Wise owls and dark hearts

♦ KOOGAI: THE OWL (Oxford, Rs 650) by Cho. Dharman is set in post-Independence Tamil Nadu's "era of agrarian and industrial change". Translated from the Tamil by Vasantha Surya, Koogai brings forth the intricacies of an "authentic contemporary myth", beautifully interspersed with humour and irony. "'Earth that looks skyward', 'earth wholly dependent on the rains', 'land of sulphur' - that's what they call the land where I was born...", says the author in the essay titled "From Kooththu to Koogai". And thus, using the image of the owl - "a totem of self-respect and hope" - as a tool of empowerment, the people of this land try to rid themselves of caste barriers. Dharman succinctly captures these endeavours and the the subsequent despair that these men and woman find themselves in as they get "entangled in the doublespeak of an egalitarian rhetoric". Dharman's prose, and indeed Surya's translation, are lucid and gripping. The narrative flows smoothly around the emotions encapsulated in the text.

♦ THE REPUTATION ECONOMY: HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR DIGITAL FOOTPRINT IN A WORLD WHERE YOUR REPUTATION IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET (Piatkus, Rs 350) by Michael Fertik and David C. Thompson makes a rather obvious point about an individual's reputation playing a deciding role in key life events, but the crux of the book lies in an even more alarming fact. In present times, "technology allows companies and individuals alike to not only gather huge troves of information about you, but also to aggregate it and analyse it with frightening speed, accuracy and sophistication". As a result, the existence of a "good" digital footprint can go a long way in preserving a person's living, job and "marriage prospects". However, even though Fertik and Thompson make some compelling points, their arguments also give rise to uncomfortable questions of fairness, freedom, privacy and policing on the internet.

♦ MAYA (Penguin, Rs 250) by Clyde DeSouza is a confusing tale about Dan and Krish who create an instrument that is supposed to "change the way people experience reality", but ends up killing Krish's sister, Maya, instead. Dan, who was in love with Maya, will not accept her death, and goes about creating something "unique" to help him in his quest to be with her. DeSouza could have treated his subject matter in an interesting manner, but ends up turning it into a hackneyed love story.