Myriad thoughts on a million things
Posts tagged Books
A Hatful of Sky – My first Pratchett
Jul 19th
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 More >
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Review (of the Book & Movie!)
Jul 19th
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 More >
Hot Vampires and Cute Werewolves
Aug 29th
‘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 More >
Unaccustomed Earth – An ‘Indian’ Review!
May 19th
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 More >
World Without End
May 13th
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 More >
The Tales from Beedle the Bard
Mar 1st
I had been waiting for this book… even booked it at crosswords hoping to be the first few to buy it when it hit the stands. 110 pages and retailing for Rs 625. Ok I thought…This is the creator of Harry Porter… she can only write the finest of books….so it’ll be worth it.
And boy was I wrong…! This book was not even worth the Rs 100 photo copy that one can get at the traffic signals in the suburbs. 110 pages… even a quick reader like me had to labour through them and each page had me asking More >
The White Tiger – A ‘Dig’ at the Darkness within the Light
Feb 22nd
Arvind Adiga’s Booker award winning debutant novel is a whiff of fresh air. I have found that some Indian authors have an inclination to wrap the real story in a mesh of imagery, similes and complex characterization in an effort to project that they can also write pompous prose. (It could be attributed to some kind effort to prove to the world that we’re educated and can write too!)
But Adiga…he’s got the skill of telling an interesting story, from a hitherto unheard from source and telling it with the simplicity and homour that can only come from the most More >
A GOOD DAY – My first original short story!
Feb 11th
Sheila Rao
Wednesday, 10th December
Sheila started the day on a happy note. Getting special tea in bed can do that to someone. Arguing with your husband the night before did seem to have atleast one benefit. Ankush, her husband, had probably felt guilty about their argument and had decided to get up early and make up with a cup of his special tea. Well, made up they definitely were! Dressing for work, Sheila hummed to herself. It was going to be a good day.
Catching an Auto rickshaw to get to work was always such a pain. Sheila dreaded standing at More >
Standing Babas!
Sep 30th
I’m currently reading Gregory David Robert’s ‘Shantaram’. It’s an interesting book, albeit slow and meandering, but interesting none the less. For me, having stayed in Mumbai for a bit, it is especially more interesting as it chronicles many fascinating things about Mumbai that I did not know / have never heard of. One of these being the Den of Standing Babas!
When I read the bit about them in the book, I was really intrigued! Babas or Sadhus as they are commonly known in India are religious men who renounce everything material in their search for nirvana. The book records More >
