Category: Books

  • Patna Roughcut

    Siddharth Chowdhury

    Patna Roughcut is a delightful little book, the kind of book you hate for being only 180 odd pages long. It revolves around the life of Patna’s own Ritwik Ray (i think there’s a lot of Siddharth Chowdhury in him), his life around Kadam Kuan, in patna,and Delhi University, the characters that influence his life- friends, mentors, and lovers.
    It is a tale of growing up, growing old and the loss of innocence. On many occasions, it reminded me of The Wonder Years. The interesting thing about the book is that its non linear, not just in terms of narrative, but also in terms of narrators, and though the protagonist remains Ritwik most of the time, you also get to read others’ perspectives.
    I think I connected with the book (also) because of its small town setting, middle class values, and ambitions that never go beyond a certain limit. It has a lot of “you know you were a kid in india in the 80’s ” moments that are very endearing.
    When you know that a wave of nostalgia tinged with melancholy is upon you, this is the book to pick up and laze through

  • Once was Bombay

    Pinki Virani

    This is the best ‘Bombay’ book i’ve ever read. It shows us a view of Bombay through the images of characters that even non residents will identify as belonging to Bombay – the actor, the bhai, the encounter cop, the politician, and so on. Pinki Virani obviously feels for Bombay, and reflects the myriad range of a Bombayite’s emotions now – anger, frustration, cynicism all stemming from Bombay’s change from then to now
    What’s wonderful about the book is that it stays true to the title and takes you on a journey in time – to how a place or a road came to be called so, and the societal changes that time has brought about there. It also has some incisive takes on the machinations that has transformed Bombay into what it is now.
    Long before Mumbai there was Bombay, and i can identify a lot with the difference it makes to the people who have seen the change, even though i don’t live there. This book easily gets into my all time favourites.

  • You are here

    Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

    I picked it up because it was written by a fellow Indian blogger. And yes, I prefer Indian fiction. But I’m guessing I am not exactly the target audience 🙂
    Considering the author’s profile, I’d say the book is at least faintly autobiographical.
    Arshi, the protagonist, is a twenty something, 21st century Indian woman, who lives (or at least tries to) live life on her own terms, only she doesnt seem to be sure what they are. A potentially interesting premise of self discovery in an urban Indian milieu.
    But in that sense it disappoints. Here are a couple of things that put me off. While it could be an attempt at stark portrayal, i felt that a lot of things had a force-fit twang, added to get a “yup, am with it” effect. Also, the title was very ironical in the sense that the story seemed to be going all over the place. A very lifestream flow which didnt work for me because of its predictability.
    However if Indian chick lit is your scene, you cannot afford to give this one a miss. And having said all that, I’m still happy that a blogger has become an author. 🙂

  • The First Man in Rome

    Colleen McCullough

    Its a timeless tale of power.. but timeless as it is, ancient rome is a great setting for the tale… and it is well told, with the neat detailing – for the characters, the lives they lived, and the conditions they lived in…
    The wonderful writing makes it easy for the reader to imagine the magnificent civilisation that still influences the world we live in, in many ways… a must read.. and i will start the sequel to this – The Grass Crown very soon

  • On the Road

    Jack Kerouac

    A different America from the packaged version we get to see these days. Its a book that perhaps matches the times it was set in.. its, i think, essentially a book that looks at the wanderlust of Sal Paradise, the protagonist, his travel companions, influences and perhaps, at the very base, a quest for freedom..of self
    A warning though, you’ve to be very patient, and allow for boredom to set in, in between. Its not the ‘finish in one read’ kind of book.