books

by oBelIX

This blog is dying. Here goes – a last ditch attempt to prolong its lifespan.

Over the last year or so I’ve read the following:

shantaram: One of the best I read. A page turner – could not put it down. IIRC I got this in Hyd airport, started reading it there, got so engrossed in it that missed the flight boarding announcement, missed the announcement “Paging Mr Aprameya Rao, last call for … please report to gate …” and they finally had to give me a call on the cell phone saying – move bitch, the plane waits for you.

the reluctant fundamentalist: This is a short book. Very well written. Ideal for like a 1-2 hour flight. Its about this American in Pakistan and the entire book is a conversation.

anansi boys: This one came recommended by @mythalez. Its a decent read – about the king of spiders and so on. I’d recommend borrowing it from someone rather than buying it outright – like I said, its a decent read.

e: I’d read e a long long time ago. Re-read it for want of something half-decent to read at the time. Its about an advertising agency, and is completely written in the form of emails sent amongst the staff. I’d definitely suggest going out and getting a copy – its worth a couple of reads and highly enjoyable with really nice sarcastic humour and a great demonstration of intra-office politics and bitchiness.

To kill a mockingbird: This one was also a really nice read – recommended by balak, arun. Its set a long time ago – the 2nd WW – in an old town in the USA and the great thing about it is the way the characters are described. There is so much richness and depth to them that its … umm … good?

May I Hebb your attention pliss: This is a troll of a book. An utter waste of time, money and effort. Infact after reading this you will be like meh … bloody what a waste of time. Avoid at all costs.

Lolita: I’ll be honest up front. I couldn’t get through this. It was so grossly disgusting (the subject matter and all). The English, the writing and the language is frikkin A. I mean, every page had a bunch of words that I did not know. and that hasn’t happened to me since when I was a lot younger. If you do take a shot at this then keep a dictionary handy and also some vomit suppressing medicine.

The old man and the sea: This one is about a very very small event. A guy goes and catches a fish and loses it. However, the descriptions of the sea, the boat, the fish, the fisherman and the struggle to capture it are incredibly captivating. Its a small book, a short story and even god couldn’t find a word out of place – so well written it is.

The book thief: I don’t remember who recommended this. I think it was @kunald. This is definitely one of the best, if not the best book in the list. Its about death and a little girl. I doubt that I’ve ever used the words poetic and death in the same sentence and I doubt that I ever will, but its actually poetic. You feel immersed in the book, in the surroundings, in WW2 Germany, and a better kind of immersed than I’ve ever been playing cs multiplayer.

The fountainhead: Got this because i thought it needed to be read again. Did not start. Nuff said.

Dork: Dork is another one of those books by an Indian author. Its written by this @sidin chap. I wouldn’t recommend reading it – the story is so-so and at the end you’ll be like – that’s it? Maybe on its own it’s just a shade below average. But compared to the other stuff on this list its just a waste of time.

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance: This is the Catch-22 of 2009 (or is it 2010 now?). Catch-22 was one of those books I started reading many many times and finished only once. This seems to belong to the same kind. I’ve started this thrice now, never gotten past the first couple of chapters. I don’t know what it is – but everytime I begin something else happens.

Potter: Just read again – had been a long time.

Slaughterhouse five: Overhyped this was IMHO. I don’t remember who did the hyping. Still well worth a read, its comical in a dark dark sort of way.

A game of thrones: This is one of those fantasy books. Kind of like LOTR. Nothing compared to LOTR but the story is interesting, the characters are well written out and it builds up nicely. Its the first in a trilogy of four. Its decent enough – I read this and immediately ordered the next three.

Should you guys (or gals) be in hyderabad feel free to drop by and borrow. Also, I’d like to plug flipkart – amazing delivery times and always get the books in great condition – in fact the recent spurt in my reading is only because of these gents supplying me with books.

Advertisement