Mario de Miranda - Book Review (7.5/10)

After quite some time, I walked into Crosswords Powai. It has been ages since I went there, considering that I used to visit every week. More than getting books, I wanted to see if there were any good DVDs to pick up. I am glad that I found "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Loved the movie. And walking out of crosswords without a book in hand is something very difficult to achieve. Something I dont think I ever will.

Since it had been quite some time since I had frequented the humour corner, I decided to do so. Amongst the volumes of Calvin & Hobbes & Garfield (almost all of which I already own), I saw 'Mario de Miranda'. It was not the first time I laid my eyes on it. I have seen it on multiple occasions before and drooled over it. In the past, I did not buy it just because of the price tag. Rs.2700 seemed a bit to steep. But the impulsive buyer that I am, I went for it on this occasion.

I have been an ardent fan of Mario Miranda right from Standard 1, unknowingly then. This is because he was the illustrator for the older version of the Balbharati English Text books then. I still very clearly have memories of my first lesson in my 1st standard textbook. It was about a boy called Nitin. Went something like "My name is Nititn. I am a boy. I stay in Pune." etc. etc. I dont remember the text so well. But what I can never forget is the image of Nitin, hanging on the branches of a tree casually, in his light blue shirt and black pants. I am not sure about how much memory aberration is in play, but if anyone reading this remembers a clearer and more distinct version of this lesson, please leave a comment.

Anyways deep down in my subconcious, these images have had a strong effect. As I grew up, I was fed the likes of Herge, Goscinny, Ram Waeerkar,Scarpelli, Schultz, VB Halbe, Miranda, etc. and later on Watterson, Davis,Laxman etc. For me, the illustrations are more important than the script when it comes to comics. And hence I would always look at names of the illustrators, and observe the nuances of their art with great dedication. Amongst all the greats, I consider Mario Miranda as right up there. He has acheived a very very distinct, original, special, apealing and arty style of cartooning. His cartoons would easily sell as a painting or a work of pure art. I dont think any other cartoonist paints murals like him, nor are drawings so widely used on commercial goods, postcards, souveniers, atleast amongst indian cartoonists. His one-box comics were half as funny as mnay others. But I never considered his humour as good as my other idols anyways. It was all about the drawings of Mario de Miranda.

The book has around 2000 of his drawings, sketches, diary pages, paintings, murals etc. A real treat for anyone who has love Marios drawings. There is an initial biography of Mario Miranda in the first few pages, that I loved reading through. And then are scans from his diary pages, where can be seen some pretty ordinary sketches, which kept on improving slowly over time, to evolve into the style that Mario has developed finally. Yes, you can clearly see the evolution of an artist, as you scan across the pages. And it shows how much practice mario had to put in before he could draw like what he does. This surely is an encouragement for budding cartoonists and artists. It is hardowork and passion that truly pays off in the end.

The book also has various paintings and drawings by Mario. If you are an art freak, I cant see why you wont love it. Many of the paintings depict the places that Mario has been and stayed in throughout his life. From Goa to Mumbai, from Paris to Libson, there are paintings and sketches that truly capture what he must have experienced when there. Rating this book is certainly a challenge, as it is more of a collection of drawings, cartoons, sketches and paintings and a bit of a biography. If you are a fan of Mario Miranda, this book will be a 10/10 for you. But for the general junta, I think it should be a 7.5/10.

Bone - The Graphic Novel Review - (7/10)

I first read about Bone in the newspaper, and was pretty impressed with the character that Jeff Smith had created. Fone bone was cute, and well drawn. The reviews for the book were good, and I decided that I would want to buy at least one of the books from the series. My online search for the book began within few hours, and soon I had some price quotes in front of me. But what caught my attention was a 1300 page full epic volume, that had all the 9 Bone books in one. I ordered, and it cost me Rs.1800.

The book is a story about three loony tunes type characters, who are out from boneville, a town where bonelike-creatures live. All three are of them are cousins, and resemble bones. They are thrown out of their town, because Phonevile Bone , a serial bungling cunning opportunist, messes up in town, and causes the people of Bonveville a lot of pain. Anyways, now they are on a journey in a valley filled with rat-creatures that are monsters that eat anything that moves. The story is has been inspired from the Lord of the Rings, for the adventure that then unfolds has all elements that the Lord of the Rings Trilogy had. But Jeff Smith has managed to infuse a lot of comic element into the series, for there are parts where I split my sides laughing. Jeff Smith himself said that his motive was to combine Bugs Bunny & the LOTR, and come up with something that is 'Bone'.

It took me a couple of days to go through 1300 pages and this itself is a testimony to the quality of the Graphic Novel. The adventure has many ups and downs, wonderful characters, supernatural tones, dollops of humour and some crappy fantasy concepts that put me off for a while. I soon downloaded the pirated color version on torrents, and am planning to buy the color version too. Overall, it was a very interesting book, something I would recommend you to go read. Ill give it a 7/10

Following are some random pages from Bone.

The White Tiger - Book Review (8/10)

I picked up "The White Tiger" at crosswords randomly off the shelf, months before it won, or even was nominated for the Booker. Honestly, the title of the book and the cover attracted me more than the plot summary at the back of it. I had no biases, as this was a debut novel of an unknown novelist, and no reviews. I usually search for the name of the author I am reading on the net, and try to learn some stuff about him. But Adiga had hardly any net presence. No pictures of him on the net too. Was I right in picking up this book, I asked myself diffidently.

As I started reading it, I found it to be awkward. The letters to the Chinese president seemed stupid, and the book was starkly different from other books I read, at least in the beginning. I never expected this book to be about a poor poor man from a rural rural village. It took me by surprise. But the story certainly did not disappoint me. It was indeed enjoyable. Especially for an Indian reader, who understands this country from living within its bowels, this book is a joyride. Adiga wonderfully manages to help the reader fall in love with a character, who has evident villainous traits and indulges in despicable doings. The cold steel-like calmness that Balram demonstrates, the insensate way in which he murders, without flinching even a flyspeck muscle, the lack of conscience that makes him immune to regret, are some of the few characteristics in the protagonist that Adiga has woven with great skill, considering this being his first novel. The book also manages to touch some really strong themes, especially that of the vast disparity that exists in the lifestyles of the Indians. The same India, where there are millionaires rolling in money on one side and debt ridden farmers committing suicide by the dozens on the other. Some of the metaphors that Adiga uses are brilliant. Overall I loved this book, and this would be one of the books I would look forward to reading again.

About the Booker that TWT won, after reading "the Sea of Poppies" , I felt it easily deserved the Booker more than "the White Tiger". Actually there was almost no comparison. I haven't read the other nominations, so I cant comment about them. But still, for a gripping tale, a theme usually avoided and a book well written, ill give "The White Tiger" an 8/10.

You are here - Book Review (5.5/10)

You are here, by Meenakshi reddy Madhvan is another book I completed alongside with "Sea of Poppies". (I guess I should be done with SOP by next weekend. I'm taking my time and relishing it ). This book, I think should be classified as modern chick-lit. Before telling you more about the book, let me tell you more about the author. Meenakshi Reddy Madhvan is a 25 something journalist, and also the author of the famous blog, "The Compulsive Confessor" (http://thecompulsiveconfessor.blogspot.com/) Well, if you have read her blog, you will know what to expect of this book. I rarely drop books, specially the ones I have purchased. The only book that I have dropped till date is ignited minds, by Dr.Abdul Kalam. The book was an absolute pain. Though YAH started strongly with the wordclot fundas and stuff, I almost gave it a drop after reading through a few more pages. I felt like I was reading the Compulsive confessor blog at the beggining.

The story took too long to take off, and the protagonist kept spewing out thoughts of her own, thoughts that read good only on blogs. It got awfully boring after some time. But once the story started to pick up, there was something in it. Still at intervals, the author starts blabbering about her own thoughts on a subject. Sometimes it is nice, but many a times I was just put off.

But this was one book that was quite different from the others. It showed me the existence of a completely different world, a society, where girls behave like sluts and smoke and drink like they were adjusting their bra strap. The kind of life that the protagonist has, was completely immoral, derogatory and something conservatives like me would abhor. The language is ekdum 'aaj-ka-teen-gal-english' types in some conversations and few parts. This again put me off completely. Ofcourse, I couldnt expect less from a 'Chick-lit' novel. The overall writing style was good though.

I personally think that the author has written a heavily autobiographical story, with very shallow research (If any). I dont think she can write on varied themes and the chik-lit feel that her book gave, put me off enough to give her next book (if there is any) a miss. Im waiting to see whether she can write something completely different from her first book.

The bad part was the ending. I didnt personally like it. Found it flat. Overall the story was OK. There were some humorous moments though, that tickled my funny bone enough, to let me give this book a 5.5/10.

Keep of the Grass - Book review (4/10)

Lately, I have been picking up Indian fast reads, primarily because I can relate to them more (they are more like the life I live, the life that I have seen), and I can wrap them off in a day. So I try and slip in one quick book alongside with my regular novel, which takes more than a few weeks (considering I read just 25 pages a day). My Mdiv exams are on my head, and that’s really left me cramped with respect to hobby reading. Anyways, "Keep of the Grass" by Karan Bajaj, was one such quick read. This book got my attention, as it was compared to the other IIT & IIM novels in an article online.

Id call it a book of Joints, Grass, Sloshed students, marijuana, Soul Searching, IIM pressures, alchohol, confusion and a bit of India. Throughout the book, the protagonist (Ratan) & his close buddy are just pot-smoking themselves to their IIM graves. This story is about a young NRI bloke from Wall street, who is affected to such an extent by a remark by a one-night-stand-companion, that he decides to go back to India & do his MBA at the IIM. Actually, the remark just unplugs the deep pressure already existing within. Thus starts the tale of a IIM student. Nothing mentionable about the story. Its basically OK. Too much of grass actually spoilt it all. Decent writing style, considering the genre. The protagonist was way to confused and I was almost frustrated with this aspect of his character. The ending was OK again, and the storyline overall was again OK. There were some nice moments in the book, and the parts where Ratan & co. travel to parts of India are probably the Highs of the book for me. Also the title of the book becomes clear at the end of the book. Thats one part I liked. Overall the book didnt work for me that great. One of the books that I would not remember for too long. I'll give it a 4/10.

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Book Review (10/10)

After reading the Kite runner, I was impressed with Khaled Hosseini. His ability to churn out a tale of such depth and passion, driven by his love for his country enchanted me. Obviously, after every first novel, readers expectantly & impatiently wait for the second novel from the author with expectations that are high (obviously, if his first one is a good one). Many novelists fail to deliver the same quality in their second book for obvious reasons, one being that the first book was a story they wanted to tell, and the second one was a story the chose to tell. Chetan bhagat for example went hurtling down in the quality of his books. 'One night at the call center' miserably failed in comparision to his first book (not in terms of book sales, but in terms of book quality. His book sales were driven due to the success of his first book). I dont understand how his books manage to sell faster than hot pancakes. Coming back to Hosseini, I expected him to be a one book author. A doctor, writing part time, and writing about a subject close to his heart, Afghanistan. He already had told a tale about his home country in the first book. What more could he tell now. I thought to myself, if he chose to write a book on any other subject other than Afghanistan, the chances that his book would fail would be big.

But all of these doubts were put to rest when the book was out. "A Thousand Splendid Suns". I can easily say that this is one of the most emotionally moving stories I have ever read. I have never shed a tear over a book, but shed dozens over this one. Hosseini manages to pierce your heart with a thousand swords, and keeps twisting and yanking them throughout the story, and inflicts pain equivalent to what a lady would experience when giving birth to a thousand splendid sons ;). In case you don't feel the pain that the protagonists of the story feel, you certainly are a person with a heart as hard as a rock.

This is a story of two afghan women across generations who are from different backgrounds, but suffer a similar fate. The story of their pains, their sorrows, their friendship, their struggles, their country and their hope (or lack of it). Hosseini wonderfully starts with two separate stories, and then goes on to merge the stories together. It is a love story, between two lovers, and between two friends. The ability that Hosseini possesses to bring to life images in the readers mind is astounding. The resplendent image of old Afghanistan to the intimidating character of Rasheed ,the nuances of his mannerisms to fear he projects, the turmoil in Mariam to the determination in Laila. Everything is wonderfully woven, considering that the writing style of Hosseini is comparatively simpler. You almost feel that you yourself are present in the rooms in which the characters interact, and unfold the tale. The backdrop for the story is the History of Afghanistan. it flaunts itself like a large velvet curtain of vivid colours hanging behind an incredible performance on stage. When you are made aware of the horrors that the people of Afghanistan had to go through, you will certainly shudder. It is like a lesson in the History of Afghanistan, camouflaged with a story of profound strength.

The last part of the story, or BOOK IV, is a part that moves without the turmoil present throughout the book. But this is the part that made me cry the most. Read it, and you will know why.

There many areas about the book that I would like to write about, but that would spoil the fun for you, in case you haven't read the book. This is one of those books that you cant even think of not missing. A book that will help you love your near and dear ones better. A book that will essentially teach you or show you how fortunate you are to be living in a place with almost no turmoil or sorrow. For the brilliance of Hosseini's story telling, for his ability to create a storm of emotions in the reader, for his projection of the History of his country so well and for many other reasons that has made this book a best seller, I give it a score of 10/10.

Letter to Ravi Subramanium, author -If God was a Banker

I just read the book "If God was a Banker" on Sunday. It was one of the few 250 page + books that I completed in one day. Today, I visited Ravi Subramaniums website, and posted him a message. Surprisingly, I got response from him today itself. Below is the letter I wrote to him, and under that is his reply.

Hi Ravi,

I just finished reading your book 'If God was a Banker' yesterday, and couldn't put it down till I finished the whole thing. Congratulations to you on a well written book. I picked up the book in the morning and was through by the end of the day. You have managed to weave a very interesting story and one refreshingly different. Since the previous books I read were "The Calcutta Chromosome" & "A thousand splendid Suns", I initially felt that the book had no writing style, and was too plain Jane. That was a bit difficult to adjust to at first. But once I was into the book, I got used to the style. And the story made up for that area that it lacked in.

In addition, I wished that the cover design for the book would have been better. The cover design was far by the worst I had seen yet. There is a great improvement in the cover design of your new book. I feel an attractive cover design can attract potential readers.

Regarding the plot, there are a couple of points that already have been mentioned in your blog. For eg. Sundeep did not force any woman into an illicit relationship. Nor did he indulge in any kind of sexual harassment. Thus he should not have been held responsible for those acts (though they were morally wrong) as the female partner was equally at fault here. She choose to sacrifice character for material gains.

Also I didn't understand why Aditya helped Swami in establishment of BOCA in the BPO business. It would be obvious that BOCA would be a competitor of Adityas enterprise. You have mentioned that Aditya helped Swami generate business by using senior contacts at NYB etc. It was like aditya is taking a pie out of his own share and giving it to Swami. Would anyone really do that. You also mentioned that BOCA comes out as on of the top BPO firms. And then at the end of the book, even adityas firm comes out as one of the top. I found it slightly hard to digest how aditya could bring both his and Swamis firm to the top, when they were competing entities.

Just small areas that I found not clicking. But that doesn't take away any credit from the storyline or from the book. Good job on your first novel! Looking forward to reading your next one. And all the best for your third one!

Cheers,
Alistair

Following is the response that I received from him. It only shows on his timeliness, and how he values his fans. Hats off to him. He just won a fan for life.

Hi Alistair

Thanks for writing in with your thoughts. I am really glad that you liked the book. Yes you indeed have raised some valid thoughts. Do read my next one and write in with your thoughts.

My third book, Devil in Pinstripes should be hitting the stands in Q2 2009.

cheers

Ravi

I will soon be putting up a review on this. But if you plan to visit a bookstore before that, don't forget to catch your copy of "If God was a Banker".

The Calcutta Chromosome - A novel of Fevers, Delirium & Discovery - Book Review

As I keep reading more of Amitav Ghosh, the more I am in awe of his intelligence and ability to weave a story so intricately, yet with such gargantuan coverage of the chosen subject. Yes, ghosh always selects a particular subject, mostly in (colonial) history, and his novel ends up with half the history ever known about it. The kind of research that he puts into his books is flabbergasting. The Calcutta Chromosome is one of his older books, and probably one that isn't so popular, in the sense that he wasn't as famous as he was when the "Sea Of Poppies" was released. So the chances that you will see this book at Crossword or some other bookstore is comparatively less.

I was on my usual book-stroll (in the Lamour book store.I usually book-stroll with the intention of finding a steal of a deal in second hand book shops.) one evening, when my eyes caught the words "The Calcutta Chromosome", well camouflaged in a messy pile of vibrant faded paperbacks. I latched upon it, yanked it out of the pile with glee, and found a Hardcover version of the book staring back at me with a blank expression. My fingers, without awaiting pulse signals from my mind, flipped open the cover and my eyes working in tandem, searched for the price marked with graphite on the Title page. (Second hand books usually have their prices written on the title page in pencil.) Rs.180! A steal of a deal!! In moments I was away, with the book tucked safely into a polythene bag, my heart bobbing and my lips singing, as I biked my way home.

You would wonder why I chose to rave about how I purchased this book. But for a chronic bibliophile (like me), everything from the sperm to the germ in the life cycle of the relationship one has with the book is of utter importance. If you are one, you would infer my reasoning.

Getting to the review, the book starts somewhere in the unmentioned future (probably 2020), from where the core of the story is (1995). Antar, an aging programmer, put on a no-consequence job, to get him through to his retirement seems like a drab protagonist to have for a book with an intriguing name like this. No, he isnt a false protagonist either. He is just one of the many who would bear a lot of importance to the tale. Antars deals with a futuristic computer called 'Ava', who flashes him with images of objects, which Antar has to identify, and teach Ava how to identify in the future. It is when he comes across an I-card of an old acquaintance (Murugan a.k.a. Morgan), who has been missing for the past couple of decades, that he is tempted into digging more into the matter and finding out what happened to him. And then the fun begins.

The story starts unfolding in parallel threads, in different time zones, with a range of over a century. The history of malarial research, life of Ronald Ross, strange Laveran rods (in context of the time), supposedly false conjectures on malaria, path-breaking discoveries, dodgy indian bearer-boys, undercover secret groups, haunting cerebral syphilis, parallel intelligence, its all in there. The research that Ghosh has put into the book is exquisite and extensive, like always. He has dissolved the borders that exist between real history and the fiction of his tale, at least in my mind. Sometimes there are pages of unconventional history woven into the tale, and rather than making the book boring, for me it made it wildly interesting. I did a bit of my own research on Ronald Ross (after I completed the book), searching for similar views as that Ghosh has expressed on Ross, but was unable to find any (on the net). The negative hoick that he has given to the otherwise untarnished image of Ronnie Ross, had my mind in knots and to some extent still does.

The title cover says "A novel of Fevers, delirium & Discovery". And the book surely lives upto the title. Indeed, the fevers and the delirium will really give you the spooks. Some places it almost runs through like a horror story. This book had me scared. It has something ancient, something of the past, something like a ghost, totally unknown, strong, without form moving behind the curtains of the story line and making a strange and haunting signals at the reader. Even as I write this blog entry late in the night, thinking about certain parts of the book gives me the shivers.

To talk about some dicey areas in the book, the book may not qualify as pure science fiction. The science explained is somewhat stretched and fictional in parts. But entertaining enough. Also the story is like a rubik cube. Almost everybody is connected to everybody. Its like a small world with people bumping into the same people everywhere. This may appear somewhat filmy, but then thats what the whole book is about. If you read through the whole thing, you will know just why everybody knows almost everybody.

All in all, I am a die-hard AG fan now, and that will surely bias the way I rate this book. I would love to rate this book higher than I have, but I guess ill have to settle with a 8/10. So if you haven't read it, go get a copy now.

The book-mongering ways of a bibliophile - Systematic Book Purchase

I have this habit of walking into Crosswords(the book store) , the moment the yellow signboard catches my eyes. I just cant seem to resist. The soft amber light that emanates from within, the silent music from between the pages, the smell of new paper and prints, the illustrious flood of colors that surrounds me when I walk between the shelves, the smooth feel of a new paperback and the weight of the credit cards in my wallet, that establish in me a capacity to own almost whatever title I want, (ignoring the bills that will follow later) all hypnotize me beyond the realms of my will and suck me into that shop of well-woven tales.

I agree that the books out here are pretty expensive. Initially, I never thought twice before purchasing a book from here. But lately, I have developed a systematic method of getting to my books. Read on for some subjectively worthful gyan on Bibliophilegiri.

Step 1: Decide what book you want to read
The first step is deciding what book to buy. Rather than impulsively picking up books from the shelf after judging it buy its cover (something I still occasionally indulge in), I prefer to research and close in on books that are worth reading. I try to search for books across genres, rather than sticking to one popular genre. You obviously will find lists made up by people on blogs and elsewhere on the net, suggesting the top 10/100/1000/ etc. books one must read. I prefer avoiding following such lists, though I don't avoid glancing through them. If I see a book popping up time and again on multiple lists, I give heed to it. First, I research it on Wikipedia etc., read about the book, (not the Plot), about the author, about other books the author has written, reviews, so on and so forth. And in the process, I learn about similar/related authors, with similar/related books, and then I research them and enter a never ending cycle of literary information. While i am reading through all this stuff, I pick up books that I would want to read. And then its time to move on to Step 2.

Step 2: Get price quotes
Getting price quotes can sometimes be tricky, if you aren't using the right sources. I have a specific process that I follow to get my prices. If you know of someplace where I could get my books cheaper, please comment. Anyway, I start out with getting a quote from Indiaplaza.in. Next I get a quote from Landmarkonthenet.com. Usually, the prices in both of these sites are matched evenly, the difference not being much. But landmark is slightly more expensive, when it comes to shipping. The clubbing-of-multiple-orders feature kinda sucks on this site. But you have a wider range to choose from on Landmark. Landmark is a site that specializes only in books. Indiaplaza is a general shopping site, with a strong section on books.

I usually know how much to expect a book to be priced (developed from years of buying). So I know whether the book is overpriced on any/both of the sites. I say this because some of the books out there are priced right through the roof. For eg. a book that costing for Rs.400 in crossword, may cost Rs.700 online. Now why, I don't know. But this is something I have experienced in the past. If I find the online cost cheap (dfyob -{go figure}) , i buy right away, else I visit crossword. At crossword, if I find the book, I mostly find it costlier than it was online. But there are times when the books may turn out cheaper (Plus you get to indulge in on-the-spot-random-buying) .

If I find the book expensive at crossword too, its time to hop to the Lamour Library. Well, Lamour is a Library (as already mentioned before) that doubles up as a second-hand book store. So if I find a book too expensive to purchase from my primary sources, this is where I go.
The downside is that I may not get the book immediately or may not get it at all. This library will usually have all the popular books, but not the rarer ones, that you may find considerably easily online or in crossword. The upside is, you will get books almost as good as new at sometimes rip-away prices and othertimes quite decent prices.


Step 3: Buy the book
This is the kinda easier step for me :) . Credit/debit card, zindabaad. (Dont take me for a rich brat who can lavishly spend on his reading addictions. This is hard earned money we are talking about here.)

Step 4: Read the book
The most exciting part! The best part! Read it! This part can get tough sometimes, considering the rate of arrival being greater than the rate of reading. But I take it as a challenge to finish reading all the books I can read.

For those who want to read, but don't want to spend:
For those who have a reading budget of a church mouse, and dont have a desire to own a library themselves, join a library and ignore this post.

I guess this post makes it cockclear that I belong to the 'other' group of individuals.

Five point Someone...

This review comes in a bit too late, but better late than never.

A story about three youngsters at IIT. This is what the book is all about. Nothing more, Nothing less. Still, when you pick up the best-seller by Chetan Bhagat, I bet that you wouldnt be able to put it down till you have run through it. You Just have to complete the whole book at a stretch.

The book is simple, amusing, interesting, exciting, romantic, inspiring et al. Chetan Bhagat has scripted this simple story out in such a wonderful way that you can actually step into the lives of the three main characters this book revolves around - Hari, Alok & Ryan. The book starts of by raking up some nostalgia from within you, and moves on on to completely captivate you with three very average characters, with dark shades moving in and out at parts. The storyline also has a lot to offer and in combination with the writers ability, has churned out what Outlook termed as 'a book that could acheive cult status'.

The writer has a fresh new style of writing, and has in a very creative way, made the book autobiographical using the character 'Hari', who is the axel around which the book revolves. It starts with Hari's admission into IIT, an takes you through all the semesters and the ups and downs that Hari goes through. THe bonds of friendship that exist between Hari & his close buddies, the teasing, the friction between them and all their doings and undoings would surely strike a chord. Not too heavy, not too light, this book is a perfect blend of all the basic human emotions that push you on.

A must read for all those who have gone through college & hostel life and also those who havent!