The Illicit Happiness of other people - Manu Joseph

This is the second book by Manu Joseph after his hugely appreciated Serious Men and does not disappoint even one bit. In fact I can't think why I did not read this book any sooner. It is one of the very few that kind of leaves you a in a limbo after you have finished reading it.

The story is about the search of a father, Ousep Chacko to find the reason for his son, Unni committing suicide. Unni a budding cartoonist,a philosopher, the magnetic leader of his class,  is unlike most of the teenagers his age, even though he is a rebel, he is also the most attentive listener for his mother Mariaamo, who talks to imaginary people and why she does so lies the crux of the story. It is a story about the dysfunctional Chacko family, a family which is loathed and pitied at times by other families living in the same colony, who pride themselves for the normalcy of their lives. It is the helpless of a father to get to know his son better after his death, than he knew him when he was alive, wounded pride of a mother for not having protected her son, for a younger brother trying to be like his elder brother, the brother who could make his mother normal, could stop her hallucinations. In spite of all of this one finds this family together in all of this, they hate and abhor each other most of the times but find themselves together in figuring out Unni and his final act. The story which starts out being immensely funny in the beginning turns grim in the middle and continues in the same way. It touches on a lot of themes like neurosciences, existentialism, the search for truth, austerity of language etc. which only add to the narrative instead of taking away from it. Through all the interviews that Ousep has with all the people who knew Unni, he pieces together the life of Unni, knowing him better each time and yet not being able to figure out Why Unni did what he did. It's a poignant and dark story and is not sad because there is the good and the bad it is because there are grey's and there is an everyday tussle and hardship that the Chacko family has to go through because of their meager means.

What surprises you more is the reason for Unni's suicide, it is no where about his philosophical ruminations, his dysfunctional family, being bad at studies etc. There are so many interesting snippets in the story one of which was about Morality being an invention of not so good looking men and claiming they'd rather make love to only woman in their lives and of how Unni fools Thoma into believing that the home minister was going to make the value of pi from 3.14159 to 3 to make it easier for Indian children to calculate the area of circle.

This book is definitely a must read and I will be picking up Serious Men soon enough too.

The Marriage Bureau of Rich People - Farahad Zama

Here goes the first review of my Julie Julia Project. The cover of the book, makes it look like a pick-me-up-first and what lies inside does not disappoint you either. Mr. Zama's writing is absolutely lucid and the fact that I read it in 5 hours flat is testament enough. 

So the story revolves, as suggested by the title, about a marriage bureau started by a retired man Mr. Ali in Vizag. Slowly and steadily the business grows, along with it's popularity among the people in the city. With the increase in clientele it becomes imperative on Mr. Ali to hire an assistant and in comes Aruna, a simple Brahmin girl, and the sole bread winner for her family. Romance blossoms and there is hardly any tragedy to talk about really. The book takes you back to a time when life was all good, people were nicer or probably people in small towns/cities are better than the ones in metropolitans. What keeps the book engaging is the description of the milieu which is almost Ruskin Bond like and not once do you get bored by the description of the different clients of the bureau, which I thought would have gotten repetitive. They are given just the right amount of screen space as is required. It is a very feel good book and is more about how good things happen to good people. It of course has it's philosophical moments when Mr. Ali in some parts talking about how almost all religions are the same at the very essence and yet different in custom and when the Alis gives out some of the most sound advises about married life to Aruna and others in the story. Clearly a couple who have seen life and have weathered quiet a few storms together. 

All in all, the book makes for a light read except that I could have done with a little more tragedy. It is the first in the series written by Mr. Zama - the next in line being "The Many Conditions of Love" , which takes the story forward and has an equally delightful cover. Although I really don't know if I would pick up it up just immediately. The first book does not leave you with anticipation for what is going to happen next in the story. So probably one fine day when I am in the mood to buy books I might buy the next one. 

Next stop Manu Joseph's "The Illicit Happiness of Other People". 

The Julie Julia Promise

Today in the wee hours of the morning I am going to declare, which for long I have been stalling but finally have decided to put myself up for, is the Julie Julia challenge but only in this case it is books. My reading has been suffering for long and I really needed some direction in my life, a hobby so to say and since reading is something that comes the easiest to me, I solemnly vow

"to read 20 books by the end of 2013,starting today and review each and every one of them on this piece of virtual space I have called my own". 

And I do get the school of thought that books need to be enjoyed, chewed, mulled over, etc. etc. but this endeavor for really the need of the hour for this directionless life that I seem to be leading. There are many more issues in my life that need to be addressed, and through this I think I will be able to add a lot of perspective to my life and I guess a goal and a deadline. Work life has made me just another person on the run for money and I need to change that about myself. So here's all the luck to me and watch out this space for a new book review every week. Really hoping to live up to this promise. 

Inferno - Dan Brown

I am not too much of a Dan Brown fan so to say but I remember having quiet liked Da Vinci Code when I had read it back in college and then after reading  Angels and Demons my liking for Mr. Brown waned. Lost Symbol was lost to me and of course the in betweener's Deception Point and Digital Fortress were given the royal ignore. So I don't really know what made me pick Inferno up, probably it was the face book updates or the fact that the Divine Comedy actually lies in the Asiatic Society library in Mumbai which Mr. Brown seems to have moved it to Florence.

So anyway whatever the reasons I did pick it up and actually quiet enjoyed reading the book or atleast the first half which like most of Brown's books are replete with a lot of trivia which kind make you google stuff up. Inferno is of course at the very essence similar to the other books, Langdon getting up dazed, asking help from his consulate, being helped a woman who just happens to understand his situation and saves the day for him and later he is able to save the world. What works in all of this tried and tested formulaic story line is the wonderful way in which the theme is ensconced, in this case it Dante's Divine Comedy and other historical pieces associated with it and with it contemporary scientific research and fiction on Overpopulation, transhumanist movement etc,. What did not work for me for the elaborate description of architecture of the museums in Italy and Turkey (the Hagia Sofia in this case). Probably I would have enjoyed it more had I seen those places before hand or if Mr. Brown had also provide some kind of pictorial depictions of the same for other wise these descriptions were only making the story loose it's pace. I actually skimmed through a lot of these passages. Of course the story is gripping, rife with all the trivia and mystery which makes it a good read but I would definitely want to give the architecture a miss. All in all it's a decent book and Inferno is definitely a book one should own, for beneath the cover lies the beautiful painting of Gustav Dore of the river Styx on the book.

Actually has the making's of a priced possession.