Simple Genius - No Genius

Last week, I joined the HCPLC - with a view to practice my new found fiscal responsibility and also given the fact that my apartment is fast losing any storage space. The library system is quite cool and I have 2 locations right near my apartment and also my workplace - so my usual somberi-th-thanam in anything useful is almsot ruled out.

Now on to my view about this book by David Baldacci.

I always have a soft corner for books which try to mix fact and fiction. The best book in this category, IMO, is The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas. A close second is The Count of Monte Cristo, again by A. Dumas and The Da Vinci Code.

The book has an interesting premise and grows two parallel tracks quite well. But somewhere mid-way the author loses plot and meanders into one of those cheap ஒன்றரை ரூபாய் நாவல் my dad loves to depracate.


Verdict: Avoid. Waste of 5 hours time.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

The next book by Khaled Hosseini - describes the life of Mariam and Laila - two women whose age difference is by more than a decade who end up being married to a guy who is decades older than both of them.

This book reflects the male-chauvinistic Afghan society and the domestic violence and callousness which are a part of the daily life of women there.

Mariam is a 'harami' and is uneducated and is brought up in a hut outside a city with no knowledge of the outside world. Her world comes crashing down one day and she is married off to Rasheed, a man who is thrice her age! She resigns to fate and starts life as his bride, but when suffers six miscarriages in a row, Rasheed starts ill-treating her and she becomes an unwanted addition to Rasheed.

Laila is a daughter of a progressive parents in Kabul who is in love with Tariq, a one-legged childhood friend. She is quite beautiful and is her dad's darling. Her dad wants her to complete college education and take up a job in Kabul. Days before her house is destroyed by a rocket in the battle ridden Kabul, Tariq and Laila give in to a momentary urge and end up in the bed. Tariq moves out to Pakistan immediately afterwards and Laila's home and world come crashing down the moment when a stray rockets lands on her house and kills her parents and her hopes.

Laila is saved from the rubble by Rasheed. Rasheed sets up a person who lies to Laila that Tariq is dead in Pakistan and when Rasheed declares he wants to marry Laila who is less than one-fourth his age, Laila to safegaurd her still unborn baby of Tariq, decides to marry Rasheed, causing Mariam to hate her.

Mariam and Laila start off life together in animosity - with Rasheed calling Mariam as a volga while Laila was a benz. But later when Mariam finds out why Laila agreed to be married to Rasheed and also her attachment to Tariq-Laila's daughter Aziza, she softens and befriends Laila.

Meanwhile, Rasheed has turned against Laila also and regularly beats both the women. The remainder of the book is about how Mariam and Laila escape Rasheed and how Mariam makes the ultimate sacrifice to enable Laila get back to Tariz, who is still alive in Pakistan.

A fast moving story, which captures the battle torn Afghanistan much better than the author's first book.

In one word, Excellent.


For more info.

The Kite Runner

I'd heard about this book by Khaled Hosseini - albeit for the reason that it was a very disturbing story about Afghanistan and I somehow wasn't interested in reading it. It was on a recent trip that I saw a Borders bookshop. I've had an affliction since childhood that I can't pass a bookstore without walking into it and having a look at the books, reading blurbs and etc etc. Since a recent financial upgrade in life, I was tempted to buy a book and I settled upon this and the other book by the author - A 1000 Splendid Suns.

Plot:

Amir and Haasan are friends in the deeply feudalistic society of Afghansitan. Amir is a boy who craves for attention from his father. He is disappointed that he is not what his father expects him to be - an aggressive, proactive leader of men. While disappointed that he is not upto his father's liking, Amir finds it irritating to find their servant's son Haasan being liked by his father. Haasan has had a bad familial background where his mother had eloped with a group of gypsies as soon Haasan was born. Amir is a budding story writer, which is despised by his 'baba'. In this while, his only solace is Rahim Khan, his 'baba's business partner who encourages him to continue writing.

Amir and Haasan share a passion - kites. Amir is a good kite fighter, while Haasan is a Kite Runner nonpareil. In one of the annual kite flying competitions, Amir, determined to prove his worth to his father, cuts the last of the flying kites and emerges winner and when Haasan tries to run the kite for Amir, gets sexually assaulted by Aseef (a Nazi sympathizer and who is a bully). Amir gets to see this, but out of fear for his own safety, doesn't do anything to prevent it. Haasan doesn't talk about his plight to Amir or any of his family members, but goes into a shell. Amir is guilt-ridden and plots a scheme to drive Hassan and his father out of the house, in which he succeeds.

Afghanistan is torn apart by successive political meltdowns and Amir and his dad leave behind all their material possessions back in Kabul and take flight to San Francisco - where Amir becomes a successful writer, his 'baba' dies and he marries Soraya, an Afghan girl with previous 'history'. While life goes on for the couple (they are diagnosed with unexplainable infertility), Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan from Pakistan asking him to come over as there was a task for him.

Amir goes to Pakistan learns what happened to Haassan and his son, and lo behold, learns a truth which shatters his image of 'baba', Hassan and himself. He goes back to the Taliban controlled Afghanistan to rescue Hassan's son and adopts him as his own.

The last line in the book, where Amir says to Sohrab (Hassan's son), "For you, a thousand times over" - the same line which Hassan tells to Amir before he goes to run the kite on the fateful day, is sure to strike an emotional chord in you.

The first part of the book is excellent - Amir's childhood and his adventures with Hassan - beautifully described. The second half feels cinematic and a bit over-dramatic. The author's projection of Amir and his moral dilemma is so realistic, that you've got to read to believe it.

Don't miss an opportunity to get to this book.

For more info.

Love and Longings in Bombay

My first experience of Vikram Chandra, thanks to Mumbai Media Baron.

This book is a collection of short stories narrated by a energetic old civil servant in a bar at the waterfront. There are 5 stories.

1. Dharma
A laid back thriller story about a deception played by a young mind, coming back to haunt him in his old age.

2. Shakthi
A tale with a twist about a socially ambitious person, with the malabar society of Mumbai as the backdrop.

3. Kama
A cop investigates a murder which has links to a sex racket with a intelligent twist at the end.

4. Artha
A story about a not-so-straight pair of friends working in the computer programming industry with the underworld of Mumbai as a principal player.

5. Shanthi
A story about a woman's search for her husband (who is missing in action) and ultimately life and how she finds life, albeit in a different person.


This book was a surprisingly good. The only Indian author I have completely read has been R.K. Narayan and generally, I hold them in contempt as I feel when it comes to Short stories, Indian writers have to be called artless, compared to authors around the world. The stories had a common thread - they start off pretty divergently and in the end, you find yourself travelling in just one direction without all ends tying up, without allowing loopholes in the plot. Awesome effort, I should say.

Surely, a must read.