Samantha Harvey - The Wilderness

I almost bought this book two months back, but, for some unexplainable reason, I didn't. About a week back, I found the first edition signed hardback in a second-hand bookstore, and literally jumped with glee. Saying buying this for £2.50 is a bargain is an understatement of sorts. The Wilderness follows the story of Jake, as he slowly loses his mind to Alzheimer's - slowly, or fast, depending on your definition of 'time', something Jake has no concept of. The book starts with him taking a plane ride, a present, which he clearly doesn't want. However, at the very outset, this plane ride allows the reader to glimpse into Jake's world: the prison he built (in his architect days), which he admires but the pilot considers to be a travesty, and, Quail Woods where Jake has spent his childhood, but the woods has slowly been ruined by people.

The book follows various 'stories' of Jake's life: his Jewish mother, and her relationship with his anti-Semite father, his opinions on the Six Day War, his relationship with his wife, and his extramarital affair which he felt no guilt over, immediately becoming one of the men he hated. However, due to the evident disorientation, the stories may or may not be true, and one doesn't quite know what's a figment of Jake's imagination, or what actually happened. It also leaves a lot of questions unanswered: What happened to Alice? What happened to the money? What's the skin-covered Bible got to do with anything? What happened to Rook? Sara? Joy?

While this is a story about a man suffering from Alzheimer's, it's also a story about symbology ('yellow dress', 'the glass aviary', 'the cherry tree', 'the woman clothed with the sun', 'the wilderness' itself, etc), and the transience of everything.

What is better? To give up what you are and be alive, or keep what you are and end up dead? What you are is mere circumstance anyway. It isn't that important. [...] It isn't more important than being alive. [...] I am telling you an you must listen: where you are from, what is yours, what is home - sometimes these are not the point. The truth is not everything. You have to know when it is time to walk away.

Harvey's done an amazing job in creating a fairly realistic novel about Jake, and his disease. I found myself getting fast despondent over Jake's condition, and had to close the book a couple of times, because I just couldn't bear to read about how Alzheimer's makes your life near impossible.

He breaks eggs into the pan and throws the shells away. He then takes the shells away from the bin again and stands with them in his hand with the idea that he needs them for the omelette - he can't remember if the shells are like packets that you throw away or apple skins that you eat.

However, the part of the book that literally broke my heart, was when he told Alice that he had Alzheimer's, and he'd known for two years (which was the 'truth' as he remembered it, even if it wasn't the 'real' truth), and how she said she'd come and help. Nothing compares to the relationship a father and daughter share, and my dad's been ill for the last two years, and I've had to battle some difficult choices, and it just hit home.

So, we've established it's a beautifully written, thought-provoking book, that just makes us realize that no matter what we do today, or who we are, in the end, we'll just fade away. Nothing is perpetual, not even in our own lifetimes, and sometimes, we just loop 'round and 'round in our own thoughts, convinced by the reality we make up for ourselves, and there's no good reason why.

The one thing that did get to me, though, was the fact that the book was written in third person, despite it being about Jake, and the other peripherals (if I may call them that) in his life. In a manner of speaking, Jake is the narrator, but then again, the whole book focuses on the 'he' instead of the 'me'.

Rating: 4

Chris Cleave - The Other Hand

As far as I'm concerned, this book represents everything that is wrong with the publishing industry at the moment. I've read some fantastic reviews about this book, and was really looking forward to it, despite being quite unimpressed with the two marketing stunts the book (I don't know whether this should be attributed to the author or the publishing company) tried to pull: One was the blurb at the back cover, which reads:

We don't want to tell you what happens in this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you need to know enough to buy it, so we just say this:

This is the story of two women.

Their lives collide one fateful day. and one of them has to make a terrible choice.

Two years later, they meet again - the story starts there...

Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

Seemingly inspired by the fantastic Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, which also has a blurb refraining from giving an accurate gist of the story, I wasn't too put off by the above, on its own. However, the opening page of the book has an "editor's note" that starts:

Dear Reader,

You don't know me. I'm Chris Cleave's editor, and I'm writing to tell you how extraordinary The Other Hand is.

She goes on to categorize the book with the likes of Schindler's Ark and Cloud Atlas, and makes it sound like the best thing since sliced bread.

Now, I know the book requests me not to disclose any more facts, so I'll just state three points that aggravated me most about it (and I think there were far more than three):

1. One of the protagonists talks of her country, where people don't understand what 'wood floors' and 'coffee tables' mean. Yet, they're massive U2 fans. That's the one thing that unites people world-wide: Everyone loves U2.
2. The book is repetitive - repetitive to the point where it feels patronizing, and you get a jolt of deja vu: Hang on, I've read this before. You flip back a couple of pages, and sure enough - you have.
3. The other protagonist has an insipid lackluster personality, but, she's still capable of making a 'terrible choice' (note: the 'terrible choice' is more of an 'incredible sacrifice', but, I don't think that would sell as well).

I also thought that the book went in for the 'shock' factor, without dealing with the sensitive and controversial topics that it addresses. Characters lacked depth, the two narrators weren't realistic, and a lot of the story was unbelievable. There was, I thought, one saving grace to the book: the child you see on the front cover, but the author managed to ruin that as well, by overusing his single nuance.

Sorry publishers, but I didn't really feel like telling my friends about this book after I read it.

Rating : 1

Angela Carter - The Magic Toyshop

I'll say it, right at the very outset. Straight. This is one of the best books I've ever read, and, believe it or not, the cover is equally fantastic. I did judge the book by its cover, and I am still astounded by how incredible this book is, and I can continue staring at its cover for hours unending. The plot, in a nutshell, revolves around Melanie, a fifteen year old who plays grown-up one evening, by wearing her mother's wedding dress. The next morning, a telegram arrives informing her, her two siblings and their housekeeper of the children's parents' demise. The children are forced to pack up and leave their life of luxury, and move in with their Uncle Philip, who they've never really known.

Life at Uncle Philip is diametrically different from 'home' - there is no toilet paper, no hot water, there's community shampoo, and there are the "red" people - Uncle Philip's mute wife, and her two brothers: Francis and Finn. Her Uncle, who owns a puppet and toy shop, seems to spend most of his energy on his 'art' and less on his family, but nonetheless being an oppressive tyrant, who everyone in the house fears. He comes across as this abominable puppet master, a sadist, a jealous mean miser, who hates Christmas, and resents people who aren't puppets.

The story focuses on the horrible Uncle, but it's also about how Melanie comes of age, settles into the family, and finds love and affection for her Aunt, and her Aunt's brothers - brothers who her Uncle despises, and never fails to remind that they need to earn their keep. It's Melanie's story, out and out, from the moment the book starts, with her discovering her own sexuality, and fearing dying a virgin, to, her almost bursting into tears looking at the bathroom at her Uncle's place (and comparing it to her old one), to, falling in love, and finally, growing up at the tender age of fifteen going on sixteen. It's a story that starts off at the brink of losing innocence, and progresses with the protagonist falling into a whirlwind of darkness, knowing that life as she knows it is over - and it's never coming back.

This is a beautifully written, heartbreaking tragedy. It's descriptive, magical (pun unintended), and almost scary. Life changes in the blink of an eye, and three children are forced to suffer the consequences, and subjugate themselves to a life they have no control over.

They stood on the step and waited for the taxi with black bands on their arms and suitcases in their hands, forlorn passengers from a wrecked ship, clutching a few haphazardly salvaged possessions, and staring in dismay at the choppy sea to which they must commit themselves.

The metaphors, dark imagery, graphic descriptions and quasi-hallucinatory story makes this gothic fairy tale superb. The vivid scenes, be it Leda-Zeus (Melanie and the Swan puppet), or the jubilation of the entire family when Uncle Philip is away, blows the reader's mind away, and at the end of the book, I was just craving for more.

...And, I don't think my review has done this phenomenal piece of work any justice whatsoever.

Rating: 5+ {If you stumble upon this book, grab it and hug it tight, and never let it go}

PS: I've half thought that Claire @ PaperbackReader can have a blog dedicated to Angela Carter and The Magic Toyshop, and some of its stunning covers. If she ever goes down that road, I'll be happy to join her / follow each and every post! :)

Linda Grant - When I Lived In Modern Times

The year is 1946, Israel doesn't exist yet, and Tel Aviv is part of Palestine. World War II has just ended, but, its aftermath continues, as the global map is changing. and colonialism is coming to an end. Evelyn Sert, a twenty year old hairdresser from Soho (London), sails to Palestine to be part of the Zionist movement, as Israel is born. Her mother has just died after a series of strokes, and her mother's lover, Uncle Joe, arranges for her to leave London, with ample money, and the dream of being part of a historical movement for all Jews.

Thus, starts the story:

This is my story. Scratch a Jew and you've got a story. If you don't like elaborate pictursques full of unlikely events and torturous explanations, steer clear of the Jews. If you want things to be straightforward, find someone else to listen to. You might even get to say something yourself. How do we begin a sentence?

Listen...

After spending twenty years bounded by Soho in the east, and Hyde Park in the west, Evelyn was a self-proclaimed 'west-end girl', and her initial reaction to Palestine is that of excitement, and alarm. Unaccustomed to the heat, defecating while squatting, and telling Jews from Arabs, who looked strangely identical in their summer outfits, one can hardly blame her. However, when she moves into the kibbutz, she is swayed by their ideals and the road the diaspora is taking. However, she is incapable of carrying out the hard menial tasks, in the heat, and decides to  make her way to Tel Aviv.

At a cafe, en route to Tel Aviv, she meets Johnny, who tells her to "hop on" to his motor bicycle, and he'll ensure she gets there in a flash. And so she does. She moves into an apartment, and finds a job as a hairdresser - the first thing she does is dye her hair a platinum blonde. This is beautiful symbology, for the rebirth of Evelyn as Priscilla goes hand-in-hand with the birth of Israel as a Zionist nation, as she spies on the British who come to the salon.

As things go, she gets romantically involved with Johnny, and while he tries to keep her at arm's length from some of his activities, insisting she doesn't want to know about them, she does get sucked into them, and thus we see another flash of history - of how things worked in a country on the verge of being born, but still being a British colony.

This is a fascinating book, full of metaphors and symbols from probably one of the most compelling times in our history. Be it the hairdresser reference mentioned above, or the stark white building complexes where Evelyn lived, which seem to signify purity and idealism, as the birth of a dream is realized.

The 1940s will always be remembered for World War II, Nazism, and the bombings at Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As Linda Grant herself says:

We usually think of the 1940s as the war years but that was only 50 per cent of it. From 1945, the whole political map was changing, colonialism was coming to an end, people - either refugees or demobbed soldiers - were trying to go home or find homes to go to. It was an extraordinary period both of flux but also a time when people were more interested in the future than the past (how different from now) and none more so than the Jews, for whom the past was a very bad memory indeed.

I've read a lot about that era, but this is the first book I've read about the birth of a country, which continues to play an important role in the political map today, and I found myself wondering: why haven't I read more about this movement?

Evelyn's character itself is a contradiction of sorts, as she struggles to find an identity: be it conforming to the Jews who she wants to be like, or hang out with the British, who she finds it easier to associate with, due to her upbringing in London. It's a coming-of-age novel, as for the first time, she has to make decisions for herself, and is oft' confused and sometimes decides to do things against her better judgement.

However, her relationship with Johnny seems far-fetched, and one has to wonder if Evelyn is actually as naive as some of the events in the book make her out to be. Does she honestly not contemplate the consequences of her actions, or does she not realize the gravity of them?

Rating: 3.5

Have you read this book? Or, have you read any other books on Israel and Palestine? Do you recommend any of them?

Catherine O'Flynn - What Was Lost

Catherine O' Flynn's much acclaimed debut novel probably has one of the most fascinating opening chapters I've ever read, which revolves around Kate Meaney, a ten year old aspiring detective. Following Kate, and her 'partner' Mickey (a soft toy),  through her 'stakeouts' as she looks for 'suspicious' people, simultaneously trying to determine their possible motives, her friendship with Adrian, the neighbor's twenty-two year old son, her friends at school, and her life with her dad, the book comes across as an innocent feel-good book.

Anyone who asked for a chocolate lime was a killer, according to Adrian, due to his abhorrence of the sweet and his belief that no law-abiding person could like such an unnatural combination.

Things have a habit of going disarray, though, and when Kate's father dies in suspicious circumstances, her maternal grandmother becomes Kate's official guardian. She thinks it would do Kate a world of good to go to boarding school and be around kids her own age. Kate has other ideas, although she does promise her grandmother that she'll do the entrance exam, and give it her best shot. Adrian drops her off to the school for the exam, and Kate's never seen after that. When they look through the entrance exam papers, they can't find Kate's.

Cut twenty years later to Green Oaks mall, a popular stakeout location for Kate, and the reader is introduced to the two 'actual' protagonists of the book: Lisa, a duty manager at 'Your Music', and Kurt, a security guard, who spends most of his time observing the CCTV videos. One night, a long time ago, he had seen a young girl with a monkey on the screen, but when he attempted to find her, he failed. When he meets Lisa, and sees that she's holding the same monkey, the two somehow find themselves developing a kind-of relationship, and together try to find the 'lost girl' - a girl who has affected both their lives, although they don't know it yet!

There seems to be a fair bit of indirect social commentary, with the author taking pains to explain how things work in a big mall, where the employees are always under great stress and pressure due to unreasonable customers, who insist it's illegal to charge non-Sale prices once the sale is over. There's also added stress when they keep expecting an inspection that keeps everyone on their toes - more often than not, these inspection-alerts turn out to be false alarms. It also gives the reader a quick peek into how "new developments" like the mall ends up influencing the lives of so many people, leaving them jobless, or having to find an alternate career which isn't necessarily what they want to do.

While I loved the opening section of the book, I wasn't quite impressed with the way the book turned out. The narration itself seems to be in a passive voice, which makes the book slightly less exciting, and despite the fact that the characters are echoing their thoughts, it's done in third person, and not in quotes, making it slightly bizarre. Call it a writer's license, if you like.

But every night after another shitty day at work she was filled with an urge that would not be denied to go to the orange back room and get lost in a blur of words and faces and alcohol. The room where everything was so fucking hilarious, and where time whipped by at ten times its normal awful speed.

The switchover from present-day to twenty years later (or twenty years earlier to today, depending on how you look at it) was sudden, and I was left baffled for a couple of minutes trying to figure out where the story had turned a corner, and which direction it was accelerating towards.

The characters aren't really built up and seem fairly two-dimensional. Kate and Adrian, in my opinion, are the only characters that seemed to have another dimension (and their roles lasted only seventy-odd pages!). It might have something to do with the other characters being caught up in the monotony of their daily lives while dealing with the past tragedies in a mechanical manner, which I can relate to - Since I've started working, I feel like my life's fairly robotic, and I just go about doing things without really thinking about them.

The mystery of Kate going missing does get solved (no surprises there), but the ending was unimpressive, and left me feeling like there was much to be desired.

Rating: 3

Lloyd Jones - The Book Of Fame

Have you ever read a book, which fills you with guilt, because you haven't really enjoyed it? For me, this book is Lloyd Jones' The Book of Fame. I almost feel guilty about picking it up, because, when the book was being written, the author didn't have a reader like me in mind. This is the second book I've read this year written in a collective first person (the first being The Virgin Suicides), and this follows the inaugural All Blacks tour in 1905. It's mostly an account of all the rugby games played by the All Blacks during this tour: the points they scored, the points scored against them, the amount of newspaper space devoted to them, and the hospitality of some countries, compared to the disdain of others.

Unfortunately, the problem stems from the fact that I am not a rugby fan, and I found that I cared very little about the scorecard when they played various local and national teams. The fact that this accounted for three-fourths of the book was a bit of a shame. Also, this followed twenty-seven characters, all from different backgrounds. No one character had a role that stood out more than the others, and keeping track of twenty-seven protagonists in a two-hundred odd page book is a bit of a task. Specially as there was nothing distinct that set them apart... eventually, all their characters merged into one - the collective narrator.

However, this is probably one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. The author, with blatant disregard for the rules of grammar, lets his thoughts and emotions flow, and the result is almost poetic. Also, despite the primary focus being on rugby, this book also shows how twenty-seven men, from different walks of life (miners, boot makers, bankers) come together, to show England what they're made of. It shows their solidarity, their unity, and how they approach the game differently to their European counterparts, making it that much tougher for them to get beaten.

The morning after the match saw us clambering down various stairways to get to the newspapers to see what they had to say - we were 'slippery as eels' 'persistent as wasps' 'clever and alert as monkeys' [we] worked together like the parts of a well-constructed watch' ...

Their success and on-field sportsmanship immediately led to them being adulated by the media. They couldn't do anything wrong. Nothing diminished their popularity.

We were the stuff of the shop window What children's birthdays are made of We were Christmas The bubble in the pop The jam on the bread We were the place smiles came from

What Jones cleverly does is, combine the historical events of the time with the rugby games played by the All Blacks. So, when the team is comparing the number of lines The Times devotes to them, it's against the world-events going on at the time: plague in India, Anglo-Japanese treaty, Italian earthquake, Warsaw bombings, bloodshed in Odessa. The ironic thing: more oft' than not, the All Blacks got more coverage than world news! Just to note, while the events and games are all real, the personalities and off-the-field activities are purely fictional.

He also shows the fatigue and homesickness of these players, as the season tumbles on, and they're playing game after game. A chapter of the book is actually called, Fatigue and the Irresistable Attraction of Defeat. Goes to show the frame of mind the Kiwis were in, towards the end of the English leg of their tour.

And then there's the hospitality and charm of the Irish, but the lack of sportsmanship and sheer hostility of the Scottish; the latter didn't even dine with the foreigners post the game! The excitement of being in Paris, or Paree, for it was not Wales or England, and the final leg at New York! It shows the injuries and illnesses of these players who dominated the fields like gods, and their hero's welcome home, as they lost only the one game through the tour.

I cannot bring myself to rate this book, for, although the subject matter didn't interest me at all, it really is a fantastically written and clever book. If you like rugby, pick it up - you won't be disappointed. If you're an avid sports fan, but not that much into rugby, I'd suggest avoiding it. And if you don't like rugby, you're missing out on some fine poetry, but, there are things targeted more to you than this.

Just to conclude, this is the first time I haven't really enjoyed a book, but can't wait to get cracking on another book by the author (in this case, it's Mister Pip).

Ann Brashares - The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

This book was recommended to me by a younger cousin, and I figured, it'll be a fun young adult book, which would be a pleasant distraction from most of the reading I've done this year. Also, I was planning on reading a young-adult book for the Take A Chance Challenge #9. Figured, by the challenge's name, I should try a book I wouldn't normally pick up. At the outset, I might as well say that I didn't really enjoy this book. The characters were shallow, the plot not that great, and I couldn't really sympathize or relate to any of the characters. Considering there are four characters, this is slightly depressing.

Reviewing haiku-style:

Not recommended Shallow characters, dull plot, Summer! Says it all.

Reviewing limerick-style:

Apart during the summer for the first time, Four best friends deal with this so-called crime, A pair of pants they swear to share, Through the summer, post it to one another to wear. And, in the end, it's all sublime.

Reviewing free verse-style:

'Tis the story of four friends, who spend a summer apart,

In Greece, at camp, at home, and at dad's.

They learn, they grow, they mature, make choices,

Write letters to each other, echoing their head's voices.

Lena at Greece, with her grandparents who she's never met,

They trying fixing her up with a boy - she starts to fret.

Things blow out of proportion on a misunderstanding -

Lena, filled with guilt, spends her summer repenting.

Then there's Carmen, excited to spend the summer with her father,

Unknown to her, she's about to meet her step-mother,

Anger and fury at her dad, leads her to break a window pane,

She runs away back home, on the first plane.

Bridget is away at a sports camp, where she makes new friends,

Meets an older boy, an instructor, who she wants as a boyfriend.

They're attracted to each other, but can't really date,

But an impulsive decision leads them to await their fate.

Finally, there's Tibby, who's at home, working at a store,

The manager's mean, the job a chore!

She befriends young Bailey, dying of cancer, full of life,

Turns out the relationship they form leads to strife.

As each of their summer takes a turn for the worse,

Almost as though things were cursed,

The pants are in the hands of one of the friends,

Gives them courage to make amends.

And when the friends meet each other at the end,

They remind each other of how the pants were a godsend!

Rating: 1

J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Background: I saw the penultimate Harry Potter movie on Wednesday, and was quite astounded that I did not recall most of the book, which I had read in summer 2005. It slowly came back to me, as the movie progressed, but I couldn't help feeling I was missing a fair bit. So, I dug out the book from the back of my bookshelf, to re-read it, and much to my surprise, I really enjoyed it, this time 'round (I had been fairly disappointed with my first read). This post is not going to be a book review, but, more of a book vs. movie post, as there were a fair few interesting discrepancies, which I'd like to explore.

Review: There is always a lot of excitement, when the movie adaptation of a popular book is released, specially when the movie in question is Harry Potter, which has had a cult-following world-wide. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is no different. Packed with adventure, romance, and suspense, this adaptation follows Harry Potter and his friends (and enemies) into their sixth year at Hogwarts, where academics are tougher, quidditch more important, and the quest to find out more about The Dark Lord superseding almost everything else.

Death Eaters have become more powerful, and are wreaking havoc in both: the Muggle and wizard world. Harry Potter is still struggling to cope with the death of Sirius Black, his godfather, but avoids talking about it to anyone. Like most other parents, Ron Weasley's mother is paranoid about the safety of the children, and is being more protective than usual. Her 'special' clock, which shows the location of each family member, as opposed to the time, has all its hands on 'Mortal Peril' (this bit is missed out in the book).

Just before term starts, and Harry and his friends are in Diagon Alley, picking up their books and other materials for school. They see Draco going into Borgin & Burkes, a shop famous for its involvement with Dark Magic, and they try eavesdropping on the conversation going on inside. Based on it, Harry is convinced that Draco has become one of Voldemort's latest recruits, but, Hermione and Ron disregard this theory.

There is a new Potions teacher at school now, Professor Slughorn, and Snape finally gets the role he's been eyeing for a long time: Defense Against The Dark Arts. Dumbledore, the Headmaster, tells Harry he's going to give the teenager private lessons this year, which turns out to be sessions looking into the memories of various people involving Voldemort: from the time Dumbledore went into the orphanage to tell him that he is a wizard, to before his birth.

And of course, the reason why the book is called The Half-Blood Prince: Harry hasn't bought his Potions text book, and ends up picking one out from the cupboard in the classroom. The book he picks out has instructions over and above the texts, which makes him seem like a gifted Potions student, causing Hermione to be envious and Slughorn to think Harry is a natural. The book also has some spells written by its previous owner, and they seem like harmless fun to Harry. Hermione, of course, has another view: the book is dangerous! In the book is scrolled: This book is the property of The Half Blood Prince.

Finally, the  romantic element: first off, there's Hermione and Ron. When Ron has an exceptional quidditch game, and Lavendar kisses him, Hermione walks out, and avoids Ron, making things increasingly uncomfortable for Harry. The whole time, when Ron and Lavendar are going out is dotted with Hermione's blatant envy and she goes as far as going to a Christmas party with a despicable student, just to make Ron jealous. Simultaneously, Harry has feelings for Ginny, but as she's going out with Dean, he cannot do anything about it... specially, as she's his best friend's sister.

So, now, book vx. movie:

Due to the numerous sub-plots in the book, the movie was always going to be a tough one - trading off between time, and story. My main gripe with the movie was that it focused way too much on the teenage romance, as opposed to the plots that made the book gripping, i.e. Volemort's history. The book has about six memories, involving Voldemort. The movie, only two.

The book is also considerably darker than the movie, as various characters are under the Imperius curse, and act on it. They show Dumbledore's arm as burnt, but they never explain why in the movie either, whereas the book does say it was to do with finding and destroying Voldemort's ring. While explaining some of these concepts would make the movie more complicated to a Harry Potter novice, it probably gives a better insight into how things worked in the wizarding world, how bad things had become, and the sacrifices that needed to be made.

The final scenes of the book: the great fight, and the funeral of an important character were completely omitted from the movie, and I struggled to understand why. The final fight is one of the most gripping parts of the book, and the funeral in the book is described so vividly, that I can imagine it being incredible on the screen.

Many of the important characters either have a miniscule role, or aren't existent in the movie, at all, with Tonks and Lupin coming to mind. However, Luna still exists in the movie, which makes the whole thing slightly bizarre.

The movie has an additional scene, where some of the Death Eaters attack the Weasley's home during Christmas, but, I still am unable to determine what this adds to the plot, other than making Mrs. Weasley more paranoid and scared. The graphics though, were amazing.

Actually, the graphics throughout the movie were far superior to some of the other movies (barring the Chamber of Secrets chess game). This might have something to do with not that many magical creatures being displayed on the screen. Even in the opening scene, when the bridge breaks, I was amazed at how well they had directed it. The dialogue was fast, and witty, and while it's always tough to capture the essence of the book, I thought the movie did a reasonably good job. Think the movie was aimed more towards children, whereas the book targeted at young adults.

The language in the book did depress me somewhat, with the characters using words like 'prat', or, 'making rude hand gestures'. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I still think children's books should steer clear of these elements.

Movie rating: 3 Book rating: 4

Jeffrey Eugenides - The Virgin Suicides

Once upon a time (in the 1970s), there were five sisters: Cecilia, Therese, Mary, Lux and Bonnie - the Lisbon girls. But Cecilia, the youngest, killed herself. And then, by the end of that one year, there were none.

The Virgin Suicides, written by a collective 'we' (as opposed to 'I', or in third person), traces the events that occurred from the first attempted suicide, to the last, from the eyes of young boys (school mates and neighbors of the Lisbon girls) who are now middle-aged, and still reflecting on the life and times of the enchanting, mesmerizing teenage girls, short, round-buttocked in denim, with roundish cheeks.

The reader takes a trip with them down memory lane in the 1970s elm-streeted America, as they present various 'exhibits'  (a polaroid of their house, canvas high-tops, a brassiere), interview people who knew the Lisbon girls (including their parents), and remember the only time the girls went to a dance, or, the 'party' in the basement of their house, which was followed by the first successful suicide. There were unsigned notes exchanged, a telephone conversation which had the boys and the Lisbon girls playing music back and forth to one another, and of course, the strong presence of the mother's strong Catholic roots, which prompted her to admonish the girls for make-up, bleaching, wearing halter-tops etc.

While this book touches on a very depressing subject, the casual and conversational nature of the book, coupled with the 'legacy' the Lisbon girls left behind hardly makes the reader reach for a pack of tissues.

They (the Lisbon girls) became too powerful to live among us, to self-concerned, too visionary, too blind. What lingered after them was not life, which always overcomes natural death, but the most trivial list of mundane facts: a clock ticking on a wall, a room dim at noon, and the outrageousness of a human being thinking only of herself. [...] They made us participate in their own madness, because we couldn't help but re-trace their steps, re-think their thoughts, and see that none of them led to us.

There's something creepy, almost stalker-like, about these boys, who used to gaze at the Lisbon house, in search for any indication of the Lisbon sisters, and what they were doing - be it looking through their window panes, or keeping an eye on their father, as he would mirror their well-being (this is after the girls rarely, if ever, left home). An element of unrequited love, the curiosity of adolescence and the enigma that surrounded the five sisters, who most people couldn't differentiate by name - the book in a nutshell!

The one thing that baffles me is, there was never any reason given for the first suicide. While the narrators were contemplating on that as well, no conclusive answer was reached, despite them having perused Cecilia's journal. What prompts a thirteen year old to first slit her wrists, and when that doesn't kill her, jump and impale herself on a fence, while a party is going on in the basement?

This is a fantastic debut novel, but, it also leaves a lot to be desired. For one, suicide can't be trivialized, and specially not the suicide of five teenage sisters, which ends up tearing the family apart - or, what's left of it anyway! I also found the characters intriguing, but I couldn't relate to them in any way, shape or form: be it Cecilia, always wanting to wear a wedding dress, or Lux, who has innumerable sexual encounters on the roof of her own house - her parents wouldn't be able to see her. The rest of the neighborhood would!

However, after reading this, I am looking forward to reading Middlesex, as I really enjoyed the style of writing.

Rating: 3

Gabriel Garcia Marquez - News of a Kidnapping

Background:

This is another one for the Take A Chance Challenge, hosted by Jenners at Find Your Next Book Here: Public Spying. I commute for a couple of hours daily, and loads of people around me are reading something or the other; some books that I'm intrigued by, and some books I see and go: Meh. I saw someone reading this book, and my curiosity piqued. I love Gabriel Garcia Marquez's works, but surprisingly, I hadn't stumbled upon this one before. So, I made a mental note of it. With a book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, one can't go wrong, right?

Review:

This non-fictional book traces the last few months of Pablo Escobar's freedom, as he used every trick in the book to ensure he wasn't extradited to the United States. Kidnapping important socio-political figures, like journalists and family members of politicians in high places, Escobar attempts to leverage his bargaining power with the President/Government of Colombia.

This book follows both, the life in captivity (relationships with each other, the guards, their fears, and hopes) for the ten hostages, as well as the struggle their family went through, trying to get them released - from trying to convince the President, to avoiding an armed raid, lest it led to someone innocent dying. While the President is pressured by the families and the media to take a stand that will ensure the hostages' release sooner, he sticks by what he believes in.

The Constituent Assembly, shrouded in uncertainties, would meet in the next few days, and he could not allow weakness on the part of the government to result in an amnesty for the drug traffickers.

As he says:

"The real threat came at those moments when we faced the temptation or risk, or even the rumor of a possibility of an amnesty" - in short, the unthinkable danger that the conscience of the Constituent Assembly would also be taken hostage.

This book is scary, it reminds us of the devil Escobar was, and how all of Medellin was in his hands; a result of the charitable works in the marginal neighborhoods where the spent their impoverished childhoods.

Luck and a clandestine life had left Escobar in charge of the hen house, and he became a legend who controlled everything. ... At the height of his splendor, people put up altars with his pictures and lit candles to him in the slums of Medellin. It was believed he could perform miracles. No Colombian in history ever possessed or exercised a talent like his for sharing public opinion. And none had a greater power to corrupt. The most unsettling and dangerous aspect of his personality was his total inability to distinguish between good and evil.

The story is gripping, haunting and fantastic. It is an insight into Colombian history, Escobar himself, and the trials and tribulations of the hostages and their families. Despite being a work of non-fiction, not being grossly exaggerated, and despite knowing what happens to Escobar eventually, the book still reads like fiction, with one caveat: by the style of writing, it was easy to tell which hostages had been killed, and which survived, from the very beginning.

What makes this book very 'real' is that Marquez interviewed all the protagonists he could, and then retold their stories. In fact, Maruja (one of the hostages) and Alberto Villamizar (a Colombian politician) approached Marquez to write about her sixteen month captivity. The book itself has minimal exaggeration, as Marquez weaves his magic making all of us hope that something like this never befalls anyone ever again.

If you've ever wondered about the enigma that is Escobar, read this book, for a combination of Marquez's style of writing, and the story itself makes this book simply unputdownable.

Rating: 5

Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale {Weekly Geeks Q&A}

I'm still playing catch-up on 13th June's Weekly Geeks. I know, I know, it's been about a month, and that's ample time to catch up! However, after this, I'll just have two more to do: Disgrace, and His Dark Materials. Am planning to re-read the latter this month, so might end up doing that one after!

Anyway, on with it...

From gautami tripathy:

The Handmaid’s Tale is one of the best books I have read. What did you think of it? Do you think it is possible? Can you see a future like that? Did it scare you?

I thought it was fantastic. It's well-written, a page-turner, and depicts a heavily dystopian futuristic society, which scared the living daylights out of me!

However, when you ask if I find it possible or not, I have to say, I don't. Maybe, it's only me, but I find the dystopias presented in 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451 much more realistic than this. I know people have found this book scarily possible, but, in my opinion, the human race has progressed way too much, to let women be reduced to nothing but maids and handmaids ("Handmaids" are women who have only one purpose: conceive a child for the family that looks after her). With each generation, women are becoming more powerful, and more career-oriented, at the expense of not having families, and settling down. The world is becoming smaller, and the cries of democracy are louder than ever. I just can't see the government of the United States being overthrown, and replaced by this totalitarian nightmare. That said, I can see this happening in some extremist countries, where women are not allowed to drive, vote, or leave their house without a man.

I am not American, but, with today being 4th of July, one has to ask the question: can the 'leaders of the free world' ever be the polar opposite?

The book scares me. I think Offred, the protagonist, said something along the lines of many handmaids tend to commit suicide, instead of living life as they do - under constant pressure and no guarantees. To be honest, if I was ever unlucky to exist in a society like that, I'd probably just kill myself. Luckily, I don't think something this horrible will happen in my lifetime. For that, I'm grateful.

From Maree:

I loved The Handmaid’s Tale – did you find it scarily possible?

I didn't. I just can't see a society like that coming into existence. Maybe I'm in denial. Maybe I'm an optimist. But... I just don't see it!

From Kristen:

I have a slight fear of reading Margaret Atwood again – she’s so revered in Canada that it’s intimidating. Talk me into why I should read the Handmaid’s Tale :o)

Jeez, I'm not very convincing. :( I'll try though...

Atwood is probably revered in Canada for a reason: she's that good! That should be reason enough to read the book. What makes this book really special, is, realizing how lucky we are, as things stand. Feminism is rampant right now, and women are allowed to make their own decisions, with respect to what to wear, and when to settle down and have kids. Their choice isn't restricted to being a 'martha' (a maid), or a handmaid. Can you imagine having to flip a coin between those two options, and nothing else?

It's well-written, it's a page-turner, and Atwood's made the story as real as possible: from Offred being your regular American woman, to feeling semi-conscious seeing Japanese tourists in shorts (revealing their legs). Can people be conditioned that easily? Or, in a society where there are no choices, people just accept things the way they are to make their life that much easier? It raises some provocative questions, which you probably don't want to think about, and which will haunt you for a long long time.

Did I do a good job of talking you into it?

From Rebecca:

The Handmaid’s Tale haunted me for weeks after I read it. I loved it and don’t think I’ll ever forget it, but I know that not everyone feels that way. What was your reaction to it? Did you find it believable and frightening or too futuristic and extreme? How would you describe it in 1 or 2 sentences to someone who’s never heard of it before?

As already mentioned above, it scared me. A lot. More than I want to admit. I can't imagine ever living in a society like that, and frankly speaking, death might be more viable. But... I also thought it was out and out fiction, and too extremist to be 'real'.

Two sentence summary:

The United States has been replaced by the Republic of Gilead, a futuristic society, where women are reduced to being 'reproductive' machines for unknown men, and then give up the child to the wife of these men. Everyone knows what their purpose is... and ironically enough, most other women envy the 'handmaids' for the alternative is being a maid, and not being treated with dignity or respect.

From Jodie:

Why do you think so many dystopian novels set in the future find women subjugated once again? What did you think of the rich women’s complicity in the other women’s fate in The Handmaid’s Tale?

I don't know. Will we do the full 360, and go back to the beginning, where women are subjugated for their role in the 'Original Sin' again? Is there another episode that will replace the 'Original Sin'? Or, will some radical extremist group take over the world, and ensure that some of their customs regarding women will take precedence over what the Western world knows today.

Well, that's a tough one. I think it depends on the rich woman - they are dependent on the handmaid for one thing, and one thing only. While some of the rich women are likely to be grateful to their handmaid for providing them with a child - something they can now 'buy', they are not obliged to be so. Simultaneously, some women will hold the handmaids in contempt, for it cannot be easy for them to see their husband indulging in sexual activities with another woman, out of 'protocol'. Probably this coupled with their own sense of incompletion leads to the untoward fate of handmaids. Of course, if and when the handmaids are having an actual relationship with the husband, without the wife's knowledge, and she finds out, the fate is much worse....

Jodi Picoult - My Sister's Keeper

It's a parent's worst nightmare: their two year old daughter being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and no one in the family being a bone-marrow match. They can go on the 'list', for an unknown donor, but, the odds of finding the perfect match are scarce. So, they have another baby. Nope, not to 'replace' their ill daughter, but to save her. The new baby, a 'designer' baby, has been created to be a perfect match for her sister...

And now, at the age of thirteen, Anna wants out, and she's suing her parents for medical emancipation. Kate, her sister is sixteen, and while she had been in remission, the cancer came back. Her entire life, Anna has been saving Kate's life - blood transfusions, bone marrow transplants, etc. And now, Kate's kidneys are giving up, and Anna is expected to be the donor.

However, Anna has a different idea, and finds a lawyer, and takes her family to court over the rights to her own body. While one can't blame her for this decision - every activity of her life is dependent on her sister; be it camp, or be it a friend's birthday party - one does wonder what finally triggers this decision. Is she ready for a life independent of her sister? Or, has she finally been pushed too far? Is it because she's always been invisible to her parents, but for Kate? Or, is it because she was created for a 'purpose', and never really had the 'childhood' most kids do? Or, is it something completely different?

This unbearably sad, emotional and heart-breaking story follows Anna's battle against her parents, and the family's battle to stick together, while everything seems to be coming apart at the seems. There's Jesse, the brother who is a juvenile delinquent; there's Brian, the father, an amateur astronomer and a full time fireman, and there's Sara, the mother, the ex-lawyer, the obsessive protector of Kate.

The book explores the points of view of every member of the family, with each chapter being narrated by one member. Campbell, Anna's lawyer, and Julia, Anna's guardian ad litem have their fair share of narrations as well, and this brings the whole book together incredibly. We aren't restricted to the views of just one actor, and as readers, we are allowed to sympathize and empathize with all of them. Your heart goes out to thirteen year old Anna, who's confused, and while one would assume selfish, can you really blame her? You can almost feel Sara's anger towards Anna on hearing her decision, as she's motivated by keeping Kate alive. And then there's Brian - the sensible objective parent, who's more rational and sticks by Anna. Of course there's Jesse, and you can't help but feel sorry for him.... he couldn't be the perfect match for his sister! The characters grow and evolve through this book, and you can see how each decision and action tears them apart, while simultaneously, bringing them together.

The book delivers this punch at the end, which you just don't see coming, and that's what hits the hardest. Life has this weird way of balancing out, and sometimes, it's not a fair or fine balance.

It's a contemporary book, exploring arguments and controversies that persist in the medical world today: from 'designer babies' to 'stem cell research'. It's fascinating, as you wonder, do parents really always know what's best for their children? Is Sara acting on what's best for Anna, or what's best for Kate? And it boggles your mind, to see a thirteen year old girl being adult enough to stand up for something she wants, despite ambivalence being rampant in her heart and mind. No one can doubt, for even an instant, that the two sisters don't love each other a lot.

Rating: 5