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Book Review: ‘Jumper’ by Steven Gould

Ushnav Shroff — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:21:00 +0000

Format: Paperback ISBN: 9780765357694 Pages: 344 Price: INR 459 ‘What if you could go anywhere in the world, in the blink of an eye? Where would you go? What would you do?’ A catchy title, Jumper is a very impressive debut novel by Steven Gould. A science fiction author with eight previous works, Jumper was his most successful one. Written in 1992, it was adapted as a movie by the same name and became a blockbuster in 2008. The book too was re-released in 2008 to coincide with the film’s release. It tells the story of a 17-year old boy who finds himself with the ability to teleport himself or ‘jump’ wherever and whenever he wants. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility and the protagonist David Rice finds himself in trouble soon enough. It takes him everything to find the line between his personal life and a jumper’s life. Since the novel is written in first person, there is hardly any trouble to place ourselves in the shoes of the protagonist. This makes it all the more fun to read. We read on as David tries to test out his powers to the maximum with exciting results. The [...]

Book Review: ‘Carte Blanche’ by Jeffery Deaver

Chaarvi Badani — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:02:44 +0000

Format: Paperback No. of Pages: 448 ISBN: 9781444716467 Price: INR 375 The thought of rebooting a classic like James Bond seems a task daunting and quite scary, but Jeffery Deaver manages to pull it off with much ease and style. He modernizes Bond well and coupled with Daniel Craig’s contemporary “Blond Bond”, little is left to imagination. ‘Carte Blanche’ is a treat for all readers, fans of the 007 series or not. The book re-invents Bond as an Afghanistan War veteran instead of the Cold War spy that Fleming made him to be. Set in mid-2011, the story spans a week. Bond gets a tip that thousands are going to die. Following up on it, he is led to an economic waste management company, Green Way, whose owner, Severan Hydt has a vulgar idea of fun. Guided by the cold Niall Dunne, the two form Bond’s nemesis being as atypical Bond villains as possible. And hence, follows the tale of good vs. evil, in this case, Britain vs. the World or more eloquently put, James Bond fighting the world. To stop this mission, Bond is given a carte blanche, to do whatever it takes to eliminate the threat. This mission takes [...]

Book Review: ‘Words of Smiths’ presented by Wizkonect

Chaarvi Badani — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:40:28 +0000

Format: Paperback No. of pages: 122 ISBN: 9788192569017 Price: INR 200 “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words”. ~ Robert Frost This sums up the spirit of this book, filled with voices of people who feel real and genuine. ‘Word of Smiths’ by Wizkonect is a collection of about fifty or so poems by Indian writers, amateur and seasoned. The poems featured in the book are the best entries received in the poetry contest, ‘Wordsmiths’ conducted by Wizkonect. The poems are by authors young and old. The poems in the book are heartfelt and authentic, elevating the book greatly. It showcases the talent that India is harboring and the book is heartening to read. The poems follow the themes of love, loss, family, change and happiness. The poems deal not just with emotions of an individual, but also with society, God and life. There are many brilliant poems in the book that stay with you long after you’ve finished reading them, and you can’t help but come back to them again and again like ‘Life is beautiful’ by Abhisekh Thakkar, “Gust stirs up the mind Waves form the oasis Sand caresses the organisms Streak of moonlight [...]

Book review: ‘Those Pricey Thakur Girls’ by Anuja Chauhan

Priyanka Nagarajan — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:24:43 +0000

Format: Paperback Pages: 388 ISBN: 1100005574861 Price: 350 INR “What sad days for the Thakurs of Hailey Road! First girl is Banjjar, second girl is a Khanjjar — she has filed a court case against her own father! Third girl ka toh what-to- say and fourth girl has been rejected by a Christian!” Anuja Chauhan strikes again, this time with a drama packed tale of five alphabetically named, drop dead gorgeous but sinfully notorious sisters. This book could be a 1980′s Indian version of Pride and Prejudice with all the essential elements- family ties, misunderstandings, spicy romance, constant gossiping and oodles of humor. The story unfolds around the lavish bungalow on the posh Hailey road where Justice Laxminarayan, his wife and his two unmarried daughters, Debjani and Eshwari live while his first three daughters; Anjini, married but childless; Binodini, obsessed with her children’s share in the ancestral property and Chandralekha, who elopes with a foreigner but visits them regularly. The plot oscillates around the Judge’s fourth favorite fiery daughter, Debjani who is a newsreader with Deshdarpan, a National broadcast channel that ruled the households back in the 80’s. The son of Justice Thakur’s friend, Dylan Singh Shekhawat, a dark-eyed, drool [...]

Book Review: ‘Lajwanti and other stories’ by Mulk Raj Anand

Seema Khinnavar — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:55:47 +0000

Language: English Format: Paperback ISBN: 8122202349 Pages: 118 Price: Rs 110 Having lived through almost the entire 20th century (from 1905 to 2004), Mulk Raj Anand had been an active observer of the myriad changes taking place in social, cultural, political and economic landscape of pre and post-independent India. His short stories sketch the deep-rooted caste, class and gender bias in the lives of Indians. ‘Lajwanti’ is a heart-rending portrait of a woman who tries to flee to her father’s home in order to escape the brutal and sexual advances of her brother-in-law in her husband’s house. She is caught mid-way by Jaswant, her brother-in-law, who forces her to return back to her husband’s house. However, she is briefly rescued by a woman passing by in a jeep who helps her go to her father’s house. Lajwanti’s only moment of glory comes when the rich woman delivers a resounding slap on Jaswant’s face. On arriving at her childhood home, Lajwanti quickly realises that she is not welcome here too. Her father refuses to acknowledge her as a member of the family and tells her that she must return to her husband’s house. With absolutely no support from her father or her in-laws, [...]

Book Review: ‘The Wind-up Bird Chronicle’ by Haruki Murakami

Bastab Chakraborty — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 07:33:04 +0000

Language: English Format: Paperback ISBN: 9780099448792 Pages: 607 Price: Rs 450 Last year, when I decided to give Murakami a try, the curiousness was to find out why Murakami is what Murakami is. I have read a lot of writers’ works, but never did anyone create as much positive hype and adulation as Haruki managed to do over time. His readers are timeless and ageless – 8 to 80. The next day morning, before going to office, I opened Flipkart in a tab in my browser, and before I could sulk upon the dent the pricing could cause to my otherwise shallow pocket, I had already ordered three Murakami pieces – Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the shore and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. While Norwegian Wood made Murakami what he is what he is now, The Wind-up Bird Chronicle cemented his position up among the legends. Ask any voracious reader, and chances are that Kafka on the shore will be among his top three reads of all times. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is a 607 pages’ book – huge in its own rights – with numerous plots sub-plotting themselves even before you realize and again merging themselves to the main plot [...]