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Aditya's book-list 2011
Mod
You are here - did not impress me much, but I was an avid follower of her blog 'compulsive confessor' 2-3 years back as Meenakshi Madhavan seemed to have a strong mind and was unafraid of all social censures. The book seems a condensation of her lengthy blogs
Untouchable ( M R Anand ) - have started it and gives quite a glimpse of the India that was a few decades back.
Loved Persuation, Wuthering heights, Sons and Lovers, The Guide, Unaccustomed Earth
Found 'a woman's place' too soppy
Great Train Robbery was enjoyable, the Broker not so enjoyable
WOW...is all i can say. BTW, I put a restriction upon myself not to a buy a new book until i finish all these. And my wife promised she WILL implement this restriction on me! So got to complete them ASAP.
Mod
My conscience tells me i shouldn't shirk away from spending on Indian-author books esp the lesser known authors! And i do want to collect classics in my permanent book collection and wish to preserve them. Apart from that i don't think i will buy any other books from now on. All the twilight series, the hunger games series etc can be read as ebooks without any hard feelings :-)
Mod
So without qualms I do buy Indian author paperbacks mostly online as I get upto 20% discount and here where I live bookshop owners don't know that they can give discount and make customers happy
wow nice list.Some of them are my all time favorites
Nice list. I recently read Palace of Illusions and loved it. She has given the story of Mahabharat a completely different perspective. The book just grabbed me from the first page and I did not want to put the book down. Alright, I am done with my sales pitch. Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did :-). I am planning to read more books by Chitra Banerjee.
My wife is currently reading this one...in bed, on the dinner table, in car, and probably in sleep too! So am used to this sales pitch abt this book :-)
Are these all e-books?You don't like "normal" books?
I must note down Chitra Banerjee. Do you think I can like it?
nah, all these are 'normal' books am yet to list my ebooks here!
You should try out Anita Nair.....although she's not very famous her books are great!
And read Calcutta Chromosome, i liked it a lot!
I've to read Calcutta Chromosome and If you are afraid of heights by this weekend, i might be traveling this weekend and hence will have to return those two books to the British Library before i leave :-( Started If you are afraid of Heights yday night, at mid way now! Awesome narration style of the author, very very interesting till now!
I haven't read If You're afraid of heights. Do let me knw how u find it!
@ Aditya..Am glad your wife is loving this book :-)@ Dely..I have only read "The Palace of Illusions" by Chitra Banerjee and am sure you will like it. I haven't read any other books by her but heard good things about "Sister of my Heart" and "Arranged Marriage" (Short Stories).
@ Akanksha..I read Calcutta Chromosome but didn't quite like it. It started out really good but then it just veered off into this bizarre world..not my kind of book.
1) The Return of the Soldier 4/5A short novel, leaves a lot to assumptions, would leave u thinking on wat cud hav happened.. Nice one to discuss n argue abt.
2) The Kite Runner 4/5
Am done!
exhilarating..i guess am more happy at the end of this book than i am with A Thousand Splendid Suns. As a novel i would still rate the later higher!
The writing looked more like a script here, the descriptions were lesser, but yeah i won't discredit the author. He wanted to show the emotions/feelings in silence, not in words, the narrator's character is like that! The writing seemed a lot different, or maybe i don't remember, it's been 3 years since i read A Thousand Splendid Suns. Full marks to Khaled for his excellent characterization and story!
3) The Pillars of the Earth 4/5Another amazing book in the year...thanks to the group, else i would never have picked it up. Its a bulky read, but not as strenuous thanks to the author's casual writing style. You wouldn't find many books of this size so easily readable! Strong point is the characterization and the plot...yes, after a while it becomes quite predictable, but the beauty lies in the inner meaning behind the plot's twists.
4) Edge 3/5A nice time-pass read during a travel. I actually read it in a day sitting in office, it was a small treat to myself as i had succesfully avoided getting screwed up at office.
Coming back to edge, it's an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Nothing to take away from the writing. An interesting plot, you feel like you are reading a movie script. (view spoiler) As Smitha said there are a lot of technical terms used in the fancy world of killing and protecting ppl.. I tried making a list of some of them, but then the plot got too interesting and had to just keep reading.
5) HICKORY DICKORY SHOCK 4.5/5A mystery set in the IT industry. Yes, something you have never heard or read. The author does an excellent job in keeping us interested enough. The story takes off slowly, looking like a laughter riot, after the first quarter of the book, it slowly increases it's tempo, and towards the end, doesn't let u leave it even for a sec, to brush ur teeth (that's wat happened with me today morning). The first such attempt by an Indian author with a story set in India, it's in complete contrast to many other cliched b-grade love-story writers! I would say it reminded me of Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot and it's not an over-statement.
As for the narrative style, in the first half, the story goes back and forth quite a few times, actually making it difficult for the readers to make certain deductions. I felt a linear narrative would be good enough for such plots, and would like to ask the author why exactly he adopted a scrambled approach..
Aditya wrote: "5) HICKORY DICKORY SHOCK 4.5/5A mystery set in the IT industry. Yes, something you have never heard or read. The author does an excellent job in keeping us interested enough. The ..."
Hey u just got the book yday and u r done? gr8!!!
the buk must have been pretty interesting for u to have gulped down in a day.I have ordered from indiaplaza but not yet received ma copy..:(
Aditya wrote: "5) HICKORY DICKORY SHOCK 4.5/5A mystery set in the IT industry. Yes, something you have never heard or read. The author does an excellent job in keeping us interested enough. The ..."
Cool.. Looks like I will like it.. Need to order one.. :-)
Vidya wrote: "Hey u just got the book yday and u r done? gr8!!!the buk must have been pretty interesting for u to have gulped down in a day.I have ordered from indiaplaza but not yet received ma copy..:( ..."
I got my copy within 2 days from Flipkart, ordered on thursday evening, delivered on saturday evening. I collected it from office on Monday morning!
Anbu wrote: "Cool.. Looks like I will like it.. Need to order one.. :-) ..."
I hope so!
Aacharya Didn't wrote: "Vidya wrote: "Hey u just got the book yday and u r done? gr8!!!the buk must have been pretty interesting for u to have gulped down in a day.I have ordered from indiaplaza but not yet received ma c..."
I ordered it from Indiaplaza cos there the book cost only Rs.111..(cheapest)..the site says shipped but i have not yet received the copy.
Aacharya Didn't wrote: "no courier tracking available?"Nope :((unlike flipkart)..kahan phans gayi main..paise bachaane ke chakkar mein..
Maybe time to call up their cust care and have a serious chat!
yeah I raised a grievance ticket in their site..lets see..
Mod
6) The Guide 4.5/5"It's easy to read, but difficult to understand" says Michael Gorra in his foreword. And i agree with him a hundred percent. There are so many interpretations possible from this one. Some may like Raju, some may not. Some may like Rosie, some may not. Some may like Marco, some may not. My review:
It's a self-deprecatory repentant narrative by Raju as told to Velan after he's released from prison (earlier convicted for forgery). Am trying to forget the first person narrative by Raju and look at the story from the other characters' perspective and trying to judge Raju. He seems benevolent, funny, caring and a bit eccentric! He also seems egoistic, selfish towards the end with more and more money flowing in. A similar study of the other characters may need one more read and more time. In all it's a book that makes u think. And the last line of the novel leaves everything open for discussion: (view spoiler)
7) The Eleventh Commandment 3/5Nothing much to talk abt, an interesting read, will keep u on the edge, guessing abt wat happens next. Didn't find it as exciting as the other JA novels i read like the Kane n Abel or Not a penny more, Not a penny less etc
@ Aditya- Kane and Abel and Not a penny ...are my fav amongst JA novels...IN fact Not a penny...was the first book that I read during my 10th boards and was maha impressed and ended up reading his entire list of books!
Yep, they are the best of JA among my reads! Khola ka Ghosla is a movie i thought is based on the concept of Not a penny more....
8) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 4/5It's an adult novel with shocking sex crimes as the back-drop. The plot twists are quite good, twisted enough to keep u interested all through. The lead pair of Lisbeth n Blomkvist are sort of super-humans. While one is high on morals, the other is high on IQ. Lisbeth is a lovable character and looking fwd to read more abt her in the coming parts.
Saw the movie first and then read it on the advice of someone from the group. But having seen the movies only recently, i couldn't shake off the images (physical n otherwise) of Salander n Blomkvist from my mind. So am thinking i shud take a break before i read the next 2 parts in the series, so that i'd atleast forget the characters as shown in the movie.
Mod
9) Delayed Monsoon 3/5I've read this book flat out in 4 hours from 7 pm till 11 pm with half-an-hour for dinner in-between. It is an interesting read, the story of Abhilasha, wife of an air-force officer, who finds herself in a middle-age crisis of sorts. After toiling for an ungrateful husband for years, she finds herself craving for love, affection or maybe just some attention at-least. Now she finds this love in the least likely of all places - the internet. This is what the description on the cover says. But, the novel is more about her life leading upto this point of her discovery of the virtual world. It looks more like a re-collection of various highlights of her life, at diff places (with her husband getting transferred to a diff place every few years). In the end it's not just just a quest for love n affection, it's actually quest for a direction to her life, to give some meaning to her life and do something that she really enjoys.
Things that i didn't like:
1) Towards the end the author gets a bit preachy about relationships and how to nurture them. For a few pages i felt like am reading a self-help book, not a novel. But then the advice given isn't bad or anything to find fault with, it just didn't go down well with my expectations.
2) There are far too many mini-stories embedded into the novel. No doubt each one of them is captivating but i couldn't make a connection between the actual story of the novel and at least a couple of these minies.
3) I sort of felt cheated as i thought the entire novel (or at least a major part of it) would be about how Abhilasha found her love online and how she dealt with it, but was disappointed to find out that the online-love appears only in the last 30 pages.
Mod
Yep i was aware of that, read the book upon her request
10) Gently Falls the Bakula 4/5highlights:
writing style is clear and to the point
simple narrative
a beautiful love story
a painful parting of ways
I feel this would make an ideal one for discussion..
Smitha n Mansee, i see that you both have already read that and gave a 3-star and 2-star rating for it, couldn't find your review anywhere, wat r ur thoughts on this one???
I had read it quite some time back so had not posted reviews now..was reminded of it when I saw ur update!I love the way Sudha Murhty writes...its simple, straight from the heart, you can totally relate to it and it manages to touch you ..and it holds true for all her books. Infact her writing is so lucid that it will be a pleasant change to see the non readers take up to her books, as a step forward from CB!
About this particular book - Bakula...It is relatable as there may be so many intelligent and smart women out there who sacrifice themselves and loose their personalities after they get married so it was painful to see the same happening to the protagonist....(Spoiler below)
though it all changed in the end, but the fact that she had to part ways with her husband to do that was sad.
A beautiful story nevertheless!
I second ur thoughts on her writing style. It's so straight from heart and beautiful that u will fall in love instantly. If i was her, i would write another story about the redemption of Shri and the way he wins her back ;)
Yeah that would be interesting :)) though I doubt she would ..It would be just a love story then and I doubt whether thats her style/ genre...mostly all her books / stories have some social element to it
exactly. That's the difference between her and me :P
As she mentions in the foreword, though she wrote the story 30yrs ago, it's valid even in the present times. And i found the situation has even reversed completely where the husband sometimes sacrifices for the sake of his wife's career/ambitions. Not to the extent that Shrimati had to do for Shri, but it wouldn't be long before we see such cases....And am surprised that even with my staunch belief in the philiosophy of personal-life over career, i still sympathize with Shrimathi, maybe i didn't recognize the limits earlier!
And btw, this story makes two in a row! Delayed Monsoon has a similar theme...
Hmm...you read two more of such kinds and can write your own book then! Maybe this time from the male perspective since u feel so! :P
u just gave a sure-shot recipe for making a laughing stock out of me
Indian Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
The Calcutta Chromosome (other topics)The Positronic Man (other topics)
Prelude to Foundation (other topics)
The Emperor's Ring (other topics)
Delhi (other topics)
More...
1) If You Are Afraid of Heights - from BCL, to return by jan 21st
2) The Calcutta Chromosome: A Novel of Fevers, Delirium & Discovery - from BCL, to return by jan 21st
3) Go Kiss the World - got from DSL, long overdue, started in 2010
4) The Odyssey - Started in 2010, done with 75%
5) HMS Ulysses - Started in 2010, done with 25%
6) A Beautiful Mind - Started 3 yrs ago, left midway don't know y, to reread now
7) Made in Japan - reread
8) You Are Here - Can't remember if i completed it, but remember that i didn't like it much. Gotto find out now if am done or not!
9) Wary Transgressor
10) The Ninja - read the ebook once wid lots of breaks, want to reread the hard copy now!
11) The Mill on the Floss- read an abridged version abt 10 yrs ago, want to reread the full one now
12) Stay Hungry Stay Foolish - Started in 2010, done wid more than 80%, want to complete it
13) Unaccustomed Earth - read half of it 2 yrs ago, want to complete now!
14) The Citadel
15) Recoil
16) The Broker
17) The Untouchable
18) Silent Raga
19) The End of Poverty
20) Catch-22
21) The Non-Fiction Collection: Twenty Years of Penguin India - vol 3
22) Untouchable
23) Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation
24) A Century of Trust
25) Persuasion
26) Wuthering Heights
27) The Great Train Robbery
28) The Seventh Commandment
29) Sons and Lovers
30) The Veteran
31) The Guide
32) The Japanese Wife
33) Kidnapped
34) A Woman's Place - RD condensed version
35) The Unlikely Spy - RD condensed version
36) The Cat Who Tailed a Thief - RD condensed version
37) Beyond Recognition - RD condensed version
38) The Palace of Illusions
I shall add my unread ebook collection to this list tmrw.