A Many Splendoured Thing by Han Suyin
How I discovered the book
When I was having a conversation with a friend sometime back and talking about our favourite books, both of us discovered that we liked China in different ways. My friend asked me whether I have read ‘A Many Splendoured Thing’ by Han Suyin. I hadn’t heard of the author before and hadn’t read the book. My friend said that the book was out of print, but she could lend me her copy. I saw her copy which was delicate and it looked like the paper would crumble if it wasn’t handled properly. It was also gifted to her by one of her best friends from his personal collection. I told her that I was afraid that I wouldn’t handle it carefully. She then lent me a photocopied version of the book. I finished reading it sometime back. Here is the review. (more…)
Archive for February, 2009
Book Review No. 7 – A Many Splendoured Thing by Han Suyin
Posted in Book Review on February 28, 2009| 3 Comments »
Book Review No. 6 – Prince of Persia (the graphic novel) by Jordan Mechner and others
Posted in Book Review on February 28, 2009| 1 Comment »
Prince of Persia (the graphic novel) by Jordan Mechner, A.B.Sina, LeUyen Pham, Alex Puvilland and Hilary Sycamore
How I discovered the book
When I first learnt how to use computers and how to program them, the personal computer was a much more humble device than it is now. The computer I started with had an Intel 8088 processor and two 5.25 inch floppy disk drives and no hard disk. To boot the computer, one had to insert the bootable floppy disk into one of the drives and wait for sometime. The floppy disk drive had a capacity of 360 KB. The compiler that we used for compiling COBOL programs came in two floppy disks and so they had to be loaded one after the other. I think the PC had a 640 KB memory. The monitor of the computer was in black and green (black background with green letters) and if I remember right it had no graphics card and so we couldn’t view pictures on the monitor. When an XT (the next version of the PC) made its appearance, we were all thrilled, because it had a hard disk where lots of stuff could be stored. It was around this time that I got to know about the ‘Prince of Persia’ game. (more…)
Book Review No. 5 – At Large and At Small (Confessions of a Literary Hedonist) by Anne Fadiman
Posted in Book Review on February 27, 2009| 1 Comment »
At Large and At Small (Confessions of a Literary Hedonist) by Anne Fadiman
How I discovered the book
I discovered Anne Fadiman when I was browsing books in the new arrivals section of my favourite bookshop last year. ‘At Large and At Small’ was the first book of hers that I saw. However, I have this interesting habit of finding out which is the first book written by a writer and try to get that book. When I checked the back cover of ‘At Large and At Small’ I saw that all the accolades that Fadiman has received was for her book ‘Ex Libris’. So, I decided to get ‘Ex Libris’ instead of ‘At Large and At Small’. (more…)
Book Review No. 4 – The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey
Posted in Book Review on February 11, 2009| 2 Comments »
The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey
How I discovered the book
I was browsing in the bookshop sometime back when I was surprised to see a book by a new thriller writer, whom I haven’t heard of before. It was called ‘The Chicago Way’ by Michael Harvey. I read the blurb in the back of the book and found it interesting. I decided to get the book and read it. I finished reading it yesterday. Here is the review.
(more…)
Book Review No. 3 – What Good are the Arts? by John Carey
Posted in Book Review on February 8, 2009| 1 Comment »
What Good are the Arts? by John Carey
How I discovered the book
I was reading a column in the ‘Literary Review’ supplement of the newspaper we buy at home many months back. The column was about interesting books that the columnist had read recently. There was mention of a book called ‘What Good are the Arts?’ by John Carey. I had heard of John Carey before because he had edited ‘The Faber book of Science’ and I had liked his introduction to the book. When I read some of the lines from ‘What Good are the Arts?’ that the columnist had quoted, I liked them and thought I will get the book. But when I enquired around in different bookshops, I realized that the book was not easily available. (more…)
Vishy's Blog 