‘Shantaram’ is about the life of an escaped Australian convict with the alias ‘Lin’ who comes to India in order to evade his torturous fate in the pri‘Shantaram’ is about the life of an escaped Australian convict with the alias ‘Lin’ who comes to India in order to evade his torturous fate in the prison. After landing in Bombay (now Mumbai), he befriends his tour guide Prabhakar and other expatriates who are involved in some minor illegal crimes in the city. As a man on a run, he tries to make sense of his life while he travels across the spiritual city.
On his journey, the events and people around him cause his life to take a wild turn. He embarks on a series of dangerous adventures, whether it be moving to the poorest slum in Bombay, having intellectual conversations with the mafia members and getting involved in illegal activities, working for Bollywood, serving in prison, fighting in someone else’s war, being fascinated with the beautiful and elusive Karla all the while being utterly clueless about his goals.
Eventually, the protagonist Lin learns the most-used languages in Bombay and gets friendly with the people around him. When he goes to a trip in a small Maharashtrian village, a hometown of his friend Prabhakar, he gets acquainted with their lifestyle and starts living with them for a while. He is given the name Shantaram, meaning the man of peace, which resonates with him and seems to signal about his distant fate.
First off, this was such an amazing journey! It’s part autobiographical and part fiction as stated by the author. After finishing the book, I dug into the old interviews and stuff to find out how much of it is fact and fiction. He said that the major events were based on true story while the characters were an amalgamation of different personalities. Anyway, it might be hard to pinpoint the credibility, but one thing I can say for sure is it’s a beautiful and well written story.
“It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming of my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them. It doesn’t sound like much, I know. But in the flinch and bite of the chain, when it’s all you’ve got, that freedom is an universe of possibility. And the choice you make between hating and forgiving, can become the story of your life.”
The writing is the novel is absolutely mesmerizing and poignant. It captures all the minute intricacies in the gesture, language, values of the Indian culture seen from a foreigner’s perspective. In fact, we see the protagonist experience a little bit of a cultural shock in the beginning and we see how he comes to understand and assimilate it. Also, the descriptions of the city and the events are so vivid and colorful that it captivated me. I absolutely loved reading it.
The characters in the story feel so real and vulnerable. I found them so interesting in their own way, most of them were immigrants with their own reasons for seeking asylum elsewhere. It takes place over a huge expanse of the Bombay where we get to know about a lot of people in the slum and also the gangsters in the mafia. I loved the protagonist’s interactions with the mafia council especially the boss. It was fun getting to learn more about how the mafia operates on various levels in the city.
This book covers a wide variety of themes like friendship, love, exile, revenge, crime, poverty, communication. I feel like there’s a lot for everyone. A lot of events happen due to which the protagonist’s life changes a lot and we see him come to a sort of understanding of himself. The book had a witty writing and I found so many profound, ‘quotable’ quotes. Sometimes, I found things to be a little cheesy but I don’t mind it. The story was amazing!
Even though I was intimidated by the sheer size of the book in the beginning, I enjoyed it thoroughly. It has a great potential to be an amazing TV series. Hope it happens. Apart from that, I highly recommend reading the book.
“You know how the sun rises and sets at a certain time each day? In the same way, all of our lives have a day and night. But it’s not set like it i“You know how the sun rises and sets at a certain time each day? In the same way, all of our lives have a day and night. But it’s not set like it is with the sun. Some people walk forever in the sunlight, and some people have to walk through the darkest night their whole lives. When people talk about being afraid, what they’re afraid of is that their sun will set. That the light they love will fade.”
‘Journey under the midnight sun’ begins with the murder of a pawnbroker in an abandoned building in Osaka in 1973. Detective Sasagaki is assigned to investigate the crime. He uncovers a lot of clues and possible suspects, but the evidence isn’t enough to pin down a specific criminal. That’s why the case reaches a dead end and Sasagaki is forced to give up his investigation. He still continues to keeps tabs on two people involved in the crime, both related to the suspect and the victim in order to find their connection to the crime.
This book was absolutely brilliant! It is so much different from the other crime thrillers I’ve read; here, we follow the mystery and its effects for a long period of time. This novel takes place over a span of two decades and follows the lives of two people connected solely because of the crime and detective Sasagaki’s obsession with uncovering the truth, as he believes the crime has caused a ripple effect which impacts the lives of people even after 20 long years.
It had a unique, brilliantly crafted and intricate story-line. This was my second book by Keigo Higashino, after Devotion of Suspect X that I absolutely loved. One thing I noticed in his books that make them exceptional is that the mystery is not about who committed the crime but rather, how the crime was committed and the possible motivation behind it.
“When you wander in the dark too long, you start to see things that aren’t really there.”
The story is told from multiple points of views so we get to experience it from the perspective of different characters, mostly the minor characters. From them, we learn different aspects of the same events and other characters which were really interesting. Following the timeline, we get to see all the changes along the way in Japan. There were a lot of references to the video games, computer technology, movies, baseball and economic changes which manages to capture the heart of the changing and progressing era of the country. It also gives an insight into the Japanese culture and the way of life.
As the story progresses, a lot of characters get introduced. It might be a little overwhelming at first, but everything comes together eventually just like different pieces in the puzzle fit to show the whole picture and in the end, you’re left gasping for air at what you see! The shifting point of views among the different characters kept the tension alive. The story kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, making me feel all sorts of feels and caused me to question everything I’ve ever known!
This book truly is a masterpiece! If you’re a fan of thrillers and anything related to Japan, I highly recommend this book.
**spoiler alert** The Devotion of Suspect X begins with Yasuko, a divorced mother who lives with her daughter Misato. Her abusive ex husband who's bee**spoiler alert** The Devotion of Suspect X begins with Yasuko, a divorced mother who lives with her daughter Misato. Her abusive ex husband who's been exhorting money from her decides to show up at her place. Things go out of hand and Yasuko ends up killing him with the help of Misato. Her next door neighbor Ishigami, a high school math teacher, aware of the incident takes control of the situation and helps her get rid of the body and cover up the murder and provides instructions to them about what part to play.
This book is simply amazing. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time wondering how it'll all turn out. It was such a delight to see two geniuses battling it out. We have Ishigami, a teacher obsessed with Maths who likes solving difficult problems and Yukawa, a physicist and his former colleague who's master of observation and assists police frequently in their investigations and is known as detective Galileo. We are presented with a mathematical conundrum: P = NP -whether it’s more difficult to think of the solution to a problem yourself or to ascertain if someone else’s answer to the same problem is correct. Ishimagi weaves an elaborate story of murder around him and presents the answer while it rests on Yukawa to figure it out.
The brilliance of the book lies in it's simplicity. Ishigami likes designing problems in a way that takes advantage of the blind spot created by the person's assumption which tricks him. From the start we are presented with some information and we try to figure it out considering one possibility but in the end we find out that we fell into the trap. That's what Ishigami does and that's what the book does to you. I got the L and Kira vibes from it simply because of the way both were trying to outmaneuver each other. I felt really bad for Ishigami at the end cuz his plan fell apart in spite of him doing everything in his power to make it successful. I sympathized with him when I learnt the reason for his devotion. But all actions have consequences and this is no different. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book immensely.
'When an amateur attempts to conceal something, the more complex he makes his camouflage, the deeper the grave he digs for himself. But not so a genius. The genius does something far simpler, yet something no normal person would even dream of, the last thing a normal person would think of doing. And from this simplicity, immense complexity is created.’ Pretty much sums it up.
If you're a fan of thriller, you should definitely read this book....more
It seems like the end of 2018 is gonna be ‘Keigo Higashino’ year for me and I’m not complaining! Salvation of a Saint is another impressive novel, a sIt seems like the end of 2018 is gonna be ‘Keigo Higashino’ year for me and I’m not complaining! Salvation of a Saint is another impressive novel, a successor of the Devotion of Suspect X in the thriller series 'Detective Galileo'. This book revolves around a perfect crime: a crime which is so proficiently crafted that it leaves no evidence or trace behind to pinpoint the criminal; the unsolvability of the crime depends on the skill of the criminal rather than the incompetence of the investigator.
The mystery here begins with the murder of a businessman Yoshikata Mashiba who’s killed in his apartment alone with a poison-laced coffee. We later learn that the victim had made up his mind to divorce his wife so, the wife is a logical suspect here, as there scarcely appears anyone else who had a definite motive and who might have constructed such a scheme to end Yoshikata. The thing is the murder was committed when the wife was miles away which would make it impossible to carry out.
Unfortunately, our lead detective Kusanagi is enchanted by the wife and denies any allegations against her. Seeing his judgment getting clouded due to his feelings for the dead man’s wife, his assistant Utsumi secretly approaches Professor Manabu Yukawa, famously known as 'Detective Galileo' to assist in the investigation, as the events happened in the previous book has created a rift between the two friends. But, even Yukawa has a hard time decoding this one. It leads the two friends to split in different directions and pursue different paths to find the killer. What follows is the elaborate observation of the clues to rule out different possibilities to get to the heart of the crime.
This book is well detailed and cleverly constructed and the information is disclosed one step at a time with tiny twists. The characters are likable and witty. The plot is very simple. Turning a simple plot into a complex story is the forte of the author! There’s never a dull moment and it’s hard to put down the book. Even though the identity of the criminal is revealed in the first few pages, you need not worry, as it does not hinder the mystery. Even as I was reading and was absolutely sure about something, I was led astray by the revelation of new clues and information which made me doubt myself so much. And, the ending just blew my mind! This book attempts to stretch the boundaries of your imagination and makes you marvel at the complexity of the human mind.
All in all, this book was awesome! Not as good as the previous one but excellent in its own way. I highly recommend it to the fans of thrillers.
Norwegian Wood begins with Toru Watanabe, a 37 year old man traveling to Hamburg. After hearing the 'Norwegian Wood' by Beatles, he is overcome with nNorwegian Wood begins with Toru Watanabe, a 37 year old man traveling to Hamburg. After hearing the 'Norwegian Wood' by Beatles, he is overcome with nostalgia and begins musing about his teenage years.
At the age of 17, Kizuki, his best friend, decides to end his life leaving behind Toru and his girlfriend, Naoko, broken. Toru and Naoko bond after his death and Toru tries to offer emotional support to Naoko, falling in love with her in the process. But the death of Kizuki, whom Naoko loved ever since they were kids, sends her life in a downward spiral as she tries to come to terms with the incident. Her breakdown leads to her admission in a sanatorium.
Toru joins the University while keeping in touch with Naoko. He visits her occasionally, holding out hope for her recovery in hopes of starting a relationship with her. During his visit, he meets a musician Reiko and the three of them bond. Meanwhile, as life gets tough to deal with, Toru isolates himself from the world. He ends up meeting Midori who’s a fierce, independent and carefree girl. He is drawn to her and ends up falling in love with her.
Toru struggles with his feelings for Naoko while she struggles to deal with the death of Kizuki. Toru is torn between the two girls in his life. He tries his best to help Naoko get better while she keeps slipping away. Naoko represents the dark side, the hopelessness, and pain while Midori exhibits light side; she's a warm and soothing presence in the despairing life of Toru. His complex relationship with both the girls is depicted beautifully.
The writing was simply beautiful. The narration was very intimate and vivid. It drew me in right from the start and made me feel all sorts of emotions that the protagonist was going through. The author used the instances from his own life during student days which gives it an autobiographical feel, but that was not his intention. It’s not just a love story, though there are references to love throughout the novel. It’s a coming of age story with themes such as life and death, communication, isolation, mental illness, politics etc.
I loved all the characters. They were realistic and perfectly flawed which made me fall in love with them. I found Midori, Storm Trooper, Nagasawa and Reiko especially interesting. There are so many beautiful lines in this book that moved me while reading. Also, there are a lot of graphic adult scenes. I felt kind of weird about the last scene between Toru and Reiko, but it didn’t change my overall opinion about the story.
I enjoyed this book immensely. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a nice coming-of-age story....more
‘Story of your life’ revolves around the life of Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist working for the military whose job is to communicate with the aliens tha‘Story of your life’ revolves around the life of Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist working for the military whose job is to communicate with the aliens that made contact with the humans. She narrates her experience of learning the alien language and understanding their world view which is interspersed with the remembrances of her daughter’s life.
The story begins with the arrival of aliens on earth. The humans communicate with them through an instrument called the looking-glass. Louise Banks and other linguists have been given the task of learning their language, other scientists work on figuring out the principles of their science, maths etc while the authorities try to find out the reason behind the alien contact.
This is one of the best short stories I’ve ever read! I’m in simply in love with its unique plot and the complexity and brilliance with which it is executed. This is the story where aliens don’t land on earth with the intention of destroying humanity but rather we watch them readily communicate and co-operate with humans to teach them about themselves.
The story is immensely detailed in explaining the complex grammar of the alien language and a lot of time is spent in explaining it. The people also learn that as the concepts that define the physical world of aliens differ from that of humans, it alters the way aliens and humans perceive the physical world. This was a very interesting topic and learning about it as the story progressed, was so exhilarating.
Louise Banks eventually becomes fluent in the alien language. As a result, she starts understanding the worldview of aliens and discovers a different form of consciousness similar to what they experience. The story also discusses the concept of free will and debates about the implausibility of having knowledge of the future and how that would affect life choices.
“It’ll be when you first learn to walk that I get daily demonstrations of the asymmetry in our relationship. You’ll be incessantly running off somewhere, and each time you walk into a door frame or scrape your knee, the pain feels like it’s my own. It’ll be like growing an errant limb, an extension of myself whose sensory nerves report pain just fine, but whose motor nerves don’t convey my commands at all. It’s so unfair: I’m going to give birth to an animated voodoo doll of myself. I didn’t see this in the contract when I signed up. Was this part of the deal?”
Intermixed in the narration of Louise Banks about the event that changed her life, she recounts the life story of her daughter in which she beautifully describes all the moments of joy, sadness, anger, exasperation she went through while raising her. Reading about it made me emotional and connect with the story. The twin narration beautifully linked the past, present and the future.
The story is intricate and full of technical terms and jargons. It was very fun to read. I appreciate the skill it took to construct a full-fledged short story and the author has done a great job. At this point, I’ve read it thrice and I swear, it gets better each time! I highly recommend it. If you love sci-fi, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Now, it is a universal fact that exercise is good for you. It’s been said and done so what’s so different about this book? Well, 'Spark' dives deeper Now, it is a universal fact that exercise is good for you. It’s been said and done so what’s so different about this book? Well, 'Spark' dives deeper and attempts to find out the effect of exercise on the brain. The book provides a detailed explanation of how different parts of the brain work on a biological level to carry out the everyday functions and what part of the brain is responsible for different tasks. We get to learn how the brain is able to function at a cellular level like how the neurons communicate with each other to carry the signal that governs our actions. It was interesting to know how the role of different neurotransmitters and how exercise helps to balance them out.
If you’re a sucker for facts and scientific explanation, the book’s got you covered. The author cites numerous studies, experiments, and research done along with the examples from the life of his patients to present the various findings with a detailed explanation. He has specifically mentioned places where there isn’t much research done and hence, no concrete conclusion can be drawn from it.
This book is simple and straightforward. I went into it with a view to get to know more about the effects of exercise on the brain but learned a lot of important things about the working of the brain. The important thing I learned is that brain can be analogous to a muscle: it can change and improve, it grows with use but withers due to inactivity like it follows the principle ‘use it or lose it’. For people out there, the points stated in the book about how exercise affects your learning and how it can improve your physical and mental health will certainly be a powerful motivator to get them to adopt the habit of exercising in their daily life.
One of the most important things I learned from this book is how intimately our mind and body are connected and in order to function properly, we need to create an environment where everything is in balance. Getting to know more about the working of your brain will help you realize that there’s a biological basis for certain issues and you will feel a sense of control when you know how you can influence that biology.
Exercise is a readily available tool which we can utilize to enhance our life. You just need to take the first step and ignite that spark. As someone who works out 5-6 days a week and eats clean, I can vouch for all the benefits of exercise as I’ve already seen them first hand. If you’re someone who wants to start your own fitness journey and need a little push, this book will be really helpful and inspiring.
If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it isIf I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.
The story of ‘Princess Sarah’ will always stay close to my heart. I have so many fond memories of watching the anime with my brother on TV when we were younger (back when people still watched TV!). We were so invested in it and we’d eagerly wait for the next episode every day. Its theme song is still burned in the back of my mind. I’m so glad I finally read this classic! Reading this book was like taking a trip down the memory lane and re-experiencing those emotions all over again.
Set in the Victorian Era, this story is about a beautiful young Sara(h) whose mother dies when she’s young and she’s raised by her loving and rich father in India. In order to give her a good education, he brings her to London and enrolls her in Miss Minchin’s Seminary. Everyone is fascinated with her and calls her ‘Princess Sarah’ but Miss Minchin takes an instant dislike to her. Due to an unfortunate incident, she loses her father and is left penniless. Miss Minchin takes away everything she owns and forces her to become a servant.
The writing in this novel is very appealing. It has a childlike innocence and feel to it, along with the tendency to be bluntly honest which aligns perfectly with our main character Sarah. I mostly loved all the characters and hated Miss Minchin with an enormous passion! The writing made me nostalgic about my own childhood. I went through so many emotions while reading the book. You love Sarah, feel sad for her, cheer for her, pray for her. This book was so amazing!
The best thing about this book is the character of Sarah. She’s a peculiar child and she’s an embodiment of so many endearing qualities. She’s quiet, polite, well-mannered, smart, kind, strong, brave, hardworking, empathetic, self-aware and an ‘old soul’.
Perhaps I have not really a good temper at all, but if you have everything you want and everyone is kind to you, how can you help but be good-tempered?
She treats people equally and helps them when they’re in need. Initially, she has everything she could ever want but she’s not spoiled and haughty. She loves reading books and inventing little stories and telling them to others. Even though Sarah has all these qualities, she’s not perfect. She loses her temper, she doesn’t like some people and she’s not afraid to stand up for someone who’s treated unfairly. This made Sarah a realistic character.
Everyone is fascinated with her charming personality except Miss Minchin who hates her. Despite Miss Minchin’s attempts to put down Sarah and show put her in her rightful place, she’s not able to break Sarah’s spirit. Even when Sarah loses everything and everyone treats her badly, she never ceases to be a princess.
If Nature has made you for a giver, your hands are born open, and so is your heart; and though there may be times when your hands are empty, your heart is always full, and you can give things out of that—warm things, kind things, sweet things—help and comfort and laughter—and sometimes gay, kind laughter is the best help of all.
The book ends with a great message that all things (good and bad) must come to an end and if you stay true to yourself and don’t lose hope, you’ll get rewarded in the end. Sarah is a perfect role model. Even though I loved this book, I enjoyed the anime version more as it has some interesting addition of different characters and situations, and the struggles of Sarah are portrayed in much more detail which creates more emotional conflict.
To sum it all up, this was a beautiful book with a good message and I recommend it to anyone who loves a nice classic.
"Gone with the Wind" is one of the most ambitious books I read last year, and as the story goes, it is now one of my favorite books! How much do I lik"Gone with the Wind" is one of the most ambitious books I read last year, and as the story goes, it is now one of my favorite books! How much do I like this book? Well, where do I even begin? The story, the writing, the characters, the pacing; everything was just phenomenal! It took me a while to finish this book, but I was mesmerized when I picked it up. There wasn't a single time I felt like I was bored. It was 1000 pages of sheer sorcery!
I'm not saying this book was perfect. To be honest, I was uncomfortable while reading it because of the racism and the portrayal of slave owners and the KKK in a sympathetic light. The story is about the civil war, and it is told from the perspective of the South. We learn about the people's opinions and mindsets regarding the issues and witness a change in lifestyle that the war brings about.
Yes, the book is racist, but I didn't think the book condoned racism. The book documented a story from the past, the fall of the South, in a romanticized way. It's a tragic story because people mourn the loss of a life they thought was beautiful while their intentions were good. Sometimes misguided judgments might make people believe their ideas are righteous, but that's not always the case. Some people do bad things, and then some people are convinced that what they are doing is right without being aware of their wrongdoing.
However, the story mainly focuses on our protagonist Scarlett O'Hara and all the trials and tribulations she has to endure to survive during the war. Before the war, she lived on a plantation called Tara with her loving parents. Sixteen-year-old Scarlett is a vain, selfish, and popular girl who cares only about looking pretty, parties, and flirting. But she is intelligent and strong and isn't afraid to stand up for herself and do whatever she can to survive in the changing world.
Scarlett O'Hara is one of the best-written characters of all time. She is not a good person; she makes terrible decisions and does awful things. But throughout the book, she transforms from a spoiled girl to a strong and independent woman. She fights off her enemies, works hard to take care of her family, uses her wit and charm when the situation calls for it and adapts to new conditions. Through the sheer force of her willpower, she rises to the top. She doesn't survive; she thrives. She is not a likable character, but I absolutely loved her.
It's not just Scarlett, but other characters such as Rhett, Melanie, and Ashley were unforgettable. They were realistic and had flaws. There was so much more to them, and I loved reading about their journey. I have to give the author props for writing a character like Rhett Butler. He is a scoundrel with a bad reputation who scoffs at society and its rules. He's an outcast and strongly identifies himself with Scarlett because both are similar in many ways. I loved seeing the relationship developing between the both of them. As I said before, the book and the characters aren't perfect. Even many things Rhett did seem problematic if inspected closely, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying the story.
Lastly, this book will make you think about what is right and wrong. What is evil and makes people believe it so? It depicts a change in lifestyle, the transformation of the culture, war and its effects, and, most importantly, the power of human will to persevere in the face of tragedy. This is a rich tale filled with historical events, and this almost 1000-page book is so worth the read! Scarlett and Rhett are two of my favorite characters of all time. So, I highly recommend this book!...more
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