Review: The Devil's Star

The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good murder mystery - would have been better if more concise and focused.

A serial killer seems to be on the loose. It appears to start with a young woman being murdered in her flat. More murders follow - and they are all cruel and brutal, with a finger being severed in each case.

Harry Hole is in a slump - his marriage is in trouble, he has a severe drinking problem and has no interest in the police force. He is assigned the case along with Tom Waaler, whom he has accused of being (at least partly) guilty of being an accomplice in certain crimes. But he has little choice in the matter.

Harry does spot a pattern, and with that, it seems the case is almost over. The police now know where the next crime could occur and lie in wait. But twists are in store.

Overall, this is a good murder mystery. However, it struggles over several pages to develop the story. And yet, the theme of the story is a positive, making the book worth a read.

My rating: 3.5 / 5.

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Review: Em and The Big Hoom

Em and The Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very unusual story – that of Em (Imelda) and the Big Hoom (Augustine) and their children. The story is told by their son – part of a family who has struggled in life and has just about stays afloat all the time. The story shuffles between the present and the past starting from when Em and the Big Hoom met and decided to get married.

Em, now battles mental illness (bipolar / schizophrenia) and keeps trying to take her own life. She however retains much of her ready wit and sharp tongue. She is addicted to smoking beedis and sees conspiracies in the mundane, like, pits in the road as someone conspiring and digging mass graves. She lands up in hospital quite often, as the family struggles to cope.

The descriptions of the life of the middle class, their eating habits and the city of Bombay / Mumbai of many years back is a delight to read. The humour has brilliance, but unfortunately not in it’s entirety. While there is sophisticated and great dialogue with the humour you would read in a PG Wodehouse novel, there is also the very ordinary variety – which is a sad setback for the book.


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Review: Kaanan: A modern professional seeks answers to our eternal questions on life

Kaanan: A modern professional seeks answers to our eternal questions on life by Siddhartha Patnaik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kaanan is a short book, but leaves an impact. The book can be considered an easy introduction to spirituality and values.

Kaanan is a working professional. On the face of it, he is doing well - with a good career and is well placed financially. And yet, he feels something is missing. He decides to take a break from work, and visits an ashram located near the Himalayan ranges. This turns out to be a period of deep learning in yoga, meditation as well provides him a new perspective on the deeper questions of life.

If spirituality interests you (especially the Indian Yoga & Vedanta traditions), you will like this book, and it will most likely invoke your curiosity to delve deeper.

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Review: Do We Not Bleed? Reflections of a 21-st Century Pakistani

Do We Not Bleed? Reflections of a 21-st Century Pakistani by Mehr Tarar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is difficult to name a theme for the book. It is a little of this and that - about life in Pakistan. While the nation obviously has attracted a lot of criticism for it's support for religious extremism and terrorism - it is also a place where people have their dreams and aspirations. And that is at times forgotten.

A good section of the book has commentaries on feudal practices which are blatantly unfair to women. There are several painful stories of discrimination and violence. While the setting is Pakistan, quite obviously the lessons hold for the region and beyond. There is some very good material on inspiring Pakistanis such as Muniba Mazari who despite all odds, is today an inspiration for many. There is also some discussion on the rise of extremism and the impact on ordinary citizens - especially minorities (who have reduced from 21% or so when the nation was born to less than 3% today) who live in fear and are sceptical on being dealt with fairly by the law.

What I liked about the book is that the discussion is mature and fair - be it about what is wrong in Pakistan and in it's relations with other nations (especially India). It is clear that Mehr Tarar certainly means well. The major drawback of the book though is that there is no coherent flow and larger theme to hold the narrative together. And there was also potential to delve deeper into the rise of religious extremism and what could be done to counter it.

I found her section of Pakistan's relation with India to be a balanced viewpoint. It was also nice to read the influence Indian culture and films have had on her. The viewpoints from diverse personalities on the way forward is weak however, and some of the people she quotes have little or no credibility or standing in their own countries. I did like the viewpoints expressed by Syed Akbaruddin, Hussain Haqqani and Shekhar Gupta which stood above the rest.

A well meaning and very readable book which would have benefited with a better flow, more new material, crisper narrative in places and more imaginative expert opinions.

My rating: 3.5 / 5.

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Review: The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It somehow took me some time to get to reading this book, though I came across very positive reviews quite some time back. "The Help" is a wonderful book and the characters of Aibileen, Skeeter and Minny will stay with me for ever.

This book is placed in a town in Mississippi (in the 1960s) and is about the coloured helps of white families in the town. While the book is primarily around race relations/segregation and discrimination, there are lessons around status quo and how what is clearly wrong can appear normal. A story which has been believed and lived since years holds in a environment of fear and threat of subjugation and violence.

Aibileen has been a maid all her life, has accepted that segregation and discrimination is the norm. Skeeter, is a young lady who is quite different from most others. She has memories of the help at her place - Constantine who suddenly disappears. Skeeter develops a strong bond with Aibileen. Minny is another maid who is a close friend of Aibileen. She is frank and direct - as a result of which she struggles to hold on to a job.

Skeeter feels strongly that the voice of the maids should be heard, and she starts a project in secrecy in a hostile environment with a lot of risks. However, will her project help the maids or will it make life more difficult for them, as well as for herself?

This is one of the best books I have read in recent times, with strong characters who hold values ahead of their times and a strong sense of fairness. The conversational writing style adds to the charm of the book, and this is a book I strongly recommend.

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Review: Mohini

Mohini by Ramendra Kumar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After reading the abstract, I knew fairly well what the book would be like. I was not expecting great literary merit, but a quick and relaxing read, and that is exactly what this was. This book, taps into the Indian people’s fascination with cinema. It has the standard mix of glamour, cunning, lust, revenge and all that.

Mohini is an aspiring actress – and extremely ambitious. She is willing to do down the crooked path if that will help her make it big as an actress. She is helped in this by her cunning manager Vicky and well-wisher Imran Bhai. She runs into a number of people on her career ascent – directors, managers, media managers and others, and learns how she can manipulate them all to help her. At one point, she feels she has found love and looks forward to settling down to marital bliss with a director she respects. A foolish mistake and there is a major setback.
Will she make it to the top or will her mistakes catch-up with her?

My rating: 2.5 / 5. I am rounding the rating upwards since despite her manipulative ways, the character of Mohini as a well-meaning woman with her failings leaves an impression.


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