Category Archives: Books

Umberto Eco (Naturally, a Manuscript)

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Surendran

“… he must, must write a sequel,” wrote Pradeep Sebastian about Umberto Eco and The Name of the Rose. Now, alas, he never will. My own enthusiasm for Eco’s work has cooled over the years, yet I couldn’t have been more excited … Continue reading →

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“Granite Throated Goblins,” Similes and Metaphors

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Surendran

I’m sure I’ve noticed it before, but this is the first time that I’m taking active note of it: the narrative technique of introducing a certain imagery as a simile and, immediately afterwards, using it as a metaphor. (Metaphor is, … Continue reading →

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Vivian Ridler, Printer to the Universe!

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Surendran

One of my prized possessions is a 1945 edition of Addison and Steele’s The Spectator (Volume 1 of a four-volume set of pocket-sized hardcovers, published by Everyman’s library). I picked it up for 100 rupees (a little over a dollar) … Continue reading →

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Down the Rabbit Hole. Again!

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Surendran

I am thirty. Have been for a few months. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, had he decided to live forever, would be hundred and eighty four. Of course, Lewis Carroll is alive, and well, has decided to live forever, and, at the … Continue reading →

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Of Notes, Notebooks, and Beautiful Friendships

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Surendran

I’ve always had a notebook into which I would scribble occasional thoughts and musings, copy out favourite passages from books, and even outline arguments for longer pieces of writing. Such a motley bunch of scribblings between the covers of a … Continue reading →

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Notes on Literature: Children’s Books, a Conversation and Some Thoughts

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Surendran

Last week, a friend and I had a pretty incisive conversation about what we, each, found fascinating about children’s literature as adult readers. She was drawn to the possibility, which children’s fiction affords an adult, of seeing the world from … Continue reading →

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Quotes: Life According to “Little, Big”

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Surendran

The things that make us happy make us wise. ‘Love is a myth.’ ‘Love is a myth,’ Grandfather Trout said. ‘Like summer.’ ‘What?’ ‘In winter,’Grandfather Trout said, ‘summer is a myth. A report, a rumor. Not to be believed in. … Continue reading →

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Notes from the Bookshop 6: Ira Levin

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Surendran

I’m sure readers everywhere have their fair share of experiences involving books they’ve been after for a long while turning up when they least expect them to. I have too; for instance: One evening (aeons ago), walking out of a restaurant, … Continue reading →

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Notes on Reading and Literature: Translation

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Surendran

This was first posted on Quora as an answer to the question, “When reading a novel translated into English, are we really experiencing what the author intended, given that their original prose has been lost?” Do we ever read what … Continue reading →

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Notes on Reading and Literature: My Ten

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Surendran

A while ago, readers on Facebook were tagging each other to list out their ten favourite books. I was tagged too. And since I like making lists, I made one. It had over thirty titles. To whittle it down to … Continue reading →

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