A Doll’s HouseHenrik Ibsen (trans. Robert Farquaharson Sharp)2021 (orig. 1879)Finger Printpp. 127 The play about the life of Mrs. Nora Helmer is divided into three acts. In the first two plays, Mrs. Helmer goes about preparing for Christmas with the new found richness that is coming into their lives with a new position that Mr….
We should all be FeministsChimamda Ngozi Adichie2014Fourth Estate This short essay is based on a TED Talk by the author. The title is radical and the writing is witty. Adichie writes and speaks powerfully. She is honest about identifying gendered ideas that she grew up with and imbibed. Her experiences will resonate with people who…
The Liberation of Sita Volga (translation by T Vijay Kumar, C Vijayasree) 2018 Harper Perennial pp. 128 First, this book acknowledges that Sita needs to be liberated. And right at the outset, the book deserves appreciation for breaking the myth of the ideal image that Sita is used to project. The book thus is a…
Shanta: The Story of Rama’s SisterAnand Neelakantan2017Westlandpp. 34 Ravana’s Sister (Meenakshi)Anand Neelakantan2018Westlandpp. 14 The stories of Shanta and Meenakshi both by Anand Neelakantan are engaging and bring to fore thoughts and ideas that are documented in very few other domains. The trouble with reading popular works is that you are never sure of where these…
To Hell With You Mitro (Mitro Marjani in Hindi, trans. by Gita Rajan and Raji Narasimhan) Krishna Sobti 2007 Katha pp. 114 Mitro Marjani is one of the few books that I have read through in English as well as in Hindi. While the translation is good, I enjoyed the Hindi version a tad bit…
Mrs. Dalloway Virginia Woolf 1925 (this print 2017) Fingerprint pp. 208 Mrs. Dalloway is the story of a woman who throws a party and in the process reminisces about her life. The entire book is set in one day that culminates in the party. The protagonist is best described as an upper class woman who…
