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Archetype of love
& peace
Reviewed by Shelley Walia
Rose Lore: Essays in Cultural
History and Semiotics
Ed Frankie Hutton.
Lanham: Lexington Press.
Pages 168. Price not mentioned.
THE
rose is a popular archetype that resides deep in the human
consciousness and often finds a pivotal place in works of art and
rudimentary folklore. Reference to it comes in the purest expression
of human experience assuming global significance and with broad
cultural and social connotations ranging from anthropology to
astrology, from the history of religions to the horrendous practice of
genital mutilation, a practice endemic to the backward tribal world of
Africa.
In
search of identity
Reviewed by Charandeep
Singh
A Break in the Circle
By Sharmila Kantha.
HarperCollins.
Pages 208. Rs 250.
AS
the title of the novel suggests, it is a break in the monotonous and
mundane circle of Anu, the protagonist, once she develops an online
contact with a professor in America. Interspersed with Bhojpuri
dialects, the novel is set in Patna, which is though urban but not so
cosmopolitan at the same time.
Dark
history
Reviewed by Ravia Gupta
Perfect Eight
By Reema Moudgil.
Tranquebar.
Pages 252. Rs 200.
WHEN
the rain becomes just a beady fringe around the trees, the sun
explodes in the sky, turning Missamari cantonment in Assam into a
bright crayon drawing, and the children tumble out of homes to reclaim
their front-yards, Reema sees her Ma looking at them, with a sad,
half-finished smile.
An
outstanding policeman
Reviewed by Kanwalpreet
The British, the Bandits and
the Bordermen: From the Diaries and Articles of K. F. Rustamji
Ed. P.V. Rajgopal.
Wisdom Tree.
Pages 388. Rs 495.
THERE
are men who work quietly, discharging their duties to the best of
their abilities, motivating many around themselves and leaving their
impressions on people’s minds for a long time. P.V. Rajgopal’s
book on K.F.Rustamji reflects these traits about the latter.
Fascinating
forecast
Reviewed by Peter Carty
Turned out Nice
By Marek Kohn.
Faber. Ł14.99.
MOST
of us have some idea of what climate change might have in store for
the British Isles – we’ll have a more Mediterranean climate,
increased flooding, vineyards will flourish, malaria could reappear
and so on.
SHORT TAKES
Variegated tales of women
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
Faces in the Water
by Ranjit Lal.
Puffin.
Pages 202. Rs 199.
Mark-ing a century
Guy Adams
After keeping readers waiting for 100 years, Mark Twain’s tell-all autobiography will finally be released later this year
EXACTLY
a century after his death, Mark Twain’s autobiography, which he
devoted the last decade of his life to writing, is finally going to be
published. he creator of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and some of the
most frequently misquoted catchphrases in the English language left
behind 5,000 unedited pages of memoirs when he died in 1910, together
with handwritten notes, saying that he did not want them to hit
bookshops for at least a century.
Tęte-ŕ-tęte
Dramatist
from the desert
Nonika Singh
Ignoramuses
might take refuge in the dictum—‘Ignorance is bliss’—but noted
playwright, poet and critic Dr Nand Kishore Acharya feels that there
is no greater happiness than the bliss of knowing. In the world of
performing arts, his quest to know more had begun with theatre
criticism. A cultural correspondent with a newspaper in 1974, as he
went about reviewing plays he began to understand the medium inside
out.
Pritish
Again
Pritish
Nandy, who has donned multiple hats — of a painter, filmmaker,
columnist, journalist — has brushed up his rusted knack of poetry
and has after ages come out with a book, for which he gives all credit
to his friend and Oscar-winning lyricist Gulzar.
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