I re-discovered my love for tinkering around with html and the good stuff. And voila, new look for the blog. Of course, I won't be giving up my Minima anytime soon. Nothing beats white space when it comes to giving any page a sophisticated minimalist look!
On a side note, I've been battling with a Chris Griffin style zit. Remember the one where the zit on his face mutates into a living being, takes over his life, and starts inciting him into doing unlawful things? Okay, things haven't gone THAT south yet. But, somebody sure has achieved a permanent resident status on the right cheek. Go away you.
I also managed to finish up 'The Palace of Illusions' - a book on Draupadi's version of the Mahabharata. Fascinating, to read a story you already know in a different person's perspective. I'd gladly recommend it to anyone that likes the Mahabharata..
And on grander news, Spicy Karma. Our attempt at a food blog. It will be interesting to see how we keep that up.. what with Mission800 also hovering in the background. However, given the foodies that we are, I'm sure our interest won't wane that quickly.
Showing posts with label Bookworm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bookworm. Show all posts
10/27/09
3/25/09
Addition (Toni Jordan)
This is one of the books I picked up just for the heck of it from the 'Recent Arrivals' at the local library. Anyways, who would not want to read a book titled 'Addition'? Do people really hate math that much?!
Addition is all about a feisty out-of-work 30-something primary school teacher - Grace Vandenburg. What is different about her that would make me read the entire story? Why, she has OCD! Oh yea, and not the garden variety. She doesn't have to wash her hands every minute, nor does she have to line up her pens and pencils just so. She is addicted to numbers. They are her friends.
Traumatized by an accident when she was 8; everything she does, she counts. The number of steps to the store (the same one every time), the number of bites to finish her carrot cake (number of bites equals number of poppy seeds the chef randomly sprinkles in top!), etc. And she does have to do certain things by specific numbers. Multiples of 5. Why would anyone like the number 3, she wonders, so difficult to do the math in everyday life! So whether she is getting up in the middle of the night to measure her walls from end to end, or wasting the whole day counting the number of bristles on her toothbrush, she is ALWAYS counting. Else, her world goes out of order and she cannot breathe! You get the picture by now, I guess.
While it may seem like the book is set up to be boring, it is not. The back-story to her OCD roots, the way she gets petrified when her world goes out of order just because all tables at her restaurant are full, her stealing a banana at the checkout counter from the guy behind her (she HAS to have 10 in her basket!) that leads to so much more in her life - are all interestingly written. And the author manages to include some fun numbers trivia here and there. Mostly though there is a side story where she compares herself to Nikola Tesla for some fanciful reason. And those were the parts that just didn't grab me. I did understand her attachment to him just because he counted numbers and he would 'get her', but apart from that, I felt overwhelmed by the Nikola info at times.
Slowly, events happen in her life which make her check into therapy, and what happens from there is what should be left for the reader to find out without me blabbing about it here. But from that point on, I'd say the story is entirely believable and the ending is refreshing.
3 stars/5
P.S. What ARE these Cuisinaire Rods they keep talking about anyhow?
Addition is all about a feisty out-of-work 30-something primary school teacher - Grace Vandenburg. What is different about her that would make me read the entire story? Why, she has OCD! Oh yea, and not the garden variety. She doesn't have to wash her hands every minute, nor does she have to line up her pens and pencils just so. She is addicted to numbers. They are her friends.
Traumatized by an accident when she was 8; everything she does, she counts. The number of steps to the store (the same one every time), the number of bites to finish her carrot cake (number of bites equals number of poppy seeds the chef randomly sprinkles in top!), etc. And she does have to do certain things by specific numbers. Multiples of 5. Why would anyone like the number 3, she wonders, so difficult to do the math in everyday life! So whether she is getting up in the middle of the night to measure her walls from end to end, or wasting the whole day counting the number of bristles on her toothbrush, she is ALWAYS counting. Else, her world goes out of order and she cannot breathe! You get the picture by now, I guess.
While it may seem like the book is set up to be boring, it is not. The back-story to her OCD roots, the way she gets petrified when her world goes out of order just because all tables at her restaurant are full, her stealing a banana at the checkout counter from the guy behind her (she HAS to have 10 in her basket!) that leads to so much more in her life - are all interestingly written. And the author manages to include some fun numbers trivia here and there. Mostly though there is a side story where she compares herself to Nikola Tesla for some fanciful reason. And those were the parts that just didn't grab me. I did understand her attachment to him just because he counted numbers and he would 'get her', but apart from that, I felt overwhelmed by the Nikola info at times.
Slowly, events happen in her life which make her check into therapy, and what happens from there is what should be left for the reader to find out without me blabbing about it here. But from that point on, I'd say the story is entirely believable and the ending is refreshing.
3 stars/5
P.S. What ARE these Cuisinaire Rods they keep talking about anyhow?
2/27/09
A Good Indian Wife (Anne Cherian)
Another book with the Indian angle that I've been reading recently. I came across a brief review of this one in Yahoo! sometime last year, added it to my list, and got a copy of it from the library last week.
The story revolves around Neel (Suneel, that is), a 34? year old doctor in California who, by the devious machinations of his mom, aunt and taatapa back in India, gets trapped in an unwanted marriage. That being said, one might assume that you would empathise with the guy. On the contrary, I was just sitting there fuming at him as I turned the pages initially. The spineless guy does not extricate himself from the mess, but decides to just bury his head in the sand like an ostrich and hope it all goes away! When I finished the book, however, I thought to myself: how many times have 20-30-something Indians fought against parents and 'well-meaning' relatives only to find their so-called 'independent' spirit sag at the whole emotional blackmail saga? Understandable, his predicament. Neel has a white-girlfriend back home, and simply does not know what to do with his new wife. Add to that his 'good luck'. No visa issues to dump the wife back home, no spineless wife who would slink away at a challenge, no language issues since she is a Lit professor at a girls' college.
Which brings us to the wife Leila (rebelling against Neel's 'Lee'). Rejected by several suitors, and 30 to boot, she is happy to be getting married finally. She is spunky, for sure; but bows down to the age old story that the daughter's duty is to get married and bring glory to the family name, and more importantly, stop being a burden to her parents. So when Neel comes along, she hopes the suave 'Amrican' doctor will have jumped straight out of a Mills&Boons novel! Slowly she discovers that everything is not as it seems, and figures out that he is cheating on her. Her reactions at every step along the way, her blind acceptance of some facts, her desperation to live the life she dreamed of, are all well written. She gains her independence left to her own devices, finds a friend in Rekha and influences her, all the time refusing to get intimidated by Neel's attitude. The part where she struggles to be 'a good Indian wife' as her mother has ordered her to vs. dumping Neel's cheating ass and running away throws a whole new light on her character.
The ending is pretty predictable. But towards the end of the novel, you empathise with most of the characters, given their back-stories that are revealed in small doses throughout the novel. The believable flaws in the characters are refreshing, and while I wouldn't rave about this book, it is definitely a one-time-read.
A notable thread in the story: Leila's matchmaking sarees, and their cathartic effect towards the end.
3 stars / 5.
The story revolves around Neel (Suneel, that is), a 34? year old doctor in California who, by the devious machinations of his mom, aunt and taatapa back in India, gets trapped in an unwanted marriage. That being said, one might assume that you would empathise with the guy. On the contrary, I was just sitting there fuming at him as I turned the pages initially. The spineless guy does not extricate himself from the mess, but decides to just bury his head in the sand like an ostrich and hope it all goes away! When I finished the book, however, I thought to myself: how many times have 20-30-something Indians fought against parents and 'well-meaning' relatives only to find their so-called 'independent' spirit sag at the whole emotional blackmail saga? Understandable, his predicament. Neel has a white-girlfriend back home, and simply does not know what to do with his new wife. Add to that his 'good luck'. No visa issues to dump the wife back home, no spineless wife who would slink away at a challenge, no language issues since she is a Lit professor at a girls' college.
Which brings us to the wife Leila (rebelling against Neel's 'Lee'). Rejected by several suitors, and 30 to boot, she is happy to be getting married finally. She is spunky, for sure; but bows down to the age old story that the daughter's duty is to get married and bring glory to the family name, and more importantly, stop being a burden to her parents. So when Neel comes along, she hopes the suave 'Amrican' doctor will have jumped straight out of a Mills&Boons novel! Slowly she discovers that everything is not as it seems, and figures out that he is cheating on her. Her reactions at every step along the way, her blind acceptance of some facts, her desperation to live the life she dreamed of, are all well written. She gains her independence left to her own devices, finds a friend in Rekha and influences her, all the time refusing to get intimidated by Neel's attitude. The part where she struggles to be 'a good Indian wife' as her mother has ordered her to vs. dumping Neel's cheating ass and running away throws a whole new light on her character.
The ending is pretty predictable. But towards the end of the novel, you empathise with most of the characters, given their back-stories that are revealed in small doses throughout the novel. The believable flaws in the characters are refreshing, and while I wouldn't rave about this book, it is definitely a one-time-read.
A notable thread in the story: Leila's matchmaking sarees, and their cathartic effect towards the end.
3 stars / 5.
1/26/09
Born Confused (Tanuja Desai Hidier)
This book had many things going against it when I picked it up.
- Teenage angst
- Desi tableau
- First person narrative
But, it blew me away. Dimple Lala is a shy, confused teenager. Confused about her looks, her parents, her friends, her nationality, and how she fits into the grand scheme of things. And then comes the summer when she turns 17, and its a long process of 'finding herself'.
My favorite characters in the story are her parents. Yes, you heard right. Quintessential depictions of first-generation Indian parents in the US, the on-and-off accents, the traditional clashes, the 'Hai Rabba' phases. For me, they made the story what it is. The situations where their reactions come from 'way out of left field', colorful stories of their heyday from their childhood friend Rhadha's perspective, and their worry about losing Dimple slowly are priceless parts of the storyline.
Dimple, Gwyn and Karsh weave in and out of the story fluidly. Her photography hobby, Karsh's DJ-ing, and Gwyn's 'wannabe-desi'ness allows the author to sneak in several metaphors that don't terribly detract from the storyline. I love how the author ties in Dimple's love for photography with her love for her grandfather.. the way they cannot speak a common language except through photographs.. so much so, that they end up communicating via pictures eventually!The phase where Gwyn and Dimple fall-out and need their own space to grow apart and come together again makes for a believable arc. Karsh, a sweet boy, for the most part is a fixture around whom the events unfold slowly.
There are, of course, some parts where you feel the story drags.. but they're mostly the above-mentioned metaphorical stuff. But, I always read a book and visualize it at the same time, which helped me almost 'watch' it like a beautiful montage in a musical-movie.
After a long time, a girl-meets-boy story (and desi, to boot!) has several layers to it, and makes for an interesting read. No stereotypes, no done-to-death cliches.
Oh, and the type-written letters for the so-called Secret Saturday Outings, simply priceless.
4 stars/5.
- Teenage angst
- Desi tableau
- First person narrative
But, it blew me away. Dimple Lala is a shy, confused teenager. Confused about her looks, her parents, her friends, her nationality, and how she fits into the grand scheme of things. And then comes the summer when she turns 17, and its a long process of 'finding herself'.
My favorite characters in the story are her parents. Yes, you heard right. Quintessential depictions of first-generation Indian parents in the US, the on-and-off accents, the traditional clashes, the 'Hai Rabba' phases. For me, they made the story what it is. The situations where their reactions come from 'way out of left field', colorful stories of their heyday from their childhood friend Rhadha's perspective, and their worry about losing Dimple slowly are priceless parts of the storyline.
Dimple, Gwyn and Karsh weave in and out of the story fluidly. Her photography hobby, Karsh's DJ-ing, and Gwyn's 'wannabe-desi'ness allows the author to sneak in several metaphors that don't terribly detract from the storyline. I love how the author ties in Dimple's love for photography with her love for her grandfather.. the way they cannot speak a common language except through photographs.. so much so, that they end up communicating via pictures eventually!The phase where Gwyn and Dimple fall-out and need their own space to grow apart and come together again makes for a believable arc. Karsh, a sweet boy, for the most part is a fixture around whom the events unfold slowly.
There are, of course, some parts where you feel the story drags.. but they're mostly the above-mentioned metaphorical stuff. But, I always read a book and visualize it at the same time, which helped me almost 'watch' it like a beautiful montage in a musical-movie.
After a long time, a girl-meets-boy story (and desi, to boot!) has several layers to it, and makes for an interesting read. No stereotypes, no done-to-death cliches.
Oh, and the type-written letters for the so-called Secret Saturday Outings, simply priceless.
4 stars/5.
Bookworm
I've always loved reading books. So much, that I always end up finishing them at the rate of a-book-a-day. Ask Easwari Lending Library, good summer business they've had from the account E-633 (I think?).
And so, after the reading-lull in my Pilani days, I got back to it once I landed in Chicago. Come on, who can resist such a great public library? And, all for free?! I was over the moon :) And then came the second no-books phase. Finally, I'm back in business, and faster than ever. Even if I hate the book, I end up reading it all the way through, just because.
This past week, I was on an inspired Indian-milieu/author spree. And boy, was I overwhelmed or what! For some reason, I have never really done much of these type of books. I haven't been a fan of most Indian authors because more often than not, to me, it seems like they just try too hard. The vocab, the premise, the cultural exaggerations.. everything. On the one hand, English is, after all, their second language. Some words they end up using thus clash with my usual Archer/Sheldon/Ludlum/Grisham jargon which is much more mainstream. And several authors use broken sentences or use heavy first-person narratives. Like the way I type stuff on this blog at times. In all, its a mix that has always put me off, at the risk of sounding snobbish!
One book took me completely by surprise. The other two, not so much. Maybe I'll pop up a review of sorts sometime soon.
And so, after the reading-lull in my Pilani days, I got back to it once I landed in Chicago. Come on, who can resist such a great public library? And, all for free?! I was over the moon :) And then came the second no-books phase. Finally, I'm back in business, and faster than ever. Even if I hate the book, I end up reading it all the way through, just because.
This past week, I was on an inspired Indian-milieu/author spree. And boy, was I overwhelmed or what! For some reason, I have never really done much of these type of books. I haven't been a fan of most Indian authors because more often than not, to me, it seems like they just try too hard. The vocab, the premise, the cultural exaggerations.. everything. On the one hand, English is, after all, their second language. Some words they end up using thus clash with my usual Archer/Sheldon/Ludlum/Grisham jargon which is much more mainstream. And several authors use broken sentences or use heavy first-person narratives. Like the way I type stuff on this blog at times. In all, its a mix that has always put me off, at the risk of sounding snobbish!
One book took me completely by surprise. The other two, not so much. Maybe I'll pop up a review of sorts sometime soon.
10/30/06
Psyched!
Why am I thrilled? Because I picked up a whole bunch of books to read.. Yeay! An obscure corner of the mall had this bookstore which had this Bag-it-offer.. you just pick up a normal sized grocery bag, and put all the books you want into it, and its all for just 5 bucks! How cool is that??!!! So, racing against mall-closing-time, I zipped through shelves of books, and guess I picked up somewhere around 25 books? And now, I can slowly read all of them, when I'm indulging myself during that 15 day holiday that I'm counting down to...
I picked up a whole bunch of varied fiction stuff, right from the Jackie Collins variety to Robin Cooks and a lot of unknowns. In between all these plots lies this one type of novel which I still love and hate. Its the psycho stuff... all the brutal serial killers, the raving maniacs with minds that snapped from a childhood tragedy, the cold blooded ruthless ones who kill just for the heck of it, the criminal masterminds who plot intricate cat-and -mouse games just to thwart the Yard.
I haven't yet decided if I love them or hate them. For instance there was this Dean Koontz "Intensity" that I read, about this guy who kills to appease his fine 'senses' and is a cop in real life. What a twisted character he was... These are the kind of novels you loathe, go 'eeeewwwww' over, but still continue reading because you want to see what happens in the end! Some of these psycho plots are so elaborate, some are killers on a whim, some consider themselves Gods of justice, some carve up pregnant women, some go about getting rid of gay people, some fashion whole scenarios like in the movie 'Saw', some just have mindless sprees, and what not? I absolutely HATE them.. but every now and then, when the mood gets to me, I go all dark and morbid and sit down curled with one of these kind of novels.
Do people write such novels mirroring the actual criminals out there in society? Do they write them as an escapist fantasy that they'd like to embark on, but cannot owing to the societal scenario? Do criminals get their ideas from all these pages of gore and guts? What drives the writer/the reader to write/read such a story? Why do I, at times, want to read a purely psychotic story? Is it to convince myself that there are people who are more psycho than I am? Am I psycho? Is it just to see how cracked the human facade can be? Is it to just become numb and not think about anything for a while after you read that? I cannot fathom it, but I repulse these novels.. And yet, once in a while, I pick up one of their kinds!
And whatever you study into the mystery that is the human mind, there aren't going to be answers out there. Psychiatrists exist, I'm not saying they are baloney.. But in the end, no one can predict/figure out in entirety what drives such sociopaths. They are in a way fanatics. But that is a whole other state of existence. I'd say that in a way, all humans are fanatics about something or the other, it is just the degree of obsession that is the thin line between the normal folks and the others. But who are we to claim ourselves as normal? I'm obsessive about having a clean space, where-as someone at a higher degree of this obsession might, for all you know, go around slashing people who bother him in that aspect! I might tolerate all beliefs and faiths, but someone who is not open to it might as well become a 'terrorist' in their own right. And what of the people the society brands as 'terrorists'? What made them that way? Was it just their upbringing, or was there a humane side to them too? What of all the different angles which define a person?
What is it that drives people to become that way? Again, it is all in the mind. As gullible as it can get, the psyche can be completely unrelenting and unyielding. That makes us who we are. For some, the control drives you either to the extremes or to a balance which might be your key to sanity. But you cannot question the sanity of anyone at the extreme ends of the spectrum either! What gives you the ability to decide who is sane and who is not? After all, an insane persons first claim is that he/she is indeed sane.
This is where the future of humanity pretty much lies: in the balance of control over the self and over others. In the mind...
I picked up a whole bunch of varied fiction stuff, right from the Jackie Collins variety to Robin Cooks and a lot of unknowns. In between all these plots lies this one type of novel which I still love and hate. Its the psycho stuff... all the brutal serial killers, the raving maniacs with minds that snapped from a childhood tragedy, the cold blooded ruthless ones who kill just for the heck of it, the criminal masterminds who plot intricate cat-and -mouse games just to thwart the Yard.
I haven't yet decided if I love them or hate them. For instance there was this Dean Koontz "Intensity" that I read, about this guy who kills to appease his fine 'senses' and is a cop in real life. What a twisted character he was... These are the kind of novels you loathe, go 'eeeewwwww' over, but still continue reading because you want to see what happens in the end! Some of these psycho plots are so elaborate, some are killers on a whim, some consider themselves Gods of justice, some carve up pregnant women, some go about getting rid of gay people, some fashion whole scenarios like in the movie 'Saw', some just have mindless sprees, and what not? I absolutely HATE them.. but every now and then, when the mood gets to me, I go all dark and morbid and sit down curled with one of these kind of novels.
Do people write such novels mirroring the actual criminals out there in society? Do they write them as an escapist fantasy that they'd like to embark on, but cannot owing to the societal scenario? Do criminals get their ideas from all these pages of gore and guts? What drives the writer/the reader to write/read such a story? Why do I, at times, want to read a purely psychotic story? Is it to convince myself that there are people who are more psycho than I am? Am I psycho? Is it just to see how cracked the human facade can be? Is it to just become numb and not think about anything for a while after you read that? I cannot fathom it, but I repulse these novels.. And yet, once in a while, I pick up one of their kinds!
And whatever you study into the mystery that is the human mind, there aren't going to be answers out there. Psychiatrists exist, I'm not saying they are baloney.. But in the end, no one can predict/figure out in entirety what drives such sociopaths. They are in a way fanatics. But that is a whole other state of existence. I'd say that in a way, all humans are fanatics about something or the other, it is just the degree of obsession that is the thin line between the normal folks and the others. But who are we to claim ourselves as normal? I'm obsessive about having a clean space, where-as someone at a higher degree of this obsession might, for all you know, go around slashing people who bother him in that aspect! I might tolerate all beliefs and faiths, but someone who is not open to it might as well become a 'terrorist' in their own right. And what of the people the society brands as 'terrorists'? What made them that way? Was it just their upbringing, or was there a humane side to them too? What of all the different angles which define a person?
What is it that drives people to become that way? Again, it is all in the mind. As gullible as it can get, the psyche can be completely unrelenting and unyielding. That makes us who we are. For some, the control drives you either to the extremes or to a balance which might be your key to sanity. But you cannot question the sanity of anyone at the extreme ends of the spectrum either! What gives you the ability to decide who is sane and who is not? After all, an insane persons first claim is that he/she is indeed sane.
This is where the future of humanity pretty much lies: in the balance of control over the self and over others. In the mind...
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