The Krishna Key – A Review

Book: The Krishna Key
Author: Ashwin Sanghi
Publishing Year: 2012
Number of Pages: 475

Language: English

List Price: Rs. 250 INR

Ashwin Sanghi is an entrepreneur by day, novelist by night. Ashwin lives in Mumbai with his wife, Anushika, and his eight-year old son, Raghuvir.

This is the third book written by Ashwin Sanghi that I have now read. I started reading Ashwin Sanghi with “The Rozabal Line”, then moved on to “Chanakya's Chant” and now finally onto “The Krishna Key”.  Needless to say that the reason I continued to read Ashwin Sanghi’s work was because I liked what he wrote and the overall scripting, narration, storytelling and suspense were binders. This is what made me eagerly await his works. 

Right from his book 1 - “The Rozabal Line”, I’ve felt that he has in one way or the other adopted, refined, tweaked Dan Brown’s way of writing especially from ‘The DaVinci Code’. There are heavy parallels that may be drawn here, of course with the caveat that these are my thoughts and have no ill intention.

Coming back to “The Krishna Key “, the very first thought that crossed my mind was how much if this is facts and  fiction. This is a remarkable way of writing and presents a superb way of storytelling. I for starters was completley engrossed in the facts that were presented in a straight ‘matter of fact’ manner that I was spell bound. Three pages more of reading and I was searching on the internet for the mentioned facts. This did two things; one: kept my mind completely occupied with the book; two: made me aware of our rich cultural heritage which most Indians (at least the younger generation) either discredits as fantasy or not even acknowledges. With books like the ones written by “Amish Tripathi” and “Ashiwin Sanghi” becoming popular, we never know one day most of us Indians might just start becoming proud of being who we are rather than aping the west. A lot of bloggers have mentioned Aswin Sanghi as copying other popular authors works. I on my part would not write anything to take the credit away from Ashwin who has done a superb job again with this latest book. 

This book talks about Krishna – the God, a young man who thinks himself as the reincarnation of Krishna and a professor. Here is the synopsis of the book:

Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age—the Kaliyug.

In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar. Only, he is a serial killer.

The overall ‘Plot’ of the book seems very convincing. Yes, there are parallels to other works, but, the way the book grows on you is remarkable and call for a lot of effort. My 5on 5 for it.

The narration and storytelling is typical Ashwin style and it is not bad at all, infact it goes very well. With its un-complicated terminology/Sanskrit phrases, the book never felt like a burden or a history lesson. One can also clearly visualize things happening. This and the overall pace of things picks up steam as we keep reading making this a compelling read. The suspense is well-balanced, and character development efficient and effective.

To sum up, this book is a good read. As always, you read and decide! My final verdict: 4 on 5.

You may read the first five chapters as a free preview at http://slidesha.re/MDC5iT.

Also you may watch the trailer here:

http://youtu.be/Yyiz7okQx8I

You may order 'The Krishna Key' at any of these online retailers:
Indiatimes: http://bit.ly/PsDifu
Flipkart: http://bit.ly/NSB1ah
Infibeam: http://bit.ly/M6R71O
Crossword: http://bit.ly/PRAedG
Indiaplaza: http://bit.ly/Leu2Gt
Landmark: http://bit.ly/N5mkEj
HomeShop18: http://bit.ly/ShQlzX
uRead: http://bit.ly/M6RedT
Amazon: http://amzn.to/MqvUMa
Amazon Kindle: http://amzn.to/OiHBol
Junglee: http://bit.ly/MlR5VP
BookAdda: http://bit.ly/LUpVAN
MySmartPrice: http://bit.ly/PRB4r0
Dial-a-book: http://bit.ly/P64dgI
SapnaOnline: http://bit.ly/N7Rw5U
Om Books: http://bit.ly/NsmqU0
SimplyBooks: http://bit.ly/SnIpxk

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The Devotion of Suspect X – A Review

Book: The Devotion of Suspect X
Author: Keigo Higashino
Publishing Year: 2011
Number of Pages: 305

Language: English (original Japanese)

List Price: Rs. 350 INR

This is a book that comes with a lot of baggage. Everywhere you would look on the web, you would see only positive reviews and positive superlative praise for this book. Also, claims of 2 million plus readers, etc etc. had made this one of the most backed up book. Add numerous awards and the fact that since its first publication (in Japanese language) in 2005 it has already been adopted into two films.

Infact, to be honest, what really attracted me to this book was the quote on its cover "The Japanese Stieg Larsson - The Times". I am a self proclaimed fan of the writing of Steig Larsson and finished his last series on the trot. This is why I was very very apprehensive before I laid my hands on this book. I had too many questions like “whether it would be able to do justice to the tag”, “if it would be half as good as Steig Larsoon, that’s goona be great” and then some more.  I also harbored certain doubts on a Japanese author being able to produce a thriller that will appeal to the global audience and not just to Japanese people.

To summarize my thoughts and feelings, I would say, that Keigo Higashino laid all my apprehensions to rest and in what a way! After I was through the first 50 pages, I could just not put the book down and take a break. I finished the book pronto (less than 4 hours for a 300+page book, my fastest so far :-) ).

I am usually a stickler for thrillers, military, action, suspense kinds of books. Hence, I lapped this straight up. Reading this book was like riding a Roller Coaster. The initial few pages are slow paced and a challenge to read probably because of new names, places etc. But, once the first 50 pages are read, there is no turning back. There is going to be no way by which one can get oneself to stop reading this book.

Coming back to the book, it opens with an amazingly crisp yet ‘full’ description of the life of a teacher – Ishigami, a divorced, single mother- Yasuko, her errant husband – Togashi, and a brilliant ‘Professor’ - Yukawa. A classic tale with a femme fatale, a genius mathematician, a brilliant physicist and his detective friend.

If you think on, then you would understand how the story might proceed. The single mother would be working very hard and supporting her daughter. The single mother is troubled by her ex-husband and the professor saves day. If this is what you thought then you are only partially correct. The best part of this book is that it is a crime thriller where we – readers are already aware of who the killer is and yet it had enough to lead readers on.

In doing so Keigo in a subtle manner introduced us to a extremely graphic style of writing. One can clearly visualize things happening. This and the overall pace of things picks up steam as we keep reading making this a compelling read. The suspense is well-balanced, and character development efficient and effective.

To sum up, this book is a good read. As always, you read and decide! My final verdict: 4.5 on 5.

This book can be bought from the following:

 

Indiaplaza
Flipkart
Homeshop18

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3's A Crowd-Understanding and Surviving Infidelity – A Review

Book: 3's A Crowd
Author: Vijay Nagaswami
Publishing Year: 2011
Number of Pages: 308

Language: English

List Price: Rs. 250 INR

This is not a novel, not a work of fiction or a true self-help book. Let me start by saying that this is one of the best books written on ‘Infidelity’ in committed relationships. Also, since Vijay, is an Indian, this book has a focus on Indian society, its perceptions and the evolving culture. Of course, Vijay takes us through the emotional melodrama that the couples go through, but more importantly gives us a sneak peek into ‘why’ and ‘how’ of ‘Infidelity’.

Another reason that this book makes for an interesting read is the fact that it is written by ‘Dr. Vijay Nagaswami’ a practicing psychiatrist who offers couple therapy. All through the book Vijay utilizes his over 25 years of experience working with innumerable couples from across India for examples and insights.

Some of the other works of Dr. Vijay are following:

• The 24 X 7 Marriage
• The Fifty-50 Marriage
• The New Indian Marriage               

Coming back to this book, is it divided into two parts:

• Part1: Understanding Infidelity
• Part 2: Surviving Infidelity

The entire first section talks about various reasons of infidelity and which circumstances and/or personality traits lead there.The number one thing that came out in the very first few lines was the fact that affairs don’t just happen, we make affairs happen. As we move on reading the book, it deftly, yet with the simplest of arguments explores questions such as:

• How is it possible to have just one partner throughtout your life?
• Isn’t it possible to love more than one person at a time?
• Long arm of the law? (believe me I was not aware of this fact that extramarital relationships are punishable by law in India, but the strange thing in this law is that it believes that women cannot commit adultery and it is only men who can, strange law eh!)

But, one thing is given that Dr.Nagaswami through his first hand knowledge says that it is not only men who are reveling in adultery, but woman are equally open to the same and are enjoying the same as much as men do.

The most intriguing section in part 1 is where Dr. Nagaswami takes and breaks popular myths such as:

• Affairs take place in ‘bad’ marriages
• Affairs kill marriages
• Once a person has one affair, more will follow
• After an affair a marriage is never the same again
• Only men have affairs

And many more assertions and common beliefs are shattered and crushed.

From here on the book takes a different turn, changes from giving reason and examples of infidelity to practical advise on ‘Surviving Infidelity’. 

Almost all affairs do come to the fore sooner or later. Once we are there then what to do is what this section is all about. The most interesting part is getting on the survivor bandwagon and talks about change of mindset from a victim mindset to a survivor mindset. One thing I noticed about the book, is that it doesnot offer any prescriptions or sure shot way of dealing with all this. For me this was the best part of the book.  All individuals, personalities, situations, complexities are different hence there are not tell tale advise that can be implemented. This shows Dr. Nagaswami’s maturity both as a thinker and as a writer.

Love the closing remark “..if you are married, then it might be more sensible to try and get it right….keep in mind….in marriage three is always a crowd”.

Overall Rating: 4.5 on 5

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