"We read to know that we are not alone"~C. S. Lewis

[Parikhit]

5/5. Undoubtedly the best book I have read this year and possibly the best of all the books I have read!

[Parikhit]

5/5. Great book, fine writing

The second book in Cairo trilogy series, ‘Palace of Desire', is nothing less than a gem. Like the first book I am discovering Egypt that I was blind to earlier. I am captivated by the country and feel ashamed that I knew so little.

[Ahtims]

will read it, will read it. (Palace of Desires, I mean. Karamazov scares me)

[Parikhit]

5/5. Wow!!

I am disappointed to have ignored Milan Kundera for such a long time but Milan Kundera happened at the right time of my life. Doubts, questions that have pounding in my head, deception, remorse and nostalgia-I found all that in the book.

No, the book was not the search of an almost recluse to discover parallel thoughts. ‘The Joke’ just happened. Yes there is a plot but the ideas and debates were what made the book effective. Uncanny and cruel be the fact that stray thoughts, innocent musings and impetuous utterances can bring about a drastic change to everything we know, believe and stand for. ‘The Joke’ expounds that and much more. Life is but a cruel joke.

[Parikhit]

4/5. It is an R. K. Narayan

R. K. Narayan, undoubtedly the best Indian writer in English, does it again for me. He was a great observer and a gifted articulator. ‘The Dark Room’ set in the fictitious town of Malgudi is yet again an impressive tale. Humorous but satirical, ‘The Dark Room’ describes the plight of a subdued housewife. The story is what we read of almost everyday in newspapers and magazines alike, what we see in our own families or around us but R. K. Narayan’s deliberation made it a great read.

[Parikhit]

4/5. Wait till the end, it takes your breath away!

Merely stating the book was amazing would be an understatement for it was much more. The narrator recollects the fragments of his life remembering all that was significant, discovering newness and missing out on details warped by time. The past resurfaces again with a certain event and the narrator strives hard to connect the dots failing each time. At this point the book suddenly takes a mysterious turn and the end is startling, shocking and that was what made the book amazing.

[Ahtims]

Yet to read "the Dark Room" (if its the story of a photographer, I remember reading it)