The Blog of Small Things

  Name : What's wrong with you, Karthik?  Author : Siddhartha Vaidyanathan Year of Publication : 2020 Genre : Fiction, Novel Rating : ** ( Two stars out of 5) Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, the popular cricket writer, chooses to base his first book on memories of boyhood from his school in Bengaluru.The checkboxes of all cliches in such a novel are ticked - first masturbation, first smoke, bullies, lady teacher, copying in exams etc. The digs at reservation is an additional checkbox ticked as the boy is a Brahmin. It is possible to write good novels even when nothing happens for 250 odd pages and the writer is surely a gifted one, considering his oeuvre in sports writing. Unfortunately, Siddhartha squanders his chance to score a century and settles for a middling 25 runs off 34 deliveries.  

Name :  Oru Manidhan Oru Veedu Oru Ulagam Author : Jeyakanthan Year of Publication : 2022 (Reissue) Genre : Fiction, Novel Rating : **** ( Four stars out of 5)  Nietzsche's conception of a "Superhuman" gets a Tamil version through the utopian character of Henry. The plot lacks drama and negative characters. Instead, the story takes its time as Henry,a man without religion or caste or other such narrowing identity, goes back to his father's village and wins over the hearts of an otherwise conservative local populace. The novel is relevant even today because this turmoil-ridden world deserves some more Henrys to bring peace and harmony. 

Name :  Krishna Parundhu Author : A.Madhavan Year of Publication : 2022 (Reissue) Genre : Fiction, Novel Rating : **** ( Four stars out of 5) A.Madhavan is a writer who based almost all his Tamil stories in the streets and markets of Thiruvananthapuram. This novel is a philosophical meditation on how lust lurks inside even the supposedly saintly man. The characters and conversations feel real and the tension in the last twenty pages is palpable. A great work of literature does not merely tell a story. It can make us look within and question the value systems abiding which we live our lives. By that yardstick, Krishna Parundhu is a work for the ages.