Book Review: Thanks for the Memories

My love for books, unlike my love for words, is not a selfless one. I invest time in a book hoping to get something in return. I expect a book to keep me good company; it can make me happy, sad or happy-sad, it can make me contemplate or melancholic, it can even make me angry. That’s my deal with books. So if a couple of chapters into the book, if it doesn’t engage me I break up with it. And then I might never go back to the book or even the author, for that matter. Such has been my relationship with Cecelia Ahern and P.S. I love you. And, more than 5 years hence, quite skeptically I picked a copy of Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern from a coffee-shop book shelf. I’d had a long and tiring day, and was looking for a book to keep me company while I finished my cup of hot chocolate, and wham- magic happens! (P.S. I carefully sneaked the copy so I could finish reading it. P.P.S. It will be sneaked back to the shelf by the time this post is up.)

This story is about two people, their lives and how it connects in the most unexpected and bizarre way. Joyce Conway has just had an accident which resulted in a miscarriage of her pregnancy and her marriage. In her moment of grief she can no longer imagine holding on to her love-less marriage with Conner. Justin Hitchcock, an American academician in historic architecture, is in Dublin to deliver a lecture when he’s talked into donating blood for the very first time in his life. A  divorcee who just moved to London to be near his daughter-the only true love in his life, Justin is just beginning to get his life back on track after the end of his marriage. In a twist of destiny, Justin’s life collides and entangles with Joyce, who herself is struggling to make purpose of her life after her tragedy.

Cecelia Ahern, in her masterstroke, introduces us to the protagonist, Joyce Conway, at her lowest; I felt her pain, her agony and her struggle to remain sane speak to me through the pages. But, even though my heart went out to Joyce in her sorrow and cried out of joy in her celebrations, she wasn’t my favorite character in the story; neither is Justin Hitchcock nearly as adorable. My favorites are Joyce’s dad, Mr. Conway and Justin’s daughter, Bea. They light up the story peppering it with their love and innocence. Conway reminded me of my mother in her innocence, childishness and stubborn resolve. Possibly like every parent, Conway looks out for his daughter and trusts her decisions unquestioningly. While at it he will possibly also put them in trouble with his innocent, yet mischievous ways.  Bea on the other hand could well have been the parent between Justin and her. She is an understanding and caring young woman who loves her dad unconditionally. Although you would find the novel in the romance genre, make no presumptions as to who the most romantic and lovable couple in the story are, as no couple in the entire story is as cute as Conway and Gracie- you really need to read the story to find out why.

As to whether I will read more of Cecelia Ahern's books? I will. I believe there are writers who write for the love of the language and then there are writers who write for the love of the emotions. I believe Cecelia Ahern is of the latter brand of writers. Her writing is more visual than verbal. She paints you a picture of the emotions at play in the air than what meets the eye; you might experience more from her writing than even if you were physically present there. So, yes, I'm looking forward to another beautifully writing story that she may have to tell.

ISBN: 978 0 00 731130 9

HarperCollinsPublishers

Cecelia Ahern

2008

Daily Quote: Whimsical Wednesday (16/12/2015)

Daily Quote: Tune in Tuesday (15/12/2015)

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Book Review : The Girl on the Train

ISBN    : 978-0-698-18539-5 

Author  : Paula Hawkins

Pages  : 336 pages 

A Penguin Random House, 2015

Format: Digital

An intriguing suspense thriller from a debutante that will keep you turning the page until the very end.

Right from the title, The Girl on the Train, reminded me of a series and a book - the millennium series and Gone Girl - both which have been made into movies. And, though I've been hearing good reviews about Paula Hawkins' debut novel The Girl on the Train, I wasn't in a hurry to read it until I heard that the book was being made into a movie. That's my baseline. I simply have to read a book if it's been made into a movie and I'm planning to watch it; especially if the book has been getting good reviews. So, I go, get myself a ebook into my Kindle and take it off from there.

The story starts well; good language, slightly poetic, simple and casual. The narration is split between three women-Rachel, Megan and Anna. Rachel Watson,the main protagonists of the three, is an alcoholic with an identity crisis; she is still hung up on her ex-husband and hasn't been able to get hold of her life after their divorce. She has these gaping holes in her memory, all thanks to her drinking problem, courtesy of which she has even lost her job. In short, her life is a total wreck she is unable to bring back on track. Being a regular commuter from Ashbury to London, she picks a house on her way, just four houses away from her old house with her ex-husband, where she observes a couple nearly everyday. To her imagination the couple, Jess and Jason, are perfect the way she and Tom, her ex-husband, were until they weren't. And then, one day, something happens that shatters the tiny perfect world she imagined for them. That's where the story takes off from. The narration then moves on with Megan, the complicated woman who lived in that house, and Anna, Tom's new wife. 

This is one of those stories where none of the characters are exactly likable. Rachel is a total mess and you want to slap her on her face and yell at her to get a life! Megan is just too complicated that halfway through I gave up trying to figure her out. And with Anna, I found her over-protectiveness for her family and her sense of self-importance along with her complete lack of fairness towards Rachel annoying and  tedious. I did not form opinions about the male characters as the author, I believe, had kept the characters purposefully vague. So you don't exactly like anyone till the end, but I sure did want to see Rachel get a hold over her life.

And this is where this story is a U-turn from Gone Girl. In Gone Girl  the protagonist had a complete and total control and firm grip on the way she wanted to live her life. She even controlled the lives of people around her. Rachel Watson has no such 'virtues' or qualities. I intermittently felt pity and sorry for her throughout the story. I hoped and prayed that she get a grip on her life and turn around a new leaf!
The book did drag in the middle where the story just going in circles around Rachel's misery. But, apart from that, the twist in the plot, which came at the end, was a really good one.
The book is being made into a movie with a few changes, though not in the plot. Unlike with Gone Girl, Paula Hawkins does not have much to do with the movie, which like the book will not be based in London. The movie seems to be in the casting stage; most of the female casting is done and they are now casting the men for the movie (link). 

Coming back to the book. It is a good book, but slightly over hyped. The language was simple, casual and poetic at times. I left the book feeling light and relieved from the suspense and thrill of the book. For a debut novel, I think, Paula Hawkins has done a wonderful job. I will wait for the movie just as hard as I'm waiting for Ms.Hawkins' next book.

Rating: 4/5

Book Review: Rage of Angels

ISBN04: 46366611

Author : Sidney Sheldon

Pages  : 504 pages 

Warner books, 1980

(Borrowed book no. 2 from ChaiCofi)

I have sinned and yet I'm purged from any crime. A validation to this dates back to my school days when my school library, in the brightly lite corridors of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, was my favorite places of all in the school and my librarian, Ms. Sushma, whose pet I was, carefully guided me through all the right books I should have read from the vast collection they had in there. She was a darling, in that she let me have the best of books at all times. She even let me slightly bend her rules. Everyone, but me, could pick one book a week and could return it only after that week. Everyone, but me, had also to write a detailed review of the books they read. I think the one thing she liked about me was my obsession over keeping the books neat. I never used to dog-ear mark pages and she taught me to hold the book properly, in that the binding are in 45'. I Loved all that about her. Even today when I walk into a library and I half expect to find her standing there, as I've not known a better librarian than her.

But while all shelves in that library were open to me, one wasn't. This was one afternoon after lunch when we had our library period and I had chosen two books from a shelf I always look beyond. This was a shelf on a closed wooden cupboard with glass doors. I had chosen The Godfather by Mario Puzo and a Sydney Sheldon book. But, like God forbade Adam and Eve from tasting Satan's apple, Sushma ma'm forbade me from reading both these books and any other books by the authors. Maybe she thought that I wouldn't enjoy it of she thought it inappropriate for my age, I might never know. But what I do know is that she putt me off these authors up until now.

Coming back to our subject, I have sinned and yet purged of crime. Behold while I take you through my experience with my first Sydney Sheldon book, Rage of Angels. It's one of those self discovery, coming-of-age stories, where Jennifer Parker, freshly out of law school landed a job at the DA's office and is very excited about her first day at work. 

The story is one of the most fast-paced and dramatic one I've come across. It actually reads like one of those serialized drama series you watched in late 80s and early 90s. Without giving away any spoilers let me just tell you that this story has been re-created on the silver screen in many languages, including Malayalam, my mother-tongue. And atleast the Malayalam movie was just as enjoyable as the book. 
So the most significant question here is whether I will read another Sydney Sheldon? The answer is-YES. I'm dying to read Tell me your dreams if not anything else. Will you tell me which one's from the Sydney Sheldon bandwagon did you enjoy? Post your comments here and do let me know; I would love to hear your suggestions. So until we meet again. Keep reading!

Quotes: My Story

"One's real world is not what is outside him. It is the immeasurable world inside him that is real. Only the one who has decided to travel inwards, will realize that his route has no end."

Pg. 103, The Psychoanalyst

"Society can well ask me how i became what i became, although born to parents as high-principled as mine were. Ask the books that I read why i changed. Ask the authors dead and alive who communicated with me and gave me the courage to be myself. the books like a mother cow licked the calf of my though into shape and left me to lie at the altar of the world as a sacrificial gift."

Pg. 147, Penfriends

Quotes: Sharp Objects

"I was a lingual conservationist."

"Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom."

"Lately, I've been leaning towards kindness."

Book Review: Sharp Objects

ISBN13: 9780307341549

Author: Gillian Flynn

Pages  : 336 pages 

W&N, 2007

Format: Digital

Gillian Flynn! Gillian Flynn! Gillian Flynn! For me she sparkled right through 2014. Gillian Flynn had me first excited about her book, Gone Girl, which was my first tryst withe her creative brilliance, and then the movie, which she screen wrote herself. (To find out how I felt about her book click here.)  

So, I naturally wanted to progress onto her other works. But you know how you don't want to OD over heady, dark and gritty books? That's exactly what kept me away from this one for this long.

Let's now venture into what this book is about. Camille Preaker, a journalist who is just out of an asylum is dealing with her own self when she's handed her first major assignment, to cover a twin abduction and murder in her native, Wind Gap, which is the last place she wants to be. The turn of events following the investigation of the twin murders puts her face-to-face with a lot of issues she isn't equipped to deal with yet. As the story unfolds we find us reeling in a whirlpool of mess Carmille is in.

The story is intensely disturbing and complicated, fiercely raw, dark and gritty. This one is not for teenagers or kids, given the number of teen aged characters it has. Unless you are a grown up you don't want to read this, not for the sexual content (it's not the least bit erotic), but for the bod rawness.

I often wonder what being in Gillian Flynn's mind would be like. I read this book at a time when my mind was clouded with dealing with some of the toughest decisions of my life. It was a time when I questioned by sense of self worth and this book urged me to take control over my life. You know how sometimes knowing people with much more messed up lives than you puts your life into perspective? That's sort of therapeutic. That's what this book did to me. 

Rating: 4.5/5

Verdict: The book hits the right spots if you like dark, raw and gritty subjects.