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Padmarajan's Malayalam classic movie Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal is inspired from this novel.
A common theme repeated in stories and novels of M Mukundan is the never ending conflict between modernity and tradition. He seems to explore different aspects of this theme in most of his stories that I read.
Kannadiyude Kaazhcha also deals with the same. It asks at what expense do we embrace modernity by showing us a merchent who sells dreams and a man who sells plastic replications of flowers, plants animals and ultimately humans.
He explores the pathos of youth who cannot bear the transitory nature of modern living and escapes it in stories about sons becoming Aghoris and man-gods. There is a clever story about the conflict between development and preservation of nature seen through the eyes of aliens visiting Kerala for a vacation.
Most of the stories are clever and makes the reader introspect about the times that we live. There are some of them which are pretty flat and does not provide any impact. But still the better stories of the collection compensate for them.
Where Are You Going You Monkeys, the collection of Tamil folk tales by Ki Rajanarayanan, thankfully is one that tries really hard to reduce the distance between oral and written formats of story telling. There is no interference from the collector's or translator's side, except certain footnotes that illuminate certain aspects of the stories that may be alien for today's readers. Author doesn't shy away from stories that portray the primeval value system of the narrators and that makes reading this collection a raw experience. The innocent sensibility of villagers- their prejudices, superstitions, social and economic behavioural patterns and above all their sharp humor, oozes out of the stories.
Reading Xiaobo visualised in me a seahawk that flies far above the ocean, observing it closely and once in a while plunging into it and rising again with a fish on the beak. He gives us a general description of the subject and, when we least expect it, takes the plunge and throws towards us a surprise observation that is consistently profound and witty.
The voice of Diddy is very soothing and relaxing. It's the best sleeping pill out there that doesn't have side effects. He is the second best thing that has put me to sleep, first being the Applied Science teacher while he was lecturing for my Diploma.
An interesting collection of folk tales from many parts of the world, Kamala features strong heroines who are polar opposites of the damsels in distress stereotypes that the more popular Disney movies represent.
Linda Stratmann has delivered a suspenseful detective novel featuring Holmes, very much in the style of Doyle. Though this Holmes never attempts to break any new ground and settles to stay close to its classic predecessor, the book ultimately was a satisfying experience.
Mr. Stoker and the Vampires of Lyceum is a fictional account of some incidents in Bram Stoker's life that ended up with him writing his tour de force, Dracula. Matthew Gibson is a scholar of Bram Stoker, Gothic, and vampirism. He has written many books on Dracula, and this is his first work of fiction.
As these are supposed to be the experiences that inspired Stoker to eventually pen Dracula, it is to be expected that the story mirrors the classic to some extent. There are instances where this association burdens the plot to a small extent. Though some interesting plot twists eventually save the book, sometimes I feel like closing it down and taking up Dracula to read further. But for the most part, Mr. Stoker and the Vampires of Lyceum is an interesting book, thanks to brilliant characterization, great atmosphere building, and some inventive plot twists.
A very basic introduction on the topic. You are not going to find any SUPER ADVANCED TECHNIQUES in the book as the title suggests. It's written in very simple language devoid of jargon and can be completed in a couple of hours.
An Indian Spy in Pakistan is a chilling autobiography of an Indian caught in Pakistan for espionage. I cannot imagine someone who is ready to undertake such a risky career like going undercover in a very hostile country with the intention of leaking their official secrets. Initially I was disappointed as the book have just a few pages describing his operations in Pakistan and most of it is the account after his capture. But later I realised that he has done the right thing as such a disclosure may have several adverse effects.
The book is a scathing review of Pakistan's systematic shortcomings, but it repeatedly stresses that the common people are as good and kind as people from anywhere on earth. Though despised, tortured and ridiculed widely as an enemy spy, he finds kindness from totally unexpected corners. His narration of the historical developments of Pakistan through his and other insider's eyes makes the account more delectable.
We see a young Michel Kichka tasting a helping of Falafel with hot sauce on his first vacation to Israel in the opening pages of his second graphic novel, aptly titled as Falafel With Hot Sauce. At that moment, he learns his first lesson- ‘In Israel, what you see isn't always what you get'. The book builds up on this lesson and chronicles his bittersweet relationship with Israel.
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Very interesting and informative lectures on all that you need to make yourself up-to-date on the cosmological front.
The Sorcery Of The Senses by Tanima Das is the first part of a fantasy series that doesn't make the reader crave its sequel. It is well narrated and inhabited by good characters, though it lacks a hook for the reader in its climax. I do feel that the author missed the chance to make something crazy with material that had the potential for an over-the-top plot. Still, it is a pretty good debut, and fantasy lovers will not complain after reading it.
The book is basically a historical novel. Almost all the characters except the protagonist and a few others are actual persons and many events depicted in the plot are actual ones. Author has used a humorous approach for narrating the story. The tone is varying- you find lot of sarcastic talk, satire, use of irony, some slapstick and some situational humor, all thrown in. But the wit in narration never dilute the thrill or suspense of the plot. The author retains the gravity of the situation wherever required and it never becomes a parody of the spy genre.
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The plot is relentlessly quick in its progression. Its ending is satisfactory and then leaves the possibility to explore more of the book's strongest points in a sequel. The narration is thrilling, trimmed, and refuses to beat around the bush. The format of the book doesn't give much scope for plot development or characterization. The weakest part of the book is the first few pages that are devoted to these two formalities. Once the action kicks in, reading goes into auto-mode until the climax.
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The collection, published by The University of North Carolina Press, who were gracious enough to provide me with this review copy through Netgalley, consists of twenty essays of varying length about diverse topics. All these essays are birthed by the experiences of the writer, from his childhood, his multiple professions, and his interactions with people at various places that he visited and stayed in his life. The author tries to find takeaways from each of them that he feels are deserving of being shared with his readers. When we look into the past, we remember only snippets of some memories, most of them so vague that it becomes an impossibility to reconstruct them. But there may be some vivid frames that we never forget and that continue to grow inside us, making our lives richer.
പൊതുവേ ക്രൈം- ത്രില്ലർ വിഭാഗത്തിൽ പെടുന്ന മലയാളകൃതികൾക്ക് മലയാളി വായനക്കാർക്കിടയിൽ ഒരു അസ്പൃശത ഉണ്ട്. വായന ഗൌരവമായെടുക്കുന്ന മലയാളി വായനക്കാർ ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് കൃതികളായും മറ്റു ഭാഷകളിൽ നിന്നുള്ള തർജ്ജമകളായും വരുന്ന ക്രൈം നോവലുകൾ ആവേശത്തോടെ വായിക്കാനെടുക്കുന്നവരാണ്. എന്നാൽ മലയാളത്തിൽ എഴുതപ്പെടുന്ന കൃതികൾക്ക് ഗുണമേന്മയില്ല എന്നാണ് ഒരു ധാരണ. ഈ ധാരണ കാരണം നല്ല കൃതികൾ എഴുതപ്പെടാത്തതാണോ, അതോ നല്ല കൃതികൾ എഴുതപ്പെടാത്തത് കൊണ്ട് വായനക്കാരില്ലാത്തതാണോ എന്ന തർക്കം നിലനിൽക്കുന്നതിനാൽ, ന്യൂറോ ഏരിയ പോലുള്ള വ്യത്യസ്തമായ ചുവടുവെപ്പുകൾ ശ്രദ്ധിക്കപ്പെടേണ്ടത് മലയാള സാഹിത്യത്തിന് അത്യാവശ്യമാണ്.
I loved the book because it doesn't entangle itself in technological jargon and is very approachable. At the same time, it is very thorough in the application part, which may be of considerable interest to the non-technical population. It has a very balanced perspective about the strides that India has made in its AI journey and also about the long way it has to further travel to overcome its rivals in the field. It doesn't gloat about the technology, nor does it demonise the dangers. Some parts of it felt repetitive, and the figures and charts included in it were too juvenile, like copy-pasted from a PowerPoint presentation. But still, I consider the book to be one for mandatory reading.
Rumors Of Her Death is an upcoming novel by J M Donellan that chronicles the plight of an antihero possessing a chameleon like skill of shifting through identities which he employs to escape from his past. His whole life used to be an escape attempt and now it is time for him to stop and face the tormenting demons- both inside and outside him. This is a fast paced psychological thriller with elements of black comedy which is set in Australia.
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Fate Eclipsed is a short novel that is inspired from Mahabharata. It offers an interesting, though not very deep or illuminating, insight into the mind of one of the most influential characters of the epic. I found it an entertaining and quick read and hope the author can come up with a longer book that unearth and explore a different facet of Mahabharata.
7 Secrets of Goddess is an important book that brings to forefront the role of Goddess in otherwise male dominated mythology. The book grab eyeballs due to a wealth of picures- calendar arts, paintings, photographs of sculptures and idols, which help the reader to comprehend a explanation rich narrative. What is fantastic is that instead of literally or metaphorically assessing Indian mythology, like Islamic invaders or British colonists or several recent Indologists (who by the way cannot think an inch beyond sex when confronted with a phallus symbol or a naked goddess), Pattanaik goes for a deeper psychological approach. To his credit, he comes out with a convincing portrayal of a culture that had no inhibition in acknowledging the presence of suffering in the world, a culture that could accomodate light and darkness, pleasure and suffering, good and bad, equally.
സിനിമാപ്പുസ്തകങ്ങളുടെ പതിവ് ആഖ്യാന രീതികളിൽ നിന്ന് നല്ല രീതിയിൽ വ്യതിചലിക്കുകയും, റിപ്പോർട്ടിംഗ് ശൈലി അല്ലാതെ സാഹിത്യത്തിന് പ്രാധാന്യം കൊടുത്തുകൊണ്ടുള്ള ഒരു ആഖ്യാനരീതി കൊണ്ടുവരികയും ചെയ്ത ആസ്വാദ്യകരമായ പുസ്തകമാണ് ഒരു അന്തിക്കാട്ടുകാരന്റെ ലോകങ്ങൾ. തൻറെ ലോകത്ത് ആഴത്തിൽ വേരോട്ടുകയും, തുടർന്ന് കേരളമൊട്ടാകെ തഴച്ചു വളർന്ന അവയെ തൻറെ സിനിമ കണ്ട മലയാളികളിലൂടെ ലോകം മുഴുവൻ പടർത്തുകയും അങ്ങനെ ലോകം മുഴുവൻ അന്തിക്കാടാക്കുകയും ചെയ്ത ഒരു പ്രതിഭാശാലിയുടെ കഥയാണിത്. സിനിമയിൽ നിന്ന് അകന്ന് അതിൻറെ ആഡംബരങ്ങൾ കണ്ട് അമ്പരന്നു നിൽക്കുന്ന സാമാന്യ ജനത്തിന് അതിനു പുറകിലുള്ള അധ്വാനത്തിന്റെയും അർപ്പണബോധത്തിന്റെയും ആവശ്യം മനസ്സിലാക്കി തരാൻ കൂടി ഈ പുസ്തകം ഉപകരിക്കും.