A Suitable Boy

I don't even know what to say anymore, it's been more than a year. Wow. Anyway, thank you for reading this (come on, it's not like most of you have anything to do anyway!)

Anyway, this is a fantastic book. Vikram Seth is now one of my favourite authors (I tried to review The Golden Gate but all I could write was basically 'WOW', so I absolutely recommend it, but I can't write anything about it), and this was the first one that really drew me into his books.

It's also the first time I got to know that I'd changed between my first reading and my first re-reading. The first time I read it, I loved the style and the characters, but I thought the ending was wrong. When I re-read it, I really noticed the scope and breadth of this book - it's like a reconstruction of the entire post-Independence era, from the Zamindars to the sharecroppers to the jatavs to the Anglicized Chatterjee lifestyle to the Kapoors' political background to the Mehras' middle-class world to the Khans' Nawabi place...you get the idea. It's a time that pretty much gets glossed over in history books and I think it's pretty authentic (Khushwant Singh says so). I can also see more clearly where the ending comes from, which makes me a little afraid.

Oh, and Amit is clearly based on Seth himself and it's nice to see his defense of rhyming, rhythmic poetry (which I love!).

So please read this book, especially if this is the time you'll be most free in your entire life before you retire. (Yes, I am talking to You!)

The Philosopher's Apprentice

I'm sorry, I know it's been a while, but I don't get to read so many books anymore, and maybe I wasn't inspired to write a review for any of them. This one made me want to write for the sheer weirdness of it.

The Philosopher's Apprentice starts off with a philosophy Phd student who loses his Phd for arguing with the teacher, and it gets steadily stranger. He gets a job teaching incredibly bright, 16-year old Londa, who lives in an island paradise and totally lacks a moral centre. Interesting idea in itself. It gave me a flavour of philosophy from Nietzsche to Epicurus to Utilitarianism to finally a 'young Jewish shepherd'. And although this part gave me talking iguanas and thinking trees, it seems sensible compared to the second half which goes berserk quite soon. Londa ventures into the world and takes my feminism and socialism and prochoiceness to a ridiculous degree. Apparently it's a homage to Frankenstein, which might or might not give the story away a little bit.

Probably the strangest book I've ever read, but in a good way.

Couple More Sequels

Max
Maximum Ride 5 and I think this one's also redundant, and I'm sure he's going to write 5 million more which is just wrong. Still lots of Max-Fang, though most of the angst is over, thankfully. I still also have a problem with the 'crisis' thing. Way too simplistic. We might not be adults, man, but at least some of us have an IQ way above 2. Get yourself a better plot next time.

Necropolis
Raven's Gate 4, still about the same as the others. Dark, but the others were too so I'm fairly warned. Apparently they're horror, but I didn't notice it much. Didn't give me nightmares, furthered the story, so go for it if you've read the first three! If you haven't read the first three yet, read them first. Please.

The GameWorld Trilogy

To anyone who still reads my blog, my sincere apologies. This post has been hanging around for about 2 months, and should have been posted at least a month ago. I have nothing to excuse myself, really, but pure laziness. And a trivial thing known as board exams.

Anyway, very good series. Nicely written, impressive style, and it renewed my faith in Indian writers (Chetan Bhagat and Vikas Swarup had collectively eroded it for a while). 

Laugh out loud funny, with references to almost everything you're ever heard of - Lord of the Rings, faint echoes of Harry Potter, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the Ramayan, King Arthur (the knights of 'Ventelot'), Robin Hood, the Illiad...Sort of like a mash up of my favourite literature and mythology, the USA of fantasy fiction.

In the end, though, it works as more than a spoof. It makes good fantasy sense, it proposes no moral absolutes (everyone is an interesting shade of grey) and it has characters I was rooting for, especially, Maya, who is the kind of interesting, smart, spunky female character I approve of. Definitely worth a quick read.

P.S. Thanks to Anurag for recommending it to me.

Pride and Prejudice

One of my favourite books. And it is a love story.
To clarify: I have no problem with romantic books, per se. I just have stylistic issues: the language is usually awful, they are almost always misogynistic and you have to make gigantic leaps of logic. I'm sorry, but I have a brain and I enjoy using it.
This one, though, is warm and witty and wry, and under the flippancy is an awesome unexpectedly cynical take on British society in its day. It has one of my favourite heroines, bright, spirited Elizabeth Bennet. And it has a lovely, idyllic but not saccharine, happy ending.
Highly recommended.

Twilight

Yuck. For those lucky unacquainted people, here is the story,

Who is this guy? Ooh, he's cute. Why is he acting like this? Ooh, he's cute. Do I like him? Ooh, he's cute. Does he like me? Ooh, he's cute. Why does he like me? Why does he like me? Why does he like me? I'm so not cute, he's sooooooo cuuuuuuttttteeeeeee.

Bella Swann is the irritating protagonist, who trips about 5 times a page, which is supposed to let everyone relate to her. And she's obviously beautiful and shy and low on self confidence. Adorableness personified. And she has no life except Edward, before or after she meets him.

The author impresses me, though. Fantastically thought out. Now idiots who only ever read chicklit can think "Oh, we've read fantasy fiction, so that's fantasy fiction, no wonder people like fantasy fiction, now we will never read anything again because we have read such sophisticated, cool fantasy fiction". NO, a semblance of a plot in the last 50 pages is not fantasy fiction, sorry to dash your hopes.

Of the many plot loopholes, I cannot understand how some guy you've met two weeks before becomes so all-important that you are willing to give up everyone and everything you know for him. Even if he does look totally awesome, and have golden eyes and golden hair, and perfect white teeth and a gorgeous voice, and marble lips (Believe me, I know). And talking of his lips, call me an alien but kissing marble sounds utterly repulsive to me.

Also, Edward Cullen is an obsessed, over possessive, melodramatic, self important creepy stalker of a boyfriend. Ugh. Oh, and it has been medically proven that Bella's heartbeat stops when she kisses him. I'm still in awe of that.

For a funnier take on it, read this or that. Together, they almost made up for my having read this miserable excuse of a miserable excuse of fantasy fiction.

Seriously not worth the paper it's written on.

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox

I don't like it much. There can definitely be too much of a good thing, especially when you've lost the spark. It's dragging horribly, please let it die a natural death instead of choking it from over writing.
It doesn't make enough sense either. It has my most shamefully sentimental shipping ever, that should never have seen the light of day. He's conveniently forgotten someone. I like the twins, though.
I don't know what else to say. I'm disappointed that I'm bored of a series that used to be so awesome. And it looks like he plans to continue it further.