The space between possibilities
Many myths ago, half-man, half-beast Narasimha rose from a least expected place and tore into the smug protection of his victims immunity, finding loopholes and creating new spaces.
There are powerful spaces between possibilities. Categories coalesce. Lets see how it works in literature. Or at least in books this year.
The book Im opening with straddles much, yet stands on its own. Balli Kaur Jaswals Erotic Stories for Punjabi Women is human, happening and humorous, occupying a snug space between East and West, popular and literary, ha-ha and serious. When a literacy class of suppressed Punjabi women in Londons Southall embrace the erotic, going against the moral-policing Brothers, theres an eruption, with death and scandal. Well balanced, and definitely worth a read.
Rushdie is big and brimming as ever. The Golden House, set in Mumbai and New York, has been compared to The Great Gatsby for the longing observer-narrator and his high-flying neighbour. It ploughs through American life and politics, Obama to Trump. Reviews ranged from “Rushdie puts his finger on the nationwide identity—” (The Guardian) to “The Golden House is a big novel, wide but shallow, so wide it has its own meteorology. The forecast: …read more
