LitRadar - April 5, 2026 - The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera

                            

Memory, Power, and Exile: Reading Kundera – A Review by John Updike 

 

John Updike describes Milan Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting as both brilliant and unsettling. The book resists easy classification—part fiction, part history, part philosophical reflection—and reflects Kundera’s own fractured life under and beyond Communist Czechoslovakia. At its core lies a powerful idea: the struggle between memory and forgetting. Political regimes erase inconvenient truths, rewriting history, while individuals desperately try to hold onto fading personal memories. For Kundera, remembering becomes an act of resistance. Updike highlights how deeply politics shapes private lives. In Kundera’s world, love, loyalty, and identity are entangled with ideology. Motives are often misunderstood, and emotional truths hide beneath political gestures. Despite its title, the book offers little real laughter. Instead, humor turns analytical and even cruel. Similarly, sexuality appears detached, reflecting a broader sense of alienation. Human connection feels fragile, often stripped of meaning. Updike ultimately sees Kundera as a writer in exile—caught between East and West, certainty and doubt. His work is rich and thought-provoking, yet deliberately unsettling, leaving readers to confront a world where memory is unstable and meaning remains unresolved.

Read the original article 

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/17/specials/kundera-laughter.html

Media Scan - 04--04-26

 

LitRadar - April 4, 2026 - Students Etched in Memory by Perumal Murugan

                      

In Students Etched in Memory, Perumal Murugan offers a series of reflective essays based on his experiences as a Tamil teacher over three decades. Originally published as newspaper columns, these pieces move away from conventional success narratives and instead explore the complex realities of his students’ lives. Murugan portrays a wide range of students—ambitious, troubled, talented, and vulnerable—while also revealing his own growth as an educator. He emphasizes empathy, mentorship, and the importance of engaging with students beyond academics. The essays critique structural problems in education, including social inequality, rigid systems, and the burden of English on rural students. Murugan also reflects on gender limitations in teaching, economic hardships, and ethical concerns such as corruption in research. Importantly, the book does not shy away from tragedy: students dropping out, facing poverty, or even dying. At the same time, it celebrates small victories and personal transformations. Through these narratives, Murugan underscores that education is deeply tied to social realities and human relationships. The translation preserves the simplicity and warmth of Murugan’s voice, making the work accessible and engaging.

Reference 

https://www.thehindu.com/books/review-of-perumal-murugan-students-etched-in-memory/article69674210.ece

LitRadar - April 3, 2026 - Maus by Art Spiegelman

Maus by Art Spiegelman is a Pulitzer Prize–winning graphic narrative originally published in two volumes—'My Father Bleeds History’ (1986) and ‘And Here My Troubles Began’ (1991), later combined as ‘The Complete Maus’. The work portrays the Holocaust through anthropomorphic imagery, representing Jews as mice and Germans as cats, a stylistic choice that initially drew controversy but ultimately proved powerful and innovative. Blending history, biography, and autobiography, the narrative unfolds across two intertwined timelines. One focuses on Spiegelman’s own life, especially his strained relationship with his father, Vladek, and the lingering trauma surrounding his mother Anja’s death. The other reconstructs his parents’ experiences in pre-war Europe, their survival through Auschwitz and the Holocaust, and their eventual displacement and resettlement. Together, these strands create a deeply personal and historically significant account that reshaped the possibilities of graphic storytelling while offering a profound reflection on memory, trauma, and survival.

Reference: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/movies/spiegelman-disaster-is-my-muse-review.html
 

LitRadar - April 2, 2026 - Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov

 

“Years later, when many of his memories had already scattered like frightened pigeons, he could still go back to that morning when he was wandering aimlessly through the streets of Vienna, and a vagrant with a mustache like García Márquez’s was selling newspapers on the sidewalk in the early March sun. A wind blew up and several of the newspapers swirled into the air. He tried to help, chasing down two or three and returning them. You can keep one, said Márquez.” (Excerpt from Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov, page 14) 

 

Time Shelter, winner of the International Booker Prize, presents a powerful idea: forgetting the past can be dangerous for both individuals and societies. The novel follows a narrator who collects memories and partners with Gaustine to create a unique clinic in Switzerland. Each floor of the clinic recreates a different decade through objects, sounds, and smells, allowing patients with memory loss to relive happier times. Initially, the experiment succeeds, as patients reconnect with their “internal time,” even to the point of believing they can change the past. However, what begins as a therapeutic project gradually expands across Europe, taking a darker turn. Entire nations attempt to recreate chosen periods of their history, culminating in referendums where countries vote on which decade to return to. These efforts expose deep divisions, as each nation clings to its own version of the past, often shaped by suffering rather than happiness. The result is confusion and conflict, as shared history becomes impossible. Ultimately, the novel suggests that nostalgia can be dangerous when it overwhelms the present. While memory can comfort, an excessive return to the past leads to fragmentation and chaos. Despite its serious themes, the narrative is held together by a subtle sense of humour that keeps the story engaging. The novel might have become a purely intellectual exercise, but Georgi Gospodinov brings emotional depth and warmth to the story. The narrator closely reflects the author himself—a Bulgarian shaped by the end of communism, a moment that lingers between past and present. While he shows genuine affection for that era, he also views it critically. Through fragmented memories, Gospodinov creates vivid, fully realized characters, and smoothly shifts between humour, sadness, absurdity, and tragedy. These nuances are effectively conveyed to English readers through Angela Rodel’s sensitive translation. The title Time Shelter itself suggests a paradox: both escaping from time and finding refuge within it—ideas that are appealing but ultimately unattainable. The novel reconsiders nostalgia, portraying it not as a harmless comfort but as something more dangerous, like a fuel that consumes the present and limits the future.

 

“The first thing that goes in memory loss is the very concept of the future.” Time Shelter

 (Excerpt from Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov, page 124) 

 

 

Reference

https://www.the-tls.com/literature/fiction/time-shelter-georgi-gospodinov-book-review-anna-aslanyan

 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/may/20/time-shelter-by-georgi-gospodinov-review-the-dangers-of-dwelling-in-the-past

 

Media Scan 1-04-26

LitRadar - April 1, 2026 - Ignorance by Milan Kundera

Milan Kundera's novel "Ignorance" explores the complexities of memory, nostalgia, and the experience of returning home after a long absence. The  irony in the novel is related the Odyssean homecoming, where the protagonist finds that home is not as he remembered it. In Ignorance, Milan Kundera revisits his recurring themes of memory, exile, and the tension between emotional “lightness” and “weight.” Echoing his idea from The Art of the Novel that novelists develop variations on a central theme, this novel follows Irena, a Czech émigré returning to her homeland after twenty years. Inspired by the myth of Odysseus, her journey promises a meaningful homecoming but instead reveals disconnection, as her past and her country have both changed beyond recognition. Alongside Irena is Josef, another returnee who represents emotional detachment rather than nostalgia. Their anticipated reunion exposes the fragility of memory and desire, culminating in a hollow encounter that underscores how imagined pasts rarely match reality. Kundera blends philosophical reflections with everyday incidents, showing how private lives intersect with broader historical shifts, while characters like Milada quietly embody loneliness and emotional truth. Ultimately, Ignorance becomes a meditation on the limits of memory and the illusion of return. Whether through Irena’s longing or Josef’s indifference, Kundera suggests that neither remembering nor forgetting offers resolution. Instead, the novel presents exile as a universal human condition, where the past cannot be reclaimed and understanding remains incomplete.

 

Reference:

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/06/books/shut-up-memory.html

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/nov/16/fiction.milankundera

 

 

 

 

Reclaiming the Past: Women, Memory, and the Making of History

The article argues that women’s writing transforms personal memory into a powerful historical archive, challenging male-dominated narratives of the past. By blending memoir, literature, and ethnography, writers bring into focus lived experiences shaped by class, caste, gender, and inequality, showing that memory is not merely private but deeply political. Annie Ernaux, in ‘I Will Write to Avenge My People’, presents writing as an act of justice that uncovers hidden social truths, influenced by ‘The Second Sex’. Similarly, Asiya Islam’s ‘A Woman's Job: Making Middle Lives in New India’ explores the lives of working-class urban women, highlighting how aspirations for mobility are shaped and often limited by enduring structures of inequality. The collection ‘Women Writing History: Three Generations’ by Romila Thapar, Kumkum Roy, and Preeti Gulati further reflects on how history itself is shaped by the identities and experiences of those who write it, revealing the gendered challenges within academia and historiography. Together, these works demonstrate that women’s writing does not simply recount the past but actively reconstructs it, turning individual memory into a collective record that questions dominant histories and creates new ways of understanding time, experience, and truth.

https://www.thehindu.com/books/from-memory-to-archive-womens-writing-creates-new-ways-to-narrate-the-past/article70799645.ece

LitRadar - March 30, 2026 - Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

                     

Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck is a deeply unsettling yet powerful novel that intertwines a destructive love story with the political collapse of East Germany. The story begins with Katharina learning of her former lover Hans’s death and revisiting their past through his papers. Their relationship starts in East Berlin in 1986, marked from the beginning by imbalance—Katharina is young and inexperienced, while Hans is much older, married, and controlling. What initially appears to be profound love gradually turns toxic. Hans becomes manipulative and abusive, attempting to dominate and “re-educate” Katharina after her brief infidelity. As their relationship deteriorates, it mirrors the broader disintegration of East Germany during the fall of communism. Erpenbeck blends the personal and political, showing how private lives are shaped by historical forces. Even after the Berlin Wall falls, Katharina’s liberation is incomplete, as she confronts a new world driven by consumerism that feels equally empty. The novel ultimately presents a bleak view of both love and modern life, leaving unresolved emotional and historical questions.

 

Jenny Erpenbeck (born 1967, East Berlin) is a novelist, playwright, and opera director. After early work in theatre, she gained international acclaim with works like Visitation, The End of Days, and Go, Went, Gone. Her novel Kairos won the International Booker Prize in 2024, cementing her global reputation.

 

Kairos vs Chronos

Chronos refers to clock time — the measurable, linear progression of seconds, minutes, and years that we count. In contrast, Kairos signifies the right or opportune moment — a meaningful, decisive point in time that we feel rather than measure. Simply put, Chronos is the quantity of time, while Kairos is the quality of time, reminding us that not all moments are equal.

 

 

Reference 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jun/08/kairos-by-jenny-erpenbeck-review-a-monumental-breakup

 

https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/reading-guide-kairos-by-jenny-erpenbeck

 

LitRadar - March 29, 2026 - Human Acts by Han Kang

“Human Acts” is a moving novel that deals with the harsh realities of the Gwangju Uprising and its lingering psychological and moral effects on the people of South Korea. The novel indicates that violence is not always a standalone phenomenon but is often linked with other violent events, as evidenced by the fact that soldiers who had perpetrated violence during the Vietnam War brought their experiences with them when they arrived at Gwangju. Once violence has been unleashed, there is no going back, no return to a time before its existence.

 

The novel, against the backdrop of the political unrest that followed the assassination of President Park Chung-hee, recounts the events surrounding the protest for democracy, the escalating nature of the protest, and the brutal response by the military. The novel commences with the killing of a boy, Dong-ho, and proceeds through various time periods, narrators, and perspectives, all of whom are affected by the events of the massacre.

 

Han Kang, drawing from her personal experiences with Gwangju, combines reality with personal narratives, making for a compelling read. The novel has a fluid narrator, often addressing a haunting figure, “You,” which is a metaphor for a fragmented self, one that has become alienated from their true self, their humanity.

 

The novel, despite dealing with harsh realities, humanises political violence through its focus on individual experiences, and ultimately raises a pertinent question on humanity: what does it mean to be human, and how do we stay human in the face of extreme brutality, without providing answers but rather asking the reader to witness.

 

Han Kang – Prose. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2026. Sat. 28 Mar 2026. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2024/han/prose/>

 

This morning, when you asked how many dead were being transferred from the Red Cross hospital today, Jin-su’s reply was no more elaborate than it needed to be: thirty. While the leaden mass of the anthem’s refrain rises and falls, rises and falls, thirty coffins will be lifted down from the truck, one by one. They will be placed in a row next to the twenty-eight that you and Jin-su laid out this morning, the line stretching all the way from the gym to the fountain. Before yesterday evening, twenty-six of the eighty-three coffins hadn’t yet been brought out for a group memorial service; yesterday evening this number had grown to twenty-­eight, when two families had appeared and each identified a corpse. These were then placed in coffins, with a necessarily hasty and improvised version of the usual rites. After making a note of their names and coffin numbers in your ledger, you added ‘group memorial service’ in parentheses; Jin-su had asked you to make a clear record of which coffins had already gone through the service, to prevent the same ones being brought out twice. You’d wanted to go and watch, just this one time, but he told you to stay at the gym.

 

Reference:

 https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/13/human-acts-han-kang-review-south-korea

Two Sides of the Same Profession

 

LitRadar - March 28, 2026 - The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

The novel "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" is set in the city of Colombo in the year 1989, in the midst of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The novel starts with Maali Almeida, a freelance war photographer, deceased and stuck in the afterlife in a place that can be best described as a bureaucratic purgatory for the deceased. Maali has seven "moons" or seven days to solve the mystery surrounding his own death. He sets out to investigate his own death with the help of photographs, which are a crucial element in the novel. Maali had hidden his photographs, which showed evidence of atrocities committed during the war, hoping to reveal the truth. Through his attempts to help his friends Jaki and DD locate the photographs in the world of the living, Maali shows his belief in photography as a form of truth-telling. The novel combines dark humour with politics in its portrayal of Maali's afterlife, where he comes into contact with the deceased. The novel focuses on the voices of the deceased through Maali's afterlife experiences. The second-person narration brings the reader into the experience with Maali, making the line between the living and the deceased blurred. The novel, therefore, becomes not only a mystery novel but also a commentary on the nature of memory, violence, and the role of storytelling in dealing with these themes.

“You hold the Nikon to your face and it is no longer brown. There is broken glass and blurred colours. You see the dead after the shelling at Kilinochchi. You see a broken dog, a bleeding man, a mother and child. 

 

‘Many of you were killed. Many were driven to kill themselves,’ says Sena. ‘Maybe it is easier to forget. But forgetting cures nothing. Wrongs must be remembered. Or your murderers will roam free. And you will know no peace’

 

 

Karunatilaka, Shehan. The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida: WINNER OF THE 2022 BOOKER PRIZE (p. 109). Kindle Edition.

 

Reference 

https://weneedtotalkaboutbooks.com/2023/05/10/the-seven-moons-of-maali-almeida-by-shehan-karunatilaka-a-review/

English Engine - Answers Explained

 Subject–Verb Agreement 

Everyone is responsible for their actions.

“Everyone” is an indefinite pronoun treated as singular → takes “is”.

 

A number of students are absent today.

“A number of” means many → plural noun → takes “are”.

 

The number of students is increasing every year.

“The number” refers to a single figure → singular → takes “is”.

 

The list of items is on the table.

The subject is “list” (singular), not “items” → takes “is”.

 

Mathematics is my favourite subject.

Subjects like “Mathematics” are treated as singular → takes “is”.

 

A lot of people are waiting outside.

“People” is plural → takes “are”.

 

Bread and butter is my usual breakfast.

Here, it refers to a single combined idea (one meal) → singular → “is”.

 

The dogs are barking loudly.

“Dogs” is plural → takes “are”.

 

The Hindi vs English debate

Summary of the article which appeared in scroll.in by Suraj Gunwant is Assistant Professor, Department of English, Ewing Christian College, University of Allahabad.

 

The article argues that English is often wrongly blamed for the decline of India’s regional languages, while in reality, Hindi plays a more immediate and powerful role—especially in North India. Hindi dominates everyday communication, education, and social interactions, making speakers of smaller languages like Bhojpuri or Braj feel inferior and pushing them to shift toward standard Hindi for respect and mobility.

 

This shift is driven largely by aspiration rather than force: families encourage children to adopt Hindi as a “better” or more respectable language, leading to the gradual disappearance of mother tongues in homes and communities. The process is subtle and often disguised as adopting proper manners or educated speech.

 

The author concludes that India should avoid promoting any one regional language over others and instead adopt a balanced multilingual model, where English can function as a neutral link language while regional languages are preserved for cultural identity.

 

https://scroll.in/article/1090131/an-english-professor-writes-why-hindi-is-to-blame-for-the-decline-of-indias-other-languages

The Scopus Trap: Are We Losing Creativity in Academia?

 

 

Imagine being told that your life’s work has no value simply because it isn’t listed in a database. That is the concern raised in A. Balaji’s article “The Scopus Trap.” Which appeared in the Hindu's Education Plus supplement on March 23^rd, 2026. 

 

Today, many colleges and universities in India evaluate research mainly through Scopus indexing and citation counts. In simple terms, if your work is not indexed or widely cited, it is often overlooked. This creates a serious problem, especially in fields like literature and the humanities. Creative works—such as poems, plays, essays, and translations—do not always fit into rigid research formats. But that does not make them any less meaningful. In fact, they capture emotions, culture, and human experiences in ways that numbers and graphs simply cannot. 

 

Yet, the current system tends to favour data-heavy, technical research over creative expression. The result is a growing gap where creativity is pushed aside, and scholars feel pressured to produce “countable” research rather than meaningful work. Interestingly, other countries are moving in a different direction. In places like the UK and Australia, creative works are now recognised as valid research outputs. These systems acknowledge that knowledge is not just about statistics—it is also about storytelling, interpretation, and cultural insight.

 

The article suggests that India can also improve by:

 

Accepting creative works as proper research

Giving importance to quality, not just numbers

Using flexible ways to evaluate different kinds of work

LitRadar - March 26, 2026 - In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova - Memory, History, and the Ordinary

 

Maria Stepanova is a Russian poet and essayist whose memoir In Memory of Memory explores the relationship between personal memory and history. Growing up in a Moscow apartment filled with family objects, she develops a deep sense of responsibility toward the past. The book focuses on her Jewish family history—not marked by major historical tragedy, but by survival and ordinariness. This becomes its central tension: how to write about lives that did not “fit” dramatic historical narratives. Stepanova’s method is fragmentary and reflective, combining letters, photographs, and cultural references. She emphasizes that the past cannot be fully recovered; it remains distant, incomplete, and often unknowable. Ultimately, the memoir is a meditation on loss, memory, and time—showing that even the most ordinary lives are meaningful, yet fragile and impossible to fully preserve.

References:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/books/review-in-memory-of-memory-maria-stepanova.html

 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/apr/07/in-memory-of-memory-by-maria-stepanova-review-a-family-history

Media Scan - 25326

 

LitRadar - March 25, 2026 - The Memory Police: Memory, Loss, and Resistance

"The Memory Police" by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder, is a quiet and haunting dystopian novel about a mysterious island where objects disappear, taking with them memories and emotions that are tied to them. Under the supervision of the Memory Police, anything that disappears is completely erased from memory, and anyone who still remembers them is hunted down. The story is about an unnamed writer who hides her editor, one of the few people who still remembers, and continues to write while books begin to disappear from memory. Simple yet evocative, the novel explores the themes of memory and their impact on identity and relationships, and how easily both can slip away.

 

While "The Memory Police" is often classified as a political dystopian novel, it is actually a more timeless and introspective novel about loss and memory, and their impact on human life and relationships. Heavily influenced by "The Diary of a Young Girl," the novel reflects Anne Frank's experiences of living in hiding, where writing is a space of survival and self-expression. Yoko Ogawa's fascination with enclosed spaces, such as rooms, boxes, and interiors, is a clear reflection of her fascination with ideas of safety, silence, and self-introspection. Her novels always speak for those who cannot speak out about their pain and their struggles with memory, voice, and loved ones.

 

In today's world of misinformation and crisis, "The Memory Police" is a highly relevant novel, especially in a time where misinformation and crisis are commonplace, and where remembering is a powerful act of resistance against oppression and power. As memories, stories, and books disappear in this novel, they symbolize the erasure of history and identity, and the ways in which power silences people. However, there is a quiet hope in this novel, and that is that memories and human relationships cannot be destroyed completely, and this is a powerful statement about the human spirit and our capacity to resist oppression and power. As Milan Kundera so aptly put it, "The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting."

References 

https://feminisminindia.com/2020/11/03/book-review-the-memory-police-yoko-ogawa-stephen-snyder/#google_vignette

 

https://www.nippon.com/en/people/bg900133/writer-ogawa-yoko’s-stories-of-memory-and-loss.html

https://livewire.thewire.in/livewire/the-memory-police-yoko-ogawa-book-review/

LitRadar - March 24, 2026 - Realms of Memory and Pierre Nora

Realms of Memory: The Construction of the French Past, edited by Pierre Nora, shows how nations construct memory through lieux de mémoire—sites like monuments, rituals, and cultural practices where the past is preserved and reimagined. Memory, in this sense, is not fixed but actively shaped by society.

 

A contemporary example of this can be seen in the transformation of the Bondi Beach massacre site. What began as spontaneous floral tributes is now being preserved by artist Nina Sanadze and the Sydney Jewish Museum into a “living memorial.” Flowers, seeds, and messages are carefully archived, turned into artworks, and even cultivated into future installations.

 

This project reflects Nora’s idea that memory must be actively created to endure. The Bondi memorial becomes more than a site of mourning—it evolves into a dynamic space where grief is transformed into collective remembrance, ensuring that the past continues to live in the present.

Media Scan 23-3-26

 

LitRadar March 23, 2026 - Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T Kiyosaki

My brother Anish inspired me to read this book during a visit to his home in Cochin. He encouraged me to see it as a guide for using my knowledge and resources more effectively, and for serving the world in a meaningful way. I picked up a hard copy from Mathrubhumi Bookstore in Thrissur and, at the same time, downloaded the audiobook on Audible. Like My Morning Routine by Benjamin Spall, I experienced this book through both reading and listening simultaneously. I began on January 17 while travelling on the Coimbatore Shatabdi, and I was immediately struck by a line in the opening pages: “Money should work for you, not you for money.” That sentence stayed with me throughout the journey. I finished the book yesterday—it took me about two months. I am already planning to revisit it, drawn by its powerful ideas on financial freedom. At its core, the book emphasizes financial literacy—something rarely addressed in our college and university classrooms, regardless of discipline. I do feel a slight sense of regret for not reading it earlier in life. Robert T. Kiyosaki achieved financial independence at the age of 47—a reminder that it is never too late to rethink how we approach money and learning.

 

Don’t work just for money.

If you stay in the “rat race,” you’re mainly making your boss richer—not yourself.

Learn about money.

Understand finances, find real assets, and invest in them.

Start small but be smart.

Keep your job, spend less, and build a side business that earns for you.

Understand taxes.

Rich people know how the tax system works and use it to save money.

Be bold.

Making money needs confidence and courage. Look for opportunities and create them.

Work to learn.

Gain different skills and knowledge, not just a paycheck.

 

Media Scan - March 22, 2026

LitRadar March 22, 2026 - Aflame: Learning from Silence by Pico Iyer

“Silence is the space between two thoughts”  

Pico Iyer 

 

In a fast-moving world full of noise and distraction, Pico Iyer reminds us that silence is not emptiness—it is something deeply meaningful. Speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival 2026, he explains that silence helps us slow down, reflect, and understand what truly matters. Iyer uses the idea of fire to describe our times. The world around us feels chaotic and uncertain, but within us there is another kind of fire—our inner strength and purpose. Silence helps us protect this inner fire, even when everything outside feels overwhelming. He also shows that silence is not about escaping life. Instead, it prepares us to live better. By stepping away for a while—through quiet moments or solitude—we return with more clarity, patience, and compassion. In fact, being alone can help us build stronger relationships, because it reminds us of what and who we truly value. Another key idea is about time. Modern life pushes us to move faster and faster, but silence allows us to pause and be present. Even a few minutes of quiet each day can make a difference. Iyer does not suggest that we withdraw completely from the world. Rather, he encourages a balance—a middle path. We can stay engaged with life while still creating small spaces of silence for ourselves. In the end, his message is simple Silence is not an escape from life—it is what helps us live more thoughtfully, calmly, and meaningfully. A powerful example he gives is the Dalai Lama. Despite being one of the busiest public figures in the world, he begins each day with hours of silence and meditation. This inner stillness, Iyer suggests, is what allows him to remain calm, attentive, and fully present with others. His life shows that silence is not separate from action—it is what makes meaningful action possible. 

 

Pico Iyer in KLF 26

 

LitRadar March 21, 2026 - My Morning Routine by Benjamin Spall

My Morning Routine invites readers to explore the daily rituals of sixty-four successful people. It took me six months to read this compact book. I read it while travelling, at work, and even before going to bed. During this period, I also listened to the audiobook on Audible. I took time to underline key sections and revisit passages that I found particularly engaging. In February 2026, I spoke to a group of 200 students about the value of a morning routine and the concept of habit stacking. Interestingly, it took the author, Benjamin Spall, more than five years to write this book. Prior to its publication, he was already running the website mymorningroutine.com, which served as the inspiration for the book.

“Since launching the My Morning Routine website five years ago, we have conducted interviews and extracted data from the morning routines of hundreds of successful individuals around the world. We quickly noticed that more and more of us are waking up to the idea that there is a better way to start the day than rushing through our precious few morning hours. What we discovered as we got deeper into the process of interviewing people about their morning routines is that almost none of the world’s best and brightest leave their mornings to chance.”

Excerpt From My Morning Routine by Benjamin Spall

https://mymorningroutine.com/

Len Deighton Remembered - Media Scan - 200326