Juhi
2.5 stars
This book is a collection of short stories from Sudha Murthy's life. Some of them are inspirational, while some are downright boring and dry; some are humbling, while towards the end it becomes quite braggy. All in all I have mixed feelings about this book. I don't hate it but I don't love it either.
Wow. Just wow. I've never seen a more honest portrayal of what it means to be a female. It's been years since this book was written, but everything in it stays relevant to this day. What started off as a leisurely read turned out to be one of best feminist literature I've read. There is something saddening and bitter about the brutal honesty of Alice Walker, but that is what makes this book one of a kind. This feels like one of those books that leaves an indelible impact on your life, that touches not just the heart, but also the soul.
“Is today a good day to die?” This is what Theodore Finch, a boy fascinated by death, asks himself each day. He always thinks of ways to kill himself, but something stops him each time.
When he meets Violet Markey - a girl going through the grief of her sister's death, on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it's unclear who saves whom. They pair up for a project to discover the natural wonders of their state. This is when they discover that life is after all worth living. Only around Violet, Finch can be himself -a weird, funny, lively guy who is not the freak people call him at school. And it's only with Finch that Violet starts to live instead of counting her days till graduation.
This is a story of a girl who learns to live from a boy who wants to die.
The book captures the theme of mental illness, suicide, & friendship (with a touch of romance). It beautifully describes the feelings of a person suffering with a mental disorder, while not revealing the disorder until later. It is captivating & high on emotions. In fact, there comes a point where you no longer want to read ahead because it just hurts so much. The chemistry between Theodore & Violet, the way they are completely themselves with each other tells you the depth of their bond.
The writing was good to the extent of extracting emotions out of the reader, however I feel it lacked character development. You do not connect with the characters on a personal level, and are left only feeling bad for them superficially. It seems like they are just used as a means to extract your emotions.
The book is usually compared to TFIOS with people calling it the second TFIOS. I'm not sure if I agree with this. The story is similar, to an extent, with all the death & emotional stuff. However, it isn't on par with TFIOS when it comes to character development & plot.
“For every story we hear, there is another side that may be as equally, subjectively true.”
Set in the 1800s in Iceland, the book tells a story of a woman condemned to die for committing the murder of two males. While throughout history, she has been labelled as a cold blooded witch, who planned & murdered two people, the author tries to bring out the narrative of the story from the accused woman's point of view.
History is not infallible, and any narration that is built suffers from inevitable human bias. This being the basic premise, the author never claims to be representing the “correct” story, because when it comes to history, truth in itself is subjective. That being said, I believe the book does justice to the story or the version of it that it tries to bring forth. It evokes just the right amount of sympathy for the accused, while at the same time keeping it open to delibrate the “guilt” of the accused. It also makes you think about the “justice” or “fairness” of death penalty by bring out the thoughts of a person on a death sentence, waiting for execution.
At the end, I couldn't help but question historical representations, and narratives we've been hearing since childhood. While the most popular versions have been accepted as “true”, isn't there still an iota of doubt that history has been corrupted by the bias, prejudices, human selfishness, and prevailing ideologies of the time, and we can never truly know what is true?
This was one hell of a weird book from beginning till end. I wonder if it was Agatha Christie who wrote it, or it's one big conspiracy to name her the author of this weird, un-poirot-y, un-agatha book. For starters, the character of Poirot was so off the whole time. Instead of the Poirot, who's known to use his “grey cells” to solve murder mysteries, the Poirot in this book was off fighting and using bombs, and what not to defeat some weird secret organization. It felt like Christie wrote random short stories, and then created some fantastic organization of 4 to thread the stories together, and convert it into a book? Don't even get me started on the climax and the ending where she keeps you wondering if the number 4 is even dead. Was she trying to keep his demise doubtful to bring him in some future novel and kill off Poirot. Now I've not read the last Poirot novel yet, so I'm just left wondering..hmm.
So anyway, the book in short:
1. Poirot calling himself a “triple imbecile” whatever that means.
2. Hastings losing consciousness now and again.
3. Number 4 appearing in each chapter as a new character.
I must say I lost a considerable amount of respect for Agatha Christie after this novel :(
Personally, Manto has always been a fascinating author. The first time I was introduced to him was by a senior in a book club meeting in 1st year. In the same year, I happened to watch his biography. Manto was but another person deeply affected and afflicted by the horrible events that followed India's independence and it's partition. The relationship between Manto and Mumbai was unparalleled. Even after being forced to move to Pakistan, he missed and wondered about the city. In Pakistan, Manto drowned himself in alcohol, and perhaps produced some of his greatest work, even if it was but a means to find a way around the poverty prevelant in his new country, which perhaps never felt his own to him.
The book contains 50 sketches and stories of partition by Manto. Most of these he wrote sitting in dimly lit, smelly agencies and offices, in the hopes of earning enough to buy another day of alcohol to drown his sorrows. However, the pain he felt, and the intensity of his emotions are greatly reflected in his stories. The horrifying acts committed by humans against humans that Manto witnessed all around him are presented in a lucid language, with often a great impact towards the climax. Manto, like he is expected, doesn't shy away from telling us the true picture. He never cared about the numerous suits against him for indecency and obscenity, and the same attitude is somewhat reflected in his writings contained in the book.
The book left me with a heavy heart, and with the horrific realisation that hate is the most unifying thing in the universe, and humans are the most inhumane creatures on this planet.
Another book without the classic Hastings narration, but oh, well, it was fun all the same!
This book is different from the other Hercule Poirot mysteries I've read so far due to 3 reasons:
1. There is no Hastings
2. Hercule Poirot does not properly come into the picture until well after 100 pages
3. The bulk of the investigation or questioning suspects falls on the other 3 characters instead of Poirot
Initially, I felt pretty bored in the first half of the book since the other characters did not possess the method with which Poirot investigates and questions. Also, I terribly missed Hasting's narration style and remarks throughout the story. But as it progressed, and as Poirot took the centre stage again, my interest piqued. Of course, the ending was nothing short of what you would expect out of a Agatha Christie book! Absolute thrillfest; and indeed an interesting motive this time.