Books

The American Film Institute (AFI) is where Hollywood’s collective memory lives. Anyone who was (or still is) anyone, from Harold Lloyd to Barbra Streisand, has had their brain hoovered and the results transcribed and deposited in the AFI’s vaults for safekeeping. Distinguished film historian Jeanine Basinger and journalist Sam Wasson have been granted access to these treasures, from which they have stitched together what they call “an oral history of Hollywood”. In other words, here are 400 cinema insiders, including…

“Let’s read a book about writing every month,” my writers' group says. We begin with On Writing by Stephen King, and then Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. We love these books but sadly don’t get very much further. Our motley group of memoirists, screenwriters, journalists, and a ghostwriter, are forever scrambling to meet deadlines, and the books fall by the wayside. The writers' group exercise throws up amazing books on writing, with everything from the psychology of writing to advice on planning plot lines, creating…

At the annual meeting of the British South Asian Studies Association (2014) at Royal Holloway College, London, there were several papers and panels on the AAP party but none on the Congress. While it is widely recognised that the life of the Congress party and modern India converges, there is very little research interest in it among scholars from India and abroad. The key reason for such intellectual indifference, particularly among progressive liberals, is that they continue to see the shadow of Indira Gandhi and…

I couldn’t think of a better word than “immediate” to describe Valli, Sheela Tomy’s award winning debut Malayalam novel translated into English by Jayasree Kalathil. Kalathil, whose earlier translations include S Hareesh’s Meesha and N Prabhakaran’s Diary of a Malayali Madman among others, has done us a huge favour once again by rendering Valli into English. It has allowed us to access the rich imaginative landscape of Tomy’s writing and the issues simmering in the novel. I also say “immediate” because Valli is indeed a…

What got you interested in writing a book about the Union Ministry of Home Affairs? The idea struck me in 2002 while collecting data for another book – The Puzzle of India’s Governance: Culture, Context and Comparative Theory (2005). I was in Delhi, at North Block, interviewing a civil servant who was an impressive Oxford-educated man. During our conversation, I began thinking about how crucial the bureaucracy is in a country like India. While politicians are in the limelight, civil servants get things done behind the…

When and how did you first think of becoming a writer?I would say the fantasy was always there. When you grow up in a small town, you don’t know what exactly it is to be a professional writer. But I used to read a lot. I spent all my time at a government library where I used to read books like Alice in Wonderland, Famous Five, books by Tom Hardy, and a few literary books too. But it was only after going to IIT that I learnt about writing professionally and about the opportunities it offered. That’s where I started…

Breadcrumb Trail Links Television Movies Culture Books Florence Pugh stars as an English nurse dispatched to Ireland in the 1860s Get the latest from Chris Knight straight to your inbox Sign Up Publishing date: Nov 04, 2022  •  29 minutes ago  •  3 minute read  •  Join the conversation Florence Pugh and director Sebastián Lelio on the set of The Wonder. Photo by Netflix Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia…

My earliest reading memoryThe Tree of Knowledge magazine – remember that? – which I collected, binders and all. I spent hours on my bed taking in everything from Picasso’s blue period to the workings of the inner ear.My favourite book growing upI didn’t really read books growing up. It just wasn’t that kind of house.The book that changed me as a teenagerProbably Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance. I was 19 and finished it on an overnight coach heading for Chesterfield from Victoria. I felt bereft at the end and suddenly…

Recently widowed, Penny is now living alone in the apartment she shared with her husband for many years. Her days seem longer than before, and her memory is not as reliable as it used to be. Her apartment, so familiar, seems alive with strange presences and Penny gradually becomes convinced that someone is watching her.While trying to change a lightbulb, she falls and injures herself. As she regains consciousness, she discovers that arrangements have been made for her to enter a private care facility, Six Cedars. When she…

A new report has recommended that the government support and modernise libraries because they are “an important part of a community’s infrastructure”, especially for those who “are digitally excluded or who live in deprived neighbourhoods”.Libraries Connected, an independent charity representing public libraries, welcomed the report’s findings, with its chief executive Isobel Hunter saying the group was “pleased that the committee recognises the crucial role libraries can play in tackling place-based inequalities across…