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Adventurous
minds
Rumina Sethi
Measuring the World
by Daniel Kehlmann. Trans. Carol Brown Janeway Quercus, London.
Pages 259. Rs 395.
Measuring
the World is an
excellent novel in the genre of math-fiction that is built upon the
conception of geniuses as rather unworldly and often eccentric
chroniclers of their time. A best-seller written by a 31-year-old, many
believe it is the finest work to have hit the stands after Gunter Grass.
Lustrous
tale well told
Harsh A Desai
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Bloomsbury. Pages 367. Rs
520
"I don’t recognise
Kabul".
"Neither do I"
Leila said. "And I never left".
So
remark two of the characters towards the end of the book and that is
what Khaled Hosseini’s much-anticipated book A Thousand Splendid
Suns is all about. It is a personal history of the people living in
Kabul during the late 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s during the Communist
takeover, the Russian occupation, then the reign of terror by the
mujaheeddin and during the terror unleashed by the Taliban.
Riveting
tale of misrule
Himmat Singh Gill
Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone by Rajiv
Chandrasekaran. Bloomsbury, London. Pages 356. £37.75.
This
is the
story of the first 12 months of the American (mis)rule by the L. Paul
Bremer-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Baghdad after the
fall of the Saddam Hussein regime, by a journalist who saw it all happen
from a very close and perceptive range.
Personal
tragedy
Aradhika Sharma
Mahatma vs Gandhiby Dinkar Joshi. Jaico. Pages 279. Rs 250.
IN
modern parlance, Harilal would be called ‘a loser.’ The life of the
eldest son of Mahatma Gandhi comes alive in this translation of the
Gujarati novel Prakashno Padchchayo, which loosely means "in
the shadow of light."
Triumph
of the survival spirit
Archana K Sudheer
Peculiar people,amazing lives Leprosy, Social Exclusion and Community
Making in South India
by James Staples Orient Longman. Pages 290. Rs 595
Leprosy
has created a distinct community of social outcastes. Author James
Staples’ research is about a community christened Bethany Colony. It
is located in the eastern part of Andhra Pradesh. He explores the
concepts of survival, identity and community building from his own
personal experience of having lived in the colony for several years.
Love
and longing
Aditi Garg
Vinculum by Dr Jaideep Singh Chadha. Cedar Books. Pages 259. Rs 95.
Love
is the most primary of emotions, yet also the most complex. Tomes
have been written trying to decipher it, in its praise and also ones
that insist it is over-hyped. Whatever the case may be, it definitely is
indispensable in its myriad forms.
Lighting
the way to God
Shalini Rawat
Japji Sahib: Way to God in Sikhism by Maneshwar S. Chahal. Prakash
Books. Pages 321. Price not stated.
"Japuji is the most riveting Sikh prayer
recited by the devout early in the morning. The composition is not
assigned to any particular raga or musical measure, as is the rest of
the scriptural text..."
"Preceded by the Mul Mantra, which is an invocation to God, the
Japu comprises an introductory shlok and 38 stanzas, called pauris and a
concluding shlok attributed by some to Guru Angad. The entire
composition forms the sacred morning prayer and serves as a prologue to
the Shri Guru Granth Sahib and encapsulates Guru Nanak’s philosophy as
a whole...
The
art of satire
S. Raghunath
JUST
after World War II, George Orwell entertained everyone except the
leftists with his little book Animal Farm which interpreted the
Russian revolution in the allegory of a farmyard. Farmers were
dispossessed of their land, the once-browbeaten animals took control
through brutal and violent means and in a very short time established a
totalitarian regime presided over by a dictator pig. Soon their state
was in no way distinguishable from conditions under the rule of the
farmer.
A
world gone wrong
Merchants of Death
by Neelima Dalmia Adhar Har-Anand Publications. Pages 371. Rs 395.
The
daughter of a famous industrialist, the author, Neelima Dalmia Adhar, is
known for her insightful biography of her father, titled Father
dearest, the life and times of R.K. Dalmia. Her mother is the Padma
Bhushan awardee Dineshnandini Dalmia. A prominent disclaimer, however,
insists that Merchants of Death, her second book, is a work of
fiction and none of the main characters are real.
Back
of the book
Accidentally Engaged
by Mary Carter A Little Black Dress. Pages 313. £32.25
Daily horoscope for Pisces: Beware road-trips and handsome strangers...
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