Dud Sea Scrawls The Writing, clearly, is not on the wall!

This is not a book review by any stretch of imagination. However, due to lack of imagination while creating my tags, I’ve tagged this post as a book review.

God Particles by Thomas Lux is his eleventh book of poetry. His verses contain rather striking and unusual images that disturb or amuse at first and then coalesce into feelings more lasting than the initial reaction. Look at some of the titles in this collection: “Hitler’s slippers,” “Sleep ambulance,” “Stink eye,” “Gravy boat goes over the waterfall,” “Jesus’ baby teeth,” “Apology to my neighbors for beheading their duck,” “The deathwatch beetle,” “Sex after funerals,” “Toad on golf tee,” and the title poem, “God particles.”

When you have the Deepak Chopra brand on your side you can write a book called 100 Questions from My Child and get a bunch of endorsements when in fact content at random places on the web gives you both food for thought and chuckle in far more generous portions.

in the swing of the things at the end of the year folks, what would be your top three books you read this year?

Somehow I am not sure as to what recently written books I should pick up so am more comfortable picking stuff from the second handbook shop. new books rarely that get there. last year I was into Indian authors but this year haven’t ventured into any Indian section. my top three are:

Bruce Chatwin’s Songlines (this is about his travels in Australia to know more about Aboriginal Songlines - paths across the country that you know of only if you know the song)

Lost Illusions by Balzac is one of the most famous novels out of the ninety two he wrote in his lifetime and maybe also among a million his admirers have written in 175 years since his first novel was published.

Time and Materials: Poems, 1997-2005 by Robert Hass is his first collection of poems to emerge in past ten years. Hass is a familiar name in the contemporary world of poetry. He has been awarded National Book Critics Circle Award twice, and was the poet laureate of the US from 1995-1997. He is a professor at University of Berkeley and is presently a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. He has co-translated the work of Nobel-winner, Czeslaw Milosz. The present book has lapped up a National Book Awards nomination, and received rave reviews from the poets and journalists alike.

Rilke is Rumi, Kabir, Gibran of German language. As a poet, as a seeker, he explored the limits of his knowledge and belief. He translated his solitary thoughts into poetry which has music, meaning and agelessness. What this prose, these letters contain is a faithful, forthright, candid and very modest, searching, guiding voice of Rilke.

For the umpteenth time – my relentless effort to blog. The link is http://teachmetocareandnottocare.blogspot.com/

A story with the backdrop of Indian partition holocaust that displaced 20 million people and killed over a million

It is a long piece with formatting, hence linking it only:

http://viveksharmaiitd.blogspot.com/2007/05/indian-authors-ive-read-and-…

Devastatingly funny

Renu’s Maila Anchal is one of the finest novels ever written in Hindi. The landscape of Bihar, the caste divide, Indian independence and changes in its aftermath, Maithali folklores and poems, the multiple love stories painted on a canvas with highly perceptive descriptions of village life make it one of the most important novels written in and about rural India.

Book review

Came across this.

Thought some of you might like it.

I loved the art that makes up the story - minimal and communicative. Check it out here

Masterpiece epic about love, war, peace, life, everything!

A memoir than spans the whole of twentieth century

Touching, heartfelt masterpiece

a shocking, but mesmerizing love story

Ayn Rand’s We The Living is a novel set in Russia right…..

Kira’s love is flawed for it lacks the honesty and fidelity that one must show towards one she cherishes. Her ideals are made ridiculous by the manner in which she sheds them for survival.

An epic love story, with Russian Revolution as the background score!

Apologies for being AWOL for a very long time. I won’t bore you with the reasons why, but the prime suspect is the usual one

A relative is visiting from India, and he’s promised to get me whatever books I want. So I’m looking for books published in the last couple of years in India (and hard to get hold of via the likes of Amazon) that you’d care to recommend. Fiction/non-fiction/anything at all.

I spent a few minutes earlier today frantically scouring back issues of the Hindu’s Literary Review. And then I realized I should be tapping the best source there is - DSS

Thanks a ton, in advance !

A brief Review of Smell by Radhika Jha.

The book starts with a tagline “What not to do at IIT” and in all fairness sticks to it. For FPS is NOT a book about IITs anymore than Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is about, well motorcycle maintenance. For one, it could have been set absolutely anywhere and would still have been as enjoyable as a well made teen movie.

Lets salute knight-errantry, the author and the translator!

Reading this classic is like going down with fever!