A Hundred Little Flames by Preeti Shenoy

I have read most of Preeti Shenoy's books. Some have been good and others not so much. I ordered this book on Amazon during one of their sales. When I want to read something light, I usually pick one of the Indian writers. I usually prefer one of  yesteryear writers. I could not find anything interesting online, so settled for this book and I was so happy I did.

The story starts off with Ayan, one of the main characters in the book, losing his job and moving to Poongavanam (a hypothetical village) in Kerala upon orders from his controlling father. In Poongavanam, Ayan stays at Thekke Madom, his ancestral home where he bonds with his grandfather Gopal Shanker. Ayan soon loves the life in Poongavanam and settles in well while he keeps his hunt for a new job alive. Ayan's controlling father Jairaj, is also a controlling son and is based in Bahrain. The conversations over phone calls between Jairaj and Gopal usually go sour due to Jairaj''s vested interest in Thekke Madom. He hatches a wicked plot against his own father so that the property could be sold. Ayan comes to the rescue of his grandfather and earns his trust. Gopal shares his diaries with Ayan, who learns so much about his grandfather's life through them. Gopal loved his childhood friend, Rohini, pretty much right from his childhood but due to various circumstances at the time, both Rohini and Gopal end up marrying different people but remain loyal and care about their spouses, while keeping their love for each other alive. Both get engrossed in their work and household matters until one day when Rohini writes to Gopal, which rekindles their friendship and love for each other and they become a part of each other. Due to some circumstances, they are pulled apart again. Their story touches Ayan's heart who is determined to at least make them meet once.

The story line is a quite unusual and keeps you guessing sometimes. When Ayan moved to Kerala and it was portrayed that his grandfather was a dinosaur when it comes to technology, I really thought it was going to be a battle of generations. I was pleasantly surprised to know it was not. There is not much of a love story until the time Ayan starts reading Gopal's diaries. The story is just heart-warming and showcases love from a very different perspective, which I feel not everyone can easily understand. Most people label the love shared between 2 people as an affair, but in this story, it is demonstrated to be at some other level. It really shows the basis of love and what soul-mates are.

There are a few other characters in the book as well. Some of them play an important part in the book and others make you wonder why they even exist:

• Shaila- Gopal's daughter. She has a fairly important part to play in the book
• Kamakshi- Ayan's mom and Jairaj's complying wife. Not much to do in the story other than call Ayan to check after him
• Dhiraj- Ayan's "best friend". He hardly has any part to play in the story
• Nishi- Dhiraj's girlfriend who plays an even more insignificant part than Dhiraj in the story
• Shivani- Nishi's friend who befriends Ayan and the 2 talk a bit about their woes. Her part though is insignificant, helps Ayan in rescuing Gopal from the evil trap laid by Jairaj
• Velu- Gopal's humble and loyal domestic help
• Padmaja- Gopal's mentally disturbed wife
• Raman- Rohini's husband
• Shyamala-Gopal's pesky neighbour in Pondicherry
• Nithya- Shaila's daughter
• Akshu- Ayan's brother and really, there is absolutely nothing this character does or brings to the story

Apart from these, there are some people from a local football team (Roshan, Biju etc) who become friends with Ayan.


Now, I started reading this book after I read Dr. Ragab's Universal Language by Robert Twigger. The language in Robert Twigger's book was not complex but the level and standard seemed higher than this one. When I started reading this book, it initially felt like reading a book written by a novice with high school like language. However, as I progressed, it seemed to improve or may be mentally I was able to adjust to it. Barring a couple of grammatical errors and a spelling mistake, the book on the whole was well written. The other thing which was a little odd is that Ayan most of the time addresses Velu as Velu Chetta and sometimes as Velu. I think it is a little unlikely in real life. Also, the narrator for most part of the book, refers to Ayan's grandfather as Gopal or Gopal Shanker but in some parts has referred to him as muttaccha, which is what Ayan addresses him as. These are really insignificant observations and can be ignored in the bigger scheme of things. The language in the book is very very simple and free-flowing. The book is quite fast-paced and a page-turner. I sat up reading this book into the wee hours of morning. The description of Kerala and Pondicherry are so beautifully done that they transport you to those places. I also loved Thekke Madom's description. The book does get a little (very little) philosophical and preachy in parts. The main characters, as in most books by most writers, are embodiment of goodness- which is not a surprise.

I know we must not judge a book by its cover and I am glad I did not this time as the cover on this one is one of the worst I have seen- I mean, with the beautiful Kerala and Pondicherry in the story, there was a lot one could do in terms of cover art. I will be honest, cover of a book does matter a lot. It is one of the reasons that there are covers and not just pages sewn together. Also, usually we find appreciations for the writer or something about the book on the covers of books, such as- "From the author of xyz" or "Clever, funny, witty, modern day drama" etc. However, the only thing they found worthy of putting on the cover is shown below and it does look a little lame to choose to put that on while discarding all the other lavish praise that may have been showered on her in the past . Since it was Preeti Shenoy, I picked it up. I might not have if it was anyone else.

This really looks like she wanted validation from Cosmo that she is one of India's most popular authors though I know that was not her intent- Sorry for being too harsh :-(

The story line was unique and well constructed and kept me hooked. It was just so very beautiful. I would rate this book 4/5. It is her best book after Life is what you make it.

Dr Ragab's Universal Language by Robert Twigger

I picked this book up a couple of years back at M.R. Book Centre in Hyderabad. I was attracted to this book for 2 reasons- I found the title of the book catchy and the review at the back of the book mentioned it was funny.

I must admit, the reading of the book was a long drawn effort from me and I did give huge periods of break from reading the book. It was during my recent trip to Hyderabad that I finally managed to read a big part of the book.

The story is about a writer who is obsessed with bunkers and is to write about about the success story of an Aluminium Industry magnate. While preparing for this, he comes across a manuscript about Hertwig, who built a bunker on his own during the World War II and his quest for the Universal Language from the renowned and eccentric Dr. Ragab in Cairo.

A big part of the book is Hertwig's manuscript. The story is narrated in 2 parts- Hertwig's youth in the past, and the writer's present day and accordingly, different fonts are used to depict the different period. The earlier portions of the book are a bit funny- it will make you smile but not really roll on the floor laughing. As we continue to read, humour is almost non-existent, or if it is, definitely did not come across as funny to me. As the book progresses, it becomes a little philosophical. Hertwig's manuscript in particular is quite engaging and his travel through the desert has been described beautifully- it transports you to that time. The best part of the book is that it is not cluttered with too many characters. The writer has used simple language and if you recall my review of Make Me, some of the sentence construction is similar to that book, as in, sentences are unusually broken down in to small phrases which serve as stand alone sentences.

I found the ending really abrupt and did not quite understand it very well. To me, Hertwig comes across as a totally different person in the manuscript and in reality. While reading about Dr. Ragab, I really wanted to know more of his personality and capability- though he has been described as someone who is multifaceted, highly knowledgeable of several topics and eccentric, the writer has tried to emphasize on his eccentricity, which is not obvious most of the time. I would have loved to see more of his wisdom.

The Universal Language was not something I understood. There were a few words and phrases thrown in but I really did not understand what it was, as the words alone did not constitute the Universal Language. It is definitely not a mode of conversation. There were instances where Dr. Ragab uses the Universal Language to make himself invisible, which was not easy to comprehend. There is a bit of a philosophical explanation to it, which again, I did not understand. Probably, it is because I have not yet attained that level of maturity in understanding philosophical topics.

Overall, I would rate the book 3/5 due to the fact that a big part of the book was quite engaging but the ending, which was, as mentioned earlier, quite abrupt. The Universal Language could have been explained better and that I would have loved to see more character development of Dr. Ragab. It is not a bad book but not a great one.

Princess by Jean P Sasson

I picked up this book from Blossom Book House on Church Street in Bangalore during Diwali holidays this year. I visited Blossoms' after a long time. They have shifted their premises to another location on Church Street and there is also another book store close to it, mainly used books store called Book Worm. I did go in but could not find anything interesting.

I started reading this book in high school but could not finish it due to my packed schedule back then and the library due date beyond the renewals. When I found this book at Blossom's, I could not resist.  I actually finished the book, cover-to-cover, in a matter of few hours as it was extremely engaging and unputdownable.

The story describes the sad plight and sufferings of women in Saudi Arabia and is a true account.
The book is a story of one of the royal family members, a princess of the large royal family (about 21000 people), who described her life story to Jean Sasson so that it could be carried to the world. Almost all the names have been changed in the book to conceal the true identity of the different members of the royal family and other characters in the book. The princess who describes the story is named Sultana. She is one of several children of the patriarchal royal family and country. The book focusses mainly on the growing up years of  Sultana which I think is through 70s to 90s.

The book is a heart rending account of the despondent lives of women in Saudi Arabia during the above mentioned time period. It describes the crimes against women and the bias of the society towards a man's word as opposed to a woman's, due to which many women never received the justice they deserved. Any kind of revolt against men or disobedience of their "orders" was met with severe punishment for women. However, Sultana, was one of the rebellious few who dared to oppose some of the unfairness in her own way. She has got her way several times by knowing how to manipulate- situation or family members. I specially like the strong actions she took to save her marriage. Though it might seem like an obvious thing to do for most of us not living such circumstances, I can perfectly understand the kind of courage that is needed to take those steps for someone living in a country where polygamy and strict restrictions on women is common. By taking certain simple actions which many not be a big deal in most of the countries, Sultana almost seems to be a hero, championing the cause of women in the country.

There is a great display of wealth in the book. Of course, they are the royals but several times in the story, especially after the Gulf war, Sultana describes her wealth as unlimited. They fly in and out of different countries just for shopping or other forms of entertainment.

I am writing this review in 2017 and so much has changed in terms of women's rights in that country. Women can now vote, drive and even come to the stadiums to watch matches, though there are some rules around those as well. More than 50% of Saudi women are now enrolled in universities. All these may seem to be a contrast to the life described about 25-30 years back. I am glad that Sultana told her story. The country is said to be on its path to progress in matters of women' rights and some day, one from her future generations will learn of the struggles of the past and have an appreciation for the progressive life that they will possibly lead.

Only after I finished reading the book did I realise that it is a part of a trilogy, this book being the first. I will definitely look up for the others. It is an excellent read, written in simple language and gives very descriptive picture of the lives in Saudi Arabia that I felt I was in that country. I would rate the book 5/5 where 5 is excellent.

P.S: Sorry if this post seems a little incoherent. There was so much to say. I have trimmed down a lot as it seemed excessive. I strongly recommend that the book is read.

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

I got this book from Sapna Bookstore in Bangalore. I  got back to reading one of Agatha Christie's book after a really long time. I was really craving to read a mystery and thought this book would be the best to feed the craving. This book is one of the author's most popular characters- Hercule Poirot, the Belgian.

The book is written as a narrative by Poirot's friend, Captain Hastings. There are some parts though, which are pieces of information that tie the story together and are not a part of Captain Hastings' narrative. Christie has clarified the same through the chapter titles.

The story  revolves around a series of murders in an alphabetical order in terms of the location of the murder and the victims' surnames. Of course, Poirot's task at hand is to uncover the murderer. The murderer wrote letters to Poirot prior to committing them, giving him details of the location (only town, not the complete address) of the murder, challenging him to prevent the murders. The story gives an impression initially that the murderer held Poirot responsible for having him/her punished for a crime and that the murderer was now avenging the same. The book shows Poirot's mettle in uncovering the true murderer by scrutinising the seemingly simple and insignificant details as clues. There are also other characters in the book comprising of the relatives of the victims, the cops from Scotland Yard and few others (cannot reveal- will be a spoiler).

The book is written in a simple language with phrases of French scattered throughout the book mostly in Poirot's dialogues. The book also has amazing descriptions of food which, to be honest, either got me hungry or salivating sometimes. Those who know me well, know how much I love well-described food in books. I also loved how Poirot is able to relate to different human minds and the possible actions people would take based on their mental state. His study of human nature and getting inside the mind of the criminal was something that kept me really interested. I must admit though, that a few parts (very few!!) of the book seemed like a drag. I really cannot say that something was wrong with them, just that they bored me.

On a scale of 5 where 5 is excellent, I would rate this book 4/5.

The Magic of the Lost Temple by Sudha Murthy

As you already know that I got this book from Sapna bookstore in my recent book haul (read about the haul here). I wanted to read something light and nothing better than a children's book for it. Now, if you remember my previous review about Sudha Murthy's book (click here to read the review), I had mentioned that I hope that the next book of hers that I read would be different. Thankfully, this book was. The book's target readership is children and hence, written in a very simple language and has some interesting illustrations as as well.

The story revolves around Nooni, a 12 year old who goes to her village in Somanahalli to spend her summer holidays with her grandparents. The book paints a vivid picture of the slow paced village life, constantly comparing it against Bangalore. Nooni's grandma and grandpa narrate to her two different versions of a story of a stepwell related to an ancient ruler Somanayaka. The stories are both intriguing. Nooni makes a bunch of friends in Somanahalli and enjoys the village life a lot by going swimming in the river, picnicking and hiking to nearby places. On one such hikes, she stumbles upon something that feels like the stepwell described in the stories of Somanayaka and that sets the ball rolling for all the forthcoming activities in the village.

The book has amazing descriptions of food and had my mouth watering several times. In addition, the village life is very tempting and made me want to pack my bags and visit Somanahalli. I would have loved to go with Nooni and friends on the picnic by the river. However, I really did not enjoy the comparisons between Bangalore and the village. The village life has been glorified a lot and the city life has been shown as a negative.  Both have their own positives and negatives and I would have really preferred if the writer focussed mainly on the village life.

Some of the writing which describes Nooni's thoughts actually sound like those of an old person and not that of a child. For example, Nooni does not understand what a native fruit is, but, in another place she says that people in Bangalore are more interested in eating at weddings. Somehow, the former comes across as a child's thought but the latter of that of an old person, in my opinion. These are some other such examples which are a little awkward and does not seem to originate from the same person's brain. The book does get a little preachy in parts- I guess it is intended to be, considering, the target readers to be children. Otherwise, the book is a great read for kids and adults alike. It was a page turner and unputdownable. I hope to read similar stories from Sudha Murthy going forward.  I enjoyed reading this book thoroughly and highly recommend it for a children's movie too. The book has also touched up on some social issues such as lack of toilets etc.

Overall, a good read and I would rate it 4/5.

The Empty House

I bought the book at Sapna Bookstore during my Christmas vacation last year (again!). I wanted a light book to read as I was travelling to Hubli to attend a wedding. I love reading books on train and thought this would be a great read on the train.

Now, I really picked this book up without reading much on the back cover. The front cover indicated Ruskin Bond- The Empty House and Ruskin Bond was good enough for me to pick book up. However, once I started reading, I realised that this book is a compilation of stories by Ruskin Bond. Except one, all stories have been written by various writers.

The theme of the stories is 'Spooky' and comprises of supernatural thrillers. The Empty House happens to be one of the stories in the book. Probably Ruskin Bond or the publisher thought that this is the best story in the book and decided to put the name on the cover. Though the story was good, it was not the best according to me. My favourite in the book was that of Ruskin Bond's called Gone Fishing about a loyal servant waiting for his master's return who had Gone Fishing years back and the master does return and How!!! Read to enjoy. It was a simple story yet had a superb twist in the tale- Loved it. There were other good stories too of which I liked- The White Wolf of Hartz Mountain and Mrs. Raeburn's Waxworks. Though the compilation is good, none of them could equal Gone Fishing for me.

If I have to rate the book, it will be 4/5 as some stories did not thrill me enough for a supernatural thriller compilation. However, I strongly recommend that you read the book as a big part of it is still quite good.

Book Haul from Sapna Book Store

I went to meet a friend visiting from Hyderabad on Gandhi Jayanti, for lunch. Following lunch, we had a milkshake at the Drunken Monkey and just went to Sapna Bookstore for just a glimpse...thought we would peep in and out without any plans/intentions of buying books. However, we both ended up buying books and I also bought some stationery to make myself feel good.

It is now time to unveil my book purchases.

I observed an Instagramer consistently post pictures of Agatha Christie's books. When I saw the ABC murder, I recalled that the Instagramer had posted a picture of the book with the same front cover. The cover was so inviting, I couldn't help myself and decided to get it. I sometimes, do judge books by their cover. I have read many of Agatha Christie's books in high school. I somehow do not recall if I have read the ABC murders so that gave me one more reason to buy the book. I do not mind re-reading such books.

I wanted to read a fictional story from Sudha Murthy and not a compilation of anecdotes from her life. Though the book- The Magic of the Lost Temple is intended to be a children's book, I do not mind reading it. I love reading children's books to date and read them from time to time.

I have been hearing a lot about Twinkle Khanna as a writer and how witty and hilarious she is, especially in The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad, that I had decided to buy the book long back but it was never in sight or on top of my mind whenever I shopped. At Sapna, it was staring at me and did not allow me to forget buying it.

This is it- a small little update from my recent purchase.