243 replies to this topic

[Casey]

I just finished The Hungry Tide and really enjoyed it. I also finished Shalimar the Clown, which pleased me because I thoroughly hated his last two novels. I enjoyed Shalimar, but still find he is stronger when writing about the past, rather than the present (especially when the setting is the US). I went on a brief Japanese phase and think I will read Dance Dance Dance by Mirikami.

[iwanttogoback]

isn't 'the hungry tide' wonderful. have you read 'the glass palace'? i found that just as good (well, really, very very good )

[iwanttogoback]

i picked up the curiously titled 'the bloodless revolution: radical vegetarians and the discovery of india' at the local library.

i haven't started it yet (the size of my current reading pile is somewhat huge-ish) but it's about the effect of the news of vegetarianism in inda on european thought, and behaviour. sounds fascinating, if a little esoteric.

i look forward reviewing it for you...

[Yashodhara]

Looking forward to your review, iwanna. The book certainly sounds interesting.

[cyberhippie]

dzibead, on Feb 5 2007, 09:58 PM, said:

Did you see the BBC Scotland production? It was really well done. I LOVE that part of Scotland ... well, I like all of Scotland, actually ... ancestral homeland and all that ... but the West is particularly appealing to me.

Yes I caught that I remember it was was well done.


Anyway if you ever need a guide!! My Dad is THE source on things Scottish, he sees Scotland like most of us see our village. 10 years being employed to drive around and stay in B & Bs I suppose!!
Oh and nearly 30 years "in the hills"

Doc Funk I looked at your book list and thought "funny where's" American Psycho


You sick mother

[iwanttogoback]

Quote

picked up the curiously titled 'the bloodless revolution: radical vegetarians and the discovery of india' at the local library.

i haven't started it yet (the size of my current reading pile is somewhat huge-ish) but it's about the effect of the news of vegetarianism in inda on european thought, and behaviour. sounds fascinating, if a little esoteric.

i look forward reviewing it for you...

well, i didn't get to finish it (it's nearly 450 pages long) before the library recalled it.

it's a somewhat esoteric subject, but really quite interesting. the dust jacket reads;

'When early travellers returned from Indai with news of the country's vegetarians, they triggered a crisis in the European conscience. This panoramic tale recounts the explosive results of an enduring cultural exchange between East and West and tells of puritanical insurgents, Hinduphiles, scientists, and philosophers who embraced a radical agenda of reform...Their legacy is apparent even today....'

It's quite scholarly, but also very accessible, I found myself reading it avidly - it's an amazing mix of politics, history, literature, philosophy and India. If you're looking for something a little complex I would certainly recommend this.

[jyotirmoy]

Did someone read The life of Pie?

[kavindra]

Currently reading: Gianrico Carofiglio - Involuntary Witness (excellent!)

Some of my favorite authors / books:

All time favorites:
- Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God (Tops! More people should read it!)
- Garcia Marquez: Love in the time of Cholera
- Gore Vidal: Lincoln
- Rushidie: Midnight's Children
- Harper Lee: To kill a mockingbird
- Prem Chand - Godan, short stories

Authors:
Reginald Hill - anything
Henning Mankel
Walter Mosley
Seicho Matsumoto
David Liss - Coffee Trader
Alexander McCall Smith

Books on Tape:
Into the Thin Air, written and read by Jon Krakauer

Liked Shantaram mentioned by several others, though could have done without his philosophical ramblings...

I can't think of others at the moment - but my list is endless...

Edited by kavindra, 21 February 2007 - 11:20 PM.

[iwanttogoback]

one of my christmas gifts was 'hindoo holiday', the story of jr ackerley's five months in india in the 1920s as the personal secretary to a maharajah.

it's a wonderful read, something you can race through in a sitting or two. ackerley fictionalizes the names of the characters and towns, but the rest is his story. it's entertaining, provoking (ackerley is gay and makes gentle advances on a number of young men) and in places very very funny. - the story of the market trader using his hugely swollen testicles as a table for his ledger is hysterical.

for some lighthearted reading about an englishman in india in the early twentieth century you could do a lot worse than this.

[iwanttogoback]

a few weeks ago i picked up 'the alchemy of desire' by tarjun j tejpal in a second hand store, mainly because it was a) cheap and b ) about india.

what a wonderful bargain - a beautifully written love story set in chandigarh, delhi and near nainital. woven into this story is an older story about a wild young american woman who leaves home in the early twentieth century and ends up as the wife of a prince somewhere in india and whose diaries the young couple find when renovating their dream home.

tejpal writes beautifully and has an eye for the everyday detail of daily life in india. the only part i didn't really like was the section about the american woman and her history and nearly put the book down, but once the story returned to our contemporary indian lovers it returned to its previous beauty.

thoroughly recommended.

[Serena]

jyotirmoy, on Feb 21 2007, 05:08 PM, said:

Did someone read The life of Pie?

I read it and I really enjoyed it! well written and a very "strange" story.... Where is now Richard Parker?

[captmahajan]

Started 'the monk who sold his ferrari' and couldn't get past the first fifty pages, so discarded it.

Now Re-reading "Lives in the Wilderness' (Guha)... always interesting.

[Shilpaks]

iwanttogoback, on Mar 12 2007, 03:56 PM, said:

a few weeks ago i picked up 'the alchemy of desire' by tarjun j tejpal

Hey IWTGB im reading tht too
finished only 1/4th-1/3rd of it , havent been able to read at all in the past 2-3 weeks , am hoping will finish it soon....i liked the pace & style


Capt Mahajan,
I tried reading it a looong time back too, didnt get beyond first few chapters

Edited by Shilpaks, 13 March 2007 - 12:40 PM.

[captmahajan]

shilpaks, somehow I find it difficult to read books written by Indians which are for a foreign audience only.. dunno why.

[Shilpaks]

captmahajan, on Mar 13 2007, 01:09 PM, said:

shilpaks, somehow I find it difficult to read books written by Indians which are for a foreign audience only.. dunno why.

agree captain, didnt like many such books myself , one exception was rohington mistry's the fine balance(thats if he wrote it with the intention of luring an international audience)

[jyotirmoy]

Serena, on Mar 12 2007, 08:45 PM, said:

I read it and I really enjoyed it! well written and a very "strange" story.... Where is now Richard Parker?

Last seen in Mexico I guess.

[iwanttogoback]

Quote

Hey IWTGB im reading tht too
finished only 1/4th-1/3rd of it , havent been able to read at all in the past 2-3 weeks , am hoping will finish it soon....i liked the pace & style

let me know what you think of it.

[iwanttogoback]

Quote

Don't know if some has already mentioned it but read The Hungry Tides recently and its a great read.

i think quite a few members have read and loved this, i know i have.

have you read the glass palace, also by amitav ghosh? just as good.

[Judi]

The Hungry Tide is one of my all-time favourite books! I also loved The Glass Palace - but not quite as much.

I did a fairly long solo drive recently, and took plenty of cd's along for the ride. Kipling's Plain Tales from The Hills was ideal - short stories that were amusing/thought provoking etc. without being too heavy: I thought it was great. Ok, Ok, I know that there is much controversy about Kipling and his colonial attitudes, but the stories were about India, albeit mainly about the British living there, very much of their time and they are hugely affectionate of the country.

[iwanttogoback]

judi

are you familiar with 'plain tales from the raj' by charles allen? they are a compilation of stories of brits who lived in india in the period loosely known as the raj and are absolutely fascinating.