Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars ‘Those who love from a distance are not seduced by lust.’ Thus crooned a honeyed, longing voice I happened to hear two days back. Perhaps the essence was expressed before; in manifold arrangement of words, in wavy placement of multiple strings. But sometimes, something … More Book Review: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (1956)
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)
Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Bohumil Hrabal My Rating: 4 of 5 stars This little novella can, at once, be discarded as a long, never-ending chapter on corporeal pursuits from the life book of a mindless rambler, a libidinous exhorter, a senile raconteur. And for some part, one might be right in … More Book Review: Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Bohumil Hrabal (1964)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck My Rating: 4 of 5 stars It takes courage to stand up and speak. It also takes courage to sit down and listen. These are the words on one of my most favorite posters. What always keeps me hooked to these lines is the validity of the trait, … More Book Review: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1937)
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett My Rating: 4 of 5 stars [Curtains Fall] Stage: I lived good, within all of you. Heck! You would not even survive a second without me. Why? I even took that wretched boot and that stinky feet on my chest! Feet: Ha.. Stinky you say! Did you ever eavesdrop … More Book Review: Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (1952)
Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag My Rating: 5 of 5 stars At my touch, the striking cover of this book leapt up and stood suspended at my eye-level. As if to escape this loggerhead-state, I bored through its skin amid a question – what does this image wish to convey? Unity? Mess? Greed? Asymmetry? Power? … More Book Review: Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag (2015)
Death in Venice by Thomas Mann My Rating: 5 of 5 stars As long as we breathe, we live. We do not possess the power to embrace death at will. So, we live. And for living, we cling to a purpose. The purpose may be clear or clouded, animate or inanimate, expressed or hidden, stable … More Book Review: Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (1912)
Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli My Rating: 3 of 5 stars Like Valeria, I stare at the faces in the crowd; the crowd of short paragraphs hurrying across the surface of this book, intermingling with the innate desire to escape the mound without any considerable collision. Like each paragraph, I anoint a … More Book Review: Faces in the Crowd by Valeria Luiselli (2011)
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