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Sleaze
as political biography
Shastri Ramachandaran
The Truth About Hillary
by Edward Klein
Sentinel (Penguin Group)
Pages 305. Price $ 17.95
What
is clear is that the book has a cause: to thwart a woman, Hillary
Clinton, from appearing respectable and acceptable as a candidate for
the presidential elections in 2008.
Scan
the rows and fill the gaps
Roopinder Singh
How to Solve Sudoku
by Robin J. Wilson. Rupa.
Pages 116. Rs 95.
What
do you need to solve a new puzzle? Focus, concentration and
patience — a self-help book helps, of course. Sudoku has triggered a
mini-publishing tide of such books and this one comes from an eminent
mathematics professor in England who has previously written books like
Sherlock Holmes in Babylon, and Other Tales of Mathematical History,
Topics in Algebraic Graph Theory, and Music and Mathematics.
OFF THE SHELF
Where
silence speaks
V. N. Datta
Postmodernism and History:
Theory and History
by Willie Thompson Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Pages 161. $ 17.95.
The
term "Postmodern",
fuzzy, inchoate and susceptible to several meanings, is so flexible that
it has generated much controversy and even hostility. Its utility as a
mode of enquiry has been questioned, but it has no doubt greatly
influenced historiography during the past two decades. This small and
unpretentious volume offers a broad and valuable introduction to the
principal Postmodernist theory, and its impact on history-writing, a
much debated issue among historians.
Mushroom
shadow
Sridhar K Chari
Second Strike: Arguments about
Nuclear War in South Asia.
by Rajesh Rajagopalan. Penguin Viking. Pages 237. Rs 395.
It
seems a little late in the
day to release a book arguing that notwithstanding the nuclear tests of
1998 by India and Pakistan, the nuclear dangers in the subcontinent are
exaggerated and the two countries are not exactly on the verge of a
thermo-nuclear exchange. This is the essential theme of Rajesh
Rajagopalan’s book, and to that extent, the effort does not escape a
dated feel. And one is not even thinking of how the recent Indo-US joint
statement might begin to change the equation.
MALAYALAM Review
His Mission
A.J. Philip
Swami Ranganathananda
by D. Vijayamohan
D.C. Books, Kottayam, Pages 143, Rs 90
IT
is an irony that the first biography of Swami Ranganathananda, easily
the tallest interpreter of Vedanta after Swami Vivekananda and master of
many languages, should come out in Malayalam. Even more ironical is that
the author, who is the Bureau Chief of the Malayala Manorama in
New Delhi, had to wait for 12 years before the manuscript could be sent
to the publisher.
Scribes,
pirates and adventure
Rubinder Gill
Scandal Takes a holiday
by Lindsey Davis. Arrow Books.
Pages 344. £ 6.99.
Lindsey
Davis’ old Roman Empire is a happening and exciting place. Scandal
Takes a Holiday presents the latest adventure of Marcus Didius Falco,
the suave detective, as he is called out to find a missing scribe. A
curious mix of detectives (yes, there are more than one); spies,
journalists (the very firsts! and dealing with gossip, sports and other
regular features of our daily lives), military and the sea pirates;
besides, curious and bizarre relatives and friends of Falco make it an
uproariously interesting book.
A
delightful gaggle
Priyanka Singh
When Banshee Kissed Bimbo and
Other Bird Stories
by Ranjit Lal. Puffin. Pages 153. Rs 199.
Ranjit
Lal is an insect-animal
person. What he does with these creatures is so wondrous, that it is
always a pleasure to read him. His The Caterpillar Who Went on
a Diet and Other Stories was hilarious and unique in its
conceptualisation. The stories he would weave around these tiny, creepy
crawlies would, unbelievably, endear them to you and one would have
thought it impossible for him to repeat the feat but he has done so
again.
URDU REVIEW
Small quatrain,
deep thoughts
Saroop Krishen
Insan Bano
by A.C. Bahar. Educational Publishing House.
Pages 267. Rs 200.
Amir
Chand Bahar’s Insan Bano draws the reader’s attention, as it
consists of quatrains only. The book is an impressive collection of 410
quatrains covering a vast array of subjects. The quatrain is a
particularly difficult branch of literature that calls for strict
discipline of the mind and precision of thought as whatever has to be
said has to be contained in four lines of poetry.
Family
dynamics
Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal
The Family in India: Structure
and Practice
compiled and edited by Tulsi Patel.
Sage Publications, New Delhi.
Pages 310. Rs 380.
The
book is sixth in the seven volume series on "Themes in
Indian Sociology" and is based on the articles published on the
family theme in Sociological Bulletin during the last five decades. It
contains 12 thematic papers, besides an introduction by the author. All
papers except for one were published during the early 50s and 60s.
Back
of the book
Chaucer
by Peter Ackroyd. Vintage. Pages 175. £ 4.75
This
is a biography on Geoffrey
Chaucer, who has some claim to being the greatest poet in the English
language. Yet he has also been considered to be an invisible poet,
self-deprecating and ironic, leaving only the breath of his comedy
behind. In truth a great deal is known of him. He was a royal servant,
who was indicted for rape and was also captured in battle and held for
ransom. He knew at first hand the most powerful people in the country;
and, as the king’s servant, was concerned with the most pressing
events of the realm.
-
If Love is a Game,
These are the Rules
by Cherie Carter-Scott. Arora’s Book World. Pages 253. Rs 125
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With No One as Witness
by Elizabeth George. Holder & Stoughton. Pages 584. £ 11.99
-
Citizen Vince
by Jess Walter. Hodder & Stoughton. Pages 293. £6.90
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