The Vegetarian By Han Kang

What would happen if any ordinary, mediocre person will have a sudden, random change in his/her personality resulting in a 180 degree change in the behaviour. How should the people surrounding him/her be reacting? How can they fathom the reasons and face the repercussions because of such sudden changes? And most importantly, what’s happening in…

Just An Ordinary Day By Shirley Jackson

When you talk about Shirley Jackson then you immediately think about her stories detailing the supernatural world or other worldly characters. This anthology of her short stories – some published previously & some unpublished ones, cover both of these categories; but they are not limited to any particular genre here. There are total of 54…

From Words to Views: A Suitable Boy

How you write about the most famous Indian novel of our times? How you build a screenplay out of such massive book? Well, to answer the first question; I’m not here to write a book review of A Suitable Boy. I am here to talk about the screen adaptation of this important literary milestone. As…

From Words To Views: The Haunting of Bly Manor

The subsequent season of the Haunting of the Hill House has dropped and how! It has all the spooky elements to stand out among all the horror stories available right now. There is a rehearsal dinner in progress; we have the bride and groom, with few of their selected guests. Then comes she, mysterious and…

Troubled Blood By Robert Galbraith

Margot Bamborough; a doctor, practising GP has walked out for the day of her shared practice on 11 October 1974. Her evening plan was well-known to her colleagues as well to her husband; which was to meet her best friend. From there, straightforward heading to home to her infant daughter- Anna. But as she steps…

Dancing In Cambodia And Other Essays By Amitav Ghosh

This is what happens when an accomplished novelist is also a brilliant historian as well as a noted columnist; essays mixing all these different elements to present us with a nuanced view of South East Asia. The namesake of the book titled ‘Dancing in Cambodia’ takes up to the tiny Buddhist nation of Cambodia; neighbouring…

Cicadia By David Gilbert

On a typical Saturday night, three boys set out in the late evening to attend a party. The car is driven by  Rodney, Ben is sitting just next to him and Max is in the back seat. Although the story is of these three friends, it belongs more to Max. Max- the dreamer, the philosopher…

The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden By Jonas Jonasson

When I first picked up this book and went through the blurb on the backside cover; my immediate reaction was the plot seems bit weird but might be wonderful. And yes, I can now summarise that my initial guess was correct – quite a charming but weird tale with multiple whacky characters. So, the story…

The Illicit Happiness of Other People By Manu Joseph

Why Unni did what he did? This question is at the heart of Manu Joseph’s Chacko family tale titled The Illicit Happiness of Other People. It traces lives of Chacko family members- the downward spiralling father Ousep, disturbed Mother Mariamma and perplexed teenage brother Toma. True to his journalistic work and using the trick of…

Bear Town By Fredrik Backman

We are the bears….. We are the bears from Bear Town!! A small, secluded village lies in one forgotten corner of Sweden; sleepy, downward bound in terms of economic growth but famous for only one thing, it’s Ice Hockey Team. Peter used to be one of the most famous and well-loved player of Bear Town….

The Cairo Trilogy- Sugar Street By Naguib Mahfouz

The end of a trilogy but not of the lives of Al-Jawad family. Like the real life, their lives continue beyond the ending of this mighty novel. In this penultimate book of the series; the focus veers slightly from the main house of Al-Jawad family towards the extended branches living at the Palace of Desire…

The Cairo Trilogy- Palace of Desire By Naguib Mahfouz

The lyrics of a famous Hindi song were the ones came to my mind when I completed the second novel in the Cairo Trilogy. As the song goes, this novel talks about descending into recesses of one’s soul because of unrequited love. हम बेखुदी में तुमको पुकारे चले गये हम… हम बेखुदी में तुमको पुकारे…