The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : What's hot in the world of books

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 10, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

What's hot in the world of books

J. Malarvizhi

Bird flu, Oscars, Da Vinci, pulp fiction and other subjects of interest

CHENNAI: Bird flu, the Oscars, Da Vinci, globalisation, self-help, and more Da Vinci are some good reasons to visit the nearest bookstore.

The bird flu scare has brought a few titles on the subject to the `Just Out' racks and these might be a good read for the scared, the cautious and the unwary. Researchers have collated information on the flu, on how it spreads, and the precautions to be taken.

And, just in case you do not already know, chicken and eggs should be cooked at high heat for safe consumption.

For Oscar enthusiasts

Oscar watchers not completely sated can hit the bookstores for more excitement. The book on King Kong is a novel reversal of the print to film narrative. The collected Chronicles of Narnia is out in a brand new edition for Rs.744. Annie Proulx' Brokeback Mountain is also available. For the Oscar illiterates, the movie was tipped to win the `best film' category.

Crash might have got ahead by a hair's breadth, but Brokeback Mountain still picked up the award for the `best adapted screenplay.' If you're not too sure about a film on gay cowboys being released here, the book might be the next best bet. It's now available for Rs.300.

The Da Vinci juggernaut continues to roll. More books that explain, trash, denounce and demystify Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code in a wide price range vie with each other to catch the eye.

The debate on whether the code is really Dan Brown's continue in the courts. Yes, there are accusations of plagiarism and the defendants are saying Shakespeare picked up his ideas from a lot of people too.

The newest reprint is Da Vinci Code: Illustrated Edition for Rs.995. If the Code doesn't interest you, then you could consider Don Brine's A Fishy Parody.

Blank: The Power of Not Thinking at All was on the same shelf as Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking. The first is the parody. The second is the bestseller, and about snap judgments and thinking on your feet (and not).

Also Eckhart Tolle, author of Power of Now, has come out with the next offering A New Earth.

Pulp fiction

Pulp fiction fans look out for Danielle Steele, Jeffrey Archer and Sidney Sheldon. All new titles plus Sheldon's The Other Side of Me, which is an official biography, presumably.

Weighty tomes

If you want your reading to have more weight, consider Amartya Sen's The Argumentative Indian, now out in paperback for Rs.295. If you want the idiot's guide to the Empire, Arundhati Roy has a similar sounding title, also freshly out in paperback.

If only events moving and shaking the subcontinent move you, Permanent Black has an interesting title Jinnah's Early Politics: Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity for Rs.595.

Why bother, you ask? The book is the reason why Advani did that sudden show of support for Jinnah during his Pakistan visit, triggering a political storm.

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