Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Historian of Decline and Prophet of Revival. By Madhavan Palat

First posted October 11, 2012 Paper presented to the International Conference: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: The Course Of His Life In The Context Of Greater Time 5-6 December 2008; Moscow NB: This is a brilliant and thought-provoking essay on the historic, literary and philosophical significance of the writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, one of the foremost witnesses of the history of… Read More Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Historian of Decline and Prophet of Revival. By Madhavan Palat

1st September 202331st August 2023 Dilip

The Death of Mao by James Palmer: Review

Disaster and intrigue in China after the cultural revolution Rana Mitter On 12 May 2008, a devastating earthquake ripped apart Wenchuan county in Sichuan province, southwest China. Military and civilian rescuers arrived swiftly at the scene, saving countless lives. Although more than 68,000 people died, the number of fatalities could have been much higher. An… Read More The Death of Mao by James Palmer: Review

31st August 2023 Dilip

The Grand Inquisitor and the Holy Fool: Madhavan Palat’s lecture on Dostoevsky

First posted March 26, 2014 The Grand Inquisitor and the Holy Fool The Indian Council for Historical Research Foundation Day At the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library / 27 March 2014 at 5.30 pm Dostoevsky was a remarkably modern thinker who may seem to have laboured hard to obscure the fact. He grappled with the… Read More The Grand Inquisitor and the Holy Fool: Madhavan Palat’s lecture on Dostoevsky

30th August 2023 Dilip

‘Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962’ – by Yang Jisheng

First posted September 23, 2016 Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 – by Yang Jisheng Reviewed by Jonathan Mirsky ‘I call this book Tombstone. It is a tombstone for my father who died of starvation in 1959, for the thirty-six million Chinese who also starved to death, for the system that brought about their death, and perhaps for… Read More ‘Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962’ – by Yang Jisheng

29th August 2023 Dilip

Before the Law. A parable by Franz Kafka

First posted September 29, 2015 The appearance of the law must be upheld / specially when its being broken. Gangs of New York (2002) Before the Law by Franz Kafka Translated by Ian Johnston (NB: This parable first appeared in 1915, and became a part of Kafka’s book The Trial) Before the law sits a gatekeeper. To this… Read More Before the Law. A parable by Franz Kafka

25th August 202325th August 2023 Dilip

A Hunger Artist. By Franz Kafka (1922)

First posted November 22, 2016 NB: Franz Kafka’s A Hunger Artist was written in 1922 and published in a collection also entitled A Hunger Artist. Here is a parable for our times. DS During these last decades the interest in professional fasting has markedly diminished. It used to pay very well to stage such great performances under one’s own management, but today… Read More A Hunger Artist. By Franz Kafka (1922)

24th August 2023 Dilip

ALBERT CAMUS: by Nicola Chiaromonte

NB: This is one of the most moving tributes to Albert Camus that I have read. It is also crystal clear. DS He had succeeded in saying in his fevered way and in an argument as taut as a bow why, despite the fury and horror of history, man is an absolute; and he had… Read More ALBERT CAMUS: by Nicola Chiaromonte

23rd August 2023 Dilip

A brilliant biography of an elusive genius

By Daniel Johnson Spinoza: Life and Legacy, by Jonathan Israel In mediaeval scholasticism, Aristotle’s reputation was such that he was usually referred to simply as “the Philosopher”. Amongst the moderns, this book makes the case for treating Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) similarly. If there is no philosopher but Spinoza, Jonathan Israel is his prophet. Spinoza: Life and… Read More A brilliant biography of an elusive genius

20th August 202320th August 2023 Dilip

As our 76th Independence Day approaches, revisiting ‘Indian Ideas of Freedom’

Ramachandra Guha In his landmark book, Dennis Dalton had originally examined the approaches of Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Gandhi, and Tagore. In the early 1980s, while a doctoral student in Calcutta, I read a brilliant essay by the American scholar, Dennis Dalton, on the evolution of Gandhi’s views on caste. This was published in an edited volume… Read More As our 76th Independence Day approaches, revisiting ‘Indian Ideas of Freedom’

15th August 2023 Dilip

Kautilya’s observations on the causes of discontent in a polity

Impoverishment, greed, and disaffection, he says, are engendered when the king: 1/ ignores the good [people] and favours the wicked; 2/ causes harm by new unrighteous practices; 3/ neglects the observation of the proper and righteous practices; 4/ suppresses dharma and propagates adharma; 5/ does what ought not to be done and fails to do… Read More Kautilya’s observations on the causes of discontent in a polity

14th August 202314th August 2023 Dilip

After the truth-shower

Philosophy, history, literature, current affairs, and other stuff. Posted by Dilip Simeon

Tag: Books and literature