books : Gita Hariharan

GITHA HARIHARAN
Writer

A favourite book, or one that means a lot to you?
I hate being asked about my favourite book or my favourite author — it makes me think of picking ice cream flavours. There are far too many books that mean a lot to me to single just one out. Perhaps I should just say, books mean a lot to me — since we all read more than we write.

How many books do you own?
My sons have begun taking away some of my books pretending they are theirs, but I still seem to have a good number — more than I can dust anyway.

A genre you hate?
I wouldn’t go so far as hate, but I have never been much of a science fiction reader. Maybe I’ll discover it one of these days. I am also wary of novels where large sections are in italics, or a single sentence takes up five pages.

Last book bought?
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun.

Last book read?
Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

A book you wish you’d written?
If fantasy were limited to one book, it would be impoverished fantasy. I could probably fill up pages with the names of books I wish I had written. From Jose Saramago’s Blindness to Mahasweta Devi’s “Draupadi” to JM Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians to Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines.

A book you’ve always wanted to read but haven’t?
Again, a great number — a list that is longer than a lifetime. Making such a list would be a depressing exercise.


LAKSHMI INDRASIMHAN