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OFf
the shelf
Tragic love
story
Reviewed by V. N. Datta
Ruttie and Jinnah
By Khwaja Razi Haider.
Oxford University Press, Karachi.
Pages XIV+118. Rs 595.
THIS
study deals with Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s marital life and its tragic
break up, resulting finally in the death of his 29-year-old young
beautiful and highly talented wife, Ruttie. Originally published in
Urdu, this slender book of 15 chapters with 140-page text is now made
available in English.
Absorbing
history
Reviewed by Lt Gen (retd) Baljit
Singh
War and Peace in Modern
India: A Strategic History of the Nehru Years.
By Srinath Raghavan.
Permanent Black.
Pages 359. Rs 750.
MOST
Indians either praise Jawaharlal Nehru or castigate him as an
outright, failed Prime Minister. So, it is refreshing to come across
Srinath Raghavan, a budding historian who chose a complex period of
India-in-the-making for his maiden book, which even proven authors
would shy away from.
Stimulating
retrospective
Reviewed by Kanchan Mehta
Sketches and Conversations
Recalled
By Margaret Chatterjee.
Promilla and Co.
Pages 189. Rs 225.
THE
book is an array of recollections. In a series of sketches (a sketch
is a short descriptive piece, bearing resemblance to a short story),
the author recalls her various encounters in her eventful life. And
her proclaimed intention, mentioned in the Preface, is to
stress the wider significance of human encounters, which, she
believes, forms the background of history, particularly political
history.
Memoir
of an ill-starred President
Reviewed by Rupert Cornwell
Decision Points
By George W. Bush.
Virgin Books.
Pages 512. £25.
FOR
the best summary of what made his ill-starred presidency tick, you
must persevere almost to the end of this tome of breezy
self-justification. George W. Bush is reflecting on the final set of
crises that crashed around his administration in the autumn of 2008.
Pilgrim’s
progress
Humra Quraishi
I
have always maintained that a translator’s task is far more tedious
than that of the writer’s. For, it’s not just a thankless job but
the translator also has to be cautious not to miss out the basics
while maintaining the very flow of the work.
Tête-à-tête
Refreshing
idiom
Nonika Singh
LIFE
may have delivered him many a whammy but internationally
acclaimed artist Viren Tanwar has always found the gumption to bounce
back. Back in time as a student of the Government College of Art,
Chandigarh, when relatives scoffed ¾ "Oh, he paints takhtis"
¾ he proved them wrong by winning accolades.
Literati
in lush land
Sharing
the dais with writers at the Hay Festival in Thiruvananthapuram,
Malayalam superstar Mammootty recently said screenplays deserved to be
treated as literary genre and merited serious discussion in literary
events.
If
litfests come, can Mumbai be far behind?
ThE
country's business and movie capital had a brush with contemporary
literature last weekend, when it flagged off its first-ever fine print
fest, hosting many emerging writers and even performer Anupam Kher.
Short
Takes
Of
Commonwealth Games, terrorism & betrayal
Reviewed by Randeep
Wadehra
The Shepherd Lies
by Prerna Gill.
Knowledge World.
Pages: viii+79. Rs 185.
-
Sellotape Legacy
by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta.
Harper Collins & India Today.
Pages 302. Rs 450.
-
Typology of
Counter-Terrorism Strategies
by Vinita Priyedarshi.
Knowledge World.
Pages xv+150. Rs 425.
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