Languorous, nostalgic, sepia… the way best memories are. In Aftersun, a father and his 11-yo daughter take a vacation to Turkey which, in an odd twist of fate, turns out to be the latter’s last with her dad. Twenty years hence, as she looks back upon that trip, she unflinchingly finds all the details lodged … More Recollection of a faded life
What would I do if I knew what I saw was to be changed? Like turning a page in a book to a new story? Would I, then, believe what I ‘saw’? Hold onto the remnants like a testimonial to some unknown audit in future? A Professor. His sojourn in Berlin. Chance meeting with an … More A trance-like walk in a new city
Today is the 1st of January. And I am travelling. For the last 8 years, this has been my routine on the first day of a new year – say goodbye to mamma whom I had come visiting during the tail-end of last year, and go back to the city where I work. In the … More The Constant in Change
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie My Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars Stories beget stories. And amid nauseating realities, they are probably our only vehicle to a meaningful sail. There are people who need to impose a shape upon the shapelessness of life. And so, a Quichotte upon a Sam DuChamp, a Sancho over a Marcel DuChamp, … More Book Review: Quichotte by Salman Rushdie (2019)
Blindness by José Saramago My Rating: 5 of 5 stars Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. What an irony that a book which holds, loss, filth, loot, stomp, cruelty, disorientation, putrefaction, injustice, helplessness, murder, rape, misery, nakedness, abandonment, death and unimaginable suffering in its bosom, left me with a climactic emotion of … More Book Review: Blindness by José Saramago (1995)
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway My Rating: 4 of 5 stars “He was full of resolution but he had little hope.” And often, like a seductive oasis, this little hope beguiles the heart to endure battles of gargantuan magnitude, letting seep every second the realization of the effort turning as much … More Book Review: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (1952)
Honeymoon by Patrick Modiano My Rating: 2 of 5 stars I felt a vague twinge of remorse: has a reader the right to criticize certain details under the pretext that she considers them superfluous? Beginning my review by borrowing a line from the novel and infusing it with my words means two things: one, the … More Book Review: Honeymoon by Patrick Modiano (1990)
Sign Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera My Rating: 4 of 5 stars As a little girl, I had many fears. Born from reasonable and not-so-reasonable wombs of circumstances, I consciously (and consistently) fought their penetrating presence by erecting walls of logic and fortitude. With passing years, I saw many of them … More Book Review: Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera (2014)
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes My Rating: 5 of 5 stars I was sitting on the lower berth; ambivalent yet observant. The view from my window seat was appealing. On the parallel track, a train had just pulled on. The neighboring compartment was a dynamic collage of people, suitcases, trolleys, food and … More Book Review: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (2011)
The World Doesn’t End by Charles Simic My Rating: 4 of 5 stars Throw a pebble into the pool and see it dissolve into shimmering currents, carrying burdens of ashen leaves that autumn has swept beneath the silent tremors, teaming to cry their laments; Or hide behind a ripe tree and cast a glance, all … More Book Review: The World Doesn’t End by Charles Simic (1989)
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