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Rag Virag by Suryakant Tripathi Nirala – Book Review

Suryakant Tripathi Nirala, a poet whom almost every reader of Hindi poetry reveres this or that way, was a landmark that still continues to illuminate the new poets and authors writing in Hindi. With the high standards that he set for poetry in Hindi, Nirala’s art of writing poetry developed from narrow lanes of self-search…

Role of imagination in fiction – something some theorists often ignore

Writing fiction is (almost) everybody’s cup of tea. Many of us, those born before our mothers took to Tik-Tok to learn everything, should have aged listening to stories of kings, queens, giants, gods, ghosts, and children from our mothers, grandmothers, fathers, and grandfathers (cannot ignore elder siblings). Weaving fictional stories, creating characters, making them appear…

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus – Book Review

Bonnie Garmus made her debut with the bestselling novel Lessons in Chemistry in 2022. The novel has made an emphatic impression on many readers; many may claim millions across the world. However, the novel has many features that many have liked. At the same time, Bonnie Garmus’ book has many things that many readers don’t…

Karma Sutra: Cracking the Karmic Code by Hingori – Book Review

Spiritual and philosophical books (should I take these two names in succession, you decide) are more than just books. Fictional identities and chaos can last a few days, a few months or a year or two, at best. However, things that we learn from philosophical or spiritual books last for life, at least, if we…

The text or context? What matters more in shaping opinions about literature? An investigation

Why is the novel 1984 by George Orwell popular? God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, for that matter, draws its popularity from which source? Why was Lady Chatterley’s Lover so popular in its days? In the contemporary period, why are many novels popular in spite of their mediocre writing – Asura, Sita: the Warrior…

Notable features of the novels by Bhabani Bhattacharya – and major novels by him you must read

Perhaps the only novelist from India I can name to have written excellent novels and remained in the abyss of ignorance and oblivion has to be Bhabani Bhattacharya! Yes, the author of works like So Many Hungers, He Who Rides a Tiger and A Dream in Hawaii, Bhabani Bhattacharya’s publications and his distinguished writing style,…

6 Philosophical Novels You Must Read – a list for serious fiction readers

Let’s set the record straight before we begin. Philosophy has no direct connection with fiction. A work of fiction can exist without philosophy (or may manage with a hint of it). When philosophy meets fiction, however, the amalgamation is profound! The works by Kafka, Camus, Beckett, Raja Rao, Woolf, Sterne, and others in the league…