Book Reviews and Thoughts

The Cuckoo's Calling -Robert Galbraith alias J.K.Rowling

2014-02-15T02:06:00.000-08:00

The Cuckoo's Calling is JK. Rowling's second attempt at writing fiction crime after the Harry Potter Series. There were mixed review for Casual Vacancy and I still haven't laid my hands on that one!

I decided to read this one with the intriguing title and loved the cover too . The plot begins with the death of a super model who seemed to have jumped from the balcony of her penthouse in one of the poshest areas of London. Cormoran Strike is the private detective introduced to us who is struggling with his personal as well as professional life at the outset of it . The other protagonist would be Robin Ellacot , the temporary secretary of Cormoran who later becomes an integral part of the case that she continues to assist till the end of the case and most likely to continue in all the upcoming sequels too.

Strike, a war veteran who retires from the Army due to his physical injury and to balance his personal civil life as well is offered a financial lifeline from John Bristow, the brother of the super model (Lula Landry),whose proven suicide has to be reinvestigated by him . Since John staunchly believes it is a murder and not a suicide as proved by the Scotland Yard. The story slowly plunges in to its depths as Strike interviews one by one all the various characters involved in the incident right from the security guard of the luxury apartment to Lula's inner circle of friends in the glamour world to her own over protective adopted family. The author offers a glimpse of the modelling world and the fashion industry and the merciless paparazzi plundering these so called celebrities to make their' parasite living ' which partially reminds the reader of the case of Diana.

The almost 450 page novel isn't exactly fast paced or a page turner as compared to most other crime fiction you might have read or would expect .It is slightly draggy at many places and in fact the entire plot unfolds towards the end in the climax only in the last few pages. Somehow the characters don't leave a lasting impression in your mind including that of Robin which could have been made much stronger . Nevertheless , it is a good time pass crime fiction if you wouldn't mind all those slow deducing interviews .More than the plot I liked the way London is brought alive in the pages describing the various localities and the landmarks it is known for, as Strike makes his way through them.

Nevertheless would be interested to know what Rowling comes up with in the sequel.

Let me know what did you think of this new style of writing of Rowling's and her attempt at crime fiction. Whether you enjoyed it or disappointed after being a Big Harry Potter Fan?

The Diary of Anne Frank

2013-11-20T22:10:00.000-08:00

Review of ‘The Diary of a Young girl-Anne Frank’

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of its kinds in its genre of books. It is the diary of a thirteen year old girl recovered by her father Otto Frank after World War II and published as per her wish. It’s the record of events and experiences of Anne Frank’s life starting from June 1942-August 1944 and they mainly revolve around their stay in the ‘Secret Annexure’ –their hiding place for little more than two years in order to escape the dreadful Nazi concentration camps.

The writing of this teenager is so lucid and realistic that any young mind would be able to relate quite well to what she goes through as she grows from being a child to a teenager. Her painful journey is well captured as she struggles to get adjusted to her confinement in the annexure along with her father’s friend family. Her genuine feelings about her doubts and fears of growing up and being found in hiding anytime by the Germans strikes a chord in the minds of the reader. Her talents, aspirations and dreams for her future along with her self confidence makes one admire her for what she is ,an ordinary teenager still extraordinary in her own way!

It’s very interesting and amusing the ways they try to keep themselves occupied even in the annexure. The very act of living in hiding and managing to lead a normal life presents such a tough challenge.

This poignant moving record would be just one example of tragic fate of a Jewish family and Anne frank became one of the most discussed victims of the Holocaust.

So go ahead and read the book to get an insight of a Jewish family life during the second world war which is just tip of the ice berg of what millions of families went through during the terrible time!

Would highly appreciate your feedback and what you think about the book.

Review on Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

2013-11-20T07:35:00.001-08:00

Review on ‘Eat Pray Love’ –Elizabeth Gilbert

This non-fiction as it's simply named takes us through three phases of eat, pray and love. Through the author’s visit to three important destinations around the world she so poignantly takes us along with her journey of self discovery. The author begins the story with her own divorce and her reasons for travel to Italy ,India and Bali .

The style is narrative and she takes the reader so well through her journey that anyone would relate with most of the instances she experiences so as to how she slowly gets out of her depression and begins every thing fresh starting with her travel.

She goes to Italy just to learn the most beautiful language ‘italian’ and relish Italian food all day. The way she describes Italian (the most pleasant sounding language as pronounced by the author),even the reader would feel inspired to try learning it. She practices yoga ardently everyday and seems to have taken after an Indian yogic guru which is the reason for her to visit the guru’s(who is unnamed to avoid unsolicited publicity) ashram in Maharashtra, later in India which is her second destination. The spiritual experience is so vividly explained in the book of how frustrating it is in the beginning to get accustomed to the strict routine of the ashram and to learn the technique of meditation even though she so badly wants to be a part of the experience. Especially being an Indian reader one would feel when will one get their call to follow their spiritual journey the same way and experience nirvana as experienced and described by the author so much in detail. And this is where she completely recovers from her past and is finally ready to move on with her life.

The final destination of her journey is Bali in Indonesia where her sole reason seems to be to visit a ‘medicine man’ in the village who she has meet some years ago during her previous visit to the place and who had predicted she would visit again Bali and see him too. The love journey begins from now on when she meets this Brazilian, divorced business man in Bali. The local lady doctor with her ten year old daughter whom she helps to raise money for building her own house later on after her visit, the Indonesian American immigrant who is forced to come back to Bali away from his American wife due to immigration problems , her companion Richard who helps to her to meditate in the ashram in India and many such characters through out the book in each country makes it come alive and tries to create a universal bonding among people that whatever maybe their backgrounds or residence still we are all humans at the end of the day and it's so easy to make friends with anyone around the globe.

Finally she returns to America having become completely whole in terms of mind and heart again after tackling all her fears and doubts one by one through this self discovering journey she had undertaken. This also serves as a good travel experience for the reader as it describes the most interesting places and cuisines to be tasted in Italy and even in Bali and most importantly the people &culture of these places.

Being a best seller by itself it’s needless to stay it would do well to have this in your book collection.

Please leave your feedback below as I am planning to write more and more such reviews.
Thanks!