Nothing unusual. (Review of ‘Faceless’ by Tapan Ghosh)
Yes, there is nothing unusual in the book… not one page that steps out of what I have come to expect of a lot of first-time novelists. Despite being thoroughly non-descript and devoid of either realism or fantasy, there is one discovery I made because of this book. I stumbled upon the fastest way to...
Itadakimasu: I humbly receive. (Review of Robin Sharma’s ‘The secret letters of the monk who sold his Ferrari’)
If you like to travel, you’ll like this book. This book takes you all over the world to some really wonderful places and you’ll enjoy reading about those cities and the way they’ve changed over time. The author takes you to different locations all over Europe, Asia, and North America… and the travelogue part of...
Murder is murder. Everything else is just details. (Review of ‘The devotion of suspect X’ by Keigo Higashino)
Yes, this one is a murder story. The first forty-eight pages hold your hands and take you around this little town by the river Sumida. They build an image within you that you cannot forget and at the same time rapidly build the characters of Yasuko, her daughter Misato, the Math teacher Ishigami, and Togashi,...
Unconnected and Unrepentant. Review of ‘The Asocial networking.’
Frankly, I loved the book immensely because it gave me all the reasons to have a hearty hoot after every few hundred words… and mind you, this book isn’t in the comedy genre at all. It is supposedly a serious treatise on the state of the social networks today. The book claims to take you...
Notes for a novel – Review of ‘Loser’
I’ve read all of the 212 pages and this includes the ‘dedication’ as well as the blank ones at the start… and I finished reading the novel (Oops! The notes) in less than half-a-day and also went about completing the normal chores for the day. What is important is that I wasn’t tired or over-stressed...
A battle epic, with devas and asuras! – Review of ‘The Forest of Stories’ by Ashok K Banker
‘This book,’ I said to a friend, ‘doesn’t have stories from this century nor from any of the centuries that you read about in the history books.’ ‘Really?’ he was confused and appeared reluctant to know more. ‘However,’ I persisted, ‘ this book has stories that still have the power to connect with your present...
Historic Walks or Walks through History lessons?
In my last visit to London I came face to face with the best moments of my life when my son gave me a bunch of print-outs of the Jubilee Walkway. These come under the ‘Walk London’ program and encourage the locals as well as the tourists to discover this wonderful historic city by walking...
The author actually missed IIT and kissed Gurgaon – Review of ‘Zero Percentile – 2.0’ by Neeraj Chhibba
Let me begin by three quotes from the book: Quote 1 ‘Salem was a frightful dog waiting to be unleashed and the lady, a financial wizkid. One was a doer, the other a thinker.’ Quote 2 ‘It was heady. But this will be the only time,’ Nitin pushed her away, not knowing whether what they...
Balasaraswati – The Truth. A review of the book ‘Balasaraswati: Her Life & Art’
Thanjavur Balasaraswati (1918 – 1984) – a dancer and a musician, a legend who combined the traditions of the past with a futuristic vision… to give bharatnatyam its rightful position in the world of arts. I have reviewed this book on video too and I’m sure you’d all want to see that before you go...
Revolutionary Greetings. Review of ‘The Muddy River’
SCAM. Yes, this is what I wanted to call this book. No, not because there is some writing scam that I’m trying to expose, but because there are four key words that weave this novel by P A Krishnan. The acronym SCAM, in this context, means: SENSUAL | CORRUPTION | ASSAM | MILITANCY. Though this...
Facing the demons within. Review of Conversations by Rajeev Nanda
Conversations can never be answers. They can, at best, be guide-posts leading somewhere… within or outside the self and they can be desirable or undesirable, discovered or yet untouched, needless or vital for survival, or simply a place or a moment where you sit and let your breathe become normal before getting up and resuming...
I Went Out Too Far. Review of ‘The old man & the sea’
BOOK REVIEW Title of book: The Old Man And The Sea. Written by: Ernest Hemingway. 347 words. Title of Review : I Went Out Too Far. This story has simple sentences. No difficult words. No harsh judgements. No desperate attempt at trying to sound unique. The old man or Santiago, his skiff, the fish he...
