Tag Archives: book review

Book Review: The Best Seller She Wrote

Book: The Best Seller She Wrote

Author: Ravi Subramaniyam

Genre: Fiction

Publishers: Westland Books

the-bestseller-she-wrote

Having heard about Ravi Subramanian and his financial thrillers I never made an effort to buy his books because once years ago when  I picked up a  book by John Grisham, my young mind refused to comprehend all legal jargon and the courtroom story after first few pages. Since then I have steered clear of thrillers which deal with subject I barely understand and that implies lawyer talk and finance…..The only financial thriller that I have read is Tom Clancy’s ‘Debt of Honour’ just because it was always there on bookshelf at home.

Since this was the first book by the author that I read so I had not much clue of what to expect and yet the tagline at the book cover ‘soon to be a motion picture’ gave me a fair idea that the story might be ‘one masala mix‘ like our movies!

And sure enough with the story revolving around a banker who also is famous author, a wannabe smooth-talking ambitious B-School graduate beautiful girl and a little detective-story-like twist almost at end, it is one crowd puller. The lead character and some events in his life have a strong resemblance to one certain popular Indian author. I couldn’t help laughing when the protagonist of story agrees to be a judge for dance reality show on TV and his wife comments:

“Don’t be so blinded by the arc-lights that you make a fool of yourself”

Now only the authors concerned would know better whether the comment was just a friendly jibe or not!

The story, basically about love, betrayal of trust between friends, between a husband and wife and coming back to senses of strayed man to reunite with wife is however very predictable; a famous much married banker turned author who falls for a sexual charms of a good-looking girl, his ardent fan and cheats on his wife. How the lead character gets into some sleuthing and resurrects his broken marriage is the little twist. Even though I could guess how the relationship would play out as soon as ‘Shreya’ the attractive fan started interacting with ‘Aditya Kapoor’ the author yet I loved reading the story with the backdrop of publishing world nuggets.

There have been many similar stories and many such movies so I did not find anything fresh except that the character was IIM graduate, banker and author. The few sexual scenes were not enticing enough and at times story dragged a bit. With all the promotions and hype surrounding the book, story is quite ordinary.

There are quite some inputs about the way publishing world functions. Using names of Anurag Kashyap and Nirav Sanghavi of BlogAdda also seems like a very into your face advertisement and again gives a glimpse of behind the scene requirements in the business of book publishing.

In all, the book was a nice package and with some sizzling song dance sequences thrown in would make one mass pleasing movie. With no heavy philosophy and no moral preaching, book is good bedtime read for young readers.

I am reviewing ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1472242451

Book Review: You Are The Best Wife


Book: You Are The Best Wife

Author: Ajay K Pandey

Publishers: Srishti Publishers

You Are The Best WifeOne look at the title of the book and a little jealous wife in me wanted to read what this was about…. I mean who really tells his wife that “You Are The Best Wife”?

When WritersMelon sent the book for review, curiosity got the better of me and I finished this 240 page book just in a day.

A tragic true love story, it is a narration straight from heart by Ajay Pandey. As the story gradually advanced page after page, I was taken back to memories of my days at college, the hostel life, helping friends in playing out their love stories, the days of ragging. And having grown up in various town and cities of Uttar Pradesh I could identify the language and tone of the story and could almost imagine the young couple stealing meetings at shops, coaching classes, riding different vehicles to prevent nosey neighbours from opining…. I can understand the caste and community differences that are much prevalent in small towns of Uttar Pradesh, the inhibitions of parents and their emotional preconditions for inter-caste marriages.

The story seems simple about girl meets boy in small town, their struggle of love and acceptance of their relationship by each set of parents but then the story throws a twist where instead of an end that is happily ever after, is the life threatening medical emergency. The struggle of meeting the expenses, unconditional support by friends, the bonding and reliability of family members, the desperation of a husband, his fight to stay calm are easily pictured through the narrative.

I liked the optimistic and positive attitude of the girl, Bhavana, who believes in cherishing and enjoying smallest of event and day-to-day life to the fullest.

“There are two kinds of personalities. There are those who have everything and still complain as if they have nothing. And there are those who lose everything and act like life has given them everything…..”

The desperate husband’s plea to his dying wife “Fight for me Bhavna. Fight for your husband” brought a little tear in my eyes. Every wife would love to hear her husband say that she was the best wife and author gave that happiness to his wife in her last moments.

The story of “You Are The Best Wife” was indeed heart touching but the writing style was quite ordinary. It was more like a person recounting the tragedy to a relative or friend.

I mostly prefer reading romance and tragedy novels by Danielle Steele, Erich Segal and Richard Bach and hence I can only empathize with the author and understand the huge loss he suffered, though I wasn’t much impressed by the quality of story-telling.

The book is okay for a quick read.

The best thing I liked about this personal essay was that the author and his family have created the Charitable Trust where the proceeds from the book will be donated for people in need. A very noble and selfless gesture indeed…

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27778898-you-are-the-best-wife

http://www.writersmelon.com/

 

Devdutt Patnaik’s “My Gita”

Book: My Gita

Author: Devdutt Patnaik

Publishers: Rupa Publications

Genre: Non fiction/ philosophy

My GitaDevdutt Patnaik is a master story-teller no doubt. He narrates mythological stories in easy and simple to understand words with apt and crisp illustrations along with the text. The two books “Jaya” and “Sita” that I read, showcase his amusing takes on mythological stories.

With a limited knowledge of Gita and its verses, I wanted to read Devdutt Patnaik’s  version. I finally could lay my hands on his recent offering “My Gita”. After reading the first few pages I realised that keeping in mind to not ruffle any feathers of vigilante moral brigade of the country, he has titled the book as “My Gita” and reasoned that it is not the translation of much revered original text but his understanding of the most popular book of Hindus. “Let my Gita inform your Gita” he says.

He has attempted to simplify by not writing it in sequence as the original book but has reorganised it according to themes. The book is divided into eighteen themes like the concept of rebirth (Atma), our deeds and their reaction (Karma), our conduct (Dharma) similar to the eighteen chapters of The Gita. The book also has a brief history to understand the timeline when the original text was written. Citing examples from other beliefs and faiths, namely Jainism and Buddhism, the author has brought out difference in meaning of words like soul and atma, moksha and nirvana.

The Abrahmic and Greek concepts have also been cross-referenced throughout to emphasise on different thought processes like the concept of rebirth and gaining knowledge rather than changing the world and placing one’s value in the achievements of the lifetime.

I, for one, had a peek within. I learnt that my “fear of losing opportunities, fear of achievement, fear of abandonment is all because of lack of conceptual clarity” I need to believe in myself and have more faith and realize that I too make the world meaningful, then I could be free of all worries because lack of faith results in hopelessness and rage…..That I can only control what I do but not other person’s reaction to my action or the outcome of my efforts and I must just act to best of my capabilities without expectations… nishkama karma.

Author has paraphrased the verses in simpler words to let each person understand as per his or her own capacity.  So in a way Devdutt Patnaik’s Gita has managed to inform ‘my’ Gita.

Though author has tried best to simplify, but the book is not an ordinary read to breeze through. With lot of philosophy involved, at times I got little confused and my attention was lost and that is the reason that the book needs to be understood in an un-hurried way. Those who have read the original verses of the The Gita may not completely agree with the author’s ideas.

Though I find it easier and faster to read stories in English but somehow for this book I wished it was in native language Hindi to feel closer to and understand the words deha, atma, samvad, vivad, yoga, viyog, dharma etc.

And yet I would read this book again at much slower pace to understand author’s viewpoint properly.

#IAm16ICanRape

#Iam16IcanRapeWhen the nation was rudely woken up from its slumber by the brutal savage Nirbhaya Rape, I overnight graduated from a worried mother to a paranoid one. I will not deny that I have lost faith in men and look at every man other than my husband and father as potential rapists. With this frame of mind, when I heard about this new book inspired from Nirbhaya, I had decided not to read it assuming it to be another frivolous ‘masala-story’.

Then the author, Kirtida Gautam, asked me if I would be interested in reviewing the book. Honestly, I am honoured that the author placed such faith in me.

Kirtida Gautam, a clinical psychologist and an alumna of FTII, Pune did an extensive research on the rape laws of the country and knows her subject psychology well.

When the courier guy delivered the book, I did not start reading it immediately because the word ‘Rape’ gives me a headache. But once I started reading, I wanted to see where the story led to.

The story revolves around a 16 year old Aarush accused of rape. Each and every person who interacts with Aarush has been given a distinct voice in the story and story inches forward with all the characters of the story contributing in the character sketch and thought process of the accused.

The typical thoughts prevalent in the society have been brought forward in the story that for every rape committed it is the girl who is blamed and not the perpetrator. The author has identified through victim of the story how the society instead of sympathising and standing by the victim “withdraws emotional and social support making rape a stigma for the victim”

May be it was my wishful thinking or influence of hindi movies which made me hope for a happy ending and triumph of good over bad but the end of the story was closer to the reality of the society. However being a fiction some things have been exaggerated like the stand of grandfather of accused. The grandfather’s attitude towards the whole incident is that of a compassionate and righteous person that is so desirable but again he is not what real society is made of….I would be so happy to see men like Rudransh Kashyap, the grandfather, in real life who believe in standing for what is right. But alas…

Some chapters on psychology are bit too heavy for me but then those are required to understand the complex character of the accused. Again because the work is a fiction, hence the ability of the accused to think through is understood but in real world men indulging in such heinous actions might not be even half as intelligent.

Author has raised the issue that while we instil the fear of rape, of strangers and of going alone somewhere in our daughters but then why we do not scare our sons of the consequences of raping a woman? Why we let our girls express all their emotions but dissuade boys to show emotions of fear and vulnerability thus forcing them to bottle up and in the process become frustrated? We stop our daughters to go out alone at night but why we do not teach our sons to respect and protect women?

By the time I finished the story, I was angry and felt murderous. The recent news of acquittal of the accused juvenile of the Nirbhaya’s case added fuel to the fire and I felt the need to stand against the juvenile rape laws of our country. I felt hatred against those politicians who have so carelessly given opinion that boys make mistake when they are growing up…

Rape is not the fault of women and not some ordinary mistake by men…it is an unforgivable crime and those who violate a woman’s body must be punished with an equal magnitude.

Author has handled the issue very delicately. The book is quite a tough read due to the topic itself along with serious psychology…not for readers who want a quick racy story. A poignant and thought-provoking book.

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First Brush On The Canvas

Book: First Brush on Canvas

Publishers: Half Baked Beans

Usually I am not impulsive when buying anything and more so from on-line portals, though my husband has grown very fond and comfortable with the concept of buying on-line. I have to, however, feel the thing first be it a dress, a kitchen gadget, décor accessory and even a book.

Book? What is that I have to feel in a book, to think twice before buying it on-line, someone would ask? Well, I love going to a book store filled with the smell of fresh paper of the books that sit pretty on the shelves showing off their bright coloured covers tempting me to touch them… I don’t however buy a book even if I get attracted to it unless I have read the author earlier or till I have read smallest bit review about it.

First Brush On CanvasThis time, however, I bought a book on-line, impulsively…. First Brush on Canvas by WritersMelon….. I wanted to find out what kind of stories had made it to a book….. so that when next time any such opportunity comes up, I could take part too. And honestly I have not regretted buying it!

Outcome of a nationwide contest ‘Melonade’ with stories by aspiring writers that were judged by the likes of Ashwin Sanghi, Preeti Shenoy and Arnab Ray and edited by Priyanka Roy Banerjee, this collection of short stories is a first for authors of stories as well as for WritersMelon.

The book has stories divided into sections ‘Romance’, ‘Comedy’ and ‘Thriller’. Of the five stories in romance genre I loved the story of a gay couple and their yearning for a child in  ‘An Adoption’ by Uttiya Ray. It goes on to show that people are accepting gay relationships in our country  enough to write stories about it. ‘Popping the cherry’ by Amit Nangia captures the dilemma of ‘how to fit in’ faced by young boys and girls and their willingness to experiment with their physical needs. Shaily Bhargava’s ‘Coffee conversations and you’ brought a smile on my lips because it reminds me of small arguments that me and my husband  have even now after fifteen years of marriage.

The Comedy section has three stories and I loved the ‘Godliness’ by Abhishek Mukherjee the most. The ‘Writer’s Block’ by Avishek Basu Mallick is a satire with a twist which came as surprise to me.

I love to read my thrillers….the stories in this section were very dark and sinister. The little girl Tina was the most scary. The troubled housewife killing herself in the story ‘Clue and Cue’ was also quite gripping.

In all I loved the stories much. I hope one of these days I will write as good a story as these talented aspiring writers whose stories have been featured in this first ever attempt by WritersMelon. Kudos to the writers.

A take-me-along-while-travelling kind of book and a good read for all type of readers.

Also read:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1442964729

Bhima: The Man in Shadows by Vikas Singh

Book: Bhima

Author: Vikas Singh

Publisher: Westland Limited

BhimaI have grown up listening to the tales of Mahabharata, read Amar Chitra Katha books on various characters of Mahabharat and have even seen the mega serial on the same, directed and produced by BR Chopra with the faces of actors still etched in mind.

When WritersMelon sent me the book for review I was eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Having read the Mrityunjaya by Shivaji Sawant, Jaya by Devdutta Patnaik and Ajay, The roll of Dice by Anand Neelkanthan, I was expecting this story in similar vein with great characterisation and detailed narration of various events.

The Epic story of Mahabharata has a plethora of characters, each with a story of its own. Each character of the story is capable of telling and retelling the story from his or her own perspective.

Author Vikas Singh chooses to be the voice of Bhima, one of the Pandavas. In this short volume, Bhima is the solo narrator who voices his view in a sort of monologue. Vikas has wanted to portray Bhima’s feelings for Draupadi. The story weaves Bhima’s passion towards his shared wife into all events since the day of swayamvara till the great war and final journey towards heaven.

I liked the way author has attempted to impart some life lessons with the help of events like Bhima’s meeting with Hanuman, . When Bhima meets his half-brother Hanuman, he is taught the importance of humility…

“There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance. Confidence is good, arrogance can prove fatal.“

When Arjun returns with new wife Subhadra, Bhima consoles and advises Draupadi…

“We can’t  force someone else to feel particular way about us… You can choose to be resentful…Or be grateful that the person is a part of your life”

However, the story nowhere highlights Bhima’s virtues properly. From the beginning of the story it looks as Bhima has broken into a tirade against all people around him. He laments how his mother was always biased towards his younger brother, how his teacher was always partial to Arjuna, how his wife who is also the wife of all brothers pines only for Arjun and even in the most passionate moments imagines she is with his younger sibling, how Devas keep on beckoning Arjun, how women are almost always attracted to Arjuna, how he never gets credit for the wars he has fought and so on..

Vikas Singh has made Bhima look like one who keeps harping about all his exploits at various situations himself and is always jealous. If he was aiming to bring out his virtues, I haven’t been convinced. Instead I feel Bhima is resentful, jealous and always complaining… a sign of an under-confident person.

I found the passionate episodes in the story very undesirable. The brothers are shown discussing their personal post-marriage first-night experiences which is very racy and like the juvenile jokes.

Bhima was never in shadows….he was considered the most powerful….most of his exploits and adventures are known to many. He was not under-confident even or else he would have succumbed to his own flaws.

The fact that there is so much information about the various events is proof itself that Bhima was never in shadows. I feel the great warrior has been wronged in this story. I am hugely disappointed with the book.

The story is good for readers who are interested in reading a juicy racy story without much details of history and mythology.

Related article:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1435136217

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2O7ZYNFE3YWN8/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

http://www.writersmelon.com/