r/Indianbooks

I’d like to think of myself as a novice feminist which is why I picked up this book - to go deeper into the topic and have more informed opinions. I’m not even 80 pages down and here’s a list of unsettling things that are happening:

1. I’ve argued with my family a few times already after calling them out on their patriarchal statements and beliefs. As per them, reading “such literature” will only set me up for an unsuccessful marriage.
2. There’s a lot in this book that i’m unable to grasp; while there are things that i’m more open to accepting, there are also certain ideologies that sound so….unnatural.
3. I’m somewhat anxious on reading this book, it’s making me overthink and overanalyse

. A part of me would like to remain oblivious to certain ideologies, I think, for my own sanity.

1. I don’t

believe i’m in

1. a mental space right now to be digest what it has to offer.
2. don’t like leaving books mid-way but i’ve decided to keep this book aside till i’m in a more receptive mood that doesn’t make me go around yelling at everyone who makes a misogynistic statement. I am sure, however, that I will pick this up again sometime later.

My question here is:

1. Are there any books on feminism that are more beginner-friendly and won’t make me spiral?
2. What is a happy marriage like for a feminist?

I am so done with Self-help books slop!!! Everyone book just repeats the same stuff in much fancier way!! I will just go and read biogograph or auto-biograph on some prominent figure

I also attached a photo of my favourites at the end.

Although there are few in this shelf which I haven’t read lmao

Started reading seriously since Jan, added a few books recently. Currently halfway through The Secret History.

I'm currently re-reading this, I first read it a few years ago, and it has informed my understanding of the world ever since. Every social media trend, every propaganda cycle, every large scale shift in popular culture, I evaluate from the standpoint of this text. It is terrific and comprehensive.

Essentially it is an analysis of what Debord calls 'The Spectacle' , as this overarching phenomenon of mass media, political power and market economy. He claims that with the advent of capitalist economies, to sustain the logic of its neverending production cycles, "being" was replaced by "having", you were defined by what you had, property, wealth, status and what not. But even possession has physical dimensions, and concrete margins, which collide with the logic of capitalism, so "having" evolves to "appearing". It's no longer about what you have, but about the image you project of what you have. Now the world of images is an infinite world, it can contain all and multiply without margins. Ads, hoardings, posters, they edify the aspiration of appearances, of having this and that, of looking like this and that, and underlying everything is a commodity you can consume. Skincare, health supplements, outfits, and on and on. Dream upon dream upon dream on a large oblong screen. It can uphold the economy of endless growth, whose only purpose is itself.

This was written before social media became a thing, but I feel this text becomes even more pressing in the era of doomscroll. A never-ending sheet of images and gestures that go nowhere. Like in the recent trends, authenticity is a spectacle, its analysis is a spectacle, the analysis of analysis is also a spectacle. An endless vertigo of images, and short form videos, towards what? What human meaning is accomplished in all this? Debord argues none. It is futility, the only end it serves is itself. The spectacle is its own aspiration and its own destiny. We are left dazed and confused in the delirium of infinite scroll. He writes, "The Spectacle is a waking dream of the modern society in chains, and all it expresses is our desire for sleep". He makes analogies with the religions of the past, the world beyond was projected into heavens, now its projected in a screen. Every delusion is a click away, you just need enough money, just enough information. Eternity is now a headache of a social media algorithm, it knows all you want and all you aspire to be, it computes your desires and insecurities and projects them to you multiple times over. It wants you to substitute the world for its shadow as cast on the screen.

The spectacle is not democratic, it emerges as a convenience specifically because it can be controlled efficiently by those in power. Media organisations can be bought and taken over by corporate overlords, information can be seized and edited, satire can be censored through very efficient means. Spectacle forever rearranges itself for the convenience of those in power. Politicians no longer hold press conferences, they go to podcasts. He uses examples of the time this book was written, it includes a commentary on Kennedy, then some analysis of Hegel, Bakunin and Marx. It has a comprehensive critique of the Stalinist Totalitarian spectacle. I am not well read enough in these subjects to comment. But it is a dense book, the last section is very interesting in how it posits humanity as a function that brings time into consciousness, how religions evolve in a way that is an attempt to reconcile historical time with natural time. It's written in aphorisms, which I love in a book of philosophy, the language invokes a certain vividness that lingers in your mind long after. I think one of the main reasons why it has stayed with me for so long is the brilliance of its aphorisms on The Spectacle, it is truly a brilliant text that informs the confusion of a world forever bombarded with myriad images.

I recently posted a shelfie of my graphic novel collection but a special mention needs to be about Indian authors and graphic novelists.

I don’t want indian graphic novel scene to blatantly copy from Japan or from the west and these GNs seem to identify themselves with neither.

I highly suggest to read -

1. The Pig Flip - I have never seen a prettier art and such a grounded story about rural kerela and addiction.

2. Bhimayana - The story of the great Ambedkar sahab. In Gond Art! As an anthropology student I was beyond impressed. Very well done while touching the evils of our system.

3. The river of Stories - Regarded as India’s first GN. Absolutely brilliant storytelling about the Narmada Bachao Andolan and its impact on tribals. Again I might be biased to see anthropology in a comic format haha.

4. Rama Jamagdanya - Brilliant artwork retelling the story of Bhagwan Parshuram ji. Although some aspects of the story are censored but nonetheless great.

5. A gardener in the wasteland - Inspired from Ghulamgiri by Jyotirao Phule sahab which itself was a comparison of caste system in the east and slavery in the west. Very radical ideas and some difficult to digest but a great critique on Brahmanism and Caste system in general.

6. Corridor - Its a book which you know is good but what exactly is good you can never tell.

7. Kari - an LGBTQ tale. Maybe as I was not able to relate with it, I did not enjoy it. Although its hailed as one of the best Indian GNs ever made.

8. Technicolour Lovers - Currently reading

Others I am yet to read.

Special Mention - Joe Sacco’s The Once and future riot. Its not by an Indian obv. Mentioning it because Joe is an excellent journalist. He wrote books like Palestine which are already regarded as the gold standard in journalism that too comic book Journalism. This book is about the Muzaffarnagar riots and the underlying political environment, the power dynamics within the place and the causes which led to the massacre. Excellent read which I will never read again lmao.

Also I would appreciate any recs and cool people who are into Graphic novels and want to be friends! 💪 Also about me - I am a 24 y/o anthropology masters’ student from Uttarakhand and currently preparing for upsc cse

Picked this one up on my birthday a few months back and honestly gave up after like 5 pages. Last night, I randomly felt like picking it up again and ended up finishing the whole thing in about an hour.

It’s such a short read, super simple, but somehow hits really hard. It just makes sense. Had I picked it up last year, I would’ve probably filled it with highlights and notes (I’ll probably go through it again someday just to underline all the stuff I skipped yesterday out of laziness - there’s so much quotable content in this book).

Also had this weird realization that there are so many people I know who NEED to read this.Would definitely recommend

Seeing the books people put up here kinda gives me imposter syndrome? I read primarily for fun and love books that just draw me in (a lot of romance/ fantasy). Some of my girl friends also read romantasy but it feels taboo almost and looked down upon. Like you should be reading something worthwhile and romance isn’t that.. Wonder how you guys feel? Do guys read romance too?

Hey, I wanna try reading a book on my mobile and I wanna ask you something -

• What's the best app for reading PDF books?
• Is it manageable? Can I read a complete book in PDF form?

By the way, I am using the WPS Office app to read PDFs, and it has great features

Books tops the list of my addictions

and the second is collecting weird stuff

solid iron skull crafted to perfection

what's your addiction

heyyy peeps, this is me buying books for the first time, not that i didn't read before this, but not bought. well, this is my first time reading proper literature. i did read books, like my first read was an old coverless novel which had four stories in it, had read a book of Chetan bhagat, well i was naive back then, the mid asf love hypothesis🙃, and the infamous self help books like Rich dad Poor dad, Atomic habits 🥀, and not that they are inherently bad, but they do give us some meaningful knowledge and insights, it would be ironic to assume that reading a self help book would dramatically change anything unless you act. anyways, i wanted to get more books, but as a student, budget stopped me🥀. few things i missed to get from

"The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco

"The Devotion of Suspect X" by Keigo Higashino

"The Stranger" by Albert Camus

"Exhalation" by Ted Chiang

the whole 4 books costed around 900rs - a steal ??

i like detective and suspenseful novel veryyy much. so, please provide your insights and suggestions on how it is and what future reads should i pick, or anything related, thanks!

This book was so dayummm strong I enjoyed every second of it. It was just too good.

I am still in the zone where my mind is not accepting anything(except short stories, currently reading saki), I want to think about this book more and more, live few scenarios again in my head. I know I am sounding like a teenager who has just read the fluffiest romance on wattpad(it isn't romance btw) but it is that good, please do give it a try. It is beautifully written.

If anyone has read this one, please do share your thoughts!

Cheers!

is she trying to say how absurd it is that we are made to think that happiness can't come without struggle or someone's suffering, because in the beginning she writes

"The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and

sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only

evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the

terrible boredom of pain"

but then again she shows how the kid is locked up that's why they could be happy implying that the kid's suffering was needed for their joy or was it to show how absurd the claim is, cause while reading it someone would feel what is the need to keep him locked up you could just free him up how could it possibly affect us but we have been fed this concept so much that we don't even question the absurdity of it.

you always spend hours packing and then unpacking

and then rearranging

wish this was simple for bibliophile

any suggestions