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.

I had read an excerpt of one of the stories of this book in a literary magazine…..and I quite liked it. In a small dose, the excerpt showed Jhumpa Lahiri as an accomplished writer. Her prose is simple and strong with an ability to connect with the reader on a variety of shared emotions. So when I found the book at a friend’s place (Rupa…! Finally I put your name in a post…. happy?! J), I picked it up with much excitement.

A few stories down and for me the book became a good example of how one must not judge the book by its cover (Also made me recall a sermon my dad gave me long ago on why I should pick my friends after a more careful thought through examination). The first few stories are interesting… one is amazed by her artistry with feeling and describing human emotions. The story telling style keeps one hooked and wondering where its leading… but invariably when one gets there, the end is so mundane that sometime’s one is found wondering if the journey through the pages was worth it.

And it’s not just that… After the first few stories…it gets a little repetitive. One can’t but say ‘Enough with the Indian American Immigrant stories with the Bengali people!’ I like variety when I’m reading short stories…. And this book was a disappointment from that angle. Bengali Parents, Macher Jhol, Misfits in American society, Calcutta reveries, Death and changing relationships… yeah…yeah… we get it.

I know she’s an award winning writer and all, but I don’t have to like the book just because of that. 

Reading other reviews on this book made wonder if I lacked some emotional depth that other people seem to have. I didn’t feel any of the much touted ‘gripping emotions’ of human relationships dripping through the pages. One Mr Chanakya warns in his review “Don’t be terribly surprised if you find your eyes moist while reading the book since it actually touches you where it matters the most.” Ouch…. For me after the 3^rd story, my eyes were moisting with boredom!

1200 pages in small print…. I knew reading this Ken Follet book was going to be a daunting task. But more than daunting, it turned out to be an all consuming task.

For me books are high involvement items. When I’m reading one, I find myself researching things about it and finding out more about actual events referred to in the book. So after the initial 100 pages, (where I was tempted to throw away the book more the once) the book transformed into a different world that I found myself wondering and researching about.

Set in a small town in UK (Kingsbridge) in early 1300s, the story chronicles the life and times of a cross section of protagonists. Royalty, Peasantry and Clergy…the book shared the struggles and victories of people from different backgrounds and whose lives intertwine through the 50 decades the book covers.  The commerce vs the church issues, the basic medical knowledge and treatments, the hardships of peasants, the destruction of the Black Death and the challenges of basic scientific knowledge, made me think about these times in wonder. We take so much of the knowledge and things we have today for granted… its only when we read about these times does one realize that we have so much to thank human endeavor and curiosity for.

I especially found the section on the Black Death intriguing. They made me recall some paintings and models of the plague that I once saw in a museum in Canada. I remember looking at the paintings and wondering about the destruction. Only after reading the book did I grasp the real magnitude of the tragedy. 1/3^rd of Europe’s population was wiped out! That’s about 75 million people….

All in all, the book is interesting, a tad long, but worth the time. A book recommended only for the brave hearted.

Ok, I know…corny title, but I couldn’t help it! I recently saw the movie ‘Watchmen’ (hmm… it’s definitely more fun to say watched the watchmen) and liked it.

And hey, I admit it….As far as super hero movies go, I’m a fan. Not a fan like some of the crazy people on ‘Who wants to be a Super Hero?’ (Where they go trapizing about in spandex going ‘ heeerrreee comes the Fat Momma!!)’, but a fan none the less. I mean there is something so inherently wondrous about having abilities beyond human constraints…it opens up the mind to possibilities and dimensions that one doesn’t usually think about.

Anyways… back to the review. For starters…don’t see it if you don’t like Super Heros. For its Looooong…and if you’re someone who can’t fathom how electrocuting someone can make them blue in colour and give them telekenetic powers, it’s going to be a really long 2 ½ hours for you. But if you’re someone like me… the length of the movie only adds to its appeal. I mean lay it on… I want to see people being teleported to Mars and all the Super Hero action!

Set in the 1980s, the movie chronicles the cold war and how close to nuclear destruction the world came to. After the swinging 60s, the Super Heros have been forced to go underground and when the world needs them, they rise from their ashes and save the world. Yeah… it’s a beaten path, but the execution of the plot with the interlacing stories of the different Super Heros and their pasts makes the movie interesting. Even the dark side of Super Heros is explored and exposed. How can one not hate the Comedian, or wonder about the real personality of masked Rorschach?

The one thing that didn’t satiate my appetite for super powers, was that many of the Super Heroes really didn’t have super powers or this was not adequately covered in the movie. Running about in Spandex and beating up some people doesn’t make the cut for Super Heros (maybe that’s why some people like to refer to them as costumed Vigilantes). But Dr Manhattan made up from everyone else’s inadequacies. Omni powerful, Dr Manhattan could be the ‘Baap’ of all Super Heros! Liked what a news anchor says in the movie, ‘We know that God exists (Ref Dr Manhattan) and that he is definitely American!’ J

Zack Synder’s treatment of the movie is mature. While one might think (being a Super Hero Movie) that it’s aimed at the kids (and the Super Hero Buffs), it’s definitely not suitable viewing for anybody under 18. Overall, I liked the movie and would give is a 3.75 on a scale of 5. For Super Hero buffs, it’s a must see.