Seven years ago, I tried to read this but abandoned it after a few pages as I knew next to nothing about the political context in which the book was set. This time, with some information about the Risorgimento, I tackled the book and can confirm it lives up to its tag of a ‘masterpiece’ … Continue reading Lampedusa’s ‘The Leopard’
A couple of days after mentioning Jhumpa Lahiri in a blog post, I unexpectedly saw her in person. The Italian Cultural Centre in Delhi, as part of an ongoing series where prominent Indian writers introduce their favourite Italian films ahead of screenings, had invited Lahiri to present the inaugural film — 'Il Sorpasso'. Sruthi and … Continue reading Jhumpa Lahiri on ‘Il Sorpasso’ at IHC Delhi
Eko:This movie has created a lot of buzz and for the right reasons. While a mystery thriller story featuring guard-dogs is definitely unusual in Malayalam cinema, the WWII theatre in South East Asia being portrayed in the movie made it all the more unique. Got reminded of Twan Eng’s trilogy. The Mastermind: Kelly Reichardt reimagines … Continue reading What I Watched – January 2026
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As I wrote last month, Alberto Moravia was the literary discovery of 2025 for me. His wife Elsa Morante was also a celebrated writer best known for her novels ‘Arturo’s Island’ and ‘History’. Their marriage was a stormy affair (literary icons you see), and Moravia himself had at one point confessed: There were days when … Continue reading The Moravia–Morante Marriage
Phantom Thread: I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a conventional artist–muse relationship that slowly turns into a strange psychological duel. Daniel Day Lewis has such screen presence that his performance alone made the movie worth watching. The Sacrifice: My first encounter with Andrei Tarkovsky’s work was far from easy. The film demands absolute attention and … Continue reading What I Watched – December 2025
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
Hardly a week goes by without my reading at least one piece from The New Yorker. Its long-form journalism and the sheer breadth of its coverage—from global wars and haute couture to fiction and cinema—have always been a magnet for me, along with that unmistakable, one-of-a-kind font that makes every page instantly recognizable. Netflix has … Continue reading An Ode to The New Yorker
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
