The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

One of the best novels I have read in the recent past. The story just flows and the format of the book is like letter writing. A person from Guernsey writes a letter to this writer requesting a book. The conversation continues and the writer gets an idea for her new book. Her friend at Guernsey gets others in the club to write to her too about their experiences during the war. The conversation is mostly about the German occupation of Guernsey and how they formed the literary club. There is a subtle love story, but that hardly gets much importance and is exactly the way it should be.

Do grab a copy at your nearest library and read this one!

Three Mistakes of My Life

Alright, biggest mistake of "MY" life is reading this book. Its like a horribly written Bollywood movie, that I wouldn't even watch if its free! Cliched story! Has been told a million times - cricket, religion and politics. Language is too simple and story is pathetic! Please pass up on this one!

The White Tiger

Back to reading and updating again...

This book talks about nothing new that we Indians don't know, but does a good job reminding us of the other face of India. A corrupt India is what we choose to conveniently ignore/forget and this book brings it all back. A lot of people feel that this book shows India in a poor light, but I think it shows India exactly the way it is!

The story is in the first person, its a story of rags to riches of Balram Halwai. Born in his village (called Darkness), he moves from there to become a driver and later becomes at entrepreneur in the Bangalore (called Light). The corrupt journey he undertakes is the essence of this book.

A good read and a light one too! And for once an Indian book that does not talk about sarees, sindoor and spicy food, like its meant for Westerners.

Good Quotes :

See the muslims have one god. The christians have three gods. And we hindus has 56000000 gods.

Only three have never let themselves be ruled by foreigners: China, Afghanistan and Abyssinia. These are the only three nations I admire.

To break the law of his land-to turn bad news into good news- is the entrepreneur prerogative.

To sum up-in the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with big bellies, and men with small bellies. And only two destinies: eat or get eaten up.

These are three main diseases in this country: cholera, typhoid and election fever. The last one is the worst; it makes people talk and talk about things that they have no say in.

The Great Gatsby

March was a slow month, in terms of reading. A lot going on at my end, so was able to read one book amidst all that life has brought.

Lesson learnt : Never be fooled by Amazon reviews. If 1000 people find it a 5-star rated book, you need not.

If you watched Bollywood flicks, then this story comes as no surprise. The heros, heroine, affairs (extra-marital ones) and so on. No character in this book is a hero to celebrate except the author himself. The setting is good, prose is great and the story has been re-told several times.

A short book, took me longer than expected to read, but give it a shot! Not much to lose there.

Sold

If you have read Memoirs of a Geisha (one of my favorite book) or watched Umrao Jaan (a Hindi movie), this is the same in a much more simpler form. But the topic of human trafficking is never a simple one. It does make you cold, especially if you have kids of your own. This is a story of a Nepalese girl sold by her step-father for a few rupees. It is a story, in first person, about how she felt each moment. It does not have a fairy-tale ending and leaves the reading wanting to know a little more. But it sure delivers its point and leaves you a little disturbed. It is a Young-Adult book. So it is spaced and a very quick read. Maybe one afternoon, at the most.

Tuesdays With Morrie

Yet another book, that says nothing new, but kicks you in the butt, just in case you forgot how to lead your life. This one, like the Last Lecture, has nothing new to offer. It is the same inspirational kind. But you need one such book every year to realize that a mechanical life does not lead you anywhere, and that there is a huge difference between "want" and "need".

Good quotes:

Love each other or perish.

People are only mean when they're threatened.

When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

Once you know how to die, you know how to live.

You're not a wave, you're part of the ocean.

If you can accept that you can die at any time - then you might not be as ambitious as you are.

Three Cups of Tea

Have you ever sat through a movie because so many people said its good and you thought the best is coming yet? That's exactly how I felt about this book. 1200 people on Amazon cannot give wrong reviews. I trust them. So I kept pushing myself to read this book despite the fact that skipped a few paragraphs here and there. Then I reached page 333. Nothing yet! Mr Mortenson's work is absolutely laudable. But the book, awful! painful to read!

The whole book is in third person. A first person report would have made it more personal and a pleasure to read. Too many adjectives to describe something simple and finally, too much of deviation from the whole point. It could have easily been several pages shorter. Maybe the young reader version is better. Try that one.