Category: Fiction

  • Cometh the Hour

    Jeffrey Archer

    This is what I’d call a publisher’s book on at least a couple of counts. One, the slow movement of the different plots suggest that this could have been the book to finish the series, but we will have to wait for the next. Two, the ethnicity of the characters – while it could be argued that this is a reflection of the changing times (as per the plot’s timeframe, late 70s) it could also be an indication of the markets the publisher wants to specially address – the US, India and Turkey.

    While the first and the last were natural progressions from the previous books, the presence has been greatly enhanced. The second, I found to be an unnecessary detour that added nothing to the overall plots, unless that somehow happens in the next book. Add to that, the deceptive cover that almost implies there is a significant India play in the book, and we have my reasons to believe that the publisher dictated the proceedings. (more…)

  • Mightier than the Sword

    Jeffrey Archer
    I must admit to a bit of a grumbling before I started the book, the reason being that Archer was supposed to finish the series in five books, but has now stretched it to seven! And since I have read the others, I would have to finish this. Add to this that it’s been a while since I read Book 4, I had to do a bit of online reading to catch up on the various plot lines. But all of that, I realised, is similar to a friend who irritates you by being habitually late, but once you start talking, all is forgiven.
    The story of the Clifton extended family and enemies continues predictably with the existing narratives – Emma’s board room battles, Harry’s literary success, Giles’ politics, and Sebastian’s career progression. Arch enemies Virginia Fenwick and Alex Fisher also continue to be a thorns on collective sides. The narratives are furthered by the introduction of a new set of adversaries for Emma, Sebastian’s challenges on personal and professional fronts, and complications in Harry’s life largely owing to his support of a Russian author.
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  • Sunset Club

    Khushwant Singh

    This was the first time I actually read a Khushwant Singh book. It was the blurb that got me. The idea of three octogenarians in Delhi discussing everything from the weather to sex to politics was intriguing. Not because of the topics themselves, but because I have wondered about the lives of old people, the daily rituals they hold dear, and their perspectives of a changing world. Khushwant Singh was 95 when he wrote this (!) and therefore this would be very close to the real thing. I wasn’t mistaken because I would be very surprised if the character of Boota Singh wasn’t at least semi autobiographical.

    Pandit Preetam Sharma and Nawab Barkatullah Baig make up the remainder of the trio, called The Sunset Club, who meet at Lodhi gardens on the Boorha Binch. The book captures a year in the life of these gentlemen, with occasional rear view looks into their past. Through their discussions, the reader gets a sense of the pluralism and the contradictions that make up India. It finds a parallel in their own lives, which are themselves a showcase of many contradictions.  (more…)

  • The Sense of an Ending

    Julian Barnes

    “You are allowed a long moment of pause, time enough to ask the question : what else have I done wrong?” That is the disturbing thought I was left with on the penultimate page of the book. But it wasn’t always that way, you know.
    Tony Webster is the narrator of his own life’s story. In the first part, which is about one third of the book, he sets up the context and the characters. There is a deceiving flippancy and brevity about this section of the book, and Tony does seem very capable of being true and objective about his own life. It’s only towards the end of it that one got even a whiff of a suspicion that something different lay ahead.

    In the second section, the ‘peacable’ life that Tony desired (or did he?) is his. Even as he celebrates the ordinariness, we do get the other side by his own admission – “I had wanted life not to bother me too much, and succeeded – and how pitiful that was” and “We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe.” But it is when he gets the bequest from someone he met 40 yeas ago, and exactly once, that the story really unravels into a “what is really happening here?” mode. (more…)

  • When Breath becomes Air

    Paul Kalanithi
    If we go by Montaigne, Cicero had written that “to study philosophy is to learn to die.” If I go by Paul Kalanithi’s work, it is when you confront mortality that you discover your own philosophy. I have never read death this close, and I am finding it difficult to get words that would accurately describe my reaction to it, so I will restrict myself to the streams of narratives I followed in this book.
    The first has less to do with Paul, and more to do with his trade. In his case, it isn’t a trade, it is a calling. However, this book has also given me perspectives which ensure that I would not judge those doctors who consider it a profession, and nothing more. Just to be clear, I am not referring to the monsters which the modern hospital corporations are, but the individual doctors who might appear callous or unfeeling in their interactions with us. Through his description of what the typical doctor goes through when he chooses the profession, Paul shows that doctors are humans too. Maybe we forget that, when we expect empathy and understanding. I can only barely begin to understand now what it means to have the responsibility of a life in your hands. A mistake is not about targets not being achieved or losing a job, a mistake is a life lost, or even worse. How can a person deal with that on a regular basis? And yes, some people can’t!
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