Nirmaldasan's Literary Trivia & Curiosities
-- reviewed by Ashwin Kumar (winasht@rediffmail.com)in
the March 2004 of the Journalism Online newsletter --

What is it about literature that it evokes a murmuring
silence among the commons? Why do they think it to be
far flung from their daily lives and not a common
topic of discussion? Is it burdened with so many
associations, as many impressions and also with quite
a few exceptional privileges that it is assumed to be
a snobbish pass-time dwelling on life from an ivory
tower? 

Although the author of Literary Trivia & Curiosities
may have evolved these pieces of literary jewels more
out of personal interest, I feel that efforts like
these can be a catalyst for converting the rigidity of
general society into a flowing appreciation of all
things literary. 

Just like well drafted posters and excerpts intensify
people's eagerness to watch a movie, efforts like 
these can not only emphasize the ideas of literature
and language but also stimulate the imagination of
minds whose approach towards reading has so far been
rudimentary. 

Literary Trivia & Curiosities is more than what the
title suggests -- it's a mosaic of various colours and
hues. It has a modern day John Keats enduring a boring
professor, graffiti which doesn't get lost in
translation and very enjoyable colloquial wisecracks.
What makes it special are the fantastic glimpses of
philosophy playing dolphin-like in the seas of
literature. The distilled, pure essence of the highest
meaning comes across in the wonderful interplay of
words. 

As it can be appreciated and enjoyed by the casual
reader as well as the sophisticated critic, it
embodies a much needed versatility which we need more
and more in a world tending to be stereotyped and
typical. 

Kudos to this effort and hope that this opens the
doors to a whole lot of fresh ideas standing at the
doorstep of literature.