Night in Delhi - Ranbir Sidhu

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

This is the first novel I've read by Ranbir Sidhu, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I was expecting something a bit more campy, but that was proved false. 

I don't remember what the main character's name is, as it's written in first person, but this novel is about the protagonist, his on-again, off-again, maybe pimp boyfried, and their piece of crap roommate. They go through a few vignets that feature a Delhi with alternate sexual realities. 

I very much enjoyed this novel for a few reasons. I'm pretty open about Delhi being one of the worst places in India to be (and of all the places I've been in my life), and the author has done an absolutely brilliant job of describing the fuck all, dirty attitude that Delhi fosters. The characters were well done and not complex - another noticeable trait one can pick up in Delhi (yes, yes, other places too, don't come for me Delhiites, it's a preference). Some people don't have depth or redeeming characteristics; they're just pieces of shit. Some people have talents and depth that even their families and lovers don't know about. 

What I found especially touching was the simplicity and acceptance of different varieties of love. Temporary loves, long term longing loves, unrequitted loves, the main character manages to cover a lot of bases without judgement.

In a country to fetishizes the traditional hetero normative journey of dating the opposite sex and getting married to have kids, this was a refreshing, normalizing read about letting people love who they want, when and how they want, without shoving it in the reader's face or being preachy about it. Very well done. I'd love to read more from Ranbir Sidhu if the quality is like this.

~Becky~

50 Greatest Love Stories

Fiction short Stories

Verdict: Read it for the feels

As I've mentioned previously, I'm not that big on romance books. I decided to give this a try - perhaps I was feeling senti about my husband that day. 

I don't know about Greatest Love Stories, but the book delivered as promised. It's a series of love stories. As I don't go into individual stories when I review, I will say that the composition was so-so. Maybe a different order or flow would have worked better for me, but this was a little so so in my book. 

Read it for the feels and enjoy the love.

~Becky~

The Forty Rules of Love - Eli Shafik

Fiction

Verdict: Maybe

Hello Interwebs. I know, I know, I'm hopelessly nerdy and cringy and out of touch....but it gives me a lot of joy. I've been off to other adventures than writing lately and it seems I'm a bit behind if we're going to judge by my 2 large stacks of books + Digital Books to review. My (suspected) ADHD brain would rather build a business and garden these days. I'm gonna start collecting blogs again and write about those too, just not right now, I need to finish this work first.

Ahem. On to the book. So I was binging Pinterest for new reads (the bookstore is expensive yo!) and I kept coming across Elif Shafak as a must read author. Ok cool. I'm up for trying just about anything. 

I'm not much for gimmicky writing, but this one slowly reeled me in. The novel is about a marriage that is falling apart. It's been a comfortable one (read, they thought they were happy), but they have reached midlife and are drifting slowly and inevitably apart. A parallel story runs about Rumi and his soul mate, Shams of Tabriz. Shafik examines relationships from a very multi-dimensional approach. But the theme continues to come back to love.

From a personal point of view (having had a marriage fall apart) it was a painful read. It was also difficult to watch Rumi and Shams have a relationship that was encompassing for both of them and exclusionary to everyone else. I have had some unfortunate experiences in that way too. But the way Shafik explored love was beautiful. There was no condemnation nor trying to shuffle things into the conventional way that everyone accepts and is comfortable with. He also made a point of relationships sometimes having a timeline - even when we want them to last forever they may not and it's painful. 

I think this book is worth it in spite of the kitch, but it requires some life experience and reflection. I personally find those some of the best. It's not a complicated story, but it's a complicated theme.

Verdict: Read it!

~Becky~

The Mountain Shadow - Gregory Roberts

Fiction

Verdict: Read It (4/5)

Overview: 

The Mountain Shadow was a surprise find at Bookworm. It's the second novel from Gregory Roberts, following the infamous Shantaram. I read Shantaram as well, so this would be the second novel. As Shantaram was influential in my decision to relocate to India, I definitely wanted to read the follow up.

Lin Baba makes his return appearance to continue bringing us through the life of crime, love, and friendship in Mumbai. 

What I Enjoyed:

Gregory Roberts is a good writer (or has an excellent editor!) and has interesting experiences to share. I think most of the fascination for me was a follow-up for the first novel and to see if his story resonated with mine. While the plot meandered quite a bit, the pacing was good. The characters are well-developed and entertaining. 

What I Disliked:

While I liked the epic romance story with Karla, it got a bit much at times. I also got the distinct impression that Lin Baba thought himself quite the Bollywood hero at times. Not a turn-off exactly, but it was amusing. This novel also had me questioning if anything new was coming to the table, or if the author was simply capitalizing on previous success. Nothing wrong with that of course if the story is good, but the plots were similar enough to make me wonder.

Summary:

If you enjoyed Shantharam, you'll enjoy this as well. It's not a short read, it took me a good amount of time. I personally liked Shantharam better, though it's been so long now I need to go back and read it again. If you've run to India for some reason you might resonate with this novel. Read it!

 

~Becky~

  

Modern Romance: Aziz Ansari

 NonFiction

Verdict: Read it

Another result of my wandering down the comedy isle in the library, I decided to give Aziz Ansari a chance.

Expecting a light read of observational humor, this was a pleasant surprise. Ansari delivers a research paper worth of information on modern romance - and humor to boot.

I won't go into all the subtheories nor data he provides, it's extensive, but I will say it was a nice way to pass an afternoon. 

Read it!

~Becky~

The Ground Beneath Her Feet - Salman Rushdie

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

Yes, yes, I have a thing for Salman Rushdie. Or rather Salman Rushdie's books. He seems like rather a prick but I forgive him on account of genius. 

This was a novel that I got from the library, didn't get around to reading, and had to regretfully return. Fortunately on my last trip to the bookstore, I found a copy. Now when Salman Rushdie gets to writing, the man gets to writing. This isn't a short novel, and I'll admit, it drags a bit as Rushdie weaves his magic and gets around slowly to his point.

The novel is about a love triangle between the narrator and two famous singers, who he happens to have grown up. Rushdie takes his time going into the backgrounds of the characters and families. Vina Aspara, the central focus of the novel, and she's got a complicated background. The story slowly wanders through their growing up, becoming famous, and ending in tragic and mysterious circumstances.

Underneath it all, it's a love story, even though it's a super unconventional one. Vina also is a hell of a heroine, though she's also a super unconventional one. The story does wander off into weird territory at the end.  As with all Rushdie works, there are things going on underneath what he's saying. In this instance, I can't figure out what he is saying in this one, but that's not surprising.

What I can say is that Rushdie's interpretation of a love story and a heroine make it worth reading.  Plus, it's Salman Rushdie. It's worth reading.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

Fiction
Verdict: Meh

When I moved out of American Fiction and expanded to Indian authors, the differences in outlook knocked me sideways. For some reason, it never occured to me that European authors would have their own flavor. This book is just one example I've had of that. I can't even decide if I liked it or not - which is quite the statement for me. While we can't pigeon hole groups of people, mindset affects storytelling and different places have different mindsets.

Kundera's novel traces through the life of two couples and the ebb and flow of those relationships. While it's interesting from the viewpoint that relationships are seen in a very different light, the casual nature of the relationships is hard to digest. The idea that connections last but relationships don't always. The over defined sense of self and ease of letting go when the situation changes.

It was certainly educational, if an uncomfortable read for me. There were no major shocks in the plot line, but the subtle tension of will something happen or not was definitely there.

Read it. If nothing else, you'll ponder your own relationships for a while.

Becky

Essential Rumi

Poetry
Verdict: Read it

Ah Rumi. You and your poety friends continue to elude me. I'll be honest here. I picked up Rumi because I saw a lot of nice Pinterest quotes and I was hoping to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of poetry - especially that of the Urdu variety.

Unfortunately, I did not have any more luck with Rumi than I did with Neruda, Ghalib, etc. This is not to say it wasn't worth reading, nor that it was poorly written. I just felt like I didn't get it.

What I very much did appreciate was the historical and cultural context this book shared with me in regards to Urdu poetry. It was all at once fascinating and terrible to read - I wondered if I was even qualified to understand the explanation, leave alone the poetry.

In the end it was beautiful to read and I will continue my exploration. Hopefully with time and some handy guides to poetry, I should be able to have a better grasp on this type of thing.

Becky

An Equal Music - Vikram Seth

Fiction
Verdict: Read It

I'll be honest. After reading the behemoth that was "A Suitable Boy", I was wary of reading any more from Vikram Seth. It was an excellent read, but holy hotcakes was it long.

I was not disappointed with An Equal Music either. If Seth knows how to do one thing well, it's weave a long and complex story, and he's done it here. Focusing on the affair between professional musicians in Europe, it has a different flavor than normal Indian novels. It still has the ever present melancholy and fatalism that marks so many Indian authors.

It's not a happy ending, and watching the affair dwindle off to nothing is almost as excruciating as watching the main character's love interest lose her hearing, which is devastating for a musician.

I found myself wondering just what the point of the main character's life was, until it resembled my own, which was of course infinitely depressing.

It's not short, or easy, but read it anyhow. Vikram Seth's stories really are well spun.

Becky

Indian Love Stories - Sudhir Kakar

Non-Fiction
Verdict: Read it

Another anthology about love stories, another book that was vastly different from what I expected.

Love in all it's manifestations, it's not always about roses and smiles, and warm fuzzies. Sometimes it's hard, or gross, or not what was expected. Another glimpse into a culture's version of love.

Not long or difficult. Take the time and read it.

Becky

Adultery - Farrukh Dandey

Non-Fiction
Verdict: Read it

Another book that turned out to be vastly different than I had expected. This is very surprisingly not about smut, or adultery, although there is a fair bit of that. What this book is about is relationships.

A collection of short stories, most of them do not turn out quite as you would have expected. I found this a bit disappointing, but it made reading it much more interesting.

Not a long or difficult read - take the time.

Becky

If it's Not Forever It's Not Love - Durjoy Datta

I couldn't remember ordering this (I'm not a huge fan of sap), but it came, so I read it anyhow. For a sappy story, it was a good one.

The plot line starts after a bomb blast. A young guy finds a torched diary. Thinking that someone's family may want to know what happened to the victim, he and his girlfriend go on a round about journey of India to find them. In the end, there are some great twists to the plot, and even a great sense of how love gets over many, many things.

Verdict: Read it, even if you don't like sap.