Amodini's Book Reviews

Book Reviews and Recommendations

Stuff the kids won’t learn in school

Written By: amodini - Jul• 15•10

An email, which has reached me before, reaches me again. It’s been out for a while, and does the rounds every so often. It’s about the 11 things kids won’t learn in school, and the author is supposed to be Bill Gates (according to the email). Now although I liked the content, it didn’t seem like Gates-speak, and turns out it isn’t. Here’s the content of the email :

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair – get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world doesn’t care about your
self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault , so don’t whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, or AddThe list is by Charles J. Sykes, the author of “Dumbing down our kids” and there are 3 more rules :

Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you’re out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That’s what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for “expressing yourself” with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven’t seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school’s a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you’ll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You’re welcome.

This list has often been misattributed to Gates and to Kurt Vonnegut.

Posted in culture and society, desi, education, kids, learning | 1 Comment »

Impressions of Paris – I

Written By: amodini - Jul• 06•10

paris
I am not much of a traveller. The best vacation for me is at home. But when I do go and to places like Paris, I would like to remember as much of it as I can. So I do resolve to come back and write about it to be able to read and relive it later, but you know how resolutions go. Still, a little later is better than never. Here then are some photos, and some descriptions in the first of a 2-3 part series on my visit to Paris.

Paris was a very pleasant vacation; the weather was superb, a little on the nippy side (we all had to go buy coats, and it’s summer), but still nice. We stayed at a hotel which was about a 5 minute walk to the Louvre Museum, so pretty much in the thick of things, with easy access to the Metro. We paid what seemed to be a fortune per night, because this was a large room which accomodated 4 people. Most Paris hotel rooms are tiny, and will accomodate only 2 people (and that I’m told barely) – so lodging-wise not so family-friendly.

If you are at the Louvre you are in the 1st arrondisement of Paris, an arrondisement being sort of like a little district or a municipal ward, for governing purposes. Arrondisements in Paris are laid out in a spiral, the 1st being the very center, and the rest lying outwards along the spiral. So if you happen to be in Arrondisement 20 , you are on the periphery of the city. The river Seine cuts the city into two banks the top Right Bank and bottom Left Bank. The Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Tuileries, and the Concorde all lie on the Right Bank while the Pantheon, the Eiffel Tower and the Gardens of Luxemborg lie on the Left. Notre Dame lies sort of in the middle of the banks on a little island.

Paris street and Arc de TriompheParis has a quaint feel, with it’s cobbled streets and it’s cyclists and pedestrians. There are cars too, but they are small and very compact – I didn’t see any large Land Cruiser types. We traveled by the Metro and also walked a lot, stopping intermittently to eat and drink. Paris was full of historic architecture – even the apartments lining the streets, had great wrought iron work, and curving roofs. Everything looked historic. Sort of the way I feel in Connaught place in Delhi. Now Delhi is so beautiful too; if only it were better maintained.

Paris and Delhi have other similarities too – the Arc de Triomphe is not unalike India Gate, and they are both are laid at the center of a grid of roads. The photograph below was taken very close to sunset, and appears dark, but not knowing whether I would have time to come back some morning to get a better shot, I took it anyway.Arc de Triomphe

We were pretty eager to see the Eiffel Tower, and my first thought as it came into view was that it was humongous. In fact viewing it from across the river later, from the Trocadero Place, it dwarfed the city around it, seeming almost like someone had placed a giant monument onto a land of little people.Eiffel Tower

Posted in images, lovely things, of me, series, travel | Comments Off on Impressions of Paris – I

Book Review : Remarkable Creatures

Written By: amodini - Jun• 18•10

Remarkable CreaturesTitle : Remarkable Creatures
Author : Tracy Chevalier
Genre : Historical fiction
Pages : 320
Rating : 4/5

A spinster in search of fossils. Sound interesting ? Well, it should, because like it’s title “Remarkable creatures” this book is pretty remarkable too. I haven’t read this author’s previous novel “Girl with a pearl earring”, but when I came across a review of this book, I knew I wanted to read it.

The book is centered around Elizabeth Philpot, one of three sisters who have resigned themselves to the single life, because in the 1800s (the period this book is set in), without a fortune and good looks, a husband is hard to come by. The three move to the coastal city of Lyme Regis when their brother marries. Lyme Regis is special because on it’s beaches are found bits of fossils, known as “curies” (or curiosities). It is thus on the beaches of Lyme Regis, that Elizabeth who is of an inquisitive bent comes to meet Mary Anning, an avid fossil hunter.

Mary comes from a poor household and the sale of her “curies” supplements their meager income. Elizabeth, comparatively well off is not Mary’s social superior, (although she exists on the fringes of genteel poverty) but the two form a bond based on their love for fossils. The book charts their course of life and their thoughts, sometimes alike and sometimes diverging.

The narrative is in the first person, but switches from Elizabeth to Mary – a fact I appreciated very much since it allowed us to hear their innermost thoughts. This book does not have a big problem and it’s resolution, rather much like the sea which sweeps up so many of their precious “curies”, the story ebbs and flows. Mary and Elizabeth remain in Lyme Regis and life and it’s many events flow around them, shaping them and their friendship.

It is thus a rather gentle, not to be mistaken with placid, read. And lest I sound like this was not interesting, I will clarify that for the couple of days that it took me to read this book, I stayed up well past my bedtime to read as much as I could. Ms. Chevalier has that rare knack for writing which, even when describing the most humdrum of events, sucks you in and places you in the middle of the story. Her characters are well-drawn, and her narrative just the right amount of enticing.

I really liked this book (although like seems a simple word) for it’s wealth of emotions, and for the portrayal of Elizabeth and Mary – two women born into a society where a single woman was an aberration – who relied on independent thought. Feminism for the 1800s if you will, but there it is, subtle and in it’s place, without making a to-do of asserting one’s will. Their actions and their thinking is a natural extension of who they are and the circumstances they face, and it is this honesty flowing from Chevalier’s words that make this wonderful book what it is.

P.S. : Interestingly, although Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot are characters in the book they were real fossilists – Mary, the more famous of the two, and Philpot known for her collaboration with Anning.

Posted in 4_star_rating, books, historical, must read, penguin_books, recommended, review, women | 3 Comments »

On celebration

Written By: amodini - Jun• 10•10

I remember hearing Viswanathan Anand in an interview talking about his parents’ reaction to his being featured in Time Magazine or some such achievement. Apparently his parents were most matter of fact about that – the whole “OK, well done beta ! Now let’s get you down to earth !” routine. I can almost see that, because my parents are much the same. I think it’s got something to do with the fact that we are desi, and very much the anti-rah-rah brigade.

Well, rah-rah-ing is the flavor of the month, it being June – the month for graduations. And graduation parties. As students, young and old, graduate from their classes or colleges, there is a general feel of celebration in the air. Department stores hype up the marketing touting their gifts for the new graduate in your life. And at graduation ceremonies all over, you see beaming parents, grandparents, and other assorted family members, cameras in hand, proudly take photos of the grand moment.

This is one tradition that was missing when I was going through my school and college years in India, and I’m not sure if it has changed now. Celebrating going to the next class in school was an unheard of phenomena (I can picture my Mom shaking her head about the vanity going to my head “What’s so great about that ? Everyone goes to the next class.”), but even major events like graduating from school to college are a mere blip in my memory, more a specific school event rather that a celebratory ritual practiced across the country.

It is not just students who complete a major degree that celebrate graduations here, but also school kids, who have an end of the year awards ceremony every year. My kids have been having them since their pre-kindergarten days. And it is indeed lovely celebrating accomplishments. Especially of the little ones, who scramble on stage, happy, smiling, bumbling, awkward, not knowing where to walk to, or when to walk off stage, but ready to give and receive hugs and awards.

Graduation takes on a whole new meaning when kids move from elementary school (Grades K through 5) to middle school (Grades 6-8), and from middle to high school (Grades 9-12). A sort of coming of age, if you will, with nods to parents and teachers. In most ceremonies that I’ve attended emcees and students formally thank the important people in their lives, their teachers and their family, often giving them standing ovations before they begin awarding the students themselves. Really moving; I am weepy at most graduation ceremonies, and the husband accuses me of the “June sniffles”.

A philosophical friend of mine tells me that every moment in life is worth celebrating. While I agree with that in general, but having been reduced to pragmatism by kids who live in a very real, meat-and-potatoes kind of world, I also think that we take few occasions to celebrate ourselves and our accomplishments (and Happy Hours don’t count) with the people who matter most. It might be that we will be together numerous years in the future, or we might see each other only intermittently, but occasions like this remind us that we matter. That there are people around us who will drop the important work in their lives to come celebrate in our accomplishments. And that we will always have them. No matter where we are or what we are doing.

Quite a wonderful thing, no ?

Posted in culture and society, features, india | Comments Off on On celebration

Book Review : Angelology

Written By: amodini - Jun• 04•10

AngelologyTitle : Angelology
Author : Danielle Trussoni
Genre : (Mythological) Fantasy
Pages : 452
Publisher : Viking Penguin
Rating : 3.5/5

You might say “don’t judge a book by its cover”, but I did. It looked so intriguing – a large “angel” wing attached to a human (?) body. Yes, this is fantasy, and I was under no impressions that I was getting anything else. It read like a more intricate and elaborate extension of “The Da Vinci code”; a mystical interpretation of Biblical words.

The premise is fascinating enough. Angelology, as one might guess is the study of angels. This novel deals with the “fallen” angels, the not so good ones, the ones who had to be punished because they mated with humans and spawned a hybrid – half-human and half-angel – called the Nephilim. The beautiful Nephilim are a cruel race, almost moral-less by human standards. Physically stronger, better looking and immortal, they remain incognito (their large, luminous wings can be conveniently retracted) and appear to be tall, elegant, beautiful human specimens to the world.

The Nephilim are powerful in the present day, having infiltrated influential families and organizations. However because of cross-breeding, they are losing their physical prowess and beauty, and becoming susceptible to human diseases and frailities. Their only hope to regain the much valued angelic purity lies in a mystical object, closely guarded by Angelologists across generations. The book details out the battle between the Nephilim and Angelologists, when Sister Evangeline, a 23 year old nun, realizes that it is up to her to save the earth from being overrun by these angelic monsters.

Trussoni shores up her novel with rather grand events. The story spans generations and world events, encompassing World War II and the onslaught of the Nazis. The way the story sits together seems a little too orderly – the Angelologists seem to be such a dedicated and meticulous bunch that I wish they ran the world economy instead of the current governments. But apart from that, it is the author’s imagination and quite an interesting one – grain of salt required or not.

What I did find jarring was Trussoni’s dry, clipped, almost clinical descriptions of events. Her language seems to not have any of the flow or the “dreaminess” required to explain fantastical phenomena like angels or the Nephilim. Since many of the characters in the book sport wings and un-humanly characteristics, I was devouring the pages just to get a better understanding of the Nephilim world. However the narrative fragments into a meandering search, and Trussoni has trouble keeping the pace up, at least on paper – I can so see this as a movie (the angel wings would make great visuals).

The characters in the book are fleshed out inadequately; I had a hard time viewing them as “real” people and understanding their thoughts and reasoning. Also the whats and the whys are pretty hazy. Lots of ether-y, sophisticated sounding mumbo-jumbo appears in the text. I wish that the moorings of the story had been better grounded, rather than having this up-in-the-air feel – it’s all really just one big whiff of smoke. And really, I’m OK with fantastic conjecture (after all, how wonderful to be able to share someone’s totally wild imagination!) except when coupled with clunky writing as it is here. So while I started this novel with excitement I had a hard time finishing it – the last few pages took forever, and I must say that it is the lackluster verbosity of the book that made it so. Trussoni’s amateurish word-play is a little unexpected; this is her second book, the first being the much acclaimed “Falling Through the Earth” (and I haven’t read that).

The novel peters out on an open-ended , anti-climactic note, one that calls out for a sequel (apparently Trussoni is working on one). This was an average read, not spectacular, and in my view, inferior to “The Da Vinci code”, which while not purporting to be literature itself, did what it tried to do, well – i.e.; be a fast-paced, commercial suspense novel with mythological origins.

Posted in 3.5_star_rating, books, fantasy, penguin_books, review, viking_books | 1 Comment »

Summer reading for antsy little boys

Written By: amodini - May• 27•10

Summer is here, and schools are about to close, giving us parents the opportunity to be the sole entertainers for our little bundles of joy for a whole three months. Yippee-ki-yay! as someone would say. Needless to say I am on the lookout for wonderful things for them to do (read fun for them and restful for me). And besides the swimming and the outdoors and the movies there’s the reading.

Now while my daughter is a book-lover, which means that once she gets hold of a good book, I won’t see her again until she needs something from me or it is a mealtime, my son is a different matter altogether. His favorite activity is running around. Running around in circles around his book-engrossed sister, and intermittently tapping her on the head. Which annoys enrages her and which, if you’re a parent, you know is a potentially problematic situation. Although I can’t really fault him for the running around part. He has, you see, a spring attached to his bottom.He does try to sit down, and the spring gets squashed underneath. He wriggles around after a few minutes, and (whoa !) the spring releases and all that pent-up energy forces him out of the chair again.

I have tried to take him to the library and show him books online, but while some books he considers “boring”, others are too “girly”. So what exactly interests him ? After extensive research and lots of trial and error, I find that the following topics meet his approval (the hallmark of a real man ?) : snot, poop, pee, (apparently excreta by a different name is still fun, just like a rose by any other name is still a rose or some such addled philosophy) underpants, farts, slime, explosions of slime/poop/pee/farts/snot. Graphics are a big hit. Disgusting sounding facts, which means stuff which makes my daughter go Ewww (and me too sometimes, although technically speaking being a Mom means being consistently Ewww-less), are considered worth-it reading. Lately, books about magic tricks and simple card games have also garnered interest. Origami he likes.

Record books – who/what/fastest/most/best is stuff he’s curious about, and asks about. I have tried to read such books with him. The conversation goes thusly :

Me : Oh look, the cheetah is the fastest animal !
He : Do cheetahs fart ?
Me : What ?
He, exasperatedly, repeating : Do cheetahs fart ?

I did not know. I think he’s beginning to think that his mother does not know it all after all (sob !).

Anyway, having had many discussions about books-that-interest-boys-who-can’t-sit-still, I present you the gems culled from my new found knowledge : Ten books/series for summer reading :

The First Captain Underpants Collection (Books 1-4)1.Captain Underpants : This is a series, thankfully, and features a Super Hero in his – you guessed it, you genius, you! – underpants. These books also have lovely things like Talking Toilets and a nemesis called Dr. Diaper, among other “funny” stuff. My sophisticated reader enjoys these very much.

Geronimo Stilton Adventurer's Boxed Set2.  Geronimo Stilton : This is also a series, about Stilton, a mouse detective. The author of these books is also, interestingly, Geronimo Stilton, who according to the author page on Amazon spends his time “collecting antique cheese rinds, playing golf and reading stories to his nephew Benjamin”. Both my kids loved these books.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid3. Diary of a wimpy kid :These are a set of 5 books featuring the life of Middle Schooler Greg Heffley. This is full of Heffley’s thoughts on his life, school, friends and nicely illustrated. The first book was recently made into a movie.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1)4. Harry Potter series : These have been around for a while, and my son, inspired by his sister, asked for the set for his birthday. He has since read them all and liked them. These are 7 books, all pretty hefty and wordy, so may not be suitable for a younger/early reader.


Percy Jackson and the Olympians Paperback Boxed Set (Books 1-3)5. Percy Jackson : Unlike my daughter who wants to have read the book before she sees the movie, my son wants to see the movie first, and then maybe he might read the book. So once we had all seen “Percy Jackson and the Lighning thief”, he was a bonafide fan, and has since been working his way through this 7 part series, based upon Greek Mythology. He’s also now badgering us to buy him “The Red Pyramid” by the same author, which is based on Egyptian mythology.

Judy Moody (Book #1)6. Alvin Ho, Judy Moody, Junie B. Jones, Stink : I’m listing them together but really, these are all separate series featuring naughty young ones. They all mean to do good, but get into adventures (“adventure” is a euphemism here) anyway. Stink and Judy Moody are by the same author (Judy and Stink are brother and sister).

Fantastic Mr. Fox7. Fantastic Mr. Fox, The BFG, James and the Giant Peach : These are three separate books by author Roald Dahl. Dahl has written a number of books besides these and they are much liked. Dahl books in general are good quality reading. This book in particular was recently made into an animated film starring the fantastic Mr. Clooney.

Lunch Money8. Lunch Money : This is by Andrew Clements, and one of several great books he has written. Like Dahl, most Clements books are “separate” , i.e.; not a series, and make for good reading.

Fudge-A-Mania (The Fudge Seres)9. The Fudge series : Yes, a book about a boy named Fudge. this one is by Judy Blume who is well-known for kiddie books. Fudges’s elder brother Peter also features in several of Blume’s other books (Tales of a fourth-grade nothing).

Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty10. Oh Yuck! : This is the only  non-fiction book on my list, for the very simple reason that I had way too many books to list, and the kids seem to prefer fiction over non-fiction. This one deals with interesting facts about burps, snot, farts, vomit, acne, eye gunk, cockroaches, slugs and many other appetizing things. Actually quite fun to read, even for me.

I have only listed a few book, but there are bunches more. In fact there is so much to choose from that your kid can be happily occupied reading throughout the summer. If you have suggestions about books, please leave comments – I’d love to be introduced to new stuff. Happy Reading to you and yours !

Posted in books, favorites, humor, imaginative, kids, lists, recommended, review, wit | Comments Off on Summer reading for antsy little boys

T.I.L.I.I

Written By: amodini - May• 21•10

Kids run around. They fall. They hurt themselves. All the time. My son seems to have a knack for it. When this happens in school, they’ll give me a note which explains what happened and what they did to correct it. I remember this one note years ago, as my little boy proudly displayed his shiny new band-aid, where under the “corrective” action, the teacher had scrawled three letters : “TLC”. Me, the ignorant non-texting mom, who insisted on grammatical writing – I didn’t know what TLC was. Was it an antibacterial cream, a new magical, heals-instantly, kiddie band-aid ? “No,” laughed the teacher, when I asked her, “It’s Tender Loving Care.”

There are tons of abbreviations out there now, and OMG, although I have become more sharp and snappy (the husband nods at that) and well-versed in the really, really short way of saying things, as I am ROTFLOL writing this post (although it’s hard to type when rolling on the floor), there are some abbreviations which really make sense. Like T.I.L.I.I : Tell It Like It Is .

I came across T.I.L.I.I in a library. Apparently the librarians wanted feedback. So they put a little empty fishbowl, placed several small notepads and a bunch of sharpened pencils next to it, with a little notice board which said to T.I.L.I.I .

Nice !

I wish we all went around with signs on our forehead which said T.I.L.I.I . No I’m not asking for your truthful opinion on my clothes, or the state of my desk/car/home. I’m asking for your opinion on the things that matter to you. Especially the things that matter and those that you brush under the carpet or into the secret crevices of your self, things which you think wouldn’t make a difference, or which would rock the boat, or which come under the heading of that holy cow – culture (that which cannot be questioned).

Sita Sings The BluesRecently I saw “Sita sings the blues” (no wonder the DesiPundit icon looks so familiar !), and I have to say that Nina Paley, the creator, takes the bull by the horns. Maybe it doesn’t amount to that for her. But what if she was an Indian artist ? Would she still be able to say what she does ? I had to work up some courage to even say that Sita’s animated figure in the film was even, er . . . curvy. And from there it’s still light years away for me to be inferring (and saying) that Ram was not the ideal husband. It’s that desi baggage, you know.

I greatly admire Paley’s work, even if I’m not going ga-ga over it. From the colorful animation to the cute lead characters (who display actual emotions, instead of perpetual placid smiling calm), to their heart-shaped kisses and running around the trees, Bollywood style, Paley gives us her interpretation of the Ramayana. As I search through the internet, and work my way through Ebert’s review of the film and gasp at his words “it tells the story of a brave, noble woman who was made to suffer because of the perfidy of a spineless husband and his mother.”, and think (Whoa !) yes, that is how it was, cosmic reasons though there might have been for it (so I’ve been told). Then the bigger problem – I’ve suddenly forgotten how to spell S-P-I-N-E-L . . . I think it’s the desi baggage. Again. I’ve been socialized into thinking that Ram and the-adjective-that-I-cannot-spell are oxymorons.

But it is more than that; I, by widely accepted standards of femininity, must not be loud, or bold, or question. And it’s not just culture, it’s the culture of acceptance, all around the world which says that we shouldn’t nod our heads in disagreement when we are told how to dress (too many clothes, or subjective interpretations of too little), or when our bodies are our own, pregnant or not, because, you know, the rights of the unborn, even if it a tiny little speck in someone’s imagination, are greater than the rights of living, breathing, feeling women. The sins of the world are attributed to bad mothering. And must all good wives nag so much ? Or how we are the receptacles of honor, and when that honor is violated, it’s because the woman asked for it. Or how we should lower our lashes and our voices. Or be womanly. Or fit in with the boys. Or when we should circumscribe our feelings, rights and voices for fear that we might offend some amorphous entity.

I say we need a good, strong dose of T.I.L.I.I. (available now in your local store in your favorite flavors; a teaspoon keeps you strong and outspoken throughout the day).

So, drink up, people. T.I.L.I.I. And L.L.A.P.

Posted in culture and society, kids | Comments Off on T.I.L.I.I

Book Review : The Eyre Affair

Written By: amodini - May• 14•10

The Eyre AffairBook : The Eyre Affair
Author : Jasper Fforde
Genre : Fantasy/Sci-fi

Rating : 3.85/5

Oooh, here’s a mystery for, by and of book-lovers. Yes, really ! It is set in the future where book are priceless so much so that there are special agents devoted to literary crimes. Not quite the crème-de-la-crème of the police force, the SpecOps-27 are on the fringes, mostly have desk-jobs, and are regarded rather disdainfully by the powers that be.

Yeah, that’s where our ever resourceful heroine comes in. She’s the oddly named Thursday Next, a gun-toting, action-loving, impetuous SpecOps-27 operative. Also daughter of one of the ChronoGuard (these folks can flit through time), and niece of the eccentric inventor of the Prose Portal. Thursday must battle Acheron Hades, who’s pure evil, and does wrong for the sheer pleasure of it. When Hades makes off with the Dickensian “Martin Chuzzlewit” manuscript, and aims to tamper with Charlotte Bronte’s much loved “Jane Eyre”, Thursday must follow him across and into pages of fiction, in an attempt to stop the unspeakable from happening.

Wow, this is a different kettle of fish ! You can tell, can’t you ? Because it is safely set in the future, where God knows what can happen, the author is free to create his own alternate reality. And does. The world which Thursday inhabits is a curious mix of everydayness, and the surreal. Time stops when Dad swings by, time rents open up on highways and swallow people up willy-nilly, bookish characters get a life of their own, and cloned dodos abound as pets prized by their versions.

Often in the sci-fi and fantasy genre, authors imagine completely alien worlds, with other-worldly lingo and unknown customs, and yet the words are so deftly woven together and the descriptions so detailed and real, that the book-lovers that we are, we lap it up like so much ambrosia (it’s good for your soul AND lowers cholesterol). Fforde imagines such a reality, and although it’s not wholly unfamiliar, the jargon doesn’t quite settle on my skin, and if you asked me now what a LiteraTec is, my answer would be a hazy smoosh of words. I’m still lapping it up, nevertheless, and glossing over the really out-there bits. Such is the book.

I read “The Eyre affair” over a couple of days, and kept looking forward to picking it up every night. Thursday is a likeable character, and Fforde draws her well. There’s lots of plot, and the author hints at unfamiliar stuff, which is not quite explained well enough to sink your teeth in. It’s a ride into the unknown, and I’m willing to be led along. I’m also a believer, for as long as the words go on. But I would have wished for a little more substance, to bolster up this alternate reality. The romantic bits are a little iffy; this is not a romance novel – there’s too much else going on in Thursday’s life. Which sort of sums the novel – there’s always a lot of stuff going on. And by the time you wrap your mind around that, the novel has moved forward to yet more stuff. Thursday is quite the girl of action.

This is the kind of book where I tag the author as imaginative. And mean it like a compliment. An interesting read this one; I’m glad to have picked it up. Recommended.

Posted in 4_star_rating, books, fantasy, recommended, review | 3 Comments »

TV : The “Love and Honor” syndrome

Written By: amodini - May• 12•10

I’ve written about it here and here, but here’s another article, this time by Indian Express columnist Shailaja Bajpai, where she talks of Indian television propagating harmful ways of thinking instead of doing the reverse :

In all soaps, the most important entity is the Family, the most critical event, the Wedding, the central theme Marriage. The promos for a new soap, To Baat Hamari Pakki, coming soon to Sony, picture a young girl decked up in jewellery and clothes almost as heavy as her ornaments, before she is thrust before the boy’s family with a tea tray for a “show”. In Behenein (Star Plus), the family is preparing for a wedding: “Shaadi, shaadi, shaadi” — that’s all you ever hear on these serials.

. . .
. . . .

TV serials justify the continuance of ignorant, harmful old ways of thinking and discourage, nay, punish anyone who dares to flout them. The khap panchayat diktats on same gotra marriages, the “honour” killings we read about and which has perhaps seen a mother kill her own daughter in the Nirupama Pathak case, are very much a part of the world in our TV serials.

Entire article here.

Posted in culture and society, dumb things people say and do, recommended, women | Comments Off on TV : The “Love and Honor” syndrome

Book Review : The Kingdom of Ohio

Written By: amodini - May• 07•10

The kingdom of OhioTitle : The Kingdom of Ohio
Author : Matthew Flaming
Genre : Sci-fi/historical fiction/steampunk
Publisher : Amy Einhorn Books (G.P.Putnam’s Sons)
Pages : 322
Rating : 3.5/5
Source : Publisher ARC

This book piqued my interest because it purported to be a time travel story, mixed together with all sorts of steampunk. And let me tell you, that time travel story it is, although not as full-blown as I would have liked. This is Matthew Flaming’s debut novel, and he coming from a philosophical background writes as such. Thus the book is what I would call “dreamily” told, by an antique shop owner much past his prime, we gather, but yet unable to forget the past.

There are two stories intertwining here, one of the antique shop owner, who tells us has that he has opened the shop, to hide away from the world. One day when he sees a photograph of a man and a woman in a book, he reminisces about the past. The second story is of a young man Peter Force, who in the early 1900s comes to New York from up North. For a living he gets a job working on New York’s great underground railway, and one day, meets Cheri-Ann Toledo, a mathematical prodigy. Toledo, she says, is from the past, having arrived seven years ahead of her time, via a malfunctioning time machine.

“I have a tale,” she says, “that defies common sense and perhaps even belief. In fact I considered inventing some other story to explain the favor I will ask.”


It takes Peter some time to untangle this statement. He nods and she closes her eyes, swaying slightly in her seat.


“But listen,” she continues, “and I will tell you the truth as simply as I can”.

At first, Force is wont to disregard Toledo’s story as so much tale. But when the great inventors and entrepreneurs of that time, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan begin to wheel and deal for dibs on information on that time machine, he has no choice but to believe her truth.

Flaming builds his story painstakingly; much of the book is footnoted. There is lots of detail and lots of philosophical musing. Flaming builds up the locales well; the book has a feel of being set in steampunk-land. The novel’s narrator grapples with a wealth of information wondering what to tell us and what to leave out. Peter and Cherie-Ann’s characters are a little stark; Peter’s is built up relatively better, and I had a hard time picturing Cherie-Ann in my mind’s eye. [And I tell you this because with the best reads, the descriptions are so fantastic that the story is like a second skin, and I have a hard time remembering whether I read the book or saw the film (if there was a film)]. We hear Peter and Cherie-Ann’s story in the third person, and while we get to hear their thoughts, the language seems “heavy”, and the words seem bigger than they are. Their romance is sparingly built up and it is hard to tell that this is the great passion which will spur this novel further.

“The Kingdom of Ohio” is an interesting novel, based upon nascent technology and prodigies and love. It also uniquely brings in Tesla and Edison, and their adversarial status as they war on AC and DC current distribution methods. And while it was hard to put down, it did not quite build up to the promised climax. The pace of the story is slow, burdened with copious footnotes, and little “action”.

And while I’m not quivering with excitement at the thought of recommending this book to other readers, it is hard not to, because it was an un-put-down-able read while it lasted, and I know that it will appeal to some, whose patience and love of history is greater than mine.

Posted in 3.5_star_rating, arc, books, historical, penguin_books, sci-fi, steampunk | Comments Off on Book Review : The Kingdom of Ohio
<<4243444546>>