Penguin

Essence of every emotion is well captured The Interestings

It is never easy to write about the world the way it is. To talk of love and friendships and everything that takes place in between is never something that can be done without wrenching the way you feel about them. I have always admired writers who can manage this and continue to do so, because it takes a lot out of the writer to dig in and generate stories that resonate long after you have finished the book. Books that speak of growing up and its challenges and make me realize how I feel about the way things are, manage to be very close to my heart, and one such book that I have read off-late is, "The Interestings" by Meg Wolitzer.

"The Interestings" begins kind of slowly, almost letting you see how things got to where they did. However once that is shaken off, the book somersaults into various kinds of emotions and that is where the narrative is the strongest. The writing reminded me of Virginia Woolf and Elizabeth Bowen - more so because of the back and forth in time, almost linear in narrative and sometimes just spellbinding. It is a chronicle of four decades and the lives of six strangers who become friends at a summer camp in the seventies and how their lives change every year after that. This is the basic plot of the book and as the adage goes, there's more to what meets the eye and it couldn't get 

Following Fish reads simply, speaks of different things

I believe in discovering books on my own. I do not believe in recommendations because I am scared that most people do not know what I love to read or do not care to ask. It is a fact. Most people just put a book in your hands and tell you, "You must read this." There is nothing more to that interaction. And yet there are times when I am...  

'Just Send Me Word' is a moving love story

To live a life away from the one that you love is not easy at all. It almost leaves me breathless thinking about it. I mean just the thought of it is enough for me to send out a prayer for it to never happen to two people who love each other deeply. And while I type this, I am thinking of a wondrous book I finished reading this month....  

Reading Mohsin Hamid; Slumdog Millionaire meets The White Tiger?

Mohsin Hamid is a gifted writer and a wonderful story-teller, so it is totally to his credit that his latest novel "How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia" is gripping. In fact, it left me wanting to finish the book, and I did so in one sitting or two. And that's despite the fact that it's not his best work, by far. Hamid is undoubtedly one of the leading...  

How to Get Filthy Rich... is highly entertaining, thought provoking

Mohsin Hamid's books are biting and raw in their nature of storytelling. Nothing is rosy and that his readers are aware of. Nothing is sugar-coated. He tells it the way it is and maybe that is why his readers like reading what he has to write. Hamid writes about the society, the way he sees it. Whether it is a story of a young man in love in his first...  

Sundaram's Stringer impresses you from the word go

'Stringer' takes you to the wild, chaotic Congo and leaves you with questions unanswered. ...  

Penguin India back with their 10-day Spring lit fest

Penguin Books India is organizing it's fourth edition of 'Spring Fever' in New Delhi, a ten day literature festival from 15-24 March 2013. ...  

'Calcutta: Two Years...' takes your breath away

Reading "Calcutta: Two Years in the City" by Amit Chaudhuri is like taking a roller-coaster ride. ...  

Shed all inhibitions while reading The Origins of Sex

The book is divided into six parts and each part is unique and wonderfully researched. ...  

The Possessed brings unexpected joy and laughter

There are times the book seems to be more of a personal memoir and less of a book on Russian literature. ...  

The Missing Queen is mythology with a modern twist

Read 'The Missing Queen' to experience a different kind of tale and storytelling when it comes to mythology. ...  

Penguin debuts a new self-publishing imprint in India

Here's some great news for upcoming writers in India, Penguin Books India has announced the introduction of its new venture Partridge, a new self-publishing imprint launched in partnership with Author Solutions, Inc. Partridge will provide new opportunities for Indian authors to get published and discovered, both in India and around the world. ...  

Shakespeare's Restless World' is a must read

The book is written in a superb manner. There are parts that are funny and parts that are not so. ...  

'Nobody Can Love You More' shines in its writing

I am sure there have been many books written on the red light districts of the country. There are after all so many of them in every city, almost in hiding, in every nook. It is the world's oldest profession and it has been created by the world. So there are no sides that need to be taken. This is precisely what the book, 'Nobody Can Love You More: Life...  

'Patriots and Partisans' covers all grounds of India

It is in a way most refreshing to read something non-fiction after feasting on fiction, after a long time. The spell broke with Ramachandra Guha's book, 'Patriots and Partisans'. I remember reading, 'India After Gandhi' by him with great fervor, however that was a long time ago and it was quite a long read. 'Patriots and Partisans' on the other hand is a relatively short read and is mainly divided...  

'Guru Dutt: A Tragedy...' a short, effective read

There is no better way to get to know a film-maker than through his works. To watch them repeatedly - one after the other, till they charm you, make you smile, make you cry and make you think. That to me is the best way to know a filmmaker. To realize and understand what made him or her make movies like the ones you are watching, what is the psyche...  

Excerpt: Who Let The Dork Out by Sidin Vadukut

Sidin Vadukut is a journalist, columnist and blogger. He has an engineering degree from NIT Trichy and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. In a career spanning around a decade he has made automotive parts, developed online trading platforms, almost set up a retailing company and had a sizeable portion of a tree fall on his head. 'Who Let The Dork Out' is the third part of the Dork trilogy. The...  

Pearson confirms Penguin and Random House merger

New Delhi: Pearson and Bertelsmann agree consumer publishing partnership: Penguin and Random House to combine, creating the world's leading trade publisher. Pearson has confirmed publishing firm Random House is to merge with its venerable book seller Penguin. The confirmation came in as Pearson put an announcement on their official website. They also released figures that showed in the first nine months of the year Penguin revenues fell 1% compared to...  

Pearson in talks over Penguin-Random House merger

London: British publishing and education company Pearson PLC says it is in talks with German media group Bertelsmann SE over merging the firms' Penguin and Random House publishing operations. Pearson said on Thursday it "is discussing with Bertelsmann a possible combination of Penguin and Random House" but added that there is no certainty the talks will lead to a transaction. Pearson is publisher of the Financial Times and Penguin Group...  

Satyajit Ray's love life revealed by wife in book

Kolkata: Culminating in an happy ending but only after some unexpected twists and turns, legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray's real-life love story, revealed now by his wife, was nothing short of a typical Bollywood drama. In her recently released autobiography 'Manik and I' the late director's wife Bijoya Ray recalls how the couple dated for eight long years, married secretly and then made a clever plan to convince the two families...