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OFf
the shelf
Examining the great
divide
V. N. Datta
Partitions: Reshaping States and Minds
by Stefano Bianchini, Sanjay Chaturvedi, Rada Ivekovic and Ranabir.
Samaddar. Frank Cass, New York (First Indian reprint). Pages 176.
THE
present work is a collection of research papers on ‘Partitions
compared and lessons learnt, issues, in the politics of dialogue and
peace’ prepared between October 2001 and January 2002 within the
framework of international programme for advanced studies at the Maison
des Scholars at Reid Hall. The authors have undertaken the challenge of
analysing the nature of partitions, and their consequences within a
multidisciplinary and comparative approach.
Great
books and ‘stupid’ readers
Philip Henshaw
A
poll of 4,000 adult readers has discovered that many of the books they
possess have never been finished. A large number of readers admitted
that end, or, in some cases, never starting them. (55 per cent,
interestingly, admitted to buying books only as decoration, or to look
intelligent to their guests - Ulysses was the top choice here).
Common
man’s story
Ramesh Luthra
Govardhan’s Travels: A Novel
by P. Sachidanandan. Translated by Gita Krishnankutty. Penguin Books.
Pages 438. Rs 350.
NOT
very often we come across a novel so intense, thoughtful and running on
many levels simultaneously as the one penned by P. Sachidanandan. Quite
often we lay at a book written by a person more qualified to handle a
specific theme than anyone else. The novel by the great Malayalam writer
is one such example.
Requiem
for childhood
Santosh Kr. Singh
Childhoods in South Asia
Ed. Deepak Kumar Behera. Pearson Longman. Pages XII+356. Price not
stated.
Children
in major south Asian countries—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka
and Nepal—together form a quarter of the world’s total child
population. India has the largest population of children neck-deep in
poverty, acute deprivation, malnourishment and extreme exploitation.
An icon’s journey
Harbir K. Singh
Amitabh: The Making of a
Superstar
by Susmita Das Gupta.
Penguin Books. Pages 187. Rs 250.
THE book traces the
journey of Amitabh Bachchan in the film industry, where he rose from a
flop hero to a superstar and an icon of the nation. The writer did her
Ph.D and the subject of her thesis was ‘Sociology of Hindi Commercial
Cinema—A study of Amitabh Bachchan’. An in-depth study of Amitabh,
the aura he exuded and his commercial success is at the core of this
book.
A
disconnected world
Aparna M Sridhar
Media Plays & Earth and I
Eds Sudhamahi Regunathan and Shriti Nath Foundation of Unity of
Religions and Enlightened Citizenship, New Delhi Pages: 338 and 332. Rs
200 each
ONE
would expect a compilation of students’ essays on various contemporary
topics to be fresh and interesting, even if it does not generate new
insights and views. However the twin volumes Media Plays and Earth
and I the result of an essay competition organized by the Foundation
for Unity of Religions and Enlightened Citizenship, supported by
President APJ Abdul Kalam, is a pedestrian collection, redeemed only by
a couple of pieces by "seniors."
Truly,
a hard-hitting writer
WITH
one right hook, an epochal friendship was destroyed and a rift opened
between two of Latin America’s most celebrated authors. At a 1976
movie premiere in Mexico City, Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa —
with no apparent provocation — landed a punch to the left eye and nose
of his once inseparable Colombian friend, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who
six years later was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
SHORT TAKES
Rich fare, lucid language
-
Hinduism by Karan Singh
New Dawn Press, N. Delhi. Pages 112. Rs 99.
-
The Ramayana by Bulbul
Sharma
Puffin Books, N. Delhi. Pages 137. Rs 75.
-
Ma Sarada by M
Sivaramakrishna
New Dawn Press, N. Delhi.
Pages 128. Rs 99
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