Quotes: Rage of Angels

It takes a man to make a woman feel female, Jennifer thought, to make her feel beautiful, to make her feel wanted.

Jennifer about Michael

Time was a swiftly floating river that had no shores, no boundaries. Its seasons were not winter, sorting, fall or summer, but birthdays and joys and troubles and pain.

Sudney Sheldon

Book Review: Rozabal Line

ISBN10: 1780221355

Author : Ashwin Sanghi

Pages  : 359 pages 

Westland, 2007

(Borrowed book no. 1 from ChaiCofi)

Pardon me for being tardy to this blog here, but with life and work all spiraling all over and around me, this is one thing I don't want to let burden me. Hence, I do solemnly affirm that I shall and will write in my time and ease and record my will in this tiny virtual pocket of mine. When it comes to writing about books, the 3rd love of my life, nobody and nothing will ever be allowed to force me to pour my heart out. This is and will be my stress-buster and escape route from reality till I find a time machine! Enough about me now. With that reference to a time machine, let's get on to our task at hand (yes, I said t-a-s-k) at hand, and deal with this book-Rozabal Line.
But before we get into this book, the universe wants us to talk about Dan Brown because the entire universe has been comparing this book with The Da Vinci Code.
Now, Dan Brown is a diligent researcher. Period! I had to read two of his books, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, to reach this conclusion. Don't get me wrong, but I'm not judging his literary skills here (I'm not up to do that!). I've read the likes of Amish Tripathi and Devdutt Pattnaik, who are better known for their ideas, perspective and stories rather than their literary proficiency, and I have enjoyed their works boundless. So, mythology is not a new genre to me. And yet, my bone of contention with Dan Brown is exactly that. I appreciate both his consistent and diligent research and his dexterity in piecing one and one together to get the story going. And that brings us to Ashwin Sanghi's Rozabal Line.
This story is the saga of the three. It has three storylines merging into one to finally reveal what the whole book is about. There is an American priest, Fr Sinclair whose regressed memories from past lives start emerging causing him much surprise and terror. Then, there is an elite army of 13, who call themselves Lashkar-e-Talatashar, with Armageddon as their agenda. And then there is the Rozabal tomb in Kashmir which holds the key to a riddle that will unfold the Armageddon. The story has enough twists and turns to entangle you into confusion and chaos, much because of the absurdity of the tangents the story goes into defying logic all the while. I cannot deny that the research that went into this book is pretty neat. But that's about it. This book is all research and no story with some fiction that goes all over the place.
But if you like conspiracy theories and history and mythology, like I do, you might like this book here and there. So, it's neither all bad, nor all good. It's just one of those books you like, but not in its entirety.

Rating: 3/5

Verdict: If Dan Brown's  research are your forte, if you hated the way he completely ignored Indian mythological texts in his extrapolated conspiracy theories, and you hate his extremely repetitive plot-lines, then Ashwin Sanghi is most definitely what you had been waiting for. You will L-O-V-E this book.

Where do you love to read?

Life has its way of throwing adventures at you such as that one moment you fear that it could be too much to handle and the next moment you know you'll be fine. Just when I thought monotone would colour my life it threw in a few more colours. A new job, a new city and a sea change of people. What more could I have asked for?

View of ChaiCofi from my favorite couch

And, the ferocious mosquitoes and the tardy traffic apart, Cochin has been anything but benevolent. The best about Cochin so far, you ask? This place called ChaiCofi, from where I'm actually typing out this blog. Yes, they have free wifi. But that's not the only thing good about this place. The couches are to sink into. the cappuccinos and hot chocolates are all to be demanded extra-strong (That's how I like mine). The 'Lord of Chocolate'pastry piece is meant as an indulgence, and boy oh boy it's one hell of an indulgence. I treat myself to one evertime I finish a book from here. Which brings me to the best thing about ChaiCofi- the bookworm corner.

The wall of books. *sigh*

This place has a wall of books, a fairly good collection, which you can just grab and read. They also lend you books for a membership fee, which isn't as exorbitant as the food here is (yes, the food is good, but pricey). And besides you get a 10% discount on all your bills if you are a member (ka-ching!) Two books for a week does not look like a bad deal to me. They also have board games and FIFA gaming points, if you'd like. But I'm not the kind so I'll refrain my comments in that quarter. I'm here for the books and the coffee/chocolate, of course. Though I do wish they'd tone down the music a few notches at times.
Let me know of the places where you like to read. I'm sure your bed is one of your favorite places to read. And, did you know that they had a name for it? So didn't I up until today when I saw this on Facebook, which gave me this spark of an idea to write this blog.

Until later then. Keep reading. Ciao!

. 

Book Review: Gone Girl

ISBN10: 1780221355

Author: Gillian Flynn

Pages  : 480 pages 

Phoenix, 2012

I watched the Bollywood flick Race, starring the likes of Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Khanna, Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif, some good 4-5 years back and loved it. The movie released in a rather unassuming low profile manner but was received well by the viewers. The primary reason why I loved the movie was that it was a festival of twists and

turns in the plot! Practically every 10 minutes into the movie the story jolts you with a unbelievably believable shocker. It was one of those stories where you couldn't go back home and tell someone the story because whatever little you tell would be a spoiler. Since the movie I've hardly read a novel that left me as baffled as this.Enter, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
Though I try to keep my reading palette fairly balanced, if you've read more of my posts here, you would know how much of a sucker I am for thrillers and mysteries. So, as a part of my online research on what-to-read-next I'd come across some real rave reviews about this book on the Booktubers' community. From all the reviews the book sounded promising. But none of the reviews were giving out much of the story and I couldn't figure out why, up until I read it myself.
This is one those books which you must read knowing absolutely nothing about it. But, show a little patience with the book. If you are the kind who judge a book based on its first 10-20 pages, you might want to hold up until atleast Part 1: Boy loses Girl before you judge this book. The book takes us through the marriage between Nick Dunne and Amy Elliot Dunne in their individual points of view. Still sticking with my no-spoilers rule, not much can be said about the book. But, I shall tell you this: this story is about highly dysfunctional relationships. And though this could a saga of dysfunctional relationships, it is still about extreme commitment.
This book could be THE psychological thriller of the year, being skillfully written with finesse separating the narratives of the characters Nick and Amy(s) from one another. The story fares better as it is written in this 'He-said, She-said' mode. The brilliantly paced (after the first part, that is) book has everything to hook your nerves at the right time, in the right place.
Another reason why you would want to read the book ASAP is that the book has been made into a motion picture. The movie is directed by, one of my favorites, David Fincher and has the very delectable Ben Affleck playing Nick Dunne. Personally, reading the book, unlike ever, I do not have a favorite character in here. But just because Nick Dunne had Ben Affleck's face earned him some brownie points for me. For those interested here's the trailer of the movie set to release in October.

Rating : 4/5

Verdict: Discerningly dark and chilling, this psychological thriller deserves to made into a movie. But before the movie hits the screens you might want to read it. Defintely read it once to join the 'I -know-what-happened'club. Totally worth it!

Book Review: A Clash of Kings

ISBN13: 9780553381696

Author: George R. R. Martin

Pages  : 784 pages

Random House, 2002

Have you ever been driven to the point of desperation to reach the very end of a book in a series ASAP, just so you can get over this

A Clash of Kings cover art

and move on with the story through the next book? A Clash of Kings is doing just that to me. Like the first installment, The Game of Thrones, of the series , The Song of Ice and Fire, this book is taking like forever. While I start writing this I'm about half an hour away from the end. And I'm very excited that about to finish this book that I've spent weeks to on, so that I can move on to the next.
More often than not, I've seen books after the 1st one in a series not really living up to the hype. But such was not the case with A Clash of  Kings. This book here, is just as good as the first one, A Game of Thrones, was in terms of background, narration and treatment. Let me assure you that so I'm totally into the series that I cant wait to see how the story shapes up; who gets the Iron throne and who all die next. 

My favorite characters in the book are Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Danyrys Stormborn and Jon Snow. For me Tyrion Lannister is the hero of the series. He is street-smart, witty,intelligent and comfortable in his own skin.

A song of Ice and Fire

In this book there is the realm of Seven Kingdoms and four kings and a queen who want to claim the Iron throne for themselves. True to what George R.R. Martin, the author, said in an interview recently, ''William Faulkner in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech said ‘The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself. And ever since I heard that quote it’s sort of been my mantra,'' the entire series is about the Iron throne; the tumultuous power struggle between the different houses of Westeros. The story is bold, morbid, grim and gory in every sense of the words. So if you are looking for a feel good fictional fantasy with happy ending you better look elsewhere. This book in the fantasy fiction genre emboldens you in a web of power struggles, sex, scandals and deceit where you feel grim and horror struck.

Irrespective, what I really like about this book is the intensity and consistency in narration. Like the first installment this book doesn't end with a grim in-you-face climax (in the book), but gives us a slight hint that things are getting serious and that 'winter, is indeed coming'. There is almost nothing in there that gives you hope towards a brighter turn of events, and it is a definite page turner. Mostly to my delight the book goes to lengths in detailing each character, their emotions and thought process,but the books are really huge. but I've found the book to drag mostly in detailing the physical fights. Especially, the siege at Blackwater just seemed to go on, and on! So, I need a break before I get into the 3rd installments as need to feel good about the world before I plunge into the grim and gory world of Westeros.

Note to self: Always read the book before you watch the series.

Rating: 4/5

Book Quotes: Veronika Decides to Die

"I want to continue being mad, living my life the way I dream it, and not the way other people want it to be."

- Zedka to Veronika

"I want to feel the rain on my face, to smile at any man I feel attracted to, to accept all the coffees men might buy for me. I want to kiss my mother, tell her I love her, weep in her lap, unashamed of showing my feelings, because they were always there even though I hid them."

- Veronika to Dr. Igor

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

Title of the last chapter of Dr.Igor's thesis 

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!