simplybooks

MOVING...

2009-06-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

Moving

to http://nehachandok.com/

Keep updated... :)

Back with Adiga's The White Tiger...

2009-01-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

THE WHITE TIGER
Author: Aravind Adiga

Out of the ten I know who have read Adiga, nine people disliked The white tiger. The reason is too obvious. I wonder if we refuse to acknowledge the bitter truth. I ask why don't we like it as it is with the pinch of salt (maybe a heap!).

It is easy of the surface but if you read it just for this fact, you miss out on what lies beneath Adiga's words, the unconquerable truth, truth we all know of yet would take a writer like Adiga to write. Of course, many of us belong to the same section of Ashok and Pinky, who have fun on the part of their illiterate drivers. Does that pinch us hard?

I, personally, loved the humor with which Adiga has presented the truth. Though the end turns too good for Balram, the book does question the morality of every Indian. A lot of readers of Adiga would come up with the point that such poverty doesn't exist in most parts of India, which is true of course, for most of the states which are backward, yet not touched by industrialization have enough,maybe that is why Adiga revolves the story around Delhi and a Naxal hit place...

Indeed, I am one of the few who think Adiga deserved the Booker. Of course, don't read it if you want peaceful sleep at nights.

Thus, I'm onto reading his second book-Between the Assassinations!

The hour of the Goddess –Memories of Women, Food, and Ritual in Bengal

2008-10-14T04:34:00.000-07:00

The hour of the Goddess –Memories of Women, Food, and Ritual in Bengal
By Chitrita Banerji
Seagull Books
Rs 475

Food, women and rituals-three features that are interweaved in an Indian’s life, the author remarkably presents a book which relates to the three and does it effectively. Not being a cook books fan, it was a surprise when the book did turn out more or less reflective of the ‘Bong’ culture, highlighting history, food facts and titillating your sensations with mere description of aromas or food.
Another interesting fact is that the author revolves around her own life starting from her childhood when she used to sit with her grandma to her stay in Bangladesh where she lived with her Muslim husband but the story of her life never overlaps the story of food, culture and religion in Bengal.

Her language reflects of a Bengali background as she uses ‘Sutti’ making reference to ‘Sati’, ‘proshad’ instead of ‘prashad’ and ‘karolas’ instead of ‘karela’. A good socio-cultural research is found throughout the book and can be accredited for her stance of why Bengalis not only love sweets but have an equally addictive taste for the sour food items like neem and karola. Moving on to the East and West Bengal divide, marriage into a Muslim family and her mothers widowhood, Chitrita flows with her thoughts giving the reader a socio-economic-cultural aspect of lives of the Bengali women.

The book intrinsically weaves black and grey pictures which are a treat to eyes.

3 stars out of 5!

You are Here--- guess that is nowhere!

2008-10-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

You Are Here by Meenakshi Reddy Mahadevan
Penguin
Rs 199.

We all at times give in to reading the ‘hyped’ books and I guess that was the case with me as well when I picked up this book--- “You are here” by Meenakshi Reddy. Another reason was for I’d heard like most of us that she was a blogger too…

The novel is about Arshi, working in a PR agency, in her 20’s with a broken family, a fiery boss, a room-mate Topsy who is as confused as Arshi. The narrative all through reflects the psychology of today’s youth and makes use of the language which is so damn acceptable. A slice from a girl’s life that revolves around her ex boyfriend, her friend, her room mate, her new boy friend. On the basis of character and plot, there is no real development, you already seem to know the story coz maybe one or two of your friends have gone through the same grilling. Humor, slangs and pangs are pretty well used by the author. A chick lit genre which may satisfy a few, it doesn’t fit in for me.

There is nothing that makes her stand out as an author which is a little disappointing for I do think that she does know the nerve of the teens and metros.
Not really worth a recommendation!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte...a classic!

2008-09-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

I finished Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte a few days ago. And eh, I loved it!

Well, if I begin like this-you know what to expect! Still, going ahead-the writer has no doubts fascinated me with her simple yet effective language and techniques. I am all ready to get another book by the same author.

Jane Eyre- a character so simply drawn-the book traces the life of this girl called Jane and as I finished it, I was definitely spellbound. There is nothing exaggerated all through, be her candid nature as a small girl or her musings upon love at 18. The simplicity of the story is unparalleled, at times indeed the tale is predictable but the character of Jane may never allow you to be 100% sure.

I must say that book makes you believe in love and goodness of heart. Thus, for the lovelorns-don't give it a try for it may once again reinstate the very 'hope'. As I was googling on Jane Eyre-I came to know there is a movie as well. Hoping to lay my hands on it soon!

(Note- Many of us are trying our hands at short stories-many are authors, so if you feel a knick for a short story, check this competition. I might be trying my hands too :P. And NO, I ain't associated with them. )

The zen of blogging!

2008-08-31T01:00:00.000-07:00

Wanting to digress from the common themes of the books that I've been reading, I downloaded an ebook called "the zen of blogging" by Hunter Nutall, who is a blogger himself! I expected it to be a long read but it took me just 20 minutes to finish it. It isn't a typical ebook about blogging but it digs on the various aspects of blogging.

What is interesting is the authors take during the finishing chapter of the book. However, I found the beginning a bit too exaggerated but it founds a base during the closing chapters. A few common lines that voice in each and every chapter can be a li'l irritating to people like me but counting the fact that it takes just 20 minutes to finish I give it a five on ten!

Ayn Rand-The fountainhead...

2008-08-23T00:39:00.000-07:00

I stand at the end of no tradition. I may stand at the beginning of one

It is amusing how the right book strikes you just at the right time.

It was in the blue moods of mine that I finally picked up Ayn Rand's 'Fountainhead'. Till now, I have heard a lot of praises about the book but I'd never actually thought that such a masterpiece may exist. The characters of Roark and Dominique are as strong as of Gail and others.

I am not reviewing it, it doesn't need any reviews. It is one of the masterpieces. A must have!

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Poetry from the Innermost Recesses of the Heart: An Interview with D. C. Chambial

2008-08-22T07:14:00.001-07:00

Poetry from the Innermost Recesses of the Heart: An Interview with D. C. Chambial

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‘Spots Blind’ by Linda A. Lavid

2008-07-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

You can't always see what's coming.
The trajectory is misinterpreted,
misconstrued, minimized. On the other hand
someone could be blocking your view, on
purpose, with malice. No matter what, that
something is heading your way.

So, begins the Short stories composition called ‘Spots Blind’ by Linda A. Lavid.

The common theme of the composition seems to be the question of ‘why’! Her stories mixes psychology with the want of pleasure and gives us an insight into the split world of people today. One that appears the other that remains hidden.

Her stories are mystic and the descriptions are nice. Most of her stories have open ending, leaving the reader to decide for them. Appreciable is the fact that unlike many authors she neither by any means make any judgment throughout. Another common theme that builds on the stories is the ‘illusionary, fabricated lives’ we live. Seven on ten, it again makes for a good and fast read!

Anything for you, Ma’am-another Chetan Bhagat in the making!?

2008-07-13T00:43:00.000-07:00

Recommended by Jiggs, I got this book having a blue, cute cover some three weeks ago. Yeah! Three weeks! This is a record in itself as nothing stops me from finishing a book as early as possible unless it turns out to be boring. Tagged as an IITians love story, it is quite clear that the author Tushar Raheja is a graduate from IIT. The prologue of the book is worth a read as none other than an Indian author would write it like that. Yeah! I ain’t breaking the suspense.

To start with the good points, the book contains all the elements of a good Bollywood movie. It has loads of humor which had me in gags innumerable times throughout the read. The book traces down the love story of an aspiring young man which has its own twists and turns, amidst chaos and the typical Gen-Y love moments. The charm of campus life, the call of friends, the simplicity of relationships and the sweetest joys are weaved just perfectly into the book. You can relate the book to your life or the boy/girl next door making it realistic. A commendable characteristic Raheja achieves is the flip of time, moving back and forth easily than anyone.

The typical Bollywood flavor was one factor that made me yawn every one hour and took me some three weeks to finish with the book. The book has an interesting plot but a little too obvious anyways. The lyrics interspersed at a gap of every few chapters provide it with a musical effect. Rating it six out of ten, you can have it especially coz it won’t weigh on your pocket and make you laugh all the way. Hoping that Indian authors stop cashing on Bollywood themes for books!

Chetan Bhagat’s “Three Mistakes of My life”-the right serve for a weekend!

2008-06-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

Chetan Bhagat, the already famous author of ‘One night at the call centre’ and ‘Five point someone’ just came out with his third novel namely-Three mistakes of my life. The officially declared biggest-selling English-language novelist in India’s history was a reason enough for bibliophiles to grab a copy of his latest offering which like the previous two deals with young Indians and their trials and tribulations.

Dark, witty and fast-paced, Three Mistakes is the story of Youngistan set in the early 2000s. The author starts in the autobiographical tone, when he receives an email from a certain Ahmedabad-based businessman about to commit suicide because of his failure to cope with the “mistakes” made by him in life. The interesting part about this email was that Mr. Businessman swallows one sleeping pill whenever he uses a full stop at the end of a sentence. To find out, how many sentences he actually writes- read the book. The author tracks down this suicidal chap namely Govind at a hospital in Ahmedabad and thus the story begins.

Cutting a long story short, the book is about three close friends- Govind, Ish and Omi and if one may include fourth it would be named destiny. The three fellows have different passions in their lives namely, Business, Cricket and Religion, a trick it seens Chetan applies in each of his works to appeal to the masses. Like all Chetan Bhagat novels, this one too has a ‘fair’ share for the fairer sex as Vidya, Ish’s sister is in an affair with Govind. The romance angle serves the novel with just the correct spice with the typical Bollywood flavor coming to the novel in the form of a character called Ali.

Chetan should be admired for his realistic digs in the novel in the form of issues like earthquake of Gujarat, the bombing of the WTC towers in the US and the Godhra train mishap plus the riots following the incident. The author brilliantly deals with religion and politics while his portrayal of human emotions comes as realistic as possible. His use of Hinglish preserves the Indian flavor even if the end is a bit too melodramatic and overall, the book may serve just as the right Indian flick.

For those who take everything in a good stride or for the one who love the Indian bolly mix masala, the book is definitely for you. Don’t waste time, grab a copy and enjoy your weekend with it. Am sure you will relish the investment.

Bridge Across Forever-

2008-06-28T01:34:00.000-07:00

‘Consciousness can forget itself, if it wants to forget. It can invent limits, begin fictions; it can pretend galaxies and universes and multiverses, black-holes white-holes big-bangs and steady-states, suns and planets, astral planes and physical. Whatever it imagines, it sees: war and peace, sickness and health, cruelty and kindness. Consciousness can shape itself three-dimension into a waitress turned prophet of God; it can be a daisy, a spirit-guide, a biplane in a meadow; it can be an aviator just wakened from a dream, loving the smile of his wife asleep; it can be the kitten Dolly in mid-spring to the bed impatient where PLEASE is the cat food this morning? And any instant it wants, it can remember who it is, it can remember reality, it can remember Love. In that instant, everything changes…”

‘Bridge across forever’ picks up from the point where Richard Bach leaves ‘Illusions’. Writing in his autobiographical style, Richard explores love with this and the story weaves the ‘how’ of Richard finding Leslie. His quest begins with the idea of finding a soul mate as he quits flying. The phase indeed travels through his various relationships with various women as he finally begins a purely professional relationship with a beautiful actress named Leslie Parrish. Her wit and intellect can be stated as the sole reason for the conversion of these two professional friends into genuine friends which revolves around long chess games, huge bowls of ice cream, and nonetheless respect.

With that Richard realizes about his struggle to commit to Leslie and with a typical ‘manly’ gesture, he starts running away from her or better to say 'from love'. The rest of the book explores his and her struggle, where one can actually point out Richards’s growth and Leslie support to him.

What was unexpected was the length of the book as the author continuously digs into things which a reader might not be interested in at all, for example his planes! Comparing ‘Illusions’ and ‘Bridge Across Forever’ it seems Illusions still remains his best at least for me. Indeed, his exploration and journey in search of true love is commendably put but one may loose interest due to the length of the book and various pieces which seems so out of space. Overall, one may read it but you would seriously need to buck up your interest at times or push yourself to continue reading it. I would neither recommend it, neither stop you.

My Reads !!

2007-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

A Doll’s House (Henrik Ibsen)
A House for Mr. Biswas (V. S. Naipaul)
Catch 22 (Joseph Heller)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
Love Story (Erich Segal)
Oliver's Story ( Erich Segal)
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
By the River Piedra ...(“)
The Zahir (“)
The Guide (R. K. Narayan)
The Inscrutable Americans (Anurag Mathur)
The Mayor of Casterbridge (Thomas Hardy)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Train to Pakistan (Khuswant Singh)
Untouchable (Mulk Raj Anand)
Sad'at Hasan Manto-Short stories
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Spots blind (Linda.A)
Anything for you ma'am (Tushar Raheja)
One Night at call centre (Chetan Bhagat)
Five point someone (“)
Three mistakes of my life (“)
Maximun city-Bombay
Bridge Across Forever (Richard Bach)
Illusions (“)
The Strange Case of Mr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Collection from Sidney Sheldon
Mein Kamph (Adolf Hitler)
Series from Dan Brown
Old Man and Sea
Tempest (Shakespeare)
Rudali (Mahasweta Devi)
Waiting For Godot ( Samuel Beckett)