The Serpent and the Rope by Raja Rao – Book Review

The Serpent and the Rope by Raja Rao book review summary analysis literature Indian Active Reader

Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964, The Serpent and the Rope is undoubtedly the magnum opus of Raja Rao. Regarded as one of the greatest figures in Indian English literature, along with R K Narayan and M R Anand, Raja Rao has explored the indefinite path of Indian philosophy, spirituality and Hindu Darshan in this novel. Many critics believe, and it apparently appears to be the case, the author has based the storyline of this novel on the

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Melodies of Society by Arav Rajesh – Book Review

Melodies of Society by Arav Rajesh book review Active Reader Poetry

Indian Poetry, in general, and across languages, has always sided with the sentiments, concerns, thoughts, traditions, problems and solutions that resemble people’s aspirations. The poems in the pre-independence era echoed the need to be independent. The poems of the post-independence era reverberated about the causes of good governance and other issues that concern the general population. In English, poets like Sarojini Naidu and Sri Aurobindo wrote about the concerns of the country before we got our independence. Once we

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The Obvious Truth that is Hidden by Chethana – Book Review

The Obvious Truth by Chethana Book Review

The title of the book tells many stories. Before you get yourself in a mess of thoughts and start speculating, let me break it out that the book is a non-fiction genre attempt at uncluttering the web of thoughts and complex ideas we often encounter as soon as we try to enter into a spiritually active phase. Is it a self-help book? You can say that. Is it a religious book? You can say that too. Is it a book

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Maya, the blindfolded… by Prasad Bag – Book Review

Maya the blindfolded by Prasad Bag book review Active Reader

The entire novel rests on two possible scenarios – either Maya is slipping into madness, slowly and eventually or she actually sees, feels and interacts with ghosts. Being a mystery thriller novel, the storyline will keep you engaged in things otherwise, your focus may come back again and again on these issues as Maya is the protagonist who has the responsibility of driving the plot to a fitting conclusion and that’s really fantastic. In this book review article, I will

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How Leaders Decide: Tackling Biases and Risks in Decision-making by Harjeet Khanduja – Book Review

How Leaders Decide by Harjeet Khanduja boo k review by Active Reader blog book

You must have read many books that discuss decision-making, the advantages of being decisive in life, the styles of decision-making, how good decisions can shape your life in a good way and vice-versa, and so many things about decision making. However, one thing that’s common in most of the books in this category is that the author is way too disconnected from the audience or the barrier to effective communication because the author is from a different background and tries

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The Mystery Mountains by Aurijit Ganguli – Book Review

The Mystery Mountains by Aurijit Ganguli book review active reader book blog

Aurijit Ganguli is not an entirely new novelist for the readers of the day. His first novel, The Shambala Sutras, came out in 2020. Readers and book critics received it well. The debut publication took Aurijit knocking on the gates of the elite club of authors behind the mythological and historical novels. You can count Ashwin Sanghi and Amish Tripathi, with Aurijit’s writing style leaning more towards Sanghi’s. However, the second novel by Aurijit almost countersigns the fact that

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Unvanquished: The Fight Beyond Justice by Dr Jonaki Mukherjee – Book Review

Unvanquished the fight beyond justice by Jonaki Mukherjee book review

Rare are the books that document genuine cases of crimes against women. Government documents and yearly reports by independent NGOs, at times, lack the refinement. However, a recent publication by one of the leading activists, counsellors and teachers for many years – Dr Jonaki Mukherjee – has set the ball rolling yet again. Unvanquished: The Fight Beyond Justice, a March 2022 book, delivers ten stunning, numbing, and horrendous stories of atrocities against women in different forms. Nevertheless, at the

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Insignificant Me by Dr Prathima – Book Review

Insignificant Me by Dr Prathima book review active reader

Insignificant Me by Dr. Prathima is a collection of short stories. I have just finished reading it. The joy of completing a book is incomparable. Only a reader can understand it. It gives a sense of achievement. More than that, it leads to inner peace. I am an avid reader and used to read novels a lot. But lately, I have shifted my focus to short stories. It is mainly due to the tight schedule I live on. It doesn’t

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Dewdrop and Banyan Tree by Ramachandran Rajasekharan: Book Review

Dewdrop and Banyan Tree by Ramachandran Rajasekharan book review Active Reader

Poems are not just a combination of words and emotions. There is more to it. Poems by any experienced poet reflect culture, civilization, language, religion, and the values of any society. When I talk about society, the poet I have read recently, Ramchandran Rajasekharan, has spent more than 60 years understanding the culture, nature, surroundings, life in life and gaining knowledge about it. In the sixties’ of his life, he decided to write poetry; too late but certainly not

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The Moon Wolf by Sanjana Kanamarlapudi – Book Review

The Moon Wolf by Sanjana Kanamarlapudi book review Active Reader

Many young authors have written many novels. Adults have written many novels for young authors. However, there are rare occasions when young authors write impactful novels for young adults. The Moon Wolf by Sanjana Kanamarlapudi is one of those rare novels that make a wider impact upon the audience, beyond the intended ones… this novel is the latest novel by 7-book author Sanjana who is just 13 by the way, as in 2022. Isn’t that surprising enough?

The Moon Wolf,

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