pen.books.and.scalpel

BOOK NAME: FREEDOM LOST IN RIGHTS AUTHOR NAME: SMRITI KUMAR SINHA (TRANSLATED FROM THE BISHNUPRIYA MANIPURI BY RAMLAL SINHA) GENRE: ANTHOLOGY - SHORT STORIES PUBLISHER: THORNBIRD - NIYOGI BOOKS BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/5NxFUdz BOOK COVER IMAGE BLURB: Smriti Kumar Sinha’s second collection of short fiction digs into the heart of the Bishnupriya Manipuri saga, leaving a trail of poignant stories in its wake. As the characters struggle with notions of belonging and identity, the endangered language holds them together with equal parts hope and pathos. A nostalgic old man who wants to be buried in his native village. Two lovers, caught between tradition and modernity. A village on the brink of revolution. A tribe on the verge of extinction. Children who dream of singing in their mother tongue. Ramlal Sinha’s translation treats the original stories with a distinct tenderness that moulds the prose into a soft, lyrical tryst with the Bishnupriya Manipuri world of resistance,...

BOOK NAME: KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982 AUTHOR NAME: CHO NAM-JOO (TRANSLATED FROM THE KOREAN BY JAMIE CHANG) GENRE: CONTEMPORARY FICTION / BIOGRAPHY  PUBLISHER: SCRIBNER UK BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/4WK1KEi BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Some fiction books are purely imaginary, while some are loosely based on actual events. Only a few are jarring images of reality woven into the pages because they need to be told and retold for ages to come. Kim Jiyoung is a book based on the individual’s struggle from birth to becoming a mother. Most often, it doesn’t feel like Kim Jiyoung’s story alone, but it belongs to women in general who have been through hell.  Kim Jiyoung, the second daughter of a three-children family, has witnessed prejudice since birth at home. Later, she navigates life through the social construct that expects women to be subservient and perfect. She is nonplussed to discover that motherhood is something she doesn’t have a say in and that a mother is expe...

BOOK NAME: SMITTEN AUTHOR NAME: HAMNA LABEEB GENRE: POETRY PUBLISHER: LIVESIMPLICITE BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/b6pKXyF BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Today, I am sharing with you all a work from one of my favourite Indian authors, a good friend and a wonderful human. If you have been following me for quite a while, you would know how much I loved her ‘The Storyteller’ back in 2022, and it ended up among the top 5 reads for me that year. I am also currently reading and enjoying one of her other works, and I thought it would be the perfect time for me to share about this. Smitten is a collection of her poems that are based on all moods and seasons. The book is divided into six parts and has a total of almost 150 poems; yes, you heard it right. 157, to be precise, and not one repeats itself. Among the many, The monsoon blues, nonchalant race, paper dolls, and undesired metamorphosis resonated greatly with me. There are so many others that were very palpable and powerful. Th...

BOOK NAME: THE OUTSIDERS AUTHOR NAME: DEVI YESODHARAN GENRE: CONTEMPORARY FICTION PUBLISHER: PENGUIN INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/6rf5DZD BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW This is a book that grabbed my attention immediately with its title and the intriguing cover. I generally love stories within stories, and it was one aspect of this book that I loved so much, too. This is the story of two people: Nita, who immigrates to Dubai after leaving her son behind for a better life, and Darius, whose story Nita narrates to her employer, Rouhi. Nita, as a single mother, was constantly tormented and haggled, which made her leave her hometown for the job. But in Dubai, she can see how she is an outsider and how her world is different from that of others who are native to the country. In Dubai, she finds a family in Rouhi and her daughter Saba. Only Nita seems to have forgotten that Haroun, Rouhi’s abusive husband, will be back very soon, and her son is awaiting her return home whil...

BOOK NAME: ORBITAL AUTHOR NAME: SAMANTHA HARVEY GENRE: SCIENCE FICTION PUBLISHER: VINTAGE DIGITAL BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/3vjJnT6 BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Ever wondered what life would be like in the dark vastness above? Have you ever thought about how seeing things from the outside can be amusing and intimidating at the same time? How often do we talk of people who live in outer space for the greater good? Or how often do we even realise that earth is a special minuscule that craves to be protected? This book is about the routine of six cosmonauts and astronauts stuck together for months for work in space. Each person is a kind of their own who views the Earth from a different perspective according to their personal lives and background. The book isn't sci-fi in real terms. I would call it artistic or mainstream fiction, which is just set in space, or maybe eco-fiction because I see the book trying to point at that. There isn't a particular storyline, and no...

BOOK NAME: WOLFISH AUTHOR NAME: KRITIKA KAPOOR GENRE: FANTASY THRILLER / FEMINIST FICTION PUBLISHER: PANMACMILLAN INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:  https://amzn.in/d/iyTyhbQ BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Tara Tandon is cancelled because of her recent dark fantasy smut book. She writes about werewolves and mythical beasts who romance young women under questionable circumstances that spark outrage. Her life is now a mess, and she needs to write one good book to get it all under control. She comes across a post that mentions a suspected werewolf attack on the beach of Goa, and she is intrigued. She soon moves to Goa to learn more, only to realise there’s more to it than what appears on the surface because the beast is now after her. Let me be honest: I really couldn’t resist the book with such a stunning cover and an interesting blurb. I also wanted to read something quick and different to break my routine. And it’s safe to say that it did work to some extent because, despite the story, I found...

BOOK NAME: A BURNING AUTHOR NAME: MEGHA MAJUMDAR GENRE: POLITICAL FICTION PUBLISHER: PENGUIN INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:  https://amzn.in/d/cmCaXcE BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW The only mistake Jivan could have avoided as a Muslim living in the slums of India is posting a snide remark on the government on Facebook after a local train is set ablaze by terrorists, killing many innocent lives. She is arrested immediately and is scrutinised as a terrorist sympathiser or a terrorist herself everywhere - in the court, in the open and online. Only two people have the power to change her fate - Lovely, a Hijra to whom she was teaching English, and her PT sir. Lovely was an alibi for her innocence, but proving it comes with a heavy cost of losing everything she always dreamt of. And her PT sir, who has risen from an underpaid teacher to a right-wing politician, must decide if he must choose the righteous or himself and his party. I still can’t believe I shelved this book for a good four and a ...

BOOK NAME: OPEN WATER AUTHOR NAME: CALEB AZUMAH NELSON GENRE: CONTEMPORARY FICTION PUBLISHER: PENGUIN BOOKS BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/iZWHDqT BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW Another book under 150 pages that managed to floor me with its lyrical prose and poignant narration. It is a story of two young people of colour falling in love in an unknown land and finding a home in each other, only to be reminded that home is a concept that can differ from person to person. He, a photographer and she, a dancer, meet under normal circumstances but fall for each other under totally unacceptable conditions. While exploring love, they also explore the right and wrong and the ones that don’t fit in either. This is a love story layered with complexities like racial discrimination, living through traumatic experiences and the concept of masculinity and belonging. I managed to finish this book in three hours, and it took me on a journey that divested me from reality. The story was narrate...

BOOK NAME: WHITE NIGHTS AUTHOR NAME: FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY GENRE: SHORT STORY, CLASSIC  PUBLISHER: PENGUIN CLASSICS BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/4aQdZQw BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW I have now officially gained access to the heartbroken Dostoevsky reader club with this novella. I still can’t believe I didn’t read this earlier in life. I have been seeing it all over Instagram and misjudged that it would be one of those overhyped books. But thanks to my cramped reading time and the slump, I picked it up, wasting no time, only to realise that the book was worth the hype. Written from an introvert’s point of view, the nameless protagonist living in St Petersburg talks about the night he crossed paths with a strange lady - the love of his life he fell for at first sight - and the nights that follow. Honestly, I don’t believe in love at first sight. But I believe in intuition at first sight- how a person makes you feel at the first meeting and makes you predict a forever toge...

BOOK NAME: A TOUCH OF SALT AUTHOR NAME: ANITA AGNIHOTRI (Translated from the Bengali by ARUNAVA SINHA) GENRE: BIOGRAPHY, HISTORY PUBLISHER: PENGUIN INDIA BOOK BUY LINK:   https://amzn.in/d/e1Neujp BOOK COVER IMAGE BOOK REVIEW There’s always been a debate about who writes history - the historians or the victors, as Winston Churchill said. While there can be no single correct answer to this, it’s also true that whoever chooses to write it definitely tends to miss the ones who were the mighty mites. One such forgotten and unrecorded history in the Indian freedom struggle is the story of Tribhuvan from the Rann of Kutch, who was an Agaria (the salt harvesters). Influenced heavily by the Mahatma, he left home in silence to join the Dandi March (the salt protest) alongside Gandhi and his followers.  Though happy that he toiled his way to freedom alongside his favourite national leader, Tribhuvan also realised that none of it would change anything for the Agarias much. The story ...