Hyderabad - Manreet Sodhi Someshwar

 Fiction

Verdict: Meh

I picked up this novel because the cover art is decadent. And I'm a sucker for good cover art.  I didn't notice that this was a part of a trilogy until I started reading it. I'm sure that matters to some degree. The trilogy covers partition in India/Pakistan, but I don't think the characters are connected except for the historical non fiction ones as the locations change in each book. 

This novel was a bit of a let down after the previous book I read. The setting is Hydrabad during the nizam's time. I have a special fondness for Hyderabad which is another reason I wanted to read this. The book does a very awkward dance between historical Partition events, the nizam's palace, and a few smaller characters who add to the spy intrigue of the time. In my opinion, they don't really fit togther seamlessly and I struggled between the abrupt scene changes. Hyderabad is such a rich canvas to paint on that I was disappointed that the author only focused on Hussain Sagar and Charminar as a landmark. Yes, they are major landmarks, but they're also low hanging fruit. I also had a hard time identifying with and supporting the main characters. There were many characters involved and none of them were well developed. They all seemed superficial. 

The segments with historical discussions were extremely dry and more instructional/informational than adding to any of the existing story. It's like mashing a text book and a story book together and doing neither well. And the author broke the third wall in a few places bringing the reader back to the story line. Why we had to wander off into a historical conversation isn't really understood well. 

I get it that the point of the trilogy is probably to give a perspective from different locations on the finer points of partition - in this novel specifically - the Nizam's fight in Hyderabad to retain autonomy. Yet even that plot line was never really resolved in a satisfactory way even though we know that obviously automnomy was not retained. After all of these observations, I'm not very inclined to hunt down the other two parts of the series. It's very rare that I get bored reading a novel - and I did find myself wishing it would end already. There are plenty of other good reads that accomplish the same task in a much smoother way.

Read it if you have a large appetite for partition history and don't mind a mild masala with it.

~Becky~

The Alchemy of Desire: Tarun Tejpal

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I enjoy Tarun Tejpal as an author. For whatever has happened in his personal life (and I won't comment on this) I enjoy him immensely as a writer. The combination of his skill weaving a story and his very unique plot lines make him a very interesting proposition every single book. The Alchemy of Desire was no different.  It actually took me a very long time to sit down and write this after I finished reading it because I needed a very long time to digest what had happened in the novel. 

The story line revolves around a couple who had a very passionate physical relationship that lasted for years and years. Then one day they hit a bump in the road and lost all desire for each other. The story mixes together the slow unravelling of their relationship (which you come to suspect was only about physical passion) with memories that the protagonist painfully indulges in on a regular basis. The story ends after she leaves and he is left to putter about in a house they built together with only his memories. It's a fantastically painful exercise to read. But I do think that was the point. For whatever reason when a couple finds themselves at a point of no return/repair, the ending will be painful. There will be maudlin reminiscing, there will be a painful actual separation point, and there will be shared dreams and goals that will wither away and only be reminders going forward of what was lost.

The difficult part of this novel is that most people in attached relationships secretly harbor at least a little fear of their partner/spouse becoming bored of them on some capacity. Of losing desire or simply finding themselves moving different directions in life. Tejpal does an excellent job of setting the stage in the beginning of the book on just how active and important their physcial connection together was that it's like watching a slow motion train wreck coming. You want to look away but you just cant because you want to witness the entire sequence.  After going through a divorce after a long term marriage, I could identify with many of the feelings and physical events that happened in the book, even if not exact replicas. I guess that made it even harder to read. Thinking about it in the context of my current relationship made it terrifying and suffocating all in one. 

It's a power house of a book, but not in the usual sense. It will leave you thoughtful and possibly depressed for a while. But going through the experience of reading it will be worth your time, that's guaranteed. 

Read it!

~Becky~ 

The Swap - Shuma Raha

Fiction

Verdict: Uncertain

I came across this novel in my favorite book store, as has happened with so many before. It looked vaguely interesting so I thought to give it a try. Afterall, spouse swapping isn't a common (talked about in public) topic, and I was curious how the author would approach it. India has a strange way of hiding or appearing to hide many topics and then flagrantly parading them out in public as if it's normal in the name of modernity. It's a little dissonant sometimes.

Anyhow. The book opens to a well off couple (obviously) who have a friend who knows someone who throws spouse swapping parties. The wife is already having an affair with another friend. She has a lot of guilt and has hidden it well. The couple is talked into participating in a party and follows the normal trajectory of many people who choose to have open relationships - it's not easy. The husband ends up falling in love with the wife's lover's wife and they have an arrangement like that for a long time until finally it feels too weird for the wife and she calls a halt to it. It makes one wonder what was her motivation for that affair in the first place. There's a lot of blame and bitterness throughout the book about expecations and fidelity, and in the end, the couple ends up working it out, to my surprise.  There was also a weird side not about a street boy who was helped by the wife. 

To say it was a whirwind book with some unexpected attitudes is a little underrated. The author made swapping seem....so....normal. Open relationships - normal. I also felt that she could have gotten much further into the relationship between the main husband and wife. They were almost like cookie cutter stereotypes. I get that it's easy for multiple audiences to identify with such characters, but when you're dealing with the essence of marriage and an intimate relationship, such characters fall flat. 

I still think this book is worth reading because it challenges an Indian audience with sexuality, marriage expectations, and intimacy. As I mentioned previously, highly charged subjects that aren't always approached openly. An honest look at the fallout of such choices also helps people to be informed and not romanticize them - Always a good idea.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Book of Gold Leaves - Mirza Waheed

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This isn't the first book or even the 5th that I've read on some of the travesties that have occured and are still occuring in Kashmir. It never gets easier to read or digest.

The novel itself is an easy read. It's an easily identifiable version of Romeo and Juliet or Laila Majnu. As with most other content about Kashmiris, I found myself almost holding my breath for the inevitable tragedy that occurs just after the author makes you feel you know the character or right before the story ends. This book held true to that pattern. I still think that these types of books are worth reading. Not for the Romeo and Juliet vibe, but because the entire of Kashmir is littered with tragedies and one can't just avoid it because it's uncomfortable. Novels like this also give some of the social and personal context that affects individuals, not just military/country/general population. I also feel individual stories give a great deal of perspective that's not offered by media or official channels; it's often seen dramatically different from an individual perspective.  Experiences also can be vastly different depending on one's family, religious community, job, and social or economic status. To put it simply, it's a very complicated problem that is best understood from as many angles as possible. 

I've been living in India now for 12 years. I too have been caught up in the romantic idea of Kashmir and its beautiful scenery, as well as trying to untangle the complicated web of how it evolved into what is the scenario today. Obviously it's deeply interesting to me in a way that it might not be to others. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Le Divorce - Diane Johnson

Fiction

Verdict: Read it if you have an interest in France

I picked up this novel at a thrift store when I was in the US becaue I was bored and needed a novel and I became a bit obsessed with other people's divorces. This book didn't really solve either problem. 

The novel is about a young lady who moves to France to help her pregnant and deserted sister. She doesn't have a strong connection to France, nor any particularly compelling reason to go, besides it seems expected she will. It's then the usual story of expat adjustments, loving and hating a new country, and then becoming strangely unwilling to leave. For anyone who reads books of this sort or who has lived a life of this sort, it's a pretty text book case. I found myself unable to stay interested because at times it seemed that the author was overly invested in explaining French culture to her readers. While this is not a bad goal for another type of book, it's a pretty poor one for a novel.  Fortunately, there was no happily ever after at the end - like the sister gettng back together with her useless husband nor the protagonist having some happily ever after with her May December affair. There were so many different directions the author could have pursued or deep dove into but kept it very surface level. I'm not against having mundane, every day events in a plot line, but they should be contributing something to the theme. I just didn't feel that for this book. 

To be fair, I know nothing about Diane Johnson, and I try not to uselessly criticize, but I just couldn't get into this book. Perhaps if the reader is into French culture/Paris then this would be enjoyable as a time pass afternoon book. 

Meh.

~Becky~

A Death in the Himalayas - Udayan Mukherjee

Fiction

Verdict: If you want an Indian version of Sherlock Holmes

I haven't done much with Indian mystery novels, so this was an interesting change. As a bonus, I read it on the beach while in Goa. Quite a while back, but it was the perfect setting.

I won't get into too many of the details as mystery novels are pretty much formulaic. The writing gramatically and vocab wise was good - no complaints not painful to read. It did however borrow heavily from the Sherlock Holmes idea of detective and side kick. Udayan Mukherjee overdid that angle just a bit I felt. The flow overall was good and I found myself enjoying the read, even if I could guess most times what would come next. 

I hope to see other things from Udayan Mukherjee. Not sure if this is his first, but this is the first of his I read. 

~Becky~

The Bride in the Rainy Mountains - Kuvempu

Fiction

Verdict: If you're interested in Kannada literature and culture

This was another recommendation from my friendly sales person at Book Worm. I wasn't extremely enthusiastic at first because it was expensive and a very very large book. But I've started to take an interest lately into Kannadiga authors, and Kuvempu is a famous, award winning poet and author. So I conceded.

It's a historical novel about a vague place in Uttara Kannada (the northern part of Karnataka). A few different cultures, languages, and customs converge in this area. The author's language choices were fun and very much unique to that area, which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed digging in to some of the cultural roots in Karnataka. It's not an area I've explored much. 

There's a a vague plot like and a few main characters. The side characters are many. It's mainly just life going by in a few villages and how they interconnect. Its not thrilling, but the author does an exemplary job of highlighting and describing how life is in such a situation in the time period it's set in.

It's definitely a long novel, and to be quite honest I got bored in a few places. Not many, but a few. The author does a good job of pacing and his descriptions keep you engaged. Definitely read it if you are intereted in Karanataka culture, village life and history. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Death of Mr. Love : Indra Sinha

Fiction

Read it

This was another book that landed high on quite a few read lists, so I decided to give it a try. The book is written in a parallel to the famous Nanavati case in Bombay. It starts out with an idylic childhood in the hills outside of Pune. The story follows the main character, his relationship with the main female character (It's a very strange one indeed) and ties into the Nanvati case at the end.

I wouldn't call it a suspense, because the tension builds very very slowly, but that's what it is. The author has done a very masterful job of storytelling and winding many different threads into a different version of a well known tale. The writing is a bit eccentric, but well done. 

The book does drag in a few places, and it's a long one, but it's worth the effort. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Valley of Masks - Tarun Tejpal

Fiction

Read it!

I enjoyed The Story of My Assassins very much, so when I found another novel by Tarun Tejpal, I thought I should give it a try. I was not disappointed. One of the beautiful things that Tejpal is able to do is spin fantasies. He does it so beautifully that you don't even consider the improbability of what he's saying after a while. It's fantastic.

The Valley of Masks is about a breakaway religious cult who value equality above all. They all look the same, they all have a function. The further you get into this novel, the more social commentaries you see. Religious fervousness, community identiy, us versus them, personal identity, what society holds as ideals, Tarjun Tejpal marches out one by one in a subtle but unignorable way. 

I personally would call this not a horror novel....but something similar. By the end of the book, what was meant to be noble and good has morphed into something  absolutely horrific, that if the narrator is correct, will result in his death rather than a separation from.  The first person narration/memories only enhance the horror because you know that the narrator knows what's coming. What makes it even more disturbing to me is that I know people who hold the same ideals, albeit not to that degree, about relationships and the ideal of identity/ability equating to value. 

I won't narrate the whole story line because that would rob you of the beauty of unwinding the story that Tejpal has so artfully spun, line by line. Definitely worth the read.

~Becky~

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman

Fiction

-Meh-

I kept coming across this book on Pinterest as recommended, so when I found it in the bookstore (used and cheap!) I was rather excited. 

The novel introduces us to Eleanor Oliphant (surprise surprise) and quickly establishes that she's a quirky, weird, middle aged lady.  It's quite tropey. We follow her through her life as she faces disappointments, her past, and forming positive relationships.

This book definitely doesn't shy away from mental health issues. Eleanor has been abused and neglected and has walls a mile thick. She drinks too much, doesn't have a social life to speak of, and misses social cues. She makes an unlikely friend, Raymond, with an equally different co-worker. We're never quite sure if they have a mild romantic interest in each other or if they're just so thrilled to have found a support and a friend that it gets confusing. 

What I liked most about the novel is that Eleanor is relateable for me. While my circumstances may not be exactly the same as hers, I can understand her reactions to many things, and her hesitation to see the value in herself or trusting other people. I also know how much it can help to have a "Raymond", either as a romantic partner or just as an amazing friend. 

Unfortunately, the book was overall disappointing for me. There were so many issues for Eleanor I felt like the author went through and played Psychology Dilbert bingo and didn't fully address any of them. There was so much more that could have been done with this story. I'm not critisicing because neat endings are rare, but this ending just kind of happened. There was no resolution to anything, besides a very anticlimactic "I won't talk to my mom anymore because she's an abusive asshole" moment. The rest we wonder if Eleanor will sort out or not, especially the suicide episode she went through. The reader is left feeling that as long as Eleanor continues to put one foot in front of the other and continue trying, she'll be fine. This is charming, and often times the case in real life, but I needed a little more hope than that for a charachter I was rooting for and related to. 

Not a bad book, but keep your expectations reasonable.

~Becky~

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid

 Fiction

Read it

I'm not exactly sure why this was an international bestseller. It has a very American flavor of obsession with terrorists. But I suppose that is just a matter of style.  

The story opens with a Pakistani man sharing a meal with a very obviously white person. He shares his background and establishes a relationship, all the while reassuring his dining companion that he's paranoid that that no one is dangerous. Living in this part of the world, it's amusing to me that the author chose Pakistan as the home of his main character. I'm guessing it's because the author is Pakistani.  I view Lahore as a normal city, the same as any other. Of course there may be problems with terrorism, just like anywhere else. Ahem. Moving on.

The author takes us through his life and his relationship struggles, none of which made it clear to me why that should result in terrorism. At the end, you never really get answers. He implies that people are chasing them and that it's nothing to worry about. So many questions, no answers. Are we simply supposed to connect the dots? This doesn't seem to look good for the author. Especially when I suspect his motivation for writing this wasn't to encourage people to see terrorism behind every corner. 

This book left me puzzled on many accounts. It's a good time pass, it helps the audience relate the main character. Aside from that, I'm not sure how it relates to fundamentalism, terrorism, or what conclusions the author is asking the audience to draw. 

Read it for a good time pass, but don't encourage the fetishism of terrorism that the west embraces.

~Becky~

Delhi Noir - Omair Ahmad et Al

Fiction

Short Stories

As I mentioned, I have been very into short stories as of late. I have to be honest, the introduction to this collection sold me before I even started on the stories. The stories did not disappoint either. 

These stories feature the grittiness of life in Delhi. After visiting a few times, Delhi is not a place I'd ever want to visit again, for many of the reasons that come to the forefront of these stories. They are not happy ones, nor ones that give you any hope for humanity. Yet people move along with their lives because that's just how Delhi is. 

The authors and stories chosen gel very well together and do an excellent job of portraying the city in a realistic way that is often missing from the sanitized, glamorous life that the rich and famous live. 

The Moor's Last Sigh - Salman Rushdie

Fiction

Novel

Salman Rushdie has long been one of my favorite authors. He challenges my brain in ways that are subtle, but rigorous. I love it. 

This novel is a generational family epic of ridiculous proportions. Just about everything about this family is exceptional - some in good ways, some in terrible ones. 

True to Indian form, there's no happy ending, and it's not always clear who is right and wrong. You can't help but root for Rushdie's characters though. They're deep and very interesting, even though they are all realistically flawed. 

As I mentioned, Rushdie is never easy to read. He simply operates at a level that most of us never see. As such, his stories are very simple to read, but never are the simple story he has on the surface. There is always an under story that is happening in parallel. If you don't know how to look for it, you would never see it.  I know that I definitely need to looks through a few cliff notes to make sure I understand what happened.

Rushdie is one of those authors that you must read during your life time, if not for the enjoyment then for the experience.

Read it!

~Becky~ 

The Krishna Key - Ashwin Sanghi

Fiction
Verdict: Depends on your tolerance of mythology

I have read Ashwin Sanghi previously. This is a book I have been meaning to read for quite some time now, so when the librarian mentioned it, I decided to just go for it.

Ashwin brings his audience through a suspense novel concerning some artifacts, the Indian mythological system, murder, and misplaced righteousness. Spoiler - I didn't finish it. I'll get to that in a minute.

I enjoy Ashwin Sanghi's writing, aside from a few novel-specific points He's competent, coherent (or at least has a good editor!), and overall spins a good story.

Why it didn't work for me:
1. I appreciate mythology, I truly do. I'm not sure if Sanghi was trying to appeal to a wider audience than India, but he over explains the mythological concepts and connection in the guise of a teacher/student dynamic. This bothers me because a, I'd bet that almost every Indian knows these stories, b, trying to sell them as actual events here is not going to be argued with too much, and c, your student is 40 years old - she won't be asking level 1 questions.
2. I will never be convinced that the Mahabharata's stories are any more true than the bible or Koran. Less likely in fact.
3. The characters were caricatures. The geeky but hot student, the chain smoking, rough voiced female cop that scares the shit out of her colleagues and everyone in general.....come on.


If you have some time and you like mythology and the echo chamber that exists here about proving questionable events, then feel free. Not my cup of tea.

~Becky~

The Bankster - Ravi Subramanian

Fiction
Verdict: Time Pass

As Just Books is still not trading books between branches (that I know of), this was another book I chose to read so that I wouldn't inconvenience the librarian into finding more interesting things. I have never read Ravi Subramanian, so I thought I'd give him a go and see.

The book is a suspense novel. The author makes a stab at different plots that wind around each other to eventually make sense in the end. It's a mix of bankers, nuclear energy, blood diamonds, and murder. 

While it's a decent time pass story, the author has a while to go in terms of writing styles. I became overly conscious of him telling me why things were the way they were, rather than just showing them. I.e. "Bhaskar walked down his driveway and picked up the mail. He had always done that because his father taught him that the mailman was a symbol of punctuality." It did however, give me enough discomfort to go back and edit my own novels for such irritations. So there's that. 

Read it if you have the time and patience, it's a good concept, only execution needs a little polishing.

~Becky~

The Enigma of Arrival - V.S. Naipaul

Fiction
Verdict: God speed young man

There are very few books that I read that I do not finish. I will stubbornly persist until my eyes bleed on occasion because there may be some redeeming value to a book at some point. That's not what we're going to discuss today. I just couldn't.

This isn't my first run in with V.S. Naipaul, and due to all the hullabaloo about how brilliant he is, I thought that I might give him another go as an author. I just couldn't find my stride or anything interesting about the first third of this book. 

Naipaul wanders around and around in the English countryside without a purpose. Unfortunately, I don't find the English Countryside all that fascinating. It gets slightly more interesting when he starts on his journey, but not much. 

Maybe there is a grand point to this novel, and perhaps it does pick up half way through. I will leave that to the heartier souls who are brave enough to get that far without fear that the novel will be one big long description of what's going on around the narrator. I'll have to sit this one out.

Let's see if I have the fortitude to pursue Naipaul in the future.


~Becky~

Em and the big Hoom - Jerry Pinto

Fiction
Verdict: Read it

I'm not a big believer in reading the back of the book too carefully to see what a novel is about. I'm more of an "Oooh shiny" about the cover type book picker. Meh. I like to take my chances and revel in amazing finds. And the occasional disappointment. Ahem.

I haven't read anything from Jerry Pinto as yet and so new authors (for me) are always exciting. I don't know what I was drawn to on the cover, but it wasn't what I expected it to be, and not in a bad way. 

India has been opening up (at least in pop culture mediums) about many issues, mental health being one of them.  I find this to be a fantastic thing - the more it's in the open, the less....judged it will become. 

Em and the big Hoom is about a Goan Catholic family. A mom, a dad, a son, and a daughter. Only the mom is manic depressive and suicidal occasionally. There's no candy coating, no pretending everything is fine, no glossing over events. Just a family doing it's best to care for and support someone whose brain is not allowing her to function as most people do. It's a powerhouse of a novel. 

Jerry Pinto explores family dynamics, the fine line between disease and personality, genetics, living with a parent who has these issues, and the burden any long term disease places on a family.

This definitely isn't a light, quick read. For someone who generally reads pretty fast, this one took me a a while as I felt I needed to digest the many themes in small chunks as to not get overwhelmed. While I was doing that, I really considered the privilege of the "peek in the window" and what it must be like to actually be in such a situation. 

It's definitely a must read. 

~Becky~

Rani - Jaishree Misra

Fiction
Verdict: Read it

When I added this book to my reading list, I don't think I realized it was about Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. As with many of the books I read, I can't quite remember how I picked this one. Anyhow, it was a fun surprise.

For those who aren't aware, Lakshmibai was the queen of a small state called Jhansi during the times of the British colonialization of India. She fought against British forces and was Martyred. 

I have a soft spot for historical epochs that bring characters to life and give us a peek into what they may have been like as people. This book does a nice job of that, even considering that it was fiction and much may have been the author's creative license. The story follows the Rani from her simple but privileged childhood, through her teenaged marriage to a king, to her ultimate demise at the hands of the British army. Even before reading this novel, I found her to be an inspiring figure. 

In the interest of honesty, the novel drags in some places, and it's a lengthy sized book. I also was very curious about the quasi romance that the Rani had with a British officer. I'm curious about how much that was embellished simply to have a romantic angle in the novel. 

Overall a good time pass and a pleasant way for someone like me to get a better understanding of a historical figure. Read it!

~Becky~

Sleeping on Jupiter - Anuradha Roy

Fiction
Verdict: Read it if you have time

Anuradha Roy has taken the style of having different threads and weaving them slowly together throughout the story. While I very much enjoy this style, it can get frustrating in the middle as finding the links can be both difficult. 

The main characters (and there are many even though the story is clearly about one girl) are blessedly normal. Spanning economic classes, ages, and foreigners, this book brings an awful lot together. 

It's a mystery, so I won't give much away here. I will say that it was fun to read and worth the time.

Becky