Book review: Little Women and Me
Book review: Little Women and Me
Check out the modern take on the original classic
Showing posts with label BOOKS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BOOKS. Show all posts
Book Review: Pleng’s Song by Patrick Maher
Book Review: Pleng’s Song by Patrick Maher
Pleng's Song is a work of fiction by the American author Patrick Maher.
Set in the picturesque backdrop of the Thai peninsula, Pleng's Song is
the turbulent story of an 11 year old teenage girl named Pleng
Butiplanka, whose personal miseries are compounded by a natural disaster
of devastating proportions--- the Thailand floods of 2011.
Taj Literature Festival's website launched
Taj Literature Festival's website launched
The website of the first-ever Taj Literature Festival being held here Feb 1-3, 2013, was launched by Agra Archbishop Albert D'Souza.
Lakshmi Narayan’s Divya is not a ‘Bonsai Kitten’
Lakshmi Narayan’s Divya is not a ‘Bonsai Kitten’
Book Review: Bonsai Kitten
Author: Lakshmi Narayan
Publisher: Lead Start Publishing, Jufic Books
Pages: 296
"I am nothing but a Bonsai Kitten!"- Divya in Lakshmi Narayan's 'Bonsai Kitten'
Author: Lakshmi Narayan
Publisher: Lead Start Publishing, Jufic Books
Pages: 296
"I am nothing but a Bonsai Kitten!"- Divya in Lakshmi Narayan's 'Bonsai Kitten'
Imphal Book Fair attracts myriad publishers
Imphal Book Fair attracts myriad publishers
In an endeavour to encourage the habit of reading among youth in the northeast, a book fair was recently organized in Imphal.
welcome to Americastan: Pakistan meets America
Welcome to Americastan: Pakistani eyes meet American mirror
Book Review: Welcome to Americastan
Author: Jabeen Akhtar
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 280
The title of the book makes the authorial subject quite clear to the readers in the first glance of the book cover.
Author: Jabeen Akhtar
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 280
The title of the book makes the authorial subject quite clear to the readers in the first glance of the book cover.
World's 10 most favourite books in 2012
World's 10 most favourite books in 2012
The top 10 list has been complied based on the New York Times Bestseller rankings and recurrence of the featured books in the list through 2012.
Welcome to the world of whiskers & purrs
Welcome to the world of whiskers & purrs
Book title: The Wildings
Author: Nilanjana Roy
Illustrations by: Prabha Mallya
Publisher: Aleph Book Company
Pages: 351
Well-known columnist and editor Nilanjana Roy's first attempt at fiction, 'The Wildings', overtakes the mundane and goes on to decipher feline tendencies - whisker twitches, purrs, snarls and more. A fine dissection of animal behaviour, most of which is akin to us humans, the book is a vivid read, owing to Roy's allegorical narration and Prabha Mallya's illustrations in gray scale.
Somewhere in the alleys of Delhi's Nizamuddin locality, resides a clique of cats. Wary of unpredictable Bigfeet (humans), unnoticed by rowdy dogs, and camouflaged from the sight of adroit eagles, the clan of felines lead a harmonious and well-fed life, thanks to an abundant mice and bandicoot populace. Things go awry on the day their whiskers tremble to the calls of a Sender. In the band are several characters - veteran warrior cats like Miao, the blue-eyed feline who is also the eldest of the lot, Karat, the leader, Beraal, the queen warrior and Hulo, the scar-faced tom cat. Threatened by the presence of a foreign cat (Sender), someone who's capable of sending such strong transmissions, the community cats convene and decide to get rid of it. Beraal, being the first to hear the Sender is assigned to get shot of it.
Mara, the kitten is a Sender by fate. Born to a mother who was attacked
and killed by dogs, the orphan kitten gets picked up to shelter by a
Bigfeet family. Resembling a tiny, little orange ball of fur, Mara
comfortably adapts to a life with her Bigfeet guardians - feeding on
milk and fish when hungry, snoozing away to glory when tired, and
playing with a toy mice at leisure. She becomes an inside cat whose
adorable ruminations agitate the meditative Nizamuddin cats from time to
time, much to their irritation. She encounters Beraal
during one of her bold expedition of exploring the house, unaware that
the poised feline has her eyes fixed on the kitten from atop the mango
tree, all set to kill her. Their encounter, however, results in the
kitten befriending Beraal, and the queen cat taking Mara as her
disciple. She takes up the responsibility of teaching Mara the nuances
of controlling her strong 'Sender' connections with the other Nizamuddin
cats.
Parallel to the plot, is the story of the Shuttered House. Inhabited by an ailing old man and his many (too many) cats, the degenerating house stinks of evil from every nook. The cats, some born there and others who came seeking shelter, have stayed indoors forever as a result of which they've been distanced from the outside world. This is the point where the author brings into play the animal instinct - the fact that animals locked up for a long time might become uncontrollable when set free. So, when the old man dies, the cats finally get a chance to taste freedom and naturally, pounce upon any moving creature they lay eyes upon. It is here that the two stories merge and a war between the untamed ferals led by leader Datura and the Nizamuddin wildings impends. Earlier in the book, when Miao says that "Senders are born when the clan is in need", it's boastful to read how a small kitten can help an entire clan of cats. Choose to call little Mara the saviour, messiah, or prophet, among cats that is, but she with her unusual powers, really does save the clan from the ferals in the end.
Significant themes: Just like all good fables, 'The Wildings' too has its distinction of the good and the bad. The felines are respectful of their prey and are sober enough to follow "rules" of hunting, and adhering to "scent markings" and "territory lines" in the cat-and-mouse chase games. Themes of friendship are prevalent - Mara and Southpaw share camaraderie, Hulo and Beraal's abiding fondness for each other, and the unique friendship between Rudra, the cub, Tantara, the langur, and the kitten herself, Mara. It is thus made evident that friendship knows no race, caste, gender or religion, in this case, species!
Allegorical names, memorable characters: Almost all characters have undergone a careful christening rite by the author. While she lends some fond names to the cats from her mother tongue (Bengali), others, if I am not reading too much into the text, seem to have Biblical references.
There's Hulo, which means a stumpy, male cat in Bengali, Beraal, which means a suave, feminine cat, Miao, again a quintessential cat name, and Qawwalli, explicable for a cat that belongs to the Nizamuddin dargah environs. The ferals too are cleverly named after venomous plants - Datura, Ratsbane and Aconite. And of course there's Jethro, the mouse that has a name with reference to the Bible, which I'm uncertain is deliberate or not.
Author: Nilanjana Roy
Illustrations by: Prabha Mallya
Publisher: Aleph Book Company
Pages: 351
Well-known columnist and editor Nilanjana Roy's first attempt at fiction, 'The Wildings', overtakes the mundane and goes on to decipher feline tendencies - whisker twitches, purrs, snarls and more. A fine dissection of animal behaviour, most of which is akin to us humans, the book is a vivid read, owing to Roy's allegorical narration and Prabha Mallya's illustrations in gray scale.
Somewhere in the alleys of Delhi's Nizamuddin locality, resides a clique of cats. Wary of unpredictable Bigfeet (humans), unnoticed by rowdy dogs, and camouflaged from the sight of adroit eagles, the clan of felines lead a harmonious and well-fed life, thanks to an abundant mice and bandicoot populace. Things go awry on the day their whiskers tremble to the calls of a Sender. In the band are several characters - veteran warrior cats like Miao, the blue-eyed feline who is also the eldest of the lot, Karat, the leader, Beraal, the queen warrior and Hulo, the scar-faced tom cat. Threatened by the presence of a foreign cat (Sender), someone who's capable of sending such strong transmissions, the community cats convene and decide to get rid of it. Beraal, being the first to hear the Sender is assigned to get shot of it.
 |
Parallel to the plot, is the story of the Shuttered House. Inhabited by an ailing old man and his many (too many) cats, the degenerating house stinks of evil from every nook. The cats, some born there and others who came seeking shelter, have stayed indoors forever as a result of which they've been distanced from the outside world. This is the point where the author brings into play the animal instinct - the fact that animals locked up for a long time might become uncontrollable when set free. So, when the old man dies, the cats finally get a chance to taste freedom and naturally, pounce upon any moving creature they lay eyes upon. It is here that the two stories merge and a war between the untamed ferals led by leader Datura and the Nizamuddin wildings impends. Earlier in the book, when Miao says that "Senders are born when the clan is in need", it's boastful to read how a small kitten can help an entire clan of cats. Choose to call little Mara the saviour, messiah, or prophet, among cats that is, but she with her unusual powers, really does save the clan from the ferals in the end.
Significant themes: Just like all good fables, 'The Wildings' too has its distinction of the good and the bad. The felines are respectful of their prey and are sober enough to follow "rules" of hunting, and adhering to "scent markings" and "territory lines" in the cat-and-mouse chase games. Themes of friendship are prevalent - Mara and Southpaw share camaraderie, Hulo and Beraal's abiding fondness for each other, and the unique friendship between Rudra, the cub, Tantara, the langur, and the kitten herself, Mara. It is thus made evident that friendship knows no race, caste, gender or religion, in this case, species!
Allegorical names, memorable characters: Almost all characters have undergone a careful christening rite by the author. While she lends some fond names to the cats from her mother tongue (Bengali), others, if I am not reading too much into the text, seem to have Biblical references.
There's Hulo, which means a stumpy, male cat in Bengali, Beraal, which means a suave, feminine cat, Miao, again a quintessential cat name, and Qawwalli, explicable for a cat that belongs to the Nizamuddin dargah environs. The ferals too are cleverly named after venomous plants - Datura, Ratsbane and Aconite. And of course there's Jethro, the mouse that has a name with reference to the Bible, which I'm uncertain is deliberate or not.
'Books by scientists can link art and science'
'Books by scientists can link art and science'
Books authored by scientists and those involved in science are "small edifices" that can bridge the gap between science and art, Dadasaheb Phalke awardee actor Soumitra Chatterjee said here Wednesday.
`Fifty Shades of Grey` voted book of the year
'Fifty
Shades of Grey', which has already been crowned the best-selling book
of all time eclipsing the sales of J K Rowling''''s Harry Potter books, has now been voted Book of the Year.
Book Review: The Gurkha's Daughter
Anecdotes, not quite stories
Book: The Gurkha's Daughter
Author: Prajwal Parajuly
Publisher: Quercus
Pages: 272
Price: 12.99 pounds
Author: Prajwal Parajuly
Publisher: Quercus
Pages: 272
Price: 12.99 pounds
Lee’s adaptation is a marvellous companion piece to the book
Lee’s adaptation is a marvellous companion piece to the book
Canadian author Yann Martel tells us about his fond memories of Trivandrum, his take on Ang Lee's reel interpretation of Life of Pi and more...
Jeffrey Archer in the house
Jeffrey Archer in the house
Some
fell in love with his Polish refugee Abel from Kane and Abel, while for
some it was Harry Clifton from the Clifton Chronicles - but all his unforgettable characters came alive at this unique soiree hosted in the city with writer Jeffrey Archer recently.
Book Review: Living Courageously
Book Review: Living Courageously
Book title: Living Courageously
Author: Lipa Rath
Publisher: Power Publishers
Pages: 116
This is an inspirational book written with honesty and humility.
Author: Lipa Rath
Publisher: Power Publishers
Pages: 116
This is an inspirational book written with honesty and humility.
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