I could only take so much unemotional bluntness about life's misery in India. As the short stories wore on, the shock value lost its effect, and I just found myself hoping for some kind of beauty, hope, or love to be put up against the backdrop of the invented city. It felt a little bit like pho...
Aravind Adiga’s first novel, The White Tiger, won the 2008 Mann Booker Prize. The same year, Between the Assassinations, a collection of inter-related short stories, was published – with most of it, if not all, being written before The White Tiger. Thus, his "second" book provides a look at the i...
I've always struggled a bit with short stories, as I've mentioned in my reviews before, however I engaged with this more than I thought I would. I still found it slightly frustrating that I didn't get to engage with the characters in more depth or find out their back or indeed future stories, but...
‘Of course I left.’‘Ten thousand appointments are missed in this city because of too much traffic, and you missed Mr Shah because of too little traffic. Fate, Masterji,’ Mr Pinto said, as the maid tipped three idlis on to his plate. ‘The very definition.’‘You sound bitter, Mr Pinto.’ Masterji lea...