‘Go then, there are other worlds than these’ ….

When I started reading the Dark Tower series, I did not anticipate it to so wholly consume me. I was a skeptic to begin with and had to be much talked into reading the first book ‘The Gunslinger’ by my Husband.

I sort of trudged through the first book… Roland’s world, so weirdly different was a mystery with no immediate answers available. I was at times, frustrated with how little I understood of what really was happening. Who was this Gunslinger and why was he following the mysterious Man in Black? How did Jake go from being dead in New York to being alive in Mid World? What really was this world that had moved on? Was it a parallel world or our world after thousands of years? My logical mind could not get over the seemingly apparent gaps of logic in the story. There was no background write up to help the reader build a context of this mysterious new world and I almost stopped reading the book a couple of times. But I am glad I didn’t give up because from Book 2 onwards, the Dark Tower came alive in my imagination vividly and all the pieces, even though not falling into place, started to make a little bit of sense.

‘Drawing of the Three’ (Book 2) was interesting and even mildly amusing in parts. I found Roland’s interpretation of modern New York refreshing. ‘Astin’ always bought a smile to my lips and his surprise at the abundance of our world always made me feel grateful for all that we have and take for granted. With the introduction of Eddie and Detta/Odetta my understanding of Roland and his mission grew but the real submission to this new world happened in Book 3 (The Wastelands).

With Jake and the adorable ‘Oy’ being added to the ‘Ka-tet’ Roland’s Band of Brothers begun to have character and depth. Oy’s amputated repetitions never failed to make me smile and the inexplicable connections that Jake saw in his world to Roland’s world made me wonder about the universe’s grand design. The desolation of Roland’s world, the mutations and the little remnants of a technologically advanced world made me think of movies like the Terminator and Matrix. A world so advanced that it killed itself was not a new thought, but its portrayal in these books is beautifully different.

Book 4 (The Wizard & Glass) was a slight disappointment when I first started it. After the fast paced action of ‘Blain the Pain’, going back to Roland’s backstory with Susan was kind of frustrating. I was so engrossed in the race for the Tower that I didn’t want to waste time on the history of it all, but as I read on, I begun to understand the importance of Book 4 in understanding what went into making Roland. Even so, I still think the whole Mills & Boon angle of the Roland & Susan love story bit could have been edited and made shorter.

Now as I await the delivery of Book 5 (the Wolves of Calla), the Dark Tower grows darker and murkier in my mind and its hold on Roland seems to stretch on beyond him to me.

Sigh… I admit it… I’m a Dark Tower Junkie now.

The device is light weight and idiot proof in terms of use. I loved the features of changing text size, dictionary, note making etc. I also downloaded the kindle app on my android phone. Sometimes, when I would find it impossible to stop reading because of a really engrossing plot, I would hide in my office loo and continue to read the book on my phone! (I know the kindle is portable, but hey I cant carry it to the loo without being stared upon) I loved the fact that I could continue to read my book on my phone and then sync it with my kindle when I got home and start reading from where I left off reading on the phone…. ahh… the magic of technology

Some of the other features in the kindle are nice but really not useful currently…. One being the ‘text to speech’ one. It’s fun to hear the mechanical voice read the book out to you for a bit… but one can’t really enjoy books that way.

The only issue I have with the Kindle is that buying kindle books is expensive, especially when you are in India and physical books cost so much less. The average cost per kindle book is approximately $10. That’s about Rs. 500 when converted to Indian Rupees. On an average a physical book from a nice book store in India costs between Rs. 250 – 350.

After I read Ken Follet’s ‘World without End’ (WWE), I didn’t think I would have the commitment to read a similar book. But when my sister praised Follet’s ‘Pillars of the Earth’ (the prequel to World Without End), I decided it might be worth the while to undertake another long journey. The 1000+ pages in small print was not as daunting as I first imagined them to be…each page I turned seemed to embroil me deeper in the lives of the characters and experience their trials and tribulations like they were my own.

The story is set in the early part of the 12th century and chronicles the lives of different protagonists in the town of Kingsbridge. The story revolves around the building of a mighty cathedral, though they are many interceding stories around the nobility, the peasantry and the clergy.

Having read WWE, I could feel traces of the writing style repeating itself…the little interlacing stories, the unexpected connections between the lead characters, the bloody history of the land…some of the things I found intriguing in WWE became commonplace in Pillars.

Pillars had one strong underlying theme – the building of the biggest tallest cathedral in England. No matter how speedily things changed in the story, how unexpectedly the fortunes of different characters turned, how hopeless the scene seemed, the reader always knows that things would work out and the Cathedral would be built in all its glory. So the horror one felt at a sad turn of the story was only momentary and the hope of all things being right again was just around the corner. In Contrast, WWE did not have any strong underlying theme and thus the turns in the story really did keep the reader guessing where the narrative will lead to.

Comparisons aside, I enjoyed reading Pillars. I also downloaded & watched the special 8 parts series that was made based on the book. Though a lot of the story line was changed, it was interesting to see the building of the Cathedral come to life in HD.

This is a review of my first Terry Pratchett. Being a fan of the fantasy genre… I’d heard a LOT about the Pratchett legacy. I’ve thought of picking a book by Pratchett multiple times… but was always deterred by the sheer volume of his work and never knowing where to begin. The first few books were never available in any book store and I always wondered if I would miss some vital connection if I started somewhere in the middle. One day, I just came over the whole ‘to read or not to read Pratchett’ dilemma and bought ‘A Hatful of Sky’. It is the second volume about the Nac Mac Feegles and seemed like a good place to start.

The story is about a young witch going off on her witching apprenticeship…. ok….been there read that. The highlight for me were the Nac Mac Feegles, who added the much required colour (figuratively speaking – not referring to their blue tattooed 4 inch high bodies!). Their style of speaking takes a little getting used to, and once one gets used to it, one begins to see the humour in it. Watching Rob Anybody learning to spell is a delight and now every time I look at a capital ‘P’ I think of a fat man standing and the letter ‘R’ reminds me of a fat man walking!

The story per say is not much to write home about (or blog about!). The story line of a young witch vs ancient powerful evil was nothing original. The characters also did not speak to me much (except the fairies whose antics and history I enjoyed). The two Miss Levels and the rest of the witch roundup were quite sketchy and did not create much durability in terms of characters that grow with each book.  

I have heard about the magic of Pratchett, but this book didn’t deliver that for me. I would definitely be willing to try another one, especially from the ‘Discworld series’… any suggestions from anyone on which one I should begin with?

You should not pick this book if you’re looking for a racy, sci-fi, fantastical book. This book is for those laid back sorts who want to read a human story and not dwell into the science or question the construct of it all.

The story of Henry (the time traveler with a defective DNA) and his wife Clare (who meets her future 36 year old husband at the ripe age of 6) is one which grows on you as you turn each page.

At the beginning of the book, it takes a little while to grasp the complexity of the multiple space & time zones. The backward/forward movements in time and the presence of multiple Henrys’ from the past/ future and present and their criss-crossing paths takes some getting used to. Once I got used to reading the dates and checking them with the previous chapters, I liked how all the multiple threads dovetailed into each other to make a perfect narrative without any loopholes.

Yes, the book is slow and sometimes the story would just spread out before me… day after day of everyday life with very little excitement. I guess that’s what gives the reader the feeling of living a lifetime with Henry and Clare. The whole inevitability of the future was also overwhelming and made me wonder whether there is really any free will at all.

The science angle is limited with little focus on the marvels of the DNA that make time travel possible for Henry. The story focuses much on the relationship angle and very little on the varied possibilities related to time travel.

The loungy style of writing, the never ending every day stuff…. The book is definitely not a gripper, but once the reader gets connected to the characters, he/she cannot stop reading…. just to find out how their lives turn out to be.

After I finished the book, I also saw the movie. I would have found the movie quite a waste of time had I not read the book….but seeing the characters I’ve lived with over the last few weeks coming to life is enchanting. My husband’s only comments on the movie were “This is booooring” and “Poor Eric Bana (who plays Henry in this movie and also played the Hulk in the first Hulk movie)… only gets movies where he keeps losing his clothes!”

Indigo Deli is a place much known for its breakfast and its ambience lived up to the expectation. Warm deep wooden interiors, the smell of fresh coffee and heavenly eggs floating in the air. I instantly knew that my sacrifice was going to be worth it. We were quickly shown to our seats (though I imagine not getting there early enough would see you waiting for a table) and were offered our menus.

The menu read like one can expect in a fancy european joint and I would have needed Vir Sanghavi’s (still to come out) ‘Guide to reading fancy menus’ in order to understand some of the names and dishes. But since we were doing breakfast, the choice was quite simple… eggs!  I ordered the ‘Eggs Florentine’ (Florentine by the way means ‘with spinach’) and everyone else opted for their version of ‘3 eggs anyways’, which was basically that they could choose to go the omelet, boiled or scrambled way. We choose the eggs to be made without any yellows and were happy that we were choosing the healthy way, until we got to the list of side dishes. Unable to resist the temptation, we landed up ordering almost all the side dishes on offer – Chicken Sausages, Beef and Pork Strips. We also ordered a pot of fresh Assam Tea to go with our newspapers and settled down to a comfortable wait.

When the food arrived, we were not disappointed. The Eggs were brilliant, tasty and light and the sides were flavored just right. The hash potatoes were perfect and for a potato lover like me, just not enough! Here what the food looked like. (Pics below – click on them to see larger versions) The joint sees its share of visiting white population and I felt the food was adjusted for their palette.

The place also had a little shop where one could pick up exotic breads, jams, jellies, cheese and other food ingredients not available in your local supermarket. With a bill of Rs 500 per head, I thought it was a brilliant find. A definite ‘to-do’ for Mumbaikars! It also seemed like a good place to spend an evening, with a spread of cheese and wines that could challenge any 5 star joint. (See the wine wall in the pic below)

The minute I read about libraraywala.com, I knew that it was the perfect answer to my ‘buy- read – and then do what?’ problem. Every time I am in a bookstore, I’m not worrying about my credit card bill, but about where I will find storage for my new books. Also while I am an avid reader, I don’t have to own a kazillion book since I don’t re-read books too often (there are so many books to read… how does one finds time to re-read something?).

So having an online library with hundreds of titles, queing my books and keeping them for as long as I want was Awesome! I got a free trial membership for a month and tried my hand at the model and totally loved it! I even found a ready to que copy of a ‘difficult to find’ book (Haroun and the Sea of Tales by Salman Rushdie). The pick up and drop is hassle free and the delivery boy is courteous and calls before the pick up

The membership plans are probably a little pricey compared to your local physical library (the cheapest plan will see you putting out Rs 499 as registration, Rs 499 as a refundable security deposit and a monthly charge of Rs 139 = Rs 1137), but having the convenience of getting the books at your doorstep is worth the extra cost.

Librarywala currently operates in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore and has plans to grow to other cities soon. So if you are in these cities and are a  book lover… try it!

I picked up ‘The Lost Symbol’ with high expectations of it being another racy educational unexpected narrative from an exceptional Author. The book opens with all the usual interesting tidbits from secret depths of masonic history. The books’ in-depth architectural tour of Washington was fascinating and street view from Google maps made it all the more interesting. The 3-D view of the monuments that Google offers is almost like being there!  

The book’s references to the ancient mysteries and the possibilities of human ‘apotheosis’ struck a note with me. I’ve always been intrigued with the power of the mind and the influence of thoughts on shaping our reality. The book’s references to the possibilities of emergence of new super human abilities through the expansion of the human mind resonated with the principles of some of my favorite books like ‘The Secret’ and the ‘Travelers of the Universe’. I was especially intrigued with the part on noetic sciences and even checked out the website for the Institute of Noetic Sciences (Yes, it is an actual institute!). Their website has some interesting online psi games on telepathic healing, strength of intuition and the power of collective thought. Check out the games at http://www.noetic.org/research/psi.cfm

In his usual style, Dan Brown pits the narrative as a race against time. The multi layered unfolding of the secrets of the pyramid kept me glued to the book and the crazy super tattooed villain added to the mystery. But somewhere in the middle, I started to suspect the identity of the villain and as the book unfolded, it became quite predictable. When the twist in the tale came, it wasn’t such a twist after all. And when the final end came, saying I was disappointed doesn’t even begin to cover it! After all the build up to the historic moment of human transformation, the end was like ending up with a gift voucher for ‘tea for two’ when you were expecting your annual bonus.

‘Angels and Demons’ was most definitely Dan Brown’s highlight. Fast paced, unveiling of secrets that felt worth unveiling, the big bang magnificent end… now that’s a good book. This one probably will sell on the expectations set from the previous book. Dan brown will definitely lose some of his fan flowing for letting them down with such a lack luster closure to this book.

Only other good things that might come out of this are that tourism in Washington might increase and institute of noetic sciences website will get more hits!

‘Hot’ Vampires and ‘Cute’ Werewolves sound like oxymorons, but that is exactly what Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ series is about.  The first book, ‘Twilight’ introduces the reader to the world of Vampires in the cloudy town of Forkes. It starts like a regular book on teenage issues…moving to a new town, the scariness of a new high school, blah… blah. But it quickly turns interesting with the entry of the intriguing ‘Cullen’ family.

Into the narrative steps the ‘Hot’ ‘Mr. Perfect as Adonis’ Edward Cullen. I was having difficulty imagining someone as good looking as the author describes Edward. So I picked up the movie ‘Twilight’ to give the characters in my imagination some shape. (To start with, I only saw the beginning of the movie…just up to the point I had read since I did not want the movie to spoil the fun of the book!)

Robert Pattinson (who btw was Cedric in Harry Porter movies) plays Edward. My first reaction to that was ‘uh huh…not that good looking’. But once you sit through the movie, he sort of grows on you. Interestingly, some info on the net says that the millions of ‘Twilight’ fans were initially disappointed with the casting of Robert as Edward. Stephanie Meyer’s official site says that Hayden Christensen (the actor who plays Aniken Skywalker in the newer Star Wars series) was the first choice for ‘Edward’.  I am not sure if he might have been able to carry off the cool marble skinned hot vampire look.

Anyways, back to the book. The story line of a vampire who falls in love with a mortal girl and his internal conflict of wanting to drink her blood vs loving her and wanting her to live, keeps the story edgy and interesting. The book pulls the reader in with the slow unfolding of the mystery of the Vampires, the unraveling of Edward’s character, his unique family and his unique confusions with respect to Bella. To the author’s credit, she has managed to create an epic love story of sorts. Bella’s emotions of being in love for the first time, the breathlessness and euphoria of first physical contact, the indescribable feeling on a invisible connection are quite well portrayed. The anticipation of ‘what next’, kept me hooked. The book is fast paced and I found myself sitting through late nights to just read one more page.

What I wasn’t ecstatic about that the slight whiny edge that Bella has sometimes. Her continuous internal dialogue on how she is unworthy of the love and attention of ‘Adonis’ Edward can sometime get to your nerves. But I guess, having the plainness of the Bella reiterated so often, even the reader is left wondering the same. As the author says, she supposedly plain and as the reader can make out isn’t exceptional witty. The character as described in the book would have still been ok…but when one starts to visualize her as Kristen Stewart (the actress who plays Bella in the movie) is when the disappointment happens. She definitely needs acting lessons and her blinky, unsure, lack lusture portrayal of Bella was really a dampener.  

I was quick to pick up the next book in the series -‘The New Moon’. But was as quickly disappointed. The lack of Edward, itself was a downer. The first half of the book is all about how Bella is dealing with the loss. Her whiny self effacing feelings really got to me after a bit. The books picks up with the introduction of the werewolf angle. The twists and turns toward the end are interesting but really not worth the wait. Even the Werewolf vs Vampire angle was not dealt with in an in-depth manner and with the re – entry of Edward in the narrative, Jacob was dropped like a hot potato. The whole first part that built up to the werewolf transformation falls flat ineffectively and it’s sad to see Jacob dismissed with a twist of the pen.

There are two more books in the series – ‘The Eclipse’ and ‘Break of Dawn’. I’m looking forward to laying my hands on them and finally seeing how Bella’s transformation happens.

The series really falls into the ‘Fantasy Chick Lit’ category. I don’t think men would find the detailed introspections into the emotions of a teenage girl all that engrossing… even with a little vampire and werewolf action thrown in. The series are actually hugely popular with the women. There is even a FB test on how much you know about Twilight. I got a 100% on it! J

When I heard about Bonobo at Bandra and its fancy new concept of ‘Mix-O-logy’, I was intrigued. The review in the papers said that the food was good and the cocktails heavenly. The concept of Mix-O-logy’ was completely new and one could supposedly make one’s own cocktail, pick any ingredient, interact with the bar tender, learn a few tricks and generally have a good time while making their drinks. That itself was enough to get us to try the place.

We decided to go there on a warm sultry April evening and were disappointed to find that it was largely an open air place. There was a small section sealed off in the A/c which was packed with people. The outside, done up tastefully, was still quite sultry and without effective ventilation/ fans was not very inviting.

The initial disappointment overcome and settled in for the evening, we were indeed happy to find a wide range of fresh fruit cocktails on the menu. But the sad part was that there was no one at the bar, besides of course some depressed looking bartenders. The ‘Mix-O-logy’ bar just did not look inviting. There was no one at the bar trying anything. The waiters did not offer any information or invite you to try making your drink at the bar. The new concept was quite downer in reality.  

The food was ok. For the starters we had some very nice smoked Salmon. For main course I had some average tasting Bonobo chicken, that is, some char grilled chicken on a bed of mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. Abhi had some pasta, which though tasty was in such a small portion that he was quite put off. The portions of the food were like the one we see on ‘Top Chef’. Tiny miniscule portions, just enough to fill a little tummy space but never the appetite.

The service was nothing to write home about. Actually it was something one can write in one’s review. We were disappointed to find people on the adjacent table smoking away to death. On being asked, the waiter said that they could very well do what they wanted. I tried to point out that smoking in public places is supposedly banned, but the waiter did not care for any general knowledge on my part or for the law. It actually made me wonder if there was any helpline on which such violations could be reported. Does anyone know of one?

All in all, a decent evening… more credit to the company we had than the place. With a bill of Rs 3000 for 3 people, it was a relatively affordable meal, given Bandra standards. Though I don’t think we will return to it in a hurry.