The Blog of Small Things

  Name :  White Hot : The Inside Story of England Cricket's Double World Champs Author :  Tim Wigmore & Matt Roller     Year of Publication : 2023     Genre : Non-fiction, Cricket     Rating : *** 1/2 ( Three and a half stars out of 5) Tim Wigmore, who recently authored a phenomenal book on Test Cricket, joins hands with Matt Roller to capture the journey traced by the England Men's white ball cricket team over a seven year period. In 2015, England plumbed new depths due to it's conservative approach towards limited overs cricket and the book evocatively traces the entire transition from also-rans to champions. The authors combine rigorous research with skilled writing to produce an enjoyable tome on a remarkable period in England's cricketing history.

  Name :  Tamizhaga Arasiyal Varalaru  Author :  R.Muthukumar     Year of Publication : 2026     Genre : Non-fiction, Politics, History     Rating : *** 1/2 ( Three and a half stars out of 5) R.Muthukumar plays three disparate roles of a storyteller, a historian and a Dravidian apologist through this hefty tome which covers the entire history of TN politics post-1947 in nearly 900 pages. The major themes of anti-Hindi imposition protests, Eelam issue, Cauvery river sharing, welfare politics are covered in a chronological manner while the main axis which drives the book is the electoral politics which threw up charismatic leaders from time to time. While the significant arcs are covered, the author's eye for interesting trivia needs a special mention. The book does not make any scholarly analysis of events but leaves such lofty tasks to the reader. Instead, it provides a kaleidoscopic view of events which are colorful enough to make for a...

Name :  The DMK years : Ascent, Descent , Survival Author :  R.Kannan     Year of Publication : 2024     Genre : Non-fiction, Politics, History     Rating : ** 1/2 ( Two and a half stars out of 5) The author needs to be lauded for his sweeping ambition of encapsulating the work of an era in nearly 500 odd pages. Every significant event associated with the history of DMK is covered. To avoid being called hagiographic, the book errs by moving to the other extreme - all it's criticisms of DMK are detailed while the deserved praise is rushed. The author eschews scholarship for chronological recollections and much needed analyses go missing. DMK is a remarkable institution and Kannan does not even come close to doing justice to it.

Name : Kanavu Thozhirchalai  Author :  Sujatha     Year of Publication : 1979     Genre : Fiction, Novel     Rating : ***** ( 5 stars out of 5) A blockbuster Sujatha novel which has all the elements of a runaway hit in the box office. That the novel was serialized as a weekly series in "Ananda Vikatan" in 1979 is evident in the (sometimes forced) twist at the end of every chapter. With some minor tweaks related to technology, the novel can still be adapted to a 2026 version as the core emotions are timeless. It is a sad denouement that such a novel could never be made into a movie till today. A movie version can still be attempted and almost everything will fall in place but where will we get a younger Kamal Hassan (The only actor who can ace the complexities of the protagonist Arun Vijay) again? 

  Name : Thaaragai Author : Tamilmagan     Year of Publication : 2016     Genre : Fiction, Novel     Rating : ** 1/2 ( 2 and a half stars out of 5) Sujatha, the heart-throb Tamil writer of an entire generation, passed away in 2008. Tamilmagan is an author who tries to evoke the haal of a Sujatha work through wit and pace. This novel is based in the glitzy Tamil film industry and traces the life journey of an aspirant actress. The regular tropes of casting couch, political ambitions, travails at a shooting spot etc are present. In "Kanavu Thozhirchalai", a classic Kollywood based novel, Sujatha evokes the absurdities and chaos of the film industry in a cathartic way. Tamilmagan falls short of mastering the third key Sujatha element ( Wit and pace, being the first two) : Emotion.

Name : Indira Gandhi and the years that transformed India Author : Srinath Raghavan     Year of Publication : 2025     Genre : Non-fiction, Politics, Biography, History     Rating : *** ( 3 stars out of 5) Srinath Raghavan, the erudite scholar who has previously written valuable works on Nehru and  Bangladesh war (among others)  pens a semi-biographical, semi-political portrait of the "Long 1970s" through the travails and decisions of the fragile yet indestructible "Durga"- Indira Gandhi. While the research material is new and the context setting is thorough (understanding local economic decisions through the lens of global crises), the author is in a hurry to pack in too much material in limited space. In a book with large ambitions, epiphanies are expected but the book stops short. The biggest decision in Indira Gandhi's career was to withdraw Emergency when she was at the peak of her political legitimacy.  Ramachandra Guha's "India after G...