|
Beyond borders
Rumina Sethi
Same-Sex Love in India: A
Literary History
Eds. Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai.
Penguin.
Pages 479. Rs 450.
PURITANISM
does not allow us to talk about the subject of same sex love in a
country where homosexuality is often blamed on "foreign
invaders". Yet, the shastras are replete with instances of
celebration of same-sex pairs, be they twins, sisters, co-mothers,
rivers or friends.
interview
The
daughter’s case
Nonika Singh
Punjab
is a readymade topic for researchers," quips academician author, a
lecturer in development studies, University of Manchester. Documenting
the obsession of Punjabis with a male child in a book titled Son
Preference, this proud Punjaban is dismayed with the social
inequalities that criss cross the social fabric of the state. "When
it comes to social equilibrium, Punjab is a total disgrace", she
says.
Understanding
du Maurier
Aradhika Sharma
Daphne
by Justine Picardie.
Bloomsbury.
Pages 405. Rs 350.
THE
book opens with the 50-year-old Daphne du Maurier, whose life seems sad
and dreary at that point. Her husband, Tommy Browning, is recovering
from a breakdown, brought on by drink and a long-term affair with
another woman, whom Daphne christened the ‘snow queen’. We find
Daphne at Menabilly, her Cornish home. Daphne is full of regret and
desolation, and haunted by the eerie presence of her own fictional
creation, Rebecca.
Nature
vs development
Ambika Sharma
Ecotourism
by Dr Kulwant Singh Pathania and Dr Arun Kumar.
Regal Publications.
Pages 290. Rs 980.
Presenting
a quintessence of what the ecosystem can offer to a traveller as well as
a student of tourism, this book is a repository of information. Penned
by an academician and a bureaucrat serving in Himachal Pradesh, the
writing compiles the nitty-gritty which tourism offers as a subject to a
student and also to an investor who wishes to take up tourism as a
professional venture.
Emotional
journey of a refugee
Manmeet Sodhi
Lahore to Delhi ... Rising from
the Ashes
by Pran Seth.
Punya.
Pages 288. Rs 345.
HERE
is a persuasive voice, marked with passion for history and truth
telling. Pran Seth, a seasoned writer and journalist, layer by layer,
with amazing poise, paints an expansive canvas of his life with bright
splashes of interesting anecdotes, fond memories and hilarious stories.
Incisive
trilogy
Shalini Rawat
The Complete Fiction of Jaya
Varma
Writers’ Workshop. Rs 950.
THE
first volume Children and Other Stories that I picked up began on
a refreshing note. It is a short story about two children who get lost
in the big bad city and are rescued in the end (but with a twist in the
tail). The rescuer’s husband decides to pick up a ransom by holding
them hostage.
Farewell
to feminist icon
Marilyn
French, one of the most
renowned feminist writers, has passed away in New York after suffering a
heart failure. She was 79. The author breathed her last on May 2 in a
Manhattan hospital, said Carol Jenkins, her friend and president of the
city’s Women’s Media Center.
The
essence of Malayaliness
Kerala
is many things to many people. While it is "God’s own
country" for some because of its scenic lushness, others think it
an "embarrassment that encourages constant disorder in its politics
and economy". As author Shinie
Antony writes in a new anthology, Kerala, Kerala, Quite Contrary
there exist multiple Keralas, all volubly at loggerheads with each other
— left or right?
Fair
laureate
Boyd
Tonkin on Carol Ann Duffy’s appointment as the first woman Poet
Laureate
Carol
Ann Duffy’s appointment as
the first female — and first openly gay — laureate in 350 years will
rightly be hailed as a transfusion of fresh blood and energy for a role
that always risks dying from sheer tedious respectability.
Back of the book
Issues not Tissues
by Ann Marie McMahon. Sterling.
Pages 86. Rs 99.
|
