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Bookbuzz

DHRITIMAN CHATERJI

The books that have left an impact on me:

Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian's "Soul Mountain" and Vikram Seth's "Equal Music". Xingjian's book appealed to me for its dreamy quality and the fact that it combines social realism, magic realism and spiritualism to document a certain period in Chinese history. I am a great admirer of Seth and love the way he uses the English language.

My favourite authors:

Nobody really. But if I have to name a couple of them, then it would be Romesh Gunasekara and Michael Ondaatje. I enjoyed Michael's "Anil's Ghost" which is rooted in the Sri Lankan conflict but goes a step beyond.

Current read:

My reading, mostly non-fiction, is divided between English and Bengali. I just finished Miles Davis' autobiography. The book provides a terrific insight into the jazz scene of the 1940s as also social relationships of the time. The 19th Century reformer Shibnath Sastri's "Atmacharit", a reflection of renaissance Bengal, too was an interesting read.

If you could have dinner with one writer:

Elmore Leonard. His thrillers are witty and urbane. Most important, his stories don't have heroes or villains.

(The actor spoke to Savitha Gautam)

SAVITHA GAUTAM

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