Author Archives: Ambika

About Ambika

Hi! I write book reviews and short fiction.

The Outsider

Posted on January 11, 2016

For those of you uninitiated with Camus and his works, reading the novel for the first time may leave you completely baffled about the author’s intentions. The Outsider, a Nobel Prize Literature text, is about a guy called Meursault who … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged absurd, absurdity, Albert Camus, crime, existentialism, French philosopher, Meursault, nobel prize, philosophy, philosophy of the absurd, The Outsider, The Stranger | Leave a comment

The Martian

Posted on November 14, 2015

Hello everyone I’ve decided to write movie reviews on this blog as well because I don’t want to feel jaded writing on books alone. For those who aren’t great readers of sci-fi novels, watching a sci-fi movie may be an alternative … Continue reading →

Posted in Movie Reviews | Tagged calculation, detailed planning, exploration, heart-warming, humour, Martian, math, Matt Damon, movies, sci-fi, space, survival | Leave a comment

The Boat

Posted on May 10, 2015

The Boat is a collection of short stories by Nam Le, an Australian-Vietnamese writer, who came over to Australia with his parents when he was a young child. Nam Le worked as a corporate lawyer before he became a writer. … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged American, Australian, Australian-Vietnamese author, death, Japanese, life, Nam Le, relationships, short stories, struggles, The Boat, Vietnamese, war | Leave a comment

Arranged Marriage

Posted on March 29, 2015

Arranged Marriage is a debut collection of short stories by Chitra B Divakaruni, an Indian-American award-winning author, poet and teacher. She is also the author of One Amazing Thing, Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, Palace of Illusions, Conch … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged affair, arranged marriage, Chitra Divakaruni, conflict, desires, globalisation, India, Indian, Indian culture, Indian girls, Indian stories, Indian women, love marriage, marriage, traditional values, United States | Leave a comment

My Sporty Affair

Posted on March 4, 2015

I don’t want to generalise this but I believe most Indian girls, including myself, are not the least bit interested in playing sports. If we do play a sport at all, it would probably be one where we could play … Continue reading →

Posted in Lite Stuff | Tagged badminton, childhood, college, drowning, girls, high school, Indian, Indian stories, memories, memory, outdoor activity, paranoia, real life, secondary school, sports, sporty, swimming | Leave a comment

Versatile Blogger Award

Posted on February 26, 2015

Thanks so much Leanne at All Write-y Then and Trisha Ann at The Bookgasm for nominating my blog for the award. THE RULES Nominate 15 other relatively new-ish bloggers Let them know that you have nominated them Post ten random … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged blogs, random, Versatile Blogger Award | 4 Comments

The Old Man and the Sea

Posted on February 14, 2015

I had not read any of Hemingway’s works until I chanced upon The Old Man and the Sea, and was surprised that it was never introduced as a Literature text while I was at school. The novella played a huge … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged adversity, determination, Ernest Hemingway, fiction, Hemingway, life, literature, loneliness, marlin, novella, omniscient, perseverence, pride, psychic distance, real life, real life struggles, Santiago, struggles, The Old Man and the Sea | 2 Comments

School Blues

Posted on February 7, 2015

Sheena wasn’t sure who was attending school for the first time – she or her daughter, Miti. She was nervous that things would go wrong, and Miti would cry and kick up a fuss on her first day at school. … Continue reading →

Posted in Lite Stuff | Tagged childhood, children, fiction, first day at school, Indian, Indian stories, Indians, kindergarten, Miti, mothers, paranoia, parents, real life, school, school blues, Sheena | Leave a comment

Road Story

Posted on January 31, 2015

Road Story is the first novella written by Julienne van Loon, author of Harmless and Beneath the Bloodwood Tree.Road Story won the Australian Vogel Award in 2004. This is a story of friendship and of drug addiction. Eighteen-year old Diana … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged book review, Diana Kooper, drug addiction, friendship, Julienne van Loon, novella, Road Story, teenage issues | 2 Comments

On Being Gay in ‘Death in Venice’

Posted on January 25, 2015

Death in Venice is a novella (one of those long short stories) written by the German novelist Thomas Mann. The story revolves around an ageing writer’s obsession with a young Polish boy. It reflects themes on the duality of art … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged book review, Death in Venice, Gustave Aschenbach, Thomas Mann | Leave a comment