Category: Books

  • Dublin

    Edward Rutherford

    An epic novel that’s only one part of Rutherford’s Ireland saga. Starting in AD 430 and ending in AD1533, this book traces the story of Ireland using Dublin as a representative. From Dubh Linn to Dyflin to Dublin.

    Through the interwoven stories of six fictional Irish families, we see the transformation of Ireland from the land of druids and Celtic High Kings up to the reign of Henry VIII. The fortunes of these families rise and fall during the Viking invasions, the campaign of Brian Boru, the English annexation of Ireland and the rebellion of Silken Thomas, and possibly serve as a good microcosmic reference point for the rest of their kinsmen too.

    By juxtaposing actual historic events with the intrigues of fictional families, and by creating a set of very interesting and meticulously detailed characters, Rutherford helps us visualise what Eire must have been like in those times long ago.

    PS. ‘Ireland Awakening’ has been on my shelf for almost 3 years now, because ‘Dublin’ was so difficult to get hold of.

  • Illusions

    Richard Bach

    Richard Bach and Donald Shimoda, master and disciple. One, a messiah waiting to retire and the other reluctant to learn. Both barnstorming pilots in mid west America.

    The book is about our perspectives and perceptions of reality, and a view that what we see around us is an illusion.. of our own making, a manifestation of what we want it to be.

    Shimoda is tired of being a messiah as he thinks people are more interested in the miracles he shows them, than any understanding of what he’s trying to say. As the narrative progresses, Richard is first awed by the miracles himself, but then starts questioning his sense of reality and begins the journey to become a messiah himself.

    The book consists of many profound quotes from what is called the “Messiah’s Handbook”, which Shimoda lends to Richard. A handbook with no pages, because it opens to the page which answers the questions in the reader’s mind, but like Shimoda says any book can do this, because it is the reader’s interpretation.

    The larger statement here is that each of us has in us, the power to make our own path just the way we want it, if only we let go. To quote, “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours”

  • The Space Between Us

    Thrity Umrigar

    Describing ‘The Space Between Us’ as just another multi-layered tale of relationships would be injustice. Though it is essentially the story of Sera Dubash and Bhima, who lie at the two ends of the class spectrum, it deals with a gamut of human emotions – love, loss, betrayal, hatred and a strange bond between the two characters.

    Though separated by class, their lives are similar in many ways, and that perhaps is the reason why they seem to draw strength from each other. Bhima is an illiterate maid, who lives in a slum with her grand daughter Maya, and Sera is a well heeled Parsi lady who lives with her daughter Dinaz and son-in-law Viraf. The marital lives of both Sera and Bhima have been far from happy, and their lives are centred around the happiness of their children/grandchildren. Bhima has been working for over 20 years at the Dubash household and wants to release Maya from the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. Sera wants to see her daughter happy, and is looking forward to the birth of her grandchild.

    The narrative moves across the past and the present, thus beautifully expanding the characters for the reader by showing the relationships they’ve been through. What appealed to me about this book is not so much the story, but the way its been told. The prose is simply amazing, and as with ‘Bombay Time’, the author subtly weaves in the dynamics of the city. A superbly realistic book, in which the characters are true to themselves, this one ranks high on my favourites.

  • Animal’s People

    Indra Sinha

    “I used to be human once. So I’m told. I don’t remember it myself, but people who knew me when I was small say I walked on two feet just like a human being..” That’s how the book begins, and sets the tone and perspective for the book.

    The title of the book could have been built around Khaufpur (based on Bhopal and its 1984 tragedy) as well, after all, the entire story hinges around the one night that changed life in the city forever. But Indra Sinha’s success lies in creating a character whose very existence is a testimony to the horrors of that night. The humanity, or rather the inhumanity of it all is taken to a different level, largely because of the protagonist – Animal. Animal, a 19 year old boy in Khaufpur, whose personal takeaway from That Night is being forced to go on all fours.

    In most other aspects, Animal displays the emotional state of a typical teen with love, lust, jealousy all vying for his attention. It is his pragmatic, mostly raw and guttural perspective and wry humour that gives the book its character. It makes it real enough for the reader to connect with the other characters in the book – Pandit Somraj, the singer who loses his voice thanks to That Night, his daughter Nisha, who is the love of Animal’s life, but who loves Zafar, the activist whose mission in life is to get justice for the victims from the ‘Kampani’, but whose objectivity Animal questions, partly because he is a rival to Nisha’s attentions, Farouq, Zafar’s helper and Animal’s friend and enemy all at once, Ma Franci, a nun who has become senile in her old age and the person Animal loves most, and Elli Barber, the doctor who gives Animal hope, while others treat her with suspicion. Animal’s narrative gives life to these characters.

    Except for a stretched ending, this book is a compelling read, one which makes you look at a faraway incident – in space and time, with a human and humanitarian eye.

  • Confessions of an Indian Woman Eater

    Sasthi Brata

    Amit Ray, the protagonist, starts off by leaving home and his hometown – Calcutta. In his own words, “a gesture, like goodbye notes from failed suicides”. Narrated in first person, this beginning, sets the tone of the book – a certain abruptness that pops up every now and them amidst the otherwise leisurely pace of the book.

    The book is actually more a lifestream, and is quite possibly autobiographical to a considerable extent. Justifying the title, the book chronicles his encounter with women of various kinds, across geographic locations, across relationship statuses, across situations ranging from tender to bizarre, and across time. All of this as he moves from one trade to another – shoeshine boy, reporter, lavatory attendant, engineer, and through most of this – writer.

    There is a certain study of humankind that happens throughout the novel – not just of the principal characters, but even the ones that provide the backdrop. At some points, I was reminded of Pankaj Mishra’s ‘The Romantics’, if only for the curious mix of fatalism and romanticism.

    The ending, much in character, is also abrupt, but it worked for me.