A dream fulfilled!

Something dreamed,
Something dared,
Something attempted,
Something after.

Something wished,
Something wanted,
Something tried,
Something thought.

Finally,
Read through,
Done with,
Checked off the list.

Still,
Remembered,
Loved,
Cherished.

PS: I finally finished ALL the works of LM Montgomery (atleast all of her fiction). Though I love Anne, I've grown to love the Story girl, John, Matilla and thousand other characters and families (the Andrews, the Blythes and so on) as well. Now, all that needs to be done is to visit Avonlea and PE Island and see if the magic world exists. But, I might not because I love the image I have in mind and don't want it set right or wrong. Ah! the power of imagination :)

PPS: Yet another thing off my forever bucket list. Now, I really don't care how many other books I read or not read anymore. I've read the best of English (Anne) and the best of Tamil (Ponniyin Selvan). Blissed!

Last update on resolutions - Books

Books - the one hobby that has been with me ever since my first grade! My secret wish growing up was to get a job where all I had to do was to read novels day in and day out (sigh! how far I've come since then!) This resolution was to read books that hit the New York bestsellers list and other books suggested by friends. The reason for this resolution was that I was running out of favorite authors and books. After all, there are only so many Michael Crichton books and Sujatha books in this world.

The book journey has been really good and I've added a few authors to my favorites list (Nicholas Sparks! Steig Larsson! James Patterson!). Also, I tried various books like Push and Dear John and The Shack (I would read them but not if I had had other choices) that I usually wouldn't choose. Goodreads helped me track the books I've read and has been great at finding other similar books. Generally, I like most of the books I read - simply because they let me imagine how things are and how things can be. So, its hard to classify as like and don't like in books. Here are some best ones I read this year (this list is by no means comprehensive, I'm just listing those that I remember after a long time - for more books that I tried this year, check my previous posts under resolution/books tag or my Goodreads page(link on the side)):

1) The Complete Persepolis - really good book - I can't wait to try other graphic books in different genres.

2) Princess: A true story of life behind the veil in Saudi Arabia - one of the best books I've read to date!

3) Twilight books - I finished the series this year - though I loved the first of the series, its been interesting to see how the entire series played out! But there are so many spinoffs of vampires and fairies and nymphs and other worldly characters that I just don't want to read any more of these stories. One series was good but they've beaten this topic to death.

4) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - the best of the trilogy - you connect to the characters and their quirkiness. The books become darker as they go and I ended up not really liking the last one.

5) Stephanie Plum novels - this series is light reading and had me reading all the ones that came out. It is funny and looks like Nancy Drew novels for adults :D

6) Under the Dome - one of the most original ideas for a novel - Stephen King rocks!
7) The Help - one of the books that required some serious reading and it was worth it all.

There were a few novels like The Shack that, though written well, were not to my liking. I don't think I'll read them unless I have so much time that I'm pushed to reading them. Also, this year I've started reading more blogs and online article sites. So the amount of stuff I read this year is really good (yeah, yeah! I'm patting myself on the back ;)). All this wouldn't be possible without the wonderful library system in Neverland. I've gotten almost all books from the library (though it IS some work to reserve them regularly, finish them on time and return back for more books - sometimes I've run fines when I couldn't finish books on time). I've also bought a few books at Half Price books (a godsend for older books) and Barnes & Noble (the best place for newer ones). I considered buying a kindle or a nook but decided against it for various reasons. Now, with my library going e-books route, I'm getting tempted to revisit that decision. However, nothing is as satisfying as the feel of paper and the smell of books when you read them (yeah, I'm old school in that issue).

Though I'm not going to continue this resolution in 2011, I'm sure going to keep at reading books off the bestsellers list. The only difference would be that I wouldn't be pushing myself to do it. Even though it was fun doing it, it did take some discipline to read the boring and tedious books instead of reading just what catches my fancy at the time. One thing I've noticed: things I'd have read diligently a few years back (the long and boring ones especially), I now find myself impatient when reading them and wishing I could finish them faster. The average attention span has gone down and the authors have to work harder to keep the reader's attention to the subject. This is especially true for novels with long descriptions of things and places. I've lost the ability to lose myself in George Orwell's descriptions or Ayn Rand's long monologues (Francisco's speech in Atlas Shrugged or John Galt's speech in the end). This is similar to losing a comfortable position with an old friend - you may be discovering new things about your friend but yearn for the older days together. 

This seems mainly due to the large amount of options we have at any given time. When I read something, my brain does know that there are other options that can give instant gratification (Facebook refresh issues anyone?) and cannot get into the serious reading mode(strangely, I can still read the work related stuff and papers without loss of concentration - it does require effort though). When I checked with other friends about it, they reported similar things. So, I'm going to scale back my reading a bit, try to space things and see if I can recapture that ability to read long passages. But no pressures!

August already!!

Phew! Time seems to have flown this summer with the last two months just whizzing by. On the first day of August, I was lying on my bed that morning when I thought "Today is Aug 1... and that means just 5 more months for 2010 to be OVER, like INFINITELY over". And that scared me because that means we have lesser time to make more memories this year. Does that ring a bell with any of you??

Now that we are in August, its time to do a resolution look back post on my book reading resolution that I set for myself. I should say that the librarian has become my new best friend. Also, starting now, I'm thinking of doing a point system for the books I read (something like IMDB). I have my personal rating system there as well (more on that in a later post) and thought it would be better to have a similar one for the books too, based on how likely I am to read that book again. Other factors in that rating would be how likely I'd recommend it, who would I recommend it to (just my friends, or my age group, or everyone in this world!) and how likely I'll own it (I have a stringent system for buying books. I don't buy a book unless I think I'll read and reread and reread and ....  you get the idea! This is the result of moving three times and I don't care about lugging books unless I really care about them. I'd rather have five books that I read and reread and depend on library for the rest to lugging a thousand books and not reading them - your idea of buying books might be different. So feel free to take this part of the rating with a pinch of salt). Here goes the rating system:

10 - This book would be with me always, in every place I live and would definitely own it. (Eg: Naintha Ullam, Anne of Green Gables)
9 - I would totally recommend this and would love to curl up with this one. Probably would own a copy. (Eg: Harry Potter books, Ponniyin Selvan)
8 - Really good, I'd recommend it for most people but not good enough for me to own it (Eg: Da Vinci Code)
7 - Good with a different perspective. Recommend it for certain people who I think can handle such perspectives. (Eg: Push)
6 - Ok for a one-time good read. Please don't buy it until you read it once and like that genre/author/story. (Eg: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
5 - Ok... read it if you are looking for some book to read. Don't buy unless you really like the author/story (Eg: Plum books)
4 - Ok... if you are really wanting to read one and can't find a better one. I don't think people would own these books; they are more library-ish or lending library-ish.
3 - I wouldn't suggest it to anyone, but you can read it if you want to. You've been fairly warned!
2 - I'm thunking myself for wasting time reading this book. (Eg: some of the trash books I've read)
1 - Why, oh why, did the author waste his time, the publisher's time and countless readers' time in making this book? (Eg: frankly, I've not read any that hits this low... but I might surprise myself sometime!! So, this is the catch all bucket!!)

From my experience, most of the books would fall between 4 to 7 and I think it would take months for a book to join 9 and 10. I hope I don't ever hit 1 or 2 - might be because I read books that are recommended by family/friends or by popular sites. Lets see!

Disclaimer: I do realize that, unlike movies where you can get a common consensus about a movie, books are more personal and the reader's imagination and previous experiences play a huge part in making a book likable or not. But with the books list exploding, it's getting harder for me to remember the story line and the exact emotion the book stirred in me. For them to happen, I should give more time between two books to let a book settle on me. For, again unlike movies where you can immediately get an emotional response, books need to settle into daily lives to bring out an impact. With reading so many books, I don't let enough time go by between books to do full justice to them to settle down. But that said, with so much information bombarding us every day, it would be hard for anyone to give days to ponder on each and every book they read. Taking all these into account, this rating is very personalized to my views. Take this rating as a general review if you are thinking to read one of the books on the list but don't expect it to be the 'be all and end all' of book review ratings.

PS: I wish there was one stop shop for rating books. I do know that there are different services like GoodReads (this is by far the best I've liked), Shelfari, LibraryThing, etc. but I prefer something like the IMDB that combines books, the author infos, reviews and other interesting titbits. I'm sure people would switch to it, pronto! Is anyone out there listening?

Resolution lookback - 2

Its two months already and here I am with the list of books in the past two months. But two things affected my reading this time: first, I was away for about a month (yup! I was in glorious India!) and second, I started watching a lot of movies (M would probably laugh at this statement but they were a lot compared to where I started... but more on that in a later post!). So I might not have as many books as last time. Lets dig in to find out:

1. Uglies - suggested by Aths. It was good but since I read Pretties already, I wasn't surprised as to how it ended. Guess that's the price one pays for reading the sequel first.
2. Little Bee - a poignant tale between an African girl and a British mom. Good amount of twists and turns.
3. I, Alex Cross - as expected from the author and genre. But I liked it.
4. Olive Kitteridge - fascinating since it brought out the subtleties in human personality very well. A slow read though.
5. The Help - been on the bestsellers' list for about months now. And rightly so!! Very powerful tale. One of the few books which I want to read again later in life for I feel I haven't gotten all that the author tried to say. I'd probably get it better when I have more experiences in life.
6. The Piano Teacher: - okish but I couldn't connect to it much. So, I didn't enjoy it much!
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -Very intricate puzzle. It was nice to put it together but I didn't think the means justified the ends.
8. Dead and Gone - Ok! The market seems to be flooded with this genre (Guessed it? vampires! ugh!). When Twilight came, it was novel. But now, it seems to have been based to death. Okish read but there were a lot of questions which I guess would have been answered if I had read the prequels.
9. Let the Great World Spin - good story base but too watery a narration for my preference.
10. Just Take My Heart - I've already read too many stories with the same theme and frankly this one wasn't written compellingly enough.
11. The Host - good one. If you like vampires and other-worldly stuff, you should give this one a try. Its lighter than vampire stuff but still an interesting take!
12. The Swan Thieves - deep with a curious mix of art, philosophy and mystery. But they could've reduced the number of pages....
13. At Last Comes Love - trash
14. Executive Intent - nice but I'm getting jaded with this genre (political thrillers). So, even if books are good enough for a regular reader, I guess I'm looking for something more (may be a better twist, different handling, etc)
15. Summer on Blossom Street - sweet story with a good mix of characters.
16. The Burning Land - Reminded me of the "The Other Boleyn Girl". It might be that it had a similar base but I couldn't shake the feeling that it was handled similarly.
17. Queen of Your Own Life: The Grown-Up Woman's Guide to Claiming Happiness and Getting the Life You Deserve - read at recommendation of my friend. I wasn't impressed with it but I guess I'm not the right audience for it. 
18. Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia -  one of the most candid books I've read in years! I guess this book warrants a post for itself. But, a definite read!

Add to this some trash books and some tamil books. The count comes up to 25. Not bad considering that I was away half the time. But I guess I'll be reading lesser in the coming two months since its glorious summer in Neverland and I want to make use of it as much as possible. Also, I'm trying to find a sweet balance between watching movies (I'm interested to know what fascinates so many people in it) and reading books (my hobby). Any suggestions on how you manage them?

P.S: My friends and I, we had gone on a bus ride (a rarity since we usually take the car) on a workday morning (another rarity). And the passenger next to me was reading "Dear John". It was such a good feeling to recognize the book and remember the story. :) I'm glad I'm doing this exercise.

Resolution lookback

This post is a (supposed) sequel of my resolution post (yeah! yeah! I'm still writing it and should have published it sometime in Jan but haven't yet gotten to it. Maybe I'll make that a prequel to this one! Ha!)
Since I'm still writing the prequel post, I'll give a short jist of what it would have:
A list of resolutions that I had intended for 2010.

Come on! Everyone makes resolutions in January in the spirit of the new year, right? And everyone slips out of one or two of them! I made a few of them and have stuck to them doggedly so far. One of them was to read every book in the top five of New York Bestsellers list. This resolution does not really fall under the "clearing bad habits" list or "improving oneself" list (these are the lists that most peoples' resolutions fall under). I feel that to stop a bad habit, you really don't have to wait until new year. If you think you are wrong and it is bad, then all you have to do is stop it! And improving oneself?? Hmmm... that's a discussion to be had another day!

Back to my book-reading resolution. This came more out of a need: the need for new favorite authors. All of us have some favorite authors and mine had Michael Crichton, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Arther Hailey, Jeffrey Archer, Issac Asimov, Robin Cook, Sidney Sheldon (now don't roll your eyes!!), Kalki, Sujatha, etc. I also read most of the current popular books like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chetan Bhagat's books, Dan Brown's novels, etc. But they were not books that I read for the author. I read them because I had received rave reviews of them from friends and family and wanted to give it a try. I came to the point where I've read almost all of my favorite authors' books and didn't have much left to read. And, to my horror, I found that every Tom, Dick and Harry wrote on mysteries, science fiction, political crime thrillers and complex plots. But whether they could make your heart tingle with anticipation about the next twist, that was unknown.

Towards the end of 2009, I started reading books suggested by friends but found that it was a fairly small set and that I wasn't doing justice to other books. There might be that perfect book and perfect author who has not yet been read by any of my friends. And I didn't have the time to sift through the hundreds of reviews for books and then read a book. By then, I lose the enthusiasm for reading. The New Year came at a convenient time and I decided to make a resolution (to suit my needs!) to read all the random books on new york bestsellers list. I chose this list out of thin air but was sure that the books wouldn't hit that list, atleast not the top five, without being appealing to a larger cross section of people across the world/USA.

To be fair, I didn't buy most of them. Thanks to the wonderful public library that I'm a member of, I can lay my hands on them for a tuppence. So all these impressions are my first impressions of the books and what I still feel about them (long after returning them back to the library). I feel that the test of time is the best test for anything - time shows if you really love something, if you like it, if its okish or if its plain bad. My assessment of some books might have been different if I had read and reread them a few times.But for me, reading the same book a second time, especially when the first time didn't make me like it, is a huge non-possibility. Most of the books that I've read a second time (or more) have been ones that took my breath away the first time. I would have to be so awed to actually go back and reread to get that feeling of awe again.

I plan to write a list of books that I read every month and what I thought about them, albeit in a few words. If there comes a book by which I was heavily blown away, then I'll dedicate a post to it. [Flash warning: what suits me need not suit you and vice versa! And my opinion of a book need not reflect yours! Give the book a try if you think you might like it!] Lets start the initial list of books I read in the past few weeks.

1. Dear John - an interesting one. This was one of the first books I read after I made the resolution and was fairly new to the whole show. The story was paced well but didn't include any mystery or thrillers. Emotional and good for introspection. But I found I wouldn't mind books of this genre now and then. (Earlier, I would've run helter-skelter from books of this genre).
2. The Lost Symbol - don't attempt it if you are not a fan of Dan Brown; even then, it would be hard to connect if you've not actually gone through the museums and halls of DC. I did recently and relived the happy memories of the trip through the book - so I liked it; I can't say how much that affected my judgement though.
3. First Family - racy. The loopholes were less but the story tries to show a beaten story in different light. Not very original. Think Clinton and you've hit it pretty much.
4. The Truth About Lord Stoneville - trash.
5. Impact - good, I loved the last twist to it. But again, science related - so my judgement may be biased.
6. The First Rule - had some mindless wanderings in the story. Could have been cut by one-fifth and we wouldn't have missed much.
7. The Lovely Bones - I don't like the genre. Period. The book might be interesting but the genre threw me off.
8. The Shack - I literally had to drag myself to finish this one. Showed me that there were some books/genres that I just can't read. Was one of the books I read initially and that gave me a good perspective of the variety of genres I was going to face in this exercise.
9. A reliable wife - very New Englandish. And meandered some too. I think I'm too young to fully understand this book (came to this conclusion after I discussed this book with an older friend - guess there is still a lot I should learn about the heart).
10. Arctic Drift - lots of hypotheses. Finally, the author went way out with the results. There was no gradual crescendo to the climax. I'd rather prefer books like that.
11. Cross Country - not much to say. Typical Patterson.
12. The Devil's Punchbowl - they threw in many things and tried to come up with a gripping storyline; and failed badly. Beware the exciting title!
13. Plum Spooky - I like the number series; I find it quirky yet plausible. One of the few series that I liked after a long time. However, this book wasn't as good as the series. Maybe because it was an in-between job??
14. True Colors - brought out the tension between three sisters and their lives well; it started out well, flattened a bit and then perked up in the end. If you are a woman and have sisters of your own, this would make sense. Else, try it at your own risk!
15. Shanghai Girls - read this one right after True Colors. Yet another one on sisters and their intertwined lives. The settings are different but the principles finally are the same. But I couldn't connect to it much.
16. Street Game - again, they put together lots of stuff and tried to come up with a nail-biting story but that didn't work out well. Jaimie's and Mack's relationship was supposed to be one part of the story but I felt that it overshadowed the rest. And, frankly when I'm reading books of crime/thriller genre, I'm not looking for relationship stuff. But the mememetrics stuff was cool (effects of doing a thesis in biometrics makes you love anything bio+computers stuff - I am biased) So, okish.
17. Under the Dome - interesting concept and an interesting way to look at everyone's life with that concept. Certainly one of the few new-idea books I read recently.
18. Pirate Latitudes - Definitely Crichtonish. Liked it (not loved it!! This is not in his best works list! Is that why he didn't publish it when he was alive? Did he think it was not worth publishing with his name on it? I certainly felt so. Still, this book was a surprise for I had missed Crichton's works after he died and then I got this one. Hence the like!)
19. Push - one of the books that made me uncomfortable since its a story that I just can't relate to it but know its damn true and that people meet with it daily. Though I cringed at the swear words, I understand that they are needed to bring the characters to life. If you are looking for something hard hitting, then this one would work. This showed me a new world of people - not many books have done so; but I'd rather not read such books every day and darken my mood; just a personal preference.
20. The Associate - My first book of this exercise; liked the style. But then, this is one of my favorite genres. So, no complaints!
21. What I did for love - okish
22. The Templar Cross - similar to Dan Brown's books; ok for one read if you are crazy about the genre.
23. 7th Heaven - Didn't like it much.
24. Sizzle - Liked this one. The story is the same but the connection points were different. In the last scene, one of the guys in the book says "I gave her up so she can live". One question to him: Dei, idhu avalukku theriyumaada? Ethana per ipdi kelambi irukeenga?*
25. Whiter Tiger - had been on my to-read list for quite some time. An interesting book; interlaced with the complexities of Indian society.
26. The Complete Persepolis - Loved this one! A heavy story but told with comics. Thanks to Aths for suggesting it.
27. Embroideries - I read this with the huge expectation created by the complete persepolis. But it didn't meet it. It was funny, yes; but not my recommendation list.
28. Nerds: who they are and why we need more of them - This book was more like reading a thesis on electromagnetic oscillation pattern analysis. I had to read novels in between so that I don't get completely swamped by this one. Well written; but as an Indian, I thought many things were rather obvious. And I couldn't connect to the rest since I didn't grow up in USA. Read it at your own risk!
29. How Opel Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life - Ha! Ha! Funny! though I guess I'm past that stage where I'd absolutely love that book. I'd have done so, had I read it some 7 years back :D
30. The Twenties girl - now this book found a place on my recommendation list. A light read with the right amount of story!! I wasn't captivated from page one, but slowly started liking the style and what it portrayed.
31. Camel club - Too many twists that I lost track! (or, did I read it when I was really tired?)
32. Bleachers - This one is about letting go and settling things out. I'm usually not a fan of this genre - so not on my recommendation list.
33. Vi Agra Falls - Paagal* story, as my roommate would put it :D
34. 2666 - ugh! I've lost the patience to read heavy literature, even one with good amount of twists.
35. Fired up - first book of DreamLighter series. Okish... but I'm curious to know how it turns out.
36. Pretties - Another one from Aths' recommendation list. Though the story itself was not very exciting, I look forward to reading the next one in the series. Guess that's a big win!
37. Poor Little Bitch Girl - I had this feeling of deja vu when I read this one; so it didn't make much of an impression.
38. Skipping Christmas - Ha! Ha! light reading material but the final touch was good and unexpected.

I'm in the process of reading some other books currently. You'll see them in the next list. Not all of the books in the above list were from the New York bestseller's list. Some came from friends' recommendation lists and some I picked up when browsing or reading something. But I'm glad for this exercise; I get to read a lot of genres and experiment with different authors and styles. For example, even though Push is a very hard hitting book, I wouldn't have it in my book shelf as it doesn't really make me comfortable. But that doesn't mean the book is not good. It is really good about what it portrays; I fail to connect to it as a reader; or rather, the connection I make to it makes me squirm under its glare of truth and I would rather have something light and funny to read instead of something hard and introspective. On the other hand, the twenties girl had a title and back flap story that I just wouldn't have picked up. But now I love this book enough to seriously consider buying it for my collection. This exercise made me realize not to judge a book by its cover, literally! :D

I'm also glad that I read 40 books in two and a half months. I consider that amount of reading good enough (with everything else going on in life), though my mom's going to be worried sick that I only read and not do anything else. But my other resolutions took care of the "not doing anything else" part. More on that later! Do let me know if there are any books that you think are interesting and that I should read. I'm always open to reading new books and authors, not that it has to hit the top five of the bestsellers list. And, your reviews on any or all of these books if you've read them would be awesome!

Dei, idhu avalukku theriyumaada? Ethana per ipdi kelambi irukeenga?* - Does she know this? How many people have started like this?
Paagal* - Mad as the hatter

Books and Movies - this week

Sometimes, it happens that movies and books that you read sync up to a particular issue by sheer coincidence. I guess Nazi occupation is the theme that's currently going on.
Books:
My Enemy's Cradle - this is a story set in Nazi occupied France about a Jew girl who goes to a German run institution to deliver her baby. She also falls in love with the (supposed) father of the child. The narration is poignant and fast. It shows yet another light on the Nazi occupation of Europe, just like the Inglorious Bastards. Read it if you are looking for something poignant and want to dig into the less known 'A child for Hitler' program (I forgot the actual name of the program).
Love marriage - This is a novel by a SriLankan writer about three generations of two Tamil families from and in Sri Lanka linked through marriages of all kinds. Their lives are intricately twisted into the wars, LTTE rise, suicide bombings, etc and yet holds on to the quaint cultural flavors seen in every Tamil village. It also reflects a lot on the rights and wrongs of each generation and what they mean to others in the past, present and future generations. Sometimes, the places that we are makes decisions for us than the places we came from. And some other times, the vice versa is true. This was not a page turner but if you are interested to peel away the news-ridden scenario of LTTE and Tamils of Sri Lanka, this view of a family might help.
Night Smoke - Totally girlish. Just one if you don't want to think of anything.
The A-list - this was more a teen novel about the celebrity teens of Hollywood. They are no different from other teens, but have more scrutiny on them (and yeah! they can buy a $3000 handbag just to show off at a party on their parents' amex card). Again, a no-brainer.

Movies:
Shaurya - Hindi - Suggested by a friend of mine. A lot like 'A Few good men' but Rahul Bose's acting is good. Powerful message, taut storyline but I don't know if it captured the masses. The masala is definitely missing...
Final Destination 1, 2 and 3 - Did a movie marathon on this one. The first one was interesting but the second one was "oh! I think it might repeat the first". The angle of new life defeating death started some interest in the second movie but showed that death was uncheatable. Actually, the new life was the kid of the pregnant woman. But if the kid was alive inside the mother's womb, wouldn't it have died in the accident as well? Or is life taken into account only after the kid is born into the world? But technicalities aside, it was an interesting take that failed to gain momentum. The third one shifted to the camera linking the people who are about to die. But I guess a pattern can be created from any set of random deaths if that was the case. True! Knowing that pattern before hand is kind of wacky but hindsight can show the pattern clearly.

Allavudinum 1000 watts bulbum - Another of Crazy Mohan's comedy that had me in splits. Going through the list compiled by a friend one per week so I get the full fun out of it :D

Have a happy labor day weekend!

Books and Movies

For long time readers, its not surprising that I'm a book fan. But lately, I've started watching movies too. Though I still don't think movies can match books, there are a few movies that are really enjoyable. But they are few and far apart.

This week's book list:

1) Seramaan Kaadhali - a tamil historic novel - total waste novel. Kathaiyae illa. Chumma, suthi suthi kathai ezhuthi irundhaan. Total waste of four hours.

2) 7 deadly wonders by Matthew Reilly - an english novel peppered liberally with historic facts and diagrams - not bad. But its not a must read as well. Its definitely not a page turner. But its fascinating how they combine so many historic facts to keep the novel in place. If you are a fact buff, you'll like this one.

3) Prom Crashers - English - a fun and light read - totally girlish

4) Batter off dead - English - okish - I took it mainly for the mystery part in it - but it was more like Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys minus the satisfaction you get after reading it.

5) Gifts of the season - English - okish - Suggested by a friend to read this genre. I would read it if I'm too tired to think of anything - warning: totally, totally girlish.

This week's movie list:

1) Inglorious bastards - English - liked it, especially Brad Pitt's and Christoph Waltz's acting. I've not seen any other movies of Waltz (yeah! I'm that pathetic!) but Pitt pulled a great accent. And, the last scene where Shoshanna's face shows through the smoke, man! That was an eerie touch. Though some scenes were bizarre (like people cutting off scalps as if they were bread loaves - I can't stomach that), it was a nice movie overall. (But three of my friends slept through parts of the movie. So, it just might not be your type!)

2) District 9 - English - Ugh! Too gory for my taste though the story line is different. The problem is I just can't relate to it or imagine that aliens can live on earth with us. If you can, then its a movie for you.

3) Kandasamy - Tamil - Less said, the better! Waste movie!

4) Raghavan - Tamil - ithellam oru padam! Padam eduthavan tamil makkala sariyaana kenai pasanga nu nenaichutaan pola iruku. Act pannavae theriyaatha oru hero. Kathai illatha story line. Ithoda director, script writer, producer moonu perayum, indha padatha oru 100 times paarka vakkanum. Athaan, correct punishment!! Adhulayae paathi uyir poidum.

Naan indha movie epdi parthen nu ketkareengala? I read the reviews of all tamil movies. Ellam waste stories. Seri, listla randomaa onnu choose pannalaamnu panninen. Adhula, ithu vandhadhu. En yaar yaarumae nalla tamil movie edukka maatendraanga? The last good one was Pasanga. After that, there is a dearth of good tamil movies.

5) The Ugly Truth - English - it starts out great but falls flat somewhere in the middle. Maybe that was because I expected the movie to go one way and it went another. And, compared to The Proposal (don't ask me why, but I keep comparing this movie to that one), it wasn't that good.

Drama: I also heard the audio of Crazy Mohan's Meesai aanalum Manaivi (Bharath's suggestion). It was good, reminds me of DD time some ten or fifteen years back. But sometimes, it looks to be a part of another era totally! Does anyone get this feeling when you see old drama or skits or episodes?

What is your movies/books list?/ Any recommendations for must read/watch books/movies?

'The Andromeda Strain' has become 'The Lost World' now

My deepest condolences for the death of one of my favorite authors in English, Michael Crichton, who passed away on November 4th, 2008.

I'm a fan of all his works, period. I feel the pulse racing when I read his books, yet filled with a cool and collected thought that can only be the result of proper scientific facts combined with an open mind. He helped me traverse the world of science without fear and with curiosity and made me appreciate contemporary scientific fiction as a thing in itself. I still remember the afternoon when P introduced me to his novels and me forgetting to do anything else by drowning myself into his "Andromeda Strain". And there were days when my friends and I used to discuss his novels. The Andromeda Strain, Timeline, Sphere, Airframe, State of Fear, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, etc. would forever remain my favorite books of teenage, the time and author never coming back now. Another one of my favorite authors/actors gone, damn!

A book... and how my life changed!! - III

[continued]

Being a teenager myself(ok, in the last of teens :)), I could easily relate to what the protagonist is going through and could empathize with her. Also, this story helped me get a really deep and clear view of the Indian family system and the gossamer-like interconnections that exist between every relation in the system. Things that were so far unclear or comical to me, gained more importance in my eyes and I could appreciate the value of the Indian Family. I could only be awed by the structure of Indian society that has withstood so many assaults(or is modifications the right word??) from other cultures and still maintained its charm and unique flavor. Any system that leads its participants and products to success and finally victory is a good system(my definition :)). In that manner, the family system that exists in India is a really good one. Though there are some casualities in it, by and large, it’s a successful one.

This book does not have a separate humor line or character. Instead, humor is subtle and very much a part of the entire story. There is Loganathan, a comical character who acts funny and has an inexplicable behavior. But there is a sad story within him and he is grappling with demons from his past. Though Mythreyi does not understand it at first, she slowly comes to know of the truth and makes amends through his son thereby giving Loganathan peace. The main charm of the book is that it talks of ordinary people, people whom we can see in day to day life and whose life is assumed to be very normal, very regular, very boring. In this age of wanting to have fun “all the time” and trying to fill in every waking moment with pleasure of all kinds, this book was a refreshing change. It allows the readers to contemplate on all what’s happening in their lives in a slow manner. It basically shows that everyone needs a minute to rest, to ponder, to plan and to relax in this rat-race to success because success is not defined by the goals that you achieve. It also places importance on the ways of achieving it and the experiences that you gain along the way. Till I read this book, I wanted to keep doing something all the time. I could never sit still as I wanted to do more and more in less time. More of fun, more of work, more of studying, more of enjoying life, more of everything!! In the process, I lost some good times with friends(I didn’t have time to keep up with them), lost control of life(I was just jumping from one deadline to another, one meeting to another and one work to another and didn’t know where life was leading me) and came close to losing my health(thanks to my mom, I’m still very healthy :) She took care of all my needs when I was busy enjoying with the world. Thank you amma! ).But this book helped me slow down a bit and enjoy the quiet flowers of solitude. Even now, being some thousands of miles away from home, I still have this book with me to show that I have to slow down whenever I feel I’m going too fast. Because I have learned the hard way that it is as important to enjoy the journey as it is to reach the goal.

I feel this is one of the few books that have to be read to be fully understood. No matter how long I write about this book or explain it in different ways, it will not make a big impact unless it is read and experienced first-hand. I haven’t captured the essence of the novel fully. I have just stated the storyline and given a brief overview of what is explained in the book. Or is it that I’m not that good a writer to capture all my feelings about this book in these posts? Hmmm... Scary! But I guess I’ll have to find ways to improve myself in that case. Readers, what do you think?

(Phew!! I'm done. I've kept up the challenge and put in three posts, each more than 500 words about the same topic, something which someone else has not tried out. Finding some such topic(this particular book came as a God-send) was difficult. And writing about it was more so. V, it was an interesting experiment. Though you have to say if the results were as you expected them to be :) However, though I started on these set of posts as part of a challenge, it finally became interesting to explore my feelings for this particular book. Though I knew earlier that I liked this book a lot, I could never put a finger on exactly why I liked it. Even now, the exact reason remains vague. But I have a better understanding. Though I'm not sure how you readers took it all. Sorry if you got bored of it. But, if you can get your hands on it, I would suggest you to read it as it is a wonderful book, especially if you are looking for something different.)

A book... and how my life changed!! - II

[continued]


Mythreyi gets married to her cousin(I know this is a rarity nowadays, but fifty years ago, it was a common thing, especially in India) without knowing if she really loved him and always felt insecure despite all the love that was showered on her because she felt that she was an orphan, all said and done. So she has lots of expectations on her husband and expects to have a home of her own where she can find her roots and feel more secure. But her husband is a very shy person and though he loves her very much, doesn’t tell her about his love for her. This is the state of their wedlock. Everyone else in the family assume that the couple love each other very much and have fun. In between all this, there are various incidents like one of her maternal uncles losing his sanity, her brother’s marital problems, the tiffs between Mythreyi and her sister-in-law, her friends and their teasings, etc. which she has to deal with care and maturity expected beyond her age. She takes everything as an experiment and learns different lessons from each of those incidents. She wins over everyone in the family and outside with her patience, quick thinking and hard work. But, finally, she loses heart(Niantha ullam, in tamil) and one of her closest aides finds it out. He sets things right between the couple and things end well. Her heart is full of happiness now(Niraindha ullam, in tamil :))

Though this sounds like a fairy tale from the outset, it is basically a bit more. It tells about the Indian family system and the expectations, responsibilities and other complexities that are ever-present between the family members. For example, though Mythreyi’s aunt is her mother-in-law and knows that Mythreyi is going to wed her son, she does not encourage too much socialization between Mythreyi and Seshadhri(her son). This does not mean that she doesn’t want them to have fun as all others but that she places more importance in each of the family members maintaining their present relationships(i.e. cousins, in this case). She is also concerned about the society’s opinion and wants everyone in her family to follow the societal norms. Though our Indian family has developed a lot from that portrayed in the story, every family still sticks to some of the core values shown in it. More on it in the next post.

Till this book came, I’ve read loads of English and Tamil books and novels that have dealt with a variety of themes ranging from murders and mysteries to humor and hazards. I’ve also read a lot of family-based novels, even some of Anuthama’s. But none of them touched me as this one because this novel is very simple(without being simplistic), clear in its approach(some of the authors try to connect different incidents to make up the final story), lucid in writing(all of Anuthama’s novels are, this one is more so...) and doesn’t make love as the be all and end all of life.


[to be continued]

A book... and how my life changed!!

This post is basically the result of a challenge that I had with one of my friends. He said that I am supposed to write three consecutive posts on one thing(nothing alive... only articles allowed). And that the thing has to be something general(no personal objects allowed). So, being the brave girl I am, I accepted his challenge and here I go.

The topic I've chosen is, what else, books. Books have been my best of friends from my young age. I've seen happiness in them when I was sad, solace when I was hurt, good advice when I was confused, fun when I was bored, companionship when I was lonely(not alone, but lonely) and comfort whenever I needed it. I know everyone reads loads of books. Our generation reads more than our parents did and certainly much more than our grandparents' generation. I read around five books per month making it roughly one per week. But there are a few books that I go back to and find comfort in them all the time. Everyone connects to a few books in their lifetime. Among my five most favorite books, four of them are popular and contain loads of links in the net world.(You can see their names in the "My favorite books" list). The fifth one is a recent favorite of mine and I couldn't find much about it on Internet(amazing! I never thought I would find something which google can't give much info about... at the time of writing this post, I found only one link :() And, that book taught me so many things about life in a very subtle way.

The book is "Naintha Ullam" by Anuthama, a renowned tamil author who dealt with life and family, in particular. Though I've read some other books of hers(like Ketta varam, manal veedu, ondrupattaal, alangaana kathaigal, arpudhamaana kathaigal, etc.), I was not as impressed with them as I was with this one.

The story revolves around Mythreyi, the protagonist who is a young girl at the impressionable age of 14 and comes to Chennai(yes, our Singara Chennai ) from Sri Lanka(none other!!), leaving behind her foster parents and foster brother and family. She comes to her uncle’s house where her brother is. She is, at first, very scared of all the happenings around her because of the variations in the lifestyles between her house in Sri Lanka and her house in Madras( Doesn’t Madras have a more nostalgic feel to it, compared to Chennai?). She was brought up as the “apple of the eye” by her foster parents and her uncle and aunt do the same too. Her brother worships the ground she walks on and everyone is partial towards her. But, she has to learn the various nuances in the relationships and gets to learn so much about people and their relationships with one another and the complications that arise due to even seemingly simple happenings. She also understands the complexities that are present in each relationship due to the very nature of such relations. She experiences the changes that come with her transition from childhood to teenage to young adult and finally, an adult. She also enters into marriage without knowing what she wants out of it and learns to take things in the stride.


[to be continued]

Independence Day

There are some books that make your heart race while their onscreen versions fail to catch the magic(eg. The Da Vinci Code) while there are still others which are tedious for the normal reader in the written format but make for lively viewing as a movie(eg. Jurassic Park). But, there are a rare few that keep people at the edge of their seats both as a book and as a film. One such is the Independence Day. (Ok V___, I’ve nothing to say about the fourth group of films which are pathetic both as a book and as a movie.... why waste time?)

My earliest experience with this story was when I was a kid and was taken to the movie by my uncle(who is a movie buff) with the entire family. I remember sleeping through half the film(or, rather, three-quarters of the film) and then waking up groggily at the end when everyone is happy and then being dragged by my mom to the car from the theatre. I, for one, hate movies that make me sleep. Come on! If a movie cannot sustain my interest the first time round, then what was the guarantee that it will in the following times? (believe me, I’ve gone through lots of stupid tamil, telugu and malayalam movies and sat through them patiently without a blink of shut-eye! So, if a movie can make me sleep, then imagine how pathetic it should have been!).

After the first bad experience with ID(Independence Day :)), I avoided it as much as I could. I’ve escaped from seeing it in star movies, HBO, our local cable channel, etc dozens of times. Even when my brother was seized with an irrepressible urge to see all the English movies he could lay hands on, he couldn’t convince me to watch that movie with him. But, all of this changed when I saw the book! N___ brought along that book when we had gone on a family trip and I couldn’t help glancing through it. Even then, I wasn’t so interested (very atypical of me, if you remember the penchant I have for books of any kind) remembering the bad experience I had with it earlier. She started telling me about it assuming I had already seen the movie and slowly interested me into reading it.

I had already been accustomed to reading about extraterrestrials and the search for them(courtesy, Carl Sagan’s Contact) and thought that I can give ID a try(or rather a retry). Worst case, I would have one more bad experience with it :). But, once I started, I couldn’t stop. It kept me on the edge till the end and made me get a DVD of the film and watch it. Wow!! I still can’t believe how I slept through the movie the first time. Guess it was a combined case of exams(quarterly exams, if I remember right), playing all afternoon and evening and a sumptuous dinner just before the movie that induced me to sleep.

My favorite character in the movie was Steve Hiller. I like his cool-come-what-may attitude and his belief in cigars for victory dance. Especially, his plane drives and the final journey with David was great! And, Tom Whitmore is the type of a leader that each country should have during times of crisis, if not all the time. We need leaders like that in each country who put their country’s well being before theirs and their family’s. Both Jasmine and Connie symbolize the bravery of women during times of hardship. And, David’s character has been etched well. That reminds me! Julius(David’s dad) has a minor role to play in the movie but he seems to have brought the entire thing together. Kudos to him. Every character(right from the silent man whom Jas picks up on her way to El Toro to Russel) has been etched well and has been chosen with care in the movie.

Some of the scenes in the movie were spectacular. Especially, the scenes showing the aliens and their vehicles(the attackers, the city destroyers) were cool. And, the scene where Jasmine comes out of the tunnel with her son Dylan after surviving the wipeout only to see a devastated LA touched me like no other. Imagine coming out of dark tunnels towards light only to find that life is no longer the same and you wish you were better dead than living! The terror and later, hope in the eyes of normal citizens says it all throughout the film. The film is the basic good-wins-over-evil story but the portrayal is fantastic! It brings out the true spirit of mankind and shows us what can be achieved if we put away our differences and join hands together to save Mother Earth and ourselves. Let our children lead a life of peace and harmony. Let them have a world devoid of bloodshed, pollution, nuclear wars and most of all, fear. Let them be fearless! This is our responsibility towards the future generation(rather than having better technology, more money and more countries and governments).

In short, ID, by Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich and Stephen Molstad, is sure to enter the “Top100 English films to be seen” list. Long time since I knew a story in which both the book and movie were equally good. Though it is years late, it is still not too late to enjoy the movie or the book. Folks! If you’ve not seen it, I would surely recommend this movie for the weekend. If you’ve seen it, one more time is time well spent :)

P.S: And the book is better(the reader in me says :) )

Literature Tag!

Well, I've been tagged my friend P! This is a literary tag and here goes:

Five favorite authors:
1)Kalki
2)Arthur Conan Doyle
3)Anuthama
4)LM Montgomery
5)Ayn Rand

Four favorite characters:
1)Aalvaarkadiyaan - Ponniyin selvan
2)Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock Holmes
3)Ms.Mythreyi Seshadri - Naintha Ullam
4)Hari - Five point someone

Three favorite phrases:
1)"Nithya kalyaanamum Pachai Thoranamum" - Aathma
2)"Ethai Kandu Ichai kondaayadi, kiliyae?" - Naintha Ullam
3)"Moonlight, I love it " - The story girl

Two favorite novels/stories with a short description:
1)Ponniyin Selvan - Book on Cholas. It tells about the struggles for Chola empire and the final coronation. It has mystery, romance, humour, philosophy and what not! The hero is Vandhiya Thevan though the person after whom the book is named is ArulMozhi Varman aka Raja Raja. In one word, this is one good book. Though it has a lot of history in it, the way it has been said is truly exceptional. Only after reading this novel did I get really interested in books. A must read for everyone!
2)Naintha Ullam - A book about a girl who learns to live with her brother and uncle's family after leaving her foster family. The fun she has, struggles she faces and the silent demons that she fight have been portrayed beautifully. The story is set in Madras and Sri Lanka.

In english,
1)Anne of Green gables - one of my childhood books that I still love reading. All the Anne books are good! A sure read if you are planning on GRE because it has so many "big words" as Anne puts it :)
2) All of Sherlock Holmes - Too big to describe!

One favorite series:
Malory towers!! (nothing to beat it)

I tag all those who love books. Come on! This is a chance to talk about your favorite books and authors.And, it is fun too!

PS: Harry Potter was a close contender in the last category!! I love Potter exactly for the same reasons that I love MT. And, not to forget Famous Five, Five findouters, The secret Island series and..... I'd keep going. :)