Book Review : Bitter Sweets by Roopa Farooki

Synopsis: 
Henna Rub is a precocious teenager whose wheeler-dealer father never misses a business opportunity and whose sumptuous Calcutta marriage to wealthy romantic Ricky-Rashid Karim is achieved by an audacious network of lies. Ricky will learn the truth about his seductive bride, but the way is already paved for a future of double lives and deception--family traits that will filter naturally through the generations, forming an instinctive and unspoken tradition. Even as a child, their daughter Shona, herself conceived on a lie and born in a liar's house, finds telling fibs as easy as ABC. But years later, living above a sweatshop in South London's Tooting Bec, it is Shona who is forced to discover unspeakable truths about her loved ones and come to terms with what superficially holds her family together--and also keeps them apart--across geographical, emotional and cultural distance.

The writing is light and breezy and keeps you engaged. I loved the word play and the images she evoked with her writing. But I just couldn't relate or connect with the lead character Shona, or her father Ricky. The decisions Ricky and Shona make seem more like mid-life crisis mistakes with a tragedy waiting to happen in its aftermath. As much as i could understand couples getting estranged after babies, I felt Shona & Parvez fell out of love too soon and too easily. The messy situation that crops up eventually because of all the lies did finally make the plot interesting but the big revelation at the end felt more like a convenient way out of it than anything else. For all the emotion in the book that was so vividly depicted I still can't come to terms with that 'happy' ending.


Read it but don't be surprised if you've forgotten all about it right after.

Book Review

I'm losing count of the books I've read, so trying to jot them down as crisp as possible...

My Father's Paradise by Ariel Sabar (Iraq)
- Brilliantly researched and wonderfully written. Loved the snippets of History he had sprinkled throughout the book. This book is totally engrossing and made me put it down each time with a really heavy heart. It did make me realize that casteism manifests itself throughout the world, in some way or the other...In the way European Jews looked down on the Middle-Eastern Jews or mocked their language. PICK IT UP!

Maya Running by Anjali Banerjee
- Young adult novel. No points for guessing why I picked it up :) It did turn out to be a really sweet book. There were a couple of stereotypes, like Maya's cousin who visits Manitoba from Calcutta or the 'cool' dude liking the 'nerd' girl part. Liked the twist and the resolution. Good book to read between some heavy clunkers :) But I guess my best moment with the book was when Mayalou picked it up and said, "Lie-berry book. Chaami!" and she would proceed to touch the picture of Ganesh on the cover and press her hands to her eyes...sigh! I kept renewing the book just to see her do that :)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (Ireland)
- Poignant, heart-wrenching story of a young German boy whose father is sent by the fuehrer to take charge of Auchswitz concentration camp. The story is told from the point of view of 9 year old Bruno, who pulls us in with his innocence and then breaks us apart as he sets out on his one big adventure before leaving camp. Somehow, the horror of Holocaust as told by a child is even more scathing and unbearable, especially when you realize those tender hearts are just incapable of recognizing Evil. Finished it in one setting and then cried more rivers watching the movie.

The Scent of Sake by Joyce Lebra (Japan)
- Well-researched book on the Japanese sake brewing families. Their traditions, how business and family are one and the same unit, the role of women in business - every single nuance including how cooking rice is an art is brought to us through the character of Rie...the head of the Omura household. Simple narrative. Somehow I feel, if 'Toss of a Lemon' by Padma Viswanathan was a few hundred pages shorter I might've given it a shot. Coz between the two, the only reason I finished this book was because it was smaller. Otherwise they deal with the same kind of non-plot : the life of the matriarch of a family, how she affects those around her directly or indirectly. Plus I guess I was courious about Japanese culture and not so much about Indian caste system.

Atonement by Ian McEwan
- I don't think I have a right to review this since I did not complete it. I couldn't go beyond half the novel. Can't really put my finger on why. Maybe because I didn't gel with the precocious 13 year old Briony Tallis, the style of writing(which I later read used metafiction and such like of which I haven't really heard of before) was making it really, really hard for me to concentrate on the story. twice I started the book, dropped it on page 23 or some such and then tried to pick it up again after a week. Finally gave up. Still can't understand why it was shortlisted for Booker?!

But yeah, found out many interesting books using the literary device metafiction from wiki. I've seen the movie 'Everything is illuminated' and I liked it. So maybe, it isn't metafiction but Atonement I dislike :)

The No:1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
- Awesome Dawesome book. Hilarious, unputtdownable and Mma Rawotse is just too darn wonderful :) Light reading but it is in no means 'fluff'. Throughout the book, you get to know Africa, Bostwana in particular, and what keeps the fire alive in every African. This is the first book in the series and I can't wait to read all the ten.


Challenges covered: New Author, Orbis terrarum, WWII.
(Note to self: Check challenge blogs to find out if the challenge is still on or it's over and done with)

Cookie creases

Note: They won't be 55 word reviews, as contrary to popular belief that takes longer to write than full length essays :)

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

 - Awesome read. The book is more a character study than drama, through the eyes of an English butler as he takes a few days off to drive around the country side. The priorities in a butler's life, the unwritten codes of conduct, their expectations from their Masters, all brought out beautifully by the author in his simple narrative style. The climax was poetic. Added sensory bonus: Imagining Anthony Hopkins driving the car and narrating his entire life to me. Priceless!

The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra (Algeria)

- Written under pen name by Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul, this is the first in a trilogy on Islamic fanaticism. The book is set in Afghanistan under Taleban and is about a prison guard and an educated couple whose lives are completely changed by a chance meeting. The precise writing punches you in the stomach with the destitution and hopelessness that it brings to light. Not that you hadn't read about what happened under Taleban but the stark picture he paints was so painful, I had trouble getting the burkha-clad women off my mind for days. 

Boomtown: Chang's Famous Fireworks Factory by Nowen N Particular

 - I picked this YA novel just for the intriguing name of its author. Sigh! I wish I could say the same for the novel. First of all, I couldn't gel with a 40 year old narrator for a book aimed at teens. The book started very well, with interesting characters that made Boomtown a fun place to be. There were even pictures of streets and buildings to make it all authentic. However in his zeal to conjure up quirky townspeople, the author let the plot take a backseat...for a really long time. For most of the story, we just keep meeting new characters throwing hen grenades, having a slug parade and scaring the bejesus out of the narrator. After a point, I closed the book and didn't pick it up until after 2 weeks and even then it was because I really wanted to know if there was indeed a plot. The author seemed to have had a sequel in mind as at times he talks about how things worked out for someone, or how he was surprised in the future but we never really hear it because it is like he says, 'another story altogether' :) I never thought I'll ever say it but I think if the author had trimmed his creative outbursts and settled on a few quirky people with a solid plot, this story would have been really good.

Oscar Wilde and A Game called Murder by Gyles Brandreth

- This was a really fun mystery story set in the Victorian period. The author fills the story with real and imaginary characters who lived during the period and were friends with Oscar Wilde. Made an interesting read as along with finding out the identity of the killer, one is taken on a ride through Victorian London, with insights into the life of people then. A good book. I quote Wilde time and again but never in my wildest dreams did I realise he was gay till this book. Something about the way Wilde talks about other young men in the book made me google him for the first time and boy! was i surprised. Now I want to read the Wilde's biography by the same author.

Ok I can't go any more. Will talk of the other books later.

Challenges covered: New Author, Orbis Terrarum

55 WBR - The Orbis Terrarum Challenge

I decided to do the Orbis Terrarum Challenge this year. I know, I can hear you complain that for a person who hates writing reviews, I seem to sign up for too many challenges. And no, the Implet isn't any well-behaved either but a girl needs to make life interesting, however miniscule the change maybe :)  Please to read the rules if you want to take part.

The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje (Canada)

Totally deserves the Booker prize. A tad slow to start but keeps you engrossed once you’re in. A captivating story told in the non-linear style and filled with vivid imagery. The desert never looked as beautiful as through the English Patient’s eyes. Every character’s quirks and the way they relate to each other wonderfully captured.

Climbing the stairs - Padma Venkatraman (India)

A brilliantly written YA novel. Set in British India during the freedom struggle of the 1940s. Every habit/tradition of the Indian Brahmin household is explained in a matter-of-fact manner with no propaganda whatsoever. Loved it for bringing Chennai to my living room. Life through Vidya’s eyes is truly beautiful, even if painful at times. Awesome!

Genghis Khan - Birth of an Empire - Conn Iggulden (England)

The historical fiction that takes you on a horseback ride to Mongolia, makes you shiver in the bitter cold and long for airag, however atrocious it may taste. No little detail of the tribal lifestyle is missed. The book gives a whole new perspective to Genghis Khan and what it takes to be an emperor.

Challenges covered: Orbis Terrarum, New Author, War Through Generations (Climbing the stairs)

55 WBR - Three many books to list

The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

Bee-autiful. The no-frills writing brings enough tenderness to this strong emotional tale of a teenager’s search of her mother’s past in the backdrop of racial tension. Like the scent of the earth hours after the rain has stopped, Lucy lingers on your mind long after her story has been told. That is an extraordinary feat!

The Book of Lost things - John Connolly

An incredibly engrossing find. With its insane twists to every known fairy tale, the story hooks you from the moment David hears voices till his adventures end. There are moments of morbidity but which coming-of-age story isn’t? Author could’ve toned down portions on adult David’s life. It made one miss the high of the adventure.

The Hours - Michael Cunningham

Why Pulitzer? For a very thin book, it took me ages to finish. The style of writing was too convoluted for me to grasp the crux of the novel, if any. Too much importance on kisses between girls/women for some arbit reason. Liked the way the three characters come together. An ordinary read for me.