This is a novel that feels more like a movie script with lots of amazing food descriptions—some mouthwatering and some stomach-turning (depending on how you feel about certain types of French food). There are interesting elements here and the text goes down easily but it ultimately felt a bit unsatisfying to me. Richard Morais’s novel tells the story of Hassan Haji, who travels from the kitchen of his father’s Indian restaurant to a career as an acclaimed French chef. Hassan’s early memories are of his […]
The wise old economist speaks
Thirty-fifth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. Amartya Sen is the benevolent, wise and knowledgeable grandpa that I never had. He talks of some of the stickiest issues and suggests solutions that sound beguilingly simple, mainly because he explains them in that tone of a wise old man. He talks of secularism, poverty, hunger, gender inequality, the nuclear arms race, the identity of India and the idea of Indian culture. These are quite drab topics to write about, and indeed, to read about. […]
Giving Rebirth is Not For the Weak
There are no harmless, compassionate ways to remake oneself. We murder who we were so we can rebirth ourselves in the images of dreams. Even 25 years after it was first published, the themes of this novel remain relevant: the immigrant experience of trying to assimilate into US culture and the particular experience of a young Hindu woman who chooses to defy traditional expectations and dares to remake herself. Violence, including murder, is a part not just of Jasmine’s personal story but of other women, […]
Of people who created wealth for a nation
Twenty-ninth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. Read as an accompaniment to Beyond the last blue mountain by R.M. Lala. The family history of the Tatas has been deeply entwined with the history of an industrial India ever since Jamsetji Tata started out as an entrepreneur. That means the history is of almost 130 years! It’s obviously quite difficult to cover almost 130 years of Industrial presence in just about as many pages. So, this isn’t a book that covers the history in great […]