Category: Books
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RK Narayan’s Malgudi Days
RK Narayan enjoyed writing short stories more than novels. He said so in the introduction to his collection of short stories, Malgudi Days. First published in Penguin Books in 1984, Malgudi Days includes selections from his earlier collections, An Astrologerâs Day and Other Stories (1947) and Lawley Road and Other…
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Julius Caesar
Scholarship is like technology, always evolving. The Arden Shakespeare edition of Julius Caesar I picked up from the library canât be the Arden edition of Julius Caesar I read in my schooldays. This edition, first published in 1998, is edited by David Daniell, who begins his introduction to the play…
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As You Like It, Rosalind
Rosalind has been my favourite Shakespearean heroine from the first time I read As You Like It. That was shortly after the Beatles had disbanded, when soft rock was ruling the airwaves and there were no such things as PCs and the World Wide Web. The world has changed utterly…
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Homage to Adrian Henri
The poems of Adrian Henri are as catchy and simple as pop songs. He, Roger McGough and Brian Patten were the three Liverpool poets presented in The Mersey Sound, a bestselling poetry anthology of all time. First published in 1967, The Mersey Sound has sold over a half million copies.
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P.G. Wodehouse and the Beatles
Thereâs something in common between PG Wodehouse and the early Beatles. Both are unique and both are fun. Listen to Beatles hits like Please Please Me, Help and A Hard Dayâs Night â you are struck by the sheer energy and exuberance, the boys sound like no one else on…
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Kazuo Ishiguro and other Nobel Prize winners writing in English
More than a quarter of the Nobel prizes in literature awarded since 1901 have gone to authors writing in English. But English is not the mother tongue of all of them. Kazuo Ishiguro is the fourth Nobel prize winner in literature who writes in English but whose mother tongue isnât…
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Why write?
Whatâs the difference between writers and journalists? Journalists write to inform the public about whatâs happening in the world. Writers can write about themselves and imaginary worlds. I was reminded of the difference while reading the book, Why Write? The author, Mark Edmundson, does not contrast writers and journalists. But…
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Reading Dylan Thomas on his birthday
Itâs after midnight, the small hours of a new day, the birthday of Dylan Thomas (October 27, 1914 â November 9, 1953). Since he was born on this day, I am reading his poem, In My Craft or Sullen Art.
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The sensual strut of Dylan Thomas
Ah, the âsensual strutâ of Dylan Thomas! I canât forget those words of his. I couldnât recall the poem where he wrote those words, so I searched Google and found it. Itâs not one of his best known poems, but those two words from it â âsensual strutâ â sum…
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John Le Carre: The cat sat on the dog’s mat
John Le Carre once said, ” âThe cat sat on the matâ is not the beginning of a story, but âthe cat sat on the dogâs matâ.” He knows how to hook a reader. Yesterday, on his 85th birthday, I opened his very first book, Call for the Dead, published…
Readiscovery 