Category: Books

  • Book Review: The Demons of Chitrakut

    I tarried a little before I wrote this review because of several reasons. I roamed around a bit and was otherwise occupied reading the next version of this book.

    I found two things about this book very disconcerting. One was the time jumps that this book took. The second was that the story seems to be slowing down. The time jumps were rather disconcerting because it happened in single paragraphs. I would have tarried a little more and filled a few words in to let the reader take some time to sink in the passage of time. Given, that the author was not trying to fit the Ramayana in a single book, I think he could have done so.

    Also, the narrative seems to be slowing down in this edition of this book. Given the speed of the narrative in the previous few books, it almost seems as if the author suddenly realised that if he maintained the same narrative speed he would not have 6 books to write that he promised the publisher. Suddenly, the slowing down of the narrative means that I enjoyed the book a little less taking time to understand the change in the pace of the narrative.

    Overall, while I am still enjoying reading the series, I wish he would maintain the narrative speed. I am looking forward reading the next book in this series and hope that the narrative speed returns in the next book in the series.

    Review: 3/5

  • Book Review: The Master As I Saw Him

    I wanted to finish this book early because it diverged from one of the ideas I have been recently considering with respect to books that I read. I want to read the books of authors who are still living. I am happy that I did so.

    The book is in the form of several jottings of Sister Nivedita on the various aspects and teachings of Swami Vivekananda. The number of personal insights are few and far between and then too is clouded by the admiration that the Sister holds her Master in. It’s a nice summary study of the teachings of Vivekananda and can be used as one, in my opinion.

    Rating: 3/5

  • Book Review: Who Let the Dork Out? (Dork Trilogy #3)

    November 19, 2012
    11:26 pm

    Dear diary,

    Today I finished that book that was written by that dude Sidin who thinks of himself as if he is representing all Malayalees. What gives him that right, I ask? He is no representative of Malayalee culture living all that distance away in bleddy London and all.

    I brought this book from the Kitab Khana bookstore in Mumbai when I had gone there on Diwali vacation. Srinivas uncle was waiting outside for some time so I had to leave quickly. I had told him I had spent two and half hours in that bookstore. Coming out with nothing in hand makes sense to bookworm like me but not to him who do not understand the economics of spending time at a bookstore instead of bleddy buying and reading the book. Being in Bharuch also means that I can download nothing but email over the Internet. So, I brought this book.

    Srinivas uncle eyed me suspiciously when he saw the book that I had purchased but I diverted his attention by asking him about idli sambhar at that udipi joint opposite Bombay House.

    Anyway, I am writing here to tell you about the book.

    It was good in some places. It was bad in other places. It was okay in all places. He was just showing off writing Malayalam words in English all over the place. Ente Devame.

    He is just publishing someone’s diary just like that. Now I am really afraid if he publishes my diary like this also. And I have password protected my computer and you also diary. But what if Sidin is hacker or something or Anonyomous. Who knows? And then making money.

    But I identify with his humour in some places and I like it. Sometime Malayalam words only are the best way to express ones truest feelings. First time I read acknowledgements section in the book also and liked it. He is totally funny.

    In some places he exaggerates a bit and that makes me slightly mad only. Too much it is. Would I recommend this book to others – yes. So, that they can also suffer and we can all laugh about it over a can of beer. I will, ofcourse, be having a can of Coca-Cola.

    Hmm. Must work on that book I was writing. How about if I publish you diary saying it was written by somebody else? No? Okay.

    Rating: 4/5

  • South of the Border, West of the Sun

    This article originally appeared on my blog http://lifeofpradeep.wordpress.com. I recovered the post using Wayback Machine.

    Title: South of the Border, West of the Sun

    Author: Haruki Murakami

    Translated: Philip Gabriel

    Publisher: Vintage International

    ISBN: 978-0-679-76739-8

    Pages: 213

    Source: K J Choksi Public Library, Bharuch

    Rating 4/5

    I first heard about Murakami’s name in 2008 while reading Hugh MacLeod’s blog, gapingvoid. He had written a book about his experience as a marathon runner called, “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running“. I had looked for a book by him in libraries in Mumbai without any luck. So, it was really stunning to find this book in a library in Bharuch. I finished this book in three days flat.

    The story is simple. The changes in the man’s life are complex. The feelings of a man even more so. The man, Hajime’s feeling swings were almost similar to me although Hajime seems to be more lucky with the girls. It was interesting exploring these things myself and by myself. I do not think that these explorations bear sharing here.

    I do not know how different these books are in Japanesse, the original language it was written in but the English translation is pretty plain. Perhaps this is what I found beautiful in this book. It does not try to be really exquisite about everything and is a rather average telling throughout.

    It was a nice catch and an interesting self-brooding read. There are other Murakami books here as well and I hope I can get my hands on them soon.

  • An Atlas of Impossible Longing – Anuradha Roy

    I read a few pages of the hardbound copy of this book every morning last week. On Saturday, I finished it in a marathon reading session. It was done. I had got back to the habit of reading books, again. I had crept away from the habit citing lack of books as the problem. Then I found a library – a public library on Facebook – in Bharuch.

    An Atlas of Impossible Longing is a book by Anuradha Roy. Her debut book. The story straddles several genres – reverse migration from cities, nostalgia, romance, loneliness, partition stories, a tale on generations of a family, and much more. It doesn’t work seriously towards fitting into any genre and this is what endeared me to this book at first. I read through this book in fits and starts, through early morning bus rides cutting across small villages that dot the road between Bharuch and Dahej. As industries rise up, I am reminded that it is time to close the book. It is for running this industry that the lead character in the first part of the book comes to a small town.

    As the story unfolds in the later two generations, it turns to romance and towards loneliness. These aspects take up more time of the central character. The story also moves from the very simple and the very practical to the very complicated and the very romantic. In a way, it traces the generational differences between the several Indian generations into the seventies and the eighties. It explores how as we get more and more crowded we become more and more lonely and yearn for company.

    These are two themes that I noticed developing through the length of the book. The author must be applauded for some very descriptive settings and for some new analogies. I would have prefered a paperback to a hard bound copy of the book. I also felt that the male characters weren’t as well-developed as the female leads. Something to work on, I guess.

    I now have a copy of Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi in my hands.

  • Chanakya’s Chant

    Just last October, I purchased and reviewed Ashwin Sanghi’s first book, The Rozabal Line. When his latest book came out, I wanted to purchase his book but had a huge back log of books to read. Hence, I held off. In the meanwhile, I signed up for BlogAdda’s Book Review Programme as well. Sanghi’s book Chanakya’s Chant (Amazon Affiliate Link) came up whilst I was in the last few pages of How Starbucks Saved My Life.

    I really enjoyed reading Sanghi’s latest offering. The book has a nice balance of historical facts and fiction. It weaves these in magnificent ways to bring out the political realities of today and the life of Chanakya, 2300 years ago. The repetition of Chanakya’s chant throughout the book gets a bit weary as one reaches in the middle, but after all it is the title of the book, and one learns to skip that part when it comes. Keeping the explanation of the chant towards the end of the book was a nice touch. Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book and I have already recommended it to someone who is reading the book now. 🙂

    As I have said before, the book is an inter-weaving story between the present and a time 2300 years ago. The storyline follows the rise of Chandini Gupta to the position of power in New Delhi and Chandragupta Maurya to the position of power in Pataliputra in Magadha in an India 2300 years ago. Their rise is backed by the two ‘godfathers’, Pandit Gangasagar Mishra for Chandini and Chanakya for Chandragupta.

    It is towards the middle of the book that the link between how the story was progressing in the present and 2300 years ago becomes clearer. Both proteges almost have similar names – Chandini Gupta and Chandra Gupta. The story moves slowly to the centers of power, New Delhi in modern India and Pataliputra in the India from 2300 years ago. The involvement of Pakistanand China for political gains within India parallels the help taken from the fictional kingdoms of Gandhar and Kaikey which share the geographical location by Chanakya. There was nice symmetry in the stories as well. Having a man achieve power in India 2300 years ago and a woman do the same in modern India.

    The storyline is filled with political tactics employed by the godfather of the protege. I am not sure many of the tactics would work in the modern world. I am also not sure if many of the suggestions suggested or used to solve modern problems are practical. It was a nice instrument to offer suggestions in governance. The book also points to the idea of being okay with a little corruption for political gains while ensuring the work gets done mindset that several people in India have. I was a little uncomfortable with that suggestion. I understand that the idea was not to portray a clean Prime Minister but rather paint a more realistic picture of the position of Prime Minister.

    I think the book is well timed, fast and inspiring read. At the back cover, the book asks a question, does Chanakya’s chant succeed in modern day India? I think that is for every reader to answer for himself.

  • How Starbucks Saved My Life

    It was one of mum’s friends who recommended that she buy this book. I am not really sure about the reason. For this reason, I was not exactly looking forward to reading this book.

    I really like the way that Michael Gates Gill writes. He writes very informally. However, I do not particularly like the narrative he uses for himself. He is self-depreciating beyond limit. His story lacks anything like a continuous narrative where he leaves several loose ends. He does not finish the narrative – anyone of the various story lines he develops. Perhaps, a way to look at it is that life itself is still developing with him. I might perhaps miss a better understanding because I do not know or have not experienced the Starbucks culture.

    I do think that he does have a pretty good writing style. Like people talking over a hot cup of coffee on a rainy afternoon. He also puts things pretty clearly and is deliberate with his descriptions. However, he misses on developing his plots as a result of this. It is more like a what is happening now narrative.

    This book, How Starbucks Saved My Life is something that falls into a very small but popularly growing category of books of modern failure in conventional jobs and people taking up very unprofessional professions to make a living. Opportunities are everywhere.

  • Closing Down of public libraries in Chembur

    As a teen growing up in the suburbs of Mumbai, I had access to some very fascinating public libraries in Chembur. I didn’t read anything until my teenage years after which I didn’t have time to do anything else but reading. Many of the libraries have shut shop. The recent one is the Ramchandra’s Circulating Library at Amar Mahal which has now paved the way for yet another cycle shop.

    My mom and her sisters read at the Shashi’s Three Star Library in Zerox Galli, near Chembur Railway Station. It was here I read most of my Hardy Boys collection (along with the 1 book/week I got in school). It is here I started reading Jeffrey Archer and Sidney Sheldon. He wouldn’t give me many of the other books I was interested in (like horror fiction) and this put me fairly in the pure fiction category in my reading tastes. It was also here that the librarian suggested Wodehouse to me to keep me away from Stephen King. Needless to say, I enjoyed Wodehouse. This library is now a stationary shop.

    There were many other libraries too but to which I did not apply for membership and which have now closed.

    There was a Five Star Circulating Library at the corner of Ambedkar Garden. This has now become part of clothes store. This had more of the books that women like and very few selections for what would today be called young adult audiences.

    There was also a library on the ground floor of the municipality M ward office. This has now been converted into a Citizen Facilitation Center. The library has been moved to a smaller space near the Sai Baba Temple with a smaller but a more Marathi-centric collection.

    After losing the Ramchandra’s Circulating Library at Amar Mahal, the only one in Chedda Nagar is run by a very old gentleman – he runs Ankur Circulating Library. He’s recently decreased the size of the library claiming difficulty in maintenance.

    Good libraries have also taken a beating as new bookstores like Crossword and Landmark and online spaces like Flipkart have made it easier for book lovers to purchase books rather than borrow books. The libraries that exist are not being able to get some of the latest books in circulation.

    I have a growing collection of books that I am waiting to share but am not yet entirely sure how. It’s something in my head. A need for a public circulating library with an updated stock of books.

  • Book Review: Known Turf by Annie Zaidi

    Note: I wrote this on my earlier blog hosted as http://parallelspirals.blogspot.com. I recovered the text from the WayBack Machine. This post appeared on December 10, 2010 as per the time stamp. I’m trying to collect here again all my old writings spread on various blogs.

    I finished reading this book way back in August but did not get around to writing a review for it. I bought this book after seeing Joseph Thomas’ note. By the time he reviewed it his opinion had changed a bit. Just shows you how long ago that was.

    I have read Annie Zaidi’s articles when she was in Frontline but not her blog. The book, though is mostly about her first foray into journalism and her beat visiting goondas in Northern India and the strange aura that surrounded them. She moves from understanding what moves these people from goondaism to what generally is lacking in provisions provided by the Government and moves towards human interest stories.

    One of my favourite parts is where she talks about an Indian’s love for tea. I share this love but have started limiting my consumption of this liquid slowly. It is very difficult. She then moves to her blogging life and her work with the Blank Noise project.

    Sadly, after this I have started going more towards music. Exams in between meant that this transitition was not as smooth as it could have been.

  • Orhan Pamuk’s Snow

    (I’m a bit late on posting this)

    These are a few things the book made me think about –

    1. Technology and East-West interactions have only deepened the “East-West Divide”. Both reflects the other negatively.
    2. It is really difficult for a guy to understand a girl even if she spells out everything for him. They probably synergise at the level of the heart. O, and it’s probably time for looking for a girl for me too.
    3. Being an atheist in the East is probably difficult. Everyone finds their God, even atheists. Western definitions don’t apply.

    Besides that, I thought the book was really well written and was well expressed. Reading about Orhan Pamuk on Wikipedia and later on his website, probably made it more meaningful.