Treasure Neverland: Real and Imaginary Pirates by Neil Rennie shows us where the pirates of our popular imagination actually came from, and the different ways in which their realities were fictionalised for our enjoyment. It begins with a historical examination of the real lives of 18th-century pirates, and moves on to how these stories shaped the pirate genre.
Mother Wit by Urmila Pawar is a book of Marathi short stories translated into English by Veena Rao. Pawar's identification as Dalit, feminist, and Buddhist has shaped these stories, each of which portrays women confronting the intersections of gender and caste which powerfully affect their lives. This Zubaan book is an important addition to contemporary Dalit literature.
Collected Poems, 1968-2014 by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra has been hailed as the first definitive collection of the celebrated poet's life-work. Aside from his own poetry, it includes several of his translations of Hindi, Prakrit, Bengali, and Gujarati poetry. Introduced by writer Amit Chaudhuri, the collection effectively spans over two millennia of Indian poetry.
Gulab by Annie Zaidi is a novella-length ghost story about a middle-aged man, Nikunj, who suddenly hears word about his long lost sweetheart Saira's death, and sets out to visit her grave. There, he encounters two other men, who claim to have lovers buried in the exact same grave. The arrival of a woman who says she knew Saira further complicates matters.
The Cooked Seed: A Memoir by Amchee Min picks up where her first memoir Red Azalea, about growing up in China in the time of the violent Cultural Revolution, left off twenty years before. It documents her life as an immigrant in the USA, and tells us how she survived not knowing the language, not having any money, sexual violence and a bad marriage to eventually become a successful author.
Lost Loves by Arshia Sattar is a meditation on Rama and Sita's estrangement, among other things. Through this collection of essays, Sattar explores the context and motivations which drove the decisions made by the prime movers of the Ramayana. In the process, this text, often attended by fractiousness, is reclaimed by the author. She has previously translated Valmiki's Ramayana to acclaim.
The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works by BN Goswamy is about Indian art from 1100-1900. The author is a towering figure in Indian art history, and this detailed study comprising several different styles of Indian painting has earned him massive praise. The polymath author delves into the social and political context, and the visual detail of each work, whether it is a Jain manuscript or a Mughal miniature.
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale is a retelling of the infamous Road Hill murder case in 19th century England. Summerscale has argued that this particular investigation, which influenced writers such as Charles Dickens, "set the course of detective fiction." The novel features the pioneering detective Jonathan Whicher of Scotland Yard, who inspired Wilkie Collins' Sergeant Cuff.
The Intelligence of Tradition in Rajput Court Painting by Molly Emma Aitken investigates the conventions and aesthetic of five hundred years of Rajput painting. She challenges the received wisdom of the inferiority of Rajput painting vis a vis Mughal painting and demonstrates the use of feel, emotion, and the richly imagined contexts of generations of Rajput painters. She looks at specific painters, painting traditions, as well as the courts that they were a part of to present her case.
Myth and Memory: Untold Stories of Bhutan by Tshering Tashi chronicles different aspects of Bhutanese culture in bite-sized pieces. There are stories on the yeti, on capricious spirits, alternative myths of Shambala, as well as stories of an idiosyncratic ruler who only spoke to his retainers in English and Hindi, languages they didn't understand. To those who associate Bhutan just with its physical beauty or 'Gross National Happiness', this book will be an eye-opener.
Mr Bones by Paul Theroux is a collection of 20 stories so diverse that they have been characterised as being about everything from white masculinity to getting revenge. The stories feature seemingly ordinary characters, people whom one might meet everyday, who reveal unnerving sides to their personalities. There's the newly-divorced father preoccupied with killing raccoons his sons find endearing, the writer, home for his father's wake, who takes revenge against his former teacher for hinted-at abuse, the famous art collector who publicly destroys his best pieces.Those who have enjoyed Theroux's much touted travel writing and get their teeth into his skilful fiction writing with this collection.
Ruby Moonlight by Ali Cobby Eckerman is a verse novel about a young Aboriginal woman who survives the massacre of her family. Eckerman's work is a counter to the forces of colonialism, which have attempted to erase Aboriginal history. Ruby, the protagonist, wanders the southern Australian landscape after losing everything, and eventually meets Jack, an Irishman. The work reveals the devastating aftermath of colonialism in late 19th century Australia through one lyrical personal narrative.
The Buddhas of Bamiyan by Llewelyn Morgan charts the story of Afghanistan through the story of the Bamiyan Buddhas, which existed for a millenium and a half before being destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Morgan proves, particularly through his use of first-hand accounts of Muslim travellers over the ages, that the Taliban's response is by no means representative or typical of an Islamic reaction, either to these sculptures, or Buddhism. But this point hardly does justice to the scope of the study, which shows the Bamiyan Buddhas as witnesses to the tremendously long and diverse history of the region.
Mother Wit by Urmila Pawar is a book of Marathi short stories translated into English by Veena Rao. Pawar's identification as Dalit, feminist, and Buddhist has shaped these stories, each of which portrays women confronting the intersections of gender and caste which powerfully affect their lives. This Zubaan book is an important addition to contemporary Dalit literature.
Collected Poems, 1968-2014 by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra has been hailed as the first definitive collection of the celebrated poet's life-work. Aside from his own poetry, it includes several of his translations of Hindi, Prakrit, Bengali, and Gujarati poetry. Introduced by writer Amit Chaudhuri, the collection effectively spans over two millennia of Indian poetry.
Gulab by Annie Zaidi is a novella-length ghost story about a middle-aged man, Nikunj, who suddenly hears word about his long lost sweetheart Saira's death, and sets out to visit her grave. There, he encounters two other men, who claim to have lovers buried in the exact same grave. The arrival of a woman who says she knew Saira further complicates matters.
The Cooked Seed: A Memoir by Amchee Min picks up where her first memoir Red Azalea, about growing up in China in the time of the violent Cultural Revolution, left off twenty years before. It documents her life as an immigrant in the USA, and tells us how she survived not knowing the language, not having any money, sexual violence and a bad marriage to eventually become a successful author.
Lost Loves by Arshia Sattar is a meditation on Rama and Sita's estrangement, among other things. Through this collection of essays, Sattar explores the context and motivations which drove the decisions made by the prime movers of the Ramayana. In the process, this text, often attended by fractiousness, is reclaimed by the author. She has previously translated Valmiki's Ramayana to acclaim.
The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounters with 101 Great Works by BN Goswamy is about Indian art from 1100-1900. The author is a towering figure in Indian art history, and this detailed study comprising several different styles of Indian painting has earned him massive praise. The polymath author delves into the social and political context, and the visual detail of each work, whether it is a Jain manuscript or a Mughal miniature.
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale is a retelling of the infamous Road Hill murder case in 19th century England. Summerscale has argued that this particular investigation, which influenced writers such as Charles Dickens, "set the course of detective fiction." The novel features the pioneering detective Jonathan Whicher of Scotland Yard, who inspired Wilkie Collins' Sergeant Cuff.
The Intelligence of Tradition in Rajput Court Painting by Molly Emma Aitken investigates the conventions and aesthetic of five hundred years of Rajput painting. She challenges the received wisdom of the inferiority of Rajput painting vis a vis Mughal painting and demonstrates the use of feel, emotion, and the richly imagined contexts of generations of Rajput painters. She looks at specific painters, painting traditions, as well as the courts that they were a part of to present her case.
Myth and Memory: Untold Stories of Bhutan by Tshering Tashi chronicles different aspects of Bhutanese culture in bite-sized pieces. There are stories on the yeti, on capricious spirits, alternative myths of Shambala, as well as stories of an idiosyncratic ruler who only spoke to his retainers in English and Hindi, languages they didn't understand. To those who associate Bhutan just with its physical beauty or 'Gross National Happiness', this book will be an eye-opener.
Mr Bones by Paul Theroux is a collection of 20 stories so diverse that they have been characterised as being about everything from white masculinity to getting revenge. The stories feature seemingly ordinary characters, people whom one might meet everyday, who reveal unnerving sides to their personalities. There's the newly-divorced father preoccupied with killing raccoons his sons find endearing, the writer, home for his father's wake, who takes revenge against his former teacher for hinted-at abuse, the famous art collector who publicly destroys his best pieces.Those who have enjoyed Theroux's much touted travel writing and get their teeth into his skilful fiction writing with this collection.
Ruby Moonlight by Ali Cobby Eckerman is a verse novel about a young Aboriginal woman who survives the massacre of her family. Eckerman's work is a counter to the forces of colonialism, which have attempted to erase Aboriginal history. Ruby, the protagonist, wanders the southern Australian landscape after losing everything, and eventually meets Jack, an Irishman. The work reveals the devastating aftermath of colonialism in late 19th century Australia through one lyrical personal narrative.
The Buddhas of Bamiyan by Llewelyn Morgan charts the story of Afghanistan through the story of the Bamiyan Buddhas, which existed for a millenium and a half before being destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Morgan proves, particularly through his use of first-hand accounts of Muslim travellers over the ages, that the Taliban's response is by no means representative or typical of an Islamic reaction, either to these sculptures, or Buddhism. But this point hardly does justice to the scope of the study, which shows the Bamiyan Buddhas as witnesses to the tremendously long and diverse history of the region.
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