tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-325068092024-03-13T13:20:56.882-07:00Soul KadhiSoul searching. Sole talking.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-10391551338558266402010-12-17T02:15:00.000-08:002010-12-17T02:16:53.927-08:00One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/oneflewover.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 386px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/oneflewover.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>It’s hard to miss this book. It comes up in discussions often and on lists like <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1951793,00.html">All Time 100 Best Novels From 1923-2005</a>. It’s a shame that I hadn’t read this book all these years and I decided to take things into hand and finally get down to reading it. <p>The book is set in a mental asylum in Oregon which is run by a tyrannical nurse “Big Nurse” Miss. Ratched who manages the asylum and the patients according to her whims and fancies. She tacitly threatens the inmates – “The Acutes”, first level of insanes – with shock therapy and lobotomy which will make them “The Chronics”, who are in a vegetative state. The patients are naturally tormented by her but lack the courage to stand up and speak against her. A new patient, MacMurphy, makes an entry into the asylum faking insanity to escape a jail sentence. He gets into tiffs with the nurse and upsets the routine and questions her actions. This leads to a constant power struggle between McMurphy and the nurse.</p> <p>The helpless condition of the inmates and the way the staff take advantage of their helplessness tugs at your heart. While most of this might be true about mental asylums, you still hope that these things exist only in the fictional world. Refusing medication and administering medication to induce sleep so that the staff can get away with their amorous activities and stealing, giving electric shocks for breaking a rule, not caring for hygiene and letting the inmates rot their in their own pee – this book is not for the faint of heart. McMurphy tries to bring in laughter to the asylum and constantly reminds the inmates to stand for their rights and makes them wonder whether they are really insane. He places a bet with the inmates that he can lift a heavy shower control panel and when he fails to do so, he says, “Atleast I tried”, which inspires the inmates. Several incidents like this make the inmates slowly take charge of their own lives and resist the unquestionable control of the nurse. It makes me wonder how many times I have let someone run over me and stood watching helplessly. I wish I could say ‘Atleast I tried’.</p> <p>McMurphy and the nurse’s character are strong and opposing. While McMurphy makes you feel warm and energetic, the mention of Big Nurse makes you cower. The narrator Chief is another inmate in the asylum who pretends to be deaf and dumb and is hence privy to many dark secrets of the asylum. The other characters in the book – the stuttering Billy Bibbit, the strong Harding, the germaphobic George, the doctor, the black orderlies add variety. The language is smooth and easy. The story and the narration keeps your interest perked up. What takes the cake is the ending. While it’s not hard to predict what was coming, you can’t help getting emotional when you read the climax.</p> <p>One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest borrows its title from a nursery rhyme.</p> <blockquote><p><em>Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,</em><br /><em> Apple seed and apple thorn,</em><br /><em> Wire, briar, limber lock</em><br /><em> Three geese in a flock</em><br /><em> One flew East</em><br /><em> One flew West</em><br /><em> And one flew over the cuckoo’s nest</em></p> </blockquote> <p>Cuckoo here refers to a mentally disturbed person and cuckoo’s nest is the asylum. McMurphy can be seen as the one who flew over the cuckoo’s nest because he went against the rules and disturbed the nest. Chief, the narrator, can also be the one because he frees himself from the clutches of the asylum.</p> <p>The book was made into a film which went on to win many awards. Jack Nicholson won the best actor award for playing the role of McMurphy and Lousie Fletcher won the best actress award for playing Nurse Ratched. The film also won awards for Best Picture and Best Director. More details <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Flew_Over_the_Cuckoo%27s_Nest_%28film%29">on wiki</a>. I don’t have the courage to watch the movie. If you have, let me know how you find it. If you also read the book, then which one do you prefer – the book or the movie?</p>Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-58370788749052944182010-05-19T04:35:00.000-07:002010-05-19T04:36:05.460-07:00The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame<div style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/9780746096581.jpg" alt="" height="398" width="398" /><br /></div>The Wind in the Willows is about a mole, a water rat, a badger and a toad who has a penchant for expensive cars. Sounds interesting? You bet! It can be termed as a children's book, but it is for everybody who is a child at heart. There is something very 'cute' about the book - the innocent characters, the simple story line, the language they speak and the simple, everyday things that the characters take great pleasure in.<br /><br />When I saw that this book appears on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml" target="_blank">BBC's The Big Read - 'Top 100'</a> and <a href="http://mybookshelf.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/30-books-you-should-read-before-you-turn-30/" target="_blank">30 books to read before you turn 30</a>, I set really high expectations on this book. I had the memories of <a href="http://mybookshelf.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/the-secret-garden-by-frances-hodgson-burnett/" target="_blank">The Secret Garden</a> fresh in my mind and I was hoping this book too is as likeable as the first one. While The Wind in the Willows is a good book, I don't understand what the hype is all about. The book definitely does not deserve to be part of any 'must read' lists. The Secret Garden is a totally different book - it revolves around humans and the story is something that one could easily relate to. There is a very strong presence of nature in it which makes it even more charming. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy animated characters and animals dressed up and leading a more human life, but Willows just didn't work for me. If I can relate to Calvin and Hobbes where the stuffed tiger lives only in the child's imagination, I should be able to appreciate any animal character, right? But the rat or the mole or the toad just didn't stir any feelings in me. All that stuff about the toad ordering expensive cars and wasting away his life and money, the rat and the mole being such good buddies and helping the toad find his goal in life - I could not digest all this.<br /><br />Just a few words about this book can't be called a review, but I am still blogging this because I need to air my views somewhere. Please do not be discouraged by my view of this book. I am known to dislike books which others just love. In fact, you should mark a book as a 'have-to-read-it-no-matter-what' if I give it a bad review. Told you, I am insane!Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-4226769304466845892010-05-19T04:33:00.000-07:002010-05-19T04:35:18.056-07:00The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Girl-Who-Played-with-Fire.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 301px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Girl-Who-Played-with-Fire.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>After thoroughly enjoying the first in the Millennium series <a href="http://mybookshelf.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-by-stieg-larsson/" target="_blank">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</a>, I knew I will be reading the next book pretty soon and so I did! We meet the same characters Lisbeth Salander, the one with the tattoo and who apparently plays with the fire in this book and our hero Mikhael Blomkvist and a bunch of other supporting characters.<br /><br />This time around, we have Salander in the hotspot - she is accused of triple murders and it is upto her friend Blomkvist to help her out in this difficult decision. The author takes immense pleasure in hanging the sword above Salander's head and letting the readers wonder 'Did she? Didn't she?' A journalist who is writing a book about sex trafficking, his girl friend who is writing a thesis on the same subject, a mysterious incident in Salander's life which she calls "All The Evil" - add all these and you have a page tuner in your hands - literally! Just like the first book, Larsson creates an air of mystery around Salander's so called evil incident and the reader is dying to know what the heck that is. Salander gets a few more layers to her - Larsson beautifully develops her character. Half the world thinks she is a psychopath and is dangerous to the society whereas the other half thinks she is the best thing ever that happened to mankind.<br /><br />Larsson seems to be obsessed with the physical form of love. While the first book revolved completely around that and violence, Larsson could have easily avoided mentioning these in his second book, still he does. A more-than-necessary importance to lesbians and this really put me off. The author has an interesting plot on hands which will make the book sell like hot cakes, he need not resort to such cheap tactics just to increase the book's sales!<br /><br />Larsson's writing is nothing great. As it happens with most murder mysteries, the importance is given to the plot, its twists and turns rather than the language and style and this book is no different. And I am totally fine with it. If I want to read good English and beautiful style, I will read some other book. When I read a mystery, I want to be given an interesting plot and so many twists and turns that I feel dizzy and Larsson's books fulfill these criteria. But there is a limit to how much shabby writing one can put up with. Larsson gets so descriptive in every scene (why do I care how many Billy Pan Pizza did Salander buy) that it gets really irritating (are you sure she folded her right leg over her left one and not the other way around? Who cares?). Still, I enjoyed this book just like how I enjoy a Govinda movie any day! You might not recall anything in this book after you close it, but you will enjoy it as long as you read it.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-81105164272218435622010-05-07T00:22:00.001-07:002010-05-07T00:23:05.173-07:00The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Novel_the_blind_assassin_cover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 342px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Novel_the_blind_assassin_cover.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>After being impressed by my first Atwood novel, <em><a href="http://mybookshelf.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/the-handmaids-tale-margaret-atwood/" target="_blank">The Handmaid's Tale</a>,</em> I picked up <em>The Blind Assassin</em> with a lot of expectations. If I have to sum up my opinion about this book in one word, it would be 'indifference'.<br /><br />The Blind Assassin is about two sisters, Iris and Laura. The book moves back and forth in time - Iris is narrating her present life as an old, depressed woman who is separated from her granddaughter and she often visits her past where she tells us about her with her parents and her sister. Within this main story, there is another story going on, which is a book written by Laura and within this book is another story written by the protagonist of Laura's book. Confusing? It was, for me. With three different threads going on, it was very confusing to me and difficult to keep track of what I was reading.<br /><br />I can't tell you anything more about the story unless I flag it as a spoiler. The narrator, Iris, seemed so hollow to me. I felt a strong urge to give her a nice shake to bring her out of her reverie and scream in her ears 'Show some emotion'. Laura, on the other hand, is interesting. As a child, especially, where she takes things literally that one can't jest with her and say 'Go jump in a well'. The way she takes things which we term as completely normal and the way she questions ("Does God lie?") makes her character very interesting. The other characters just exist to fill in the blanks in the sister's lives. Oh, one character which caught my attention is Reenie, Iris's caretaker - she was the most interesting in the book.<br /><br />When it is Atwood, I don't really need to say anything about her writing. Beautiful words, thought provoking analogies, lovely flow.<br /><blockquote>I was sand, I was snow — written on, rewritten, smoothed over.</blockquote><br /><blockquote>Mother might be resting, or doing good deeds elsewhere, but Reenie was always there. She’d scoop us up and sit us on the white enamel kitchen table, alongside the pie dough she was rolling out or the chicken she was cutting up or the fish she was gutting, and give us a lump of brown sugar to get us to close our mouths. <em>Tell me where it hurts</em>, she’d say. <em>Stop howling. Just calm down and show me where.</em> But some people can’t tell where it hurts. They can’t calm down. They can’t ever stop howling.<br /><br />A hot wind was blowing around my head, the strands of my hair lifting and swirling in it, like ink spilled in water.</blockquote><br /><blockquote>Farewells can be shattering, but returns are surely worse. Solid flesh can never live up to the blind shadow cast by its absence.</blockquote><br />You can read more quotes from this book on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/quotes/78433" target="_blank">goodreads</a>.<br /><br />The book was enjoyable as long as I read it, but it has nothing memorable in it. I loved the language as long as it lasted. It's not a book that I would ask someone not to read, but I wouldn't highly recommend it either. I am indifferent towards this book, so it's left to you.<br /><br />This book is on <a href="http://www.listology.com/list/1001-books-you-must-read-you-die" target="_blank">1001 books to read before you die</a> and <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1951793,00.html" target="_blank">Time's All Time 100 Novels</a>. It won the Booker Prize in 2000.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-6179695953440109342010-04-26T04:19:00.000-07:002010-04-26T04:21:58.811-07:00Roots by Alex Haley<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/roots.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 388px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/roots.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>My aunt had been asking me to read this book since ages. Considering that our literary tastes are not very similar, I was apprehensive about reading it. But when she asked me for the nth time if I got a chance to read that book, I figured I better read it and be done with it before she points a gun at me and screams, 'Read it now'.<br /><br />Roots is about an African man, Kunta Kinte, who is forcefully brought to America to work as a slave. The book is about his early life in Juffure (now in Gambia), his eventual capture, his horrific travel to America and his life as a slave. The initial part where the author describes the native African life is very interesting. The book gives us a preview of the customs, beliefs of Africans and it is very intriguing. When Kinte is captured by whites to be brought to the US to work as a slave, the book takes a U-turn and the tragedy strikes. The part about Kinte's journey from Africa to America is lengthy and horrific. The state the slaves were kept in the ship, the way they were treated, the way women were used and abused - this needs a strong heart (and gut)! Kunta, who is in denial mode initially, finds himself accepting his fate and settling down in a foreign country. He gets married and has a daughter. The story continues about the daughter being sold to another American and what happens thereafter and this goes on for seven generations until Alex Haley, the author of this book, is born. The book is a mirror to the sufferings the African slaves were put through before they were accepted in the society as equals.<br /><br />It is heart-warming to see that the author took the effort to trace down his ancestors and write a book about it, but one wonders how much of this is really true. Haley says his book is primarily a work of fiction, but also says that his ancestor is Kunta Kinte. He is said to have traveled to Jufure and talked to an elderly person there who vouched for the existence of Kunta Kinte, who was later captured and taken away. However, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Haley#Plagiarism_and_other_criticism" target="_blank">certain historians have challenged this</a> claim. In fact, the elderly person from Juffure is said to have been 'coached' to lie about Kunta Kinte. When I finished reading the book, I was particularly impressed with Halley because he went to great lengths to unearth his ancestral lines, but when I read these allegations against his claim, I feel deceived. Why would one want to make up their ancestors? To make their book a bestseller? To gain sympathy from the world? As you can see, I am enraged!<br /><br />As if these allegations were not enough to make me regret reading this book, Halley was even <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Haley#Plagiarism_and_other_criticism" target="_blank">charged with plagiarism</a>. Some of the portions of this book were directly picked from another book, which he denied initially, but later admitted it in writing. I wasted a part of my life, no matter how small, in reading a book which is completely unoriginal - both in content and in language.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-50453620658547383362010-04-15T00:33:00.000-07:002010-04-15T00:35:15.915-07:00Zero Percentile: Missed IIT, Kissed Russia by Neeraj Chhibba<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/fullcover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 386px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/fullcover.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>When Neeraj Chhibba, the author of this book, contacted me to ask if I can review his book, I was not sure about it. It didn’t look like a book which I would pick up on my own. Still, since I didn’t have any compelling reason to decline his request, I agreed to review his book. The very first thing I noticed about the book is its striking similarity to Chetan Bhagat’s <em>Five Point Someone</em>. For the records, I haven’t read Bhagat’s book and don’t plan to do so. Without reading it, I know I am not going to like it. This was not a great way to start Chhibba’s book, but I tried to be as unbiased and unprejudiced as possible. <p>Zero Percentile is about Pankaj, a young lad who is like any other typical boy. The book starts with his birth and gives us a detailed view of how his life turns out. The story of his birth is amusing. The author tries to turn the story into a humor cum sarcastic one, but it just didn’t work. Pankaj is the apple of the eye back home and gets a special treatment by being sent to a public school whereas his sisters have to be satisfied with going to government school. He is bright, intelligent and does well in school. He tells us about his best friends – Priya and Motu, who are with him through thick and thin. His fights in school, crush on teachers and friends, studies, election as a Head Boy and so on. His aim in life is to get into IIT and he works hard towards it. An accident quashes his hopes and he has to console himself with something else. His Dad decides to send him to Russia to study engineering. This is the reason for the title ‘Missed IIT, Kissed Russia’. The book goes on to tell us his experience in Russia, his financial struggle and his love life.</p> <p>The writing is simple and straight. The book actually reads like a diary of a young man. Since the book is in first person POV, this is quite acceptable, but Chhibba could have added some more style to his writing. There are quite a few errors, as pointed by many other readers. Not only print errors, there are a few places where Pankaj contradicts himself. When he is traveling to Russia, he is clearly a non-vegetarian, but he mentions about converting from vegetarian to non-vegetarian after landing in Russia.</p> <p>The characters are all shallow. You don’t feel anything towards them – be it the protagonist or his friends or his parents. Pankaj himself comes across as a two dimensional character. If you don’t bond with the protagonist, there is very little chance that you will like the book.</p> <p>The book reads like a last minute attempt in writing something down and getting it published. Or more like take someone’s diary and publish it. The story appears disconnected and things are introduced just to create drama. Nitin’s HIV episode, Pankaj’s stint as a salesman and so on. At one point of time, Pankaj is struggling to get hold of a few hundreds dollars whereas after his salesman days, he is suddenly playing with millions. A little hard to digest, isn’t it?</p> <p>In the end, it all boils down to what I took back from the book. No inspiration from the story, no memorable characters, no contemplating moments – in the end, there is nothing that I gained from this book. Chhibba’s debut book might not strike a chord with book lovers, so he has try harder next time.</p>Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-428792593556898122010-04-12T04:28:00.000-07:002010-04-12T04:29:55.360-07:00The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 335px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Reading intellectually stimulating books is one thing, but there is nothing like reading a crime thriller. The former is like watching a documentary on Vietnam war. You need to be attentive, lest you miss some minor point. The latter, on the other hand, is like watching a thriller movie in which it is okay if you missed the initial few scenes because the most important thing is the climax fight or the chase. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a crime thriller but you would not want to miss any part of the book because there is not a single, dull moment in the book.<br /><br />This book was originally written in Swedish and was named '<em>Män som hatar kvinnor', </em>literal translation means<em> 'Men who hate women'. </em>What a lame title! Thank Heavens someone had the brains to change the title of the English version, otherwise I would definitely not have picked this book to read. This book is part of a trilogy called Millennium trilogy. The author had an unexpected death just before his work was published. His books went on to become best-sellers and he did not live to see it!<br /><br />The first book in the trilogy is about Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, who is a freak in the social world. She keeps to herself and behaves in a way for the others to think she is mentally unwell. What the world does not know is that she is an investigator and a hacker par excellence. Mikhael Blomkvist loses his money and credibility in a libel case. When he decides to take a break from his role as publisher of the magazine, he gets hired for an unexpected but interesting task by Henrik Vanger. His assignment is to crack the murder mystery of Vanger's niece Harriet which occurred some forty years back. Harriet disappears one fine day and nobody has any trace of her after that day. Vanger is sure someone killed her and to mock him, the murderer sends him a birthday gift every year. Vanger's only aim in life is to track the murderer and make him pay for it. The book is about how Mikhael, along with Lisbeth, solves this mystery. The plot is set in a fictional place in Sweden.<br /><br />The book has a very promising start. With the first word, you are bang in the middle of all the action. The plot is interesting, to say the least. The author builds up an air of mystery around Harriet's disappearance and the reader so badly wants to know what on earth really happened to that girl. The main characters are believable, the most mysterious and interesting being Lisbeth. She comes across as innocent, yet shrewd. Her thoughts about how the world functions and her way of getting things she wants and how relationships work makes a very good read. You can't help but want to reach out and give her a hug. Blomkvist, according to me, comes across as plain. The protagonist of murder mysteries is usually a handsome hunk, who every living woman finds attractive and falls for, but not Blomkvist, atleast I didn't fall for him.<br /><br />Though the book is quite big, it moves really fast. The story is quick paced and the eagerness to solve the mystery will make you finish the book in one sitting. The plot, the way the mystery is solved and the twists involved are all great, but the reason for the crime is lame. Somehow, in the end when the mystery is solved, you will ask yourself 'What the heck!'. Larsson has a great story to tell but he should have made his murderer more believable. The motive is not strong enough. Nevertheless, a great book and a perfect one to pick up when you are done with something heavy and need a filler.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-68753082354906918022010-03-25T01:17:00.001-07:002010-03-25T01:33:30.890-07:00Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/outliers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 237px; height: 366px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/outliers.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Malcolm Gladwell is a well known author in the non-fiction book world. When his first book, <em>The Tipping Point, </em>came out in 2000, it took the world by surprise. Every book reader was reading and discussing this book. <em>Blink </em>was an even bigger influence on the book lovers. I read it to see what the big deal was and I remember that I wasn't all that impressed with it.<em> </em>When my brother recommended <em>Outliers </em>to me, I was skeptical. I didn't want to say no to him, but also wasn't eager to read this book. It was lying on my bookshelf all these days, patiently waiting for me to pick it up and the time finally came last week. On a whim, I just opened it and read the first page and I liked what I read so much that the current book went on the backburner and I started on <em>Outliers </em>right away.<br /><br />If you are new to Gladwell, the first thing you notice is the bookcover. There is something captivating about the simple white background and bold, black letters. The bookcover tempts you to read the book. Isn't that what a bookcover should do? Allison J. Warner, is the cover artist, if you want to appreciate the effort.<br /><br />Outliers looks at successful people and some not-so-successful people and analyzes them. Gladwell compares two individuals who have similar talent, similar IQ but one of them is successful while the other one is not and argues that the different is chance or opportunity. While one of them was given an opportunity, the other was not. Gladwell supports his theory by a lot of examples. These case studies make an interesting read. Gladwell tries to answer the question why Asians are good at math. His theory is interesting, to say the least. Not only does Gladwell talk about raw intelligence or IQ, he even says social skills - convincing and arguing ability are also important for success.<br /><br />In one chapter, he quotes a study which involved a set of kids from mixed background. It was observed that the kids from rich household were better at studies than the poorer ones. Gladwell talks about a special school for poor kids to train them and make them equal to their richer counterparts. He outlines a typical day in the life of a student in that school and it is disturbing to see that the kid doesn't have even a minute to play. All she does is wake up, run to school, study, get back home, do her homework and go to bed. Agreed that this is for her benefit so that she doesn't miss out on opportunities for being poor, but let the kids be kids, right? Let her play and enjoy her life. She might not score better grades, but she definitely will have a better life. And since when did grades start affecting success? Isn't success subjective? Anyways, this was a chapter which I found very disturbing. I sat there and imagined that little girl who has to go this special school and sacrifice her childhood for better grades and I felt like screaming at the top of my voice, "Are you freaking crazy?"<br /><br />The rest of the book is great. The chapter on Bill Gates and how hard work is an integral part of the path to success is conveyed very well. In the end, just talent and opportunities are not enough. One should utilize those opportunities and work hard.<br /><br />An interesting and thought-provoking book. A must read if you are even vaguely interested in this kind of non-fiction work.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-2756753603009578492010-03-10T02:41:00.000-08:002010-03-25T01:24:55.613-07:00The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/secret_garden.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 378px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/secret_garden.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><em>This book is part of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml" target="_blank">BBC’s Big Read – Top 100 books</a>.</em><br /></div><br />One is never too old to read children's books. I, for one, love children's books and movies. I enjoy reading comics and watching cartoons. It had been so long since I read a kids' book, that I greedily lapped up Frances Hodgson Burnett's <em>The Secret Garden</em> and enjoyed every word and letter.<br /><br />Mary Lennox, who is living in India with her parents, is sent to England to live with her maternal uncle after her parents die because of cholera. As a child, she is unhealthy, stubborn and queer. Her uncle, Mr. Craven, is another queer man who keeps to himself and avoids meeting anyone. His house has as many as hundreds of rooms, of which many are kept closed and are unused. Mary hears a story of how Mrs. Craven died after she fell from a tree in her garden and how Mr. Craven hates the garden for it and hence has kept it locked. He has buried the key and no one has entered this garden for ten years. Mary is thrilled with this idea of a secret garden and wants to see what is in it.<br /><br />While the plot is kiddish, the message the book conveys is not. The message that runs parallely along the story is that one needs to eat well and play well to be healthy. A main part of the story is about how a sick, unhealthy child learns to enjoy the life around. Nature has a strong presence in the book. Mary owes her health to her secret garden where as she plants the flowers, she grows along with the plants. Dickon, a country lad, is friends with all the wild animals and can even speak to a robin. If we all can learn to enjoy and respect the nature around us, we will have a healthier and a better life. The book is not patronizing. There are no messages passed on as wisdom. One just reads the story and realizes all these. After I finished reading this book, I couldn't help but smile and say to myself "Isn't life beautiful?"<br /><br />It is only right that the book talks about enjoying little things in life. Burnett, who was born in a poor family, knows what are the important things in life. Materialistic things like clothes, money, wealth and grandeur are things that Burnett feels are useless and hence get no mention in the book at all.<br /><br />This is one of the rare books which cater to minds of children and adults alike. Didn't someone say there is a child residing in everybody's heart? It is very difficult to try and please a variety of audience, but Burnett manages it with such ease. One can treat this book as a kids' book as well as a serious book which preaches ways of leading a happy life. No matter how you want to take it, it's a book worth reading. I so badly want to give this book to my son and say, "Read this now". I wish he was big enough.<br /><br />A legal copy of this book is <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/113" target="_blank">available online for free</a>.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-59490395140443639312010-03-07T21:19:00.000-08:002010-03-07T21:21:23.949-08:00Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Birdsongcopy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 400px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Birdsongcopy.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><em>This book is part of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml" target="_blank">BBC's Big Read - Top 100 books</a>.</em><br /><br />Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War is exactly that - a book about love and war. I had never heard of either the book or the author before I saw the BBC's Top 100 list. I would never read this book if not for this book being chosen as the Book of the Month for March by the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/30459.Ladies_Literary_League" target="_blank">Ladies' Literary League</a> on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>. I love these reading groups, lists and challenges - isn't these how we discover new authors and books? Even though the title had war in it, (I don't like war books, you see), I still started this book with a broad mind and a genuine wish to like this book. But I failed. This book was a disappointment for me.<br /><br />Birdsong is about Stephen, a hard-working, young boy who visits France to learn the trade of mills. He stays with the owner of the mill where he meets Isabelle, wife of the owner, and falls helplessly in love with her. Isabelle finds herself responding to Stephen's feelings and they end up having an affair right under the husband's nose. As it always happens, the husband comes to know of the affair and Isabelle draws enough courage to abandon her husband and her step-children to elope with Stephen. They settle down in a small place and start their life. I can't reveal more without spoiling it for the readers, so go and read the book to know what happens next.<br /><br />The book grabs your attention from the very first page. Even though there is a lot of action in the rest of the book, I lost my interest as the story progressed. I found the war scenes especially boring. Didn't I say I dislike fiction books on wars? Even the story that proceeds seemed implausible to me. The characters lacked depth. The romance of Stephen and Isabelle failed to draw any reaction from me. Isabelle's action needed justification. Stephen's reaction to Isabelle's actions should have been stronger. And the characters that are introduced later on (can't name them here) also were poorly developed and could have used some layers. The book should have been about just war or love - the mix of both somehow didn't work for me. Or the author didn't do it well. I liked <em>Atonement</em>, where Ian McIwan has the same ingredients - love and war and he has done a wonderful job of supporting the main love story in the backdrop of war.<br /><br />In the end, there is nothing I took back home from this book. No memorable characters, no quote-worthy lines, no 'wow' moment - nothing at all. I am not saying that people will not like this book. I am sure many readers will like this and praise this book. All I am saying is I didn't like this book.<br /><br /><em><br /></em>Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-45171633931530784412010-03-04T00:46:00.000-08:002010-03-04T00:48:08.986-08:00Changing Places by David Lodge<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/9780140046564.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 400px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/9780140046564.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>One fine day, when I was done with all the books borrowed from the library and didn't have anything tempting to read from my own collection, my friend lent me the book <em>A David Lodge Trilogy</em>. I had never heard of the author before, but was sure it will not disappoint me since I and my lending friend share similar tastes for books. The trilogy contains three books: Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lodge_%28author%29" target="_blank">David Lodge</a> is a British author and has more than 20 books to his credit. His latest book, <em>Deaf Sentence</em>, was released in 2008. His work, <em>Small World</em> and <em>Nice Work</em> were shortlisted for Booker prize and were made into television series later on. <em>How Far Can You Go?</em> won the Whitbread Book of the Year for 1980.<br /><br />Changing Places is about Philip Swallow, an academic working at Rummidge University and Morris Zapp, Professor and an expert on Jane Austen at Euphoria University. As part of their exchange program, these two gentlemen swap places and assume the job of the other. Swallow is excited with this as he gets an escape from his drudgery, his wife and his kids. He remembers the time when he visited America last and he looks forward to having a wonderful time alone at the States. Zapp, on the other hand, is already tired with his journey and has agreed to this only because his wife has agreed to postpone their divorce if he moves out of their house for six months.<br /><br />As the both of them settle down with their new jobs and surroundings, they also experience some amount of cultural shock. While Rummidge is a small, rural town where all the people live like one big, family, Zapp misses his night clubs and adventures. Swallow is overwhelmed with the freedom in Euphoria. Both the gentlemen end up having an affair with the other's wife. Some incidents and events in both the places make them want to stay on in their new place rather than go back to their previous lives.<br /><br />The initial pages of the book took me by surprise. The fine characterization, witty lines, sarcastic humor reminded me of Tom Robbins, another favorite (humor) author of mine. This is the best part of the book. The humor quotient of the book dips as the story progresses. Each chapter of the book is structured in a different way. While the first chapter is laid out like the usual prose, we see another chapter written out in the form of a play and yet another like a script. The author was bringing in some humor no doubt, but it didn't work for me. I felt the author was trying too hard. He should have stuck to the prose structure and tried to add more wit to his story. The book also ends in an ambiguous way where the story just stops abruptly and the reader is left to wonder what happened. I personally don't like stories which end up being happy ones just to please the readers. Any deviation from this is welcome.<br /><br />Another thing which I really liked about this book is the portrayal of cultural difference. Lodge, being British himself, has had the nerve to laugh at British and Americans alike. In the second chapter especially, where we see Swallow and Zapp settling down in their new places, the contrast that the author draws between the two characters and settings is amazing. Be it the lifestyle (Mrs. Swallow complains that Zapp visited her late at night where as it's just evening), culture (Mrs. Swallow is too polite to ask Zapp to leave), night life (Melanie and her parties), academic life (Swallow has not published any papers, yet he is a lecturer) - all these are so well brought out that I sometimes laughed at myself. I could see the similarities between our culture and the British and I just had to laugh and shake my head in amazement.<br /><br />At the end of the day, the question is do I recommend this book? I say yes. It's an entertaining book, not a thought-provoking one and serves its purpose of making people laugh. So, go ahead and read it.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-46641015094391897442010-03-01T02:33:00.000-08:002010-03-01T02:35:33.729-08:00The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President by P M Nair<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/1873_full_the_kalam_effect.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 384px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/1873_full_the_kalam_effect.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A P J Abdul Kalam is a name which draws attention and curiosity. While his own books <em>Wings of Fire, Ignited Minds, India 2020</em> became popular and were raved about, this book about him, written by his secretary failed to make any news. Nevertheless, the book drew my attention and I read it in one sitting.<br /><br />The book states its goals very clearly. It is not meant to be Kalam's biography or his journey in life. It is about P M Nair's experience of working closely with Kalam for those five years when Kalam served as the 11th President of India between 2002 to 2007. It is not about how Kalam was born or what a troubled childhood he had or how he became a scientist. This book is about Kalam, the President, through Nair's eyes.<br /><br />Nair has a great respect for Kalam and it shows. He points out Kalam's generosity, child like innocence and the dream he had for India. He set out to make a mark as the President in his five-year tenure. He made a mark and how! The book talks about many incidents to showcase Kalam's nature.<br /><br />Don't we all read about Pratibha Patil going on foreign tours, one after the other, accompanied by her <del>village</del> family? Here is a change in the scene. When Kalam's extended family paid him a visit at his presidential house, Kalam ensured that not a penny from the government was used. He spent 2.5 lakhs on his family's expenditure - cars, hotels, tours, food. Doesn't that show this man's integrity? Nair jots down many incidents like this which makes you respect Kalam even more.<br /><br />Nair is quick to point out certain qualities which Kalam should work on. Kalam's punctuality (the lack of it) is something that annoyed Nair and no matter how much he tried, Kalam never changed his ways. Kalam's innocence, which the entire world knew about and took advantage of, put Nair in trouble sometimes. People would write to Kalam to give them jobs, education and money or else they will commit suicide. Kalam was genuinely moved by these letters and would ask Nair to fulfill the people's wishes.<br /><br />There are tidbits like this which give us a glimpse of Kalam and the man he was. Bush's visit to India, Musharraf's visit, Mohammad Afzal's pardon plea, Sonia Gandhi's prime ministerial candidate - all these find a mention in the book.<br /><br />While the book is interesting to read, it doesn't leave you better than what you were when you picked up the book. You know a few more things about Kalam, but what's the use of that? Narrating an incident is not enough. One should narrate it in a way that the reader gets inspired and that is not one of Nair's skills. The book is bland in its form, but rich in content. If you really want to know about Kalam, isn't it better to read books written by him than about him? I am indifferent to this book. No recommendations, no dissuasion.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-54656681298323710582010-02-28T21:03:00.000-08:002010-02-28T21:05:43.378-08:00It’s not about the bike: Lance Armstrong<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Armstrong.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 323px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Armstrong.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>A serious reader could not have missed hearing about this book. It has been making news ever since it has been written. I too heard of it but never felt the urge to pick it up and read it. On my recent library visit, I picked this book up for lack of any other choice. I am glad I did it because this was one inspirational read I have done since a long time. <p>The book is written by Lance Armstrong, a cyclist. It is about his fight against cancer and survival. The author was diagnosed with cancer just when he was at the peak of his career. He was at the advanced stage and had to undergo multiple surgeries and multiple sessions of chemotherapy. The surgeries and chemotherapy drained out the last ounce of energy from his body and left him almost dead. He bounced back and entered the Tour de France and won it and went on to win three more of them. This book is his journey from diagnosis of cancer and his winning the Tour de France.</p> <p>Armstrong could have easily adapted a tone of feeling sorry to win the sympathy of the world. Instead, he puts up a brave face and wants the world to be motivated by his fight. For Armstrong, the focus is on the fight and the ultimate bouncing back rather than the cancer and the suffering. This I feel is the best part of the book. The tone of the book is one of courage and not of self-pity. This is what made the book work for me.</p> <p>The book starts with Armstrong’s childhood. He talks about his father abandoning his mother and how his mother struggled to run the house and pay his fees. Armstrong shares a strong bond with his mother and that is evident from the very beginning. They understand each other very well and you wish you had that kind of relationship with your mom. The book goes on to trace Armstrong’s journey as an amateur cyclist and his turning pro. It takes an emotional turn when Armstrong is diagnosed with cancer. His surgeries, his chemotherapy sessions, the way he and his mom read and read about cancer to gain knowledge in order to fight it out – all this makes for a motivating read. The book continues about his recuperation and his decision to get back to professional racing, his wavering between states of self-confidence and depression. There is even a detailed section on IVF, where Armstrong talks openly about his experience.</p> <p>The book was easy and quick to read. This may not the best book I have read, but it will remain in my memory for a long time. If you are going through a low phase in your life and need some pepping up, this is the book for you.</p>Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-11907202397122181412009-10-06T08:35:00.000-07:002009-10-06T08:36:15.903-07:00The Book Thief : Markus Zusak<div style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/book-thief-2.jpg" alt="" height="318" width="212" /><br /></div><br />This book is, hands down, the best book I have read in 2009 so far. Considering the number of days left in this year and the amount of time I get to read these days, this book might remain the best book of the year.<br /><br />What is the book about? Here is what the publishers say:<br /><blockquote>It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .<br /><br />Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.<br /><br />This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.</blockquote><br />Words - written and spoken - are central to the book. This book is unusual in many ways. One, the structure of the book is something I have never seen earlier. It is broken up into chapters based on the books that the protagonist steals. Two, the narrator of the book is also unusual. I don't want to reveal it here because I don't want to deprive you of the thrill you get when you discover for yourself. Three, the actual idea of putting a book thief in the middle of Nazi Germany in 1940s - who would have thought? The good thing is it works really well. The author maintains the gravity required to describe the burning Germany and the humor and the wit required to captivate the readers.<br /><br />I just loved the writing style. It is witty and humorous. Sometimes it is the kind of humor where you are laughing at yourself, unknowingly. I am guessing the author loves colors. He uses colors to describe almost all scenes in the book. In fact, the book starts colors. There were many sentences and paragraphs which made me stop reading and think. Some got a chuckle out of me and some disturbed me. I wish I had made a note of some so that I could quote here. Google came to the rescue and here are some.<br /><blockquote>First the colours.<br />Then the humans.<br />That’s usually how I see things.<br />Or at least, how I try.</blockquote><br /><blockquote>The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness.</blockquote><br /><blockquote>…For some reason, dying men always ask questions they know the answer to. Perhaps it’s so they can die being right.</blockquote><br /><blockquote>For now, Rudy and Liesel made their way onto Himmel Street in the rain.<br />He was the crazy one who had painted himself black and defeated the world.<br />She was the book thief without the words.<br />Trust me, though, the words were on their way, and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like the rain.</blockquote><br /><blockquote>“… it was raining on Himmel Street when the world ended for Liesel Meminger.<br />The sky was dripping.<br />Like a tap that a child has tried its hardest to turn off but hasn’t quite managed.”</blockquote><br />If I could, I would quote the entire book here, that's how much I liked it. Why did I like the book? The writing was what got me initially. The story will tug at your heart. And the characters - Liesel and Rudy and Max and the Hubermanns - each one of them will remain with me for a long time. What I will never forget though, is the narrator.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-83065581464435248062009-09-24T07:59:00.000-07:002009-09-24T08:00:31.478-07:00A Sleeping and a Forgetting : William Dean Howells<div style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/sleepandforgetting.jpg" alt="" height="312" width="223" /><br /></div><br />I won this book in a <a href="http://theasylum.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/art-of-the-novella-giveaway/" target="_blank">giveaway</a> hosted by John Self. I have been following his blog since a long time now and find his reviews insightful. He is one of those readers who doesn't stop at just 'I liked it' or 'I hated it', but goes on to tell us what the book is actually about so that we can decide for ourselves whether to read the book or not.<br /><br />Melville Hose Publishing has come out with a series 'The Art of the Novella' in which they aim to publish short fiction or novella - too short to be a novel, too long to be a short story. All the books in the series have the same plain yet attractive cover. These are small, weightless books which can fit into your bag or purse and can keep you engrossed for an hour.<br /><br />This novella is about a woman who witnesses her mother's death and is so shocked at the incident that she stays unconscious for a few days and when she wakes up from it, she doesn't remember the incident. The shock damages her memory and she forgets people, names, faces and incidents. A doctor starts treating her at her father's request. The rest of the book is about the doctor's interactions with the patient and this is the best part of the book. I found myself thinking about the exchanges between the doctor and the woman about dreams, reality, memory, character, identity and so on. One particular passage that I found really interesting:<br /><blockquote>He had always said to himself that there could be no persistence of personality, of character, of identity, of consciousness, except through memory; yet here, to the last implication of temperament, they all persisted. The soul that was passing in its integrity through time without the helps, the crutches, of remembrance by which his own personality supported itself, why should not it pass so through eternity without that loss of identity which was equivalent to annihilation?</blockquote><br />The passage might not seem relevant here, but works really well in the book.<br /><br />I have to sincerely thank John for two things. One, for hosting the giveaway and two, for introducing me to W.D.Howells. If not for the giveaway, I would have never discovered this author. The book was like a treat - short and sweet. It was entertaining as well as thought provoking. If only I could get hold of more books from this series - don't know how many more gems it holds.<br /><br />PS: This novella is <a href="http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/14258/" target="_blank">available online</a>.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-39953444199135746162009-09-24T00:03:00.000-07:002009-09-24T00:05:03.267-07:00The Lovely Bones : Alice Sebold<div style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/lovely_bones.jpg" alt="" height="286" width="190" /><br /></div><br />Almost everybody on my book forum was raving about this, so I had to read it to know what all the hype was about. It often happens that a hyped book fails to impress me and this is so true about this book.<br /><br />The Lovely Bones is about Susie Salmon, who is raped and murdered by her neighbor. She goes to heaven and looks at Earth and narrates the story about her murder and her family's plight after her death. The cops are unable to locate her body, but even though Susie knows where it is, she doesn't have the power to reveal its location to those on Earth. The book traces the lives of Susie's family, her friends and her murderer for a few years post Susie's death.<br /><br />I loved the character of Susie's father but her mother irritated me. I feel her actions were not justified. Another character, Ruana Singh, Susie's friend's mother is mysteriously interesting - was it intentional or the author just left out certain parts about this character? Susie's grandmom is another person who stays with you for sometime.<br /><br />The book grabs you from the first page. The initial few pages are disturbing, that is where Susie describes her rape and murder. It is more so disturbing because the tone of the narrator is very plain, emotionless. The pace dips a bit somewhere in the middle of the book and I lost interest there. I could see what was coming and that bored me.<br /><br />What I liked most about this book is the author's take on the heaven. She uses her imagination to create what heaven could be like and after you read her version, you feel that is exactly how heaven should be. I liked the storyline, but felt the author could have done better than this. Many people will disagree, so be it.<br /><br />It is not a must-read, but it is a nice book if you don't have anything compelling to read.<br /><br /><em style="font-style: italic;">PS: The book is going to made into <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380510/" target="_blank">a movie</a>. It will be interesting to see how heaven is picturized</em><span style="font-style: italic;">!</span>Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-34105258051984532792009-09-11T04:13:00.000-07:002009-09-11T04:15:27.396-07:00<strong>Song:</strong> Bade Achhe Lagte Hain<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Movie:</span> Balika vadhu (1976)<br /><strong>Music Director:</strong> R D Burman<br /><strong>Singer(s):</strong> Amit Kumar<br /><strong>Lyrics:</strong> Anand Bakshi<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/Music/balika_badhu.jpg" alt="" height="318" width="318" /><br /></div><br />When you want to express your love in simple words, this is the song you should sing. There is no mincing words here, everything is straight and to the point - bade achhe lagte hain. These simple words make this song a favorite with lovers. The singer, Amit Kumar, son of the versatile singer Kishore Kumar, sounds so much like his father that it is no surprise many people think this song has been sung by Kishoreda himself. Music is by Panchamda. Anand Bakshi has penned the words. The song is from Balika Badhu (no connection whatsoever with the Avika Gor starrer television series Balika Vadhu), which has Sachin Pilgaonkar in the lead. Sounds like an interesting movie. It is on my TBW (To Be Watched) list. If anyone has watched this movie, do let me know what you think.<br /><br /><em>This post is part of the <a href="http://saregama.wordpress.com/tag/sotw/" target="_blank">Song of the Week</a> series.</em>Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-30757262669230903622009-09-09T22:47:00.000-07:002009-09-09T22:50:44.581-07:00The Angel's Game: Carlos Ruiz Zafon<div style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/theangelsgame.jpg" alt="" height="310" width="226" /><br /></div>After thoroughly enjoying Carlos Ruiz Zafon's <em>Shadow of the Wind</em>, I couldn't wait to read his next book. Though his works are available in Spanish, not all of them are translated to English. The first to be translated was <em>Shadow of the Wind</em> and the next one was <em>The Angel's Game</em>, both of them translated by Lucia Graves. I wonder when the next will be out.<br /><br /><em>The Angel's Game</em> is similar to <em>Shadow of the Wind</em> in many ways. They both have literature at the core and deal with characters reappearing from the past. And they both have Cemetery of Forgotten Books. The protagonist of <em>The Angel's Game</em>, David Martin, is a writer who writes crime thriller series under a pseudonym. He is commissioned to write a novel on religion by a mysterious publisher, Andreas Corelli, who is supposed to have died decades earlier. As David starts uncovering the mystery behind Corelli, he learns a few secrets about his own life. If the last sentence reads like a line out of the back cover of the book, well, that's the best I can do. I don't want to include anything here that might turn out to be a spoiler.<br /><br />A dark tower house with spirits, dead people appearing, a witch, disguised identities and a love story in the middle of all this - the book has all the ingredients that make this an entertaining read, although I didn't like <em>The Angel's Game</em> as much as I did the first book. One, the book was too long. I think the author tried to include a lot of things in one book. <a href="http://www.wbqonline.com/feature.do?featureid=345">Zafon says in his interview</a> that he initially planned to include four stories in a single book titled '<em>The Shadow of the Wind</em>'. But when he realized that the book is going to be huge, he decided to make four books out of it and call the series 'The Cemetery of Forgotten Books'. Another complaint about this book is, I feel the author hasn't tied up all the loose strings. When you finish reading a mystery book, you should get the feeling of a job well done. I didn't get that feeling here. It was as if the book ended too abruptly. And the epilogue is so silly, I don't know why it was even part of the book.<br /><br />I wouldn't highly recommend this book, but if you are into mysteries and crime thrillers, this book will not be a complete waste of time.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-3158784898728169062009-09-03T23:10:00.000-07:002009-09-03T23:11:58.377-07:00SOTW: Rail Gaadi<strong>Song of the week: </strong>Rail Gaadi<br /><strong>Movie:</strong> Ashirwad (1968)<br /><strong>Music Director:</strong> Vasant Desai<br /><strong>Singer(s):</strong> Ashok Kumar<br /><strong>Lyrics:</strong> Harindranath Chattopadhyay<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/Music/post-15463-1234202852.jpg" alt="" height="140" width="160" /><br /></div><br />While the whole country is celebrating Teacher's Day, I would like to dedicate this song to all the little kids. This is one of those children songs which is enjoyed by the small and the big alike. The first time I heard this song, I was laughing my head off. I didn't know that such an entertaining song existed and more importantly couldn't believe that it was sung by Ashok Kumar. Dadamoni and singing? And for kids?<br /><br />Dadamoni has packed a lot of energy in his singing. That part where he is ringing the bell for the train is so sincere. The <a href="http://smriti.com/hindi-songs/aao-bachchon-khel-dikhaaye-...-rel-gaadii" target="_blank">lyrics of the song</a> is great - you hear the names of a lot of stations.<br /><br />The song is from the movie Ashirwad, which I know nothing about. I plan to watch the movie even it is just for this song and another one which is quite similar, <a href="http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/hindi_bollywood/s/movie_name.87/" target="_blank">Naani ki naav chali</a>. This being a Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie, it will be a good watch.<br /><br />There is some confusion over the lyricist of this song. <a href="http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/hindi_bollywood/s/movie_name.87/" target="_blank">Music India Online </a>lists Gulzar as the lyricist, but the album I have 'Remembering Hrishikesh Mukherjee' has Harindranath Chattopadhyay as the lyricist and <a href="http://www.earthmusic.net/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/nuts/search.cgi?song=rail+gaadi+rail+gaadi+beechwaale+station+bole+rukruk+rukruk" target="_blank">Earth Music</a> agrees with this.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-48272084373947076722009-09-03T22:26:00.001-07:002009-09-03T22:28:10.487-07:00Paths of Glory – Jeffrey Archer<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Paths_of_glory.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 265px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/BookCovers/Paths_of_glory.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Paths of Glory is a fictionalized account of George Mallory, a mountaineer who tried to conquer the Mount Everest in 1924, but nobody knows whether he succeeded because he died during that attempt. It is not confirmed whether Mallory died on the way down (which makes him the first man to have scaled Mount Everest) or on the way up. Many people believe that Mallory died before he climbed the highest point. Jeffrey Archer thinks otherwise. A newspaper in New Zealand called <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2263259/Jeffrey-Archers-insult-to-Sir-Ed">Archer’s book an insult to Sir Edmund Hillary</a>, who is hailed as the first man to reach the top of the world.<br /><br />This book is Archer’s take on this mystery. The book opens with the discovery of Mallory’s body on the mountain, so there is no need to guess the hero’s fate later in the book. Archer builds up readers’ confidence in Mallory by depicting him as a man with special skills. He shows Mallory as a courageous kid who doesn’t know what fear means. He portrays Mallory’s character in such a way that it is hard for the readers to believe that Mallory can fail at anything.<br /><br />Keeping the mystery and the controversies aside, this book is an entertaining read. Archer is a wonderful story teller and knows how he should paint his characters so as to please his readers. He knows when to end a chapter to ensure that the reader hops onto the next one without any interval. I have always liked Archer for his gift of engaging his readers in an entertaining story with interesting characters. Reading Archer is like watching a Hindi masala movie – quick, entertaining and thrilling. This might not be the best book of Jeffrey Archer, but it still is a good book to read.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-83174624626105619932008-09-09T23:17:00.000-07:002008-09-09T23:18:00.037-07:00An innocent remarkThe Thackeray vs. Bachchans saga is back to bite us again. Just when Raj Thackeray was barred from making any public speeches and just when peace was prevailing, Mrs. Jaya Bachchan had to go out and put her foot in the mouth.<br /><br />For those of you who don't know (and that is possible only if you have not switched on the television even for a minute in the last few days. Every channel is doing a special on this and you couldn't have missed it otherwise), Jaya Madam was on stage for the music release of her son's movie 'Drona' and she went ahead and said 'Hum UP ke log hain, hum Hindi mein baat karenge. Maharashtra ke log hume maaf karde' (We will talk in Hindi because we are from UP. Maharashtrians, please excuse us). Raj Thackeray promptly took offence and demanded an apology. Madamji did give an apology saying 'it was an innocent remark'. Any fool worth a 2-cents brain can make out that her statement was anything but innocent. Her remark was intentional and was uncalled for. All she had to do was say a few good things about her son and his movie and go back home in peace. But no, she had to take a dig at Mr.Thackeray.<br /><br />While these big stalwarts taunt one another and nurse their egos, they forget a very important thing - that they are in the public eye and anything they do affects the common man. Jaya can get away with this statement. She can be safe in the comfort of her house with police protection. What about those pani-puri thelewalas and taxi drivers and paanwalas? Those non-Maharashtrians have to bear the brunt of Jaya's 'innocent remark'.<br /><br />No, I don't support what Thackeray is doing. What happened to the common people on the streets of Maharashtra was definitely wrong. Mumbai is the commercial capital of India and you can't expect only 'Marathi' speaking people to stay here. Asking for boards to be put up in Marathi or to make teaching Marathi compuslory in schools - all that is fine. But beating up paanwaalas is not the solution.<br /><br />That being said I don't think Bachchans are any better. The Bachchan family has made Mumbai their home for decades now. They earn their name, fame and money in this city. Still, UP is so close to their heart, Big B goes and does an ad for his beloved friend Amar Singh saying 'UP mein dum hai kyun ki jurm yahan kam hai'. If you can have such undying love for your state, why do you object to Thackeray's views? And after you saw the massacre that took place just a few days ago, you had to make that statement?<br /><br />I don't know who will have the last laugh in this war. But those who are crying are the movie producers and distributors. And the common man. So, Jayaji, next time you make 'an innocent statement', think about those innocent people on street who have to suffer because of you.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-2322230237711917522008-08-21T04:44:00.000-07:002008-08-21T04:45:34.881-07:00Freedom and Independence?My decision to quit work after having a baby has got mixed responses. Most of the older generation women are extremely supportive and are beaming with pride that their daughter or grand daughter has taken this bold decision. Few of the girls of my age (cousins, friends) are happy too. They say they wish they could likewise. Some of them are paying heavy EMIs against their home loans and can no way afford to quit. There is this other group which is totally against my decision. On interrogation they come up with comments like ‘Baby is not the only thing in your life. Why are you ending your personal life for the baby?’ and ‘You will lose your independence and freedom’ and ‘You will not have any personal life. You will be a mom slave’. I don’t have an answer for them, and I don’t really have to convince them, so I just smile at the comments and change the topic.<br /><br />I have never had a dilemma. Even before I got married and started thinking about a kid, I always knew I want to stay at home with my baby. Luckily, I found an agreeing partner in my husband. He was totally happy with my opinion but left the final decision to me. He never pressurized me or influenced me. Since there was no doubt in my mind, I resigned even before I reached the third trimester. Till date, I haven’t regretted the decision. Things might change once the baby is here, but let’s cross the bridge when we come to it.<br /><br />I recently visited my Uncle’s house in a tiny town called Koppa. I was born and brought up in a village and hence like the country side a lot. I instantly took to the place and it brought back my childhood memories. My Uncle works as a Manager in a relatively new sugar factory. When my Uncle joined this factory, the factory quarters was literally like a forest. Trees and dried grass everywhere and lots of snakes. Nobody took the initiative to make the place a bit more habitable. All the women continued with their rant, but did nothing. Until the Chief Officer (something like CEO) came along. CO’s wife (as she is addressed by everyone) was the one who transformed the place. Every single day, she would gather a bunch of workers and get the place cleaned. The trees and grass were cut, the ground was cleaned. She built fences around and planted banana, chiku, jackfruit and coconut trees. Not only did the snakes intrusion dwindle, the whole quarters was enjoying ‘home grown’ banana, coconut and jackfruit. Why am I mentioning this? Is there a connection between this lady and my decision? There is one.<br /><br />The CO’s wife was married off very young. She had kids even before she could appreciate motherhood. She was only 32 when her first daughter was married off. She now has many kids, grand kids and great grand kids. She recently stayed in the US for a few months to assist in her grand daughter’s delivery. I don’t know if she is literate, but I doubt it. For any city-bred, educated, working woman, this lady’s life is a sad story. She doesn’t have any freedom. Really? Is that how it is? The lady is strong minded, thinks and acts independendtly. She didn’t follow the other ladies footsteps and continue to rant. Instead, she chose to act. She didn’t need her husband’s guidance or other women’s support. She did all this single handedly. If this is not freedom, what is? She has her own personal life in which she does what she likes. Does she have a paying job? No. On the other hand, I know many working women who can’t even buy vegetables on their own. They have to depend on their spouses to fill their kitchen with vegetables and grocery. Is she independent? No. Is she working? Yes.<br /><br />I am not justifying my decision, but I am pointing at the wrong assumption we all have. Freedom does not come from being in a paying job. One may achieve finanicial independence if the husband doesn’t snatch the wife’s salary away. But, is finanical independence enough? It’s time we identify the difference. Freedom is a state of mind. If you ‘feel’ free, you are. Having one’s own personal life is a side effect of that. If you start thinking independently, keeping yourself apart from the family, you will have your own personal life.<br /><br />Look at your mother. I am sure atleast half of us think that our mothers are more independent than we are. I surely do.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-9292213580267412082008-08-21T04:43:00.000-07:002008-08-21T04:44:22.584-07:00Better - Atul GawandeThe review is <a href="http://mybookshelf.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/better-atul-gawande/">here</a>.Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-68870308607402817012008-07-25T00:30:00.000-07:002008-07-25T00:33:13.487-07:00The ViewWe moved to a new house recently. The main reason for moving was to get some peace in the house. Our earlier house, though small and sweet, had serious problems of neighbors. They used to be up the entire night watching TV and talking loudly over the phone. Request and arguments did not make any difference. That is when we decided to move to the adjacent block and this time our requirement was simple. Forest facing, corner flat. If you are wondering what this forest is, it is a 'mini-forest' as it is famously called. You can get a glimpse of it on Google Earth. Finally we did find a flat that met our requirements and additionally, it also has a beautiful view of the forest from the hall and the balcony. Though the rent is on the higher side than we wished for, we took the plunge.<br /><br />Since it is a corner flat, there is abundant light and air. It has three balconies, so I can increase my stock of plants. We have reserved one balcony as the hobby balcony. This is where I do most of my knitting these days. The view of the forest from this balcony is lovely. There is total peace here, except for the crows, sparrows, cuckoos and squirrels. No, squirrels don't make noise, but they visit us often to see if I have kept some nuts for them, you know, just in case. I had put out some dates in the sun to dry and after a few days, there was not even one left! I keep a diya for the tulasi and one squirrel promptly comes every day and sucks out the oil in it. It has a schedule - every single day it comes at the same time. I wonder how these animals keep track of time. Advanced biological clock?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/Misc/Plant.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/Misc/Plant.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Thanks to the light and air, my plants are doing very well here. We bought this plant 3 years back hoping to see lovely flowers on it. No such luck until we moved to this house. It has a beautiful pink flower now and the plant looks much healthier.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/Misc/Flower.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/Misc/Flower.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />And this is the beautiful view from our hall balcony. It is all green as far as you can see. With yesterday's rain and today's cloudy weather, the view is breath taking.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/Misc/View.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg12/anaamica/Misc/View.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I know, this post is too personal for my taste. I have been staying at home since a week now (that is fodder for another post) and have been enjoying every single moment and I wanted to gloat! This bliss is partly because of the isolation and the peace that this house provides. And did I mention the view?Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32506809.post-65343791215022720452008-07-11T05:23:00.000-07:002008-07-14T05:50:56.350-07:00Citibank and its so called customer service<div class="entry"> <div class="snap_preview"><p>We all have heard enough about how banks come up with creative ways to cheat customers. Be it hiding the annual fee clause from the customer or sending an unasked for, unwanted credit card to a customer AND charge an annual fee over it! Yeah, these banks put any artist to shame. I am just adding two more things to the never ending list of Citibank’s tricks.</p> <p><strong>1. Suvidha account points redemption</strong></p> <p>I had accrued quite a few Suvidha usage points in the last year. Before I could redeem those, they lapsed in March. When I called the customer service, I was given a prompt answer that points lapse in March. Why wasn’t I informed about it before hand? No answer. I pledged to take revenge by redeeming the points next year. So, this year, promptly in March, I redeemed those points and was left with a few ‘chillar’ of 20 points. I was expecting these to lapse by the end of the month, but guess what, they didn’t lapse. Another phone to their customer service and I am informed that the leftover points after redemption are carried forward. This is insane! Unredeemed points lapse but left over points are carried forward? Who made this rule? What is the logic behind this?</p> <p><strong>2. Debit card renewal fee</strong></p> <p>We have all heard about lifetime free credit cards, but did you know that Citibank will charge an annual fee of Rs. 99 on your debit card from July 2008 onwards? I was given this wonderful news when I called to order a debit card. I asked the customer care executive what is the logic behind offering free credit cards and not free debit cards? He obviously did not have an answer so I answered for him. Customers can survive without a credit card, but they cannot access their account or use the ATM without a debit card. Citibank knows this well and hence can take advantage of this by charging an annual fee on debit cards. The customer care executive was really shaken by this and asked me to complain “if I am not satisfied with this situation” by sending a mail to indiaservice@citicorp.com.</p> <p>My mail may not result in the wakening of the Citibank executive’s conscience and the eventual cancellation of the debit card annual fee, but I surely will send a mail. If you care about your 99 bucks which Citibank is snatching right under your nose, then you too send a mail. Remember, it is not about the money.</p> </div> </div>Anamikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09286888421440807348noreply@blogger.com0