Mini Book Reviews- November

I have not kept the rigour of reviewing all books I read going, but to compensate I will write about what I liked about the below books and not get into the plotlines for what is Good Reads or Wikipedia for.

The Lives of Others - Neel Mukherjee

This year's the usual Indian origin representation from India which like most year makes it to the shortlist but does not win it when it has everything going for it. Each of the chapter's in the story keeps going back and forth between the general narrative of the story of the wealthy Ghosh Family and a first person account of Supratik one of the member's of the family who chooses to join the naxal forces during the Charu Mazumdar times of Naxalbari, after the usual disillusionment with the wastefulness of the life of the wealthy. What moves you about the book, is the starkness of the situations that the author brings to the fore especially those of the debt ridden farmers, who are exploited by the hand in glove of landlords and the government. I don't think I have read a more poignant account of the people living on the margins. What also impresses is the slew of characters that are there in the book and yet the author does justice to all, dissecting them layer by layer giving them reasons for what makes them the way they are. The family dynamics is something one sees in most families, the messed up nature of joint families. It is certainly not a book, you can ignore. You will keep thinking about it, long after its over.

Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell

Like all Rainbow Rowell books, you will read through this book like a breeze and love it for how this makes you feel about love and companionship. It makes you believe in the honesty of these feelings as well as in those who make you feel this way. The only disappointment was the open endedness of the story, I hoped for a happy ending but the end leaves you wanting for a sequel. All said and done I loved it better than Fangirl and loved how two misfits fall in love, none of them misfits in the jarring or over the top kind of manner.

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi

This is my first graphic novel which I have been wanting to read since the time it came out and became much talked about. It is the story about a girl growing up during the Iranian revolution. And what I liked about this book that not only did it deal with the what led to the revolution and the milieu during those times but also the author's personal life struggles, her growing up alone away from Iran and her messed up friendships and relationships. What strikes though is the perfect understanding that she seems to have with her parents. I can only thank God, that in India we have still not had to face this kind of curtailment of personal freedom, simple things like listening to the kind of music we want and wearing what one desires is done without even a second thought.

The Girl with all the gifts - M. R. Carey

At first I thought it was a story about Zombies, but soon into the story I realised naah nope, it was about the sister clan of Zombies called Hungries who are not dead, but seem to have the same insatiable apetite for humans. So here is the story of Melanie who is a child hungry who is not as affected by the infection, who still retains some of her human faculties. And it is basically her ability to adhere more to her human faculties than her hungriness that makes her so special. Well, yeah I liked it for how different it was to the stuff I have read till date. And I guess the newness of it did not make me love it as much I would have wanted to.

The Silkworm - Robert Galbraith

This is definitely much much better than the Cuckoo's calling, but I think the story could have been more tighter and could have made it more mysterious, not like the character who ends up being the murderer isn't a surprise, but some of the flaws of Cuckoo's calling do continue in this. But I guess the gorier nature of the murder keeps you hooked to the story. Yet to come across a writer who writes mystery better than Agatha Christie. And Harry Potter will always be Rowling's master piece as it appears from the 3 books she has published since Harry Potter ended.

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

It's only rare that a book leaves such a profound impact on you. I think this will be one of my favorite books of all times. It is heart wrenching, beautifully written and at the same time gives a warm fuzzy feeling of goodness of having met good people in your life. If a book could be endearing this would be it.

And the truth be told, there is absolutely nothing I want to critique about in the book. The character building as well as the whole set up has been done justice to, neither come at the cost of the other.

So the story is set in Germany predictably during Hitler's dictatorship and is about this girl who has been adopted by another family and how with the help of her adopted father who she hero worships and adores learns to read and eventually becomes the book thief, as she finds herself mesmerised by the world of words. And the story is definitely not as light hearted as this, for one it is narrated by Death.


What makes you love the book so much, is the warmth of of close human relationships, of how they go out of their way to do something for you, for humanity. I know I cried copious amounts at the end of the book, last time I did that was only in my 6th or 7th standard when I had finished reading Anne and the Green Gables. When people say Fault in your Stars is a tear jerker, wait till you read the Book Thief. All in all a 5 out of 5 stars from me. 

A Suitable Boy- VIkram Seth

To complete this book is achievement in itself for me, for never have I attempted such a behemoth of a novel and to have successfully completed it is a big deal for me. Second of all, it is among one of the many novels that I had bought more than a year back and had been collecting dust and cobwebs on the shelf. And what a book it has been. The characters are so well thrashed out, the story so beautifully narrated that not once I felt I needed to skip any part. More than anything it gives you a peak into the tumultous times of post independent India. The communalism, socialism, caste divide and the ineffectual laws to curb the same and other anachronistic fiefdom that existed during those times some of which that still exists even today. It touches upon so many different themes at so many levels and yet remains true to the essence which is the search of a mother for a suitable boy for her daughter, Lata. I loved all the suitors that had been created for Lata, somewhere down wishing I had been regaled with such attention during my college days. But the suitor I loved best was the bengali poet/author Amit, who wooed Lata with his poems. The story veers through various backdrops of the Congress party's slow disillusionment post independence, the Zamindari Act, the political milieu and the religious accord  of those times and in the well knit dysfunctional hindu family fabric, where you know what is happening even in lives of relatives twice separated. It is a poignant story of love, loss, despair and above all forgiveness. I am usually not the kind who laughs out loud when I read something funny in a book, but humour at certain points did crack me and I couldn't help but break into a laugh quiet a few times. 

The book for its length does not feel unnecessarily stretched as each and every incident narrative thread adds up at the end and adds to the storyline, without weighing it down. Although at times I did feel difficult holding the book up when I was at the beginning and at the end of the novel, when the weight shifted to one side. Its task well completed and even more so for I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and someday I might just re-read it. 

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

Since my love for all things make up subsided I have rekindled  love for books and during one of those Book reviews that I ended up watching I landed up on this book. Truth be told what made me buy the book was the cover and the illustrations in the inside covers. Yes I did judge the book by its cover :P. The story of course too appealed but primarily it was bought because of the illustrations. And was I to know that the main character of this book Cather Avery or Cath would be so much like me I would have bought the book on more stronger grounds. 

The story is about Cath who is obsessed about writing Fanfiction on this very popular series (read: Harry Potter) which was awaiting its final instalment. Unlike her twin sister Wren who is more outgoing, loves partying, meeting new people and fraternising in general, Cath on the other hand is the misanthropist. She goes to the extent of not finding the dining hall to avoid striking up conversation of any sort even with her room mate Reagan and instead survives on Protein bars. Then there is the supposed boyfriend of Reagan, Levi who takes a liking for her and who together with Reagan kind of break into her shell. Cath is shown to be this extremely emotional person who would rather take care of her father and sister Wren or write fanfiction (a world in which she is hugely popular) than deal with newness. I felt this character was almost an alter ego to my erstwhile self in college. Who was ill-at-ease with new people, did not know how to make small talk and who rather preferred writing her blog or reading than do anything akin to socialising. I wasn't probably as bad as Cath at this, but I was almost a pariah of sorts. I wore whatever clothes my mom bought me, I cowered under my big glasses and was generally not the mingling kind in anything else other than what required writing or reading. My crushes were so uncannily similar to the kind Cath has. 

So all in all, this book is almost like the story of my life, some part of myself from school (my Harry Potter love) and some part from college (the socially awkward self). I couldn't help but love this book and rate it 5 on 5 on good reads. I think I liked it even better than Fault in our stars.

The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

I couldn't have gotten back on track for reading had I not picked this book to read next after what a debacle Choke ended up being. This book is much hyped and talked about considering its movie adaption is already being premiered in many countries and is much well received like the book. In all the reviews that I read through and watched, everybody attributed it to be quiet a tear jerker. And the sadist in me did look forward to shedding a tear or two.

Two hundred pages went by and the downpour was yet to happen, thanks to all the Hindi movies, that kind of insensitise you to all things cancer (read: Anand, Kal Ho Na Ho, Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se etc. etc.). The subject of cancer is a much trite and banal theme in most Hindi movies, ending with the tragic death of the protagonist. I agree I did feel sad when the boyfriend, Augustus Waters, of the protagonist, Hazel Grace's (who is herself a cancer victim)  dies of the same affliction and I did share quiet a copious tears, but it wasn't a book that would stay long enough with me. I have shed equal or more for other books having death in them. Having said that, what resonated for me in the book was the chemistry between the two. The writing is sensitive and even though it is about the plight of cancer patients and how their affliction encumbers their everyday life day in day out it does connect with you. What I liked best about the book, is how a book by the name An Imperial Affliction actually brings the two of them together. Fault in our stars is not aimed at garnering sympathy votes for the cancer victims but instead only offers a peak in to their lives and how they go about trying to be as normal as possible with their suffering.

There is quiet a bit of beautiful writing in the book and I recommend that it be read, not for the hype but for the beauty of the in between. 

Choke - Chuck Palahniuk

I need to make this confession upfront. This book just didn't work for me. I skipped pages, it did not get me hooked even though I read it till the very end. The humour didn't work, the writing style, the story... Nothing worked... There were probably a couple of lines that did kind of resonate with me, but nothing else. The whole sex addiction part did not add much to the script either. I don't feel like even narrating the story, for it frankly only made me dislike it. Even though I liked the movie Fight Club and that is what made me pick this book up, I don't think I will pick any other Palahniuk book up ever again. Probably its the kind of book or humour rather that works for men, but I don't think a girl is ever going to enjoy this genre of writing. This is a weird book. Some of the stuff the author was writing about just made me feel squeamish and on top the story did not make much sense to me, so this goes down into the list of books that I never want to read again. I will give this a pass. 

Jaya - An illustrated retelling of the Mahabharat : Devdutt Pattanaik

What stood out for me when I read this book, was how every character including Krishna is shown to have not been spared the hand of destiny. It shows the duplicity of the human nature, the double standards, the follies and fates governed mostly as a result of past karma. It analyses each character at arms length, giving roots and reasons to their actions. Nobody is shown as perfect. Everybody is dealt the hand of fate due to their past actions or their inability to adhere to dharma. 

The ignorant me, would think that most of us are aware only of the outlines of the Mahabharat. We would all be inclined to believe that the Pandavas were the all ideal and Kauravas at fault. But the book dissects them for the layers they have. How Pandavas would easily fall prey to conceit and adharma till the very end even though they suffered the death of their brothers and sons. It lays emphasis on the fact that people who might appear to be your enemies, might not be so and their actions not necessarily bad. Even your altruistic actions might not be best for the flow of life, even though done with best of intentions. 

The discourse of the Gita, is something one should read again and again to grasp the essence of how life needs to be led. It is lucid and stays with you. It speaks of human attachment to the flesh of our body and the fear of death as a manifestation of it, making way for ego (Ahankar). The aim of human life is to make the soul grow materially, intellectually and emotionally for it is the only thing immortal.  Only humans that can differentiate between the soul and the body, and therefore it should make us better than animals who are governed only by the animal spirit of survival. It propounds the importance of empathy as a necessity to dharma. It talks of measuring scales of right conduct or behaviour and their being no set standard for the same because of us being mere puppets at the hand of destiny. And therefore one should not take pride in our good deeds because it is all a turn of fate and nothing else. 

There is a lot more to the book, and I haven't done justice to it all. But I hope the above does make you want to read the book, for it did make me reflect on my life.

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

I noticed this book at an oxford book store when out with a couple of friends of mine and what caught my eye was the "Thriller of the Year" by the Observer accolade for it. I was not even aware there was a movie being made of it staring Ben Affleck. On a whim I asked Him to buy it for me, but it he did. :)

So just after Norwegian wood I picked this one since I wanted this reading marathon thing going. And I was pleasantly surprised by how gripping it was. The story is divided into 3 parts, with the first starting out with the disappearance of Nick Dunne's wife Amy Dunne (Elliot) who was once famous for her Amazing Amy books. The story is narrated in turns by Nick and Amy in first person. The first half is the build up of the state of affairs of their married life and what has led to its near about break down and to of course Amy's disappearance. Like any murder/disappearance stories of wives, the prime suspect is the husband and pointing fingers at Nick are also the evidences that the police lands up on. Except that all is not what it appears to be. By the end of first half you do smell fish and the whole brilliance of the plot line unfolds in the second. I don't want to give any spoilers and therefore I am just alluding to what the story might be.

This book is gripping and absolutely unputdownable. I actually read through about 250 pages in one go in trying to know what happens next. JK Rowling's Cuckoo's Calling just pales in front of this. I highly recommend this book, if you are stuck in a log jam of not being able to pick up reading. This will definitely make you want to read more and more.

My only complaint from the book is the ending. I would have wanted a better end to it all. 

Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami

Whilst discussing this book with a friend, who had already read it, I was told it was a very depressing book and apparently suicides had increased in Japan after the release of this book. I was almost half way through when I got to know this, but that in no way deterred me in stopping mid way. I am kind of a sucker for sad books. Humour in books has in very rare occasion appealed to me. Anyway I feel I am very low in the order of evolution of humour in human beings. 

I had bought this book when I was visiting family in February and picked it up only in May after my attempts at reading Mammaries of  Welfare State failed. I had picked it about 5 times already and the maximum I had read was a 100 pages. Not to say it wasn't a good book but I had not gotten my act together of showing patience with a book. 

And after these failed attempts, when I picked up Norwegian Wood it appeared like a breeze. I was turning pages after pages wanting to know the life of Toru Watanabe (the protagonist) and his story of love and loss. The story starts of him being on a flight to Germany, where they are playing the Beatles number 'Norwegian Wood' on the flight which makes him sick in the stomach and reminds him of his past. There in starts his story of his childhood friendship with his best friend Kizuki and his love for Kizuki's girl friend Naoko. Very soon you get to know that Kizuki commits suicide for mysterious reasons and Naoko is left emotionally fragile at her loss. Toru and Naoko stay in touch discussing Kizuki, trying to recover from their mutual loss. But while Toru somehow gets around to it, Naoko is plunged into a abyss and has nervous breakdowns. Toru moves on to a private university where he meets Midori (his classmate), a girl full of life and spirit, very different from Naoko, who even though has suffered loss in her life, has chosen a different way of dealing with it. She is like a breath of fresh air for Toru, who finds himself getting attracted to her and missing her when she is not around. It then becomes something of a time travel, with Toru visiting his love of past, Naoko in Tokyo and his present, Midori. 

There are quiet a few suicides in the book because in Japan apparently suicides are a respectable way to die. And this does make this book sad, as you realise that love could fail you no matter how faithful you are, no matter how ready you are for it. 

I had read Murakami's Kafka on the shore before, but in my opinion it does not come anywhere near to Norwegian Wood. It's a wonderful book, which I think I will re-read it some day in my life again. 

Her (2013)

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson and Amy Adams
Director: Spike Jonze

Her is a story of a lonely man, Theodore Twombly (played by Phoenix), who comes to fall in love with his Operating System (OS) Samantha, voice given by Johansson. Theodore works for a letter writing company where (no prizes for guessing) he writes letters for people who have difficulty expressing feelings. He has increasingly become lonely and fears his impending divorce. One fine day on his way back from work he comes across this newly launched artificially intelligent Operating System that evolves as per the human it is assigned to. The OS who gives herself the name Samantha slowly becomes a confidant to Theodore, giving him company through the days and the OS itself evolving through its human interactions. What strikes you are the conversations that Samantha has about her feelings, her confusions about them as to whether they are unique to her or is it something that she was programmed to feel. As they start to fall in love with each other, Theo feels that he is now prepared to sign his divorce papers and decides to meet his wife for the same. What ensues at the end of the meeting predictably is a fight when he confesses that he is having a relationship with his OS. He starts doubting the realness of his feelings and as a result of which he finds himself distancing from Samantha, who also with the course of time is changing sooner by the day with her interactions with other Operating Systems. Now you may ask where does Amy Adams come in all of this? She plays the role of Theodore's neighbour who has recently separated from her husband and has become friends with an OS that was left behind by him (her husband). Theo finds in her somebody with whom he is able to discuss his relationship with Samantha without the fear of being judged.

Her' is avery unlikely romantic story. Scarlett Johansson is great as Samantha and her voice just seems apt for an OS a man could fall in love with. I loved the movie and the acting, the whole sepia toned screenplay, Joaquin's role as a man bearing his soul out to an OS as he would to a real life girl friend. His doubts, his loneliness, his despair at Samantha's parting. The idea of a human falling in love with an OS somehow becomes less incredulous and more believable after watching this movie.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jared Leto and Jennifer Garner

Direction : Jean-Marc Vallee

To tell you the truth I am a bit of an ignorant when it comes to Hollywood. I most often can't tell the different actors apart let alone know their names, but I am slowly working on improving it. So why this disclaimer before I start on this review is because I have know Matthew McConaughey only from the movie 'The Wedding Planner' and have taken him to be this chocolate boy character and therefore was first surprised when I saw him in True Detective (the first episode) and as luck would have it I was recommended the movie and the series. So while the series was getting dowloaded I caught up on the movie. And to tell you the truth both McConaughey's and Jared Leto's acting blew me away.

McConaughey essays the role of this cowboy Ronald Woodrof who is diagnosed with AIDS when he is admitted in to the hospital because of some freak accident. The doctor's treating AIDS patients at the hospital which includes Garner give him a deadline of 30 days to live. At first his reaction as any normal persons would be of denial, then of enjoyment of ones last few days and then the realisation to somehow make himself live longer then what the doctors foretell. He starts his research on AIDS, what drugs are being used to treat patients across the world, state of research etc. which brings him across to a drug called AZT which the American FDA has under trial and whose efficacy is doubted. He somehow lays his hands on AZT from the very hospital but ends up getting sicker because of the dosages being incorrect and then through his connections ends up going to Mexico where he comes across drugs like Peptide T which are not toxic and actually show positive effects on his health. At near about the same time he comes across this guy called Rayon who is a transgender (played by Jared Leto) and asks him to join his business of sourcing drugs from all over the world which have yielded positive results in combating the symptoms of AIDS. He turns his life around through this venture making an endeavour to stay clear of cocaine or any kind of addictions. The story then wades through him getting at loggerheads with the FDA and narrating the entire story would kill the purpose of wikipedia.

What impressed me was the acting. Matthew as this gaunt, sick AIDS patient, with a drip running through him while running a business and Leto as this transgender who slowly starts getting more and more clients for their business because of Ron's initial homophobia and who is not able to get himself clear of cocaine no matter how much Ron tries to get him off it. It is a story of their friendship their partnership in times when most of the people they call friends ditch them and start staying a step away from them and their struggle to increase the longevity of their fast vanishing life. It is a beautiful movie and I really think both of them deserve this years Oscars in their respective categories. I think someday in life, I will be watching this movie again. 

Ijaazat (1987)

Star cast: Naseerudin Shah, Rekha and Anuradha Patel
Director: Gulzar

My only regret about this movie is, why did I never catch it any sooner. Yesterday had I not stumbled on the "mera kuch samaan" song after long I would not have ever discovered this movie. Another brownie point of this movie the songs, they are such beautiful renditions that you would not to skip on them and get on with the movie. They add their poignancy to the story.

So the storyline is basically, of this guy Mahinder (Naseerudin) who has been engaged to this woman Sudha (Rekha) for five years now and has been warding off marrying her as he is involved with a more mercurial and unpredictable woman Maya (played by Anuradha Patel). When he goes back to Maya to take her to meet his Grandfather and ask permission to marry her and break it off with Sudha, being the free bird that she is, he is not able to find her and ends up marrying Sudha. The marriage starts on the note of honesty, with Sudha being fully aware of Maya's presence in Mahinder's present and past and slowly starting to even appreciate her finer qualities. Sudha, is shown as a woman who is much more stable and righteous which warms up Mahinder to her. They slowly start to fall in love. But when they are back from their honey moon, Mahinder gets to know that Maya has tried to commit suicide and therein all the complications and misunderstandings start.

What I really liked about the movie other than the fine acting by all the protagonists is the acceptance of faults in each other's personality and of the past without creating too much of a melodrama over it. The movie is about the fondness one develops for other's while living together and adjusting to their quirks and eccentricities and yet after years of separation finding each other at the same page but of course with drastically changed circumstances, because well, time takes a toll. This movie definitely goes down in my favourite list and I think I liked it over the movie Ghar even, even though Ghar was more about the woman being stronger and the man being a philanderer. I guess I like Ijaazat more is because I connect to the quandaries of the characters more, I see the honesty of intentions. The characters in the movie are all correct in their positions, but fail because of the lapse of time.

All in all I think I am going to have another go over this movie sometime soon. It's 5 out of 5 stars for this movie.