Books
Book reviews
Books
Book review- The Epic City
Up until the 1970s, Calcutta used to be India’s wealthiest and largest city. Since then, Calcutta (now Kolkatta) has experienced a steady decline as it has relinquished its economic crown to the likes of Bombay, Bangalore and New Delhi. But despite this, Calcutta is still a proud city that has a legacy of producing literary […]
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Book review- The Harmony Silk Factory
The Harmony Silk Factory is the story of a man told through the different perspectives of three characters who were close to him. Johnny Lim is a wealthy Malaysian-Chinese merchant with a checkered and mysterious past who was the father of the first narrator, the husband of the second, and the best friend of the […]
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China
Book review- The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds
In the early 20th century, a Swedish-Finnish nobleman by the name of Baron Gustaf Mannerheim undertook a secret mission for the Russian Tsar to spy on China. Starting from Moscow, Mannerheim crossed Russia, traveled through Central Asia and across China to collect information on the country’s reforms and development. 100 years later, in 2006, Canadian […]
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Africa
Book reviews
Books
Book review- Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria
Nigeria probably isn’t on any list of top countries to travel to, but for the daughter of Ken Saro-Wiwa, it was a special journey. Noo Saro-Wiwa grew up in England and was 19 when her activist father was arrested and executed by Nigeria’s ruling military junta in 1995, shocking the world and bringing significant outrage and […]
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Book review- Crazy Rich Asians
Even though Crazy Rich Asians and its two sequels have earned a lot of acclaim, I held off on reading it for a long time because I wasn’t sure I cared about the lives of rich, high-class Singaporeans. Especially when the main plot centers on an American-Chinese girl, Rachel, flying to Singapore for the first time with […]
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Book review- Asia’s Cauldron
The South China Sea has been the biggest flash point in Asia for the past few years. Surrounded by multiple nations, but heavily contested by one that is furthest away from it, the sea is a vital conduit for regional trade with over $5 trillion worth of shipping passing through it each year. It is […]
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Book reviews
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South Africa
Book review- The Last Train to Zona Verde
In The Last Train to Zona Verde, American writer Paul Theroux journeys along the western side of Africa starting from Cape Town, the continent’s southernmost city. It’s an ambitious trip, Theroux’s last in Africa, that would have seen him travel up the western part of the continent. But Theroux does not complete it. Dispirited, beaten down and […]
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