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: Veronika Decides to Die

ISBN 0-7225-3992-4

Author : Paulo Coelho

Pages   : 191 pages

Harper Collins, 1998

"An awareness of death encourages us to live more intensely."

In my younger days I remember attempting to read The Alchemist and giving up halfway. Since then I have never attempted to read any of Paulo Coelho's works, as I've always assumed that I'm wouldn't be into books that attempt to convey deep philosophical or motivating ideas. So, when the other day I was scanning through one of my friend's book shelves my choice tended to go elsewhere; but Vishnu Raghav, the bespoken friend, insisted that I read Veronika Decides to Die. I don't quite know why he was so adamant that I read it, but boy! am I glad. So here's me thanking him for his choice of the book for me. Now let's dive into the book.

This story is about a young, pretty and bright 23 year old, Veronika, who has a job, a place to stay, a fair number of boyfriends and everything that gives us an impression of being a fairly good life. But, she is not only unhappy but she also decides to end her life. She has two reasons, that sound profoundly remorseful, to substantiate her decisions. One, that her life is a monotonous trail of events which would only grow worse with time and old-age kicking in. Two, that the whole world was perhaps falling apart and that gave her a sense of "complete powerlessness". 

So, Veronika decides to sway into the dreamy arms of death by popping a few sleeping pills; she really seemed to enjoy it. But, her plan fails and she later opens her eyes in a hospital bed, in a mental asylum, where the doctor informs her that her heart was failing her. The doctor tells her that the coma had caused her heart muscles to deteriorate and that she has less than a week to live. The story begins here. 

This story here is about Veronika's life in her week long journey towards death. It's her time to re-evaluate her decision, even though she knows it to be futile. After all, what good is to come out of wanting to live when you know that all you have is a week more? But life has other plans for her. Not only is she re-evaluating her position and attitude towards life, she also causes the people around her evaluate their lives. Many residents in the asylum had come to accept their lives in the asylum. She inadvertently causes them to rethink the validity of their lives. This books is about that; about finding hope in life in the face of death, about being "mad" to achieving meaning in life, about being courageous to strive for your dreams and about understanding the value of your life.

Death. I seem to be seeing a lot of it in books these days. It used to be an icy cold, chills-down-your-spine, grim and morbid topic for me. But that changed while I started reading Book Thief. What that book is, is tale for another day. But like many have pointed out earlier in their works, death may not always mean the physical cessation of life. It could have several metaphorical meanings. To me here it means to give up- on your life, your dreams or on all the societal influences that surround you. 

All this is what I take away from this story. This book urges me to be hopeful and to find purpose in live to overcome death in all it's metaphoric glory. I'm at a place in life where I'm taking a few chances, courageous ones-bordering on what some might call careless- to follow my dreams. My choices may turn out any way as I don't know what destiny holds for me, but I'll always know that it is what I wanted and what I chose. As they say, the heart wants what the heart wants.

Rating: 4/5

Verdict: If you are feeling low for some reason, then this could raise your spirits and give you that quick boost of ebergy you need. The book is quite a small one to read but is best read all at once. 

(Click here for my favorite quotes from the book.)

For those of you who are interested, here's the trailer of the movie version of the book, starring Sarrah Michelle Geller as Veronika. 

Keep reading. Have fun. Ciao!

Book update: Brace yourself for the trailer of The Fault in Our Stars!

As a rule I read the book before watching the movie. It's one of those golden rule I swear by. This is one book that sparkled a myriad of emotions within me. So this is a movie I will be waiting for. But if you haven't read The Fault in Our Stars just go and read it NOW before the movie comes out. The trailer had me swooning!