Read - O - Meter

Chetan Bhagat's - The 3 mistakes of my life

2009-02-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

Genre – Fiction
Rating – 3.5 / 5

I am head over heels in love with Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone. With 5 point Someone, Chetan Bhagat has set very high expectations of himself in my mind. When a book says – ‘by Chetan Bhagat’ I have great expectations from the book. Somehow his second book ‘One night at call center’ did not please me well… and my liking score took a deep plunge for his third – ‘3 mistakes of my life’. If not for its tail-end plot, I would have given a real poor rating for this book.

This is a story about 3 friends, Govind, Ish and Omi and their business (sports store). To start the entrepreneurship, Omi makes the arrangement for the store, Ish brings knowledge of sports and Govind has the intelligence to run the business. Along with the sports store they also provide Cricket coaching and Maths tuition to make some extra bucks. Both Cricket and Maths classes have “special” students who unknowingly play major role in the story. Govind is the narrator and the “3 mistakes” are his mistakes in life. This simple tale is set in the backdrop of Gujarat’s earthquake and Godhara riots. Like every other common man’s dream in Gujarat, Govind, Ish and Omi’s dream come crashing as the result of these mishaps. To add up, the political riot showcased at the near-end brings everything to halt.

The book is ‘Okay’. Story is plain. Characters are average. Book completely lacks Chetan Bhagat’s charisma. I kept on reading with optimism for finding Chetan’s witty funny side. Sadly author hasn’t utilized his language skills and humor sense as he has in his previous works. From the story line I wonder if it was written with a perspective of converting it into another Bollywood movie. I would not recommend it to a Chetan Bhagat fan.

Ernest Thompson's - On Golden Pond

2009-02-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

Genre – Fiction
Rating - 4.5 /5

‘Cute’ was what I said when I finished reading the last line of this play. The movie ‘On Golden Pond’ was long time back recommended to me (it is in my to-watch list). During the last book sale in the local library, I had gladly picked this book in a dash. Only after I pulled it out for reading, I realized that it is not the usual story book. It is a play!

It is about Norman and Ethel’s (an elderly couple in late seventies) one summer vacation which they spent at a place called Golden Pond in Maine and hence the name – On Golden Pond. Staying in their lake house on the Golden pond has been Norman and Ethel’s summer ritual since last 48 years. This time, when Norman is turning 80, their daughter, Chelsea (now 42 yrs old), wants to join them too. Norman wanted her to be a boy and all his life, they both have had a tense relationship. She comes with her new boy friend (Bill) and Bill’s 13 yr old son Billy. From the very first meet, Norman finds Billy very interesting and eventually they get along pretty well. At the end of the show, as Chelsea and Norman burry their hatchet everything ends happily as well.

The story line is very simple. But don’t fall prey to its simplicity. This play is hilarious to the core! Norman’s sarcastic comments are sure to produce belly laughs every now and then. Ethel is shown extremely loving wife. She is the only one with capacity to backhand Norman’s acrid remarks in a very adorable manner. Their unshakable affection for each other makes them a perfect made-in-heaven couple. The reconciliation between father and daughter is well pictured without any over poignant dialogues. There are few sentimental moments too, but they are very calculated.

Overall, liked it dearly.

Jhumpa Lahiri's - Unaccustomed Earth

2009-01-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

Genre : Short Stories
Rating : 4.5 / 5

I was little disappointed with Interpreter of Maladies, however, had loved Jhumpa Lahiri’s style of writing, her way of describing the characters. After having read two of her books, I was not certainly expecting this book to be all-happy but without having any prejudices I picked it up. I must say, I liked it better than Interpreter of Maladies. The later falls in the same genus as 'Interpreter….'; similar short stories revolving round Bengali immigrants of men from academia, women as housewives and American born kids who are torn between the two worlds. Even this collection has the families staying in the north-east coast of U.S.A and kids attending Ivy League schools. But it is different in a way that it has less melancholic, less grieving scenes and the characters seem to have developed little positive attitude towards life. Thankfully the first and second generations appear to have understood each other to some extent. ;)

Collection has varied stories of unexpected endings. The most I liked is the first story – Unaccustomed Earth; about a daughter and her father. It is different from the usual lovey-dovey father and daughter stories. It doesn’t have any daddy’s-little-girl or my-daddy-is-the-best moments. They both have differences in their thinking and yet they respect each others decisions. Hell Heaven – is about a married women’s crush for a younger man. Her woe when he decides to marry an American is well portrayed. I did not quite understand A Choice of Accommodations. Only Goodness is about the sister-brother relationship where sister is her parents pride and brother turns out to be a black sheep of the family. Nobody’s Business – story about broken relationship. I had started developing a slight liking for this story but after a while it felt like a drag. Second part of the book is collection of 3 stories revolving round Hema and Kaushik. First story is Hema’s part of life, second Kaushik’s and third entwined. First two were quick reads. The third story, though ended well, at places, has completely gone off bounds.

In all her stories author has portrayed mundane activities with great precision. The few typical-desi moments do bring wisp of smile. The stories give good insight into minds of American born kids of Indian origin. I am pleased that Jhumpa Lahiri’s characters are breaking the shell of glumness that always seem to have covered their lives in her previous works. Overall, I liked this book.

Jerome K. Jerome's - Three Men on the Bummel

2009-01-12T07:36:00.000-08:00

Genre : Humor
Rating : 4/5

Jerome K. Jerome had impressed me first when our school curriculum had a chapter from his book – Three men in a boat. Later I read the complete book and undoubtedly it had sent me in fits of laughter. Both the author and the book are my favorites .

‘Three men on the bummel’ is on similar note of its predecessor. It is about the same friends – author, Harris and George (except their funny dog Montmorency) who decide to go for a bicycle ride to Black Forrest of Germany. They, of course, get into hysterical troubles at time but come out unscathed. It would have been a surprise if the there was no mention of any kind of hilarious situation, wouldn’t it? This book is not a laugh riot as its prequel but funny incidents happening en route make you chuckle out loud. The gentle mockery of the Germans is well sprinkled in the later chapters. The author does have an eagle-eye for the everyday things. He has an incredible ability to convert a mundane affair (e.g. saying goodbye to 6 kids) into uproarious episode. Explanations of the hose_incident and Harris_losing _his wife are bound to split you.

The book is certainly delightful but it lacks the charm of author’s previous work. At times I felt the humor has been stretched and at few places there was unnecessary explanation of German scenery. Having said that, this book is still a joy to read.

Vikas Swarup's - Q & A

2008-12-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

Genre : Fiction
Rating : 3.5 / 5

When a colleague mentioned that an interesting movie (Slumdog millionaire) is coming up based on a book (Viaks Swarup’s Q & A), I had made a mental note of ordering this book before I watch the movie.

After a long time I was reading a non-Disney book ( ;) ) so was excited about it. The story is about an orphan, Ram Mohommad Thomas, who wins the real-life show – Who Will Win a Billion? Considering the facts that this oddly named boy is not well educated and/or is not updated with any sort of current affairs, his triumph comes as a surprise to everyone including the producer / director of the show. The people from the show want to believe that he has cheated and hand him over to the local authorities who plan on unleashing brutal means to know the reality. Fortunately a lawyer takes in charge of his case and digs out how Thomas is able to answer all the twelve questions correctly.

Each chapter of the book is a story behind the correct answer to the quiz question. It is Ram’s life that has educated him enough to answer the questions fittingly. He is shown as a orphan, servant in a Australian’s house, a confidante to bollywood actress, a loyal friend, caring brother, tour guide, a traveler, bartender, lover of a prostitute. He doesn’t have much knowledge but luckily in the show he is asked the questions which he has answers of.

The book as a whole is interesting and the story altogether has a clever plot. The answers to the questions are not the chief points in the stories but they are just the minute details that would have gone unrecognized otherwise. So at times it is tad unbelievable to accept that fact that Ram remembers the answers to such questions at the tense moment of the game show. The book is a sure page-turner!

The initial part of the book has good deal of unnecessary molestation scenes which made me loath this book. I had earnest desire to leave it half-read. But in the hope of things getting better I kept reading. I liked the way it ended. The book doesn’t offer anything to learn as such but I cannot complain as I was warned the same by the book’s online-reviews. You won’t miss anything in life if you do not read it. So indulge yourself if you are one of first-book-then-movie types!

All In One

2008-01-05T20:15:00.001-08:00

I have deliberately ignored this place for last 6 months. Reason? Pure laziness!!! I read couple of books during this missed period and have conglomerated all the books in this post with really really short reviews.

Robert James Waller's - Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend

Genre - Romantic
Rating - 3.0/5

I was impressed by Robert Waller's 'Bridges of Madison County' and immediately bought this book as soon as I saw it. But this book turned out to be a little disappointing. It was little romantic but it fails to touch your heart the way Bridges of Madison County does. Lesson Learned - Do not read second book of the author if you really liked his / her first book.

Paul Reiser's - Couplehood

Genre : Hilarious
Rating : 3.0/ 5

This book is about short, day-to-day incidents in husband-wife's life. I felt it to be a good, relaxing read at the start but as I advanced through pages, the books started losing its charm. The excessive use of 'hyperbole' at places made it little lackluster. Its a good book to read if you want to kill your time

Salman Rushdie's - East West

Genre : Short stories
Rating : 3.5

I was very excited to read this book. First two stories are really good but after that it really became difficult to read. This book is certainly not for me. I could feel the richness of the language but was not able to clearly understand what author wants to tell. At times I tried reading the same sentence twice-thrice but was not able to grasp the meaning. I thought his language to be very profound and now I do not want to read any of his books. I know I am not doing justice to the author but........ I can't help!

Arundhati Roy's - The God of Small Things

Genre : Fiction
Rating : 4.5 /5

It is the story about the fraternal twins who reunite after some 23-24 years. Story takes us back and forth in their present and past life. I somehow had wrong impression of this book and was glad it turned out a lot better than what I had expected. Story revolves around lot of relations (which are named in Malayalam) Fortunately I had a Malayali colleague and was able to understand what those words meant. Otherwise it would have been a little confusing :) I would certainly recommend this book.

Bill Watterson's - The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes

Genre : Hilarious
Rating : 5.0 / 5

Do you really need any review on this??? :)

Kaavya Vishwanathan's - How Opal Mehta got kissed, got wild and got a life

Genre : Fiction
Rating : 4.0 / 5

It is about a teenager whose parents have just one dream - How to get their daughter in Harvard. Right from th beginning her parents plan o n getting her into the most reputed college. During this they concentrate only on good marks and when Opal fails in her interview as she lacks any social ethics, her parents change their plan to make her live her life as a normal American does. This book is hilarious at places. I would not say it is a 'must read' but its okay to once lay your hands on this.

Gita Piramal's - Business Maharaje

2007-07-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

Genre : Non-Fictional
Rating : 4/5

No, I did not misspell the name of the book on the title. I read Marathi version 'Business Maharaje' but could not find the image for the Marathi version and hence the mismatch!

Lives of Dhirubhai Ambani, Rahul Bajaj, Aditya Birla, Rama Prasad Goenka, Brij Mohan Khaitan, Bharat and Vijay Shah and Ratan Tata adorn this book.

In spite of coming from the same coutry where they reign, it was surprising how less I knew about them. Growing up I had seen so many avertisement about their products but less did I know those were their brands! I wont put it as lack of knowledge. I would rather say that at that age (of 8-9) advertisements were more eye-catching than their manufacturers!

Book has detailed minute incidents of the businesses of these men. Their rise and fall, their rivalry, their struggle. As these men have/had lions share in bringing up the Indian Economy they were always in news. While reading this book I could associate few of the incidents which made news and was glad to know more about those events. Except Ratan Tata, everybody had a Marwadi background. So no wonder they chose to enter into business but the way they have walked their way all upto the top is fascinating! I have seen enough families in business to strengthen my belief that their kids are more keen in expanding their family business rather than getting an higher education. Though these days they have started earning foriegn degrees in Business Administration I was totally impressed to know that few of these businessmen are Harvard and MIT alumini!

Even before reading the preface of the book, I, somehow, had an impression that this book would bring into limelight the personality of these people rather than going deep into their business. I know that was wrong in my part, I should have not expected solely that. As long as the author spoke about their struggle, or their disputes, or their business startegy, the book kept me glued but the elaborative talks about the shares and the amount of loss and gain made the book a little drab. May be, because I do not have a wee bit of business sense, when the author started talking about their outgo and income in lakhs and crores I was not able to fathom whether it was really that bad or was it really that laudable. At times I felt I am not the targeted reader of this book yet I enjoyed reading about them!

Mitch Albom's - Tuesdays with Morrie

2007-06-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

Genre : Non-Fiction
Rating : 4.5/5

All these days I had confused this book with - Marley & Me. So when anyone referred this book in the past I always imagined a little puppy staring back at me (As on cover of Marley & Me). Unlike my myth about this book that it has to do something with dog, it turned out to be a true story about a young man, Mitch Albom and his Tuesday meetings with his professor, Morrie Schwartz.

Morrie Schwartz, a sociology professor in Brandeis University was one of Mitch's favorite professor. After graduation Mitch loses touch with Morrie and after span of a decade and a half, he sees Morrie on television interview show. Morrie who had suffered from a disease called Amyotorphic lateral sclerosis or ALS (The same disease that has disabled Stephen Hawking) is counting his last days in this world. After getting frustrated with his life Mitch decides to meet his old professor on every Tuesday as he used to do for his classes while in school.

This book is about their discussions (rather Morrie's lesson's on life) on every Tuesday. While in the meetings Morrie shares with Mitch the tragedy in his life as a child and his honest opinions about the life. The book is deckd with beautiful aphorisms. Out of which I liked - If you are in bed, you are dead! It is Morrie's wish to share his stories with the world and so Mitch takes notes and records their discussion for all the 14 Tuesdays. They both call it as their last thesis together. They also decide upon the name of the thesis, Tuesdays with Morrie.

Who would want to fly from Florida to Detroit every Tuesday for continous 14 weeks to see and listen to a dying old man? Mitch dos that. For his professor. For he knows that doctrines of his professor are worth spreading across the world, because they would one day, to an extent, change peoples lives.

I liked it!

Jhumpa Lahiri's - Interpreter of Maladies

2007-06-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

Genre : Collection of Stories
Rating : 4/5

Pulitzer Award winner and the most talked about book of Jhumpa Lahiri!

This book is the collection of 9 stories casting Indians (Bengalis to be specific) in India and in America. I have mixed feelings for this book as a whole. Few good stories stave me off from rating it negative and others do not vouch enough for being elite.

Out of all I liked the story - The Real Durwan which is about a poor old lady who lives on the stairway of an apartment complex. She claims to be from a rich family but had lost all the fortune when she found aslyum in West Bengal as an effect of war. Her rantings of how her life fell from riches to rags brings smile on your face. The end is little touchy but overall the story is good.

I also appreciated the last story - The third and Final Continent about a character who has travelled from India to Great Britain and then to America. The story is focused on his initial days in America (with the backdrop of Boston).

The casts of the stories vary from the first and second generation Indians in America to people in and around Calcutta. Jhumpa's characters face some kind of identity crisis or isolation. There is little malady involved in their lives. As compared to the online reviews and those I received from my friends, this book disappointed me a little. Writing style again proves Jhumpa Lahiri as an excellent story-teller. Mind you, I do not doubt her writing skills. I am still a fan of her and would not mind reading her more. But I am not happy with the stories. Surprisingly not even a single story I wish to hold near my heart. I somehow do not devour the stories invloving divorces, unhappy marriages or infidelity. Though the scripts were not overly emotional, the tinge of nuptial-sorrow killed my interest. Why is it shown that when Indian women come to US they live a melancholic life? Why is it shown that each and every marriage demands adjustment? Why wasn't there a single story of made-for-each-other or a happy couple? Aloofness each and everybody suffers when they come to America is showcased very well but the stories fail to explain that this aloofness is only a small part of their lives in America and it is not to be taken as the only emotion!

The front cover of Interpreter of Maladies quotes Amy Tan's review - Jhumpa Lahiri is the kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person you see and say, 'Read This'! Yes, Jhumpa Lahiri IS one of the finest story writer but I would prefer being neutral in recommending this book.

Harper Lee`s - To Kill A Mockingbird

2007-06-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

Genre : Fiction
Rating : 5.0/5

One year! Complete one year this book laid in my self unheeded. I know, I shouldn't have ill-treated this timeless classic but the small print and old yellow pages always kept me from picking it. Finally when there was nothing else to read I picked it and yes, I liked it. It made me laugh, made me sad, made me think!

It is the story about childhood incident of two siblings - 12 yrs old Jeremy Atticus Finch (Jem) and 8 yrs old Jean Luoise Finch (Scout). Their father Atticus Finch is a very reknowned and respected lawyer in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Jem, Scout and their summer-friend Dill are intrigued by their neighbor Boo Radley, of whom they have only heard of and never seen. Boo is depicted as a suspecious character who is believed to come out of his house only at nights. Because of skeptical personality all these kids are always scared of him. They imagine him as a spooky person and are frightened even to pass Boo's property and yet they try some funny things to get a glance of him.

One day kids find some small insignificant gifts as chewing gum hidden in the hole of the tree trunk. Kids love getting those surprises. Later Atticus gets a sensational case to defend a black man, Tom Robinson who is convicted of raping a daughter of a white man, Bob Ewell. This case is the talk of the town and Atticus is refered to as nigger-lover by some cynical people for accepting to defend a black person. Jem, Scout and Dill stealthily witness this case in court and are totally unsatisfied with the jury's descision. Throughout the case Atticus provides strong evidences to prove that Bob Ewell and his daughter, Mayella are lying and even when it is crystal clear that Mayella enticed Tom, jury of white people decides to accuse Tom guilty. Though Bob wins the case, Atticus is successful in breaching Bob's reputation. Bob threatens Atticus that one day he will take the revenge for all the damage Atticus has caused. While in prison Tom tries to escape and is killed by the shots fired to stop him.

One night when Jem and Scout are returning from their school pageant Bob attacks them breaking Jem's hand and later Bob is found stabbed. Jem is carried home by mysterious Boo Radley. From what Scout narrates Atticus believes that Jem has accidently stabbed Bob. But the sheriff insists that Bob stripped on the roots of the trees, falling on his knife and killing himself... whereas the truth is Boo Radley intervens and saves children from being killed. Instead of giving publicity to Boo for protecting kids, sheriff decides to tweak the story. Scout understands that Boo has meant well of the kids and did nothing to harm them so to punish him would be like - To kill a mockingbird - a bird who only sings and does nothing harm to the mankind!

I liked the way this story unfolds, though at time I felt at some places lenghty explanations could have cut short. The character of Atticus Finch is very strong. Caring least for the consequences, he tries to stick to his principles. This warm hearted, intelligent lawyer is sure to win your respect. I liked the tomboyish, innocent character of Scout. She is criticized by other middle-aged ladies of the town for her unlady-like manners and the narration of those incidents is really funny. Jem on the other hand is too protective of his younger sister and is shown to mature as the story flows.

Though the story is about the racism in the early nineteenth century, the childhood innocence makes it a wonderful read. The story, backdrop of the town, language used reminded me of the another classic Gone with the Wind. Though there are lots of characters in this story Harper Lee has sketched them so well that even after you have finished reading the book you can remember each and every one very distinctly. I would say To Kill a Mockingbird really has a touching theme.

Richard Branson's - Screw it, Let's do it

2007-05-25T06:20:00.000-07:00

Genre : Non-Fictional
Rating : 4/5

Blame it to my bad –eyesight or my impatience, before this one, I could never finish reading a complete e-book. Though I started reading it reluctantly I absolutely enjoyed its font size.

Screw it, Lets do it is full of anecdotes from Richard Branson’s life. Richard Branson is now serving as a CEO of Virgin Airways. Like autobiography of any other successful entrepreneur, this book also points the success stories and struggle to achieve the success. You may ask, So how was is this book different from other biographies? Well, while proving his views he does not beat around the bush, instead he directly comes to the point. And he does that in just 110 pages ; )

The book is full of truisms as – Believe it can be done, never give up, have faith in urself, have no regrets et al… But Richard doesn’t drool over it, instead he explains all the points as moral of his short stories which gives this book a feel of collection of stories rather than boring self-improvement material. It covers Richard’s success chronicles right from his winning a swimming bet at age 4-5 till today when he is the successful CEO of one of the best airlines in world. I respect Branson’s success but I don’t feel his every step is worth following.

He was or shud I say, he IS a real go-getter and has can-do attitude. He displayed don’t-give-up trait even as a 4-5 yrs old boy and has retained it till now. Richard Branson says family should be given utmost importance. But while reading through his stories I felt he did not stick to his own principles at times. He had 2 kids and wife to take care of and yet to prove himself he accepted the foolhardy challenge to cross Atlantic Ocean on the gas balloon. He has taken lots of risks in life and many were to prove ppl wrong who had challenged him that he cannot do it. His mom had the same can-do characteristic and he has exemplified how she got into 2 jobs in spite of all odds. But weren’t they the wrong examples? Hello!!! She got both the jobs by dishonesty. If you have to compromise your honesty to do what you want to do, won’t you rather not do it? Ok, even if you do it.. at least don’t consider it as an ideal example! Anyways, lessons from this book cannot be totally neglected. His experiences can teach you a lot.

The aversive thing of this book is the typo! Looks like somebody did not do their job well in editing it. There are many gaffes which could have brought into notice even in one read. There are lots of spelling mistakes or missing characters and at places even the names of individuals are starting with small letter instead of capital.

Except for few glitches I guess this book is an ok read.

Richard Bach's - Illusions

2007-05-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

Genre : Fiction
Rating : 5/5

Initially I always kept this small wonder in my car so that I can read it when I am waiting for someone / something. But as I read through couple of pages (20-30), 3-4 pages in single sitting, I realised this book deseves better concentration and shud be read continuously.

It is one of those philosophical books and yet not boring at all. Sprinkled with humor, this is one of the best books which tries to explain you your life is like an 'ILLUSION' and if you want to change it, you always can. It depends on how you view it. Similar to what they tried to explain in Matrix (I could not understand that movie at all) Even this book, when read 1st time, made me say...' Wow.. what did this book just say?' And the very next second I opened the first page and gave a cursor glance to entire book again! Though I could understand it well 2nd time I am still intrigued by it. I wont be surprised to find myself flipping through it again in the future.

It is the story of a pilot of sight-seeing planes, Richard and his interaction with Messiah, Donald Shimoda, also a barnstormer. Don's mystic behavior attracts Richard. He is in awe to see Don walk on river and swim through the land. Don explains it as Illusions. Don pursues Richard to become a Messiah and gives him a handbook for tips to be one – The Messiah's Manual (funny, isn't it?). This manual is full of brilliant quotes but is without any page number. Don says - Every time you open the book, the parable quoted on that page is right for you at that moment. For eg - When Richard is aprehensive about his friendship with Don, he opens the book and this is what is written on that page -

Don't turn away from possible futures before you are certain you don't have anything to learn from them.

I was amused to read this part of the fable – Donald says – We are all free to do whatever we want to do.... and Richard corrects him .. We are all free to do whatever we want to do, as long as we dont hurt somebody else. Adding the last part - as long as we dont hurt somebody else . When Donald is trying to explain his point, a vampire appears and asks Richard if he could suck his blood. Certainly, Richard denies and vampire returns being sad and hurt. That's when Donald explains that Richard chose to do whatever he wanted without caring Vampire's feelings and thats the reason why he did not add - as long as we dont hurt sombody else.

Totally illuminating conversations between Richard and Donald spiced with equally thought-provoking messages from the Handbook makes this book as one of the best truth-seeking book. Along with Richard you begin to believe how true the quotes are and are completely startled to read the last quote in the handbook. I better not reveal the quote!

Amongst all, my favorite was - Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.

This book is better than author's previous book Jonathan Livingston Seagull! Is that a proof enough that Illusions is really a must-read?

Sudha Murthy's - How I taught my Grandmother to read

2007-05-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

Genre : Short Stories
Rating : 3.5/5

This book is the collection of short stories about the influence of people around Sudha Murthy that have taught her something or the other to be successful, happy and content in the life.
How I taught... is one of the stories in the collection where Sudha Murthy describes her grandmother's determination to learn to read in the old age.

The book covers around 32 stories with each story having a moral. Few are snippets from the lives of J. R. D Tata, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Narayan Murthy. In many occasions, to explain the moral, author compares two incidents – one good and other bad. Except for few, others are cliché.

The backcover says book is about people in Sudha Murthy’s life but almost in every story I felt it was more about Sudha Murthy, her philanthropy, her opinions, her style, her foundation, her kids, her observation, her influence on her students, her teachings, her benevolence, her simplicity, her intelligence et al. The way the author observes people around and opines about them made me little uncomfortable. With all due respect, I felt stories slightly reeked of hatred for rich people especially those who are not openhanded. Throughout the book author tries to keep a low profile but at times I felt, in doing that she is blowing her own trumpet.

Sudha Murthy has excellent style of narrating stories. She did a great job in explaining the moral. As an author she is good. I do not deny the fact that she has helped lot of needy people by going out of her way. And I sincerely admire her munificence but I would have really enjoyed these stories of her generosity, had they been penned by some third person and not by herself.

Betty Mahmoody's - Not Without My Daughter

2007-05-13T06:32:00.000-07:00

Genre : True Story
Rating : 5/5

My Mom-in-law, an avid reader, almost forced me to read this book ;) She has brilliant choice of books and it is her collection of books that kindled my interest in reading. Couple of weeks back, when I told her about - Mariane Pearl's Mighty Heart she said, 'You HAVE to read Not without my daughter. I am positive that the book won't let you down!'. And guess what, she was 100% right. It is one of the most compelling stories (true) I ever heard or read of!

The story displays the courage of the woman to escape from Iran, the struggle of the wife to get freedom from her husband and the love of the mother for her daughter. That woman, wife and mother are one personality - author herself - Betty Mahmoody.

Betty, an American divorcee and mother of two sons meets an Iranian Dr Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody or 'Moody'. Moody had been staying in America for last 20 years and was completely Americanized. They fall in love and get settled in Michigan as husband-wife. Eventually they have a daughter named Mahtob. Everything is honky-dory until Moody's nephew comes from Iran to Michigan for his surgery. After nephew's stay, Betty sees drastic behavioral change in Moody. Moody who was once very reluctant to visit his family in Iran suddenly accepts nephew's invitation to visit Iran for two weeks. Betty has a feeling that Moody would plan to settle in Iran and would not return back. But only after Moody swears on the holy Koran that he will not keep her or their daughter there, Betty agrees to fly with him. On August 1984 Betty, Mahtob and Moody set to visit Moody's family in Iran. Right from the first step on the soil of Iran, Betty loathes it. She dislikes his family, the surrounding filthiness, Iranian culture, their dress code, the pitiful treatment towards females. Same things bother Mahtob (who is now 4 yrs) too. On the day of returning when Betty and Mahtob are ecstatically packing their luggage Moody breaks the news that he has lost his job in America and has now decided to settle in Iran. Devastated by this, Betty decides to go back with Mahtob. But Moody denies. When Betty rebels, Moody entraps her in his sister’s house. As Moody doesn’t have any house in

Iran

he stays with his nephews. He either keeps Betty under house arrest or shepherds her everywhere she wants to go. Sensing that Betty would influence Mahtob against Moody, he keeps them separate for couple of days. It was heartbreaking to see Moody change from loving husband/father to a beast. At times he ruthlessly beats them both and declares in public that he will kill Betty. None of their relatives come to Betty's rescue saying that - Moody is her husband and he has the rights to treat his wife as per his wish.

Clandestinely Betty tries to meet U.S embassy people but they are helpless against the Iranian law which states that Betty cannot do anything against her husband's wish. The only way that is open to get outta the country was to divorce Moody. But as per Iranian government, in case of divorce, father takes the custody of the child. In no way Betty is ready to sacrifice her daughter for her freedom. As the days pass by she displays the liking for Iranian style of living and acquiesces to everything that Moody says. But inside, every minute she concocts plans to get out of Iran, to get out of Moody's life. Gaining Moody's confidence enuff to move around in the city all by herself to run errands, she stealthily uses Hamid (a shopowner's) telephone to call embassy people. Betty tells Hamid about her being trapped and as a good samaritan he helps in every means that he can.

Now couple of people come to know about Betty's plight and offer to help her in escape, but Betty lets down their offer coz their plans had no Mahtob! Except one lawyer - Amahl who promises to smuggle Betty along with her daughter, into Turkey. Months pass by and he is not able to make any arrangements for their escape. Then one day, Moody tells Betty to go to America to visit her folks and get some $s by selling Moody & Betty's property in America. Betty gets ecstatic .. but Moody makes her go all by herself, without Mahtob. Unwilling to leave her child with Moody, Betty refuses to go. Against her wish Moody books her flight ticket and makes it clear that she doesnt have any other choice. With just two days left in hand Betty secretly takes Mahtob with her to Amahl and compels him to get her out.

Betty and Mahtob's journey after that is deadening. Their travel through the snow, their journey through the mountains, their encounter with strangers.. everything.. brings goose bumps all over the body. They have to stay without food for days. It is hard to fathom the difficulties this mother-daughter duo faces to run away from the man, to whom once they proudly referred as husband / father.

Betty's courage is laudable but Mahtob's behaviour is more admirable. That four year kid was lot matured for her age. She always stayed by her mother. She could understand the pains of Betty. She kept her mother's visits to embassy and clandestine phone calls as a top secret. On her ardous journey to reach Turkey border she never complained about the hunger or about the cold. Time to time Mahtob has displayed her maturity. I really liked her!

And after being almost kidnapped for 18 months Betty manages to reach America WITH her daughter.

The book has well chroniclized the events in Betty's life in Iran, hopscotching when necessary into their past happy marriage life. It is totally gripping and even after you have read the last page Betty and Mahtob do not leave your mind. You can not help pondering over the harsh reality of female lives in Iran. May be there was little exaggeration in describing Iran and its culture. May be the unhygene was confined to Moody's family and few others and not to all the Iranians. May be the Iranian men were not as cruel as male characters in this book but I just gave little discount to Betty's words for Iran (and its people) and moved with the story. Unless we hear Moody's side of the story it would not be fair to say Betty was right in whatever she did. However, this story has certainly made Moody look as a self-centered cruel person.

Not Without My Daughter is for those who appreciate the freedom-struggle stories.

Lauren Weisberger's - The Devil Wears Prada

2007-04-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

Genre : Humor
Rating : 4/5

This title was in my to-watch list rather than in to-read list. And before I culd get hold of its DVD I came across its paperback edition in the monthly library sale.

It is that insubstantial chick lit u want to devour on cozy weekends or on tiresome weeknights. It is the self-tale of Andrea Sachs a 23 yr old 'Brown' graduate who is eager to take up any job that will lead to her dream job as a New Yorker writer. When she gets a interview as an assistant for fashion magazine Runaway's editor-in-chief Miranda Priestley, she is assured that Miranda is a guaranteed ticket to any job as publisher if Andrea proves herself in an yr’s tenure as Miranda's assistant. Less did she know that Miranda is looking for a puppet who would be required to do all sorts of jerkwater works as fetching coffee and lunch for Miranda (which should appear on her desk in couple minutes after she has asked for), arranging her table for lunch, cleaning her dishes, sending her dirty clothes to the dry cleaning, making an arrangement for the Harry Potter book for her 10 yr old twins on the day before the book is released. Miranda likes to keep all her employees on the toes even on the weekends. She has her own whimsical style of dealing with her employees. This book is full of Andrea's rants about her boss, told in a very humorous way. Not knowing ABC of the fashion world she hates her job and she hates her boss equally. She takes pleasure in all the gossips in the office that belittles her boss. Its only the hope of getting into New Yorker, that keeps her tied to the job.

Miranda Priestley is portrayed as the meanest, rude, unrealistic, spoiled or any adjective that u can think of in the similar terms. If you see her through Andrea's eyes you ought to hate her.. but she is THE manager, who can teach you 5yr's lessons in an yr's term. She is ungracious but she knows how to be at the pinnacle of success. She accepts no glitches from any of her employees and thats what the main character, Andrea, hates of her. Andrea fails to understand that she has unknowingly learnt a lot as an assistant to Miranda.

This book is jam-packed with the citation of top-class models, designers as Prada, Manola, Guccii and what not. I gulped many a times reading the price tags of the handbags, clothes and shoes these fashion world damsels wear in their day-to-day life. The book drones on the same thing from page 1 to the last and is predictable yet it is a page-turner coz u wait to know Miranda's next eccentric demand and Andrea's feat to full-fill it.

I am impressed by the author’s choice of words. There is repetition of words later but initial 150 pages have made my vocabulary richer with quite number of good words. And also was a good insight into the lives of Manhattan’s fashion celebrities. In short this book is a devilish manna!

Bill Watterson's - The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes

2007-04-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

Genre : Humor
Rating : 5/5

Alltime a good pick if you need something to cheer you up. Bill Watterson seems to be observing this world too closely.. and My! What do I say about that darling Calvin? I had mentioned here how much I was obssessed with Calvin when I read this character for the first time. Since then I have read many and yet, everytime I open the next volume with the same excitement. Such is the charm of Calvin and Hobbes series!

This volume is not the best of all Calvin and Hobbes series.. but how does it matter, as long as you have witty Calvin and adorable Hobbes (Calvin's stuff tiger) at your disposal ! Few of the strips I liked in this volume were -

- Calvin's mom is working in the kitchen. Calvin drives on his bicycle and stops near the kitchen, screaming - Can I have 4 cookies for to-go?? :)

- Calvin and his parents (of course Hobbes is with them too) go to a zoo, which also happens to be first zoo-visit for Calvin. This poor little guy is so engrossed in watching the animals that he gets lost alone (Hobbes is not with him). Instead of asking real person for help, Calvin goes near tiger's pit and asks those ferocious tigers if they have seen Hobbes :)

- When Miss Wormwood (Calvin's teacher) asks him a question, the answer to which Calvin doesnt know. He simply replies - Hard to say Ma'am. I think my cerebellum just fused :)

Mariane Pearl's - A Mighty Heart

2007-04-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

Genre : A True Story
Rating : 5/5

I was not aware of this book until I read about it on Sampada's Semantique and her review made this book's entry in my 'To-read' list.

This is the most intimate portrayal of Mariane's fight for the life of her husband- Daniel Pearl, Wall Street Journal reporter. The story starts with the dawn of January 23, 2001 in Karachi - the day when Danny has an appointment with Sheikh Gilani, an spirtual leader, (apparently more than that)! Mariane has accounted every single incident from the day Daniel went missing till the day she received the news about the death of her beloved. The tireless efforts of all the people in tracing Danny's kidnappers. The minute particulars of the stringers (liasons between Danny and Sheikh Gilani). Exact details as they put the pieces of the puzzle together. Her every emotion. Every individual who helped her in the investigations. And while describing this she doesnt shred an iota of wrath against those extremists. Neither there is any melodrama in the book. The extraordinary courage that she displays is simply rivetting. Not even for a single moment did she wish bad of Danny's captors. Daniel was mistaken as an CIA agent and all she wanted was to let his kidnappers know that they have abducted an innocent journalist, whose only weapon was pen! She indeed possesses A Mighty Heart.

Daniel's love for journalism His penchant for truth. His moral strength to declare his religion. His fondness for his wife. His affection for their unborn. Everything was modest, and yet I found him so exceptional. Through the book, I had gained so much respect for the Pearl couple that inspite of knowing the consequences and watching similar kind of brutality on the internet, my heart skipped a beat or two as I read about the hideous end of Daniel.

Though this book relates to the terrorism, while reading about the moments Danny and Mariane spent together, at times I felt it as a love story. Such was the beauty of their relationship, which was sadly scattered to pieces!

David Wise & Mark Malseed's - The Google Story

2007-03-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

Genre : Non-Fiction
Rating : 5/5

It is a peek Inside the Hottest Business, Media and Technology Success of Our Time ;) Approximately an yr back I had seen this book on my boss's desk and since then I wanted to read it. I tried hunting for it on Amazon / Thirftbooks but the outrageous cost always detered my plans to buy it. During last month's library sale when I saw this book lying unattended I almost pounced over it with sheepish grin.

I knew Google was not designed with an idea of starting an organization, instead it was a school project of two brilliant guys - Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Scion of professor parents, these both guys worshipped education uber alles. Sergey (born on August 21, 1973) and Larry (born on March 26, 1973) met at the Stanford University campus in the spring of 1995. Sergey who was just 19 when he completed his undergrad, had been at Stanford for 2 yrs before Larry came. Initally they did not click. They had differences, coz they shared the same passion for jousting with an intellectually worthy adversary. It was their relentless verbal sparring that laid foundation to this stalwart partnership.

In the early 1990s WWW was not so sophisticated and searches from WebCrawler, Lycos, Infoseek produced slew of meaningless results. Disappointed by this Larry and his professor Rajeev Motwani thought that there has to be some better way to search the internet. While looking for the information for his 'Digital Library Project' on AltaVista, an obscure information called 'links' caught Larry's interest. Larry found this 'links' as potentially vital and yearned to learn more about them as they were better search trap. To research more about these links he told his professor that he would download the entire World Wide Web on his desktop. And moreover he declared that doing this could be done easily and quickly ( Doesn't that sound ridiculous?) Out of his interest in extracting the information from this largish random data, Sergey chipped in to help Larry in his research. Larry realized that the web sites with more links pointing to them were important than others. This is the logic he used to rank the web sites and called it as PageRank. Till now I used to think that 'page' in PageRank represented the page which we sometimes use as synonym for the web site. But in reality it stood for Larry's last name - Page!

Within less than 2 years Larry developed a primitive search engine and named it 'BackRub'. For BackRub web site's logo Larry (Authors have described him as a cheapskate :)) used the scanned image of his left hand! Well instead of tagging him as thrifty I would say he was innovative. Larry, Sergey and Rajeev Motwani, all contributed their efforts in creating a comprehensive product out of Larry's idea of PageRank. PageRank technology retruned the prioritized results based on the relevance unlike other search engines who relied on matcing words in queries with the words on Web pages.

By fall of 1997 when the contributors decided that the BackRub needed a new name, their office-mate Sean Anderson suggested 'GooglePlex' , which was an apt name as their search engine was used to search and organize vast amount of data. Larry wanted a short name and suggested 'Google'. Sean looked for availability of google.com and Larry registered for it. Little did they know that they had misspelled 'googol'. I knew the meaning of googol but was oblivious to the fact that our darling google was its faulty version ;) While monkeying with the software called GIMP, Sergey created a color rendering of the Google letters with an excalmation mark at the end mimicking Yahoo. (Remember the Beta version?) Sergey's creativity eventually gave birth to Google-doodles. The search engine was made available in the Stanford campus at google.stanford.edu. Ever wondered why Google.com always wore this clean and clear looks? Well they could not afford to hire web designer to create something elegant. And it was this lucid, sans advertisments looks of google that attracted more users.

With the large use of google.com on the campus, Larry and Sergey started falling short of computers to maintain database and user base. Unable to gather enough funds for buying the computers, Larry and Sergey, unsuccessfully tried to sell their PageRank to Excite, Yahoo, AltaVista and other capital firms, but nobody was excited in funding 'search' as there was no real business model! Andy Bechtolsheim, the computer wiz and legendary investor in successful start-ups, benevolently provided $1 million to the guys. Larry and Sergey had mentioned that to build the audience, they would give away their search engines for free and later make money from the advertisements on google. They would charge 5 cents to $5 to every click on the advertisement displayed. They had certain set of rules for the ads as well. They denied to display any pictoral ads. Its accurate search results and no interrupting picture advertisments always attracted masses. They did not spend any money on advertising their search engine instead they send an email newsletter to all their friends. Ironically, this giant firm whose most of the revenue comes from the ads always believed in the word-of-the-mouth-strategy to do its own advertising! Larry and Sergey had proposed the plans of giving the search license to some big company who would pay to use it. They knew that then these companies would mix their search engine in their products and thus their baby would find its way to the public. (Similar to the advertisements in the telephone directory or in yellow pages)

It was a difficult feat for both the guys to keep their one foot in academia and other in running the organization. Advised by their professors and other well-wishers they took leave from school. On September 7, 1998, Google went public and since then there was no turning back. But the road to success was not a bed of roses. It involved lot of lawsuits, battle against investers, and peer competitions. But no matter what, Larry and Sergey were always bound to the principles they had set at the start - they remained loyal to dual class share structure which was considered as a bad corporate governance; they never provided enough information about their business; they refused to give guidance on the future prospects; they always kept the control over their company. (The book mentions that before hiring some employees Larry goes through the resume and demands the transcripts and test results.)

The founders of Google have kept the a very casual atmosphere in the campus. They have provided everything to the employee to make them more prouctive. (I visited Google campus in last November and of course I was totally elated. I couldnt go inside the buildings as I was not accompanied by an authorative personnel. I am waiting for the second chance to see that place!) Google provides free meals to ALL the employees. There are facilities for the car wash. Dr visits are scheduled for regular check ups. There are playgrounds for the employees. Employees traverse in the Silicon Valley campus on scooters and inline skates. Every employee is allowed to use 20% of his time on working on his own project. If this project is substantial then it discussed in the meetings and he is provided with the required resources to make it successful.

The mantra on which Google is based - Don't Be Evil. While deciding about the products / designs whatever Sergey says evil is evil :)

Once a reporter of a magazine wanted to interview the google guys and he had to drag Sergey from the basketball court, who gave the interview without wearing his shoes :) And Larry (who was wearing his shoes) did not sit on his chair even for a single moment. He kept pacing across the room, taking support of the back of the chair or looking out of the window while answering the questions!

Larry and Sergey are so cool that when they founded their company Larry hold the CEO title and Sergey that of President and Chairman, and this arrangement was decided by the flip of a coin :) Later Larry took the title of President-Products and Sergey of President-Technology. They assigned Eric Schmidt as CEO and since then the trio have consistenly done a great job. Have'nt they?

Since its launch Google has grown leaps and bounds. Froogle, Gmail, News, Maps, Toolbar, Scholar... every product is worth mentioning a WOW!

Dont expect this book to be techie, coz it covers no technical details. This book doesn't even tell the secrets of the technology used. It is simply the road map of the GOOGLE GUYS from the labs of the Stanford University to the gigantic campus of Google! Throughout the book I rarely concentrated on the writing style of the authors, neither did I pay any attention to their choice of words. But I greedily hogged on all the information about these goofy-smart(as their friend describes them) founders of Google. The book also limelights few of the personalities associated with Google either as employess or as well-wishers. I can definitely say that it is one of the most intriguing books I read lately! (I got lost on the chapters talking lot about stocks though ;))

If you can't imagine Google not existing or if you feel your livelihood is inextricably tied to Google search engine then u MUST read this book!;)

p.s. - If you noticed, it is Larry Page's birthday today. Happy Birthday Larry!

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's - Sister of My Heart

2007-02-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

Genre : Fiction
Rating : 3.5 /5

Thanks to Tasha for introducing me to Chitra Banerjee. As said earlier I was not very much convinced with the stories in the authors previous collection but din't I tell you there was something that kept me tied to the book. So as soon as I was done reading the last page of her 'Arranged Marriage', I picked her 'Sister of my heart'. And yes, I liked the latter better.

This book is about two bengali girls, Anju and Sudha, born on the same day, in the same house, to Bijoy and Gopal who are distantly related. Bijoy and Gopal die mysterious deaths on the day of the birth of their daughters. Anju, more level headed, practical, bold amongst the two is the daughter of prestigious Chaterjee family and Sudha, more beautiful, emotional, and a misty-eyed fairy tale believer is daughter of not so reputable cousin, Gopal. These two girls are bonded with kind of love that is seen only in twins. They complement each other in many ways and may be that is the reason why their wavelenght always matches.

The story unfolds in the Chatterjee villa, full of ladies ( Anju's and Sudha's mothers, Anju's aunt and Ramur Ma. Their driver, Singhji is the only male in the house). The strong emotional bond between both girls is the envy of their mothers, their aunts, their friends. Altough their love for one another is altruistic, they are on different economic planes. Sudha and her mother know that they cannot be independent and must stay on good terms with Anju's family. Anju has wealth and Sudha has unusual beauty. Despite their disparity, both the girls are the best friends. Their affection is breached when Sudha learns about the dark secret of her father's death. The bitter truth besiges her and she tries to stay away from Anju. As the time passes the differences between the two grow to an extent that after marriage they sunder emotionally. They start avoiding each other, their ph calls reduce and they hesitate to reveal the happenings in their lives. Though they miss each other, they shilly-shally in expressing it to each other untill one day when their sisterly love prods them to be together.

In this novel, Chitra Banerjee has intertwined stories-within-stories which brings beautiful images of India, Calcutta to be specific, of seventies. Story is cliche but it doesnt astray from the main characters. This book, of conservative parents, forbidden romance, high expectation of inlaws, may let down few of you, but is good read to float in the author's lyrical style of story-telling.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni`s - Arranged Marriage

2007-01-22T16:41:00.000-08:00

Genre : Short stories.
Rating : 3/5

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Arranged Marriage is a collection of 11 short stories all about women, bred on Indian traditions and settled on American soil.

I am finding it difficult to categorize this book into "liked" / "not liked". I was not very much fascinated by the collection coz each and every tale was full of pathos and dolefullness. There was no happy start or happy ending or happy intermediary :) Yet there was something that kept me tied to it... was it the Indian background or was I pulled in the world of misery... is still not clear to me.

The story I liked amongst all was - Perfect life in which the gal is in good love relationship and even has a outstanding career. Her happy life is then splintered by a forsaken 7-8 yrs boy who shows up near her apartment, and to have him in her life she is willing to do everything under the sun. Even this story was depressing at times. I could not understand why protatonist was trying to take illegal steps in the process of adoption? Even when the kid was near her why was she so melancholic?

All other stories had one thing in common - they ruminated over the notion of marriage, an arranged marriage. Had I read these stories individually, not in the form of collection I might have liked them more .... but as an assemblage they were cheerless. Somehow I constantly felt author wants to say that sadness is gift-wrapped in the nuptial relation. Neither arranged marriages nor love affairs had '.... and EVERYBODY lived happily everafter' ending. And moreover this book portrays awfully wrong side of the Indian males. They are certainly not as orthodox as they are shown here.

The stories were short and quick read but some pieces had gone amiss. The flow of the stories was not very smooth. Style of writing was chopped / broken kind (or whatever the word they use in literature for not a continuos flow) . Few of the stories left me wondering - what happened to that person? What was the authors intention in detailing this situation? The thing that bothered me most was the names of the stories. In many of the them I felt the name had very least to do with the essence or pith of the story or may be I misinterpreted the gist.

I would say, if you wanna read something in short time (an hr or so), like a single short story then it is a good pick.

Robert J Waller's - Bridges of Madison County

2007-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

Genre: Love Story
Rating: 5/5

Thanks to Priya for introducing me to this book. After a long time I laid my hands on a love story and absolutely loved it. I daresay, it beats Erich Segal's Love Story!

This story is of unique romance that blossoms between a combat photographer Robert Kincaid and a farm-wife Francesca Johnson. Robert Kincaid resigns from the war photography and accepts assignments from National Geographic magazine. He is a divorcee and leads a nomadic, out-of-suitcase life taking photographs for the magazine. On his way to shoot pictures of covered bridges in Madison county of Iowa he gets lost. Francesca, who is married to Richard Johnson and is mother of two kids, is left alone at home as rest of her family is at fair. Robert and Francesca's affair start very innocently when she offers to show him the way.

Since her marriage Francesca had become alien to passion and intimacy and lives within the restrictions that come along with the labels of a mother and a wife. When Kincaid arrives she gets swayed by his looks and deeds. Robert feels the same spark of love when he is with her. On his four-day stay in her town, Robert and Francesca come close enuff to each other and Robert asks Francesca to elope with him. Francesca finds herself in a catch-22 situation. Finding true love wants her to be with Robert for rest of her life, but her family beckons her with the greater force and she decides to stay back.

After the death of her husband she tries to contact Robert but eventually finds him dead. A letter approaches her doorstep with Roberts's minimal belongings and with the note that his ashes were scattered near the same bridge where their love unfolded. Francesca writes a 3-volume diary of this 4-day love affair and wishes her ashes to be scattered at the same place. The dairy is found by her children who are moved by their mother's love-story.

Epilogue says Francesca's children apporached author Robert Waller to write the story based on the dairy maintained by Francesca. Thats when I came to know that the whole story was based on a real-life!

This book deals with infidelity but you dont find urself reacting with rage. At some places you will find intricate details of flipperies, like - how she looked at him, how he moved, which hand he raised, how they touched etc, but at times these details were indispensable to know the characters. Their clandestine dates intertwined with the orthodox looks of rest are so genuine!

Believe me, this not-far-from-reality book is must read if u have little liking for romantic novels!

Jhumpa Lahiri's - The Namesake

2006-11-27T13:11:00.000-08:00

Genre - Fiction / Drama
Rating - 4.5/5

Entertaining and enjoyable read if you like to spend some time reading fiction. This is a story of immigrants from Calcutta, India to the land of opportunities, America. It appealed to me more because of the similarity between the experiences Ashima and Ashoke Ganguli faced and those I had in my early days in US. The blend of loneliness and excitement, hope and pathos can be clearly felt through the words. This debut novel by Jhumpa Lahiri centers on Ashima and Ashoke's son Gogol, who is THE NAMESAKE of a Russian author, Nikolai Gogol, whose short stories saved Ashoke's life in a train accident. Each and every detail of Gogol's life is described with extreme subtlness. Story starts with the birth of our hero and in between hopscotches to his parents' pre-nuptial life in India. Author takes us on a very loving ride into Gogol's world right from his childhood to his school years, from his college career to his job as an architect, from his succinct flings to his divorce. Gogol, I would say, is the best exemplar of the clan of 'ABCD' (American Born Confused Desi) . Torn between the American culture and Indian heritage, Gogol tries to find his individuality in his name - Gogol - which is neither American nor Indian. His love for his name as a toddler and loathness towards the same as he grows are tailored perfectly.

Story is very crystal clear, sans intrigues or fights or scandals. Each incident penned in the book can be related to lives of people especially like me who crossed half of the globe and made this alien place a home. It gives a good insight into the life of children born in this country to Indian parents. Before reading this book, I never gave a thought on how these kids try to balance themselves on the thin rope which separates Indian ethics from American etiquettes.

The beauty of Lahiri's work lies in the unadorned yet apt words she has used in this book which makes it more like a granny-narrated story. I wish there were a sequel to this book!

P. G. Wodehouse's - The Inimitable Jeeves

2006-11-07T04:54:00.000-08:00

Genre - Humor
Rating - 4/5

** Genre and Rating added on Sachin's suggestion. Thanks dude! **

After getting all goody-goody reviews about P. G. Wodehouse's series from my friends, I finally laid my hands on this one. Needless to say that I liked it.

This collection of tales is about Bertie Wooster and his butler - Jeeves. Though Bertie is Oxford- graduate, he is reffered as dimwitted many a times for his inability to solve the problems he created for himself. Jeeves on the other hand is very unfaltering and kinda know-all guy who incessantly hauls his master from the soup. He is more than like a source of solace to Bertie. I was overwhelmed to see the contacts Jeeves has in every corner of the world. His friend's net is spread so well that he is well advanced equipped with the information that his master wishes to tell him.

Bertie' s world is full of eccentric poeple and in the efforts to help these people Bertie slips into the pit of hilarious troubles. U are bound to get sporadic fits of laughter while reading this book. Bertie's problems are depicted well enough to make them appear real. Unlike other humorous novel, I found this one to be less exaggerated.

About the author, I can say that he knows his readers well... and 'The Inimitable Jeeves" was great introduction to the Wodehouse series. I look forward to read more !!