Book: Room by Emma Donoghue

Room by Emma Donoghue
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Room" (2010), a powerful novel by Emma Donoghue, was later adapted into a Oscar-winning film. The story is told from the perspective of five-year-old Jack, who has lived all his life in a room with his Ma and has not known life beyond its four walls. Recommended.

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Book: Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Asymmetry", the debut novel by Lisa Halliday, is a well-crafted work that may seem like two novels in one but explores asymmetries in a relationship between a celebrated writer and the novice he is sleeping with, between the West and the Middle East, between youth and old age. This is an intriguing work of art.

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Book: The Mammaries of the Welfare State by Upamanyu Chatterjee

The Mammaries of the Welfare State by Upamanyu Chatterjee
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I haven't read "English, August" yet but perhaps I should have.

"The Mammaries of the Welfare State" (2000) doesn't seem to have the wit and narrative flow of Upamanyu Chatterjee's most celebrated work. The sequel (parts of which I found quite tedious) continues its satirical exploration of Indian bureaucracy, partly from the point of view of Agastya Sen - the protagonist of the 1988 novel that is very much on my to-read list.

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