On Love And Sex: Selected Writings | Khushwant Singh | Book Review

Khushwant Singh On Love And Sex by Khushwant SinghSUBJECT: 3/5
WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5
CANDIDNESS: 3/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

When you think about Khushwant Singh and about his writings, what is the first word which comes to your mind?

Sex, for he is a writer who is famously known for his frequent and candid commentaries on the subject.

On Love And Sex: Selected Writings just like the other one going by the name On Women: Selected Writings is also a collection of Singh’s various writings on the topic.

While some are simply commentaries and personal opinions, other are fictional stories. Also part of the book are a few autobiographical anecdotes which the author so candidly writes about.

The best chapter of the book is “Mixed Marriage” which is a fictional story written by Khushwant Singh about a Hindu-Muslim marriage during the Mughal era.

Though sex is not the main theme of the story it is definitely the main undertone of the whole story which Singh so masterfully narrates through his words.

I also liked the very candid autobiographical chapters of “My first love in college”, “England Days and losing my virginity” and “Buggered”. All three were perfect examples of Singh’s writing – honest, sincere and forthright.

The way Singh describes the event of losing his innocence is as candid as it can ever get.

Another fictional story which majorly delves on the subject of sex is “The rooftop massage” and it is the only one which is most erotic and does literal justice to the scandalous title.

The rest being mere undertones; powerful yet humble. I also liked the commentaries titled “The Rajneesh approach to sex” “Kissing” and “Jeffrey Archer and the prostitute” wherein the author very plaintively puts across his personal view on the matter.

“A memorable train journey” is yet another piece which brings to front the hypocrisy of the Indian people when it comes to sex or anything related to sex.

On Love And Sex is a perfect blend of all of Khushwant Singh’s stories on the subject.

Humra Quraishi has done a wonderful job of compiling the works and bringing them together in such a beautiful way.

Khushwant Singh is one of my favorite authors and this book too has been a valuable addition to my Khushwant Singh collection.

All in all, the book is a good read and thus I rate it three and a half out of five stars and recommend it to all adult readers.

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