Abhilash Melethil's Blog: Abhilash Melethil, page 2

Of Endings, Letdowns, and Lily King

Writing is all about knowing when to stop. That applies to writers themselves too—they should know when to quit. 2025, Week 27 I read two books on Storytel this week: Bheemachan by N.S. Madhavan and Ambilimol Thirodhanam by G.R. Indugopan. And honestly—are these even books? One reads like an extended short story, the other like an unsold film script. N.S. Madhavan is […]

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Old Friends and Older Books

Meeting Ajai has been a regular part of my life—this time, we met after 2.6 years. He remains one of my top three in Malayalam, not just for his writing, but also for his reading. We talked about Proust, Han Kang’s We Do Not Part, and the contemporary Malayalam novel scene. I’ve been extremely busy […]

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Kamala, Proust and Knausgaard

Ever since I began reading Knausgaard—whose work is often categorized as autofiction—I’ve been looking for parallels in other literary traditions, including Malayalam. In my language, few writers come close, but Kamala Das stands out as a possible exception. Her three autobiographical works—Balyakalasmaranakal, Neermathalam Pootha Kalam, and Varshangalkku Munpu—are, of course, semi-fictionalized accounts of her upper-middle-class […]

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Reading, and Why I Keep Going

Today again, I bought a few more books. I’ve finished reading 49 books this year. Almost all of my reading is through audio (yes, there are people online who question whether that even counts as “reading”). It has long been my desire to become one of Kerala’s foremost readers. I grew up in a home […]

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The Serious Mode

It’s that part of the year when I slowly move toward bigger, more serious books—the kind that demand time and patience. Re-reading Proust was a project I’d planned for 2023 but never got around to. Now I’m reading Within a Budding Grove, the second volume of In Search of Lost Time, I knew this, But […]

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This Week, the Page Turned

Reading is the most prolific activity in my life right now—outside of work. I keep finding exciting new reads, and I’m deeply invested in this. This year has been fantastic in that sense. Same goes for music. 2025, Week 23 Books  Finished The Psychology of Secrets — a real page-turner, by Andrew Gold. The author […]

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RIP, Edmund White

Edmund White was one of the greatest readers ever. I’ve read a few of his books, and for the past two months I’ve been (slowly) working through The Loves of My Life—a rather graphic gay memoir. His Boy trilogy was wonderful and among my first reads in this category. Of course, being American, he’s largely […]

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Classics Rule and a Legend Departs.

Monsoon arrives in south and rain is everywhere, every hour. The big news this week: Ngugi Wa Thiong’o passed away. A Nobel—or even the often silly Booker—would only have diminished him. He was a writer beyond the grasp of awards, in the rare company of a few legends in literary history. Classics ruled my reading […]

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Another Week, Another Stack of Books

Another week went by and I have finished another stack of books – six to be precise. You could call it a reading marathon—except I read multiple books at once, so it’s more like a slow-motion sprint across several tracks. 2025, Week 21 Books   Finished six  books this week, all in English. First in […]

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A Week with a Malayalam Chunkster and Endless Loops of Music

We’re nearly at the half-year mark, and it’s shaping up to be a strong reading year — 39 books in, including a graphic novel. Not too shabby, if I may say so myself. This week, I finally tackled a long-overdue Malayalam chunkster by Indugopan that’s been lingering on my TBR for a while.

2025, Week 20

Reading  

Finished two books this week, both in Malayalam, for a change. Indugopan’s “Aano” was long, often clever, and mostly engaging. I’m not sure why his huge fan base seems to have ov...