The Asocial Networking by Dhiraj Kumar is nothing but a BIG over-reaction on the impact of social networking (specifically Facebook) on our lives. It does make some pertinent points about the facade people put by showing an alternate ‘online’ life to others but goes overboard in the analysis and infuses a spirit of outlandishness that in the end harms the book far more you can think off.

It is interesting and ironical to see ourselves socializing with the help of gadgets when we could actually step forward and socialize with the person standing next to us. For the benefit of those who exhibit their social lives online, this book offers little tricks of the trade to master the art of networking and garner tangible gains in the real world. On the other hand, the author discusses our vulnerabilities and weaknesses, which are often reflected in the way we socialize on the web.

However, the extreme or negative side of the social networking is written with heavy-hand and does not presents a balanced approach to counter the positives. For instance, the author constantly harps about the fact that putting a status message of ‘DND’ on Gtalk reeks of hypocrisy and double standards. Because if you are so busy, why would you be online? But at the same time, author does not take into account that being online have also to do with professional work or an emergency issue.

I was particularly offended at various points in the book where the author judges people around him with disdain and contempt. At one point in the narrative, he even classify bisexuals as extreme perverts and voyeurs who venture out in night on social networking and prey on people. Such kind of factually incorrect, close-thinking and morally reprehensible thoughts should have been censored in the first place if there was a good editor working on this book.

Even the extremely implausible clause of Facebook getting extinct or less exciting in few years in nothing but a statement made without any solid evidence. Anyone who follows these social networking websites knows that these companies earn revenues through advertising and marketing of various companies, brands and products. To view them mere as dating or sex-mating sites is doing a grave injustice to their whole existence and as a tool of usefulness in our daily lives.

Having said that, the author does make some key observations about Facebook in our existence – people wasting time playing Zynga games, low productivity and less concentration at workplaces, too many diversions in the name of updating status and answering wall posts and my personal favourite – sexual discrimination against men on these websites. These are well thought off points which shows depth with which things are researched. I particularly liked the concept about FIPRA – Facebook International People Rating Agency, something which you may think in the future coming into action to compare people. The clause of displaying your Facebook profile at the time of an interview for a psychoanalysis assessment is a possibility which may not be far off.

In the end, the book is articulated with some well-researched points and keenly observed thoughts. I just wished it was more balanced to enjoy it even further. If you can deal or be comfortable reading ONLY negative impact of Facebook, this book may be a treat for you.

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Title: PENTACLES

“Memory is something you are incapable of forgetting.”

and

“My wife belongs to lands where fables are written, I snatched her from a fable and made her mine. In doing so I made her the heroine of one fable, And a vamp in another. “

Welcome to the world of sorrows, tension and pressure the typical office, where employees come, do their jobs just for the money and dash back to their homes. The office here is an engineering firm which is in the process of making its mark in the world. This story revolves around two main characters working for this corporation – Zahir Pathan and Khushi Patil – and their struggle to prove themselves as worthy employees.

Work, work and work!

Well, a wave of relief is brought by Zahir. He travels into his yesteryear’s in college giving Khushi a glimpse of what he experienced during his nourishing days. Phase one begins with his five college friends, including Zahir, who are invited forcibly by one of their not-so-friendly-friend to his ancestral home where they created havoc but managed to survive the wrath of his parents. These five have an insatiable hunger for creating problems. Amidst the roller coaster ride, Zahir manages to find love in a lissom girl called Rashmi, his college friend, which unfortunately ends up disastrously. What is the reason? Will they reunite or does life has a different plot ready for them? And where does Khushi fit in?

The story begins in a typical corporate set-up with a stereotypical boss and subdued colleagues. Boss erupts, colleagues listen. The conversational format is unconventional but other incidents interspersed within the narrative are not seamless and leaves a lot to be desired. There are couple of incidents of the college days which engages the readers but are soon frittered away as none of them are strong enough to be sustained. It becomes a typical cross-religion/cultural love story which eventually makes very little impact. It gets minimum footage in the narrative and that too only towards the end.

I am going writh 2/5 for Trupthi Guttal and Zeeshan Farooqui’s ‘Chaliezz’. It starts promisingly but soon becomes a mis-mash of a love story, corporate politics and college adventures, none of them strong enough to make an impact. Read it if you must.

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FBI Special Agent Kirk Ingram’s life is torn apart when his family is brutally murdered before his eyes. Devastated physically and psychologically, he vows to destroy organized crime in all forms. Across the globe, an international trade house brings terrorist activities and organized crime together in a deadly nexus that threatens to bring the world-order to the point of anarchy. And only one man stands in the way of global terror and paranoia-one man seeking redemption, and waging a personal battle against the demons of his past…

Haunted by Douglas Misquita is a breath of fresh air in the Indian fiction. Treating the book like a lurid thriller, the author goes for an audacious tone and a brisk pace, grabbing your attention from the very word go. The action scenes have a vivid description and brings you straight to the center of the action. Even though the fact that some scenes ‘inspired’ from the Mission Impossible, The Bourne Identity and Die Hard series is difficult to ignore, the book keeps you on tenterhooks and provides a tight thriller which is difficult to put down. My favourite scene is the one action scene which happens underwater and is well written to capture the essence of the narrative.

There are new characters introduced on every 10-15 pages and if you are not attentive, there is a good chance you may miss a few of them. It is not a bad idea to read this book in fewer sittings to enjoy it to the maximum potential. These characters is the emotional core and the reason the book remains grounded even when the plot occasionally teeters on the brink of sheer cheesiness is because of the quirky, witty conversations amidst crazy things going on all around them.

The book flirts with terrorism, suicide bombers, killings, police politics and revenge drama. Even though these revelations aren’t of an earth-shattering magnitude, and the book feels naive for presenting them as such. But despite its shortcomings, the book works as a brisk thriller that sustains dramatic tension throughout. The book runs out of steam in the middle portions where the actions scenes are abundant, but brings in a fatigue factor. Couple of sub-plots involving the various FBI agents are unnecessarily stretched and could have been better edited better.

But these are mere nitpicking’s in an otherwise engaging, engrossing action pack adventure. Despite not much novelty on a plot-level, it works big time with a brisk pace, crispy editing and tight screenplay. I am going with 3.5/5 for Douglas Misquita’s ‘Haunted’. Read it if you are a fan of this genre, You will remain haunted a long time after you have finished the book.

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Author: Sabarna Roy

Pentacles comprises one long story and four short poems. The work provides an interesting, yet intellectually stimulating, stories for the discerning reader. The long story is the best portion of this book, while the short poems even though competent just fill up the pages.

New Life is a long story written from the perspective of a successful adult whose mother had deserted the family for another man. The teenage angst and the scars it has left behind on the psyche of the protagonist are subtly reflected in the character. The different elements and characters of the story are interwoven to produce an intense and compelling story of an adult haunted by the trauma of being deserted by his mother. The work is interspersed with thought-provoking views on issues like love and socio-economic conditions in India. Even though the portions where the author provide his own version have clunky transitions with the main story and divert away your attention from the main story, the story as a whole stand tall because of a sensitive portrayal and inherent sincerity attached to it.

The traditional rhyme and metre dominated poems are on love, loss and longing. Unshackled by the bonds of rhyme and metre, author’s free verses evoke the stark reality of urban life, hitting you straight in the guts. The use of everyday urban imagery adds to the appeal of the compositions. The concrete prison of urban life and the unfulfilled desire to escape to a simple life is aptly brought out in The Tower. The free verses sketch out their life story with its attendant pathos, poignancy and logic. Even though i am not a great fan of poetry, but was able to relate to most of these poems because of the ease with which the author has written them in an almost routine conversations form.

I am going with 2.5/5 for Sabarna Roy’s ‘Pentacles’. Short, sweet and will leave you more or less satisfied with this variety of literature pieces string together. A quick night read after work is how i perceive this book.

The Reverse Journey by Vivek Singh does not have a unique plot. Neither will it make you jump out of your thought process and make you think differently. It will make you think though. It is a simple story about wanting to belong and fit in with the rest of the crowd.

The story is centred on a young man who is, as most of us are, stuck while making decisions. There are two options and in his head, somehow both make sense and yet he has to choose, between the heart and the brain.

The heart wants to belong to a country where he has been born and brought up – to be surrounded by people who know and love him for what he is. The brain on the other hand wants money, the security of a job in the US of A, the feeling of wanting everything and being provided for as well.

The Reverse Journey is an honest and sincere attempt to bring forth the conflicts that at some point we all face. We may face them differently and in different situations, however we do at the end of the day.

The writing is taut and at one point I was glad that the writer did not stretch it far, because then it would have become mundane and uninteresting. I liked the book. I liked the pace at which it went and made me connect with my past experiences. In my opinion any book that connects personally with you is a well-written book.