Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD

Go Unlimited with Magzter GOLD

Get unlimited access to 10,000+ magazines, newspapers and Premium stories for just

$149.99
 
$74.99/Year

Try GOLD - Free

Read ‘em and leap

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

|

October 12, 2025

It can be mind-altering, crossing over from non-fiction to fiction (or the other way round). Where books rooted in reality offer clarity, direction and data, those that spin a yarn embrace the fog we walk through every day

- Charles Assisi

For most of my life, I have read to understand: Policy papers, books on business, biographies of men who built empires and believed they'd figured out how the world works.

Those pages spoke in the language of clarity and logic. I liked that, and still do.

Fiction, on the other hand, made me uneasy. There was too much left unsaid and too little that could be measured. It often felt like I was wandering through a fog without a compass. I missed the clean, straight lines of nonfiction, with its clear conclusions and comfort of closure.

My bookshelves, then, were neat rows of certainty. But that's a problem as well, as someone close to me once said.

She pointed out that if I could look at the shades, listen to the unsaid, and stop trying to measure and quantify, I would encounter a different kind of depth. I told her I'd give it a pass.

Then, some days ago, The Cost of Living, the South African writer Deborah Levy's 2018 "memoir on modern womanhood" (inspired by her life), found me. To be clear, I don't go looking for books like this. But some volumes walk into one's life unbidden.

MORE STORIES FROM Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

Core industries’ growth eases to 3% in September

Annual growth in eight key infrastructure sectors, as measured by the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI), fell to the slowest in 3 months in September due to a weakening output in the energy sector, after reaching a 15-month high in August, according to

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

India need to course correct for ODI World Cup in South Africa

Batting woes in the Perth ODI versus Australia shows India have plenty to sort for the 2027 tournament

time to read

3 mins

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

Medal citations detail Op Sindoor intricacies

15 INDIAN SOLDIERS AND SECURITY PERSONNEL WERE AWARDED THE VIR CHAKRA FOR PLAYING A PIVOTAL ROLE DURING THE MAY 7-10 CLASH

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

INDIA’S AUTO PLI SCHEMES VIOLATE WTO NORMS, COMPLAINS CHINA

China has alleged that certain conditions in India’s Production Linked Incentive schemes for advanced chemistry cell battery, automobiles and the policy to promote the manufacturing of electric vehicles violate global trade rules, and has filed a complaint against these measures at the WTO.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

Nominations for Bihar Ph-2 end, Oppn yet to finalise deal

Nominations for the crucial second phase of assembly elections in Bihar closed on Tuesday as it became clear that the Opposition Grand Alliance had fielded more than one candidate on at least 11 seats.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

MOTHER, TEEN DAUGHTER KILLED IN KAMOTHE FIRE

A fire ripped through a residential flat in Kamothe, Navi Mumbai, early on Tuesday morning, killing a 17-year-old and her mother. Fire officials suspect that an electrical fault coupled with a gas leak triggered the tragedy.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

Bastion breached: Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time as warming climate triggers buzz

NEW DELHI: For the first time, mosquitoes have been found in Iceland, signalling yet another inevitable consequence of climate crisis, the Guardian has reported.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

Mokama braces for a duel of musclemen

The flood-ravaged terrain of Bihar’s Mokamais bracing for a high-voltage clash between two don-turned politicians — Anant Singh and Surajbhan Singh.

time to read

2 mins

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

NOT BANNED RSS: K'TAKA CM ISSUES CLARIFICATION ON GOVT CIRCULAR

BENGALURU: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the state government has not banned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), clarifying that a recent circular regarding restrictions on organisations holding activities in educational institutions merely repeats an order first issued by the previous BJP government in 2013.

time to read

1 min

October 22, 2025

Hindustan Times Navi Mumbai

{ DANIEL NARODITSKY } 1995-2025 US GM, coach and commentator dies 29

Daniel Naroditsky, a chess Grandmaster who started as a child prodigy and quickly became one of the most influential American voices in the sport, died Monday. He was 29.

time to read

1 mins

October 22, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size