And the Mountains echoed-Khaled Hosseini

The plot of ‘And the Mountains echoed’ is set as a circular course which begins with Abdullah and his little sister Pari who is separated from him at the onset of the story and completes with them re uniting again. As the tale unfolds further, many more characters surface up with each having a quite descriptive and often painful account of their respective pasts. Destiny takes an unforgiving turn when the Soviets raid Afghanistan and Pari, who has been adopted by a wealthy family and has no recollection whatsoever of her past is forced to move to Paris with her Maman or step mother. After many intervening years when Pari is old and graying, she receives a letter written by her uncle in which he gives a detailed account of her life which is as diminished and hazy in her memory as is her brother who is now living in San Francisco. She finally decides to meet him only to find him in an ailing and heart wrenching medical condition in which he remembers his little sister but not the old woman who stands before him.

It is authors like Khaled Hosseini who possess the gifted ability to bestow such commanding force to words that the narrative containing them becomes an inescapable vortex. Through his characters, his pen very cruelly rips open the most fundamental layers of human heart and soul and blasts away the imagination of the readers with every letter acting as a shrapnel. The liquid ease with which he manages to make the reader helplessly vulnerable and puncture the deepest and closely guarded emotional realms is as unbelievable as it is brilliant. He never fails to impress the reader with his splendid usage of imagery and precision in words that are nothing less than beautiful. His attention to detail in giving shape to every character, in drawing the core of its psyche, in chalking out its emotional and mental silhouettes is the pure genius of a true craftsman. 

  

However, I wish I could say the storyline was as perfect and tightly knit for which Hosseini is known. No matter how compelling and profound his way of storytelling might be but the insignificance of some of the characters appears as tiny cracks in the otherwise seamless tale of love and longing. Though in isolation, these characters are given an exquisite treatment and yet the central plot doesn’t seem to accommodate them deservingly and these characters are lost, in a rather disappointing manner into the depths of the plot. Often, the story meanders from its purpose to distant shores which are difficult to justify with the context. The sheer delight and pleasure one derives being in the company of such gorgeous words is, to some extent, taken away by the length to which they are described.

Had it not been Hosseini, I would not have been much disappointed with the way the story ends but this is the inevitable burden of expectations that writers of such caliber and repute are doomed to carry. After all the heartbreaks and endurance of grief, I was looking forward to an ending that could comfort me with a sense of contentment and fulfillment. But sadly, the climax of the book is nothing like that. It left me suspended with an unquenched feeling that one gets savoring a really delicious dish from which one essential or key ingredient is missing.

In the end, this new book might or might not be Hosseini’s best work but it is, though not in its entirety, a great book.  

Unleashing Genius by Dilip Mukerjea-Book review

Every night when we go to bed, surrounded by a deep silence, a wild rush of thoughts seems to overpower us and our imaginative capabilities. We tend to think towards the unthinkable directions and suddenly the limits of the horizons seem to stretch themselves a little bit further pushing away our inhibitions, redefining dimensions and breaking all the conventions. Holding onto a chain of some random thoughts, we travel across the length and breadth of the universe, even reaching for the stars and be supreme of all. Everyone of us has this sneaking desire to be known as a genius amongst our peers but due to the some reasons, we always manage to convince ourselves that it is far beyond our reach to excel and realize the most wonderful gift given to us, our Brain.

As a matter of fact, we DO have the potential to break our boundaries and truly become a genius and this is the message that Dilip Mukerjea’s latest book “Unleashing genius with the world’s most powerful learning systems” gives us. Written in an exceptionally fresh, interactive and creative manner, the book reveals some of the most interesting facts about human brain, its thinking pattern and its biological makeup. Don’t we all at some point of life forget a vital link between events that is the essentiality of the moment or don’t we all have difficulty remembering names, places and dates (if you have a girl friend, you will agree with me on my last point)? This is the book that tells us about how we can become more organized and less forgetful in life just by picking up little clues that are scattered everywhere around us.

Through this highly innovative and illustrative book, Mukerjea has tried to give a deeper insight into the unexplored and more often than not unutilized potential of the human mind but in a fun way. Flowing as smooth as a fresh stream of water in a waterfall, it takes you into your own mind, its intricacies and areas that can still be improved no matter how old or young you are. The book is divided into ten chapters each covering one aspect and function of the brain and then giving out its complete elaboration with exercises at the end of each chapter to give your brain cells a run for their neurons which would make you fall even more with the book and your brain. And don’t get surprised if while reading the book, you get transported back into your kindergarten days when every word and picture had an action associated with it. No wonder why most of us still remember those nursery rhymes that we learnt around 16-17 years back but not a chemistry equation or a mathematical formula that we learnt just a month ago.

Mukerjea’s brilliance and creativity in writing this book is definitely worth a huge applaud as it never ever lets you down with any sort of monotony or bland content. High on fun quotient, the book is alive and speaking throughout its 500 pages of life while infusing a sense of brightness in its reader. If you have a younger sibling, or even some elder around who isn’t much into reading but very much into forgetting, this book can be the ideal gift. I’m sure they’ll shower you with gifts and gratitude after reading this book.

And last but not the least I would like to say or recall one last thing. As a child, I remember having a coloring book in which a pair of identical looking pictures were drawn, out of which, one was completely colored and the other one left completely blank for us. Now I realize that it wasn’t merely an empty picture, it was more of a small representation of life which can be made as much beautiful and bright as we want it and a reflection of our deepest ideas which can really soar to unimaginable heights if we give them a fair chance and wings of faith. And I’m sure most of us have forgotten that drawing book as a thing of old and dusty memories. But now, it’s high time to pick up that drawing book once again and start filling it with free and bright colors and see the change for yourself.

This review is a part of the http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank">Book Reviews Program at  http://www.blogadda.com">BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Live from London, Dead from India-a review of Parinda Joshi's book "Live from London"

There exist almost some uncanny parallels between Katrina Kaif and Parinda Joshi’s latest book ‘Live from London’. Both were conceived in London, both of them strategically and slyly chose India as the location to sell their respective area of arts (at least they liked to believe so), and finally and most importantly, both of them suck big time. Except for the difference that the former still manages to carry it off somehow, the latter doesn’t share the same luck.

Set in the backdrop of London, the plot primarily revolves around a clumsy teenager named Nishi Gupta who happens to be an aspiring singer and wants to make it big in the musical circuits of London. That is when she lands up in a musical reality TV show, Britain’s got talent and ends up making a complete embarrassment of herself in front of the many live and TV audience after getting verbally thrashed for her disastrous performance by the not so kind judges. The entire universe of her fairy tale dreams comes crashing down right on her face and she retreats into an incurable isolation for many days only to stuff down endless platters of Indian food served by her doting parents to show their culinary and spilling from the brim solidarity with their only daughter.

 Misery stricken and deeply disappointed, she ultimately decides to recollect the broken pieces of her confidence with the help of her three friends and bags a paid internship in one of the largest recording companies in the UK. The otherwise morose and bland life of Nishi takes a tangy u-turn as she assumes office and just in the nick of time, she gets into an affair with an emerging American sensation, Nick Sindhu Chapman who is being launched by the company in which she is working and happens to be insanely cute. Basking in the utter disbelief of her good fortune, she suddenly gets a new lease of life in her arm candy which leaves all the girls drooling over him and burning in envy of her and makes her almost a celebrity overnight, a feat she could not achieve because of her supposed talent. Things are running smooth as silk for her until one day Nick discovers about her on stage debacle on TV and decides to restore her “doll’s” lost pride  by giving her a chance in his upcoming album against the wish of his agent and the company(awww..how heroic!). 

Then enters the vamp in their love tale manifested in the form of Kelly, a troubled and talented singer who is signed by the company to do a duet album with Nick. Sparks start flying all over the place as they start touring all over the world to promote the album. The poor girl is left with no other option but to stay back home and be supportive to all the endeavors of her cutie pie boyfriend, like the urban, ultra-modern girl but the possessive lady resurfaces and she decides to attend a concert in which both Nick and Kelly are performing. This is where the trouble begins when she catches them kissing backstage after the concert (oops!) and decides to get out of the relationship but as usual, it is better said than done. She is entangled in a web of her broken relationship and a highly demanding job.

The events in her life take a downward steep when she is fired from her job without any reason and has to return to her native country India where a lavish wedding of one of her cousins is scheduled to happen. But the unbelievable and totally filmy luck of Nishi Gupta once again shines down on her and she is selected to be the host of a musical reality show with the help of some recommendations from her loving uncles. Back at the wedding, congregation of all her known and unknown relatives continue and she decides to invite her London friends for the wedding. They refuse, they agree, they come and all of them have a soppy reunion. What comes along as a pleasant surprise for Nishi is the arrival of Nick all the way from London to meet her and explain himself. And then another love story unfolds just like Raj and Simran of DDLJ in which the male protagonist comes to India from London to win back the love of his life, Simran. Wow! The dude must be very rich.

Good looks don't necessarily make good books and that is exactly what Parinda Joshi should learn from her debut book . She has tried her level best to ape Chetan Bhagat and his style by making pathetic and over the board attempts to be funny and conjuring up irritating one- liners at various instances but in this futile pursuit of sprinkling a dash of unnecessary humor, she has somehow lost the sense of coherence and structure that connects a novel to the reader and most importantly, to itself. In fact, these supposed punches make the read all the more intolerable by annoying the reader to no limits. Today, sane people have more important jobs to attend to than knowing how many times a girl changes her clothes before going out to a party and how many times she applies mascara in a day or worse how many kisses she blows to herself before the mirror (I would like to stand on the other side of the mirror if girls actually do that!)

 The story has nothing new to offer with the routine an average girl falling in love with a super stud guy and the problems, misunderstandings, the mess and the reunion.  The wait for something logical and connected was eternal and even after the last page, I couldn’t understand the purpose of the plot or the novel. The story line is absolutely, persistently and unfailingly boring and I would rather watch Tulsi Virani weeping out of her Glycerine laden eyes than reading this coma-sleep inducing book which has an irritating dosage of love, sex, misunderstanding and chick culture. Of course, those who are fed up with their lives and are looking for a cheap way of committing suicide can consider reading it as a gift from Miss Joshi.

However, there were some events that stimulated my literary senses but the subsequent events reaffirmed my faith that this book is something that you can’t be proud to be having in your bookshelf.  I can actually recall more than many moments while flipping through the pages when I wished to be brain dead to incubate myself from the Two Hundred and four pages of pure torture. How can an author be so ruthlessly insensitive and insensible while drafting out a story and more so audacious in bringing it out is a matter of incomprehensibility for me. After reading this book, I thought of having an RWA (Readers Welfare Association) that listens to the grievances of afflicted and affected readers and every book that comes into the market should be screened and scrutinized by it to save many lives, bucks and hours that could be utilized into more productive businesses.

Parinda Joshi’s attempt at writing a teen chick transiting into adulthood book can’t be written off completely because what I said was from a guy’s frame of reference and being the typical chick-book it is, it can even go on to be liked by many girls who are dreaming of finding the prince charming of their lives and then dancing around the trees with them but dear Ladies, it either happens in Yash Raj’s movies or Parinda Joshi’s book, not in real life. And by the way, she needs to be more attentive while listening to Hindi songs as at one point she misspells the brilliantly written song “Naina Thag lenge” from the movie “Omkara as “Naina dass lenge” or at least be intelligent enough in copying them correctly from the internet.

On the flipside, if you are seeking out revenge on your ex-flame, then this book is the perfect weapon to vent out your frustration and make her feel sick and nauseated (I’m already assuming that she is not a brain dead girl).

At last but not the least, as a signing off note, I would advise you to keep away from this book or if you want to splurge your millionaire daddy’s hard earned money mindlessly and rashly, you can go against my advice and purchase the book but even in that case, don’t forget to buy along loads of Disprins, a bucket (in case you want to puke) and a wig (if you decide to pluck out your own hair). And yes, don’t forget to switch off your brains.  

This review is a part of the http://blog.blogadda.com/2011/05/04/indian-bloggers-book-reviews" target="_blank">Book Reviews Program at  http://www.blogadda.com">BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!