Bee Season by Myla Goldberg

Hi all! I have finished reading this book a long time ago, but I have just come around to writing this review right now. Its been a while since I read it, so I'm going to have to be brief, because its not as fresh in my mind as before.

The story revolves around the Naumanns, a kind of dysfunctional Jewish family. They are all completelely engrossed in their own lives, so disconnected from one another, until their disjoint bubble-like worlds suddenly pop when Eliza, their daughter, wins the school spelling bee competition. This is really unexpected to all of them as until then, Eliza had always been a slow learner, and soon they begin to see her incredible prowess in her world of words. Eliza herself discovers within her the incredible realm of letters and words. In the course of her pursuit to understand and master this realm, she gets involved to such a degree that soon, the letters become her and she becomes the letters- they become one.

Saul Naumann, her father, is a man who delves into the world of Jewish mysticism. He aspires to be a good Jew, and helps out at the local Synagogue. His life is totally wrapped up in this pursuit of self discovery. And when his daughter reveals her talent, he becomes fixated on tutoring her. Aaron, his son, is a teenager, who begins to question his faith and begins to search for something different from his life. The true surprise element is Miriam Naumann, Saul's wife, who finds herself to be incomplete, and is searching for all the missing pieces to make her whole again.

The book is a narrative in the present tense and thus has a raw, wholesome feel to it. It is, however, a little crude at places. It is not what I would call an "un-putdown-able" book. Especially since I'm not one for depressing tales. But I did end up thinking about it a great deal. Myla Goldberg has done good job, but it's not a book I'd like to curl up with on a nice Sunday afternoon. I haven't seen the movie, but I've heard it was quite popular.

Well anyway you can give it a shot... happy reading.

Rating: 5/10

Thought for the day: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." -Anon.

The Witch of Portobello- Paulo Coelho

Hey there, I am done reading another book that landed into my open arms just like that. My dad actually bought it to read it himself, but as he isn't at home most of the time, I read it before him. The book has a catchy cover illustration and so it grabbed my attention, although honestly it isn't really that difficult for a book to catch my attention.
Now, lets get down to business. The concept of this book is truly marvellous to me, and I have read this kind of book for the first time, though I don't know if another of its kind already exists. It is all about points of view, and the building of the protagonist's character in the readers mind, by putting together a collage of interpretations by various characters that are key witnesses to the life of an extraordinary person. And the most interesting part is, that the protagonist does have to say anything. These various characters, little by little, create the character of Athena, by recounting their reactions to her personality and through incidents key in defining her life and theirs. The characters show a whole gamut of reactions or emotions towards her as per their relation with her like her mother, her student, her teacher, close associates etc.
Till about the 120th page odd, you can't put the book down. But after that, it begins to get a bit preachy and a teensy-weensy bit pseudo. So it can bore one a bit especially someone as restless as me. The ideas expressed are sometimes too stretched, so they seem like gibberish and empty words meant really to inspire awe but not to mean much. Though I must admit, some concepts the author touches upon are quite interesting.
Paulo Coelho has done a good job, but the book could use a little cutting here and snipping there. The book still has heart and is full of good intention. Also the end is a bit much.
A must read for those who are into spirituality and stuff, at least for the sake of opposition.

Rating: 7/10

Thought for the day:
There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.
Friedrich Nietzsche
"On Reading and Writing" German philosopher (1844 - 1900)

A new Book.. The Kite Runner

I just read the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseinni.
I liked the book basically because it creates an image before your eyes of all the places the author describes, the people, the situations. The author's strongest point is his ability to make a character come alive. He uses small anecdotes and narratives to bring out every attribute of the character.
The setting is of the present day but begins with the pre-Russian-occupation in Afghanistan, mainly Kabul. It is wonderful to hear the tale of this land so far away and different from ours, yet so many times in the story we come across numerous similarities between our culture as well as our language and theirs. We can also relate to the scenario well because we share a bond being both third world countries. The middle of the book then moves on to the next brutal part of Afghanistan's history, that of the Russian occupation, followed by the days of the Taliban. It is fascinating to view things from the perspective of a person who is far away from his land, his watan, as the Afghans would say, yet is so attached to it.
The book touches on some sensitive issues but they are dealt with in an appropriate manner. The character, Amir, takes many years to learn the moral of the story, but eventually (and with substantial wounds) he gets it!
The tale is full of tormenting turns and a lot of annoying emotional reactions.. sometimes it can get one a little irritated. This has the effect of slightly tarnishing an otherwise overall A-rated book. It also sometimes gets a little too cliched, kinda like a Hindi movie. But all in all a good read. But be prepared for a little gory detail, not much though, don't worry.

Rating: 7/10

Thought for the day: The more you keep things to your self and run away from the truth, the more you hurt yourself.

Hello..

Just to get started, i am writing about the book i just read- The Little Prince by Antoine-de-saint-Exupery.
Its actually a book for kids but i found it to be really philosophical. And the main reason I liked it was that it had a very soothing effect on you when you are done reading it. Although I did find some elements of it a little arbeit. Anywhich way, some of the things it says are undeniably profound.
It is a well known classic and I got it in leather covering. I like collecting classics in this form. Esp hard back. Invite anyone else who may aacidentally stumble upon my blogspot to tell me which classics they have read.

Quote for the day: Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but looking outward in the same direction.

Kickoff

This is my first blog.. ever! Never done this before but it sounds exciting. Lets see wot we can do.. till then.. ciao.