In Review: Preeti Shenoy

I never really had heard of Preeti Shenoy, nor was she discussed in the circle of my friends. I accidentally chanced upon her book Life is What You Make It while browsing through Flipkart.com. Browsing through Flipkart is one of my favourite things to do when I have absolutely nothing else to do. I saw that this book was up for pre-order. I just thought Flipkart is promoting new talent. I was tempted but did not really buy the book at that point in time. Once the book was released, I read the initial reviews, all of which suggested that the book was really good. I loved Flipkart at that time for they would give very good discounts on books and saw that there was a good deal with Life is What You Make It as well and purchased it....and then I began following Preeti's works religiously.

What I noticed in Preeti's writing:

- I have read 3 books so far. All 3 of them were women-centric.
- The language is free-flowing and simple and casual but not too casual in the sense it is not loosely written.
- The stories that I have read so far are based on women of today so it very easy to relate to.

A brief review of Preeti's books (that I have read so far):

Life is What You Make It

This book bowled me over, for, before this book I never read a story like this before. It is about a woman with Bi-polar syndrome and how she is taught to overcome it. The writing is very heart-rending and I could really put myself in the place of the protagonist. Now, the funny thing about me is that whenever I read books describing disorders/diseases, I feel I am suffering from them too. So, you can understand how I must have felt while reading this book. When the main character suffered, I could experience it too. It is a possibility that this is one of the reasons why the book bowled me over. The story is one of a kind (at least for me). We do not associates these kind of stories from Indian writers. The writing is also quite positive and gives a lot of hope to people who suffer from the disease. 4.5/5 rating from me.

Tea for Two and a Piece of Cake

This book is another good work, however, I have not yet understood why the book has been titled the way it has been. It is not very obvious when you read the book. The story however is an important one. It is about a woman who gives up her career after marriage and becomes completely dependant on her husband. After a few years of marriage, she is faced with a divorce. Being completely dependant, she struggles to find her feet in the world following separation from her husband. The story is about how she manages to do it eventually. It indirectly tells you to treasure all skills you have learnt all through your life. It gives a message to all women on importance of financial independence and not to lose your identity after marriage. Quite a good book. The book is 4/5 rating from me.

The Secret Wish List

Of the 3 books, I would rate this book the least. It is somewhat similar to Tea for Two yet different. It is about a woman who feels oppressed and lacks respect in her marriage. Her life revolves around pleasing her husband and child. Through a series of unexpected events, she decides to live her life for herself and creates a wish list where she pens her desires. Though the concept was good I did not enjoy it as much as the other two books. The language is quite 'teen'. There are some errors in the book- for example- when Diksha (the main character) talks to herself, she calls herself Vibha and when Diksha and her husband are having a conversation, he calls her Vibha/Tanu etc. It startles one when one is reading. Besides, the way the progression of the story happens is not very interesting. It was non-putdownable as you are expecting something exciting or new to happen and it does not. Quite average considering the other books. 2.5/5 rating from me.

Apart from these, there is another book, 34 Bubblegums and Candies. I think it was her first book. It is a collection of short stories. A friend of mine read one of the stories in the book and shared that it was quite average. I will have to read it myself to ascertain the feedback.

Hope to read a new kind of work from Preeti soon.

I've Heard That Song Before- By Mary Higgins Clarke

This is the first book that I borrowed from the British Council Library in Hyderabad. I must also add that so far, this is the only book that I borrowed from this particular library and have managed to finish. I was suffering from a 'Reader's block' and this one help me get out of it. I am getting back to my block slowly so must find another book that can help me fight it.

Well, just because a book gets you out of a reader's block, it does not mean it is great.  This book was a good read but not an outstanding one. It is the first time that I read Mary Higgins Clark's work. The plot is good but a stereotype if you have read other books in this genre. It is a thriller. As I mentioned, the plot is a stereotype in the sense, you already know that the accused is not the one who did whatever he was accused of doing. I think a huge reason why this book would keep someone hooked until the end is the natural inquisitiveness that we as humans possess. We want to know who did it and why...

In brief and in an attempt to not reveal too much, it is a story about the rich Peter Carrington and a younger woman Kay. Peter is a sleep walker and in charged with 2 murders and as the story progresses people think he has actually committed them in a state of somnambulism. In the end, we know that he did not commit the crimes at all. The big questions are- who? how? why?

What I loved about the book is the description of the Carrington estate. It has been described simply and well and actually transported me to the place. The other thing that I liked was yet again- descriptions of food. The plot also has a well defined set of characters who do not keep increasing exponentially as the story progresses. Some of the books in the genre have innumerable number of characters and they only keep increasing during the course of the story that it clutters your mind and you sometimes need to go back and forth in the book just to make sure who is who.

What I think could have been much better- It starts of with Kay describing her town and Peter Carrington's past. Then it got a little confusing for me because she is not the only one narrating the story. So when I suddenly read something like (just an example)- 'Is Kay after the money? I must find out.' I wondered why she was doubting herself only to realise a little later that someone else was also doing the talking in the book. There are also some parts where the author is doing the story telling herself. It made me wonder if Mary Higgins Clark had taken a lot of big breaks while writing this one as she did not seem to remember how the story was being told and who was doing the talking.
Also, she has not paid too much of an attention towards developing the characters in the book. 

The book shares its title with an old song but has not been utilized very well. There is a clue hidden in the title but I could think of a thousand other titles for the book that would seem more relevant.

What was kind of strange - the police hardly seemed to have any power. All the investigation was done by the prosecutor, a guy named Nicholas Greco and Kay herself. Police just appeared to be carrying out orders issued by prosecutors and doing some amount of field work that they are expected to do at crime scenes. They did not seem interested in interrogation or any other cop-like stuff.

All things said and done, I have a mixed reaction towards the book. I would recommend it to others who are looking to kill time over the weekend but if you want to read it to activate the grey matter upstairs, this book is a big no-no. My rating- 2/5 stars.

My Literary Bong Connection

Calcutta (or Kolkata) is known to be the cultural capital of the country. I would say the whole of Bengal could easily be the cultural capital of our country. It is from this state that I have witnessed very rich literature being generated.

I have to thank my best friend Malabika for introducing me to Bengali literature. Since I cannot really read the language very well, I had to depend on the translations. It made me think if I could enjoy the translations so much, I, most definitely would have fallen in love with the literature in the original language of writing. It is a deep sea of literature. I have read most of the recommendations of my friend but I know there is still a lot to discover. India is slowly waking up to the joys of Bengali literature. I say this going by the rising number of translated versions of Bengali books available in big book stores in the country. Now, most of what I read was very old literature, some written in early 1900s and some even earlier. There were some that were written in 1960s. The literature was quite varied and encompassed a wide array of genres and mixed-genres.

What struck me most from my reading!!

- One thing that was most notable to me from all the reading (translations of course) was how progressive and modern Calcutta was back then. It is the case even now, but Calcutta being an Indian metro, we expect it. It also portrays Calcutta as one of the most important business hubs of the country. People back then would travel length and breadth of the country to look for opportunities for business and jobs not only to Mumbai but also to Calcutta.

- Bengalis had great respect for people who are well-read. Most conversations that people would have was on literature, science, arts, history and politics. Not saying that people from other states did not..but Bengalis most definitely did.

- Though the literature is quite varied, there was one thing very striking across almost all the books I read- be it thriller, suspense, romance, drama. Bengali writers observe human nature, pscyhe and behaviour very very closely and finely. The analysis and detailing that went into the books I read was absolutely impressive.

Mhmm..so what did I really read?!!?

Sharadhindu Bandyopadhyay

Any kid in India who grew up in the 90s will definitely remember Byomkesh Bakshi. How we all would wait for the clock to strike 9 to watch Byomkesh solve those mysteries with a snap of his fingers!! Well, we couldn't have made him a part of our childhood, had this man- Sharadhindu not created him. I must say, the book had me hooked. I read it from cover to cover in just a day and I could really go back in time and relive the excitement of watching television series as a child. It made me go to youtube and watch each of those episodes.

Sharatchandra Chattopadhyay

I have not read most of his work- just 2 or 3 and what I observed from these stories was there is always a 'third person' in relationships in his stories. This 'third person' person could be anything from a silly doubt that poisons the mind to a mother interfering in a husband and wife relationship and of course extra-marital affairs could definitely not escape a 'third person' relationship story. Remember watching a  series back in the 90s called Charitraheen?? Okkkk you don't..remember the movie Devdas?? You have to..it has been made twice and was a blockbuster each time. The point is, this man Sharatchandra was responsible for creating both these stories..both kind of tragic...and both touched a chord with people of India. Though personally I am not a a fan of tragedies with 'third person', this man's scrutiny of the human mind is commendable.

Bhibutibhushan Bandhyopadhyay

I got a book of his short stories. It dealt with people from all walks of life. Each of them beautifully narrated. The most striking one for me from that book was 'Tiroler Bala'. A tale of a mentally disturbed young girl which ends in a blood shed. This particular story with its many uncertainties, faith and belief in the almighty and the final end is for adults only (nope- no problem with the language) as it could really scare the tender minds of children. It did scare me. We can never really speculate how a mentally disturbed person would react to situations even in the presence of those who love and care for them. Anyway, one can easily identify with the writer. Pather Panchali, the cinematic rendition had won numerous accolades like 'Best Human Document' at the Cannes Film Festival, 'Best Foreign Film' at the New York Film Festival etc was a creation of Bhibhutibhushan Bandhyopadhyay. I have not yet read Pather Panchali and look forward to reading it someday. I have watched the movie though.

Upendrakishore Roychoudhury

I will be honest here. I have only read some of his works for children and oh have I fallen in love with them or what! The book of his I picked up maybe targeted at a very young crowd (6-12years) and I read it in my 20s and enjoyed it thoroughly even at my age. The book is none other than 'Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne'. It is a delightful read with a lot of fun and magic just like the movie that has been made based on it. I wish I had got hold of it when I was a child, it would have made my childhood more memorable.

Satyajit Ray

If I speak of Pather Panchali and Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne and stay mum about Satyajit Ray, it is almost blasphemous. For, this is the man who directed the 2 movies. Also, it is worth a mention that Satyajit Ray is the grandson of Upendrakishore Roychoudhury. This man, Satyajit Ray, is a big literary genius and his skills with making cinema is a cherry on the cake. I have 2 great books of his- one is a collection of his short stories very simply called 'the Best of Satyajit Ray' and the Adventures of Feluda. The former deals with mostly thriller and supernatural and keeps us guessing and the latter detective stories. Feluda is a detective who Satyajit Ray has created and the stories are non-put-downable. All his stories, be it Feluda or any other story, it is so grasping that you do not want to take a break for eating or water or even answer nature calls. You sometimes curse yourself that you cannot read faster than what you can already read because you want to know constantly what happens next. He is a genius who knows how to tell a story fitting to feed the curiosity of a keen mind. I really love the Feluda stories and honestly I love the kinds of Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi who have really used their minds and art of deduction to solve mysteries with minimal or no help of forensics. In today's world where most of the mysteries are solved based on forensics, the use of the human brain/mind has considerably reduced. Some of the detectives just throw their hands up in surrender if they do not have the results of some DNA tests. It only makes me really admire the likes of Feluda and Byomkesh.
Coming back to Satyajit Ray, he for me is a master story-teller be it in the form of writing or cinema.

Rabindranath Tagore

It would have been a complete sacrilege if I spoke about all the aforementioned greats and not having read or spoken anything about Tagore- the man who composed the Indian National Anthem. Like any other true citizen of India, I love our national anthem but I also love some of the poetry this great man has composed. Gitanjali- the one that brought him the Nobel Prize for Literature. I have not read the entire Gitanjali, just a few verses here and there and it is beautiful. I am also a proud owner of a collection of his short stories. Again, I must emphasise the scrutiny into human psyche in all his beautiful short stories. Kabuliwala which we all studied in our schools as a part of our curriculum is luckily a part of the collection I possess and was a very popular Indian movie of the yesteryear. Stories of Tagore are stories of common people and the common occurrence in our household with which everyone can identify. Bengal also reveres him for Rabindra Sangit which if I am not wrong is the musical mode of communicating his works. It is supposed to have revolutionised/reshaped Bengali music and Tagore was considered responsible for it. Recent Indian Hindi cinema has also embraced Tagore's work by popularising 'Ekla Chalo Re'.

In the modern context, I have read a some of the works (The Namesake, Interpreter of Maladies, The Unaccustomed Earth) from Jhumpa Lahiri, another Bengali who lives in the US. Her stories are mainly around Bengalis who live outside Bengal and India. Again, sorry to repeat myself, there is an excellent observation of the human mind in her works. I have also read The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy but her work did not really give me the Bengali flavour that I was used to from most Bengali writers. It was a good book but the style is not really Bengali and more biographical.

I have a bunch of other books by Bengalis from all different periods of time. I guess I should get cracking already but currently I am on a break from Indian writing. I will get back to them probably sometime mid-2013. Until then, if you chance up on a book by a Bengali, grab it and let me know if you enjoyed it and your views on the same. I will be very interested in reading it too :-)

P.S: Did not realise that this post turned out to be this long. Hope it will be worth the effort of reading through the whole post. :-)

Rebecca By- Daphne Du Maurier

I would never reveal the plot of any of the books and deprive anyone of the joy of reading. Atleast, not more than what has already been revealed on the back-cover of books.

Rebecca- This book is easily one of my favourites. I have read it three times and it keeps me hooked each time. There is something very captivating in this book which can only be experienced and not expressed in words. It has both romance and thrill- a very strange and different kind of romance and thrill that you do not really see in books of these genres most of the time.

What I love about the book is the strange sense of mystery that one experiences as soon as one of the main characters- Mr. De Winters makes his entry in to the story- the sense of mystery which the protagonist of the story cannot decode until the very end. The main character of the book Rebecca does not really exist per se. It is only memories of her that linger around. The first name of the protagonist is never revealed in the book. She is always addressed as Mrs. De Winters. All other lesser characters in the stories only add on to the mystery as and when the story progresses.

Right from the time I was a child, I have always been fascinated with palaces and castles and stories which have good amount of details and description of these. Though the location of the story is an estate (Manderley) with a huge mansion, the description of the entire estate is really wonderful and created an image of a castle in my mind and transported me to it. I felt like a silent spectator of the events that unfolded in the beautiful mansion. The surroundings of the mansion are one to die for- moors and the sea. Instant magnet for me.
Below is a picture that was depicted in the movie based on the book.

Another thing which I love to read in books of fiction is the description of food. I am just not satisfied with 'we had a quick lunch and ran for the bus'. I prefer- 'we had a quick lunch- a veggie soya chipotle sub with extra cheese, nicely toasted with some guacamole and ran for the bus'. I do not know what it is with me and food descriptors in books. Any book with well described food earn extra brownie points from me. Rebecca is one such book. It satiated my appetite for good descriptions and details of food in it and guess what- all meals were covered I think :-). Extra points from me :-)

The story is a romantic-mystery with the most unexpected twist in the tale at the end. It is not a '...and they lived happily ever after' end,but then it is.. The story is about a young girl marrying an older rich man who was previously married to Rebecca- beauty, grace, style, elegance and wealth personified who died before the story in the book could begin. She finds herself being constantly compared to her predecessor. The story unfolds in such a way that she comes face-to-face with Rebecca's reality. Any more revelation from me is a definite spoiler.

Alfred Hitchcock has made a movie based on this book which is also called Rebecca. With due respect to Hitchcock (I am a big fan of his), the book is much more captivating than the movie. Words can express so much and sometimes cinema, though an audio-visual medium, cannot capture the essence of words just as much. I am not saying it is a bad movie. It is quite good but falls a little short in comparison to the book.

If I had to rate the book, it is 5/5 stars and the movie 4/5 stars.