ON TRUE LOVE STORIESBoth authors’ books have at their centre older, somewhat illicit loves. D’Mello’s erotic non-fiction memoir, A Handbook For My Lover (Harper Collins India), archives her affair with a photographer who is 30 years older. Kapoor’s fiction, A Bad Character (Penguin Random House), is rooted in reality — the author went “a little… Continue reading In conversation with Deepti Kapoor and Rosalyn D’Mello
Trousers of Time:Every choice you make at a crossroad branches off to another fate. On Discworld, the Trousers of Time are hung on the peg of What Might Have Been. Species embarrassment:When you’re ashamed to be swimming in the same gene pool as some people. See: Hogfather (1996). Mercy and justice:“The good are innocent and… Continue reading 5 best Pratchettisms
The comparisons to Gone Girl are coming in thick and fast for Paula Hawkins’ The Girl On The Train. An unstable woman who rides the train every day thinks she’s witnessed something horrific in one of the houses on her route. A complex, compelling female protagonist; an accelerating sense of danger and an imminent Hollywood… Continue reading Meet Paula Hawkins
“This book is driving me crazy.” The friend who lent me my first Ishiguro was talking about The Unconsoled, in which an acclaimed pianist checks into a hotel in a new city before a big recital. But Mr Ryder, who’s telling this story, seems to have some gaping holes in his memory. He meets characters… Continue reading Kazuo Ishiguro is back
The best thing about a six-figure, seven-book deal with publishing juggernaut Bloomsbury, being read in 20 countries and kick-starting a fantasy movie franchise helmed by Andy Serkis aka Gollum, is that it’s a good stand-in for a social life. “I’m a homebody,” chuckles 22-year-old Samantha Shannon, author of best-selling paranormal YA fiction The Bone Season… Continue reading Samantha Shannon on her sequel, The Mime Order
Sometimes at the Jaipur Literature Festival, a speaker acquires a reputation for being funny, sharp and generally paisa-vasool, and then with each session, draws larger crowds because word has gotten around. This year that star was author Hanif Kureishi. He featured in four sessions and with each one his deadpan one-liners, cheeky interjections and sharp… Continue reading Hanif Kureishi: Badass at the Lit Fest
The most exciting thing on cold, rainy Day 2 was a PowerPoint presentation on bees. No, seriously. One of the nicest things about the Jaipur Literature Festival is it lights your curiosity on the most random of subjects. I didn’t know I wanted to hear a professorial talk on bees till I heard Dave Goulson… Continue reading ELLE at JLF: Best of the Fest, Day 2
British novelist and journalist Will Self’s conversation with poet Jeet Thayil was that perfect blend of rousing, funny and thought-provoking. This was easily the best session of Day 1 at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2015. Here’s what Self had to say for himself. On writing under the influence: Self is the author of books like… Continue reading ELLE at JLF: Best of the Fest, Day 1
A session is going downhill when… A panel of strangers can’t even agree on what the topic of debate means. None of them has actually read or seen the other’s work. The faulty microphone is making their voices echo so much that no one knows what anybody is saying, but everyone nods and carries on pretending they… Continue reading Lit fests for dummies
This screenshot of a passage from Vinod Mehta’s new book, Editor Unplugged, is being shared widely on Twitter. It’s about Mehta’s impression of Tejpal and refers to the period when the latter served as his deputy at Outlook. This throwaway passage, in parenthesis, contains facts that just don’t compute. Let’s break it down. ‘All I… Continue reading What Vinod Mehta said between brackets
Aatish Taseer’s latest work, The Way Things Were, shuttles between the past and present; between deeply personal relationships and historical events. It follows Toby, an Indian maharaja, his son Skanda and their (often complicated) lives. It also touches upon various points in recent history: the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Babri Masjid demolition and the Emergency.… Continue reading 10 minutes with Aatish Taseer
“A short book with a big spirit” is how Ben Okri describes his latest novel, The Age Of Magic, in which a group of documentary film-makers, burdened by the weariness of life, stumble upon meaning through other-worldly encounters in a little Swiss village. We caught up with the essayist, poet and Booker Prize-winning author at… Continue reading Writer’s den: Ben Okri
The Sahitya Akademi winner, professor of contemporary literature and accomplished musician’s newest outing, Odysseus Abroad, is his most ribald, tetchy, searching and ultimately enjoyable novel yet. We caught up with the author to talk about writing, reading and Chetan Bhagat. On his novels’ constant exploration of the world of men, especially drifters “I have a… Continue reading Amit Chaudhuri talks books
First there was news of the stickers for us to create DIY covers of Haruki Murakami’s latest, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki And His Years Of Pilgrimage. Now we have a book trailer. Here’s what we learn: It’s definitely not a guide to using those stickers. The trailer is set to a piano solo by Franz Liszt. Tsukuru… Continue reading Watch Haruki Murakami’s book trailer
The first instalment in Erika Johansen’s Hunger Games-meets-Game Of Thrones trilogy takes place in the Tearling, a dystopian Middle-Ages kingdom in the 24th century, where economic injustice, drug abuse, flailing education and unemployment are rampant. Into this bleakness (inspired by the 2007 US recession), strides the young, idealistic and weight-conscious heroine, Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, heir… Continue reading Q&A: Erika Johansen
Bestselling American author James Patterson’s latest addition to the Private series (starring former-CIA-agent-turned-private detective Jack Morgan) is set in India, and he’s collaborated with The Krishna Key author Ashwin Sanghi on this. Instead of Morgan, in Private India we meet Santosh Wagh, head of the Mumbai branch of “the world’s best PI agency”. He’s on… Continue reading Ashwin Sanghi: My life in books
