Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Published on Sundays
Online edition of India's National Newspaper Sunday, April 04, 2004 |
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Literary Review Published on Sundays |
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Beyond Book Slam@Cherry Jam
A red-haired girlTHE narrator for much of the Trezza Azzopardi's first novel, The Hiding Place (2000), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, was a young child. The narrator of Remember Me is a mentally handicapped woman of 72 who reviews her ...
IN CONVERSATION 
'Reading is a commitment'If his books are prolific and profound, his interviews are invariably monosyllabic. Author M.G. VASSANJI, now based in Canada, would rather be known for what he pens. Most of his writing is set in parts of Africa, where he moved to a s a child. In India recently after the publication of his latest novel, The In-Between Life of Vikram Lall, his sixth book to date, Vassanji spent some time with SUCHITRA BEHAL talking about his work and his views on the w orld of publishing. Excerpts:
VOICE FROM THE PAST 
A poet's perceptionsThough NOORUL HASAN had never met NISSIM EZEKIEL, in the mid-1990s he thought he had some questions about the burgeoning tribe of "Indo-English" poets, the interface between English and the "vernacular" literatures ... PROFILE Laughter born of tears Noted Malayalam writer VKN, passed away recently. THACHOM POYIL RAJEEVAN recalls the life and times of the writer known for his `humour'.
CLASSICS REVISITED 
Confessions of a sinner"O God, give me chastity and continence but not just yet. For I was afraid you would answer my prayer at once and cure me too soon of the disease of lust, which I wanted satisfied, not quelled... "Saint Augustine: ... THE VIEW FROM KING STREET The Crystal Palace CHRISTOPHER HURST admits to sharing a not uncommon obsession — with one remarkable building that burnt to the ground nearly 70 years ago. DIFFERENT REGISTERS A joyful find WOMEN'S history has to be put together with bits and pieces gathered from many different sources. It could be a lullaby, sung by a woman in the fields while transplanting or it could be a short diary entry a woman made while in jail. It could be ... 
First ImpressionsALEXANDER McCALL SMITH is known for his great series entitled The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Smith through a set of short stories delivers an unusual insight into Africa, its unique culture and the incredible workings of people in that ... WORDSPEAK Cricket spin-offs WHEN I was a young boy, I once threw a stone at a dark, rich looking object that hung from a tree limb and that was buzzing with activity. What happened next was very similar to writing the last month's "On the Bollywood Beat". Swarms of readers ... ENDPAPER 
Incomparably compassionateTHE death of Chaim Potok — the much-loved author of The Chosen, My Name Is Asher Lev and The Book of Lights — a few years ago went sadly unmentioned in the Indian press. There were no obituaries or articles on ...
EYEWITNESS 
In high placesMadam Secretary is more than the traditional memoirs ... Albright weaves the personal into the details about policy-making at the highest levels in Washington. 
Too much griefA NOVEL of remorse, sorrow and loneliness. It celebrates despair. Nothing wrong. But it has a benumbing effect. The undercurrent of pathos runs right through the book, without a moment of respite, so to say. In many ways, Afterwards ... ESSAYS Of Tagore and more `The book is excellently produced and is extremely useful to literature students, especially those who specialise in Tagore or Translation Studies.' AESTHETICS 
Battling with beauty`Saundarya raises difficult questions which invite reasonably intense discussions. For the taking are 31 essays by scholars, historians, artists, curators, critics, and self-professed aesthetes.' GENDER STUDIES Protest and pleasure `Some of these essays celebrate the ways in which certain writers look forward with creativity and hope, not just back in anger.' LIFESTYLE 
Colours of modernity`Its canvas is contemporary India — painted in the warm colours of self-conscious womanhood against the textured backdrop of popular culture and democracy in the Indian nation.' HISTORY The fabric of our lives `Ultimately, despite the hard work, Dalal's book remains the shadow of a brilliant idea.' POETRY 
Hard-won humanity`Different Faces reminds us yet again that the intensely particular frequently has more charge and resonance than ponderous abstraction and sweeping generality.' 
From the blurb...The Bus Stopped speaks of `lives and times lived, exemplifying the often unrealised necessity of journeying and discovery... It ... traverses the difficult terrain of journeys and homes, and Khair signposts the longing and belonging ... FICTION Same old obsessions `I have nothing at all against popular fiction; on the contrary. But I do have something against popular fiction which masquerades as something else.'
IN THE NEWS 
Oblique visionEdwin Morgan was recently appointed the poet laureate of Scotland. In this portrait of the poet, RENUKA RAJARATNAM says that it offers new and exciting possibilities of aesthetic transformations in poetry. LANGUAGE Changing concepts of style S. JAGADISAN and M.S. NAGARAJAN illuminate us with a survey of changing trends in the use of language over the last 400 years. SHORT STORY The tomb I WAS then about four. I can still recall that gelid winter morning, with the cold wind whistling around my ears. Bundled up in heavy woollens, I walked behind mother, down the zigzag gravel path of our farmhouse. She stopped near a tomb that ... |
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