Category: Fiction

  • You are here

    Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

    I picked it up because it was written by a fellow Indian blogger. And yes, I prefer Indian fiction. But I’m guessing I am not exactly the target audience 🙂
    Considering the author’s profile, I’d say the book is at least faintly autobiographical.
    Arshi, the protagonist, is a twenty something, 21st century Indian woman, who lives (or at least tries to) live life on her own terms, only she doesnt seem to be sure what they are. A potentially interesting premise of self discovery in an urban Indian milieu.
    But in that sense it disappoints. Here are a couple of things that put me off. While it could be an attempt at stark portrayal, i felt that a lot of things had a force-fit twang, added to get a “yup, am with it” effect. Also, the title was very ironical in the sense that the story seemed to be going all over the place. A very lifestream flow which didnt work for me because of its predictability.
    However if Indian chick lit is your scene, you cannot afford to give this one a miss. And having said all that, I’m still happy that a blogger has become an author. 🙂

  • The First Man in Rome

    Colleen McCullough

    Its a timeless tale of power.. but timeless as it is, ancient rome is a great setting for the tale… and it is well told, with the neat detailing – for the characters, the lives they lived, and the conditions they lived in…
    The wonderful writing makes it easy for the reader to imagine the magnificent civilisation that still influences the world we live in, in many ways… a must read.. and i will start the sequel to this – The Grass Crown very soon

  • On the Road

    Jack Kerouac

    A different America from the packaged version we get to see these days. Its a book that perhaps matches the times it was set in.. its, i think, essentially a book that looks at the wanderlust of Sal Paradise, the protagonist, his travel companions, influences and perhaps, at the very base, a quest for freedom..of self
    A warning though, you’ve to be very patient, and allow for boredom to set in, in between. Its not the ‘finish in one read’ kind of book.

  • Keep off the Grass

    Karan Bajaj

    Karan Bajaj’s debut novel reminds me a lot of Chetan Bhagat’s first work, perhaps because of the similarity in milieu- IIT and IIM. Karan Bajaj is an IIM alumnus, and so this does seem a bit autobiographical. Well, even if its not, its definitely introspective, and is at its root, a person’s search for himself.
    Samrat Ratan is the protagonist, who takes a break from his hotshot investment banking life on Wall Street, and gets into IIM-Bangalore. Its an interesting book, if not spectacular, and is definitely worth a read, if only for the analytic construction of the final lesson ‘ happiness is about being comfortable in your own skin…. living a life of your own, and not an imitation of someone else’s reality’
    Of course, even that is only a perspective, but it happens to be one I agree with 🙂

  • London

    Edward Rutherford

    This is the second time I’m reading this book. A lot of book descriptions have the words epic, saga, spanning centuries and generations etc. But to truly understand all of that you have to check out this book, for its scale and scope is truly massive.
    The tale starts from the time before the island of Great Britain was formed, ends in 1997 and in its expanse weaves a tapestry that contains the story of generations of families and events in history that they’ve been part of. Its amazing how, throughout history, the same characteristics are brought out – not just of people, but of the city too.
    A lot of cities have a rich history, but very few of them manage to give the visitor or inhabitant a sense of history. I’ve never been to London, possibly never will, but I’m sure it’s one of those places which would give one glimpses of life as it happened centuries before.