Rosy Is My Relative

Gerald Durrell

What would you do if you woke up one day and found that you are an owner of an elephant? Will you live with it or get rid of it? Adrian Rookwhistle, the protagonist, has no choice. He has to live with it. And in living with it he goes on an adventure that promises smiles and laughters for the reader. In the Foreword, Gerald Durrell claims that almost all of the recorded incidents in this book actually happened. If that’s true, then there’s no doubt that the real life Adrian had one hell of an adventure.

The Comedians

Graham Greene

The novel is set in Haiti which is under the rule of Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. It tries to expose the doings of Papa Doc’s regime, the workings of his secret police Tontons Macoutes through the eyes of three characters. The book is certainly entertaining, but what’s more exciting is its release date. It was first published in 1966, the time when Papa Doc was still ruling Haiti. His ministry released a statement about the book, bashing Greene. Do check out Greene’s reply and then this book too.

Maps For A Mortal Moon

Adil Jussawala

Edited & Introduced by Jerry Pinto

Over the years I have come across some literary groups like the Inkling (Tolkein, Lewis and others), the Lovecraftein Circle (Lovecraft, Howard and others), the Oulipians (Queneau, Calvino, Perec and others), etc. Reading about them had often made me wonder whether India too has (or had) any such writer’s group. After reading Maps For A Mortal Moon, I finally have my answer. The Clearing House. It was founded by Adil Jussawalla, Gieve Patel, Arun Kolatkar and Arvind Krishnan Mehrotra. All poets, must-read Indian poets. This book, I must say, isn’t just about that. It consists of essays that Adil Jussawalla wrote on various topics for various publications. I throughly enjoyed reading this book and wished it was longer. If you haven’t read this book, please do. Do it now, right now.