Once More into the Past (Daily Star Books, 2020)
This was a bad year in so many ways but it was a good year to catch up on reading. One book which bowled me over and which I realise I should have read a long time back is Akhteruzzaman Elias s masterpiece,
Khowabnama (Mawla Brothers, 1996). I believe it s being translated now; if it finds a good international publisher it will surely be on the shelves with the greatest novels of the last century and place Elias on the shelves with Hardy and Faulkner as a literary chronicler who made a whole region come alive at a certain moment of history. Another novel that overwhelmed me in the Covid-19 year but had been gathering dust in my shelves earlier is Jose Saramagao s
Shashi Tharoor s New Book Is Broad and Brilliant, but Not Bold Enough
In The Battle of Belonging , the Congress leader lucidly describes the different forms of nationalism but does not provide a coherent strategy on countering the BJP.
Photo: PTI
Rights15/Dec/2020
Ever since he moved into Indian politics following a distinguished career at the United Nations, Shashi Tharoor has been an outlier. Whether speaking with his idiosyncratic eloquence in parliament, outraging social media followers across the political spectrum with his acerbic humour, sophisticatedly defending every embarrassment of the Indian National Congress (INC), vehemently chastising the British Empire, or producing a litany of compellingly unpronounceable words as part of his Tharoorosaurus, the diplomat-turned-politician has increasingly been in a league of his own. Exemplifying his eclectic talents further has been a series of rigorously researched and passionately persuasive books, the latest of which hit the