A Heart So White by Javier Marías My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars What do I wish to hear? About the present? The past, may be? Or a little tune on the waiting future? Do I wish to eavesdrop on my best friend to find out what she thinks of me when I am not … More Book Review: A Heart So White by Javier Marías (1992)
Here by Wislawa Szymborska My Rating: 4 of 5 stars “She wants me to live only for her and with her. Ideally in a dark, locked room, but my plans still feature today’s sun, clouds in progress, ongoing roads.” With this singular clarity, Wislawa Szymborska views memory. By running a casual yet assertive hand, she … More Book Review: Here by Wislawa Szymborska (2009)
It’s not a belated birthday wish. It’s a continuing one. Breathing in the Proustian air is one of my most favorite stress-busters since the time I have been introduced to it. An air so rich yet so clear, it permeates into my lungs with its slight, caressing bend, filling me with a sense of beauty … More HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARCEL PROUST!
Embers by Sándor Márai My Rating: 5 of 5 stars My fingers were interlocked around my Baba’s arm and my head was resting on his shoulders. I was stealing a glimpse of his face every now and then, convinced that the lines of exhaustion were going to creep upto his tongue any moment, tendering me … More Book Review: Embers by Sándor Márai (1942)
Ulysses by James Joyce My Rating: 5 of 5 stars Some works are not written; they are lived. The authors write not with ink, but with breaths. Every breath that finds its way in, sucks in a piece of the world and releases it into the author’s being, letting it permeate, gauge, prod, absorb and … More Book Review: Ulysses by James Joyce (1920)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce My Rating: 5 of 5 stars APRIL 19 (Evening): Alright. This is insane. It has been almost eighteen, 18 (has more impact) hours since I sat down to scribble something about what is going on in my mind but the right words are … More Book Review: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (1914)
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)
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke My Rating: 5 of 5 stars Dear Mr. Rilke, Assuming it to be a frequent phenomenon with you, I partake in pleasure and liberty of appointing you the receiver of yet another letter, from a besotted admirer of your wisdom and expression. You see I have … More Book Review: Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (1929)
I am sorry I fell sick and the birthday wish comes a tad belated, 6 days to be precise. But it is nigh impossible to have a week pass by without sending across my shout to you, Mr. D! You absolutely know how special you are, don’t you? That skill you have, ah! How envious … More HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY!
The Stranger by Albert Camus My rating: 4 of 5 stars What happens when we bump into a hive of sticky words that seem delectable on the surface but grasping them blurs the lines etched in our minds? How does it feel when some kind of hurricane is unleashed on our notions that were, until … More Book Review: The Stranger by Albert Camus (1942)
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