03Books! Books! Books! There is no end to knowledge. All youneed to do is flip through the pages to get that extra dose ofinfotainment. So simply read on...

■ WHERE TIGERS RULE, ANIMAL PLAN-ET, 3.00 PM: Tigers are one of themost endangered animals on Earth.Project Cat is trying to double thetiger population in the wild by 2022.

■ ALL ACCESS: CAPITAL POLICE, DIS-

1658: Aurangzeb appointed himself Mongolemperor.

1790: The first US patent was issued to SamuelHopkins for his process for making potashand pearl ashes.

1940: Udham Singh, fiery revolu-tionary, freedom fighter and socialreformer, was hanged by theBritish Government in the PantoneVilla Jail, London.

1964: The American space probeRanger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon’ssurface.

1965: JK Rowling, English writer (Harry Potternovels), was born in Yate, Gloucestershire.

1971: Men rode in a vehicle on the moon forthe first time in a lunar rover vehicle (LRV).

1989: The Game Boy handheld videogame device was released in the US.

1992: Sitar maestro PtRavishankar won the MagsaysayAward.

2016: ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’, a play by Jack Thorne

with contributions by JK Rowling was published worldwide.

COVERY CHANNEL, 5.00 PM: The Del-hi Police go after an infamous carthief who make use of the city’scomplicated borders with Haryanaand Uttar Pradesh to evade arrest.

■ WILD SCOTLAND, NAT GEO WILD, 7.00PM: A portrayal of how animalsequip themselves for the ScottishHighlands’ harsh winter.

■ HOW TO?, DISCOVERY SCIENCE, 8.00PM: The host explains how some peo-ple can block extreme pain withtheir thoughts, what is differentabout a criminal’s brain and whythe human race is getting smarter.

■ BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS, STARMOVIES, 3.09 PM: Sun Yat-Sen, a Chi-nese revolutionary, visits HongKong in 1906 with his fellow Tong-menghui members in a bid to over-throw the corrupt and crumblingQing dynasty in China.

■ THE PINK PANTHER 2, MNX, 4.35 PM: Inspector Clouseau must assemble a team of inter-national detectives in order totrack down and catch the thief

MOVIES ON TVTELEVISION

THISDAY THAT

YEAR

MUST DOMUST SEEJULY31, 2019

who excels in stealing historicalartefacts.

■ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, &FLIX,6.30 PM: Peter escapes from theplanet Morag with a valuable orbthat Ronan the Accuser wants. Heeventually forms a group with un-willing heroes to stop Ronan.

1. ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’by Douglas Adams

2. ‘Off the Wall at Callahan’s’ by SpiderRobinson

3. ‘Life As We Knew It’ by Susan Pfeffer 4. ‘Uglies’ by Scott Westerfeld

ANSWERS

Which book has this quote? 1. “The last ever dolphin message wasmisinterpreted as a surprisingly sophis-ticated attempt to do a double-back-wards-somersault through a hoop whilstwhistling the ‘Star Spangled Banner’,but in fact the message was this: Solong and thanks for all the fish.”

2. “Sometimes I think I must have aGuardian Idiot. A little invisible spiritjust behind my shoulder, looking out forme...only he’s an imbecile.”

3. “I guess I always felt even if theworld came to an end, McDonald’s wouldstill be open.”

4. “We’re not freaks, Tally. We’re normal.We may not be gorgeous, but at leastwe’re not hyped-up Barbie dolls.”

BOOKS

MEGHAN MARKLETURNS GUEST EDI-TOR FOR A MAGA-ZINE: Meghan, wifeof Britain’s PrinceHarry, has chosen tofeature 15 womenshe considers

‘Forces for change’ on the cover of theSeptember issue of British ‘Vogue’ thatshe guest edited. The Duchess ofSussex, who gave birth to her first childin May, spent seven months workingwith the magazine’s Editor-in-ChiefEdward Enninful on the issue. The for-mer actress said she had sought tosteer the focus of the September issueto ‘the values, causes and people mak-ing impact in the world today’. IANS

THE BOOKSHITTING

THE NEWS

1

IS THIS THEWEIRDEST BOOKEVER? The BookerPrize longlist wasannounced recently.The biggest name onthe list is MargaretAtwood, who got thenod for her forthcom-

ing ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ sequel. However, as‘Quartzy’ points out, maybe the weirdestbook on the list is Lucy Ellmann’s ‘Ducks,Newburyport’, which consists of a singlesentence that runs for over a thousandpages. AGENCIES

2

AUTHORS OF INDIA

Hetal Vasavada

Aformer start-up developer, HetalVasavada shot into the limelight whenshe became the first Indian-American

vegetarian chef to compete on American TVshow ‘Master Chef’, in 2015. A year later,Vasavada started a blog titled, ‘Milk &Cardamom’ which culminated in a book ofthe same name. The dessert cookbook putsAmerican twists on Indian desserts likeburfi, and a few more.

From Oscar Wilde to Margaret Atwood, these authorshave nailed the art of narrating short stories

T here is nothing more appealing, particularlywhen time is limited, than dipping into ashort story collection. And just because thisgenre is written in fewer words than a nov-el, it doesn’t mean it’s any less potent.

The short story can be a mechanism for writ-ers to explore and find their own voice. For others,the themes in a short story can gestate and make

it into their greatest novel. Some writers are sim-ply more prolific at short story writing, while oth-ers just don’t have time to write a novel, findingshort stories less of a commitment.

Here, we round up some of the best short sto-ry collections for those who want an enduring sto-ry in fewer pages. Some of them are so short thatyou will easily read them over a weekend.

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ author — whosesequel, ‘The Testaments’, is out on 10September — reveals the complexitiesof human relationships in ordinarypeople’s lives in her occasionally vio-lent short story collection. Standout

stories include ‘The Man fromMars’, in which a college stu-

dent with a creepy stalker almost comes toappreciate this unhealthy obsession,

when it gives her the attention that islacking in her mundane life.

DANCING GIRLS AND OTHERSTORIES | MARGARET ATWOOD

This posthumous collec-tion by the author of ‘ForWhom the Bell Tolls’ and‘The Old Man and theSea‘ includes a forewordby his sons, as well asthe classic ‘First Forty-Nine Stories’ and a number of other sto-ries. Considered to be one of his beststories is ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’about Harry, a writer dying of gangrenewhile on Safari in Africa, who is musingon his life experiences. It was turnedinto a 1952 film starring Gregory Peckand Susan Hayward.

THE COMPLETE SHORTSTORIES | ERNESTHEMINGWAY

Carver’s short story collection is a con-cise portrait of the lives of peopleambling along in middle America. Thewriter digs deep into the themes offriendship and heartachewith his use of vivid dia-logue. The unedited ver-

sion of the stories were first publishedafter his death under the title ‘Beginners’.

THE GARDEN PARTY ANDOTHER STORIES | KATHERINEMANSFIELD This is the third and most reveredshort story collection by the pio-neering modernist writer, whosepsychologically in-depth charac-ters tend to have sudden epipha-nies. It was written towards the

end ofKatherine Mansfield’s

short life (she died aged34 of tuberculosis),and includes the titlestory, one of her best-known works. In it,the wealthy Sheridan

family prepares for a pic-nic, and through this seem-

ingly mundane affair,the author deals withissues of life anddeath as well as theBritish class system.

METAMORPHOSIS ANDOTHER STORIES |FRANZ KAFKAThe author is a master of theshort story and never fin-ished any of his full-lengthnovels. This collection, pub-lished in Kafka’s lifetime,

brings togeth-er the few works that he actu-ally wanted to be published.It includes his most famousstory, ‘Metamorphosis’, about

a man’s alienation when heturns into a beetle; and ‘TheJudgement’, which Kafka saw

as one of his most perfectliterary creations. Heinstructed his executor

to burn all his unpub-lished writing after

his death — butthis was notupheld.

THE HAPPY PRINCE AND OTHERSTORIES | OSCAR WILDE

Though he is best known for his novels andplays, Oscar Wilde’s stories for children arefairytales for any age group. Wilde, whobelieved it was ‘the duty of every father to

write fairytales for his children’, enjoyed reading‘The Selfish Giant’ to his two sons. The collec-

tion’s title story is about a statue who asks aswallow to strip him of all the jewels and goldleaf on his body, to help the poor — a tale

which can’t fail to make you cry.

NINE STORIES | JD SALINGERThe American author was deeplyaffected by his experiences as asoldier in the Second World War,and this is reflected in his writ-ings. This collection includes twoof his most famous short stories —‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish’,about a combat veteran recentlydischarged from an army hospital,and ‘For Esmé — with Love andSqualor’, a tribute to those for-mer Second World War soldierssuffering from post-traumaticstress disorder.

THE COLLECTED SHORT STORIES | F SCOTT FITZGERALD

This career-spanning collection of stories brings togeth-er the ‘Tender Is the Night’ author’s most famous sto-ries, including ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’. This sin-ister fantasy tale about the perils of fabulous wealth is atopic he explored in greater depth later, especially whenwriting his best-known novel ‘The Great Gatsby’.

Machali, Ranthambore NationalPark’s beloved Bengal tigresswho died in 2016, was the inspi-

ration for American author KatyYocom’s debut novel ‘Three Waysto Disappear’– a story about fam-ily, love and loss, as a human andas an endangered species. A fas-cinating work in the genre ofeco-fiction, Yocom spoke abouthow she came to write the book.

Meeting Machali Yocom, an associate director of Spald-ing University’s School of Creative andProfessional Writing, explained thatwriting a story about tigers had longbeen a goal. However, when she realisedthat she didn’t know enough about wildtigers to write convincingly about theirlives or their landscape, she decided tovisit Ranthambore. In 2006, Yocom saw

Machali, then aged around 6 or 7 years,for the first time. Calling the tigress‘the most beautiful, perfect tiger’, shesaid, “It makes sense to me that she be-came a worldwide celebrity. She was soregal.”

Who/what ‘disappears’ Explaining the peculiarity of the title

‘Three ways to Disappear’, Yocomexplained that the story revolvedaround the three protagonists inthe story. The word ‘disappear’denotes the threat of extinctionto the tiger. She added,“Butthere are so many ways todisappear: for instance,through death, or by with-drawing from relationships.And as time goes by, themeaning of the title shifts.Currently I think one inter-pretation of three ways todisappear would be physi-cally, emotionally, and spiri-tually.” WITH IANS INPUTS

AMBIGUOUS ENDINGSLoved a book but gotconfused with the wayit ended? Join theclub as we exploresome such booksF or every reader who loves a riddle there will be another who demands res-

olution. But love them or hate them, there’s nothing like an ambiguousending to get you talking.We check out a few that left us wondering.

1. Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations Much has been made of Pip’s last line. “I sawno shadow of another parting from her,” hetells the reader. What kind of parting and whatkind of shadow remains open to debate. Hap-py ending-hunters will tell you this is proof thathe and Estella walk off into the sunset. Othersmaintain this means he’s over Estella for good.

2. Lois Lowry’s The Giver

This children’s book was many people’sfirst experience of an open ending. AsJonas heads off into the unknown ter-ritory of Elsewhere, we are remindedthat neither he nor we know if the placehe’s looking for even exists. After build-ing up our hopes throughout the novel,Lowry leaves us with the warning that ‘perhaps itwas only an echo.’

3. Charlotte Brontë’s Villette “Surely, surely she deserves a happy ending,”you think as you approach the end of this sto-ry. And the protagonist and narrator LucySnowe is happy for you to create one. But asfor letting on whether it’s correct, no such

luck. Brontë herself described theending as a ‘little puzzle’.

4. Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

Lying in a hospital bed in Mexico, Pitells two different versions of his sto-ry to the police officers. But when heasks them which they prefer, he is also

asking the reader. So, which is it, animalsor humans? Like all good frustrating end-ings, there is no correct answer. As Mar-tel himself said, ‘Life is a story... You canchoose your story.’ DAILY MIRROR

How a Machali inspired a book on human survival ‘Three ways to Disappear’ Two sisters try to grapple with a family tragedy — they lived through as children— while working towards preserving the endangered Bengal tigers

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALKABOUT LOVE | RAYMOND CARVER