Holiday

Holiday

Holiday

Simple living with Mr. Biswas

It was a simple story, and Mohun Biswas was definitely going about his life doing something or the other every time I popped back into his Trinidadian life. I took a while to finish A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul, something pretty rare in my reading adventures. It may have to do with the fact that I was interrupted by other tasks and visits etc. It may also have to do with the fact that while the story is simple and very easy to read, it is also slow, and feels repetitive from time to time.

You do feel for Mohun, the main character, but at times I got tired of his running around. I know that it is different times, and this mundaneness is crucial to this story.

The culture and tradition behind this story is also critical, because without the implied strong family bonds etc. Mr. Biswas would have been able to pursue his dream much faster. And yet, it is these bonds that Mr. Biswas ignored (kinda).

He was a contrast; he was hard-hearted and had strong animosity (rightly so!) toward the Tulsi family, the ones who belittled him. He was also noted as being indifferent toward his children, especially in the early years, but I think that had tot do more with the whole family dynamic and his position in it scheme of things. He was still 'finding his way', I guess. There are some wonderful stories of how Mr. Biswas does become a wonderful dad, in my eyes at least. He did so in his own way - for example. he took his son to the movies, or he was exceptionally proud that his son won the exhibition, he promised him a bicycle when he was low, and mostly I loved how he would make all sorts of things for his son Anand to play with.

The story is all about Mr. Biswas striving for his own house, a simple structure that would house his family and detach him from the hard knots with the Tulsi family.

The details are important, the small actions, the words used (for e.g. two of the young boys were called 'The Gods', implying the level of importance placed on the boys in the Tulsi family), and the way women thought about themselves (for e.g. signs of guilt) or thought about their respective spouses. Some situations grated on my nerves, and yet I know that somewhere, there are still people who think the same way.

MacLean Stomach Powder - no particular reason to mention this, but it kinda stuck in my head because of the number of times Mohun took it. I always had a worried mental bubble when I was on the page that mentioned it because I thought they were building up the case for some terrible disease in the end.

A long way gone

By Ishmael Beah is a book I haven't read as yet, but it is on my list ot must reads. Even though I did not own the book, the story sounded interesting, different and thankfully from all the reviews there was no James Frey kind of 'fake' element attached to any words.

I knew then that Ishmael had to be one strong fellow, and 'strong' being a speck of dust, while what I actually mean is strong = all the specks of dust to have ever flown in Sudan. So I made my way to Barnes and Noble at Astor Place and realised that I was one of over a hundred fans. Ishmael is a short guy, very personable, with a hint of accent, but terribly clear in thought. I loved the way he paraphrased a question from the crowd for everyone, and answered it directly without losing his train of thought , or moving to another string of words. He even had a sense of humor...yeah yeah eligible guy you say. In this day and age when single people have a tough time finding a companion, I say that you should send your mom to a book reading and make a case! Some young things mom, did exactly that much to Ishmael's discomfort.

Anyways back to the point - Will write back when I have read the book.

The Secret Life of Bees

'The Secret Life of Bees' by Sue Monk Kidd

It was an enjoyable, easy read; I did not want it to end. I wanted to know more about the lives of the characters thereafter. Did Lily and Zach have a future together? Did Lily's dad come back for her?

The pink house with its serene inhabitants (or so I felt) was a perfect holiday home, with one of my favorite characters 'August', the pillar of strength, infinite wisdom and decades of mortal experience. You go to her for everything, and she will have a reply, the perfect words to make you feel better and the strength to make you want to believe and carry on. The role of the Black Madonna was equally riveting, a legend I have heard about, but know much more about now.

The analogies between the life of bees, and the human circle of life is interesting. Makes me want to read more about them. I was quite taken up with the names of the books referred to at the beginning of each chapter. For e.g. The Queen Must Die: And Other Affairs of Bees and Men. Author: William Longgood, Pamela Johnson. It goes on my 'Potential Books to Read List'. Ms. Kidd's interview at the end of the book was very revealing-the thoughts behind some characters, or reasons for their existence. 

To all those idiotic, annoying people of the world, I quote Rosaleen, 'You Shitbucket.....'

Through his eyes

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes" taken from the Hound of the Baskervilles, Christophers favorite book.

The curious incident of the dog in the night time, by Mark Haddon is a simple, yet complex and intelligent world of a 15 yr old autistic boy, Christopher. One of the best books I have ever read.

Such simple and frank thoughts, that for us as readers are rare, due to the complex world of superficialness, diplomacy and mundane routines.

The theory explanations for 'how humans are like computers', or even 'The Monty Hall Problem' were very interesting. I was most thrilled about the coincidence of visual thinking of common phrases, as I was discussing precisely the same thing with a friend four days before I started this book, and we kept comparing notes and sharing new phrases that are part of everyday conversation.

e.g. From the book: I laughed my socks off, They had a skeleton in the cupboard or We had a real pig of a day!

Personal: I'm going to hit the road, or I was shitting bricks. Picture them, its funny!.... to me and my friend anyways!!!

10 Best Books of 2008

The list is out for all to read.

Of the list, there are two that I really do want to read, Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth, and V.S. Naipaul's autobiography 'The World is what it is' written by Patrick French. The latter was covered in an article in the NY Times a few weeks ago, and it seems like Vidia as he is fondly called, really does share a lot about his personal life, the good, bad and the ugly.

Booker Prize Shortlist announced

Read more, there are also two Indian authors in the running -

The White Tiger and

Sea of Poppies.

Get the entire list HERE





Some interesting tidbits just for you (source: The Booker Webpage):

• The Man Booker International Prize can be won by an author of any nationality, providing that his or her work is available in the English language
• It is awarded every second year
• An author can only win the award once.
• In accordance with the rules of the separate prize for translation, if applicable the winner can choose a translator or translators of his or her work into English to receive a prize of £15,000.

Pic Source: www.manbookerprize.com

The Alchemist

I completed the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho a few weeks ago.

It was a book that people were talking about forever. And considering the hype it received, I was quite shocked coz much to my ignorance, I did not know it was a motivational book(yes, you can say it out loud - total DUH reader!). Hence, now when I think back of people who say they loved the book, I wonder, wow, did they really?

Its an easy read, simple and short story of a boy on the way to achieve his dream. Its interesting how the book wants you to make the analogies between things such as 'omens', or the significance of each place or project. e.g. the Pyramids, or the girlfriend, or the Alchemist himself.

It does make me feel proud that I chose my path, different and sometimes hard though it may have been, rather than stuck to the old-fashioned ways.

You go Santiago!!!

Best of the Year so far..

Amazon has listed the best books of the year for 2008 -

Must see the list HERE

Life Isnt all Ha Ha Hee Hee

Damn right, its not!!

But the book isn't a good example of representing that either. It was just OK by my standards. Am I a better person because I read this book? Perhaps not, it reiterated for me a lot of things I probably knew already. Still, dont we often read material where we know the content anyways, or at least think we do? (The Secret types.)

Tans, Chila and Sunita are the three characters in the book - all very unique in their personality with distinctive beliefs. The story revolves around the relationship among the three women and also among the people in their lives.

Apparently this book was also made into a television series in the U.K. in 2005:

The cast includes:

Tania - Laila Rouass

Chila - Ayesha Dharker

Sunita - Meera Syal (the author)

If this series does come my way in the far future, perhaps I will watch. But for now, I am back to my own non-ha ha hee hee life.

I hate my nose!

Says, Alfred. This doggie has self esteem issues and is not happy with his appearance, especially the shape of his nose. Sure enough, we may look at his mug and think 'cute'. But that didn't stop Michael Jackson from getting multiple surgeries, did it? Anyways, I am moving away from the point. Alfred is unhappy with his nose and finds himself on a quest for the perfect nose.

Alfred's Nose promises a great story (with a moral, dont we love that!), and good visuals. I wish to buy this book for my nephew, when he is older. I am actually not a fan of dressing dogs in human clothes, sweaters, mufflers, anything to help them stay warm - OK, anything more, Ugh. Yet, I think the moral of the book might make this entire thing interesting.

The book is written by Vivienne Flesher. You can check out a few pages HERE.

A Second Chance

Literary praise much like beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, or reader. Or sometimes praise may be affected by the guilt by association to one's past actions.

After the disaster with A Million Little Pieces, James Frey is now out with a new book – Bright Shiny Morning a book focused on L.A. Interestingly, the NY Times gave it a rave review and its words are a strong but meaningful article giving James a second chance and urging you to do the same. On the other hand, there are other reviews that believe Book 2 is worse than Book 1. One critic implied that if James Frey was going for fiction (which he was not in Book 1), then still the fiction in A Million Little Pieces is much better than Bright Shiny Morning.

Unaccustomed Earth

As a reader of Jhumpa's previous book, I will give this a read. I loved and i mean loved her 'Interpreter of Maladies'. Namesake, not as much. It was good, but kinda slow. The movie was OK too although I wasn't sure is Kal Penn as ideal for the role or if he did a great job. It was a beautifully shot movie though, that I must admit.

In a way I am glad Unaccustomed Earth is a book of short stories. If you have read the book, let me know what you think!

Eerie. Abrupt endings. Just Terrific.

This was the last book I read... Great book to own because you can be quickly enamored by Roald Dahls writing, and fantasy-like macabre stories by picking up this book and reading a story or two.

Kafka on the Shore

I just started 'Kafka on the shore'. It is quite interesting how this book finally got to my hands. On my way to work by subway one morning, I noticed a girl across from me reading this book.

It caught my interest and I twisted anf turned and bent and well, did whatever it took until I found out the name. No! I was not obnoxious or rude!

Half an hour later, I was on Google waiting to read more about it. I hadn't heard of the author before this, so it was kind of difficult for me to remember his name. Anyways, search engines make our lives so much easier these days.

That very day I decided to share my new find with my friends through email. A few months later, among other things, I welcomed Kafka's story in my house as a birthday gift. Thank you N! Its been a while and Haruki has been staying patient as I made my way to pick up his book. Now finally, Kafka and I have begun our journey....will write more when we reach the end.

The Pig Did It

Book titles intrigue us all. They are of course the first impression we have of the book. Some of them might be to apt that we know exactly what to expect and then there are others that might be talking about world peace, while the title screams 'Pencils and paper', what???

Well, The Pig Did It, by Joseph Caldwell sounds like a book I'd like to read. It is about a guy who goes to his aunt's house to get through the rejection he faced by one of his students. He happens to cross paths with Mr. Pig who insists on following him around. The story continues as he embarks on a murder mystery.

I can't share more yet, but I envision it to be a charmingly, funny and thrilling murder mystery. What with a title like 'The Pig Did It', I hope it truly is just that.

Read & Return

If you are one of the regular travelers and enjoy reading, then you probably know about this already. The Read & Return program offered by the Paradies Shops is really cool. It offers travelers a great way to save money. You can buy a book, read it, and return it within 6 months to one of their many stores and still receive 50% off. This program has apparently been around since 2003, but I haven't tried it as yet.

I mean a library definitely beats this model in terms of price, but I think it may just cater to a separate audience, the ones that probably don't have the time to go to a library.

A Long Way Gone

By Ishmael Beah is a book I haven't read as yet, but it is on my list ot must reads. Even though I did not own the book, the story sounded interesting, different and thankfully from all the reviews there was no James Frey kind of 'fake' element attached to any words. I knew then that Ishmael had to be one strong fellow, and 'strong' being a speck of dust, while what I actually mean is strong = all the specks of dust to have ever flown in Sudan.

So a few months back I made my way to Barnes and Noble at Astor Place, and realised that I was one of over about a hundred fans. Ishmael is a short guy, very personable, with a hint of accent, but terribly clear in thought. I loved the way he paraphrased a question from the crowd for everyone, and answered it directly without losing his train of thought , or moving to another string of words. He even had a sense of humor...yeah yeah eligible guy you say. In this day and age when single people have a tough time finding a companion, I say that you should send your mom to a book reading and make a case! Some young things mom, did exactly that much to Ishmael's discomfort.

Anyways back to the point - Will write back when I have read the book.