HT Picks: This week’s interesting reads

Our reading list this week includes a book of essays on Le Corbusier, a chilling tale from Stephen King and Owen King, and a novel set in the Hindi film industry in the 1970s

Le Corbusier Rediscovered; Chandigarh and Beyond, Edited by Rajnish Wattas and Deepika Gandhi

With the recent recognition of Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the spotlight on its creator, Le Corbusier, considered the 20th century’s greatest architect-planner, attains a more illustrious glow. Against this backdrop, Le Corbusier Rediscovered: Chandigarh and Beyond weaves together an anthology of inspired essays by eminent, global experts on Corbusier’s life, ideas and work, both in Chandigarh and at other places.

The diverse yet interlinked themes forming a composite compendium rediscover the timelessness of Le Corbusier’s architecture and revisit his impact in India and the world over. Current issues like conservation of Chandigarh’s architectural heritage, future strategies for its growth and the Smart City model for Indian urbanization are also addressed.

The book is imbued with a patina of historicity imparted by the inclusion of some rare archival images and texts.

With focused essays by international experts like BV Doshi, William JR Curtis, Raj Rewal, Rahul Mehrotra, Jacques Sbriglio, Michel Richard, Alfredo Brillembourg, SD Sharma, Jagan Shah, Rajnish Wattas and Sumit Kaur on thematically linked topics – this richly illustrated book (with nearly 250 images) constitutes a seminal new publication on this subject. It rediscovers Le Corbusier and his crowning glory Chandigarh, viewed afresh in new light.*

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King

In this spectacular father/son collaboration, Stephen King and Owen King tell the highest of high-stakes stories: what might happen if women disappeared from the world of men?

All around the world, something is happening to women when they fall asleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed, the women become feral and spectacularly violent…

In the small town of Dooling, West Virginia, the virus is spreading through a women’s prison, affecting all the inmates except one. Soon, word spreads about the mysterious Evie, who seems able to sleep – and wake. Is she a medical anomaly or a demon to be slain?

The abandoned men, left to their increasingly primal devices, are fighting each other, while Dooling’s sheriff, Lila Norcross, is just fighting to stay awake.

And the sleeping women are about to open their eyes to a new world altogether…*

Scene 75 by Rahi Masoom Raza; Translated by Poonam Saxena

A no-holds-barred expose of the Hindi film industry’s sordid underbelly.

Ali Amjad comes from Benares to make it as a scriptwriter in Bombay, only to experience the absurd and tragic reality behind the film world’s glamour as he navigates through it with his fellow strugglers.

A short, fascinating novel set in the Bombay of the 1970s, Rahi Masoom Raza’s Scene: 75 is a crazy kaleidoscope of stories within stories populated by a cast of extraordinary and memorable – but also cynical and manipulative – characters, from struggling directors and wealthy lesbians to film-obsessed social climbers and sleazy producers. In this irreverent, surreal, deeply satirical and darkly humorous work, the author’s biting prose takes an unflinching look at both Hindu-Muslim and class relations, as well as at how human ties corrode and wither because of ambition and self-interest.

Watch more: This week’s #Bookstack that features the most interesting books of the week

Superbly translated by Poonam Saxena, this lost classic from Rahi Masoom Raza rips off the tinsel curtain that hides the film industry’s hypocrisy, insecurity and desperation for success. It is a novel that will delight and disturb in equal measure.*

* All copy from the book flap.