Submit your Article

You have probably heard of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’. The movie poster with Audrey Hepburn in a sleek black dress is one of the most iconic images of 20^th century Hollywood.

But surprisingly not many people know of Truman Capote’s novella by the same name on which the movie is based. 

The movie is popular than the book, and considering Capote’s original story is a little removed from the sweet romance that’s shown in the 1961 film adaptation, it’s easy to understand why. The book is a little dark and doesn’t have the movie’s happy ending.

But I love reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s for the images it sparks in my mind. Capote’s descriptions of people and places make me nostalgic about things I didn’t even know could make me wistful in the first place.

My well-thumbed copy of Capote’s ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ is a Penguin Essentials edition published in 2011. The pretty blue and pink cover of this particular book instantly cheers me up and, over the years, I have turned to it whenever I needed a quick pick-me-up.

In Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a contemporary writer recalls his early days in New York City, when he makes the acquaintance of a remarkable 19-year-old girl, Holly Golightly, who lives in the same block as him. Holly is an actress turned socialite who hosts parties in her small apartment while receiving a string of wealthy albeit unappealing men.

Holly is an interesting character. She loves easily and leaves just as easily. She gets angry quickly and forgives fast. She can buy expensive things for herself, yet wants to be spoiled with lavish gifts. Eventually she gets into some trouble and flees and our narrator, Fred, pines over the postcards she sends him.

This is a cute, fun story that was scandalous when it was first published but today makes you feel like all your actions are justified as long as you are happy. Holly’s behavior wouldn’t be a cause of much shock in the current times but a female protagonist like her was unheard of when the book was written. Much of the story is also about the masks we put on to fit in and the worlds we create in our heads for a sense of belonging.

There is a lot going on in this tiny novella. I’m sure what you take away from it will be different than what, say, your friend does. On a lighter note, for me, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is also a comforting place that reminds me of a time, pre Covid-19, when parties happened on a whim and people came and went as they pleased.

Fiction

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Truman Capote

Published: 1958

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton

Language: English

Amish Tripathi, or Amish as he prefers to be called, is one of India’s most popular contemporary fiction writers. More than five million copies of his books have been printed and his works—dealing mostly with mythology—have been translated into 19 languages.

Set in the 3,400 BC, ‘Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta’, tells the story of the King of Lanka, from the time he was born till he kidnaps Sita. The book is the third part of the five-part Ram Chandra series, the first two being ‘Ram: Scion of Ikshvaku’ and ‘Sita: Warrior of Mithila’. You needn’t have read the first two to understand and enjoy the latest installment. All three are multilinear narratives that basically set the background for the next two books in the series. It’s only from the fourth part onwards that the characters come together in one main narrative.

Most of us know Raavan as the villain in the epic Ramayana. Much of what we know and how we feel about Raavan has been shaped by the startling image of a ten-headed monster we saw in various versions of Ramayana on television. But, apparently, even in the original version of Ramayana—Valmiki’s Ramayana—there is a certain depth to Raavan’s character, something that’s completely missing in modern interpretations of the myth.

In Amish’s version, Raavan is an artist, musician, brilliant scholar who loves his books, and a ruthless businessman. It’s losing the only woman he loved that brings out the monster in him. In the book, Raavan belongs to the Nagas, a feared and cursed tribe (a group that featured in Amish’s Meluha series). As a child, he flees with his mother, Kaikesi, and uncle, Mareech, to protect his younger brother, Kumbhakarna, who is also a Naga and is ordered to be killed at birth. Much of the book is about how Raavan beats all odds to become the world’s wealthiest and most powerful man.

You also get to see a different side of Kumbhakarna than the one you have grown up knowing. You witness a kinder version of the character—one who isn’t a monster that Ramayana makes him out to be. He is intelligent, brave and focused on protecting his brother, which he considers to be his dharma. By the end of the book, there’s also a link, a possible explanation to Kumbhakarna’s legendary tendency to sleep for days on end.

There are times when the story is too preachy and the writing feels a little off—almost like someone forced the author to write at a gunpoint. But Raavan is a fascinating character and Amish has made him so multi-faceted that you want to get to know him more and thus keep turning the pages. You already know where the story is headed but that doesn’t matter; it’s the character you are discovering here. Also, there is a big reveal in the end that gives the story a nice little twist.

At its heart, Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta is a love story and Raavan, for a change, isn’t the villain here.

‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’, Audrey Niffenegger’s debut novel, opens in 1991. Henry DeTamble is 28 and works at the Chicago Public Library. Twenty-year-old Clare Abshire walks into the library and immediately recognizes Henry as the man who has been an indispensable part of her life ever since she was six. She knows she will marry him one day and that particular point in time is when they begin courting. But Henry doesn’t know her yet, despite visiting her several times over the years.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is the love story of Clare and Henry who first meet when Clare is six and Henry 36. The two get married when Clare is 22 and Henry is 30. No, you didn’t read that wrong. What we think of as impossible is possible in Henry’s case because he time travels. He suffers from a rare disorder, chrono-impairment, where his genetic clock resets periodically and he is sucked into his past or future.

The only thing is that Henry has no voluntary control over it. For instance, when Clare and Henry are getting married, he is whisked away right before the ceremony. An older version of Henry, however, appears just in time to take his place. Not many of his family and friends notice that all of a sudden Henry looks slightly older.

The story is narrated alternately by the two title characters, with Henry time traveling back and forth between his past and future. The story also roughly follows Clare’s chronological timeline, narrating her first meeting with the present version of Henry, their marriage and attempts to have children, and the effects of Henry’s sudden disappearances. There are also various scenes of Clare and Henry’s pasts where as a child Clare meets Henry and you get to see how Henry becomes accustomed to his time traveling.

It could have been a confusing read hadn’t it been for Niffenegger’s smooth writing. She has also taken care not to make the story too complex. And she ties all the plots together beautifully. There are revelations and explanations for everything that might initially confuse you. The romance element is extremely relatable and nothing feels over the top. The characters are well developed and you can actually envision yourself as Clare or Henry. 

However, given the theme—time traveling—the story could have been a bit more compelling. I also at times had problems with a 30-something-year-old Henry hanging out with a six-, 10- or 15-year-old Clare. That kind of creeped me out. But the story as a whole had me gripped and thus, by the end, I could forgive the minor hiccups.

Fiction

The Time Traveler’s Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

Published: 2004

Publisher: Vintage

Pages: 518, Paperback

Back in school, poetry never made much sense to me. Milton, Keats, Shelly—they all felt the same and went right over my head. If I had to write a poem, the last word of each line had to rhyme with that of the next. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I haven’t gotten any better at understanding poetry since. Thankfully, I no longer try to write poems, even though the itch is there sometimes.

But I haven’t given up on poetry altogether. Spoken word poetry and occasional stanzas at the beginning of various books have managed to keep alive the hope that one day it will all make perfect sense. In the meanwhile, I’m glad there are some poets who already do.

Nikita Gill

Gill mostly writes about womanhood and feminism and her poems challenge the conventional notion of what it means to be a woman. Her poems about life, loss, and being strong in general will have you nodding, saying, “Yes, that’s it… that’s exactly how I feel.” Her poems are what are going on in your head, you just hadn’t been able to put it in words. Reading her, for me, is an extremely calming and cathartic experience. It makes me realize my experiences and issues aren’t unique and, in that way, feel less lonely. If you are already a fan of Rupi Kaur then you will definitely love Gill’s empowering poems. ‘Wild Embers’ and ‘Fierce Fairytales’ are my favorites of all Gill’s books. You don’t have to read them in one sitting; you can keep them on your shelf and dip in and out whenever you feel like.

Atticus 

Instagram sensation, the anonymous and mask-donning Atticus has fans in stars like Shay Mitchell and Karlie Kloss. Dubbed as the #1 poet to follow by Teen Vogue and the “World’s most tattoo-able poet” by Galore magazine, Atticus has two books out with Simon & Schuster—‘Love Her Wild’, and ‘The Dark Between Stars’—both of which have received raving reviews. Readers are however divided on Atticus. Not everyone loves him, or even likes him. Some find his work painfully mediocre. But reading Atticus will make you think about love and relationships in a way you hadn’t before. I wouldn’t say all his poems are exceptional but I am particularly fond of how his books are designed with interesting, full-page black-and white-digital art and photos. They give you a moment to wonder and ponder.

Cleo Wade 

Called the “Millennial Oprah”, Wade has over 685,000 followers on Instagram. Her book ‘Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life’ is full of positive little nuggets that warm your heart. The small, square book, that you can easily slip into your pocket or purse, is branded as self-help rather than poetry. If you have ever wanted an instruction manual for life, this is it. Her words have also been used in advertisements for Gucci’s Chime for Change campaign, stenciled on Nike AF1 sneakers, and inscribed on designer dishes. Wade’s short, fragmented poems are little important thoughts in our head that, burdened by daily life and its hundreds of hassles, have been shoved at the very back.

I’m a little in love with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s short story collection, ‘The Thing Around Her Neck’, and her book-length essay, ‘We Should All Be Feminists’. On the other hand, I haven’t really connected with her novels on that level. It’s great writing but there is usually something about the story that feels a little off. Unrestrained by word-count, Adichie has a tendency to get carried away and that makes her novels a bit unstructured. Or maybe it’s just bad editing.

But I still enjoyed ‘Purple Hibiscus’, Adichie’s debut novel and winner of the 2005 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize. It’s a coming of age story that unravels as a military regime comes to power in Nigeria. Set against the backdrop of a coup, it is as much about the struggles of a politically troubled Nigeria as it is about a seemingly normal Nigerian family governed by abuse and control.

Narrated in the first person by 15-year-old Kambili Achike, living in an affluent household with her brother, Jaja; her mother, Beatrice; and her father, Eugene, Purple Hibiscus will have you contemplating about life and your beliefs while reinforcing the fact that abuse is never acceptable and that it can’t ever be a sign of love.

To the world, Eugene is a good man. He is the publisher of the newspaper ‘Standard’ in Enugu, goes to mass regularly, and doesn’t hesitate to help others, often without taking any credit for it. But at home, it’s a different matter altogether. Kambili and Jaja live in constant fear of his beatings, which Eugene views as “lessons” on becoming more pious Catholics. Beatrice has had many miscarriages because of Eugene’s violent nature but she never stands up to him. Instead, she is always trying to please him, and she ends up at the hospital when she can’t do that.

But the family doesn’t know any other way of life and thinks whatever is happening is all for their benefit. Eugene’s actions are never met with any resistance. However, things change when Kambili and Jaja go to visit their aunt, Ifeoma, who is a university professor in Nsukka. Here, in a house way smaller than theirs, the siblings encounter a new way of life that allows them to speak, laugh, and not worry about being punished because of someone’s mood swings. For the first time, Kambili realizes that she is free to have opinions and ideas of her own.

Purple Hibiscus is a beautiful story of a girl blossoming and coming into her own, though the narrative is a tad slow at times. The story also heartbreaking and beautifully captures the tension between oppression and our innate desire to be free. The only problem I had with Purple Hibiscus is that there are many things happening but they all feel a bit underdeveloped. That’s perhaps why none of the characters stay with you when you are done. I would still recommend it to those in want of an introspective read, for it definitely gives you some food for thought.

Fiction

Purple Hibiscus

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Published: 2004

Publisher: 4th Estate

Language: English

Pages: 307, Paperback

Short stories might not be as popular as long novels, one of the arguments being that there’s not much room for character development and thus you are never very invested in them. But for me, stories don’t always need a clear beginning, middle, and an end. Sometimes it can be just a chapter in someone’s life or talk about a particularly difficult or humorous situation. And it’s quite fun to let these little nuggets occupy your mind, especially during stressful times like these. Here I recommend three of my favorite short story collections if you want to dip into this wonderful world.

‘Revenge’ by Yoko Ogawa

Revenge is more of a Japanese literary short novel, with its stories interconnecting in overt and covert ways that remind you of Haruki Murakami. I could read Revenge by Yoko Ogawa a hundred times over and still not be bored. The book was initially published in 1998 but its popularity soared after its English edition came out. Translated by Stephen Snyder, the 11 dark tales in Revenge are macabre at their best.

The writing is simple yet gripping and the stories are eerily good. There’s a story where a woman buys strawberry cake for her son on her birthday, but he’s been dead for years. In another, the neighbor of a struggling novelist discovers a carrot in the shape of a human hand before her ex-husband’s handless body turns up in the same garden. Then there’s a bag maker who designs intricate bags for a woman whose heart is outside her chest. Revenge is full of these odd characters that send a chill down your spine.

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I love the way Adichie writes. There’s something very raw and real about the emotions of her characters. I really enjoyed ‘Purple Hibiscus’, which was longlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize, and ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ and ‘Americanah’. But it is her short story collection, ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’, that is my all-time Adichie favorite.

A collection of 12 short stories, The Thing Around Your Neck focuses mainly on the lives and experiences of Nigerian women caught up in political or religious violence. Only one story has a male narrator.

In ‘The American Embassy’, a woman applies for asylum but can’t bring herself to talk about her son’s murder during the visa process. In ‘Tomorrow Is Too Far’, a woman reveals the secrets behind her brother’s death. Then there’s ‘On Monday of Last Week’ where a university educated Nigerian woman is forced to work as a house help in America to make ends meet.

These brilliant stories of women coping with change, loneliness and longing, and learning to survive the odds, are about what binds us as friends, lovers, and families. They are also, in trademark Adichie style, heavy with social and political comments that make you think.

‘The Awakening and Other Stories’ by Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was one of the very few 19^th century American writers whose work explored new and startling territory. The Awakening caused much outrage and then went out of print for decades when it was first published in 1899.

Edna Pontellier is on holiday with her husband and two young children when she is pursued by the charming and unmarried Robert Lebrun. It leads to an affair that has Edna wanting to break away from her passionless marriage.

The story about a woman defying societal norms is among the boldest and earliest works of feminist fiction and regarded as a proto-feminist masterpiece today. Laced with humor but ultimately heartbreaking, Chopin’s transformative stories that emphasize women’s roles in society were all ahead of their times, but raise vital questions and concerns even today.

I find war stories horrifying. They always send a shiver down my spine, even if they’re fiction. I guess that’s because you know something similar has probably happened somewhere and continues to happen across borders even today. Real-life accounts are worse because someone has actually suffered and you can’t fathom how humans can be so cruel to inflict unimaginable pain on others.

‘The Librarian of Auschwitz’ by Antonio Iturbe is based on the experiences of Czech teen Edita (Dita) Kraus who was a prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Though Iturbe interviewed Dita to write the novel, the book is actually a fictionalized account of real-life events.

Dita and her parents led a privileged life in Prague—her father was a reputed lawyer—before being taken to Auschwitz and then to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Besides narrating Dita’s experiences at the camp, Iturbe also richly imagines the lives of those around her while building a narrative that stays as close as possible to real instances.

When she was 14, Dita had one of the most dangerous jobs in the camp. She was to look after the eight books that prisoners had smuggled into Auschwitz. Books were forbidden—anyone found in the possession of one would be executed—and these books were used at the secret school started by prisoners for the children of Block 31.

Dita loves books, and takes her duty as librarian seriously. She’s forever mending torn pages and checking on those who are have borrowed the books to see if they are taking proper care of them during “school hours”. Dita also doesn’t hesitate to take risks. From sewing deep pockets in her clothes to hide books to disguising herself as a man to visit her ailing father to assuming her mother’s identity to spare her from carrying a corpse, Dita shows immense courage despite being acutely aware that death is just one wrong move away.

The violence in graphic. It hurts to read. People are dragged to gas chambers, already stuffed with dead bodies. They are beaten and starved—a lone piece of carrot in their soup is considered a luxury. And there is the ever-looming threat of becoming one of Dr Mengele’s lab rats. He is notorious for cutting up people without anesthesia, when not conducting life-threating experiments on them.

However, aside from the difficult content, reading the book is fairly easy. The words just flow and the stories seem to merge. No one is made to seem unnecessarily heroic. Holocaust sufferers and survivors are all heroes in their own rights and it is this fact that shines through in The Librarian of Auschwitz.

This is an important story not only because it’s about the power of hope in the gravest of situations but also because you realize the cost of war just isn’t worth it.  

I don’t remember finishing a book and being this angry. ‘13 Reasons Why’ shouldn’t exist. But it does. And that makes me sad and mad. Jay Asher has written about an important issue—suicide—in the most insensitive and ridiculous manner ever.

Before 13 Reasons Why, Asher apparently only wrote humorous books. He clearly lacks the flair and the maturity to write on serious issues—I doubt his humor is any better, going by his sensibilities as evident in 13 Reasons Why.  

The book got some really bad reviews—from BookTubers and reviewers I follow—but I still picked it up thinking it couldn’t be that terrible. I started it with an open mind, prepared to contest those who said the book glamorized suicide, or belittled a serious mental health problem. At most I thought Asher must have gotten some details wrong and readers and critics were being much too harsh on him.

But no. The book is awful.

Okay, I’m going to put my anger aside and try to be reasonable here as I calmly present my case as to why 13 Reasons Why belongs in the dumpster.

First, the very premise is flawed. Hannah Baker, a high school student, decides to commit suicide. Before taking the pills to end her life she records a series of audiotapes holding a few people accountable for her actions. The people she ‘blames’ for her not wanting to live anymore are students like her with their own problems. Why, if at all, Hannah’s problems are more important than the girl sitting next to her in class is not something Asher gives any thought to, thus making Hannah seem shallow and selfish.

Next, Hannah mails the tapes she makes to the first person on it with instructions to mail them to the person who follows the receivers’ name on the tape when he or she is done listening. And they can’t destroy the tapes because someone has the second set and they will be made public if the chain is broken. This just seems demented—like Hannah is spiteful and seeking revenge, like she doesn’t want people to live because she decided she wouldn’t.

Also, Hannah talking about what made her feel bad are everyday problems of a regular teenager. Besides rumors affecting people the way rumors can, nothing anyone did warrants any blame. If someone doesn’t respond to you the way you want them to, does that make him bad? And what’s with the narrative that bullying leads to suicide? It’s never that simple.

The ending of the tape—or Hannah’s story—is also problematic. Spoiler alert: Hannah goes to her guidance counselor as a last resort before committing suicide. He seems to have a genuine interest in her problems and wants to help her work it out. But something in her snaps and she bursts out of his office, despite him repeatedly asking her to wait. Hannah, running down the hallway of the school, looks back at the office door and when it stays shut and the counselor isn’t rushing after her, decides that she is done with life. Every scene seems superficial and stupid—and you can’t afford to do that when you have taken up a grave topic like suicide.

13 Reasons Why could have been a positive message about the importance of treating other people with kindness and realizing how your actions can affect others. What it is instead, owing to fickle writing and horrible character development, is a bitter suicide note where you feel no empathy for the victim.

Fiction

13 Reasons Why

Jay Asher

Published: 2007

Publisher: Penguin Books

Language: English

Pages: 288, Paperback