Phenomenal storytelling–I was mesmerized by the very balanced structure of the text. There’s an elaborate family tree at the front of the book that I kept returning to, as I…
Post-colonial
In Times of Siege
December 15, 2017Githa Hariharan’s 2003 novel offers a glimpse of what it’s like to teach at the university level without the guarantee of academic freedom. The protagonist is a History professor whose…
Ghachar Ghochar
November 6, 2017According to Suketu Mehta’s blurb on the front of the novel, “Vivek Shanbhag is an Indian Chekhov.” This is pretty accurate. Ghachar Ghochar is short, subtle, and totally compelling. The ending…
The Yacoubian Building
October 9, 2017I’m mentoring a senior capstone project on this novel, so I figured I’d better read it. For me, it started too slowly. Plot did not “thicken” until around page 80,…