Posts tagged

"India "

April 25, 2013

Swallowing the World: Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children

What are the chances that a book you start reading on assignment without much enthusiasm or desire will be the book that blows your mind? In this case, pretty high.

October 6, 2012

Jhumpa Lahiri’s Pulitzer-winning Interpreter of Maladies: Stories of Strangers in a Strange Land

Jhumpa Lahiri's debut book of short stories -- which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize -- examines the Indian immigrant experience in America with beautiful writing, nuanced depth, and poignant cultural insight.

June 23, 2012

The Lovely, Uncomfortable Intimacy of Rajesh Parameswaran’s I Am An Executioner

A collection of strangely loveable characters are deeply confused about the choices they are making, inspiring you to want to reach out to each of them, grab them by the shoulder and say, 'Friend, please, take a second to look at what you’re doing here.' But I assure you they won't listen.

May 3, 2012

Shantaram: An Ex-Con, a Bombay Slum, an Experience Unlike Any Other

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured." And so begins Gregory David Roberts’ epic.

May 1, 2012

Not What You’d Expect From a Novel of New Marriage: Nell Freudenberger’s The Newlyweds

Freudenberger's latest isn't your typical fairy-tale of the honeymoon phase of marriage. In fact, it's world's away from that.

April 26, 2012

Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance: Life During India’s State of Emergency

Here is a haunting tale of morality, struggle, perseverance, and ultimately, love. Set in India during the mid-1970s, we get a glimpse of a country filled with corruption and turmoil so intrinsic it is difficult to see what good can come from anything.

April 17, 2012

In India, (Almost) Everything for Sale: Aravind Adiga’s Last Man in Tower

How far would you go to resolve your financial woes? To "make a killing"? Aravind Adiga brilliantly tackles this question in his latest novel, in which the residents of Vishram Society, a cooperative apartment building in Mumbai, are faced with a sudden opportunity.

February 9, 2012

A Journey to Mumbai: Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers

The New Year is new again. Thank you, lunar calendar; the Year of the Dragon promises to bring energy, prosperity, and change. It’s time to add some perspective to your life. Challenge your own opinions, beliefs, and experiences based on something real. Fortunately, this is as easy as adding Behind the Beautiful Forevers to our reading lists.