Shashi Deshpande is a master writer in the way she articulates human emotions. Reading her books is like peeping into the hidden corners of one's own mind. Recognising oneself in her characters, one does not feel lonely in the world anymore. Reading her novels and stories is thus an immensely satisfying experience, as reading becomes a healing process. There is also a tension in the book, the kind to which one is accustomed to when reading Deshpande. The plot is never revealed at once, and more questions are posed than answered, says Chandra Holm.

The diary was smuggled out in instalments by his wife Eva to a secure hiding place at a friend's. It was first published fifty years after the Second World War ended, 35 years after Klemperer himself died. The first volume of the Martin Chalmers English translation of the diary appeared in 1998, says Subir Ghosh.

For one not acquainted with the Kiwi way of life, its gardens, kitchen, sensibilities and lore, 'Rapunzel Rapunzel', a collection of poems by Janet Charman makes reading a tad difficult --specially as it carries no information about the author or her milieu. However, pouring through the lines one realises that the predicaments of human life are basically the same all over --boundaries are but a blur as man deals with the various situations he is thrown in, writes B Ashu.

The opera season was almost half over when two famous rivals came to London: the Banti woman, at that time one of the most celebrated singers in Europe in serious parts, and la Morichelli, equally celebrated in comedy. They were neither of them any longer young, and never had they been enumerable among the great beauties: but the one was much sought after and exorbitantly paid for the splendours of a glorious voice, the single gift she had received from Nature: the other, for her acting-she gave a performance that was true, noble, carefully worked, and full of expression and grace. Excerpts.

French suggests that the World Trade Organization can incorporate a greater respect for the precautionary principle, which holds that lack of scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing action where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage. Better integration of environmental issues into the lending programmes of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund too can yield additional ecological dividends. She also calls for the upgrading of the United Nationals Environment Programme into a World Environmental Organization, says Subir Ghosh.