Up and down in the dales-book review

This is an incredibly peaceful, realistic and humorous book.

Simply written about a normal man’s life this book impressed me abundantly.

Gervase Phinn is a very talented storyteller; the way he paints an image of the scenery, the beauty of England and the fascinating description of the schools is amazing.

It is a pleasant story about the life of a school inspector and is full of innocent and sincere humor.

It was just what I needed. A rainy day a calming book and a cup of coffee is my fad.

It was very refreshing to read something with no phony plots and artificiality, though some would find it boring, I think it was wonderful.

The element that I enjoyed the most was how the author has written about conversations with the children. I’m looking forward to reading his other books which I hear are just as pleasurable.

Book review-three mistakes of my life

When I first picked up this book my driving factor was the author’s reputation and 'five point someone’. Even though an average book, I liked FPS because of the reasons that-

-It was fresh, relatable and

-I was in school

This book however follows a certain pattern that bhagat has gotten comfortable with and hence is not fresh as far as the storytelling goes.

This book starts humbly but slowly gets interesting and just when you expect the book to make sense and get you awestruck, it doesn’t’. In fact it does the contrary and takes a completely filmy turn.

I didn’t see the big deal about the mistakes to start with, other things to dislike were:-

-Ali meeting the Australian is ghastly.

-The 4 of them traveling to Australia is impractical, Ali’s reply to them is way too filmy.

-The religious point of view isn’t secular, the author doesn’t make any statements but is advertising a certain political party and the description of the riots unrealistic.

I say so because riots are no laughing matter and the heart breaking factor of riots is very conveniently ignored.

The way a significant death is made light of in the book is hilarious.

So if you want to stay sane my advice is to give this one a miss.

However if you just want to witness bhagat’s work you can check it out provided you don’t take it too seriously.

This book will particularly be a hit with bhagats die hard blinded fans and people who haven’t read many good books.

I do want to acknowledge that the Gujarati businessman mentality is well described and the spirit and intention of the book is good, the execution however, not so much.

To me 3 mistakes of my life, will be a mistake of my life.

Book review

I just finished reading ‘A thousand splendid suns’ by Khaled Hosseini
After falling for his book the ‘The kite runner’ which was an enticing tale of friendship and relationships, I decided to give this one a chance as well.

The plot mainly focuses on the two female protagonists Mariam and Laila.
The book begins with Mariam’s isolated childhood and her thirst for acceptance in her father’s life. Her life takes a turn for the worse when she is married to a malicious and narcissistic man. Then narration then shifts towards Laila.
Laila in contrast to Mariam had a fairly blissful childhood marked by the encouragement towards education from her learned father, a romance with a ‘knight in shining armor’ type boy Tariq and indifference from a distant mother.
As fate may have it their lives collide. Their relationship changes and this forms the heart of the novel.

It is important to note that the book is a work of fiction and hence can not be depended upon for real details from Afghanistan and must be read in the same spirit.
Hosseini is a remarkable storyteller and once I picked up the book, I could not put it down till the very last page.
The book occasionally turns morose and sometimes too ‘filmy’ but like its predecessor it is a good read.

The monotony in the daily lives of women, sufferings endured by them and extraordinary love that overpowers all has been well woven into the story.
There are a few heart wrenching as well as some unexciting moments in the book.
Moments like Mariam’s realization that her father’s love was phony, her jubilation on having her first ice-cream and Laila holding her breath when she sees Tariq after 9 years as well as her heart breaking when having to leave her daughter at an orphanage are rather moving. The titanic fever that grips the entertainment starved people is also somewhat interesting.

All in all I think it is a good enough read, and can be read.