Translated from Japanese by E. Dale SaundersPublished by Vintage Books, 1964, 239 pages. Original version published in 1962.Review by Benedict Craven I recently put down Kobo Abe’s The Woman in the Dunes after three intense reading sessions. It is not an especially long book but for me this signified a new record in reading determination, …
The Circle: David Eggers
Published by Alfred A. Knopf / Penguin, 2013, 491 pages. This is one of the scariest books I’ve read—a dystopian novel for our hyperconnected times. A young woman, Mae, joins the Circle, a Google-like firm. She starts out in Customer Experience (Customer Service in the real world), and rises quickly through the ranks. The culture …
The Fiction of Development
Are certain works of fiction valid for the study of development? The premise of this working paper by David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers and Michael Woolcock is that they are. This paper is a challenge to development practitioners and academics "to include fictional representations of development issues within the scope of what they consider to be 'proper' forms of development knowledge". From …
Pilgrimage to the End of the World—The Road to Santiago de Compostela: Conrad Rudolph
Published by University of Chicago Press, 2004, 144 pages. At a time when more and more people are moving away from religion, this book takes you back to the essence of faith. Conrad Rudolph is not particularly religious, but decides to make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, walking all the way, staying in gîtes …
The Book of Dave: Will Self
Published by Penguin / Viking, 2006, 512 pages. This is one of those books that was hard going when I was reading it but stayed with me for a long time afterwards. The book moves between the present and a few centuries later. In the present, Dave, a London cabbie, loses his mind when his …
The Narrow Road to the Deep North: Richard Flanagan
Published by Chatto & Windus / Vintage, 2014, 464 pages. A harrowing book about war, love, and the nature of good and evil. Set, for the most part, around the end of the Second World War, it is about a group of Australian soldiers taken prisoner by the Japanese and made to build a railway …
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The Type Taster—How Fonts Influence You: Sarah Hyndman
Published by Type Tasting Publications, 2015, 148 pages. Sarah Hyndman brings 20 years of experience as a graphic designer, with findings from neurologists and psychologists, to her book about types and fonts. When I read the book’s blurb, I expected a collection of essays, which this book is not. It’s a largely visual, hands-on introduction …
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War and Peace: Leo Tolstoy
Translated from Russian by Anthony BriggsPublished by Penguin, 2007, 1440 pages. Original version published in its entirety in 1869. The first English translation by Clara Bell was published in 1886. Such a joy to have read Tolstoy's absolute, unparalleled, masterpiece now, without the spectre of deadlines and exams. This time around, I wonder what, if …
Moogavani pillanagrovi (Ballad of Ontillu) – Kesava Reddy
Translated from Telegu by the author.Published by Oxford University Press, 2013, 152 pages. Original version published in 1993.Review by Sadhana Ramchander Oxford Novellas are a unique series and present to the world, socially relevant themes from languages and genres not published in English earlier. They are translations of not only famous names but also of …
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Economics—The Users Guide: Ha-Joon Chang
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing / Pelican Press, 2014, 528 pages. I am one of those people who have a mental block about economics. When I read about it, my eyes glaze over and my brain goes “are you kidding?” and shuts down. I think this is ridiculous. I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person, and …
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