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book reviews

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Molly's Game

Genre –

Memoir

Who is Molly Bloom? –

Molly, also known as the “Poker Princess of Hollywood”, moves from Colorado to Los Angeles during her year off from college and accepts the job of a waitress at a club to make ends meet. She is soon asked to handle poker games played between some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, famous athletes, business tycoons and degenerate kids of very rich folks and conducted by her super-rich, foul-mouthed boss.

She took insults, humiliation and crap work in her stride with the single-minded goal of making it big in this world. Molly worked entire nights, learnt the game of poker mainly through observing the players, and most importantly, held her own, being the only woman in a male dominated area. She stood her ground against Hollywood giants like Toby Maguire, learnt from everyone around her and outwitted her competition.

Though her line of work is neither inspirational nor commendable, her guts, grit and determination surely teach one a lot.

Right from her childhood, Molly displays a resilient, fighting spirit. After a spine surgery following a freak accident at the age of 12, her doctor had asked her never to ski again, but she became a national level skiing champion and an Olympic games contender fighting against all odds.

She is lured by money and power and the jet-setting lifestyle of the players. From wearing shabby sweatpants and flip flops to Armani suits and Dior bags, from unable to afford her house rent to renting out mansions in the Hamptons and living in the best part of Manhattan, from waitressing in high end clubs to having a personal chef and an assistant look after her mundane tasks and to hiring private jets to go for cash collections in Miami, she saw it all, did it all and lived a full life shifting from LA to New York after she lost all her games in one blow. She enjoyed the ride, loved taking risks, had sleepless nights either working, feeling anxious or partying, was fearless and picked herself up every single time she fell.

She is adventurous, super ambitious and risked her all to reach where she wanted to. In the process her family ties suffered, she lost many friends, and her love life was compromised.

Her life is a potboiler filled with Hollywood legends, millions of dollars, private jets, 5-star hotels, ultra-expensive vacations, rich boyfriends, gambler friends, betrayals by business partners, threats from mafia dons, bankruptcy and finally the arrest by FBI.

At the end of the book she states she has simply no regrets and if given a choice, she would live her life the same way and make the same decisions that led her to where she is today.

The book does seem very one-sided on many fronts and gives a feeling that many details are omitted for various reasons.

She was convicted in the year 2014, and in the same year this memoir was published. Yet another sign, she didn’t accept defeat easily. She not only wrote this book but even approached writer and director Aaron Sorkin asking him if he can make a movie based on her novel.

Life thus came a full circle for Molly who had begun by conducting games for Hollywood actors and directors to her own life story being adapted into a Hollywood movie titled Molly’s Game that turned out to be a hit and bagged an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Adapted Screenplay.

Though the path chosen by her in her young and reckless days isn’t advisable, nor her ultimate ambition of a flashy lifestyle a true measure of success and happiness… the message we can take from her life is never, ever to give up. Never ever to give up fighting, never to stop standing up for yourself, your goals, your beliefs and never to let go of family and friends who were there for you when you had nothing and were a nobody.

Show up for yourself every single day, every moment, no matter what. And if you learn to do that, life will reward you. In the darkest of hours, if you try to help yourself, you will surely find the light of the day. Don’t ever resign yourself to your fate, but create it. With dreams, determination and drive.

Early on in her life her mother says, “Molly you can have anything you set your mind to” and she lives that line every day of her life.

Molly considers the world her playground and plays her game with her rules.

Recommendation –

DO READ.  The book seems implausible on many levels but the fact that it is based on real life events is exactly what keeps you flicking through its pages. It is a rags-to-riches-to-rags story teaching you many “to-do things” as well as many “not to-do things”. It becomes bit repetitive with respect to the poker games, but the high stakes involved, the powerful men, power shift dynamics and Molly’s resilience will keep you going.

Rating – 3.5/5

Ambience – 4

Language – 3

Characterization – 3.5

Plot – 3.5

Pace – 3.5

Entertaining – 4

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One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Genre –

Historical fiction, magical realism, family drama, Spanish classic

What is it about –

Published in Columbia in 1967, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” was written originally in Spanish and later translated to 37 languages. It is considered a masterpiece of literature.

The book is about the Buendia family based in an isolated town, Macondo in Latin America, that is founded by them.

The story spans across a century and takes us through seven generations of Buendias against the backdrop of a changing Macondo from a small town with a handful of settlers to a thriving centre with the arrival of railroad, cinema and immigrants.

The mad ingenuity and pioneering spirit of Jose Arcadio Buendia and the hard working, practical nature of his wife Ursula sow the seeds of the Buendia family, weaving a tale that takes the reader on a roller coaster journey filled with emotions, tragedies, fantasies, wild ambitions, foolish ventures and entrapments.

These people are purely ruled by the heart with no regard for repercussions. They loved, lost, won, lived, married, prospered, starved, interbred and guarded their ambitions and dreams with utmost tenacity and passion.

The rise and fall of the family coincide and mirror the same cycle of Macondo.

Main Characters –

Úrsula Iguarán

José Arcadio Buendía

Remedios Moscote

Fernanda del Carpio 

Aureliano Buendía

Amaranta Buendía 

Amaranta Úrsula Buendía 

José Arcadio Segundo

Aureliano Segundo

Aureliano José

Book Evaluation -

Rarely you will find a family where every member is a unique character, each has his own destiny carved by himself and the present generation being as different from the one preceding it as it is similar.

You come across gypsies with their inventions of flying carpets, false teeth and ice, murders of family members, clandestine and publicised love affairs, maniacal studies in workshops, civil wars and absconding wives and sons...the list goes on making the book a very colourful, imaginative and interesting read. History and fantasy, tragedy and comedy, love and vengeance, births and deaths, all form a part of the everyday lives of the Buendias.

Even though there are so many characters, each character is given ample time to shine and carve a niche for itself in the family as well as in the reader’s mind.

The author has written the multi generation story so effortlessly that even though the names of most of the characters are similar with even similar traits, we easily remember them distinctly.

What intrigued me the most was the title of the book. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that majority of the action happens within the family house, often described as “madhouse” by Ursula, the family matriarch. The Buendias are shown to be selfish, self-centred and oblivious to the world, except one or two of the clan. Each individual has his/her own fancies, ambitions and whims and lives without any regard for the other family members, the town or the world in general. Be it long periods spent in experiments completely ignoring his family by the family patriarch Jose Arcadio or the whimsical elopement with the gypsies by his elder son Jose Arcadio or the undertaking and losing of 32 wars by his younger brother or the innumerable years spent by the family members shut alone in the laboratory, deciphering parchments or conducting metallurgy experiments. Even the fictional town of Macondo remains in solitude for several decades as it is bordered by forests and swamps and is unknown to the outside world.

As the years pass by, we witness multiple births, deaths, weddings, affairs, love stories, financial upheavals, expeditions and business ventures in the family. The town goes through droughts and floods, immigrant settlements, worker strikes and scandals and we see Macondo change from a close-knit community of 20 initial settlers to a bustling, free spirited centre full of immigrants.

There is so much happening in the book at the same time involving so many people, it seems you are watching a reality tv show that is wild, obnoxious, bordering on the thin line between reality and fantasy, shocking, dramatic, tragic, comic, sensitive, and even uplifting at times. Every word, every line, every incident moves the story forward.

In India we call a movie with all the above elements a masala potboiler. I would like to give this book the same name, but of an epic scale.

The writing style awakens a curiosity in the reader to know the fate of every character and ultimately the fate of the family and Macondo.

Your takeaway? As in the case of every masala Hindi movie made – entertainment, entertainment, entertainment.

Favourite Lines –

I couldn’t find any striking or noteworthy line to remember from any character. The book is to be devoured as a whole. But a line by Ursula s worth mentioning here, “Life comes a full circle.”

App Mention –

I listened to the story on the Storytel app in the voice of Peter Silverleaf. His voice complements the emotion and drama in the story and makes it all the more interesting to listen.

Recommendation –

DO READ the book to lose yourself in a magical and mystical world created by the author and filled with wonderful, mad, crazy, lively and passionate characters. This piece of stunning literature will cause the lines of reality and magic to blur for you and carry you along on a journey as enthralling as the citizens of the town of Macondo experienced on the flying carpets of gypsies.

I haven’t placed the book in the MUST READ category simply because I felt this book is not everyone’s cup of tea.

MUST READ/DO READ/CAN BE READ/CAN BE SKIPPED

Rating – 4/5

Ambience – 4

Language – 4

Characterization – 4

Plot – 4

Pace – 4

Entertaining – 4.5

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Qala - Movie Review

Directed by Anvita Dutt Guptan, and produced by Clean Slate films, Qala is a movie based on the life of a successful singer who is troubled by her past. The costumes, songs, movie sets, cars, cameras, homes practically everything in this movie transports you to the India of the late 1940s.

The movie is dark and carries a depth that keeps you in its hold during its 120 minutes of screen time. Tripti Dimri as Qala, is simply wonderful in her role – she is a girl who comes across as a subtle and soft-spoken person who you would easily ignore in a room but behind her innocence is a woman who knows what she wants and will not shy away from getting it no matter what it takes. Her mom, Urmila, played by Swastika Mukherjee is a strong presence in Qala’s life as well as on the screen. She has a domineering influence on Qala, who wants to please her mother at all costs. Mother-daughter duo belong to a family of music maestros and her mother has high expectations from Qala. Almost all the mother daughter scenes take place in their heritage home in Shimla and every frame captured here is a painting in motion. Their dimly lit home, the boat ride with a renowned music artist, scenes shot in snow that seem so peaceful yet haunting, leave an impression on the mind long after the movie gets over. Equally gorgeous is the jewellery worn by Urmila, giving us a glimpse of the Himachali culture.

This movie marks the debut of the late movie actor Imran Khan’s son Babil Khan who gives a matured and restrained performance as Jagan Batwal. The actor knows what is expected of him and even when no dialogues are said, his eyes convey pain, betrayal and the foreboding look of an impending doom.

The movie touches upon gender inequality, venomous ambitions that enslave you, abusive parent child relations, casting couch in film industry and the presence of gay men in society.

But the message most strongly conveyed is that of karma, the great force that pays you back no matter what heights you reach in your professional or personal life. You have to taste the fruit of your karma, sweet or bitter, whichever it may be. You may be frustrated, sad or depressed when you took a particular step in your life, but karma doesn’t care about your intentions or your innocence. What you give is what you will get. If not today, tomorrow.

Lastly, coming to the music by Amit Trivedi, Qala is an album with meaningful lyrics, a catchy number (who hasn’t heard of Ghode pe kyu sawaar hai?) and soulful songs that you would love to hum and listen to in your most reflective moods or as you go about your day.

Overall, the movie is a beautiful piece of art, and has an old-world charm that strikes a chord within you as all movies with good stories and direction do. Surely a must-watch!

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Everything I Know About....Love

A young, fun filled memoir you will enjoy!!!

Genre –

Memoir (and she was just 30 when she wrote it!)

What is it about?

The book is about Dolly’s life from her teens and ends on her 30th birthday. Dolly is from the Stanmore suburb in London and has done her masters in Journalism from Exeter university. Her days in Camden (an area in London), where she stays in a rented house with her girlfriends are vividly described. The book takes you on a roller coaster ride of night outs, partying, dating, booze bingeing and teaches you lessons along the way about self-love, dating, relationships and life in general. The book beautifully narrates how friendship can carry you through the toughest of storms in the gentlest manner.

Main Characters –

Dolly – Herself

Farly – Dolly’s best friend

AJ,Bell,India – Dolly’s friends

Book Evaluation –

There is a line in the beginning chapters of the book describing Stanmore, the suburb where Dolly grew up – “…It was the blank margin of the city. An observer of the fun rather than a reveller at the party.” But Dolly’s life, is no less than a never-ending party.

Get ready to be a spectator to a wild ride of late-night partying, night-outs and reckless dating. Dolly wants to create memories and live life like a grown up. Her life of excesses is lived with an indefatigable zeal to live to the fullest. There is never a dull moment in Dolly’s life. Some incidents are outright funny, some make you wonder why the hell is this girl behaving so wildly, while some make you nostalgic as you look back at your own teen years.

As the pages move towards the other half of her twenties, Dolly’s partying sobers down, she realizes many truths about life, introspects her life with the help of a therapist, and works as a freelance journalist along with having a job at a television production company.

The book shows wonderful bonding among her girlfriends and puts a smile on the reader’s face many times. Dolly has a good sense of humour and her writing style is easy with a really good descriptive vocabulary and laugh-out-loud one-liners. Some of the dating experiences shared in the book were outrageously funny while some were reckless and the unending cycle of drinking, all night partying and mindlessly hanging out became a bit too much for me at times.

The best parts of the book are those with stories of Dolly’s friendship with her girlfriends. They are a tight group who are always there for each other no matter what.

The in-between short chapters where Dolly has shared recipes of some comfort food items for e.g. An indulgent mac and cheese, easy apple pizza etc. are a sweet addition to the book and show her love for cooking. There are a few chapters where she has listed what she learnt in her 20s, her lessons from dating, what she knew about love at the age of 30 etc… which are thought provoking and strike a chord with the reader with their sheer frankness and practicality.

The book has a frank and honest ring to it and by the end of it, you get a feeling of having read a friend’s story.

Favourite Lines –

…One day we will sit in a nursing home Dolly, bored out of our minds and staring at the quilt in our laps…and all we will have to make us smile are these memories…

It may seem that life is difficult at times, but it is really as simple as breathing in and out…be the person you wish you could be, not the person you feel you were doomed to be.

No matter what we lose, no matter how uncertain and unpredictable life gets, some people really do walk next to you forever.

Everything will change, and it could happen any morning.

Let your friends abandon you for a relationship once, the good ones will always come back.

Make, allow and enable mistakes

The teenage and twenty something feeling of being a proprietor of endless empty minutes, of having boundless days ahead of me…

We should be granted the access to youth alongside the wisdom of age

Rambunctious, restless and ram shackled, roving, raucous and rebellious, my roaming decade, my roaring twenties.

To choose to love is to take a risk always, that is why it is called falling, no one meanders with a compass and ordinance survey map into love.

The most important thing in a relationship is how well you work as a team.

A couple need to be really, really good friends.

When you’re looking for love and it seems like you might not ever find it remember you probably have access to an abundance of it already, just not the romantic kind. This kind of love might not kiss you in the rain, or propose marriage, but it will listen to you, inspire you and restore you…it will hold you when you cry, celebrate when you’re happy…you have so much to gain and learn from this kind of love…

Recommendation –

MUST READ

DO READ

CAN BE READ

CAN BE SKIPPED

It is a ‘DO READ’ book for millennials (those born in 80s) and the current Gen Z. It is a fun read which is light as well as filled with life lessons from a smart, witty and interesting 30-year-old who believes life is to be lived to the fullest. It is a very relatable book though there could be a culture difference between the reader and the author. Many of the revelations that Dolly had while transitioning from her teens to her twenties and then to her thirties are those many of us would have had or…will have.

Rating – 3.5/5

Ambience – 4

Language – 4

Characterization – NA

Plot – NA

Pace – 3

Entertaining – 3.5

Storytel Mention – The book was read by Dolly and she brings the central character(herself) come alive. Her narration was splendid and her voice perky and cheerful with an endearing quality. I enjoyed her narration thoroughly!

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Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

I am not much into sports but I couldn’t resist reading about the life of a co-founder of a multi-billion-dollar company - Nike, who had started from a simple idea and pursued it with single-minded devotion.

Whenever I come across a successful writer, a business person or someone who created a beautiful, impactful life from nothing and became a somebody from a nobody, my mind raises hundreds of questions. What things did he do differently? How was his journey? What did he learn from his mistakes? Is he truly satisfied with his life? Does he have any regrets? What advice does someone who is considered a “have it all” have for the rest of us?

Most importantly, what can I learn from him?

This book is a bestseller published in 2016 and covers the years from 1962 – 1980 approx.

Observations and Insights –

I call this section as Observations and not Book Evaluation as with my other book reviews simply because I am no one to evaluate someone’s life. We all are making the best of what we have received, where we are placed and what we can do.

It takes a lot of courage to write one’s life story, to lay bare the facts, to accept mistakes, show pride in one’s achievements, reveal pain that has been long buried and to expose your wounds to millions of people who have never known you and in all possibility may misjudge you.

He had one central idea – to sell good quality sports shoes made in Japan in America and he kept working at it till he succeeded.

It is essentially the story of creation and rise of Nike, its first employees who had a huge role to play in creating the company to where it stands now, and gives us glimpses of Phil’s personal life as well – his relations with his parents, his love story with Penny his wife and his equation with his sons – Mathew and Travis.

Phil candidly accepts that he was a shy leader who spoke very less, made bad decisions, was not an available father most of the time and often succeeded in the trials of life because he was lucky. It takes an extremely humble person to accept, acknowledge and publicise these facts about oneself.

He applauded graciously and with gratitude the roles played by the first employees of Nike and the immense contribution of Bill Bowerman his running coach and co-founder of Nike.

Phil makes it clear that Nike was the result of team work. It was his brain child but it was nurtured, schooled, taught and trained by his entire team. Name of the company, its logo, its best-selling “waffle trainers” were all invaluable contributions from his team members. His management style was casual and he gives full freedom to his employees in their departments.

He is a man of few words and throughout the book he gives many advices in short, concise statements often borrowing from Zen masters or famous authors or philosophers. Some of those lines are given in this synopsis.

Shoe Dog is an honest, real tale about an average person with an idea to sell shoes who is extremely passionate and relentless. Phil doesn’t set out to list down the factors that contributed to the success of Nike. He doesn’t give any tips or tricks to success. The book, it seems is written plainly and as things happened one by one, and things Phil learned each day in trying to build Nike. For those who pick it up as a self-help book or as a guide to do business, the book I doubt will meet up to your expectations.

Lines that stay with you –

I tell them to hit pause think long and hard about how they want to spend their time and with whom they want to spend it for the next forty years.

Not to settle for a job, or a profession or even a career, seek a calling.

If you are following your calling, the fatigue will be easier to bear. The disappointments will be fewer, the highs will be like nothing you have ever felt.

I would like to warn the best of them(entrepreneurs)… that they will always have a bull’s eye on their backs. The better they get, the bigger the bull’s eye.

Sometimes you have to give up. Sometimes knowing when to give up, when to try something else is genius.

Giving up does not mean stopping. Don’t ever stop.

Luck plays a big role…hard work is critical, good team is essential, brains and determination are invaluable but luck may decide the outcome.

The harder you work, the better your tao/luck.

Have faith in yourself but also have faith in faith…Faith as you define it, Faith as faith defines itself in your heart.

Whether you have it or not (money), whether you want it or not, whether you like it or not, it will try to define your days. Our task as human being is, not to let it.

To study the self is to forget the self. - Zen

When you’re seeing only problems, you’re not seeing clearly.

You are remembered for the rules you break.

The cowards never started and the weak died along the way, that leaves us…

If we are going to succeed or fail, we should do so on our own terms…

I felt spent but proud, drained but exhilarated…

Life is growth, you grow or you die

Single greatest way to know how you feel about someone, say goodbye

I had never been a multi-tasker… I wanted to be present always, I wanted to focus constantly on the one task that really mattered.

If I failed, I would fail quickly so I would have enough time and years to implement all the hard-earned lessons. My inner mantra was - Fail fast.

The art of competing is the art of forgetting. You must forget your limits, your doubts, your pain, your past, you must forget that internal voice screaming, begging not one more step and when you can’t forget, you must negotiate with it.

The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones - Confucious

Reality is not linear says Zen. There is no future no past, all is now.

Whatever comes, just keep going, don’t stop.

It takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. If you want to go somewhere else you must run at least twice as fast as that - Lewis Carol, ‘Through the looking glass’.

Storytel mention - Heard the book on Storytel in the voice of Norbert Leo Butz. His voice makes the story come alive and makes us feel the emotions as the pages unfurl and life moves on with adventure and struggles for Phil Knight. Enjoyed!

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A Man Called Ove

Genre –

Comedy, drama

What is it about?

A man called Ove. Haha. I am trying to be as direct and blunt as the main character, a 59- year old man called Ove. He is from an unnamed town and is a smart, practical, rigid old man who is very tough from outside with a very sensitive and soft heart. The reader tags along with Ove as he goes about his daily life and gradually we come to know about his life story and come to adore his grumpy behavior.

The book is the author’s debut novel and was originally written in Swedish and published in 2012. It was translated and published in English in 2013. A Swedish movie based on this book was released in 2015 and was nominated in the best foreign film category at the 89th Academy Awards.

Main Characters –

Ove – A grumpy 59-year old man who has recently been forced to retire from work

Sonja – His wife

Parvaneh – A pregnant Iranian woman who moves in Ove’s neighbourhood with her family

Patrick – Parvaneh’s clumsy husband

Rudy – Ove’s former best friend

Anita – Rudy’s wife and Sonja’s friend

Jimmy – The overweight neighbour

The cat – The half fur covered cat needs a mention too here!

Book Evaluation –

The book is funny, no doubt about that and has a sensitivity woven in its words as it progresses.

It is a simple story written in an easy style about ordinary people we come across in our daily lives.

Ove’s character is beautifully etched, beginning with his mannerisms which are quite typical of men his age, his habits, and his heart tugging life story that reveals to the reader why he is the way he is. The description of his habits feels a bit repetitive at times but it makes him all the more endearing to the reader.

Ove’s father was a poor man and Ove didn’t complete his schooling, but he gave Ove the best education. He taught him how to live life. Ove did not know what was an I-pad or how to use technology but he knew how to live life. He had his life sorted out from a young age, something it takes years for many of us to do.

The book touches upon many messages through not only the central character but even those surrounding him. The messages are very subtly articulated and left for the reader to interpret. One of the messages I liked was about how destiny decides the course of our lives despite our best attempts to override it…simply because it has better designs.

The story shows the impact the loss of a loved one can have on us. Someone who you have loved unconditionally, devotedly all your life…someone who is your life.

Many social messages also come across through the course of the book like the power of community bonding, family love, positive and negative impact of immigration on societies, love needed by our senior citizens no matter how aloof or overbearing they may be.

We are taught to empathize with people, to be patient with others even if they are strangers as we don’t know what they are going through, we don’t know what they have been through and that life sometimes, is not kind to all of us.

It teaches us to share, even a simple thing like home-made food, to help one another, to be kind. This is what I like the most about this book. It doesn’t preach big ideas and out of the world theories. It stresses on the importance of simple, life affirming truths.

The book also highlights the job situation in countries due to advent of modern technology where youth is preferred in job positions as they are well versed with computers.

Different lines, situations and characters will strike a different chord with the reader. But my synopsis would be, “A heart-warming love story hidden behind a tough, grumpy old man.” I am sure many of us will have parents or grand-parents with such love stories. Cause life was simple for them, their dreams weren’t glamorous and their feet were firmly grounded.

Favourite Lines –

Some are funny. Some are truths of life, some are just…love.

1. …a country full of people who just want to have lunch all day.

2. Ove feels an instinctive skepticism towards all people taller than one eighty-five, the blood can’t quite make it all the way up to the brain.

3. Ove doubts whether someone who can’t park a car properly should even be allowed to vote.

4. He was a man of black and white. And she was colour. All the colour he had.

5. He was never at the heart of things and never on the outside. He was the sort of person who was just there.

6. Ove, only a swine thinks size and strength are the same thing. Remember that.

7. They never had much, but they always had enough.

8. It was filthy work and badly paid, but, as his father used to mutter, “It’s an honest job and that’s worth something.

9. And his hair looks as if someone saved him from drowning in a barrel by pulling him up by his locks.

10. You miss the strangest things when you lose someone. Little things. Smiles.

11. That all the roads you walk in life, in one way or another ‘lead to what has been predetermined for you.’

12. Maybe to her, destiny was something…but to him, destiny was ‘someone.’

13. He would never be the sort of man who care what other men called him

14. Men are what they are because of what they do, not what they say.

15. This was a world where one became outdated before one’s time was up

16. A job well done is a reward in its own right

17. You only need one ray of light to chase all the shadows away

18. A time like that comes for all men, when they choose what sort of men they want to be. And if you don’t know the story you don’t know the men.

19. With all the excitement of someone reciting a tax statement.

20. Going about with his arms looking like a pair of pyjamas?

21. Ove had never been asked how he lived before he met her. But if anyone had asked him, he would have answered that he didn’t.

22. When a person gives to another person it’s not just the receiver who’s blessed, it’s the giver.

23. We can busy ourselves with living or with dying, Ove. We have to move on.

24. Loving someone is like moving into a house.

25. Death is a strange thing. People live their whole lives as if it doesn’t exist, and yet it’s often one of the great motivations for living.

26. One of the most painful moments in a person’s life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead.

Recommendation–

A. MUST READ

B. DO READ

C. CAN BE READ

D. CAN BE SKIPPED

It is a MUST READ. And I will add, RE-READ the book after few months or years of reading it for the first time. Why? You will know after you have read it once. J

Rating – 5/5

Ambience – 5

Language – 5

Characterisation – 5

Plot – 5

Pace – 5

Entertaining – 5

Reading Experience

Read the book on my Amazon Kindle that allowed me to highlight every line and passage I loved (of which there are many!) so I can refer to them later on whenever I wish to meet Ove and his world.

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Anxious People

Genre -

Comedy, Drama, Suspense

What is it about? –

The novel, originally written in Swedish by Fredrik Backman was published in 2019 and translated in English by Neil Smith. It is a story about a bank robbery gone wrong, leading to an unexpected and unplanned hostage drama involving a group of people who had gathered for an apartment viewing and the bank robber.

The story is based in a small, unnamed town in Sweden.

Main Characters –

The Bank Robber

Jim – Police officer

Jack – Son of Jim, and a police officer

Hostages -

Zara – Bank manager

Anna-Lena and Roger – Retired couple who buy houses, give them a makeover and sell them

Estelle – A lady aged 87

Roe and Julianne – A lesbian couple who are pregnant

Real Estate Agent

A rabbit

Book Evaluation –

The book has two parallel tracks – one is the hostage drama as it unfolded in the apartment and the other track at the police station where the hostages are being interviewed by the police after they are released.

Each character in the story is strong and distinct and feels real. They are normal, ordinary people from all walks of life having their own perspectives and troubles regarding love, relationships, money, family, parenthood etc.

Dialogue between these characters begins on a hilarious note and as the story progresses, takes an emotional and sensitive turn. Their conversations are filled with wit and humour yet there is a depth shown by each character that compels the reader to introspect on life and living.

Having an effortless language and flow, the book tugs at the reader through its high intelligence quotient – with its clever dialogue, interwoven stories, subtle insinuations at more serious topics, as well as through its emotional quotient – by peeling off the outer layer of each character to reveal their insecurities, anxieties, love, fear, expectations and secrets against the backdrop of the hostage drama.

The story also highlights how normal, innocent, family loving people are forced to take harsh steps in view of the situations, in an attempt to cope with sudden change of circumstances.

It shows how each one of us, no matter who we are - A successful career woman, a police officer or a lesbian couple; we all are fighting small battles day in and day out, with ourselves, our spouses, our family, dreams, expectations of society, substance abuse…such strong is the need for all of us to be kind to one another, to lend an ear, to wipe a tear, to give a smile…even to strangers…cause we are all sailing in the same boat…all of us are trying their best to love, to grow, to evolve, to accomplish...and a little kindness will go a long way.

Magic of the author’s storytelling lies in the fact that though in the beginning you don’t feel interested or connected to any of these characters, by the end of the story you grow to love each one of them for their distinct appeal, for simply who they are.

Favourite Lines –

1. Our hearts are bars of soap that we keep losing hold of…the moment we relax they drift of, and fall in love and get broken all in the wink of an eye…we are not in control so we learn to pretend all the time about our jobs, and our marriages, our children and everything else. We pretend we are normal…

2. It should be noted that when she died, the bank robber’s mom consisted of so much gin and tonic that they didn’t dare cremate her because of the risk of explosion, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t have good advice to offer.

3. You can’t protect your kids from life because life gets us all in the end.

4. We don’t want our children to pursue their own dreams or walk in our footsteps. We want to walk in their footsteps while they pursue our dreams.

5. It is easier to live with your own anxieties if you know that no one else is happy either.

6. No one who is having a really good day spends half of it taking pictures of themselves.

7. Anyone can nurture a myth about their life if they have enough manoeuver.

8. If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, that is probably cause it is full of shit.

9. Today’s youngsters had far too much choice…that was the whole problem…

10. The most expensive thing you can buy in the most densely populated places on the planet is distance.

11. She seemed to be such a kind person that if she were murdered she probably would have taken it as a compliment that someone had noticed her.

12. Boats that stay in the harbor are safe… but that is not what boats are built for.

13. Humour is the soul’s last line of defense. As long as we are laughing, we are alive.

14. We are asleep, until we fall in love

15. I have learned that you don’t have to be happy all the time…but I’m happy enough.

Recommendation –

A. MUST READ

B. DO READ

C. CAN BE READ

D. CAN BE SKIPPED

I categorise this book as a Must Read. Read it to laugh, cry, feel, understand, empathise and feel alive every moment that you spend with its characters who are so ordinary yet so special you will remember their words for a long time.

Rating – 4.5/5

Ambience – 5

Language – 5

Characterisation – 5

Plot – 5

Pace – 4

Entertaining – 5

Audible App mention –

I listened to this book on the Audible app narrated by Marin Ireland. She has used her voice distinctly for each character in the story. Her tone and modulation lend so much atmosphere to the book and make the characters come alive. Enjoyed thoroughly!

[thebookbillboard]

THE PALACE OF ILLUSIONS

Author – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Genre –

Historical, Indian Mythology, Woman-Oriented

What is it about? –

The Palace of Illusions was published in 2008, and is written by the US based Indian author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

The story is based on Mahabharata, the ancient Indian epic and is written from the view point of Draupadi also known as Panchali, the wife of the Pandavas who ruled India before thousands of years.

The book begins with the birth of Draupadi and takes the reader through her childhood, education, Swayamvar, married life, position in her family, her role in waging the war of Kurukshetra and her post war life.

Main Characters –

Draupadi/Panchali – Daughter of the king of Panchal and later wife of the Pandavas

Lord Krishna – Hindu God who has taken birth as human being

Pandavas - 5 brothers who are Draupadi’s husbands

Duryodhana – Cousin of Pandavas. Eldest of the Kauravas

Karna – Duryodhana’s friend. Related to the Pandavas. (do not want to add spoiler)

Bheeshma – Pandavas’ and Kauravas’ uncle

There is a multitude of characters in Mahabharata and the author has deftly handled each one of them. This makes her work all the more remarkable as the story does not deflect from the protagonist and her narrative while at the same time throwing enough light on all the surrounding characters.

Book Evaluation –

The title refers to the palace that the Pandavas got built for themselves. It is the place where certain events sowed the seeds of jealousy and bitter enmity in Duryodhana against Pandavas.

Writing about a woman character and her story that has taken place in approximately 10th century BC, and making it interesting and relatable in the 21st century, is a huge feat on the part of the author. Being aware of the stories in Mahabharata and the curses, boons, divine powers, Gods and demons mentioned therein, the story fills one with wonder and amazement once again by reading about these things.

The amount of research, planning and depth of knowledge needed to write a story based on such an epic would be monumental. Though this book does not depend much on the author’s imagination, she has done a remarkable job centering the entire story around Draupadi and with each incident giving her views and her perspectives.

The writing style gives the reader an experience of listening to the story of a very close friend. The words make us feel the pain, trauma, exhilaration, ambitions, love and loss that were Draupadi’s, they make us feel we are a part of her story.

The battle scenes are described beautifully. The bloodshed, the pain, agony, flared up egos, divine arrows, broken bonds, promises and curses all played their part on the battleground of Kurukshetra making every line interesting and even breath-taking at times.

The scenes where Draupadi is sitting on the hill and viewing the battle below are written in a poetic and heart touching manner and that atmosphere stayed with me for a long time after I finished listening to the book.

The ending where the Pandavas along with Draupadi walk towards their ultimate salvation are full of beautiful imagery around mount Kailash and I read Draupadi’s conversation with Krishna at the end two to three times. The writing in those paragraphs is simply mesmerising, soul touching and powerfully awakening.

Throughout the book there are multiple lines, realisations, thoughts and actions of the characters that give us valuable life lessons. The subtle way in which the author has shared these messages is commendable.

There is not a single line or word that deviates from the main story though there are so many parallel plots in the Mahabharata. It is a crisply edited book that fulfils its purpose.

The beauty of the book lies in the fact that nowhere has the author justified or deified Draupadi. She is shown as a woman who makes mistakes, holds grudges, acts rashly at times, but who not only feels but also thinks. A woman who not only bears pain but also fights. A woman who loves her husbands but knows how to manipulate them when need arises, a woman who respects her mother in law but stands up to her when she deems it correct. A woman who obeys and respects her elders but also questions and curses them when her self-respect and dignity are violated in their presence. A woman who takes pride in her beauty and her jewels but can live as a queen’s servant when circumstances change. A woman who almost loses herself in this battle to only find her true self and the meaning of life. A woman who is outwardly shown to be extremely strong yet pines for the love of one person which she can never get during her lifetime.

Favourite Lines –

Force of a person’s belief seeps into those around him into the very earth, air and water until there is nothing else.

All these years Krishna had been like the air I breathed – indispensable and unconsidered.

Can our actions change destiny? Or are they like sand piled against a breakage in a dam merely delaying the inevitable?

We grow to become that which we live within.

Your childhood hunger never leaves you no matter how famous or powerful you become.

A situation in itself is neither happy not unhappy. It is only your response to it that causes you sorrow.

The pleasures that arise from sense objects are bound to end and thus they are only sources of pain, don’t get attached to them.

When man reaches a state where both honour and dishonour are alike to him then he is considered supreme.

Recommendation–

A. MUST READ

B. DO READ

C. CAN BE READ

D. CAN BE SKIPPED

I strongly recommend this book as a MUST READ. If you know and like the story of Mahabharata you will fall in love with it all over again. If you do not know the story of Mahabharata, you will be spell bound by the multiple threads of passion, drama, human bonding, suffering, stories of treachery and betrayals… and you will find a wonderful friend in the main character of Draupadi and become a fellow traveler in the journey of her life…across centuries.

Rating – 5/5

Ambience – 5

Language – 5

Character Development – 5

Plot – 5

Pace – 5

Entertaining – 5

Storytel Mention –

I listened to the story on the Storytel app in the voice of Sneha Mathan, whose powerful voice brings the character of Draupadi alive and the words vibrate with emotion and empathy.

Overall a wonderful experience!