The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I started this novel yesterday and I finished it today. I must have been reading for six hours continuously before I fell asleep. And then when I got up this morning I finished the last 50 pages.

Sometimes you read good books, and sometimes bad books. This novel is a good one. It keeps your interest from the start. It turns what is a sad brutal crime into an account of how to live. The novel also ends on that note - "I wish you all a long and happy life".

Recently in Lodhi Gardens I overheard a discourse on what one wants from life. In the answers given, a lady stated, that all one wants from life is to be happy. The last line of the novel adds to this, saying that we should all have a long life as well. A brief life, no matter how well lived, is still a brief life. That's why in India, when you see the body of an old person being taken to the cremation ground, there will be balloons attached - to signify that the person lived a long and happy life.

It is well written. Even though I can't understand why the mother did what she did. Why the father said that he'll let her be herself. There seems to be this underlying thought in the novel that if you're a housewife, you really aren't yourself. Ofcourse, things did fall apart after Susie was killed.

I seriously recommend this novel for all those looking for a novel to read.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I have to confess, I've never read a Bronte. This was my first.

I fell in love with Heathcliff. I know, I'm the typical damsel in distress type of babe. A tall, dark, handsome, moody and possessive guy comes along like Heathcliff and I'm totally in love.

It was his fierce passion more than anything that defined him and his love for Catherine. There is one line -

Oh bollocks. Who gives a damn.... It's a great novel and one should read it if one hasn't!!

Brilliantly written!!

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

Author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I picked up this book at a bookshop in Calcutta (sorry, Kolkata) when I was there a weekend back for a friend's marriage.

The marriage went well; I finished reading Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup there and I began reading A Spot of Bother on the flight back. I picked it up incidentally with Satya, who bought Umberto Eco's In the Name of the Rose. We were both waiting for "Twilight New Moon" to start and had a few hours to kill, so we each bought a book and sat in Barista waiting for our show timings. We had to get on the metro and get back home as well. Yes, the Empire Theatre it was.

But I digress.

So in this book, George is going to suffer a nervous breakdown and is slowly losing his mind. His daughter will embark on a second marriage with a man she may or may not love, his wife is having an affair with an ex-colleague and his son is an out of the closet homosexual.

I don't know why they said this book was funny - I really only liked the last few chapters. They were really quite funny, particularly the marriage scene. The rest of the book was a bit scary and there was one chapter where I had to put the book down - I was so worried for George. In the end, all went okay - I shouldn't give away the ending though.

I don't think this will be made into a movie. It isn't that bad a book to read though. 3/5 overall I'd say.

Six suspects by Vikas Swarup

The second of Swarup's books, this one is following on from the radical success of Q&A. Funnily enough I had reviewed Q&A for my local journal, and it was an interesting read. The film I thought was a good adaptation, with the necessary twists and turns that the big screen requires.

Six Suspects makes for a fast read. The ending isn't too great though, so I warn you in advance. You'll get caught up in the characters, but I thought that towards the middle it became a bit too dragging. I read this book standing in the queue while boarding my Indigo flight to Kolkata, so you can imagine how much concentration the book really requires. I think that it's one of those books you can read on the trainride/metro ride to work.

It's a sad commentary though on our times. Here politicians run rampant, a murderer goes free for lack of evidence and the world of tinsel town gets exposed for its murky worst. There is a Onge tribesperson who comes up from the Andamans only to have a glimpse of the sad state of affairs on the mainland, which the author calls "India". Made me think, what is the Andamans all about then?

Not too much is made of the life of the Onge on the island though. It seemed like all the new generation did was drink and make merry, with the old customs slowly disappearing. The corrupt nature of the welfare people was also brought out.

All in all, an interesting read. I recommend it to one and all. On a scale of one to five, I'd give it a three.

I think I'll stick to my Salman Rushdie. Though in the interim I'll finish a few more novels first. I find that Rushdie takes me a long time to finish.

The Bronte Project by Jennifer Vandever

Bought on Mehrauli Gurgaon road, this was a purchase I thought well made.

It tells the story of Sara Frost, a young research scholar working a the University trying to find her way in the Academic world of literature through her search for lost letters from Charlotte Bronte.

I didn't know but Charlotte Bronte only wrote three novels - Jane Eyre, The Professor and Vilette. I (am sad to confess), have not read any. I have seen Jane Eyre on television; but not read any of the novels. Wuthering Heights was apparently Emily Bronte's only novel - but that too I have not seen. Anne Bronte is best known for Agnes Grey.

I do plan to rectify this situation though. The Brontes were undoubtedly talented but led a sad life. Their mom died at a very early age and one by one, so did all the siblings. They grew up in an environment which was hostile, full of death. Their talent was not encouraged and at that time, not recognised.

The Bronte Project I didn't like so much. But what I did like was the independence of the lead character. The book loses its way sometimes and the plot, which was the chief reason why I didn't warm up to it. I didn't think that her life (Sara Frost's) was in any way similar to Charlotte Brontes' - nor could I see how reading her letters was a source of inspiration for Sara Frost. The connection was tenuous and in some places forced.

Why Mr Emmot I still can't understand? Was it like a play on Mr Darcy? Bizarre.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

I know I know I know... how typical. What can I say? I am a Dan Brown fan!! So it only makes sense that I went out and bought the latest Dan Brown over Diwali, sat and read it as fast I could.

Let me just say that the pace of the novel - was good. I would seriously recommend it to anyone and everyone. It would help if you've read Angels and Demons and Da Vinci Code - just so that you get to know Robert Langdon a little bit better.

I think Tom Hanks does a brilliant role as Robert Langdon and he's so effective that when you're reading the book, you just picture him. I think that is a great way for an actor to progress.

So this one is set in Washington DC. I liked that city and I could relate to a lot of the places mentioned in the book. Some inane ones will most likely become crowded tourist spots after this book. And after the movie, who knows?

One thing that disappointed me was that I got the twist even before the latter half of the book began. That got me thinking that either I've watched too many films, or I've gotten used to his writing style. I don't ever think that I even guessed the twist in Angels and Demons (which btw the movie did not bring up at all); but this one was easy peasy...

So no great surprise - except the last bit. What exactly is the secret that the Brotherhood is trying so hard to hide? This mysterious group of Freemasons, which even George Washington belonged to.

I won't give that away.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

I came across this book a year back at the Delhi Book Fair at a stall that was selling second hand books. It looked interesting; and without knowing quite what it was about, I picked it up.

Recently on my trip to Uttarkashi, we were shown the TV movie of Into Thin Air. I watched a bit of it; but then I went back to my tent to sleep since I was really tired. But I vowed that when I would get back to Delhi, I would sit and read the book.

I finished reading it this morning and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in mountain climbing and sports.

In a nut shell, the book is about a group of ill fated climbers who make a treacherous ascent up Mount Everest but face a terrible storm on the way down. What happens on that 1996 trip is something that shows what will happen if you put a group of not-so-experienced mountain climbers on Mount Everest, a mountain that has claimed many lives of highly skilled climbers. I still cannot believe that some people who went up there didn't even know how to rope up properly.

I feel bad though that people lost their lives. It's unfortunate that the respective governments - i.e. China and Nepal don't issue more stringent passes. Nor are they concerned about the high levels of pollution that exists due to the oxygen gas cylinders that lie up there. Even the condition of the Sherpas who aid the climbers on Mount Everest is quite appaulling. I'm all for free enterprise - but it's not good to play with people's lives; exploit the low pay scales or give people false assurances.

If anyone has the TV movie DVD/VCD - can you please send it to me?