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The end of history?
Reviewed by Shelley Walia
Theodor W. Adorno, History
and Freedom: Lectures 1964-1965
Ed. Rolf Tiedemann. Polity. Pages 348. £
19.99.
IN Adorno’s works we see
the consistent relevance of history and freedom to contemporary times.
The lectures complied here for the first time challenge the notion of
progress, of primitivism, of human history. As a true postmodernist,
Adorno, like Nietzsche, rattled the iron-cage of language and the
foundations of Western philosophy, always standing against final
solutions and fixed definitions.
Nostalgic
journey
Reviewed by Jai Brar
Daughters: A Story of Five Generations
By Bharati Ray. Penguin. Pages 318. Rs 399.
A
narration of women of the author’s family through five generations, Daughters,
begins in the late 19th century with her great-grandmother and ends with
her daughters in the early 21st century. For a major part of the book,
the Indian freedom struggle, the Hindu-Muslim riots and the 1950
massacre of Hindus in Dhaka form the backdrop.
Play
it like Pancham
New biography tells endearing
tales of R. D. Burman
Madhusree Chatterjee
HIS
hit songs flooded the box office; he was the quintessential romantic
hero with heartaches, longings and beachside philosophies. Yet,
celebrated musician-composer and song-writer Rahul Dev Burman took time
to flower into a Bollywood phenomenon.
Write
moment in Warsaw
RabindranathTagore’s
anthology released in Polish
Surender Bhutani
A
Polish anthology of Nobel laureate Rabrindranath Tagore, translated from
the original Bengali instead of English, was released in Warsaw recently
by the Indian Ambassador to Poland. "I speak more than 10
languages. In none of them can I find words to describe the genius of
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, an outstanding son of India and eminent
citizen of the world.
irreplaceable
voice
Reviewed by Archie Bland
The Pale King
By David Foster Wallace. Hamish Hamilton. Pages 547. £ 20.
OF
all the myths that have spread about David Foster Wallace in the years
since his death, the most frustratingly pervasive was that he was a
difficult writer. It came about mostly because he wrote a very long
novel, Infinite Jest, that was exceptional for its intelligence
and its vaulting ambition to summarise the meaning of life in an era of
information overload.
Breaking
free from virtues
Reviewed by Ravia Gupta
Vivek and I
By Mayur Patel. Penguin. Pages 384. Rs 299.
BEING
ambitious may not be the purpose of everyone’s life, but adding a
"meaning to their lives" is certainly everyone’s aim. This
is a story of a man whose aims in life were limited. Having a large bank
balance and owning luxurious things had never been his idea of a
successful life. Family, friends and love mattered to him the most.
Of
forgiveness and second chances
Reviewed by Puneetinder
Kaur Sidhu
Lessons in Forgetting
By Anita Nair. HarperCollins. Pages 330. Rs 399.
ANITANAIR’S
fourth book, Lessons in Forgetting, is a dark, reflective work,
the two primary characters — Professor J. Krishnamurthy, Jak to
friends, and Meera — continually revisiting their past to make sense
of their present. Meera is trying to cope with a marriage that failed
overnight and Jak is looking for the truth behind his vivacious
19-year-old daughter’s catatonic state.
Living
out a legacy
Globetrotting Satvik Veena
maestro Salil Bhatt talks of his experiments and evolution
S. D. Sharma
Hailed
as the young face of Indian classical music and decorated with titles
like Global Indian and the Prince of Ragas and winner of a host of
national and international awards, Satvik Veena maestro Salil Bhatt (40)
has emerged as the foremost proponent of the Indian heritage among the
Gen Next of classical music.
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