After reading two of his earlier books, there was no way I was going to miss reading Jeffrey Eugenides’ third book, “The Marriage Plot”. It is very different from the other two though and that’s what I liked about it. An author’s real talent lies in the different genres he or she is willing to explore and takes that risk. If the risk pays off then nothing like it. If it doesn’t, well then at least the writer did what had to be done.

For me as a reader, the risk (if it was that) where, “The Marriage Plot” was concerned, paid off for Jeffrey Eugenides. “The Marriage Plot” as the title suggests is about the much talked about marriage plot that featured in books in the 1900s – the very Jane Austenish plots of meeting someone charming, maybe one or two, and marrying “the” person to live out your life. The difference being: The plot is set in modern times.

The story centers on three people – Madeleine, Leonard and Mitchell, three students at an Ivy League University in the early 1980s. They study challenging and diverse philosophies from one another and unite in ways one cannot imagine. Madeleine is clueless and has a keen eye Victorian and Regency classics. She is studying semiotics though and has still remained true to Jane Austen and George Elliot. Mitchell Grammaticus befriends Madeleine and is secretly in love with her, and is drawn to Christian Studies and metaphysics. He cannot confess his love for Madeleine and moves to India for a while to work amongst the poor. Leonard Bankhead is charismatic, brilliant, a loner, who Madeleine falls for (why am I not surprised?). Leonard is everything that Madeleine wants and maybe is not for her or anyone else and yet she is drawn to him. She soon sees what is beneath the surface and her dreams of love and marriage are thrown off-course, before the story goes through various sub-plots and ends the way it should.

Now to the writing: As always, Eugenides did not disappoint with the writing. The style as I mentioned earlier is very different from his earlier books, but completely satisfying for a reader. References to literary works are all over the book and this is a treat. It has its own pace and at the same time the reader doesn’t feel bogged down with the writing or the references.

The characters are confused (that’s how they should be) and fit into the plot like a glove to a hand. Eugenides knows where to take the story and what to do with it so subtly that though the reader is almost expecting what is going to happen, he or she is in for a surprise.

“The Marriage Plot” is an intelligent read. It breaks elements of what marriage was thought to be in the past and at the same time pays homage to it. I would recommend this book to you more so if you are a literary fiction fan, more so for the references and the analogies. I would reread it for sure.

Manu Joseph is definitely the most promising writer on the Indian Literary scene as of now and well-deserved of that place in my opinion. Serious Men made a great impact in the literary world and rightly so. It was a sweeping novel of family, doubt, and loss in an emerging India, full of hopes, aspirations and the need to get somewhere. Manu Joseph writes with a keen eye to details. He knows what he wants to convey to the much-eager reader and he delivers to the maximum.

“The Illicit Happiness of Other People” is yet again another example of his genius. The reader should not compare it to Serious Men. It may be the same writing style, but of course, the plots are radically different.

“The Illicit Happiness of Other People” is set in Madras in the early 90s when technology was well on its way to invade the country and the lifestyle changes were crawling up unaware to the Great Indian Middle Class. Ousep Chacko is an anarchist. He is a family man. He is an alcoholic. He wants to know what happened to his first-born seventeen year old Unni Chacko, the highly talented comic book writer and illustrator. Why did he do what he did? What compelled him to? The only clue he has on hand is his son’s comic strip and he has to string and make sense of his son’s life through that and meeting people he doesn’t know existed in Unni’s life.

While this plot is unfolding itself, we have his second son, Thoma who hasn’t shown as much promise as Unni and is often ignored by his father. All his father wants is answers about Unni’s life. The other angle is that of his wife, who is suffering in silence. Unni’s cartoons reveal more than what Ousep wants to know and that reels the story in a completely different direction, with the arrival of a stranger who will change things for the three of them.

The book is beautifully written and heart-breaking to a large extent, with the right doses of humour thrown in. I must admit that it took me sometime to sink into the book at the beginning, but when I did, I could not stop myself from reading. The story is infectious and grows on you. Just when you think that the writing and characters have become predictable, there is a sense of comfort; Joseph surprises you by pulling an unexpected rabbit out of his wordsmith hat.

The writing and the characters reach out to you in ways you can never imagine. Your heart goes out to Ousep and yet there are times you wish he didn’t do things that he does. Thoma as the recluse is brilliantly etched and the mother, though silent plays a crucial part in the book. The highlight of the book for me was when it all made sense, when the book looped in. Characters searching for happiness and fulfillment in a book are most tragic for the reader. It almost holds a mirror sometimes. You then know the ulterior motives of characters. They just want happiness after all, so much so that they start despising others for being happy.

I cannot stop raving about this book. Nothing is out of place and nothing is flawed in the writing. Whoever says that Indian Writing has not yet reached its pinnacle has to read this book to probably take back their words. I would recommend it to whosoever I meet.

The minute I heard that Junot Diaz was coming out with a new book, I could not stop myself from dreaming about the time when I would read it, back to back. That is exactly what I did with his latest book, a collection of short-stories, more like a fragmented novel more like it – “This Is How You Lose Her”. The title of the book was enough to get me going. Poignant and at the same time real. A lot like life.

Junot Diaz’s characters (if you have read him earlier, you would know) are raw, passionate and also might seem larger than life sometimes, but that’s also because of where their roots lie – The Dominican Republic. His earlier books, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and a collection of inter-linked stories, Drown were both superb and this one is no less.

“This Is How You Lose Her”, is about Yunior, a Dominican kid who was first introduced in “Drown” and then ended up being the narrator of, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”. He makes a full-fledged debut so to say with this collection. The book’s stories center on Yunior’s doomed relationships with various women. It is almost as though he has a death-wish. He cannot be in a relationship for long, for reasons that the reader discovers along the way.

The book opens with the story, “The Sun, The Moon, The Stars”, where Yunior tries so hard to hang on to his one of many relationships. He cheats on his girlfriend (not once) and wants to win her trust back. That is the core of this story. It first made an appearance in 1999 in The New Yorker and by far is one of the best stories in this collection for me (after “The Cheater’s Guide to Love”).

Yunior’s interactions with women but obviously are most note-worthy in the book. However, it is the secondary characters as well that matter the most. For instance, his brother Rafa, who shapes Yunior’s views of women to a very large extent and who is dying of cancer. The story, “The Pura Principle” linked to this one is sheer genius. Yunior’s absent father and his philandering ways are also hinted at, throughout the book.

The one story that isn’t related to Yunior is titled, “Otravida, Otravez” – about a woman who is a laundry nurse at a hospital, washes her lover’s clothes and constantly thinks about his wife and her letters to him.

The title comes from the shortest story in the book, “Alma” and how Yunior manages to lose her. The last story in the book that ties all ends and we see an adult Yunior, looking back on his mistakes is aptly and most ironically titled, “The Cheater’s Guide to Love”.

The writing is stupendous. Every word is in its place and cannot be replaced. There will be minor hiccups for the first-time reader to get used to the Spanish references, but that’s a large part of Diaz’s ethnicity which he but obviously brings through his books.

The characters are intense. There is no other way I guess to portray them when you are dealing with love and the matters of the heart. I would most certainly recommend this collection to everyone. Even to those who haven’t read his books earlier. Yunior as a character will be loved by you and hated at the same time, and if you have ever been in love, you will empathize deeply at his affairs and his loves. An outstanding read of the year.

I remember reading the first Ian McEwan when I was sixteen. I started with, “The Cement Garden” and the idea of a book where only young adults featured while the adults were on a vacation intrigued me and rightly so. The book did not disappoint a single bit and since then I have not stopped reading everything written by him.

Ian McEwan’s female characters have always been enigmatic and rather a mystery, that need to be known and revealed, one page at a time. Whether it is a confused young wife in “On Chesil Beach” or a couple torn between desire and experimentation in “The Comfort of Strangers” or an obsessed lover in, “Enduring Love”; no matter what the book or the plot, McEwan’s characters shine above their plots and come on their own in the books. That is why his books work and seem to connect with readers, or at least with me.

So when I got the opportunity to read his latest book, “Sweet Tooth”, I could not contain my excitement. Sweet Tooth promises everything to a reader that should be expected from a well-written book – the plot, the characterization, the story-telling prowess, the setting, the emotion, the drama, the adventure, intrigue and to end it with masterful strokes. There is not a word which is out of place in this book.

Sweet Tooth is set in the early seventies in England. The world was in turmoil and the Cold War was at its peak. Serena Frome is the cultured attractive daughter of an Anglican Bishop, and a dominating mother (sort of reminded me of Mrs. Bennett). She is coerced into studying Math at Cambridge, while she wanted to study literature. She continues to bury herself in books and the world of fiction, searching for the perfect romance. She falls in love with her boyfriend’s married tutor, Tony Canning. Tony prepares and grooms Serena for the intelligence service. There is more to their brief affair which I will not reveal here.

Serena manages to get through to the screening process for the British Intelligence Service and starts working for MI5 in a very junior position. She is keen to rise through the ranks and because of her knowledge of literature, is given her very first mission, called Sweet Tooth. MI5 have set up a cultural foundation to help writers who speak out against communism (essentially anti-Soviet) and she is to act as a representative of the foundation. Her job is to encourage a young writer called Tom Haley and fund him, allowing him to get into the fold and write full-time, without being aware that the funding is coming from MI5.

Serena undertakes the mission and as always there is a catch in the novel. She gets involved with Tom – emotionally, mentally and physically, giving the so-called relationship her all. From there on she is torn between undertaking and successfully seeing through the mission and being loyal to the one she loves. This in essence is the plot of the book.

The book in an overall sense is not really about spying. There are layers to it which are only known as each page is turn. Ian McEwan touches on topics that defined the 70s like no other era – sexual freedom, cultural values, the dawn of a new era (so to speak), feminism, sophistication, power cuts, political changes, terrorist threats, and mini-skirts. He writes about all of this and that is what makes the narrative gripping and real.

The crispiness of the prose is superlative. As a reader, I definitely did not feel burdened by the volume of the book, considering the pace in which the story went ahead. In fact, I loved the detailing. The elements that needed all the attention – the surroundings in the 70s, the spy association, the love-affair (doomed or not, I leave that to you to discover), and the friendships forged and betrayed.

Sweet Tooth, for me is Ian McEwan’s best work after On Chesil Beach. There are sub-plots and stories that grip you from the very start. The characters are all caught up in their own little turmoil, playing out as the script demands and seeking redemption, but it is not that easily given in the book.

McEwan knows how to structure his story and his characters speak for themselves. Serena and Tom are characters that will live on in the reader’s memory long after the book is over.

The reversals in the book are plenty and have the capacity to either shock or surprise. Sweet Tooth is a cleverly written book, with imaginative prose and a great twist at the end. A must read for all those who have not tried McEwan yet and for those who have read his works, you sure will not be disappointed.

If you are looking to read a heavy-handed sort of a book, then Toke is definitely not for you. Then there is all the more reason for you to read it. Because its humour will ensure that you are laughing out loud at almost every page of the book. At least, that is what happened to me.

“Toke” by Jugal Mody has all elements of a blockbuster novel. The one that can be made to a film with ease and that credit also goes to the kind of writing it is. I do not normally read pop-fiction. But this time I did and I am glad I did. Toke is all about a man, a regular man, who is the regular average Indian, living his life his way. Doped and working and wanting nothing more, till Lord Vishnu appears to him in a dream, providing him the much-needed purpose: Save the World. That is where it all begins.

Nikhil, the protagonist’s life changes overnight, well quite literally. He has 72 hours or maybe less to save the world. His life is ridden with his overbearing parents, a supervisor who will not stop taking his case, a pretty girl who is unaware of his existence and but obviously he has a crush on her, and his life is pretty much what you or I might live through. And one day just like that everything changes.

That is pretty much the premise of the book. You will definitely figure the layers of adventure, drama, comedy and romance (well in bits and pieces) once you start reading it. The writing is easy. The character sketching is well done. You can easily identify with Nikhil. The language is centric to the way the youth would communicate in any metropolis of the country. I could not re-read the book, but that is also because it is meant to be a one-time read, according to me. I liked the book. It is funny and works on many levels. Jugal Mody sure knows how to tell a tale. I recommend this to be read on a rainy day with a mug of hot chocolate.

I discovered Joyce Carol Oates a long time ago. I think about ten years or so. Since then I have always looked forward to what she writes and she churns out at least two books or so every year. Maybe even more. The fact of the matter is that she writes like a dream. Her prose is something else. It is of the macabre, the darkness, the sexually obsessed, of strained relationships and all about life as is – in your face and not a happy place to be in.

So when I got the opportunity to read and review one of her books, I could not help but give it a go. “Little Bird of Heaven” could be a love story. It could also be a murder mystery and a deep psychological drama. Joyce Carol Oates very cleverly makes the book about all of those.

“Little Bird of Heaven” takes place in a small town called Sparta in New York, where a young mother is found dead. The primary suspects are her estranged husband and a married man with whom she was having an affair. But that is not the story. The story is about the lady’s son Aaron and her lover’s daughter Krista who are virtually strangers to each other, and now linked to each other by this crime, as they struggle to be on opposite sides, while being infatuated with one another.

The story seems threadbare but it isn’t so. There are layers to it and rightly so, as this is just what Oates likes to deliver. Her narrative of this book is unique and surpasses somehow anything she has ever written. The first half of the book is told from Krista’s perspective, a young girl, who wants to believe in her father and somehow is torn between what is real and what she thinks of as reality.

The second part is told from Aaron’s perspective. It is less vocal, more introspective. It is about hidden emotions and not displaying any of them, even when your mother is no longer a part of the world. Despite this, Oates does not get sentimental at any point in the book. She writes with raw intensity and emotions that are in check. That is what is needed for a book like this I guess.

“Little Bird of Heaven” is about a lot of things – the past, the present and how the future shapes our lives. It is about emotional longing and cruelty. Of how children endure the pain and how they deal with it. This book is not a light read. It is about life on the edge and how the characters hang on to it. Joyce Carol Oates writes with some riveting insight. There is no happy ending; however I will definitely recommend this book to all.

A book about North Korea is not an easy one to write. A territory which is closed to everyone and everything is quite enigmatic and yet inaccessible. Adam Johnson’s, “The Orphan Master’s Son” is a book set in modern day North Korea and epitomizes Orwellian Horror at its best. The book but obviously features the regime under, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong il. Now to tell you something more about the book.

Adam Johnson has immersed himself in whatever information was available about the country and in whatever form. The structure and plot of the story are a little difficult to get hang of, but once you have, then it is even more difficult to let go before finishing the book.

In the book, North Korea is a dreaded country. You can be condemned for the smallest of things and everything will go unnoticed. The person isn’t as important as the story of the person. Things change in an instant, basis public service announcements, telling people what to do and when.

The story is centered on the life of Jun Do, the son of an orphan master. He is named after one of the revolutionaries who committed suicide to prove his loyalty and worthiness to the revolution. Jun Do’s life is complex – from being treated as an orphan (when he is not) to becoming a tunnel soldier to transforming into a kidnapper, working in Japan to provide select individuals to serve the capital’s needs and desires. He is trained to become an English translator, conducting the work of surveillance spy, on a boat, where the men have their wives’ faces tattooed on their chests.

From here on his life changes drastically. He is given the opportunity to visit US of A. The visit is a humiliating experience for the country, due to which Jun Do is sent to prison. In prison, he kills and takes the place of one of the heroes, Commander Ga and falls in love with his wife, Son Moon, who is a famous movie star. The blurb says that it is, “The Greatest North Korean Love Story Ever Told” and it is correct. It is.

The book is divided into two parts. From the regime’s point of view and what goes on there, and but obviously from the protagonist’s point of view. There were times when I was lost in the narratives but then quickly found my way back in and continued reading.

The Orphan Master’s Son is set in a time which is very difficult for us to imagine and even think what it would be like for us to live in those conditions. The writing is vivid and real. The elements of longing, loss, acceptance and wanting to defy society come across beautifully.

Adam Johnson captures the political scenario brilliantly, though for me if a book has too much of politics in it, I tend to lose focus after a while. There is no defined style of writing in the book and that is refreshing. Totalitarianism is revealed in all its craziness – as to how people give in to repression and propaganda without thought. The setting, North Korea is described without any frills, the way it is meant to be depicted – straightforward.

Stories are disjointed in the book. It is mix of many genres – thriller, spy, romance, sea stories, historical fiction, and realism. The essence of the book is never lost though, which according to me is of identity. The Orphan Master’s Son is a great read. It is everything you possibly cannot imagine in a novel and are taken by surprise. I cannot wait to read the other two books written by Adam Johnson.

Here is the book trailer:

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

“Crusoe’s Daughter” by Jane Gardam is not everyone’s cup of tea read. It is not the usual fare that novels have to offer. It is different and written in a manner that takes time sinking into and enjoying the book. I went through that and once I did I could not stop reading it. Maybe because it is about books and a young girl understanding their need and loving them over a period of time. It is surreal and also elements of magical realism are present in it which makes it all the more interesting. These are my initial thoughts about the book.

Jane Gardam has always maintained that style of writing which is has been consistent, right from God on the Rocks to Crusoe’s Daughter, that of dry wit and a sense of dramatic irony. I remember reading, “God on the Rocks” for the first time at eighteen and being absolutely awe-struck by the book. The eccentrics, which obviously were the secondary characters, were my most favourite. The same applies to this one.

Readers would be surprised to know that “Crusoe’s Daughter” was first published in 1985, and now reprinted by Europa Editions. The book begins when Polly Flint, a mere five-year old girl arrives with her widowed father at Oversands, a big yellow house inhabited by his wife’s older unmarried sisters. Shortly after the arrival, Polly’s father dies, leaving her to be brought up by the sisters, in an isolated place, where there are virtually no more children but Polly. In her loneliness, Polly turns to books and their comfort. In doing so, she identifies herself the most with Robinson Crusoe, who lived in isolation on an island for twenty eight years. She finds a way to cope with her loneliness and anguish as she grows up.

Polly knows that she has to make her own life given the circumstances. For instance, when she is twelve, she rejects communion and its idea. The realism in her head is too much to be handled by anyone. Polly then moves to live with her elderly family members, Arthur Thwaite and his sister Cecilia, who live in Yorkshire moors, some distance away. Here again, life takes a different turn. Their home is an artist’s retreat. Polly meets various new people – poets, thinkers, writers, believers, musicians and dreamers and this further shapes her character and persona, leading to an end which will for sure surprise readers and make them drop their jaw slightly.

The things that worked for me in the book: The setting. Northeast Rural England is not a place I would be visiting sometime too soon. Reading about it and trying to imagine the moors (as I did while reading Wuthering Heights) and the scenes that play out is a different experience by itself. The charm is unbearable. The characters as I mentioned earlier took me by surprise with their wide range of eccentricity and comfort provided to Polly at times. Ms. Gardam may not talk about them in detail during the course of the book, however when she does, she ensures that their voices are heard.

At times the pace of the book got to me. It was turning out to be slower than what I had expected, but I kept reading, because of the writing and the plot. Polly as a character is hard to put my finger on. She is everything and at the same time, she springs from the pages and does something totally unexpected. Kudos to Ms. Gardam for visualizing and bringing her to life in our heads.

The writing is not only descriptive but also insightful. From the thoughts of the single sisters to Polly’s views on things are unique and refreshing. Jane wants us to empathize with her characters, what they are going through, but never sympathize. So from that perspective, the book is not sentimental and I am glad it isn’t.

“Crusoe’s Daughter” might be termed by some as a coming-of-age book, but for me it is more than that. It is discovering oneself through everything. It is about relationships formed in the world known to us and in the world that isn’t known to most people. “Crusoe’s Daughter” is a cracker of a read that should not be missed. But be warned: It is slow. It is not a thriller. It is not your usual fare. So read it only if the story appeals to you.

“Lovers” by Daniel Arsand is set in 18th Century France. It is a love story. A love story that is doomed from the very beginning. It is between two men. A forbidden love, that needs to be destroyed. A love which cannot exist – for the people or for the King. A love story between a French Nobleman, Balthazar and Sebastien, a beautiful and magical adolescent. Theirs is an all-encompassing love affair that refuses to be cowed down by society, its rules and expectations. Of course lovers will meet their end, they will be ruined and so will their love.

Because of this love Balthazar ignores his obligation to the King, because of which he is set on a trial, which ultimately leads to his death. Sebastien on the other hand runs away from Versailles, wanting to live a new life. He tries to forget Balthazar but cannot. The book but of course ends on a tragic note.

“Lovers” is a beautifully written novella. It breaks all boundaries of writing, in its approach and also in its storytelling. It is a novella which you will finish in a day and ponder over it for days. I might also want to add here that even though it is about a man loving another man, everyone can relate to it, considering it is written about love and its nature.

For me Lovers was a mix of prose and poetry. The writing left me speechless and wanting more. The beautiful part about the book is that it can be about any kind of love. The fact that it chooses to portray two men in love, is purely the author’s choice.

Daniel Arsand knows how to write a book – to mix the elements of melancholy, joy and pain beautifully and express those using words. Lovers for me was a book not just about love that was not acknowledged and accepted (it still happens sadly in today’s time and age). It was also about how we are not willing to see beyond what the society has set as a so-called-structure.

The translation from French is superbly done by Howard Curtis. There is beauty. There is savageness. There is love that needs to be defined and there is the question of dying for love. “Lovers” has been one of the year’s best small reads. It is a read that will leave you wanting more and leave an emptiness in your heart. A must read.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

If there is one book I would recommend you to read this year, amongst other books as well, but of course, “The Infinite Tides” by Christian Kiefer would be one of them for sure. I have read debuts so brilliant. Debuts that do not feel like the book is a first by a particular writer and this for sure falls in that category.

The protagonist of this book – Keith Corcoran, who has spent his entire life in the pursuit of becoming an astronaut and becomes one as well, and manages to go into space. He has achieved his goal. His ambition has been lived after being a Princeton Graduate, a Ph.D in Mathematics and being hired by NASA at that. He has managed to make it all with the support of his wife Barbara and his daughter Quinn. He has never been able to spend time with his family and be there for them.

Keith Corcoran is your ambitious man. He wants it all and gets all of it. Sometimes there are also events in life that happen unexpectedly, that almost sock you in the stomach and leave you with no air to breathe and that exactly what happens to Keith. He is in space and receives news of the death of his seventeen year-old daughter. Quinn is the only one he could connect with and now she is not there. His wife Barb cannot stand the grief (and the fact that she is cheating on him) and leaves him, taking everything from their house, barring an ugly sofa, bed, his cul-de-sac, a TV and memories.

Keith returns home three months after the death of his daughter. He is an empty man, who now suffers from migraines. He doesn’t know when he will be called again by NASA and that almost breaks him. Keith is living the life he doesn’t want to and yet he has no choice. He is haunted by memories. For me the part about memories that hit home the most was the fact that he had to watch his daughter’s funeral on a DVD which NASA taped for him, as he was in space at that time.

Amidst his grief (the quiet nature of it is amazingly described by Kiefer), Keith has an affair with a next-door neighbour and makes a new friend in the form of Peter, a Ukrainian immigrant. Peter used to work as a tech assistant in a huge astronomical station in Ukraine. Keith and Peter connect through the telescope owned by Peter. They smoke pot, drink beer and watch the heavens. This is when life unfurls. The unexpected friendship that forms between the two, for me was the basis of the book.

There is a lot more that happens in the book, however not everything can be said through this review. Now to the writing. I loved the writing style. It is raw and fresh (well to a certain extent it did remind me of Richard Yates school of writing, but that is just me, as I love Yates’ works). I was taken into the book from page one, and could not stop reading it. Though I did have problems with the space bits, but then they seemed to blend so well with the larger themes of the book – of void, loss and the chance to live life once again, that it all made sense by the time I was half-way through the book.

Christian has given a unique voice to Keith, by probably not giving him a voice at all – Keith is a character who doesn’t express himself all that much and by his association with Peter, that changes to a large extent in the book, which is a treat to read. There is passion and angst in great measure in the book, no matter how subtle, but the reader can connect to the book on so many levels.

“The Infinite Tides” by Christian Kiefer is a book that I am glad I read and would definitely re-read it. There are lines that break your heart but that is the beauty of a great book. The connection at some level or another. This book is highly recommended by me. Do read it as and when you can.

Toni Morrison is one of my favourite writers. I have almost loved everything she has written. She is amongst the writers who knows her craft and does not shy from writing on themes that are real and varied and sometimes plain scary. From the first time since I started reading her, when Beloved was gifted to the time I have finished reading her recent book, “Home”, Toni Morrison has managed to make me feel like no other writer has.

“Home” by Toni Morrison is somewhere between a novella and a novel, amounting to 146 pages only and yet as a reader you are amazed at the variety of emotions and themes she touches upon in limited words and pages.

The premise of the novel is brilliant: Trauma suffered by men who have returned from war and that too in the 50’s, the Korean War that ended in 1953. The war was fought between the Republic of Korea (supported by the USA) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. America provided 88% of the 341,000 International Soldiers which aided South Korean Forces. One of the soldiers in this story happens to be Frank Money, who has returned from war, kept his life on hold and has to return home to his sister Cee, who is in trouble. The book is about his demons, his love left behind (not much is spoken of her, just a couple of pages) his journey back home and in-between chapters of his sister’s life back home.

There is a lot of displacement in the book – from families that move to the hurt and anger that seethes and is denied an outlet. Men have to be strong. Times are changing. The war-returned souls cannot express their feelings, or confess their brutal acts. Owing to this, the issue of racism is subtle in the book.

Toni Morrison always ensures that you feel for her characters – be it Pecola in “The Bluest Eye” or Sethe in “Beloved”, she ensures that you cry or that there is a lingering need to save them. I could not empathize for any of the characters in this book. I just could not.

There was may be a lot going on in the book for me to be able to relate to anyone – the War, the racism, the issue of loneliness, poverty, abortion, and ultimately healing. Having said that, the one part that stuck to me was that of Cee’s and how she heals towards the end. That is beautifully written and expressed and I loved that about the book.

Overall, I did not find this book as moving as her other books. Maybe because of the length and that it was trying to say a lot, but couldn’t. At the same time, no one can contest the writing. She is as breathtaking at her skill as ever. Darkness and loneliness are at the core of this book and one doesn’t have to go through war to understand both. I do hope there is more of “Home” in other installments or prequels or anything – but more, because I wasn’t satiated with this one. I need more of her writing.

When you read a Nadeem Aslam novel, you sink in the words. You cherish the writing, and let the plot linger with you way after the book is over. Nadeem Aslam was introduced to me by a friend, when he gifted me a copy of, “Maps for Lost Lovers” and I remember reading it in one night. I was hooked. There was no way I was going to go to sleep without finishing the book. The same happened when I started reading, “The Wasted Vigil”.

“The Wasted Vigil” is not a new book however that does not matter. Moreover it is quite difficult to write a book about Afghanistan and deal with its history of the last thirty-odd years. I have read a lot of books on Afghanistan and its condition, however this one has been very different (rather handled quite well) and written like a dream.

The book is set in present Afghanistan and includes a band of diverse characters. An English Ex-Pat, his Afghani wife and daughter, and the stories from their village form the backdrop of the story. To this, other characters are added – An American Ex-Spy, the sister of a dead Soviet from the 80’s, an American Special Forces agent, and a young Jihadi and two Afghan “warlords” (which is the most interesting in my opinion), complete the tapestry of this book. The action in the book takes place at Marcus’s house (The Englishman). Lara arrives there one fine day in search of her brother and the drama unfolds. The others arrive one after the other in search of someone or something. This is the premise of the book.

What I loved about the book was of course the way it was written but also the way the characters are etched throughout, from beginning to the end, no one is out of place. There are some astoundingly beautiful sentences, though at times (rarely) I felt they somehow did not add to the narrative as whole. Nonetheless, I enjoyed them a lot and here are some striking examples:

“All those who love know exactly the limit they’re prepared to go to. They know exactly what is required.”

“How keen everyone is to make this world their home forgetting its impermanence It’s like trying to see and name constellations in a fireworks display.”

The literary and historical references in the book are bang on and make a lot of sense when read from an overall perspective. The narrative moves back and forth from one person to another and that at times presents a problem reading the book, however before you know it, you will get used to the style of writing.

The threads are connected with great care throughout the book. The socio-economic lay of the land is described intricately and gives the reader a sense of place and time. No sides are taken and no judgments are made. That is probably the best way to approach this book while reading it as well. All I can say is that I enjoyed this book a lot, despite not agreeing to certain parts. A great read for sure. Intense and thought-provoking.

“Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter is a story set in simple times and may be that is why I was so taken in by it. I had not read the earlier successful book by Jess Walter, “The Financial Lives of the Poets”. I have heard a lot about it and will read it now after having experienced his style of writing. Beautiful Ruins is set in most places – coast of Italy, Rome, Hollywood, Idaho, and in England and Scotland, and that’s why I loved this book so much. The fact that Walter can take the reader to so many places is stupendous and shows his skill as a writer.

The “beautiful ruins” of this novel is its physical setting; a tiny coastal village in Italy called Porto Vergogna (ironically translated as Port Shame). Here we are introduced to a young man named Pasquel, whose family owns the only hotel in town. He is determined to attract more tourists to this village and thereby improve the conditions of his hotel which he names The Hotel Adequate View. The book starts in 1962 when a young beautiful actress named Dee Moray arrives to stay at the hotel (earlier only one American had visited the hotel – Alvis Bender, a writer who only could not seem to write) and but obviously everything changes and the change occurs when Pasquel falls in love with Dee. The starlet one fine day leaves the island and Pasquel is left heartbroken but not without a mission. That is one part of the story.

The second part of the story is the “recent present” where Pasquel arrives in Hollywood to find out what happened to Dee. The quest to find her leads him to other people who were affected by the single act of her coming to the island in 1962. This is where we meet other characters: Michael Deane, the aging producer, Claire, Deane’s assistant whose idealism is slipping by slowly, and Shane, the talent-challenged writer, who help Pasquel in his search. The surprise element in the book is Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. (Almost like a starred appearance)

The book alternates between 1962 and the present beautifully in the form of letters, character sketches, lives lived, old letters, novel excerpts and movie pitches. There is a lot going on in the book and the reader has to get used to that (which can be very difficult) before falling in love with the writing. Beautiful Ruins as a title is most symbolic of what was once beautiful is in ruins and all things beautiful eventually turn to ruins. The slippage in time is symbolic of this fact.

“Beautiful Ruins” is a beautifully composed, philosophically written and highly entertaining novel. It can get a bit dragging at times but at the end of it all, it is so worth-it, once the reader knows the pace is picking up and going somewhere. There are private losses and gains in the book. Each character is beautifully etched and his or her own story to tell and how he or she is connected to the others. The characters of the past and present merge wonderfully to show readers Walter’s writing prowess. Like I said I only am inclined to read good books and I am glad I read this one. Highly recommended.

I love coming-of-age novels. They somehow manage to comfort me and make me believe in the goodness of the world. Yes they tend to do that. It has may be got to do with the fact that the protagonists are more human than the adults and have a perspective like no other. So it could be Holden Caulfield struggling with trying to make sense of the world or it could be Scout Finch who is trying very hard to hang on to the old life, as her world is falling apart.

And with this I begin the review of yet another beautifully told coming-of-age novel, “An Uncommon Education” by Elizabeth Percer. Naomi Feinstein is a young woman troubled by life. She is surrounded by a father with a weak heart (and so she decides to become a doctor), a mother who is depressed and is not interested in her and her best friend Teddy (and also her first love so to speak) suddenly departs from her life, making it more so miserable.

She tries dealing with the loneliness by running away from it. She is admitted to the college of her dreams – Wellesley College and hopes that life will change. But things do not. Naomi realizes that it will take some time for things to fall into place, but she is determined not to let others define her or her choices. She learns to save herself first through various means (the Shakespeare Club) and some of them actually work. Naomi’s happiness is soon compromised as she gets involved in a scandal and that is when she realizes the true meaning of life.

An Uncommon Education started off as a slow read for me, however once it grew on me I could let go of it. Percer is great at setting the style, the context and the elements of the story. We follow Naomi’s life from childhood through college and experience all her ups and downs with her and that is what sticks with you at the end of the novel. The fact that Elizabeth Percer can make you feel for Naomi through her words is a marvellous feat.

Elizabeth Percer writes with a striking clarity that may be at some point allows us to relate to the book at some level. You want to sit up and reach out to Naomi and let her know that things will be fine. At the same time, Naomi is the one who finds this out by living. By going through the proverbial rite-of-passage and by growing up to the realities that surround her life. This book is one of a kind. I highly recommend this novel. I would definitely re-read it later at some point.

Title: Can Love Happen Twice?
Author: Ravinder Singh
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Love story
Price-125(Flipkart gives you at 88)
Madhu’s stars: 3/5

Ravinder Singh, author of Indian bestseller, “I too had a love story-True story” , is back with fiction this time. His previous novel was one painful read dedicated to his girl friend Khushi, who died a week before their marraige. His next book’s title is apt for the story he has carried, and will be a interesting read for people who have had heart breaks.

The plot is simple but Ravin likes to add a sad flavor to his books. Ravin is still deeply immersed in Khushi’s memories when he meets someone else.So will they fall in love? Will they get married? Will Ravin not feel guilty of loving someone else., when he loves khushi so much?Well read the book if you want the answers, but one secret which i can reveal is it has different sort of a setup. The whole book is actually a narration on the Radio by Ravin’s friends on Valentines day.At a lot of places the story seems true and a lot of places it seems made up.

Personally i do not believe that love can keep happening a lot of times and also love can happen just once in life. Seems contradictory right? What i mean here is if the other person has not cheated on you or has not died then it is difficult to move on. Since then its nobody’s fault.But on the contrary if the other person does not give a damn about you then there was no love ever. And one just has to move on and find true love. But we all crave for a little care, compassion and like to be made feel special and we are tend to fall again.

So if you think its time to move on, pick up this book, it might make you cry at the end or you might just toss it up in the air and say “what a waste of time”, “How bollywoodish”, but i think books of fiction are meant to be like films, they are meant to hold for those 200 pages and make you feel good. All in all, the book is very okay and the proof reading is bad. Ravin could have made it much better. The first novel was way better. This one seems too fake at times.

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The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan is an ode to love – a subtle love letter to love and its nature. That is what the book means to me. Needless to say that the novel is written in the form of a dictionary – a dictionary of love and a relationship surrounding that love.

The idea is simple: How does one talk about love? Is there a way to talk about it? There are so many ways to talk about it. Love, which pulls us out of the ordinary and the mundane life and promises something so much more than what it can give. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn’t. “The Lover’s Dictionary” is a song to those moments of love, almost every shade and colour, every emotion explored through a relationship and its definitions.

Love doesn’t unfold in bullet points. It needs definitions and conversations. It needs sharing and may be some looking back to see where it can go ahead, and if it should. David Levithan’s book is meant to be shared with people so they can be enthralled by its beauty.

The setting of the book is New York City – a relationship unravels through definitions (as mentioned earlier). The definitions in this dictionary are exhilarating and sometimes leave you breathless. Everyone who has ever been in a relationship or may be not also can connect with it. It speaks to all of us – straight, gay, men and women. The language is evocative. The words chosen to try to define love and its complexities are carefully chosen and unique. There is unapologetic romance on every page and that’s the sort of writer that David Levithan is. You can read the book from any page and may be try and make sense of your life in that instant with reference to that definition given. The writing is that powerful.

Sometimes the “dictionary” entries are only as much as a single sentence and yet so fulfilling. There are genuine insights to love and the possibility of it or not. Here are some gems from it: For example, “balk, v. I was the one who said we should live together. And even as I was doing it, I knew this would mean that I would be the one to blame if it all went wrong. Then I consoled myself with this: if it all went wrong, the last thing I’d care about was who was to blame for moving in together.” Or this: “reservation, n. There are times when I worry that I’ve already lost myself. That is, that myself is so inseparable from being with you that if we were to separate, I would no longer be. I save this thought for when I feel the darkest discontent. I never meant to depend so much on someone else.” Or this: love, n. I’m not even going to try.

The book talks of everything love is – first dates, the flirting, the wooing, the living-In, the break-ups and the coming back together to make it work. David Levithan’s writing is beyond superb. He has the capacity to string sentences like no other writer – that is his unique way to do so and that worked for me on all levels. For me, I could read and re-read this book – again and again and cherish it till I do not give enough of it. It is subtle, surreal, magical and takes you to a love – real, funny, heart-breaking and spectacular. You are missing out on something if you haven’t read it yet and I envy you if you would be reading it for the first time because it is so good.

When Mark Haddon writes, you sit up and take notice. There are no two ways to that thought – at least not for me. I remember reading, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” in 2003 and being taken in by the spectacular writing style and the first person narration. In the same way, I enjoyed reading, “A Spot of Bother” – very different from the first one and equally breath-taking.

I was then mailed an Advanced Reader’s Copy of, “The Red House” and my joy knew no bounds. The book is about middle-class angst and it works on so many levels, in terms of being able to relate to it. A great deal does not happen in the book. Do not expect twists and turns. Having said that, the book is a great read.

An adult brother and sister take their respective families on a holiday together in a cottage in Wales, following their mother’s death. The book is about the eight main characters’ thoughts, interactions with each other, and individual experiences. In my experience, when narratives shift in almost every chapter, the novel becomes boring and confusing to the reader. This does not happen with this book. Each character has a distinct voice (one of the clear talents of a good writer) and knows what to say and when.

The characters are: Angela, the sister and a working mom, on the verge of a breakdown, Dominic – Angela’s unemployed husband, their teenage son Alex, their religious daughter Daisy, their young son Benjy – living in his fantasy world, Richard – Angela’s estranged brother, Louisa – his wife and Melissa, his manipulative daughter.

Through these characters Haddon plays a week in the book, moving between each character – almost as swiftly as paragraph to the next. The book gave me the ever-changing, fascinating and the feeling that I was looking through a looking glass. The eight of them have their own secrets, longings and resentments which only make them as human as you and I. The writing zips in montages and sometimes it becomes difficult to figure who is carrying the baton, though once you get used to the writing, it isn’t difficult to figure.

The language and symbolism is weaved very well for a story of a dysfunctional family. In some parts, it almost reminded me of Faulkner’s, “The Sound and the Fury”, however those parts were rare. As a reader, you are left with many questions of the families’ future at the end of the book, but I guess that’s a great job done for the writer, if his/her readers are still thinking about the characters, way after the book has been devoured.

The Red House by Mark Haddon is a rollercoaster of emotions and all it works surprisingly well and all adds up at the end of the book. I would definitely and most certainly recommend this read for the long summer weekend that comes up.

I remember when I finished reading, “Blankets” for the first time. I was mesmerized by the writing and the illustration prowess of Craig Thompson. I had to procure a copy of, “Goodbye Chunky Rice”, which I loved a little more than “Blankets”. I had heard of, “Habibi” sometime ago and when I received a copy of it, I started and ended the book and still reeling from its effect.

Craig Thompson as an illustrator and a writer takes risks. Habibi is very different from the other graphic novels that I have read. It reads as a novel to begin with and the sketches are intricate and magnificent. One cannot begin to think what black and white drawings can do to the heart and the soul. To realize its potential, you have to read Habibi.

Set in timeless Middle East, the book fuses legend and myths with grim realities, following the lives of Dodola, an Arab girl sold into child marriage by her illiterate parents. Her husband is kind enough to teach her the script, how to read and how to write. She is kidnapped by dacoits, runs away from the slave market with an African child who she raises as her own for nine long years (names him Zam), living a sheltered life in the desert on an abandoned ship (it is beautifully drawn in the book), whores for desert nomads in exchange for food, is help captive in a Sultan’s harem, and is in a dungeon as well. Bottom-line: Her life is not rosy. The only comfort she found was with Zam and the years spent with him and she doesn’t know where he is. She ultimately finds him and finds out about his suffering, only to reach the end where there is much positivity and love. I am putting it loosely in this review as I do not want to reveal anything about the plot and what happens in the book.

Habibi (My Beloved) is a love story. Of a girl who takes in an orphan and is representative of everything she is to him – a friend, a mother, a guide, a sister and a lover. Habibi has several sub-plots. There is the emphasis on the heritage of Islam and Christianity and its similarities, which again are beautifully expressed. There is a lot of hard-facing reality in this book. For instance, when Zam is alone and without anyone by his side, the measures taken by him to survive are raw and realistic. The visuals are marvelously done and the message is heart-felt. For instance, Zam loves listening to stories told by Dodola, and it is done fascinatingly in the book.

For me Habibi was a journey of a different kind. It taught me a lot and also made me realize that at the core of it, humanity sometimes is not what you might expect it to be. Thompson balances the points of view between spirituality and lust delicately and brings the concept of, “struggle with oneself” quite eloquently throughout the book. Habibi celebrates life through it all and for me that is the highlight of this book. A must graphic novel to adorn your shelves for sure.

Book Title: TheNew Collected Short Stories

I think I have had my share of chick-lit reading for this year. I am glad that it ended with, “Tea for Two and a Piece of Cake” by Preeti Shenoy. Preeti Shenoy writes with urgency – almost like she has to catch the next bus and will miss it, but it is that urgency that gives the book its much needed tone and pace.

The plot is about starting again. Nisha’s life is not the perfect life one would want. She is plump (and well there is more than one reference to that in the book), plain-looking and but obviously single. She has had her heart broken once by being in an eight-year old relationship with the suave and charming Samir Sharma and being dumped at the altar. Enters a younger man Akash and the promise to start all over, knowing that it could or could not work out. Chances need to be taken and this time Nisha would have to take them all over again, though being guarded and apprehensive. The question is: Will she or won’t she?

The book has its secondary characters in the form of Nisha’s family, friends and colleagues, dispensing advice and sometimes just being there for her. For me, “Tea for Two and a Piece of Cake” worked in some places and some places it did not. The writing is very well executed. You can imagine the setting and it is more conversational, which worked for me.

What did not work for me was sometimes the entire premise – the end to be fulfilled only by having someone in your life and sadly it is true for the way we live now. The maddening need to find someone and for him or her to stay is the crux of the book, of course besides love, which is at the core.

Having said this, I enjoyed the writing. It isn’t in your face and at the same time it is not very guarded. I like how the concept of a live-in relationship was not made too much about in the book. It may not seem to be such an issue considering the times we live in, but it still is. Over all, I enjoyed the book barring certain parts which did not seem to work for me.