Bookless in Baghdad: Reflections on Writing and Writers [Hardcover]

Shashi Tharoor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 2005

'A fluid and powerful writer, one of the best in a generation of Indian authors' (New York Times Book Review), Shashi Tharoor, the acclaimed author of six books, all published by Arcade, is once again at his provocative best. Supremely personal, yet always probing and analytical, this brilliant collection is part memoir, part essay and literary criticism. In the title piece, we learn what Iraqis go through in their beleaguered land merely to get hold of a book, and how selling books from their own libraries on the street helps some put bread on the table. Tharoor reminisces about growing up with books in India and discusses the importance of the Mahabharata in Indian life and history. There is also a poignant homage to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, whose home was raided by the oppressive military regime while he lay on his deathbed, and who famously said: 'There is only one thing of danger for you here-my poetry!' Pondering world affairs, Tharoor declares that 'the defining features of today's world are the relentless forces of globalization-the same forces used by the terrorists in their macabre dance of death and destruction.' Tharoor's astute views on Salman Rushdie, India's love for P. G. Wodehouse, Kipling, Pushkin, le Carr, V. S. Naipaul, and Winston Churchill make for fascinating reading. His insightful takes on Hollywood and Bollywood will intrigue even the most demanding cinephile. Together, these 39 pieces reveal the inner workings of one of today's most eclectic writers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This collection of short essays by the Anglo-Indian novelist and senior U.N. official would seem to hold out the promise of an ethnographic consideration of the life of letters. Alas, the title essay, about the "book souk" in besieged Baghdad, is something of a red herring. These essays, newspaper columns and speeches do not, by and large, try to assess the situation of literature in war-torn regions, or any other regions for that matter. In one piece, the author describes the experience of having his novel adapted to the big screen; another is an elegy for a defunct Anglo-Indian review; a third is an anecdote of traveling to Spain for a cup of coffee. These are all personal reflections—as when Tharoor devotes an entire column to answering the criticisms of an Indian journalist, deflecting critiques of his hairstyle and choice of clothing. Tharoor's novels, as he never tires of writing, have been lavishly praised all around the world. But this book's topics—as well as the author's liberal use of culture-specific shorthand—would seem to make it primarily of interest to the Anglophone Indian community. (July)
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From Booklist

Tharoor, multitalented and multifaceted, is an undersecretary at the UN, a journalist, a biographer of Nehru, a celebrated novelist with a bent for satire, and a polished and pointed essayist. He begins this far-ranging, piquant, and enlivening collection of essays about reading and writing with a charming piece about his boyhood addiction to books, primarily British in origin, a reminiscence that segues into the first of many illuminating cross-cultural inquiries into how the imagination trumps prejudice. Turning to the Indian tradition, he considers the power of the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, and how it inspired him to write his controversial Great Indian Novel (1991). Tharoor then ruminates insightfully on the works of Pushkin, Neruda, Narayan, le Carre, and Rushdie; globalism and culture; and the state of literature (precarious) and illiteracy (rampant) in America. His diplomatic work meshes with his literary passion throughout, but it is especially tangible in his sensitive account of a visit to Baghdad's book row in 1998, where he witnesses the power of books under even the most trying circumstances. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (July 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559707577
• ISBN-13: 978-1559707572
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #976,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forty essays provide a range of insights on the literary world outside the West - and they're fascinating revelations, November 7, 2005

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bookless in Baghdad: Reflections on Writing and Writers (Hardcover)

It's hard to easily categorize Bookless In Baghdad: Reflections On Writing And Writers: it's not a literary expose, it's not entirely a memoir/autobiography, and it's not entirely a cultural reflection on Iraq and India - yet, it's got elements of all the above. You'll receive more of an appreciation for literacy and reading learning what Iraqis go through just to get a book, and how selling their own books can make the difference between dinner or hunger. Tharoor examines his own childhood with books in India - and he reflects on the literary figures which that country reveres. Forty essays provide a range of insights on the literary world outside the West - and they're fascinating revelations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtless in New York, Mumbai, and elsewhere, June 5, 2010

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Panola Man (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bookless in Baghdad: Reflections on Writing and Writers (Hardcover)

Shukriya, Ashok, for a thoughtful review that is a whole lot more literate and well-considered than most of the annoying, self-absorbed nonsense that Tharoor pulled out of his files to pile up into this "book". Arguably the worst of these is his "The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold", his knock on John leCarre. Tharoor accuses leCarre of remaining trapped in a world view "that has moved beyond the sterile divisions of a global antagonism that threatened us", failing to realize/understand that he himself, in his UN position, fails to understand that global antagonism still threatens us all.

Characteristic of his snide, look-down-the-nose view of the literary aspirations of others is "The Great American Literary Illusion". In it he argues that any prospective author should ask whether the book "would add in some way to the sum of humanity's cultural heritage"; too bad he didn't ask himself that question. Does he really think that this book meets that test? Instead he has given the world something that conforms to his view that "there's an awful lot of awful books being published these days, some of which end up on the best-seller lists." QED

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A multicultural celebration of reading and writing, February 2, 2006

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Marion (North Wales, PA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bookless in Baghdad: Reflections on Writing and Writers (Hardcover)

This book is a little like "Reading Lolita in Tehran" in that it offers a multitude of further reading ideas and insights into another culture, in this case mostly the culture of India, as influenced by its long history and British colonial period in particular. Numerous Indian writers are celebrated, especially Salman Rushdie, but so are the works of P. G. Wodehouse, Le Carre, Pushkin, Pablo Neruda, Hemingway, Orwell, and more. Don't miss the essays on illiteracy in America and the final essay celebrating the value of reading in a time of terrorism.