Velasquez's 'Las Meninas' - one of the most analyzed paintings in all of art history makes an appearance in Samantha Harvey's Booker-shortlisted 'Orbital'. The painting as we know is a complex take on reality, perception, reflection and interpretation. Velázquez places himself within the scene as the painter, yet the true subject of his canvas remains … Continue reading The Dog in Velasquez’s ‘Las Meninas’
The Comedy of Errors is considered to be one of the first plays of Shakespeare and is also his shortest. Double roles and mistaken identities often serve as easy gateways for displaying a writer's ingenuity; Shakespeare, however, raises the stakes by introducing two sets of identical twins, allowing confusion itself to drive the comedy. The … Continue reading The Comedy of Errors
The Italian writer Alberto Moravia (1907-90) who wrote most of his famous works during the 50s was my discovery of the month. I'm onto his fourth book and have been floored by his excavation of the interior worlds of his characters and the existential angst that he confronts in his writings. In 'Contempt', a scriptwriter … Continue reading Moravia’s ‘Contempt’ and Ulysses’ Refusal to Return to Penelope
I was skeptical before I began listening to the Malayalam audiobook of Nalini Jameela’s acclaimed autobiography 'Njan Lymgikathozhilali'. The first part of the book dealing with her childhood and initial foray into sex work was a drag. But towards the end, when she began writing of her activism and the socio-political context of the sex … Continue reading Nalini Jameela’s ‘The Autobiography of a Sex Worker’
When we think of Nelson Mandela, we have this statesmanesque vision in our minds. A man who suffered incarceration for 27years and then emerged to lead and heal a country torn by Apartheid is always bound to evoke such imagery. Jonny Steinberg’s ‘Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage’ gave me a reality check of … Continue reading Winnie and Nelson
This November, although I was physically in Delhi, I spent most of the month mentally wandering the streets of Naples. I was immersed in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet, and I’m still not sure how to fully describe the experience. The four books, spanning 1700 odd pages was one of the most powerful literary encounters I’ve … Continue reading Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet
At 1100 pages, Bleak House was my second 1000+ work that I tackled this year (the previous one being War and Peace). Bleak House is not Dickens’ most popular work but it’s a novel that’s been cited as his best by numerous critics. Its also his longest. I haven’t read Marx’s appreciation of Dickens but … Continue reading Dickens’ ‘Bleak House’
Nineteen years after winning the Booker, Kiran Desai is back with a novel, - one that has once again made it to the Booker shortlist. ‘The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny’ at close to seven hundred pages kept me engaged primarily for the vast geographic and cultural landscape it covered. While we read of the … Continue reading The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
Errol Morris’ documentary on the life of John le Carre – The Pigeon Tunnel was a peek into the life of the probably the greatest spy novelist of all time. After watching it, I revisited my notes from his 2016 memoir of the same name, which I read three years back. The title refers to … Continue reading The Pigeon Tunnel
During my travels earlier this year, Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’ was the book for the long train journeys. Austen was just nineteen when she wrote the first draft and published it when she was around 35. The book, like most of Austen’s works is a critique of English society during the early nineteenth century. … Continue reading Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’
