City readers are poring over works of fiction, from recent releases shortlisted for the Booker Prize, to folklore from Gujarat
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Anxious People
Paree Jambhekar, psychologist, Andheri
Fredrik Backman’s book is a brilliant look at how our inner world — thoughts, feelings, experiences — propel us towards choices, both helpful and unhelpful. The stories are interconnected, and run parallel to a police investigation. One theme that recurs is how we, humans, need support and someone to understand us, in all our messy and chaotic ways.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
Neha Mathews, media professional, Chembur
I’m inching through Kiran Desai’s 700-page book because the prose is so luscious you want to savour every page. It’s a delicately told story of belonging and othering of Indians abroad and at home, of hyper self-awareness colliding with inertia. As chapters zigzag between characters’ inner worlds, entering each one feels like stepping into a new room in a vast house. Desai was in no rush to finish writing this book, and I’m in no rush to finish reading it.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Meera Desai, singer-songwriter, Versova
After being sick of instinctively reaching for Instagram, I decided to replace it with my e-reader app. I had been drawn to Oscar Wilde since I was exposed to one of his poems by an elderly Irishman. I’ve loved reading it leisurely with lots of highlighting and rereading. It’s made me realise how homogenous and clinical my own speech and writing have become, and made me appreciate and strive to be the most ‘chalant’ version of myself.
Kutch ni Rasdhar
Rohan Mehta, film professional, Versova
Duleray Karani’s book is a collection of oral narratives from the Kutch. It’s one of the most comprehensive anthologies capturing the local folklore that has been passed down through generations rather than formal history. The stories are the human interpretation of the land, and that is what I like. Folklore somehow reads like fictionalised history lessons. Nothing is ever absolute. It’s always a version, a Chinese whisper, which morphs through time. You understand the psychology of the people and the form of society — sociology and history merged into one.
Those Who Eat the Cascadura
Gautam Vegda, PhD Scholar, Chembur
Set in the abundant and redolent terrains of Trinidad, Samuel Selvon’s book is a well-crafted blend of Caribbean folklore and fervent interracial romance. The novel hinges on the spellbinding legend that those who eat the Cascadura fish are destined to return to the island to end their days, a destiny that fuels an enthralling romance between an English visitor and a local village girl in the colonial era.
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