Embroideries
********
On the scale of 10
Gossip!
Marjane Satrapi does it again. Yes, I am her fan, therefore you may call this a biased review. After an intriguing political commentary in Persepolis, the woman returns with a gossip session that every woman and most men are bound to enjoy.
Embroideries is a set of tales told by Iranian women of all ages to each other, over even tea. Women from different walks of life get together and talk about men they have lived with and through. How they have hopped marriages, faked verginity, cheated, or been cheated with. The tales are short, witty, and crisp. The art, as usual, is astounding; its simple, black and white, and totally illustrative. No jazz, just the essence of the story.
Go pick up the book and enjoy. Also, you HAVE to find out what Embroidery means in this context. You’ll love it, promise.
5/15/2006
Postmortem
Mystery never gets better than this!
Postmortem is Patricia Cornwell’s debut novel and a brilliant one at that. Cornwell stuns the reader by her eloquent and visual descriptions on the scenery and moments. She makes you doubt the genre of the novel by in-depth description of emotions and then she slowly dissolves all of these into the background - a wonderful background of a gripping and thrilling mystery. Crime fiction was never so facile.
Postmortem is the first book in the series of Dr. Kay Scarpetta mysteries. Dr. Scarpetta is the chief medical examiner for the commonwealth of Virginia and investigates crimes with help of her medical expertise.
Cornwell’s flawless subject knowledge had me impressed. Not only is she fully informed about the medical nitty-gritty but also about any other thing she cares to use in her story, a good example in Postmortem is her knowledge of SQL database. What makes Postmortem different for other crime fiction is the effective use of a background story that has nothing to do with the mystery but is so well knit that it doesn’t distract.
A woman gets murdered every Friday. There is a pattern. The sadistic pleasure is apparent from medical reports. But there is nothing common between these women. How does the killer pick them? The city cannot sleep on Fridays until this unidentifiable murderer is unveiled. No, the plot is not clichéd even if the above lines make you think so, mainly because the mystery is presented from the point of view of the medical examiner who studies the victims. Pick this up and you will be tempted to follow the entire series.
4/21/2006
Memoirs of a Geisha
*********
(On the scale of 10)
Enchanting. Erotic. Devastating. Fascinating.
When I finished reading this book, there were two things that I found tough to digest. First, Memoirs is Arthur Golden’s first book. Second, Sayuri, the protagonist, is an invented character.
Memoirs of a Geisha is the most absorbing book I have read in months.
Golden, an American, has done a brilliant job of describing Japan as it was back in 1920’s and during the World War II. Memoirs is a story of young girl, daughter of a poor Japanese fisherman, whose life takes an unprecedented turn when her mother falls sick and her father agrees to sell his two daughters in the hope of their better future. The little girl called Chiyo finds herself in an okiya in the town of Kyoto, in the Geisha district called Goin. Hereafter begins her struggle to survive in the world of beauty, greed, lovelessness, cheating, manipulation, and revenge. At nine, Chiyo finds herself repulsed by her new surroundings and tries her best to get back to her little fishermen village. With time, she learns to accept her circumstances and then after an intriguing meeting with a gentleman, she decides to become a geisha. Geisha is an artisan and it is not easy to be one. Little Chiyo, who grows to become the famous geisha Sayuri, suffers innumerable hardships each day of her life in the hope to meet the intriguing gentleman again.
The beauty of the book is not so much in the story, which frankly is that of every second soap opera, but of the detailed description of the lifestyle of a geisha and of the ancient Japan. Golden’s attention to detail and knowledge of Japanese culture and history has to be marveled. The descriptions are so deep and intense that I refuse to believe that Golden never knew a Sayuri even after reading the author’s note clearly stating the fact. Golden uses fascinating analogies from protagonist’s past and future to describe her present feelings. The poetic thoughts of Sayuri are also a pleasure to read.
I highly recommend this book. If you have seen the movie, let me tell you…it does not even begin to compare with the book. The depth of the story and the characters is lost in the movie. And this I say, when I actually enjoyed watching it. However, trying to compare the two would be like comparing a peacock’s rain dance with a sparrow hopping around the bird feeder.
4/17/2006
How to be Good
I am a good person. I am a doctor. – Katie Carr
Nick Hornby won my heart (for the third time over) by describing a woman’s blurred mind so perfectly! Well, the protagonist was confused but the description of her confusion was nonetheless perfect. How to be Good is a story of a family from the point of view of the wife. She is the only real character in the book. Other characters are there for support, they enable her to grow and develop and change, but in themselves they are all cardboard characters.
Katie finds herself in bed with a guy just because she is bored of her life. She blames her husband for it. She thinks she wants a divorce but it is just a passing thought. The husband, who at present is the angriest man in the district, realizes his fault in pushing Katie into someone else’s arms and decides to be good as well. Only his idea of being good differs from that of Katie’s.
Hornby uses sarcasm in a brilliant fashion to tell the tale of an ordinary woman caught in a not-so-ordinary situation. The whole book rides on her guilt of having a very short and meaningless affair. The premise of the story is hilarious and oozing with overbearing goodness. However, there is not much meat to the story. It is all very situational and moments-based, which, by the way, I like. This snide tale of a married woman made me rethink about my beliefs about marriage. If a book can do that, it has to be good; Says I.
If you like Nick Honrby, pick up this book. If you have never read him before, read High Fidelity and then, pick up this book.
3/17/2006
The Wallflower
****
(On the scale of 10)
Itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny silly light-deprived girl, we all called Wallflower!
Okay, that’s some crappy poetry, agreed but Wallflower is a kind of book that can get you started on Manga. It tells the story of an extremely weird and awkward teenager called Sunako, who lives in her own shell and takes pride in looking ugly. When she is forced to share a house with four charming young boys, her life becomes hell. The four stylish boys want to turn her into a lady and forfeit paying the rent to Sunako’s aunt.
Pick up the book to experience Manga, especially if you are a girl who is even remotely interested in comics. The art is very curious; it changes with angles and perception. As usual, it is drawn in black and white. And, it is always fun to read a book backwards. Go for it. A very simple Manga that can open a whole new world of graphic-storytelling for ya!
The Fifth Mountain
*******
(On the scale of 10)
Paulo Coelho’s books have this unique quality that I call simple profoundness.
The Fifth Mountain is a spiritual fiction that tells the story of prophet Elijah from the bible. In his trademark uncomplicated manner, Coelho talks of the deep philosophy of destiny, doubts, and discoveries in an introspective struggle of the protagonist. Elijah, a young man pronounced to be a prophet, flees his country to avoid being killed by Jezebal, the beautiful princess from Akbar married to the King of Israel, who has ordered her soldiers to slaughter all those who refuse to give up their one God in the name of Bal, the God of Akbar. Coelho tells the tale of the prophet’s discovery of his strength, his weaknesses, love, faith, and the supreme power.
As usual, one finds various nuggets of wisdom within the pages of the books. A few favorites are:
- If you have a past that dissatisfies you, then forget it now.
- A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.
- Sadness does not last forever when we walk in the direction of that which we always desired.
What fascinates me about this book is the fact that this is not the kind of book that interests me. I am neither into philosophy nor into religious sermons. I am not even sure I agree with the author’s belief most of the time. All the same, Coelho’s writing is so gripping that one finds oneself mesmerized into reading the whole book. For the simple pleasure of smooth and easy-flowing words, I’d probably pick up yet another book by the author.
2/25/2006
The Diary of Adam and Eve
********
(on the scale of 10)
Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus!
Brilliant! The master storyteller recreates the first days of Adam and Eve’s descend on this planet. Mark Twain’s incomparable wit and his impressive understanding of differences between functioning of the two genders makes this classic what it is – A Classic.
Twain has written this book in two parts, first as Adam’s diary when he first found himself on earth and then, the same events in Eve’s voice. The stark difference in the behaviors of the two is both humorous and awe inspiring. You thought that you, a millennium girl, faced problems with men? Think again, you daughter of Eve. The first mother has gone through each of those vexations that you find yourself struggling with. Men have always been (and going by this logic, will always remain) their unsentimental self.
Every sentence of this diary is mirthful and recommended for all, regardless of whether you are a son of Adam or a daughter of Eve. Precious.
Sisters
****
(on the scale of 10)
The tale of the rich and the flamboyant!
Sisters is a typical Shobha De tale, masala maar ke. True to her style, De portrays the life of Indian high society with minute details. It is a story of two illegitimate sisters brought together by one tragedy after another. The sisters, in a typical movie style, are the prettiest and the sexiest girls in town. The men they meet are gorgeous and scums! Yeah, all of them. The girls have little morals, which makes it a very racy read. From murder, rape, manipulation, politics to romance, sex, and adulatory…De never disappoints.
The story has predictable twists; if you are soap opera viewer, you will see the death, the takeover, the marriage coming just on the next page. However, to the author’s credit, the book is fairly gripping. If you start off, you will finish it. De’s eye for detail and speedy writing style can be seen at its best.
1/24/2006
Only Love is Real
About soul mates and past lives!
More of a reader of fiction, I picked up this collection of entries from Dr. Bryan Weiss’ medical journal dubiously. Dr. Weiss deals with the concept of reincarnation and past lives as learnt through his experience with his patients as a psychiatrist. He chronicles the life of his two patients in this book to explain how he came to believe in the concept of past lives while treating his patients using hypnosis. He constantly refers to his previous works in order to explain and give a logical backing to his statements.
Only Love is Real talks of soul mates. As per Dr. Weiss, every soul has some mates with whom it bonds so well that it is bound to meet them repeatedly, life after life. He believes that a soul can have many soul mates and their gender and relationship does not matter. For example, my mother in this life could be a special soul I bond with and she could have been my daughter or my husband in one of my previous lives! Sounds weird? I know, it does. The author realizes this as well. He constantly backs up his theories with proofs and scientific logic and tries to gain reader’s faith. I am not saying, I agree with him on all points, but the book has made me think and want to believe.
The author also believes that bonded souls are destined to meet each other; sometimes they recognize each other instantly and sometimes the opportunity is lost. The book is worth a read. I suggest you pick it up with an open mind and then, make up your mind only after finishing it. If nothing else, you will enjoy the various examples shared from patients lives.
1/11/2006
Daddy-Long-Legs
Sweetness of words, woven with a simple tale of love.
Jean Webber’s classic Daddy-Long-Legs begs to be read by one and all. Regardless of your age, interests, gender, or anything else, you must read it; if you haven’t already as a kid, that is.
This is a story of a young girl who is brought up in an orphanage and suddenly finds herself transported to a college thanks to an anonymous trustee. Knowing the generous trustee only by his lean silhouette, she calls him Daddy-Long-Legs. She writes to him regularly during her four years of college despite his never writing back. The entire story is presented as a collection of letters to Daddy. However, the letters are very wisely composed. They bring out the character of the young girl, her attitude, and her growing up with time poignantly.
The letters are light hearted, expressive, extremely humane, and lots of fun. Although the supposed surprise can be easily guessed after the first 35 pages, the book is still extremely gripping and one tends to flip page after another. Its a quick read but has beautiful expressions that one feels like reading over and over again.
Grab a copy today!
