Brighton Rock...Graham Green

After reading "The Human Factor", I picked up this book of the same author. And I just somehow managed to finish it. It just made no sense to me. Neither the story nor any implicit meanings which the author wanted to convey.

The story is about a boy "Pinkie", who is kind of involved in shady business, kills one person & more persons to hide the first murder. And then makes one girl [who kind of is the witness to first murder] his girlfriend & eventually marries her so that she cant testify against him. This girl also is blindly devoted to him for no odd reason. And the story goes on.

It was such a boring read for me. In Orkut's books community many people had kind of praised this book/author. Guess should check out what they liked about it.

Eragon ...Eldest... by Christopher Paolini

Am yet to finish the third n final part of this Inheritance Trilogy. The first two books have been a good read. Whats enjoyable about such fantasy novels is that they are pure imagination :) This one is nothing compared to Harry Potter series off course, which was like AWESOME :D but still has been a wonderful read.

A Missed Flight..

No, that is not any book’s name. Instead it is just a mundane experience which I thought of penning down. It so happened that after a 3 month tryst in US I was on my way back to Pune, India.
The journey began on the morning of 30th of November. After exchanging warm hugs & goodbyes with frens on that cold morning I headed for the airport. One of my frens saw me off & that eased of my journey blues to some extent. Then began the long wait, first couple of hours, then 3..5..7 hours at that Milwaukee terminal for my first flight to Newark. This flight just kept getting delayed cuz of the weather conditions. And I could see the weather from the terminal windows. It kept snowing & a tempest followed. I knew I had missed my connecting flight from Newark to Mumbai due to this delay but still I was hoping against hope that it might also have got delayed, haha :)

The Human Factor...Graham Green

This has been my first book by this author. Came to know about this author from some books community on net so thought will give it a try.

The protagonist in this book is a double agent, now that is something which becomes clear half way through the book. The story is a simple one in which he is passing on secrets & the people in this department are looking for the person who is leaking information. And this person is mostly concerned about is wife & kid. However after commiting the final information leak he has to escape to another country & now is waiting for his family to join him etc etc.

There is not much of suspense in the story considering that it supposingly a "spy" novel, but somehow the way the author has written it, makes a good read. I enjoyed reading the book even though it seems a very simple story. And so I have picked up another book "Brighton Rock" by same author :)

The Gambler...Fyodor Dostoevsky

This is my second book by this author. Actually I had heard a lot about this author that he is amazing this n that. But I just couldn't understand anything that was written in this particular book . I mean neither the story was great in itself, nor it had any humor, or suspense, or anything for that matter. I just kept reading it thinking that maybe I will understand what the author is trying to convey through this book , but I couldn't get anything really except that gambling is addictive :D

Its not about the bike - Lance Armstrong

In this semi autobiographical book, Lance Armstrong writes about his career as a racing cyclist, his fight against cancer & his beating the disease winning the tour de France. It is really amazing to read about such people who in spite of all the odds just DO IT.

The book starts with some background about his childhood & how eventually he took up sports, won triathlon & then started with cycling as a professional. His mother had always been supportive. It just took him few years and loads of training & practice to earn name n fame in it. He was at the peak of his success when cancer hit him & he realized for the first time that he is human and vincible.

Grass is greener on the other side...

There is this short story in "To cut a long story short" by Jeffery Archer which I though I'll put down here. Its about how the grass is always greener on the other side for nearly everyone be it rich or poor. It started with the thoughts of a tramp who used to sleep at the side of a bank. Though he was fine & not miserable with his condition, he thought how lucky the door keeper of the bank was etc etc. Then it proceeds to the thought process going on in the door keepers mind, who was thinking how lucky the person sitting inside at the reception was, who didn't have to stand whole day long & do a mind less job. Then story moves on to the thought process to that persons mind who was thinking how lucky some officer was who had just gone past him. That officer was thinking about his own monetary problems & kid problem. This officer then eyed his senior as lucky who in turn was brooding over his family problems. This officer also eyed his senior who also had his own problems n so on. Finally even the CEO of the bank had just mailed his resignation to the board as he could not continue having made some major mistakes in corporate decision making. And finally while this CEO was leaving the bank after resigning, he looks at the tramp & thinks how lucky this tramp was, doesnt have to deal with all this & that he would be so happy to switch places with that tramp.

Thus the circle completes. Each one finding the grass greener on the other side...It was really nicely written :)

The Devil wears Prada

..by Lauren Weisberger

Amazing novel. Really enjoyed reading it. Its a story of a young graduate Andrea who wants to be a writer in "The New Yorker" but to start with her career, joins as an assistant to the editor in chief of a fashion magazine "The Runway". As was impressed upon her one year as assistant to Miranda could lead her to any promotion within the same magazine or any other magazine as Miranda was quite influential. So she starts with quite a zeal with her new job but soon realizes its gonna be a tough year ahead cuz Miranda is an extremely tough boss to work with.

So the story goes on with how trivial her boss's demands would be at times & how difficult it would get for Andrea to manage. And eventually the job takes up so much of Andrea's time that she is unable to meet her parents regularly or make up with any other personal commitments. Her boyfriend seems quite understanding initially but then he too starts loosing his patience with her. So she keeps feeling guilty at times but then she feels its just a matter of one year & after a year, all will fall into place.

In Spite of the Gods..

..The Strange rise of Modern India...by Edward Luce.


I read this book during my travel to Udhampur this vacation. I haven't read many books on India & this is one of the very few I have read. It seemed interesting to me, but it affected my mood as well. And considering the events that coincided with my reading this book, Jammu (including Udhampur) was experiencing bandh & disturbances due to fight over religion again. I don’t want to delve into whom I think was right or wrong in this case of Amarnath Shrine board Land issue.

The book touches most of the aspects of India, its government, politics, bureaucracy, culture, people, problems, progress, militancy, riots etcetera. I really boiled over the stupidity & greed of people. How can the nation progress when its people are so stupid to understand the futility of fighting & killing over trivial issues, when its people are so greedy & corrupt. Why can’t people live & let live. I mean I can’t even imagine the kind of hatred required for a human being to torture another fellow human being who hasn’t even done any harm to him!

Salt And Sawdust

Short stories & Table talk ..by R K Narayan

This is a short book with a couple of short stories...n few even more shorter stories..termed as table talk. The table talk is mostly narrated in first person, at times are satire on the political system & some are nice incidents of some good people & good deeds. Overall light read, not very interesting for me even though there is wit & humor in it.

Some efficiency...!

The other day I was watching Beijing's preparation for Olympics in NatGeo. Four years back after winning the competition to host next Olympics, they started a huge architectural development. They developed the stadiums [Bird nest, Water cube]. They also built the biggest airport terminal in the world called The Dragon [along with the railway network connecting the airport to rest of Beijing]. All this they built using latest technologies & considering all factors from security from natural forces to convenience etc. What really impressed me is the efficiency with which they took up such a huge development & finished it on time. I couldn't help comparing it with the rate with which development is going on in Pune where I stay, they haven't been able to finish renovating a single road since last one year!!

Is Paris Burning???

Thats what Hitler asked his general when Allies & French were fighting against his troops in Paris.

These days am reading this book by Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre, which relates the course of events in Paris during its occupation by Germany & its liberation during World War II.

These authors have written the facts with a personnal touch. As in they have actually had talks with many people involved in world war II & so the way they present facts is a little different from a normal history book. And many places they even mentioned what became of those people post war. This book is mostly on events in Paris & doesnt tell much about the rest of world war.

Like with any war, the civilian life during German occupation, is really sad & is poignantly described. They were occupied in 1940 & finally in 1944 they got liberated. Hitler, The German ruler was very keen on holding onto Paris [France], cuz it was in a very strategic position for his ambitions in the war & so he had given orders to hold Paris under any costs. He did not care how much destruction that involved. He had infact even given orders [& preparation were almost done] to destroy the economical/industrial structures, the bridges which connected the city, all the major structures, just everything to criple the city. This all during 1944, when the signs of resistance were starting to be seen.

The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder

Like any other of Jostein's narration, this one also is a little different. What happens is this boy Georg, gets a letter addressed to him from his father, who has died eleven yrs ago when Georg was 4, stuffed in some old furniture. His father had written this letter during his last days of illness hoping that when his boy grows up & reads it he'l be able to understand all that he wanted to speak to him before he died..In a way he wrote the letter to the future..

That letter has a story of an orange girl..which is nothing but the story of his [father's] life. How he met his wife [who is the orange girl] & how their wonderful life began & how they found each day a magical beautiful journey. Also the father during his time is very fascinated by the universe, galaxies, stars etc & mans success in this area.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Now this is story about few fellow inmates in the mental asylum, told by one of them "Chief" who is half american indian & pretends to be deaf n dumb. The inmates here have a very restricted life which is further controlled by the "Big Nurse" there. Everybody is terrified by this Big Nurse who has her own definition of discipline. All this changes when "McMurphy" comes into this asylum. Now he really isnt mental, & comes there to escape imprisonment or something. He is a very jolly & happy go lucky fellow, who likes to have fun & make everybody have fun. Now obviously when he introduces his concept of having fun he clashes with Big Nurse. So the story goes about like this. It kind of becomes McMurphy vs Big Nurse. Ending is kinda sad for those who are on McMurphy side, cuz he had come to the asylum just to buy time & ends up there forever just because of his nature of questionsing things, of wanting to have fun rather than following a dreary subdued life. I mean whats the harm in watching a game on Tv? Even that was something unacceptable to Big Nurse. Actually everything was unacceptable to her, she wanted things to be exactly the way she wanted without anybody questioning. No denying that McMurphy did go beyond limits with the booze party & all, where he should have just concentrated on his escape plan. One good thing that happens is the Chief gets the strength & hope to escape from this kind of imprisonment...& the inmates there find their voice to assert themselves.

Whats with these advertisements..!

This months Readers Digest had 42 pages devoted to advertisements & 72 pages devoted to their selected brands or something..so in all 114 pages pure advertisements...Gosh! what a waste! it was my one time favorite...n now its more of advertisements than articles...sigh...

Know thyself!!

The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder....Again..


Excerpts..
I think the whole universe is intended. There is some kind of purpose or other behind all the myraids of stars & galaxies.

Everything existing has a reason, meaning, some purpose. If not, then why does it exist in the first place? If a particular event has happened, then definitely there is some reason, some cause.


There is so much inexplicable in this life..world..

Some more from "Notes from Underground"

The second part of this book is a reminiscence of some incident from the protagonist's life. Its a normal story with his weird thoughts...First he is obsessed with avenging his insult from this officer [ which he presumes is an insult, as this officer ignored him & did not consider worthy of giving him any attention or showing any courtesy]...Then next he invites himself to some farewell party of old classmates [he clearly states that he dislikes each n every one of them]..Finally drunk in the party he ends up in a brothel n gives lecture of goodness & love & respect to the girl there..& then keeps worrying over his act of inviting that girl to his house..& when that girl visits his house, he insults her & sends her away...so this is what there is in the second part...

Now this Mr Underground is really weird...first he is so obsessed with taking revenge from this officer..& its so very important for him that all the time for days together he just keeps thinking about this..goes into financial debt..& then is satisfied by merely not moving from the path of the officer while walking one fine day..

Notes from the "Notes from the Underground"

This is one weirdo book I have come across, rather the protagonist in it is a weird character & is reflected through his discourse. Or maybe he is not weird. Cuz everyone of us has various facets & sometime or the other come across some weird, not so good, even out of place thoughts/actions. Neither are we pure black nor white, we are shades of grey in our character. Isnt it..he ha ha :D
This is the kind of book, which I will have to read may be many times, cuz every time I’ll notice something different, grasp some other notion that the author has put it. I haven’t yet finished reading this book, but here are some excerpts which I found worth listing.


The enjoyment was just from the too intense consciousness of one's own degradation; it was from feeling oneself that one had reached the last barrier, that it was horrible, but that it could not be otherwise; that there was no escape for you; that you never could become a different man; that even if time and faith were still left you to change into something different you would most likely not wish to change; or if you did wish to, even then you would do nothing; because perhaps in reality there was nothing for you to change into.

The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder

One of my favorite books & fav author as well [as I have loved every book of his that I have read so far].

I read this book quite sometime back & its such a dreamy thought provoking book. Dreamy in the sense there are many mysterical/magical things happening in the story. But all those mystical happenings make you wonder about your own life & this world. The hidden mysteries which we tend to seek. I started feeling..Wow...this world..this life is so wonderful..so enigmatic..so enchanting..you feel like exploring different facets of it..it just fills you up with so much zest..Gosh it was an awesome experience reading this book...!

I rather not go into the story, cuz there are so many happenings in the story & the story as such isnt all that important. In fact I think many readers of this book might not even realize that its actually philosophy & not just a story. Probably I'l list some of the excerpts which sent me spiralling in thoughts in my next post :

Pessimism Personified???

"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Depressing! Utterly pessimistic!!This book exudes pessimism, creating such a melancholy aura from the beginning till the end. I mean was the author averse to any positive happening or thought? I had such a disgusting mood while reading this book that I wonder how I even managed to finish it.

Shantaram

This book is a narration by Gregory David Roberts. Initially when I was reading this book, I believed [as I was told] that it is a semi autobiographical book. But then later on I came to know that its more of fiction, & is based on true events & people.

Lin supposedly was an escaped convict from Australia who came to live in Bombay & this book is about his life since then. How he spent nearly 10 years in India [mainly Mumbai], getting accustomed to living in slums, curing the slum people in his little clinic, fighting cholera & firestorms in slum, his visit to an Indian village, learning hindi & marathi to the extent of being fluent, his involvement with the underworld, his tryst in Arthor Road jail, his affairs, his Indian friends, his thoughts, his drug additction. Infact he even narrates being a part of some bollywood movie as some extra. And then experiencing the Afganistan mujahideen fight, from where he barely manages to escape back with his life.

His narration gives a fair picture of life in Mumbai, its various facets. Slums are as much part of Mumbai as is the sophisticated affluent world. Then there is underworld, with its inextricable maze in Mumbai and the horrible life in the Mumbai Jails.

Zen & The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance

This is a book by Robert M. Pirsig & unlike its name its neither about Zen Philosophy or Motorcycle maintenance. In this book, the author is on a biking trip across US with his son & couple of friends. Enroute he keeps pondering & explaining his thoughts. So thats what the book is all about. His philosophy.


One concept which this book made me ponder over was the concept of two types of personalities, one those which when observe an object or think about an object can just see the aesthetics of it & can just view the outer aspect of it. This type is termed as Romantic Viewpoint. The second kind are those who when observe or think about an object can see the inner details & are more interested in the workings & intricate details. This type is termed as classical Viewpoint.

Calvin n Hobbes - my all time favorite :)

Philosophical Discussion :)

How very true :)

His take on girls ;-)

The Metamorphosis

This was another book of Franz Kafka I read recently. Again a terrific read. I simply enjoy such philosophical works. This again is a short story which can have different interpretations by readers.

In this story, Gregor Samsa, one fine day wakes up & realizes he has been converted to a vermin & now is incapable of leading a normal life or even communicating with anybody. & then story goes on to describe how he loses his job and how his family tries to cope up with this. His feelings during all this & then his end.

The Trial

This was my first read by Franz Kafka. I had heard a lot about Kafka & so thought will give it a try, & it turned out to be a good & different kind of read.

Its a weird kind of story. Infact I kept reading the book looking for some meaning in the course of events, but no such revelation came. So probably in my attempt to look for overall meaning, I missed the subtle meanings in different chapters of the book. Maybe when I read the next time I shall be more patient with the book.

The Stranger [The Outsider]

This book by Albert Camus was my first by this author. Its a short story, philosophical. I searched on Wiki, & it seems the philosophy stated in this book is termed as "Absurdism". This implies that a mans effort to find the meaning of universe etc ultimately fails & hence is absurd cuz no such meaning exists.

The protagonist Meursault, is a very passive person, he seems to be enjoying life & the pleasures in life, day to day happenings, doesn't give much thought to "why", isn't effected by the harshness in life. He does not believe in God & cannot express remorse. He is kind of person who believes that ultimately the end is same so how does it matter whether he has done this or that, or whether he should believe in something or not, cuz however one behaves, whatever one does, ultimately the end is same, "death".