Sunday, September 14, 2003		Books

Notes from the underground
Shelley Walia
The Music of the Inferno
by Frank Lentricchia. Albany: State University of New York Press, NY. Pages 219. $24.50
THE Music of the Inferno is a brilliant historical novel, an adroit and an incisive reflection on storytelling, ethnicity and the Italian-American way of life told with profound sensitivity by one of the foremost professors of literature in the English-speaking world.

Ethic of language: Only style matters
Aruti Nayar
Language as an Ethic
by Vijay Nambisan. Penguin Books. Pages 182. Rs 195.
ACCORDING to Wittgenstein, we live inside the language. However, the English language that came to live as a guest is now centrestage and even perceived more as a privileged tool of domination and empowerment than as a medium of communication. The relationship between the English language and the Indian people is not only complex but it is also constantly evolving to be able to encompass an entire range of experience.

Trailing thuggee in the land of Kali
Chetna Banerjee
Children of Kali
by Kevin Rushby. Penguin Books. Pages 292. Rs 350.
KEVIN Rushby’s Children of Kali is meant to be part travelogue, part revisiting of history, part personal account. More specifically, it is the author’s attempt to track down the thuggee cult in India, to peel off layer by layer the myth that this criminal movement of the British period lies wrapped in.

Cold water on Indus Age theories
Jaswant Singh
The Indus Civilisation
by Gregory L. Possehl. Vistaar Publications, New Delhi. Pages 276. Rs 495.
THE Archaeological Survey of India made epoch-making discoveries in the twenties of the last century at Harappa on the left bank of the Ravi (now in Pakistan) and Mohenjo-daro in Sind to reveal that in the third millennium BC, there existed in India, a full-fledged civilisation based on a highly developed urban economy.

Of courage & wisdom
Kamaldeep
The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien. Harper and Collins, New Delhi. Pages 272. Rs 295.
IN the 1960s, Tolkien attracted a cult following by creating complete mythologies of his own. He was influenced by Christian sources, Celtic and Norse mythology coupled with his abiding knowledge and love of Old English literature.

Learn to win as a habit
D.S. Cheema
Win... for Life: I Can, I Shall, I Will... Win
by Akhil Marfatia. Tata McGraw-Hill. Pages 443. Rs 250.
THE past two decades have seen the ‘pop-corn phenomenon’ as far as self-help literature is concerned: more and more pop out as the heat of ‘survival of the fittest’ increases. Most of the books advise individuals to do impossible things if they want to succeed in any field. The first step professed in most cases is taking charge of one’s mind, thoughts, soul, etc, which is possible only through the cut-and-dry formulae provided in these books.

Success and its secrets
Chandra Mohan
Winning Minds
Ros Jay. Capstone. Pages 215. Rs 800 (paperback).
EVEN though entrepreneurship is one of the most intensely researched management topics, it still remains elusive. No one has been able to fathom what make some entrepreneurs successful. They come in every shape, size and colour and have begun their journeys at different ages. Education, social background or gender seem to be of no consequence.

Living life in imaginary worlds
Manisha Gangahar
Ambrosia for Afters
by Kalpana Swaminathan. Penguin Books. Pages 233. Rs 250.
ALL of us, perhaps, live many lives in the span of a single life. There is an overlapping of landscapes, locations, cultures and positions. In Ambrosia for Afters, Kalpana Swaminathan explores the double life of 15-year-old Tenral.

Write view
Good translation retains Tagore’s stamp
Randeep Wadehra
The Crown
by Tagore, translated by Ranjita Basu. Rupa & Co., New Delhi. Pages 191. Rs 195.
THE first ever non-European to win the Nobel in 1913, Tagore’s songs have spawned an entire genre of music named after him. If Bengal considers him its cultural deity, the nation regards him as a beacon that has illumined its literary landscape.

• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
  edited by Mahavir Singh. Anamika Publishers. Pages 135. Rs 300.

• Lockouts in India
  by Ruddar Datt. Manohar Publishers. Pages 184. Rs 500.

Studying management of wetlands
Jayanti Roy
Sustainable Management of Wetlands: Biodiversity and Beyond
edited by Jyoti Parikh and Hemant Datye. Sage Publications, New Delhi. Pages 444. Rs 650.
WETLANDS, which represent the interface between land and water, are rich in biodiversity. They recharge groundwater, purify it, retain nutrients and control microclimates. They also provide innumerable products needed for life-support and livelihood.