Damn Right!
Guess what? Yesterday I spent the whole day reading Amitav Ghosh's Calcutta Chromosome. Yes, Even at work (during break times ofcourse!) and then I ran back home as soon as could to finish it. I EVEN (and this makes me sad retrospectively) told the loved one "sorry baby, I'm reading a book, can I call you..er..tomorrow?". It was about 3 AM when I came to the last page and found that this book has the LAMEST, most Fuck-All ending of all times.
I HATE it when a book makes me feel stupid, more so when its absolutely absorbing in every page except the last. It literally made me go HUH? or rather a humongous HUH???
And the worse part is that I like Amitav Ghosh's previous works - Glass Palace, Hungry Tide, In Antique Lands etc. I can't understand why this one turned this way and I've spent the last two hours deciphering the ending on the net, but nobody seems to have a clue. What's even more frustrating is the glowing reviews. Like all of them literary types have understood exactly what the book was all about.
I did like the book tho but the ending just didn't make sense and I felt like calling the author up and asking for an explanation and ofcourse for my money to be returned. If anybody has read this book and more importantly has understood the ending. CALL MEEE
Lately, I've reading a lot of books with Fuck-All endings and its like, I've hit a lean patch equivalent of the literary world. There was Candace Bushnell's 4 blondes before this and that too had a lame ending. But the silver lining in all this is that I am Reading. That I am reading atleast one book a month like I resolved to. I'm glad I can still stay till 4 am reading books when I have work the next day when I know I'll all be bleary eyed, just like it used to be in college. Nothing makes me more happier than curling up with a good book and losing all track of time and space.
Inspite of my whinging today there have been loads of good books that I have read.
*Drumroll please, for the lady recommends.........*
1. Reluctant Fundamentalist - By Mohsin Hamid: sweet, short good read
2. Boys From Brazil - By Ira Levine: Gripping thriller, OMG ending. Loved It
3. Atonement - By Ewan McEvan: Well Written, absorbing. Felt good after reading it
4. Pundits From Pakistan - By Rahul Bhattacharya: My favourite read of the year. I'm not a sports fan but this guy made cricket absorbing for me. Wonderfully constructed sentences on cricket and life in Pakistan. I can't recommend it enough
5. The In-between world of Vikram Lall - By M G Vassanji: Another well written book on the life of 3 asian kids in post colonial Kenya. I'm a sucker for stories with strong political bacdrops so much so that more than a backdrop, it ends up being a strong character in the book.
I have 3 more books on the cards that come highly recommended - Manil Suri's Life of Shiva, Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy (OMG...Yeah I know...I've still not read it.. so shoot me ok?) and Orhan Pamuk's Snow. I hope I'll be able to finish these by the year.
What have you guys been reading? Any recommendations?
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Comment Allez Vous?
Did I mention doom in the last post? Well things have already begun to happily unravel for me. Its time for my annual mid year crisis. I lost my debit card. Well I thought I lost it anyhow and I cancelled the card. And because Citibank sends a replacement card with such alacrity, I found myself consuming copious amounts of Vada Pavs at Joshi Vada Walle for lack of money for a proper dinner. This is the same joint that attracts Auto wallahs and skoda driving peoples in equal proportions and yes, that’s what I said to console myself in this state of temporary penury.
Things always go haywire for me around June time. Work starts getting hectic, I fall sick a zillion times – and what I hate the most – the combination of those two together. Ever since I’ve started working, I’ve noticed that my most demanding projects happen around June-July AND when I’m at my sickest. That’s life telling me – “Deal with it super girl”. This has happened to me every year for the past 3 years that I’m beginning to suspect a collusion between top management and God. It’s as regular as that 3:30 PM email from boss on Friday afternoons.
Well work has involved a lot of traveling too. It took me to Mahabaleshwar where I spent a rain soaked weekend in a resort that had no cell phone signal. The only place where there was signal was a solitary tree near the pool. Things got so desperate that I was seen juggling a laptop, a phone and a gigantic umbrella, sending emails amidst a downpour under that particular tree. I did that for 2 days and when I was checking out, the hotel manager asked me what I was trying to do exactly. When I told him that I was sending emails and that I’m the consummate worker bee and very dedicated to work and do not mind emailing under desperate conditions, he tells me that there was wi-fi in the lobby.
I wanted to KILL HIM!
Work has also taken to me to a lot of five star hotels and the best, most awesome things about these hotels is the most awesome complimentary breakfasts. I dunno whether it reflects on my upbringing, but I feel like an Ethiopian famine survivor at the sight of so much free food. And food that I my bleak, solitary life doesn’t ordinarily see in one place. All to tuck in as much as I ever want. Sigh. I want to die and go to heaven at this time. A heaven that consists of Bacon, pastries, apricot jams, grape fruit juice, scrambled eggs, potato wedges, pancakes and maple syrup…sigh
Work has also made a mini mafia don out of me. I find myself yelling and making bizarre sentences like “I need that consigment in my office even if you have to sacrifice your life for it” or even contemplating on the alcohol consumption of about a 100 middle aged men. Don’t ask. It’s a lot of stress and I end up getting pissed off quite often. I can literally feel the muscles in my forehead stretching.
And sometimes, because I get so stressed, I stress about being stressed and wonder if I’ll be part of the statistic that takes BP pills below the age of 30. As long as I have constant access to complimentary star-hotel breakfasts, I think Not!
Things always go haywire for me around June time. Work starts getting hectic, I fall sick a zillion times – and what I hate the most – the combination of those two together. Ever since I’ve started working, I’ve noticed that my most demanding projects happen around June-July AND when I’m at my sickest. That’s life telling me – “Deal with it super girl”. This has happened to me every year for the past 3 years that I’m beginning to suspect a collusion between top management and God. It’s as regular as that 3:30 PM email from boss on Friday afternoons.
Well work has involved a lot of traveling too. It took me to Mahabaleshwar where I spent a rain soaked weekend in a resort that had no cell phone signal. The only place where there was signal was a solitary tree near the pool. Things got so desperate that I was seen juggling a laptop, a phone and a gigantic umbrella, sending emails amidst a downpour under that particular tree. I did that for 2 days and when I was checking out, the hotel manager asked me what I was trying to do exactly. When I told him that I was sending emails and that I’m the consummate worker bee and very dedicated to work and do not mind emailing under desperate conditions, he tells me that there was wi-fi in the lobby.
I wanted to KILL HIM!
Work has also taken to me to a lot of five star hotels and the best, most awesome things about these hotels is the most awesome complimentary breakfasts. I dunno whether it reflects on my upbringing, but I feel like an Ethiopian famine survivor at the sight of so much free food. And food that I my bleak, solitary life doesn’t ordinarily see in one place. All to tuck in as much as I ever want. Sigh. I want to die and go to heaven at this time. A heaven that consists of Bacon, pastries, apricot jams, grape fruit juice, scrambled eggs, potato wedges, pancakes and maple syrup…sigh
Work has also made a mini mafia don out of me. I find myself yelling and making bizarre sentences like “I need that consigment in my office even if you have to sacrifice your life for it” or even contemplating on the alcohol consumption of about a 100 middle aged men. Don’t ask. It’s a lot of stress and I end up getting pissed off quite often. I can literally feel the muscles in my forehead stretching.
And sometimes, because I get so stressed, I stress about being stressed and wonder if I’ll be part of the statistic that takes BP pills below the age of 30. As long as I have constant access to complimentary star-hotel breakfasts, I think Not!
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