one you are filling up this space with right now? Borges: This, is my ground. Contemplation, not Silence, my weapon. Thought, my battle. I: A … More Book Review: A Personal Anthology by Jorge Luis Borges (1961)
A Schoolboy’s Diary and Other Stories by Robert Walser My Rating: 3 of 5 stars That is the most useful thing about school: It tires you out, upsets you, gets you going, it nourishes the imagination, it is the anteroom, the waiting room as it were, of life. Neat Poster. And a far neater mind … More Book Review: A Schoolboy’s Diary and Other Stories by Robert Walser (2013)
The Waste Land and Other Poems by T S Eliot My Rating: 4 of 5 stars Thomas Stearns Eliot. A lot is hidden between those three words. A whole world perhaps. A depth measured by many oceans, a mystery viewed from bewitching lenses, a song marrying numerous notes, a candle thriving on inexhaustible wax. During … More Book Review: The Waste Land and Other Poems by T S Eliot (1922)
The Complete Short Stories of Marcel Proust by Marcel Proust My Rating: 4 of 5 stars Mezzanine. That is where my soul lies right now. Elevated, with the soft avalanche of rippling visions, erupting from the nubile eyes of a young Proust, from a lowly level that seethed with diminished dignity and blackened clarity … More Book Review: The Complete Short Stories of Marcel Proust by Marcel Proust (2001)
Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert My rating: 3 of 5 stars Ever wondered if stark realities of life were humans, how would they converse? What would death reveal to Satan which may surprise agony? What may joy surmise on pain that might recall God’s support? What might greed and insanity bring to table worthy of … More Book Review: Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert (1876)
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