June 22, 2017
by Neelima
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Have you ever thought that English is not a normal language? John McWhorter, professor of linguistics and American studies at Columbia University, seems to think so. He comes to this conclusion by comparing the Anglo-Saxon language with other languages. Some … Continue reading
June 15, 2017
by Neelima
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Anyone who has read Dostoevsky would be surprised to know about how this writer made his literary beginning. In At the Firing Squad: The Radical Works of a Young Dostoevsky, Matthew James Seidel looks at the books that came before … Continue reading
June 8, 2017
by Neelima
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Once upon a time, fifty years ago, there was a book called One Hundred Years of Solitude. It was an obscure book by an unknown author published by a press called Sudamericana Press but some books have an unforeseen destiny. “One … Continue reading
June 1, 2017
by Neelima
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Some writers write because they have a conscience. Scholastique Mukasonga, a Tutsi, who lost many family members to Hutu violence, believes that she started writing because of what she had witnessed. Genocide. She is not a political writer; she just … Continue reading
May 25, 2017
by Neelima
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The Handmaid’s Tale is a talking point; this book by Margaret Atwood seems eerie now in the light of how lightly women’s rights are being taken world over. The story that is now a TV series had its roots in … Continue reading
May 18, 2017
by Neelima
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Stumbled on an essay by Jon Crabb. He starts his essay Woodcuts and Witches in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when England was witnessing a publishing revolution in the form of pamphlets, ballads and woodcuts. It was also a time of witch … Continue reading
May 11, 2017
by Neelima
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What would happen if every single book on earth was accessible on a single website? It almost happened. The Google Books Project codenamed Project Ocean was an ambitious one. It would give you access to the full text of everything ever … Continue reading
May 4, 2017
by Neelima
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It is a little known fact that Alexandre Dumas’s father was a military hero and not white skinned but of Haitian origin. This story is even more relevant during a presidential race in France where race and origin matter. “Many … Continue reading
April 27, 2017
by Neelima
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If you have read Siddhartha Mukherjee’s books, you will be familiar with his lyrical prose and his ability to talk about complicated realities like disease and death in a way that sustains interest rather than chases you away. Disease is … Continue reading
April 20, 2017
by Neelima
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Russell Smith deconstructs the idea of the app behind the book. He’s talking about an app called Prolifiko that Wyl Menmuir used to write his book, something we mentioned in our Link Wanderlust series here. The app is a productivity … Continue reading