| This is a simple concept that might never have moved beyond the point of teenage whimsy but, aided by a combination of enterprise and luck, it worked. Siblings Robert and William decided to try and get in touch with some of their idols to conduct a series of interviews "" and the response was more enthusiastic than they'd expected. |
| Among the people they spoke to were Pete Seeger, Jimmy Carter, Jackie Chan, Desmond Tutu and Lance Armstrong and his mother Linda, and the result is a series of intimate, motivational conversations. |
| Even if you're not into the self-help genre, you might find this interesting for the insights it provides into the early lives and struggles of these famous people. |
| MAKING THE GODS DANCE Ajaybir Garkal Brijbasi Art Press 271 pages |
| This debut novel is a thriller set in a politically uncertain India in the year 2008. It's based on the misuse of technology and the downside to globalisation and better communication "" the paradox that the very things that are meant to make life simpler keep making it more complicated. |
| The plot is a high-octane drama that moves between terrorism, communal ideology and megalomania, with occasional breathers coming in the form of sub-plots dealing with romance and friendship. |
| LUDMILA'S BROKEN ENGLISH D B C Pierre Faber and Faber 318 pages £6.50 |
| Pierre's second novel (following his acclaimed debut, the Booker-winning Vernon God Little) charts an unlikely meeting between East and West. At one end of the globe, the Heath twins are separated after 33 years of being conjoined at the abdomen, and suddenly faced with the prospect of living independent lives in a threatening but exciting world. |
| Thousands of miles away, Ludmila Derev is determined to save her family from starvation in the face of marauding Gnez troops. The novel is about the coming together of these unlikely strands. |
| Though the story seems relatively straightforward, be prepared for Pierre's convoluted (sometimes irritating, if you're not in the right mood) prose. Like his first book, this isn't exactly an accessible read. |
| SIX ACRES AND A THIRD (Chha Mana Atha Guntha) Fakir Mohan SenapatiBR> Penguin Books 222 pages Rs 250 |
| Penguin continues its commendable work in bringing translations of modern Indian classics to a wider reading public. This sly and humorous novel by Senapati "" one of the pioneering spirits of modern Indian literature and an early activist in the fight against the destruction of native Indian languages "" is a literary work as well as a historical document. |
| Set in Orissa in the 1830s, Six Acres and a Third provides a unique view of Indian village life. This graceful translation from the Oriya (by Rabi Shankar Mishra, Satya P Mohanty, Jatindra K Nayak and Paul St-Pierre) faithfully conveys how the more unsavoury aspects of colonialism affected life in rural India. |
| As Mohanty says in the introduction, "This novel is written from the perspective of the horse, the ordinary villager, and the footsoldier "" in other words, the labouring poor of the world... it offers a powerful indictment of many forms of social and political authority." |
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