Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys
Book
Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys - stories by Booker-shortlisted author Will Self 'Self at...
Scotland and Tourism: The Long View, 1700-2015
Book
Tourism has long been important to Scotland. It has become all the more significant as the financial...
The Wines of Northern Spain: From Galicia to the Pyrenees and Rioja to the Basque Country
Book
There's no doubt about it, Spain is the most exciting country in Europe when it comes to wine. As...
Atlas of Neural Therapy: With Local Anesthetics
Book
The neural therapy techniques that can be learned from this book comprise an entire healing system...
A Library of Manuscripts from India
Andrew Butler-Wheelhouse and Sam Fogg
Book
The rich variety of languages, religious traditions and schools of art of the Indian subcontinent...
Carrier Aviation in the 21st Century: Aircraft Carriers and Their Units in Detail
Book
The modern aircraft carrier is without doubt one of the most exciting and hazardous operating...
Damned Nation: Hell in America from the Revolution to Reconstruction
Book
Among the pressing concerns of Americans in the first century of nationhood were day-to-day...
How to Think Like a Neandertal
Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge
Book
There have been many books, movies, and even TV commercials featuring Neandertals-some serious, some...
Rob Halford recommended Cowboys from Hell by Pantera in Music (curated)
ClareR (6037 KP) rated Gun Island in Books
May 21, 2021
Deen Datta certainly gets around on his journey. From New York where he lives, to the Sunderbans in India, then onto a California on fire and a more flooded than usual Venice. This could have been a book that preached about the perils of climate change, but it didn’t. It did lay the stark reality out for the reader, but this was just as much a part of the story as the relationships Deen has with the people he meets, and his friends. There is a real feeling that Deen doesn’t have a firm identity: he’s detached from his Bengali roots, and he doesn’t fit in to New York either. But I think he does feel a sense of belonging by the end of the book, with the help of his friends. Cinta, a Venetian, is an old friend, and someone who always seems to push him into doing what’s good for him. Then there are his Indian friends, Piya and Tipu who help him to learn new things about himself and the world he lives in.
I loved this book. It ticked a lot of boxes on my favourite themes list: the environment, India, history, folklore, the search for identity. It’s such a thought provoking, magical novel.


