Reviews
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Sports journalism and Bangladesh
Textbooks in Bangladesh tend to be written by foreign authors. Those that are written by Bangladeshi authors, emphasise on examples in a non-Bangladesh context.
'Independence': A painfully poignant Partition story
Divakaruni has a message to send with this novel. To her, independence entails not just liberation or freedom from subjugation, it also means doing the right thing for oneself and for the people around us.
Professing criticism: On Naeem Mohaiemen's new book of essays
Although the book is written in English, he has plenty of doubt to dispense about the language, its usefulness, acceptance, and communicability when it comes to writing and creating art in Bangladesh.
Flesh in ruins
It is the disease that maintains the upper hand in the plot. A jarring voice of its own, the toxins spilling across the pages in bold, chaotic words.
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / Family of feelings: Iffat Nawaz's 'Shurjo's Clan'
Part memoir, part magical realism, this is a story about identity and the idea of home.
BOOK REVIEW: FICTION / The Bhawal story through women’s voices in Aruna Chakravarti’s ‘The Mendicant Prince’
The story of the ailing Bhawal prince, Ramendranarayan Roy, the Mejo Kumar, who while taken to Darjeeling to recuperate, died and was cremated there, under mysterious circumstances, and who then returned years later as a wandering ascetic with partial amnesia!
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Andy Warhol & Truman Capote talk out their anxieties
Andy Warhol suggested they tape their conversations on his Sony Walkman, to which Truman Capote agrees.
BOOK REVIEW: NONFICTION / Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: A relative’s perspective on an enigmatic hero
Nehru was revolted by Nazism and the persecution of Europe’s Jews. Bose…felt that the Indian struggle for freedom should override all other considerations.
Soumitra Chatterjee: The one man behind the many
It is impossible to ascribe any one particular character to Soumitra Chaterjee, as he has immortalised several through his performances.
Relationships lost and found in debut novel ‘Punyaha’.
In the middle of nowhere, among the wide expanse of paddy fields stands a wee nursery—an oasis of sorts, a respite from the outside world.
Return to Fear Street and R. L. Stine’s world of horrors
I was one of those kids at school who could always be found squeezed in between bookshelves at the school library during lunch hour. While my classmates wolfed down actual food in the cafeteria, I devoured the works of Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, JK Rowling, and the ghostwriters who penned the Nancy Drew series. It was here, amongst these very shelves that I first chanced upon the works of the one author who would pave the way to my fascination with the horror genre: RL Stine.
‘Contactless Human Activity Analysis’: Future technologies to enable better lives
As the world continues to battle a devastating pandemic, the significance of healthcare technologies can be felt more so than ever. Rapid technological advancement (particularly in the artificial intelligence domain) has been revolutionising this sector, and contactless human activity analysis is one such promising example.
Can evolutionary psychology explain the human condition?
Evolutionary psychology (EP) is not an actual science. A scientific endeavour should invariably include scopes for experimentation that should lead to the nullification, or consolidation, of the hypotheses formulated on the general premises put forth by that branch of science. The be-all and end-all of EP, however, is the pursuit of the optimisation of reproductive fitness of the human individual. In broad strokes, a male human is genetically predisposed to mate with as many female partners as possible due to his seemingly endless reservoir of seeds, while the female human seeks to solely colonise the genetic and financial resources of a superior man because her eggs are in short supply. The tug-of-war that ensues from these two differing reproductive ideals purportedly has the capacity...
Are e-books the answer to Bangladesh’s climate change crisis?
On a mid-monsoon morning, with the drizzling sound of rain drops gently touching the earth and the fresh smell of soil, one would like to curl up with a seeping hot cup of cha in one hand and a book in the other. That is how many book lovers would love to spend their ideal holidays. However, it is high time that we think about the ethical and environmental implications of the ways in which we read and reflect on sustainable alternatives. In this age of a growing climate crisis, and Bangladesh being one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change given its geographical location, it is high time that readers think about a more sustainable alternative: e-books.
Of books and nostalgia
There is something very interesting about how certain smells take you back in time, very much like a time machine would, if it ever existed.
Tahmima Anam to discuss ‘The Startup Wife’ at virtual Hay Festival today
Five years since the release of The Bones of Grace (Daily Star Books, 2016), the Bengal Trilogy author Tahmima Anam has just published her fourth novel, The Startup Wife (Canongate, 2021), this week. Anam will be in conversation with journalist Georgina Godwin at today’s Hay Festival session at 3 PM GMT (9 PM Bangladesh time). The event is virtual and free to register.
The terror of living and loving
An 81-year-old woman is strolling about in her farm, reeling from nostalgia, dead leaves crunching under her feet. She is planting newly bloomed flowers in an empty pig pen.
Today we are 1
It was during the peak of the coronavirus crisis, amidst the punishing heat of June, that we geared up to launch Daily Star Books on this very day in 2020.