Forty Rules of Love

I got 'introduced' to Elif Shafak through TED Talks. I was surfing the site one day when I came across an interesting video called ' The Politics of Fiction'. Being a prolific reader I was intrigued about why politics was being mixed with fiction and how was it relevant? Elif Shafak impressed me with her talk on perceptions that authors have to face in their own field and from their peers.

It prompted me to want to read her books and so the first one that I laid my hands on was 'Forty Rules of Love'. I'm glad about the co-incidence that got me to TED Talks.

Forty Rules of Love is in part a love story, in part history, in part a representation of life as we know today and in part the transformational power of friendship. The book starts off as a simple story of Ella, a jewish housewife in Massachusetts whose life is going nowhere. Her life revolves around her family and has settled into a mundane existance. Her husband cheats on her, her children don't love or understand her and everyone takes her for granted. Into this boring existance she is delivered a manuscript that she must review.

Through the book 'Sweet Blasphemy' written by a first time author Aziz Zahara, Ella travels to 13th century where she meets a travelling dervish Shams of Tabriz and his travails to meet his destiny with Mawlana Rumi. As she reads the book, Ella starts to understand the reason for her angst against the world and her bleak outlook to life. She starts corresponding with Aziz and unwittingly finds herself falling in love with him and understanding the different forms of love.

The book shifts between the two stories of Shams' and Rumi in 13th Century and Ella and Aziz in present day. Ella's story is written in third person while the other story is in first person from the perspectives of different people in the story. This can sometimes take a little time to understand as to who is narrating the story now.

Rumi and Sham's story is authentic history. Prior to his meeting with Shams-e Tabrizi, Rumi was an accomplished teacher, cleric and a maulana in a mosque. His friendship with Shams' exposes him to the highest degree of love; not in the romantic sappy Valentine form but love in its purest form - love for fellow being, love for God, love for life - and transforms him into an ascetic and a modern purveyor of Sufism. Its a beautiful story

• Of Realisation - Rumi's realisation that life was so empty before Shams)
• Of Dedication and Loyalty - Rumi's dedication to the teachings of Shams' inspite of the world branding him a heretic and ruing his slide into oblivion from the highest office of the mosque
• Of Differing perspectives to the same story - each member of Rumi's family has a different perspective to what is happening to Rumi - from his wife, to each of his sons, to his adopted daughter and to the different people that are exposed to Shams
• Of Heartbreak - Rumi's abject depression when Shams' disappears from his life
• Of Joy and Fear - Rumi's joy to see Shams' back but his fear that he will go away again
• Of Acceptance and Transformation - Rumi's state when Shams' is murdered and his transformation into a poet using the pain of his loss

'Forty Rules of Love' exposes us too to the Forty Rules of life, love and living that Shams' shares with us along his journey.

Just as Shams-e Tabrizi had opened Rumi's eyes to the glorious forms of love and the joy of finding love and keeping it, so does Aziz and his book open Ella's eyes and world to the joys of letting love into one's life. 'Forty Rules of Love' is a book about the transformational power of love and friendship and it will transform you too.

Elif Shafak's writing style is simple and understated. While Ella and Aziz's characters and story is not too fleshed out, 'Forty Rules of Love' is really the story about Rumi and Shams-e Tabrizi. The modern day story seems superimposed to give the book a contemporary feel and make it appeal to a wider audience. The book could have stood alone as the story of Rumi and Shams'. While the 13th century story keeps you engrossed and turning the pages, there are times when Ella's story seems to intrude on the flow and you want it to get over fast. Elif Shafak too seems to have devoted less attention to Ella's story not giving us enough reasons for her angst and transformation.

From the first rule " How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves. If God brings to mind most fear and blame, it means there is too much fear and blame welled inside us. If we see God as full of love and compassion, so are we" to the fortieth "A life without love is of no account. Dont ask yourself what kind of love you should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane, Eastern or Western - Decisions only lead to more divisions. Love has no labels, no definitions. It is what it is, pure and simple. Love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire! The universe turns differently when fire loves water!" the book is filled with nuggets that will open your eyes, make you think and transform you a little bit.

Forty Rules of LOve is a book that must be read again and again at different times of your life. I rate it 5/5.

Palace of Illusions

Ramayana and Mahabharata are India's most revered mythologies and its difficult to go wrong with them as long as one sticks to the original story and does not diverge from it. While Ramayana is the idealist story and strives to tell things in black and white, its really the Mahabharata that catches our imagination and forces us to think at multiple levels about the reality of life, people and relationships.

I've always been fascinated with Mahabharata and its multi-level messages. So when my friends told me about this book it sounded very intriguing from a simple fact that I had not come across the story written from a different perspective. I tried to get this book way back in June but picked up another book by the same author and reviewed that.

Panchali / Draupadi is by far the most interesting character of Mahabharata. She is born out of fire (some say by mistake) to fulfill a dreadful prophecy. She is married to five brothers each of which represent one true facet of a human being. She embodies different forms of love - a pure love for Krishna and a hidden love for Karna. She is a woman driven by strong emotions of revenge and self belief to an extent that she ignores her own children. She has the power to drive men to different destinies. She is a creative person harboring a dream of a beautiful home only to see it crushed. With so many different images and facets of a single person it would be a daunting task to bring to pen her side of the story. And I thought that would be the biggest challenge of this book.

'Palace of Illusions' is in some way able to address all these facets of her life but only superficially. Each facet is touched upon, scratched at the surface and then left alone. Chitra leaves you wanting to hear more about Panchali's views on certain subjects probably because of commercial aspects of making the book to a readable length. We get to see understand her need for an open palace filled with wonders and her final realisation of the vision but do not get to explore why she chooses certain things in the palace. We get to feel her angst as she is dragged to the court by Dushasan but do not get to hear her sadness, her views, her questions, her accusations and her anger at the impotence of the court. Almost every Indian knows the story and knows what happened in it from a man's perspective. This would have been a great opportunity to present a woman's perspective of some of the key elements of the story. I feel the author missed the opportunity and instead focussed on surface level to try and present the entire story in one sitting.

Mahabharata from the eyes of Panchali had the potential to essentially rewrite the story as we know it and force us to think about it from an oppressed person's perspective. Palace of Illusions fails on that count. It does not make us think. Rather it makes lusting for more depth. Its almost like a film that fails to live up to the expectations sets by the trailor. The image that you left with at the end of the book is that of a pining Panchali who would have been much happier if she would have married Karna rather than Arjun. And that's not the image that I wanted to have.

Having said that its still a great read. It exposes you to a different perspective of the story and brings to life some of the old debates of good and evil, of ego and subjudication, of dreams and reality, of truth and lies, of destiny and actions.

I rate the book 3/5 as it left me wanting more. I hope Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni comes out with a more detailed version.

Predictably Irrational

There is always a danger that the back-cover summary of a book does not match up to its content. While the back-cover summary sounds interesting, the book hardly lives up to it. And that is especially true for a non-fiction management book.

Thankfully, Predictably Irrational, is not one such book. The back-cover summary is what caught my eye in the plethora of books that wanted to jump into my bag through my wallet. (Too cheesy, isn't it? but I loved writing that line).

We've all grown up 'knowing' that there are two decision centers in our life - the logical mind and the emotional heart. We've all been told that we should take all our decisions using our logical mind weighing the different things and to try and ignore our heart tugging decisions from the gut. Mind always rules true in the long run. At the other end when we learn about the market dynamics we have learnt that market forces always determine the way a market operates in the long run. Demand and Supply, my friend, determine what sells, how it sells, why it sells etc etc.

And that's the truth, right? It works all the time, right? WRONG. That's what Dan Ariely wants us to know.

Predictably Irrational 'exposes' the fact that our decisions are primarily based on our social norms which combine our logical thinking and emotional state of mind. Dan Ariely tries to prove this not through subjective philosophy but bases it on numerous multiple 'experiments' that he and his fellow psychologists have conducted to test each assumption. This is the science of 'behavioral economics'.

Some of what Dan writes in his book and informs us are facets that we knew as truth but it provides some great validation though scientific study. Given a FREE thing don't we always graduate towards it? Do you end up buying six pairs of socks if there is a FREE offer with it even though you may not need the socks at all? To test this hypothesis Dan and his team did a chocolate experiment giving random people different types of chocolates, then discounting them by the same percentage which made one sample free. What do you think happened?

To test what effect sexual arousal has on our decisions they asked a group of men some questions first, then asked them to answer them again as they saw porn on a laptop. To test if our headache reduces if we take a higher cost painkiller, they zapped some students with an electric shock then gave them different pills letting them know the costs. Some were just sugar! To find out if dealing with cash makes us more honest, they did experiments where they asked students to answer a quiz then split them into groups that had to show the answers and take some amount for each correct answer. Another group had to only tell the evaluator how many answers were correct and take the relevant cash while the third group did not have to tell anyone but could take the money from the box. To test if we are inherently dishonest they made people recall the Ten Commandments before taking a test or doing an activity.

Interesting tests, all of them. I will not divulge what the results were but trust me that when you read the book some of the results will surprise you and make you think. Some will make you want to put some actions in your workplace.

This is a very interesting book and I am fascinated by the science of 'behavioral economics' and how the psychologists can take simple experiments and apply it across our behavior. Are we really like that and can we be explained by these experiments? Some chapters will make it very clear why so many of us are in credit card debt and why debit cards are the best thing. Why condoms in schools may not be that great an idea as compared to sex education.

I suggest that you read this book to open your mind. I rate it 3/5, if only because I am just not sure about the science but it is fascinating reading.

The Lost Symbol

Dan Brown strikes again. If you liked his 'Da Vinci Code' you might like this one too. I wasn't a big fan of his 'Demons and Angels'. Coming at the back of his highly successful book, the second one was almost like a Hindi Bollywood movie in its climax. I was a little skeptical as I started this one hoping that it would be a bit like the 'Da Vinci Code'.

So let me say at the onset that 'The Lost Symbol' comes very close to the first book. It mathches the intrigue, the pace, the mystery and the page-turning ability of 'Da Vinci Code'. From the first few pages when the hand appears to the last one it is a definite page turner with the exception of a few pages in between. But then which book does not have a few slow moments?

The book has its regular characters to constitute a potboiler. The protagonist - Prof. Langdon; his partner and love interest - Katherine Solomon; the self-tattooed, self-inflicted, no-emotion, driven baddie - Mal'akh; the law enforcer who could be good or bad - Inoue Sato, Director of CIA's Office of Security and the commonly known locations of Washington along with Freemason's intriguing rituals and people.

In my view the central theme of the book seems to be - "One Word will set them free"! Mal'akh kidnaps Langdon's mentor - Peter Solomon and cunningly brings Langdon to Capitol building where he leaves Peter's dismembered hand pointing to the sky. From there on Mal'akh sets clues for Langdon to decipher if he wants to save his mentor. Peter Solomon is, of course, a Freemason of the highest order who is protector of secrets, the main among them being that somewhere is hidden a word or a thing that could reveal all the secrets of ancient powers and mysteries to the world. The premise being that visionaries like Galileo, Newton, Einstien and other pioneers have known and seen those secrets and fear that if the world gets to know them there could be chaos if the power gets in the wrong hands. Therein being the motivation for Mal'akh who knows this secret since he disguised himself to get into the highest order of Freemasons.

Mal'akh's leverage is a video tape he made of the Freemason's initiation ceremony that shows such acts as drinking blood-red wine from a human skull, taking part in an enactment of your own muder, hearing things like your tongue being cut if you reveal the secrets and so on - all seemingly barbaric acts. The idea is that these are all symbolic but if released can wreak havoc in the world since the highest order clearly shows key and important people from the administration as being part of the cult. So this video must not see the light of day. And so Langdon must dig deep into all his knowledge and understanding of ancient mysteries to unlock secrets and decipher codes.

'The Lost Symbol' takes us on a rollercoster ride from the Smithsonian Museum to the Capitol to the National Library of Congress to the Washington Monument with Langdon chasing Mal'akh and trying to save his mentor. In all this there is also the intruiguing science of Noetics that Katherine Solomon is working on which is the study of the untapped potential of the human mind with the central theme that when many people share a same thought that thought can have physical implications. So if all os us think that something good will happen, something good will. The HUGE thing for Katherine Solomon seems to be when she shows that a human soul exists!! But read the book for that scene.

The only disappointment of the book stems from the ending which is almost anti-climatic. Also if you have read enough mystery books you tend to get a feel of Mal'akh and his mystery towards the ending. I did. I managed to figure out who Mal'akh was before Dan Brown got to it.

If 'Da Vinci Code' changed Paris then 'The Lost Symbol' will make you look at Washington in a new Masonic light. Reading the book does make you wonder about the Freemason's and how much impact they had on the roots of American Constitution and political architecture. Why is the Capitol building designed along Roman lines? huh?

The book is 600 pages thick so its not a fast breezy read. But if you love mystery, intrigue and you want it all to be fast paced, this is the book for you. If you want to have a good time, not think too much and don't mind forgetting the book after a few months, pick this up and have a blast.

I would rate it 3.5/5!

Eros, Philia, Agape

Asimov set the entire basis for Robots with his Three Laws. He then wrote a brilliant piece of robot work called 'Bicentennial Man' where a Robot with an elastic brain realises that he wants to be free and sets about a path that takes him 200 years to realise that dream.

Rachel Swirsky writes a brilliant story about a family torn apart by one member leaving the family. As you read the story you empathize with both parties and feel the pain of the woman left behind to deal with the questions and queries of her young daughter. At its core 'Eros, Philia, Agape' is a love story dealing with the pain of growing apart. The only difference is that the 'male' member who has left is a robot in search of his identity.

Adriana is an upwardly mobile, successful woman living with her emerald macaw Fuoco, gifted by her father. The same father who sexually abused her in childhood - a fact that others in her family do not agree to. She hates her father but loves the bird as that is her only companion. Till one day she takes a drastic step and buys herself a robot with an elastic mind - a mind that can learn and change its personality based on what Adriana likes. With the entry of Lucian, Adriana finds love and companionship and secure enough to get a child of her own.

Lucian, Adriana and Rose are a regular family with a highly jealous bird as their pet. Fuoco cannot accept that Lucian is now closer to Adriana than he was and resorts to drastic acts of self mutilation till a stage is reached where he has to be put to rest. A chance statement by Adriana makes Lucain realise that he too is nothing but a toy for Adriana and hence starts his quest for self-identity. Little does he realise that Adirana really loves him but its too late. Lucian sets the wheels in motion and decides to leave.

The story takes you through the breathtaking emotions of betrayal, sadness and frustration that Adraiana feels as she loses touch with herself and realises the perils of life ahead without Lucian. Rachel also introduces you to Lucian's side of the story and his attempts at self realisation.

Set in about 90 pages the story takes you through a labyrinth of emotions and you wish for a happy ending.

You can read it here at http://www.tor.com/stories/2009/03/eros-philia-agape

I rate it 3/5.

My Man Jeeves

It would be presumptuous of me to write a review or a critic of P.G.Wodehouse. His writings have been revered by many and the tongue-in-cheek humor is something that authors aspire for even today.

Its an interesting thought that while I am a voracious reader of book, I never picked up a PG Wodehouse even though many of my friends are ardent fans of the author. It took an iPad and the free book for me to read the first Jeeves book.

'My Man Jeeves' is a collection of eight short stories introducing Bertie Wooster, an epitome of a rich feeble minded Englishman with too much money and time on his hands and his 'manservant' or butler Jeeves, the person whom he most depends on. While most of the stories focus on the interplay between Wooster and Jeeves the collection also introduces you to another character, Reggie who can be thought of as a prequel to Bertie Wooster but without Jeeves at his side. Needless to say the Wooster/Jeeves stories are what makes this collection a classic.

For a first time reader the writing introduces you to the English humor and Queen's English (I learnt quite a few new words in this book). As you read the simple stories you revel in the fact that you know what solution Jeeves will present to the problem at hand but you enjoy reading on how it is presented and accomplished. You wonder how Wooster did not think of the solution and realise that he does not need to when he has Jeeves around. You wonder at how Jeeves even decided on what dress Wooster looks good in and snigger when sometimes Wooster does not agree with the selection only to realise his folly later.

The stories are simple, brilliant, immensely enjoyable and with caustic humor built in. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a paid version of entire PG Wodehouse collection on my iPad.

Rating? Do I need to but its 4/5 only because I wanted all of them to be Wooster/Jeeves stories.

First Flight

I've recently got an iPad and the first thing I did was downloaded the iBooks application. Then I proceeded to search for free books that I could start reading. I love sci-fi and so that genre was my first stop.

I saw a four star rating for the short story 'First Fligh' and while I downloaded it I was skeptical about the rating given by others given that this is a free story. But I was pleasantly surprised. 'First Flight' is a 2010 Locus award winner and deserves the recognition. In a short span of 30 odd pages it captures the essence of a beautiful story with a clear beginning, a wonderful middle and an expected but refshing ending.

At it's essence 'First Flight' is a time travel story. Mary brings out the essence of time travel and deals with the complexities of this idea in a beautiful simplistic manner. No large quadratic equations and time travel morals here. It limits itself to the fact that you can travel only to the time that You have been alive and hence limits you automatically to your lifespan. A beautiful way to avoid you wanting to visit the Dinosaur age or bring back an Ugly Neandrethal kid that you might love.

So we have an old woman sent back in time to capture the historic third flight of the Wright brothers. The flight that stayed up in the air for over 18 mins and was the genesis of the idea that long distance air travel was possible. Of course the story can't be that simple and so we have the protagonist taliking to a boy and then disappearing on him. Therein lies the problem because you can't change history and so you have to go back to the exact time and explain the disappearance to the boy. The story deals with that conundrum while at the same time exposing one of the Wright brother to the advanced technology.

Does the boy understand the explanation of time travel given by a haggard old woman? Does the Wright brother accept the advanced technology? How does that impact the airplane thought? Mary deals beautifully with the thoughts and weaves history into mystery, nostalgia, maturity and benevolence to come up with a cracking Horton story.

I'm glad I downloaded this one and rate it 4/5 like a lot othes only because I would love to see this idea developed into a longer novel.

Here's to the iPad for this wonderful story.

One Amazing Thing

'Palace of Illusions' was a highly recommended book to me by the same author and I intended to pick that up. Alas, the book was out of stock but there was her latest output and I decided to read that one. So that's how 'One Amazing Thing' came to land in my lap.

I must admit that I was very intrigued by the cover summary of a group of people stuck in a near death situation reciting stories to each other to pass the time. And when it said that each story was about one amazing thing that had happened in their lives, I was hooked.

'One Amazing Thing' is a book about a group of people at the basement visa office of an Indian consulate all waiting for their interview. Each one of them has their own reasons to go to India and in essence that forms a core of the story. Why would a bitter middle aged American couple (Mrs and Mr. Pritchett), a Muslim American of Indian origin angry with the new America (Tariq), an African American (Cameron), a Chinese old woman (Jiang) with her grand daughter (Lily) want to go to India? The book is written from the perspective of a young Indian girl (Uma) who is returning to India to visit her parents. And then there is the Visa Officer (Mangalam) and the clerk (Malathi) on the verge of an extra-marital affair.

The author throws these interesting bunch of people in an earthquake hit basement, each with a secret of their own. Faced with the fact that they have no idea if they will be rescued or will die they start off on an aggressive note almost at each other's throat till Uma suggests that they tell each other a story to pass the time. The story should center around one amazing thing that happened in their lives. That forms the beginning of the thread.

'One Amazing Thing' could actually have been published as a collection of short stories. But by giving it a setting and a common view the author has very intelligently turned it into a small novel. Each story brings to life a facet of the human nature although not all stories are understandable or clearly bring out THE amazing thing in the story teller's life.

Mrs. Pritchett had tried to commit suicide when she comes up against a realisation that her married life does not have a kind of love that she wants - this after more than a decade of childless marriage. Really? Suicide? Wouldn't divorce be simpler? She wants to go to India to escape from her husband and be free!

Mr. Pritchett's life is about non-love. His mother was too tired from work and life to love him enough. His one love in life was a kitten that dies, maybe due to his carelessness. His only love is for numbers and maths and he is a successful accountant. He wants to go to India to bring the spark back in his wife's eyes and regain what was lost when she tried to commit suicide.

Tariq is upset with the new US where his father is taken away for no reason by the authorities after 9/11. Although he returns safely the trauma is too great and he suffers a stroke. Tariq is bitter and angry that he cannot call his own country - US - his own any more. His only silver lining is a girl who had come from India to spend a semester with them and has returned to India. He wants to go to India to meet her and maybe understand if he actually can relate to India. But he also has formed friendship with a group of people in US who are 'almost as close as brothers'. Are they terrorists? Will Tariq come back and become a terrorist? The author just leaves a morsel for us there.

Cameron is a failed example of his high ambitions. He wanted to escape the drudgery of his race and become a doctor. He was a very successful student and on track till he got waylaid by the love for a beautiful girl. She has small ambitions of working in a supermarket all her life and she thinks so does Cameron. When she gets pregnant Cameron asks her to get an abortion and is unable to sidetrack his original plans. He leaves her to join college but fate and karma have different things in store for him. He never becomes a doctor and while he becomes a soldier he is haunted by the loss of his 'unborn son' who he 'killed'. He adopts a girl in far flung India and hopes that by giving her a life, he will be absolved of his guilt. He wants to go to India in search of peace from his demons.

Mangalam is the result of living his life to fulfill the burden of high expectations. He manipulates his life to get married to a rich girl thinking that will solve his family's expectations of him but finds himself in a loveless marriage where he is a slave to his wife's desires. Lily's story is the most haunting one of talent, genius and living up to the high standards set by a sibling.

But the best stories of the lot are from Jiang and Malathi. Jiang's story is about grit and determination and finding love in the most impossible places. It is a story of a woman having to make her life in a man's world sometimes submissive, sometimes leading but always thinking beyond the horizon. In the hands of an Irving Wallace it would be a novel by itself. Malathi's story is more about courage and believing in something. She lives life by her set notions and dreams and does things to fulfill those dreams.

Uma, the protagonist, never gets to complete her story and we only get snippets into her life. The unfortunate part is that these pieces seem so disconnected that it feels as if it cannot belong to one person. There are many unanswered questions in the author's dealings with Uma and you feel as if she did not know which way to take Uma's story. In the end the most frustrating part is that all these questions are left unanswered. To me it felt as if one day the author could not write any further and just decided to end the book. It feels as if you have walked across a mountain to reach a beautiful place but you find yourself at the edge of a precipice with no land in sight.

I hate stories that do not tie their loose ends and this novel belongs to that category. Do they survive? Do they die? Is there a link between all of them? Do they learn anything from each other? No answers!

In the end it is a breezy read. I would recommend it for a short journey. You won't remember most of the stories after a few days but maybe what will stay with you is to make you remember if you have had an amazing experience in your life.

I rate this 3/5. Borrow and read it but maybe don't buy it!

The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest

Lisbeth Salander looks you straight in the eye from the cover of 'The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest' - the final chapter of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy and that sums up the book, in a way. The final chapter is Lisbeth's story of redemption and justice for all that she has been through. Interestingly the covers of the three books tell their own story.

At the end of the second part we left Lisbeth having crawled out of her own grave where she was buried with bullet wounds in her shoulder, hip and head. She has just struck her mortal enemy, her father with an axe with an intent to kill and has just survived the attack from her half-brother the massive no-pain feeling giant with a pea brain. What a family! The final chapter picks up there with the murder charges being dropped against Lisbeth but she is now charged with intent to murder while she is increasingly upset that her father has survived. And this is where the intrigue begins.

Stieg Larsson builds an interesting story of drama, suspense and intrigue on a secret organisation within the Swedish Secret Police - The Section - who have conspired against Lisbeth with a psychiatrist so as to save their most valuable asset, the Russian defector Zalachenko. Stieg's intent is very clear in the book and you do know that by the end Lisbeth will walk free but he keeps you engrossed on the path to the obvious end.

This is a book more about Lisbeth's friends and their coming together to save her rather than Lisbeth's own antics and superwoman capabilities that we are used to. It is about the quintessential story of Good forces represented by Lisbeth's well wishers - Mikael Blomkvist and Armansky with some members of the police force, the Constitutional Protection force in Sapo and even the Prime Minister - against the Evil forces of The Section responsible for Zalachenko who have for years ensured that Lisbeth is silenced under the garb of socially incompetent status and hence relegated to the fringe of society and never taken seriously. Will good triumph over evil? Does Blomkvist's sister who agreed to be Lisbeth's attorney have any experience in civil justice cases to save her? Does she know how to?

The book has the undercurrent of how society ignores those who need our help the most, how society is afraid of the people that it does not understand and how society bases its knowledge on the words of a few people who appear to be experts. It is also a story of how corruption has the potential to spoil a person's entire life.

While it makes for great reading and Stieg intelligently introduces characters there are certain parts of the book that are completely redundant and were not needed. Removing them would have no impact on the pace of the book and just tend to end up adding unnecessary pages to an already long book - Erika's section about the Poison Pen, for instance. In that sense Larsson does fail in this book. The interesting bits are well woven but the pace is slower and the intrigue that you expect to be there does not come through completely. The court case is rudimentary and does not come till almost page 442 of the 600 page book and then too finishes pretty fast. One would expect some interesting intrigue and court room drama but that is missing. Stieg also seems to want to close all loop ends and focusses the last part of the book on Lisbeth's life after she wins the case. Frankly the interest level from the reader is low after the case is won and Lisbeth is free. At the end it leaves you wanting more.

The final part is a good story on how Lisbeth gets her due from society and how the system recognises its flaws. How individuals can make the system work for them to the detriment of others. How friends can do so much for you. It is a fitting end to the series.

I rate it 4/5 even though I would have wanted to see some more action, intrigue, drama and Lisbeth in the final part.

The Girl who Played with Fire

In the words of Randy Jackson from American Idol " Yo! Yo! Yo! Listen up y'all. Give it up for Lisbeth Salander". Those are the words that typically come to your mind as you read through the second edition of the Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy - The Girl who played with Fire.

Larsson tries to make this a stand alone book so that readers who have not read the first part can still enjoy the book. He takes his sweet time to re-establish the characters and give them some background. If you've read the first part it takes some patience to get through the first 215 pages of this book. You learn and re-learn some of the characters and get to know what has happened in their lives since the last one - mainly the two important ones, Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Both have gone their separate ways - Blomkvist with his publishing job & Salander with her millions that she's expertly siphoned off from Wenestrom.

The Girl who Played with Fire is at its core a prequel of who Salander is and why she is the way she is. Sex trade and the illegal smuggling of prostitutes from the erstwhile Russian states to Sweden and beyond forms the basis for the story. Millennium magazine is about to publish the works of the couple Dag Svensson & Mia Johansson. Mia is a doctorate student who has researched and written a thesis on the sex trade. Dag takes the thesis and develops it into a book that he wants Millennium to publish. Dag and Mia's research will clearly expose a whole slew of officials from the Swedish Police force to Security Police to Judges and the lot.

The book takes it regular explosive turn when Dag and Mia are brutally murdered in their apartment. The gun used for the killing is discovered with Lisbeth's fingerprints on it and she becomes the main suspect. But when a few days later the body of her guardian Nils Bjurman is also discovered murdered in a similar manner, Lisbeth Salander becomes the most wanted criminal across Sweden. Its easy to implicate her as well given her history of psychotic illness and documented declaration of incompetence by authorities. The book wanders through the next 150 pages as the police try to locate Lisbeth is what is an open-and-shut case. But we all know how difficult that would be.

When Lisbeth comes to the scene again, the books pace picks up considerably and becomes a page turner. But from here the book does become a bit predictable. Like every crime thriller there is a ghostly figure of a Godfather, in this case a figure called Zala that does not exist in any database but is feared by the sex trade punters and the exploited prostitutes as well. Then there is a 300-pound gorilla who is Zala's feet-on-the-street and who does not feel any pain. Larsson then takes the book on four parallel investigations - Lisbeth, who obviously wants to prove her innocence while running from the authorities; Mikael, who believes that Lisbeth is innocent and wants to find out who murdered his friends; Armansky, Lisbeth's employer who also believes in Lisbeth's innocence and of course the Police who want to apprehend Lisbeth and close the case. What the Police believe is a simple open-and-shut case becomes more and more complex as the investigation proceeds and the truth of Lisbeth emerges.

Larsson's writing is interesting as he moves from one investigation to another and links the story together. Unlike the first book, however, this one takes on a bit of liberty with the characters, especially that of Lisbeth. Larsson's inability seems to be to tie the climax together. If 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' had a climax that seemed to be hastily written, this book's climax almost makes Lisbeth superhuman. She takes a bullet to her shoulder and head, gets buried alive and still comes out to vanquish the villians. It is a bit too much to take and does come as a shocker. One wonders why Larsson needs to go into a super-hero mode for Lisbeth when he has already established her as an intelligent, smart thinking person. Then, of course, is the Star-Wars-Darth Vader-Luke Skywalker takeoff on Lisbeth and Zala.

The second edition does not tie in easily with the first one. Maybe that was the intent to make this a stand alone book while at the same time tenuously connected to the first one. Its a great crime thriller to read even if you haven't read the first one.

I rate it 4/5.

By now Lisbeth Salander is a spunky, small built, intelligent, psychotic, socially incompetent, computer hacker extraordinaire, super human heroine of the series. What is in store for Book 3?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rarely do you come across a book - a crime fiction one at that - which you want to read cover to cover in one sitting, not caring if its 1am and you've just got off a drinking session with friends. 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' comes very close to being one such book.

Written by Stieg Larsson, its Part 1 of the Millennium trilogy and unfortunately the only set of books that he wrote before he passed away in 2004. We will never know if he was a writing genius who could have written even more gripping novels and history will judge his author abilities based on just three books.

'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' has a good combination of flawed characters that keep you engrossed in the storyline. At its core its a closed-door-kind murder mystery when Henrik Vanger, the aged former CEO of Vanger Corporation invites Mikael Bolmkvist, the recently disgraced libel-losing investigative journalist and publisher of Millennium magazine, to re-investigate the sudden disappearance of his great-niece Harriet Vanger some 40 years earlier when she was 16 from the island where he lives. The only bridge connecting the island to the mainland was closed that day due to an accident. Henrik has been tormented by the fact that he does not know what happened to his favorite niece while at the same time suspecting that one of his family member committed the murder of Harriet. The police investigations have been closed and there is nothing that can be done.

In the first half, parallel to this story runs the story of socially outcast, psychotic but extremely intelligent hacker with a photographic memory - Lisbeth Salander. Lisbeth is legally incompetent and is under the care of guardians instituted by the government. Lisbeth's character is the most exciting character in this book mainly because it is so flawed that you immediately want to protect her while at the same time are extremely scared of her. One episode where she deals with her sexually abusive legal guardian makes your hair stand while you root for her and for the treatment she metes out to him.

The book is slow to pick up as you read the first part of it. Larsson takes his own sweet time to explain all the myriad characters that constitute the Vanger family and there are too many of them. Of course Henrik Vanger does not like any of them and compares them to thieves, robbers and incompetent idiots. The investigation proceeds at a leisurely pace till Lisbeth and Mikael start collaborating. The story explodes at this point and moves at an exciting pace which makes you turn the pages. When a slaughtered cat is left on the doorstep of Mikael and he is shot at, they realise that they may be on the right track to actually solving the mystery after 40 years.

Rest assured while they manage to solve the mystery, the climax of the book is cliched and expected.It does not live up to the expectation of the pace of the book and strangely like a Hindi movie Larsson extends the book with an un-required investigation into the businessman who brought Mikael down in the first place. I found it unnecessary unless this is linked to the second book.

The disturbing part of the book is that it makes you perceive that Swedish men abuse and hurt the women as if its a natural thing to do. The solving of Harriet's disappearance does not leave a sweet taste in your mouth.

'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' is slow in the start, fast paced and exciting in the middle with an anti-climax at the end. It does keep you engrossed and I am looking forward to reading the second part of the trilogy.

I rate it 4/5.

And Thereby Hangs a Tale

The last line at the back cover of the book says (and I quote) "Some of these stories will make you laugh. Others will bring you to tears. And, once again, every one of them will keep you spellbound". Unfortunately none of that happened during the course of reading this book - neither the tears nor the laughter although some managed to keep me spellbound. You expect a lot more from a Jeffrey Archer book was my immediate feeling as I finished reading this motley collection of short stories from him.

Archer says that he collected these stories from across the world during his travels. Of the 15 stories in the book, 10 are based on true incidents. The stories are good but more inclined towards a story-telling-around-the-fireplace kind of manner. Some of them are cute which Archer desperately tries to garnish with his writing style to make them more presentable and read-worthy. The issue is that in each of the stories Archer tries to build up the story towards one 'Wow' moment at the end of the narration not realising that his readers are intelligent and in some cases will guess the ending. Not every story needs to have a 'twist' at the end. Some of them can just be a good story.

My categorisation of the stories are such:

• Predictable Endings: Blind Date, Members Only, Politically Correct, Caste Off.
• Fairly Interesting: The Queen's Birthday Telegram, Where There's a Will, Double-Cross, I will Survive, The Luck of the Irish.
• Better of the Lot: Stuck on You, High Heels, The Undiplomatic Diplomat, Better the Devil you know.
• Err....What?: A Good Eye, No Room at the Inn.
  

Pick this up if you have a few hours to kill at the airport or on a long flight. I expected better.

I rate this 2/5.

Making Breakthrough Innovations Happen

Let's play a game. I'll say a word and you tell me the name of the first organisation that comes to mind. Innovation, and I'm sure a lot of you out there said 'Apple' or maybe 3M, Google or Sony. How about an Indian organisation? And did you just say 'Tata Nano'? Any more names? Scratching your head?

What if I told you that organisations such as Dainik Bhaskar, Aravind Eye Hospital, Shantha Bio Tech, CavinKare, SuKam, Bosch India, ITC-IBD, Titan, Chola Vehicle Finance, Trichy Police and Surat Municipal Corporation are all perfect examples of Innovation in India? I'm sure you are rolling your eyes and wondering if I've lost my marbles.

When I saw the cover of this book I thought that here is another one of those 'Innovation' books that will talk about global examples. But what caught my eye was the byliner which said - How 11 Indians pulled off the impossible. India has always been known as the country of 'jugaad'. Send us your product and we will reverse engineer it and tell you quick fixes for it. Even if we do have innovations we seem to be shy to tell the world about these. In this scenario it is important that books like these present Innovations that have stemmed from India.

Porus Munshi and his team did extensive research over six years to present these 11 cases to us. Examples of 11 Indian organisations that have led with innovation and brought fantastic results to the country and their industry. Innovation is not just about a great idea but also about effective execution of that idea. This entails Setting a challenge to the team, Enrolling members to that challenge and making sure that the overall challenge and goals don't get diluted in the long run. Porus divides the book into these parts and takes examples of how Indian organisations executed their ideas along these lines.

The writing style is very interesting and is like a biography of the idea. Each story starts with how the idea was born, how it was cultivated, what challenges did the main players face in the journey, how it finally saw the light of day and what were the results. This ensures that you are hooked to the story and want to know what happens next. Porus also intersperses the story with questions that you should be asking yourself and your organisation. This makes you think about the idea in discussion and if you can apply this to your organisation or your team. What is also interesting is that the book takes examples from across industries - manufacturing, publishing, social, healthcare and government. As you read these stories it is difficult to compartmentalise them into an industry and say that this cannot work in mine. Each innovation and Porus' writing style makes you think about your processes and organisation.

Porus introduces a concept of an 'orbit-shifting challenge or idea'. This is not shifting status quo by a marginal delta but setting a challenge at first your scoff at and then get intrigued by and finally commit yourself to doing because it will enrich your life.

Can you enter a market or geography as No 1 each time you launch? Dainik Bhaskar did it and still does.
Can you marry processes in fast food joints like McDonalds to intricate healthcare and surgery? Aravind Eye hospital did that and fundamentally changed the way eye surgeries are done in the world.
Can you launch into a category owned by big brands and give them a run for their money with your limited budgets and reach? CavinKare did that and still does.
Can you fundamentally blow up a business model and turn your division from a small nondescript division to one of the primary revenue earners? ITC's IBD (International Business Division) did that and gave established organisations such as Cargill and ConAgra a run for their money.
Can your division make a product innovation that your parent company adopts and changes the way the industry operates? Bosch India did it and changed the costing of the Diesel engine for automobiles.
Can your company take on a challenge for your industry that the best haven't been able to do and deliver? Titan did with its slimmest water resistent watch in the world. Something that the Swiss said cannot be done. This execution probably got Ratan Tata to think about the 1 Lac car.

The book also introduces you to people like J.K.Tripathy who took over as Commissioner of Police of Trichy and single handedly dropped the crime rate reporting from 11,000+ in 1999 to just 7,000 in 2004 and increased the proactive reporting of crime by public from 78% to 98%. And S.R.Rao who took over as Municipal Commissioner of Surat when it was known as the dirtiest city in the country to one of the cleanest. During his tenure Surat's malaria cases dropped from 22,000 in 1994 to 496 in 1997 - just three years. How did these two people in the most bureaucratic of organisations effect a change that was so dramatic?

This book is a MUST READ for all professionals in India. I promise you that reading this book will not only give you immense knowledge and ideas on how you can effect change in your organisation or team but also instill great pride in the country.

I rate this book a 5/5 and a MUST READ!

The Immortals of Meluha

The three pillars of Hindu religion are Brahma (giver of life); Vishnu (creator) & Mahesh (destroyer of evil). There are multiple stories of these three Gods with Vishnu being the center of most of them in terms of his avatars balanced by Brahma and Mahesh. As Indians we have lived on these stories and revel in the knowledge that they impart. We pray to them and seek their blessings at all times. We revere Brahma, we learn from Vishnu and we fear the wrath of Mahesh or Lord Shiva.

But what if they were not Gods but men like us who on account of their deeds and qualities became legends and as the stories passed from generation to generation they acquired the status of Gods.

Among all three Gods the most closest to human flaws has to be Lord Shiva. He dances, he smokes pot, he sings, his temper is well known and he strikes the right balance between being a God and being human.

Amish Tripathi takes that as a concept - what if Lord Shiva was not a God but a man like us who became a God - and develops it into one of the best Indian books to come out in a long time. This is the story of how a Tibetan tribal leader became the most revered, respected, feared, loved and admired legend and who became Lord Shiva - Mahadev and destroyer of evil. It deals beautifully with the myths surrounding the legend and gives it credibility in the story.

An advice as you start reading this book. Keep and open mind and absorb the play that Amish has written. Don't get bogged down by trying to explain the myth and linking it to the story. At the same time remember the myth so that you are astounded by the simple explanations that Amish provides for it and weaves it fantastically into the fabric of the story.

By using everyday English that we speak Amish manages to bring the larger-than-life figure of Lord Shiva into the human realm and you start associating with this man called Shiva. The story is fast paced with interesting nuggets in intervals that keep you turning the pages wanting more. It has all the ingredients of a love story, accepting destiny, earning respect, making friends and asking questions. Amish manages to bring in interesting characters in the book and moving these along at just the right pace. The book hardly slacks and keeps you engrossed. The best part of the book is that it makes almost all the God legends into possible human beings who achieved greatness and contributed so much to society and its upbringing that story tellers made them Gods.

Who is Brahma? What did Lord Ram establish as governance? How did Lord Shiva become a Neelkanth? Did he invent the Trishul and how? How did Lord Shiva also become the dancing God Narataja? Where did the cry of 'Har Har Mahadev' when referring to Lord Shiva come from? Who is Nandi, the bull?

Close your eyes and think of Lord Shiva! 'The Immortals of Meluha' explains how Lord Shiva got Nandi, a blue throat and the Trishul. I am eagerly waiting for Amish's next two books and his view of how Lord Shiva got Ganga tied up in his hair, the cobra around his neck, the fearsome third eye and birth of God Ganesha. Come to think of it the fact that God Ganesha wrote The Ramayana as dictated by Ved Vyas is possible!

The only fallacy of the book is that you might start believing that this is possible and start looking at all our myths through the eyes of a human being rather than a devout!

I rate it 5/5 and encourage everyone to please read this book!

2 States - The story of my marriage.

In the recent past I have rarely read a book cover-to-cover at two or three sittings probably because of the size of the book or the nature of the read. This one I did. I started reading it yesterday afternoon and have just completed the book.

To start with '2 states - The story of my marriage' is a breezy read. The language is simple, the context clear and the situations understandable. The book appeals to you from the first page as Chetan Bhagat gives you a teaser and you wonder if the story will end on a happy or a sad note? If you skip to the last page you know that it will end on a happy note but then you want to know how. So it grabs your attention. At its core the story is about the love between a Punjabi North Indian boy and a Tamilian South Indian girl. But set it in the Indian context and you understand the complexities of that relationship. Marriage (at least in India) is not about the boy marrying the girl but more about the two families liking each other and accepting each other. The book is a journey of how the two counterparts convince their and the other family to accept them.

The book will appeal to you more if you fit into any one of the intended categories: (1) if you've had a cross culture, cross caste love - marraige or not (2) if you are a Tamilian or Madrasi / South Indian (3) if you are a Punjabi or North Indian and (4) if you've experienced any of them / lived in Delhi or Chennai. And I think therein lies the issue with the book. The segment of people that it will appeal to or the segment of people who will understand and identify with the book is relatively small.

The book panders to the agreed perceptions of the two classes - Madrasis are dark skinned, boring (read non-drinking, veg, intellectual focused) people while Punjabis are crass, loud mouthed, money focused people. And therein lies the second issue of the book. For a general reader this book might send wrong knowledge about the people and colour them with these characteristics. The book, of course, is superficial in its attempt at dealing with the North-South divide and does not go beyond dealing with certain set characteristics. It does not deal with why South Indians value education over money or why North Indians think the other way around. It attempts at doing this in a half-hearted way at some points of the book but you know that Bhagat does not want to write that kind of a book. He set out to write a cute, breezy love story and he accomplishes it.

The biggest problem with this book is that you can feel and see that Bhagat has written the book clearly with a Bollywood movie deal in mind. I think post his two books getting picked up by the Hindi movie making industry, his writing has changed. '2 States' is clearly written with a movie in mind. He peppers the book with the requisite Hindi movie characters and scenes - the breezy first half love story with no worries in the world, the cheesy proposal scene, the domestic abuse and a heartless father, the comedy of the North Indian landing in Chennai, the overbearing boss and his turnaround, DDLJ type boy endearing himself to various members of the girl's family, the presence of a guru to show the path, the depression for a sad song, a Punjabi wedding for the dance sequence, the sudden turn of heart of the father for the required lump-in-the-throat scenes and some comedy for the last bit.

Its all there and Bhagat will be seriously disappointed if this does not become a movie! The intent is there but the writing is for a Hindi Movie!

And for that I give it a 2.5/5. Read it if you have time and don't want too serious reading material!

Kafka On the Shore

When you pick a book you look forward to a genre and get ready to read the story pertaining to that genre - thriller, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy and so on. Pick up an Asimov and you know the story will pan across the galaxy. Pick up a John Grisham and you know the story, most probably, be about lawyers. Pick up a Murakami and you should expect a story that easily crosses between the real world and the metaphysical one.

Given that, Kafka On the Shore is probably Murakami's most extreme take on bridging that divide. The story deals with complex emotions as Oedipus Complex, labyrinths inside and outside oneself, androgynous characters, ghosts and being at two places at the same time. The story is also peppered with the usual Murakami foundation of music, sexuality and dark humor.

Kafka On the Shore deals with two parallel stories which are destined to cross paths. While at one end is the story of Kafka Tamura, a 15 year old boy who runs away from home to escape his father's prophecy; it is also the story of Satoru Nakata, a 50 year old who has lost all memory, is a bit slow-witted and who can talk to cats. As you read the story you realise that their lives are interlinked and they will cross paths at a later part in the novel. Across the story they come across various other people who add to their journey and keep you engrossed.

Kafka is a 15 year old boy who wants to become tough and has left his house to find his mother and sister. On the run he lands up a a library where he meets with Oshima, a 21 year old female who knows that she is a he, lives her life as a he and becomes Kafka's closest friend. Throughout the novel Oshima is always referred to as a he and infact you think otherwise till she herself explains her status to some arbid random visitors to the library. Oshima also lets Kafka stay in his jungle log cabin as a refuge. Kafka also meets with Miss Saeki who he thinks is his mother but who seems to visit him as a 15 year old girl/ghost in his room at night. And his runaway travels also bring him across Sakura, a young woman who he thinks might be his sister.

Nakata, on the other hand, is a 50 year old man who - after a childhood accident - lost his memory, his ability to read or write and a bit slow on the uptake. He gets a subsidy from the Governor and think that the governor controls everything. However, he can talk to cats and becomes a cat-finder on the side. One of his finding missions bring him across a person who kills cats to capture their souls. Nakata kills him in cold blood and then his life takes a different turn as he now realises that he has to close an entrance stone and he takes off on a mission. Nakata meets Hoshima, a truck driver who helps him in his mission.

But did Nakata kill Johny Walker (a take on the whiskey icon) or did he kill Kafka's father? Did Nakata kill him or did Kafka take over his body and make Nakata kill him? Is Kafka's landing up at the library where Miss Saeki works pre-determined or co-incidence? Is Miss Saeki really his mother? How are Nakata and Kafka connected and what has the entrance stone got to do with all this? Just some of the interesting questions that come up across the story.

Without revealing too much, Kafka On the Shore is also a story of metaphors as each flawed character represents some aspect of human nature. Kafka is the quintessential teenage boy who needs to discover himself and has too many angst and is struggling with questions. Oshima is the perfect voice of subconscious - non sexual, knowledgeable, with all the answers and some deep questions.Miss Saeki is the one lives in her memories and cannot live in the real world. Nakata is the perfect example of simplicity and focus - one who takes on a task and single mindedly pursues it to its closure. Hoshima is a story of coming-of-age, someone who has no cares in the world who comes in contact with Nakata and whose life changes for the better, who gets a purpose in life. Johny Walker and Colonel Sanders represent the temptations that come our way and what actions we do to overcome them or fall prey.

Murakami is not an easy read for everyone. I believe that there is a right time in your life when you will enjoy reading Murakami. If you start reading him too early you find his novels idiotic and without purpose and too esoteric. But if you read him at a proper time in your life, the novels get you thinking about yourself and your beliefs and flaws.They stay with you. If you've read a Murakami and found his novel too obtuse for your thinking, I suggest you give it a rest and pick them up after a few years again. I'm sure you'll discover something new.

Kafka On The Shore is best summed up by Murakami himself when he said - The secret to understanding the novel lies in reading it multiple times. Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write.

I rate it 4/5 at this time of my life. I'm sure I'll pick it up again in about 5 years.

Have a little Faith

I picked up the first Mitch Albom a few years back when I saw it on Oprah. I loved 'Tuesdays with Morrie' for its simplicity and its core message. The book opened up a few windows for me and got me thinking that its sometimes worthwhile to slow down.

I then read his 'Five people you meet in heaven' which I didn't quite enjoy and so I stopped reading his books. But when I saw that his latest book 'Have a Little Faith' is a return to non-fiction I had to pick it up.

This book reminds me very much of his 'Tuesdays with Morrie' and he regularly references his meeting with Morrie in this book as well. 'Have a little faith' will take you on a journey that you may not want to go on. It raises some pertinent questions on your faith and also tries to answer them through the perspective of two believers of completely different faiths.

The book starts with Mitch's rabbi requesting him to write his eulogy. This gets Mitch intrigued since he has hidden his faith and run away from it. Mitch approaches the 'problem' in the same manner as he would write a book - he starts to research the subject through regular meetings. In his own words Mitch says that he wants to know the person rather than the rabbi that everyone knows. It is these conversations that slowly get Mitch to understand his own faith and start believing again. At the other end, as part of his charity that helps the homeless camps, he comes across a pastor of a crumbling derelict church in the poorest center of the city who still sticks to his faith and believes that the Lord does everything for a reason. And therein lies the crux of this book.

Through the eyes of a successful community building Jewish rabbi and a Christian pastor of a derelict church with a past so dark that you wonder how he became a man-of-God, Mitch Albom brings to fore some of the underlying question on faith and belief in God. How do you cope with the loss of a child? What do you do in tough times?Is it OK to blame God? If there is a God why is there so much sadness and violence? If none of the religions preach violence then why are most wars fought on religion? Suffice to say some of the conversations will open your mind as well.

Mitch Albom's writing also keeps you engaged. As he begins the story of his meetings with Rabbi Albert Lewis to understand him as a man, he peppers it with nuggets on the past life of Henry Covington (a criminal, a drug dealer, a jailbird) and his journey to becoming a pastor. While the first half is more about The Reb, the second half dwells more on Pastor Henry and his struggle to keep his church operational. The faith of people shines through in instances where Henry's church has no electricity in the middle of a harsh winter.

As you read this book you realise that faith is not something connected to your God. Faith is universal and stems from your belief.

Read it and it might open some windows for you.

I rate it 3.5/5.

Ford County Stories

Mississippi - the US state made famous by movies like 'Mississippi Burning' and 'A Time to Kill' - is the location for John Grisham's collection of short stories. 'A Time to Kill' is of course his own novel and a brilliant treatise on segregation and racism rampant in that area. For us non-Americans the horrors of racism against blacks, the philosophy of the KKK and the terrors that the blacks had to endure during those years is gleaned from novels and movies like these. John Grisham himself accepts that he wanted to return to the places and people from 'A Time to Kill' and talk about them.

So as I pick up the book at the store I half expect to read stories again on racism, on segregation and atrocities on blacks at the hands of the whites. The book pleasantly surprises you by the absolute lack of that. 'Ford County Stories' is not about rehashing what happened in 'A Time to Kill' but about the people who stay there and their daily lives. From your past 'experience' of the area you do expect the people to be boorish, crass, temperamental, angry and gun toting extremists. Some stories validate these characteristics while some very beautifully bring out the basic human nature that you would find anywhere in the world.

A group of youngsters decide to go on a journey to donate blood to one of their town guys and get sidetracked by gang fights, sleaze and sex and land up in jail - a poignant story on how one can loose track of the aim and objectives.
story about hope that a convicted death row prisoner keeps giving his family till the last moment and how his family seems to be relieved when the inevitable finally happens.
A vendetta by a low key guy who discovers that he can manipulate casinos and how he destroys a casino to get his wife back. A wonderful story on skills used well.
A dead beat lawyer hits jackpot with an old litigation and how he manipulates things to start a new life. A story on how some things help to start a new life.
A lawyer comes face to face with an old case where he was responsible for wrong justice and gets a time bound life sentence. Things will always come back to haunt you.
But my best story is really of a white boy coming back home with AIDS, how he is sent to stay in the blacks portion of the town where he finds more love and acceptance by the lady of the house than he found even in his own family. The short story selection end on this beautiful note about human relations.

Its not vintage Grisham. Its not all about lawyers and cases. Its not about blacks and whites. But its a good read on a short flight or when you have nothing to read.

I would rate it 3/5.

Norwegian Wood

Another Murakami and another beautiful piece of work. If you've read a number of Murakamis - like I have - you realise that this one is a bit different but still retains the essence of his writing. The poetry in prose is intact. As you read this book the metaphors come alive and you can almost visualise the scene and the people in them.

'Norwegian Wood' is at its root the love stories of the central character Toru Watanabe. Its a story of lost friendships and the pain felt by Toru as he tries to find and keep love. Death is a underlying theme in the story and Toru learns something new with each death. The engrossing thing of Murakami's writing is that each character is human surrounded by flaws and you feel the pain of each character. As you read the book you tend to relate the flaws with some of the people you know and wonder if this is how they feel.

The entire story spans just 4 years but is packed with so many events in Toru's life that you feel he has lived a lifetime. The huge emotional gap in Toru's life starts at 17 when his best friend - Kizuki - commits suicide. He discovers love for Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, but she is so flawed and emotionally imbalanced by Kizuki's death that she focussed on healing herself first while asking Toru to wait. But Toru finds friendship in Midori who, incidentally, is just as emotionally unstable as Naoko but accepts those faults and lives with them rather than fighting them.

The book presents us with two completely different ways of dealing with the pain of losing a loved one. While Naoko is unable to deal with the pain and is trapped in her own fragile world; Midori accepts her instabilities and fights them in the real world. Her bravado hides the emotional instability but she is at least alive. At the same time one sympathizes with Naoko and wishes desperately, for Toru's sake, that she get better.

In all these are two fantastic characters - Reiko Ishida - Naoko's room mate in the sanitorium but really a midway character between Naoko and Midori. Reiko understands her instabilities, has not bravado and quietly fights them to emerge triumphant. And then there is Nagasawa, Toru's friend who presents the emotionally detached character for whom women and lust are a ways to and end; who clearly knows where he wants to go and is bored by the journey.

The best character in the book is of course Toru and you feel for him as you travel the journey with him. You wish he gets Naoko, you wish he outgrows her and understands his feelings for Midori, you wish he listens to Reiko and you wish that he does not become like Nagasawa. You smile as he tells Naoko that he will forever remember the time she gave him a handjob and that he would never have sex with another woman and would wait for her. You feel his pain when he roams Japan to get over the death of the one he loves the most.

For me the book has a special meaning for its explanation of love that resonates with how I understand love. Read the book - you might discover something about yourself.

I rate it 4.5/5