Nisha!!

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke My rating: 5 of 5 stars First of all - Thanks to my buddy for picking this book. I am pretty sure I would have otherwise returned this book without reading Wow. Amazing. Astounding. Brilliant. I am completely lost for words. This is the absolute experience one expects to travel through while reading a science-fiction. Thanks to Arthur Clarke, for taking me through an amazing ride through space-time. Though a few pages in middle made the reading a little tough, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. The finish, amply made up for the sloppy middle. But no, as the pages sped by, and as I traveled through the Star Gate into the Grand Central, I almost felt like God Himself. Oh yes, the feeling is simply beyond anything that can be expressed in words. If this wasn't breath-taking enough, what can one say of the ending. Spell-binding? Dumbstruck? Oh. anything. Absolutely anything. Half way through the book, I was pretty confident th...

India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy by Ramachandra Guha My rating: 4 of 5 stars Well, that was a painstaking read, but completely worth the effort. The book copiously fills the unforgivable lacunae created in our history text books by the most respectable Indian governments of yesteryear's, today, and the days to come. Though, in the beginning, I felt the author was simply hero-worshiping Jawaharlal Nehru, only further into the book did I actually realize the greatness of Nehru. Well, may be he is truly worthy ofhero-worship. This one, by Nehru, particularly impressed me: ‘I do not seem to remember men being reminded in the same manner of Ramachandra and Satyavan, and urged to behave like them. It is only the women who have to behave like Sita and Savitri; the men may behave as they like.’ And a few more interesting quotes from the book: ‘Forget the dead, count the votes, said Rustomji in a withering but not in accurate characterization of the p...

Fire on the Mountain by Anita Desai My rating: 5 of 5 stars Hail the Indian Walden, everything I yearned for from Thoreau, I received in abundance from Anita. Nature is so beautifully and tenderly expressed. The ending was something I least expected. This is my first book by the author. Her sense of humor is particularly noteworthy. It's sad that no one recommended any of her books to me. Reading the book made me fall in love with the description, made me want to go and live in Carignano, in Kasali for ever and ever. I am an Nanda Kaul. I somehow saw every bit of her in me - the desperation and longing for nature, beauty and solitude - away from a super mean society. For all the humor and fun, the book had such a tragic ending reflecting the stark realities of life, the realities a male chauvinistic society shamelessly inflicts on her better half. Anything shy of 5 stars to this masterpiece is a shame on me. View all my reviews

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson My rating: 2 of 5 stars Well baby, you simply ain't my kinda book. I completed 20% of the book, and don't wanna give a fuck about it anymore. Frankly speaking, I am not a person who is too much into non-fiction - particularly self-help/philosophy of all genres. In the 20% that I read, I found the author's thoughts similar to "Aruvi" movie dialog and ideas of Gautama Buddha, along with a dozen 'fucks' lavishly sprinkled across every page. He also emphasizes that we choose our pain in life - our life is what we are willing to toil for. Now, excuse me, who doesn't know this? Given that I am a person who is quite interested in Buddhist teachings (to a little extent), I find Buddhist tenets a far better thing to sleep over, than this book. Fuck you Mark, and I am not sorry. On seeing other reviews, I am just too glad to find that a lot of other people w...

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Wow! This was an absolutely amazing, wonderful read. Books like this make one wonder, how time truly flies. I wish I could give a billion stars to this book. Tyson is an absolutely witty writer, and I wish to explore more of this writings. Some of the book's content, I already knew, much of it was unknown, or maybe I'd read it sometime and forgotten all about it - well, it just doesn't matter. This book made me feel like a Buddha under a Bodhi tree - in a complete state of utmost bliss. Thank you Tyson for this great work. View all my reviews

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is my second book by the author, the first being, "A Thousand Splendid Suns". I found the Kite Runner well-written with references to events, characters and memories - back and forth. The true hero of the book is Hassan, and to some extent Rahim Khan too. I find the remaining characters seriously lacking in personality - particularly the protagonist. The thought the Afghans once rejoiced the arrival of the Taliban, and that their land was once battered by Russia was quite an interesting revelation. Other details of Afgan history mentioned in this book is already known - either through news or through the other book. So nothing much there. The same issue of Hazara vs Pushtan is again highlighted in this book, as in "A Thousand Splendid Suns". The latter half of the book lacks a lot -there seems to be no definite theme after the death of Hassan It appears that the story flows because it has to. It was...

Animal Farm by George Orwell My rating: 5 of 5 stars "One of the stupidest books I have read in a long time. I really can't get to accept that so many people have given a 5 star to it. The best I can give it is single. Many friends recommended this book to me, so I didn't, for one moment, stop to think that it might let me down. A foolish Englishman, diligently serving under 'Her Excellency's Crown' day and night, decides to dip his pen in ink, make fun of Karl Marx, and the Russian Revolution (when he himself is in a far more deplorable state of affairs). As a person who has a lot of respect for ideas that have changed people's lives, I find it deeply insulting on my intellect to even finish reading this book. Wonder why people would want to read such a work of fiction, leave alone recommend it. Orwell is nothing short of a coward, who makes fun of Russian Revolution, when the British are worthy of far more mockery. "சுட்டும் விரலால் எதிரியை காட்ட...

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai My rating: 5 of 5 stars This however is an ill-fitting finish to a marvelous masterpiece Dear Kiran Desai, This is by far, one the best hilarious books I have brought myself to read in a long time. I completely enjoyed it. Having devoured "The Inheritance of Loss" a long time back, I can't imagine why I procrastinated this long to lay hands on this chef-d'oeuvre The work of fiction vaguely reminds one of RK Narayan's "The Guide", and briefly transports us into the pages of Thoreau's 'Walden', nonetheless, humor reigns supreme. The true to life descriptions of the expectations from Indian bride's - to be able to sing and dance, but never to be practiced after marriage, or that she was expected to be always shy when talking of husband and children, are a few dew drops in the ocean of interesting facts laid down bare to the reader. The invention of human bite is also note-worthy. The story i...