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Reflections on
existence
Reviewed by Shelley Walia
The Meaning of Life
By Terry Eagleton.
Oxford University Press.
Pages 209. £7.99.
FOR
Terry Eagleton, philosophy is the practice of "thinking
hard" and the "possibility of the hitherto unthought-of",
as he suggests in his new book, The Meaning of Life.
Metro’s
dirty underbelly
Reviewed by Puneetinder
Kaur Sidhu
Arrack in the Afternoon
By Mathew Vincent Menacherry.
HarperCollins.
Pages 315. Rs 350.
MATHEW
Vincent Menacherry’s debut novel, Arrack in the Afternoon, is
the story about Varghese, a failed and drunken poet, who in a rare
moment of sobriety decides to end his life. But, miraculously escapes
from under the wheels of the truck he throws himself at. Karan, a
conniving con man (read marketing guru) spots huge potential in the
act and takes Varghese under his wings. Thence begins the fun.
Redefining
market culture
Reviewed by Sumit Ahlawat
Bazaars, Conversation, and
Freedom: For a Market Culture Beyond Greed and Fear
By Rajni Bakshi.
Penguin Books.
Pages 447. Rs 450.
FOR
a lay reader, markets exist in two extreme
models. The first is the capitalist system, where markets function on
their own and any state regulation or intervention is unwarranted.
Here, market forces becomes so powerful in themselves that they
dictate the course of society, policies of nation states, and even
supra national organisations like the UN and the IMF.
Insightful
forecast
Reviewed by Rajesh Kumar Aggarwal
India on the Growth Turnpike:
Essays in Honour of Vijay L. Kelkar
Ed. Sameer Kochhar.
Academic Foundation, New Delhi.
Pages 317. Rs 995.
THIS
volume commemorates the conferring of the Skoch Challenger Lifetime
Achievement Award-2010 on Dr Vijay L. Kelkar for his unique
contributions to the Indian economy in general and his key role in the
financial system reforms in particular.
Not
in the news
A book on gender reporting
examines how women often get sidelined in news stories.
Excerpts...
Objectivity
is the ideal all journalists strive for. We believe that our training
equips us to distance ourselves as we report on a whole range of
situations and comment on everything from films to fires to terrorism.
Yet, scratch any journalist and you will soon discover that this
objectivity is precisely that – a desirable norm that cannot be
easily attained.
Gay
reading
Madhusree Chatterjee
Now, an Indian bookstore in cyberia caters to queer folks
THis
bookshop in cyberspace is queer...literally! It caters to the
country's alternative community of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and
trans-gender (LGBT) people and stacks up on genres like history of
queer life, erotica and queer lingo.
Master
storyteller
John Walsh
DAME
Beryl Bainbridge, one of the finest, most prolific and most loved
British novelists of the 20th century, has died of cancer, aged 75.
Beryl was born in Liverpool and brought up in Formby. It was a tense,
uneasy childhood, of family rows and slammed doors; Beryl evoked it
movingly in A Quiet Life (1976).
Back of the book
Bourne, Bihar and bilingual epics
The Bourne Objective
By Eric Van Lustbader.
Hachette Book Group. $ 27.99.
-
Nobody Does the
Right Thing
By Amitava Kumar.
Duke University. $ 21.95.
-
Tiger Hills
By Sarita Mandanna.
Penguin-Viking. Rs 599.
-
Shree Ramayana
Mahanveshanam
By Veerappa Moily.
Rupa & Co. Rs 1,500.
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