Ira Pande's Lits

A book that meant a lot to you?
Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals. A favourite since childhood, it has withstood the test of time and cynical middle age. An instant mood enhancer, it never fails to cheer me. Also, I love whacky families because I grew up in one as well.

Your favourite character?
Tom Sharpe’s Wilt, a lovable loser and bumbler, basically intelligent but gets it wrong every time. He suffers from chronic low self-esteem and his changing avatars in successive books are a delight to follow. All of us can see something of ourselves in him.

A genre you hate?
Most forms of chick-lit. It’s clever but vacuous writing packaged to sell well.

Last book bought?
Tina Brown’s The Diana Chronicles. Call it a charwoman’s choice, but I love the acid tones in Brown’s writings of upper class life. And it’s a very revealing account of the post- Thatcher years and the brittle new Labour world crafted by Blair.

Last book read?
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruis Zafon

A very overrated book?
Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach. I’m a long time admirer of his, hooked since I read The Cement Garden in 1981. But both Saturday and this one are heavy disappointments. I can’t say whether it’s he or I who has changed.

A book you wish you’d written?
David Lodge’s Small World. The last in a trilogy, it’s a scathing satire on academic hypocrisy. I wish I could write a similar one on our own jholawalas.