This is different territory from Jerry Pinto’s previous book and therefore it would be unfair to compare. The narrative is tight, and the author tries to achieve a balance between a reflective commentary on how sexuality is perceived by society, and a gripping murder mystery. Tough job, decent effort.
A particularly depressing book. However that does not mean I won’t recommend it! What really happens to the people whose lives have been upended by a bomb blast? This is that story. The book begins with an explosion, and then it simmers, before boiling towards another.
If you don’t judge by the cover, you will be fine. It is less mythology and more travelogue, with a focus on the deep impact that the Ramayana has had on our culture – individual, societal and political. Published in the 90s, this also works as time travel if you are a 70s/80s kid.
If you have any interest at all in speculative fiction, or science fiction in general, just go ahead and buy this book. Eight fantastic stories that cover domains from language to physics and mathematics to theism and more, this is a work of sheer brilliance.
A travel book after a while. I liked how the book takes travel beyond the literal and conventional meaning of the word. There are all kinds of journeys in here – the simple physical movement from one place to another, to the exploration of the self within, “thought to thought”, seeing things in a different light and so on.