Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Review. Show all posts

Sunday, August 27, 2023

Reading shall set you free...

 


I love books. I think anyone who knows me, knows that much about me. However, I also have the habit of doing too many things, socializing too many times, and then scolding myself never to do so again, and doing it all over again. But this summer was a good exception, for the simple reason, that I went to my mom's house, which is in Kolkata, India, and got plenty of time to read. 

Anyone who has ever been on a vacation knows that vacations do not go as planned, even if you plan them meticulously. Mine are always meticulously planned and never go the way I want them to go. Well, that is because I rarely stick to the plans I myself make. At this point, if I have managed to irritate you with my flightiness, dear reader, let me irritate you some more. But this time with the books I read. 

So there were two books I finished over the summer. I loved both. 


The first one was "All the Broken Places" by John Boyne, author of the book, "The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas" which has been made into a movie. The second book, which I finished just yesterday, was Rebecca Makkai's "The Hundred Year House". The stories are very different as are the writing. This was my first book for both authors, (I have not read The Boy in Stripped Pajamas).

All the Broken Places is a story of an old English woman who is hiding a scarred past. Kindle informed me that The Broken Places is a sequel to the movie, "The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas". That much was enough for me to download it in my library to read. I was not disappointed. It's a wonderful story. It reminded me of how we humans often run from the horrors of our past only to face them in our present. The writing was articulate and I really liked the story within the story. It was a beautifully somber story. It saddened me the way evenings sometimes do. Not in a deep sad way, but sad in a way something has ended. The prose was funny too in the way that English humor can ever be. I truly enjoyed reading this book. 


The second book, "The Hundred Year House" was supposed to be a haunted/ghost story only it wasn't, not in the sense I was expecting it to be. Now to my credit, I am not entirely familiar with eerie stories, save some Agatha Christie ones and some Indian authors such as Ruskin Bond. My brother and I love eerie stories, and while we were away on our vacation this year, in the Himalayas, there was a book "The Ghost Stories of the Raj" that both of us wanted to read. We compromised and read some stories and discussed them. It was wonderful. Anyhow, The Hundred Year House was billed as a ghost story on Kindle, and my interest in it spurred from that fact. However, as I have pointed out above, it wasn't a ghost story or even an eerie story. 

The Hundred Years House is a story about an old house. It used to be an art colony and now there are four young people who have come to stay there temporarily. I did not quite understand whether the story was told from the perspective of the house or its residents. I felt it was told from the lens of the house as if the house was telling the story, but I  did not sense so. 

Back to the protagonists, there is Zee, a professor of English, whose family house it is, her husband Doug, an out-of-work academic trying to write a book on the poet, Edward Parafitt, Chase, Zee's stepbrother, who has lost his job in Texas and has therefore moved to live at his father's place and Chase's wife who is an artist. Oh, there is also Zee's mother and stepfather. The story is about the house though. In the first part, the story revolves around the six characters, and in the second, it revolves around the residents of the art colony, that the house used to be. I thought the storyline was a bit odd until the twist in the story was introduced. It is pretty cleverly done. I quite liked the book. It did not make me sad like "All the Broken Places" did, but it did leave me longing for the characters. I think Makkai could have done a lot with some of the characters in the second part of the book. 

There it is. My two books over the summer. 

Currently, I have begun this detective series, "Murder on Astor Place" by Victoria Thompson which stars two detectives- Sara Brandt a nurse turned midwife in the turn-of-the-century New York, and New York Police Officer, Sargeant Frank Malloy. The second book, I am listening to, is, Jojo Moyes' The Giver of Stars. It is a fictional story about pack-horse librarians in rural Kentucky. The pack horse librarians were non-fiction. If you want to know more about pack horse librarians, here is a link about them Pack Horse Librarians. I'll be back on my two cents about these two books. 

If you are interested, here is a link to buy the books I reviewed from Amazon. I don't get paid by Amazon, so you can trust this review.

All the Broken Places

The Hundred Year House

Till then, keep reading, for reading shall set you free!! :) :)


Sunday, August 11, 2013

Fire: A Hand of Kali : A Review : Imagination writ large...

Fire : A Hand of Kali is author T. G Ayer's  first novel in the Kali Series and it is a riveting novel indeed. Without giving away the entire plot, the story revolves around a young Indian born NRI girl, who suddenly discovers divine powers within her... is it a bane or a boon? To find out, one has to read the novel for oneself.

Firstly kudos to the author for trying to delve into the Indian mythology and history for the concept. The Indian mythology and History is so rich and diverse, that if exploited fully, it could give the Potter's and the Eragons a run for their money. Unfortunately, there is an utter dearth of authors who take up the challenge of writing fiction based on these. The fact that this author has, is a very great achievement indeed.

When I started reading this story ( I had read the book blurb before), honestly, till Chapter 5, I was really irritated, NOTHING WAS HAPPENING... but once you reach Chapter 5, the book, literally comes alive with action and adventure, after that the journey of the rest 400 odd pages seem to be a blur...

I give credit to the author, for correctly assigning the Indian deities along with their respective "powers" and their strengths and weaknesses. Also the way the plot builds up, is brilliant. The story seem to start slowly, but it then takes a rapid pace as events keep unfolding in quick succession keeping the readers on edge and hungering for more.

The language is lucid and easily understood, also the dialogues that the characters use, especially the major characters, are in keeping with the lingo of the youth. To read this book, one need not have any fore knowledge of Indian mythology. The characters are really well developed and the reader connects with them. Also, one is not kept in dark about any events which could spring a nasty surprise on the readers. The author does a very good job of building suspense and then solving it. No nasty or hasty surprises spring up upon the reader.

The only problem, I found with the book, is that there are several action sequences, which could have been handled better. The author seems to have been in a hurry or must not have given much thought to them while building up the main plot. But some action sequences, and there are some really good ones, are worth imagining...!! The different ancient weapons discussed in the book are also extremely exciting. Having grown up on a diet of Indian mythology myself, even I didn't know there were so many interesting weapons that our deities are in possession of...

In conclusion, I would say, that, this books targets the teens, not the older readers, but whoever the reader is, he or she would find the book an unforgettable journey.  As we journey with Maya, the protagonist, we enter a world, where there are rights and wrongs, the demons and the gods collide and faith is reasserted.
This book is not just a book, it's imagination writ large...

Image Courtesy : T G Ayer
                           Fire: A Hand of Kali Novel: ARC Copy

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Me Before You... A Review : Innocence Writ Large...!!!

After a long, long while, I read an out and out love story... and what's more I really liked it... I think it's been over one and a half years, that I have touched anything remotely romantic not even touching the occasional Mills and Boons romance...!!! In terms of reading , I had divulged deeply into autobiographies and non-fiction... a endevour to challenge myself into reading what is "boring" (my words) and "un-engrossing" ( again my words)... well I was doing pretty well and even reversed my thinking about autobiographies and non--fiction, which I now think are deeply engrossing and very interesting, I would go so much in saying that non-fiction actually makes you think, long after you have kept the book down.
Anyways, coming back to Me Before You, a novel, that I read recently for our book club, is written by Jojo Moyes, a British author. This is the second novel. Before reading, me and my partners at the book club, we all scrutinize the Amazon reviews... if you see the reviews of the book, the average rating that readers have provided is 4.5 stars... that was intriguing enough...  Though a word of caution here... please do not read a book, simply based on the reader's review and definitely not just the reviews of the Amazon readers. They have given an average rating of 3 stars to "A Hundred Years of Solitude"... !!!

However, coming back to Me Before You... it's a love story... yes, an out and out love story... yes I can already visualize a few yawns, especially in the male readers of this post. But before you think it's just another "girl meets boy romance" (well it is one), it also address a very deep issue of our society : Euthanasia or Mercy Killing... I really loved the way the author has integrated this much debatable topic in the book and it so seamlessly goes with the story.

A brilliant narrative, all of the book is in first person narrative, with the female protagonist's voice writ large. I could not understand why the author chose not to showcase the male protagonist's voice. It would have been quite interesting. The story runs lucidly and the humor is dark, but subtle. I really liked the portrayal of the two main characters and how their relationship shapes up. The other characters in the book are also very interesting. Without giving the story up, I can say this much, that the book, does not mean to preach, nor does it take a judgmental view. The author tells a simple story and leaves it upon the reader to reach their respective conclusion. The story is short but very, very engaging. 

I, as a reader, really felt like being in the shoes of the characters. I give due credit to the author, for including the voices of the vital characters apart from the Protagonist... and yes, for a very practical ending... sometimes, when the conclusion does not match the expectation, I really hate the book... but here, it did, and I am grateful to the author for that.

A beautiful story, it's simple, elegant, and innocent. After a long while, I came across such an innocent romance, and I loved every bit of it.




Reflection muses...

Language is the basis for recapturing experience...

- Cyhthia Selfae