I subscribed to the TLS (The Times Literary Supplement) in November last year. Subscribing to this premier international weekly of literary and cultural debate was a dream come true. It was a long cherished dream. I have been looking forward to this moment since more than last ten years. I first came to know about the TLS when I was reading for my MA in English. I was studying T.S. Eliot’s ‘Tradition and Individual Talent’ and came to know that this essay was first published in the Times Literary Supplement in 1919. After a curious Google search, I found out the TLS website. TLS then gave free sample copies. I requested one. Fortunately it turned out to be the centenary issue of the TLS.

I was highly impressed with the journal’s quality of print and content. The range of subjects was indeed extremely diverse and wide. I fell in love with this journal- with its provocative reviews, the animated letters to the editors, the Commentary section and even with the advertisements of books, journals and literary and other intellectual events that it carried.

Ever since then I had been dreaming of subscribing to the TLS. I resolved to do so when I would start earning enough and the day came in November last year when a special subscription offer made it possible for me to subscribe to the TLS at a considerable discount. It is not otherwise easy for a middle class Indian to subscribe to periodicals like TLS as they are expensive. Understandably, I was overjoyed when I got in my hands, my first issue of the TLS. It represents for me, a vibrant intellectual culture and true scholarship. I have always relished reading the TLS. Undoubtedly, the pleasure will only grow in future.

I am now waiting for the book ‘Critical Times: The History of the Times Literary Supplement’ (which I recently ordered). It is a history of the TLS written by Derwent May in 2002. I am curious to go through the hundred year journey of this wonderful weekly which has gone through all the thick and thin and not only sustained, but constantly improved its quality- both externally and internally. I first saw the advertisement of this book in the centenary issue of the TLS and wanted to read it. I am quite sure that I will relish this book too. Will write about it in this blog after reading it.