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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The Iron Tooth by Prithvin Rajendran - A Review

Author – Prithvin Rajendran

Pages: 226

List Price: Rs. 195

Publishing Year: 2011

Official Website: http://prithvinrajendran.com/

First, let me start with why I thought of reading this book.

• The name itself struck me as peculiar – the iron tooth 
•  Being an Indian mystery/fantasy book had me in a spot

This book is the first book that I read that is written by an Indian author that is in the Fantasy & Magic category.

There are several works of fiction by Indian authors springing up every now and then. If we were to see and analyze most of the books, they are of the same category as the cult novel – Five Point Someone – by Chetan Bhagat. Most, if not all of the current generation of the so called, young and aspiring novelists from India are trying to cash in on the ‘youth’ factor their books. This not only is killing variety and inturn is seeing a resurgence of people discarding books and going back t watching movies.

However, this book promises to be different from the so many other Indian novels out there. If I were to think about this then I will definitely say that the region in which this book traverses is definitely a virgin territory. It must have required a lot of conviction and guts to even think about writing such a novel, let alone the research. Prithvin deserves all credit and praise for thinking of writing such a book. My 5 on5 to Prithivin on this part. How this book shaped up is an entirely different story on which I will shed some light on the next couple of paragraphs.

First Impressions

The first impression one gets while breezing through the various pages of the novel is that it is indeed one written by a new/firs-time author. Also highlighted here is the fact that it does seem like a minor rip-off from Harry Potter – series and Lord of the Ring – series.

Intended Audience & Narration

After going through the entire book, I can safely say that this book is most likely will not appeal to the adults – 21 and over in age and might even be written by Prithvin with the intention of writing a book for the teenagers. Although Prithvin has tried to throw in a literary-classical angle here by alternating between text and prose/poetry. But, the overall effort is really not adequate to attract adults who look for more detailing and more flow between lines and among paragraphs. These two together in my observation make for a conspicuous slip-up especially from a first time author.

As far as narration is concerned, there is a major flaw. There are some things like maps, etc which are concise, clear. However, the description of characters, situations, fights, struggles, forest leave a lot to be desired.

It is clear from the map, detailing of characters, creatures, etc. that Prithvin wanted to create an Indian equivalent of Harry potter and Lord of the Rings which will appeal to the global audience. Thus, the names of characters, places, etc are not remotely Indian, which indeed gives this book a global appeal.

Story

The overall story is good.  To me it did seem like jumping from one place to another with little connection. However, I conceded that this might have been deliberate from the side of Prithivin. This perhaps is something only Prithvin will be able to shed light on. From my side, the overall story in terms of suspense, aspiration value and relatable value to the reader, I would rate this book at 3 on 5.

To sum up, ‘The Iron Tooth’ makes for an ‘ok’ read. It certainly could have been better, but given the fact that this book explores unchartered territories in Indian fiction writing, we should give Prithvin a breather.  It should be enjoyable to limited age group of people. As always, you read and decide! My final verdict: 2 on 5.

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The Secret of the Nagas – A Review

Author: Amish Tripathi

Pages: 414

List Price: Rs. 295

Publishing Year: 2011

     This book is second in the three book series titled ‘The Shiva Trilogy’.The books in this trilogy are: 

•           Book 1: The Immortals of Meluha
•      Book 2: The Secret of the Nagas
•           Book 3: The Oath of the Vayuputras

 I remember reading the first book in the series - The Immortals of Meluha (read my review here: http://laghusikarwar.blogspot.com/2010/10/immortals-of-meluha-review.html) after I read a small excerpt about it on a small HT feature page. Ever since I finished the first book, I was keenly waiting for the next part in the three book series to release and to answer the question in some of your minds – yes I did pre-order the book online and received it well before most others got it.

 It isn't often that one comes across a book by written by an Indian author with a sequel. It is even rarer to see the sequel doing just as good or even better than its predecessor.  The rarest thing in Indian fiction today is to find one good work of fiction based on Indian mythology. Amish Tripathi brings all of these together in one successful package.

This book begins right from where ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ ended and moves on at a brisk pace. The narration is as crisp and clear as its predecessor. This book, like its predecessor, moves on at a breathless pace; keeping the reader glued and almost goading him to keep turning the pages. However, when compared to the first book, this book is not the most compelling read, but even then I could not stop myself from reading as fast as I can to find what ‘Shiva’, Sati’ and the ever mysterious ‘Naga’ will be doing next. 

The first book had better narration of scenes and scenarios which would allow people like me to imagine a screenplay in front of my eyes as I read on. This book does give the opinion that it is being written by a new author. It is of course unpleasing to read lines/narration with words such as ‘India’ mentioned, but then one can always choose to ignore them and move on with the overall story building at great speed to keep you engrossed.

As we move on we see the transformation of a man confused of his destiny in the first book, to a confident self believing individual. True to the title, the focus of the book gradually shifts towards the purported ‘evil’ ‘Nagas’ and ‘Shivas’ journey to find the elusive truth. 

This book has everything from pain to suffering to joy to motherhood to loss to survival to fatherhood to death to revenge to betrayal to mystery to science to bravery to astonishment to belief. 

Amish has a wonderful yet very simple way of telling the story. The language is pretty simple and the book is definitely worth reading. You can read more about the book on the official website. 

You can read one chapter of the book from the official website here:

http://shivatrilogy.com/the-secret-of-the-nagas/the-secret-of-the-nagas_episode.pdf

To sum up, ‘The Secret of the Nagas’ continues on the footsteps of its predecessor and makes for a good read. It certainly could have been better, but this doesnot in anyway undermine this book. It should be enjoyable to most people irrespective of caste, creed or religion. As always, you read and decide! My final verdict: 4 on 5.

Following great online deals are available - Flipkart, Infibeam, Landmark, Crossword.

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Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin 'Einstein' Varghese – A Review

Author: Sidin Vadukut

Pages: 248

List Price: Rs. 199

Publishing Year: 2010

I have a habit of reading book reviews before buying a book. And since I had not bought this book, I had not read any reviews. So, I was not very sure about the reputation of this book when I picked it up. I was going on a short tour and lifted this book straight from the book-shelf of a friend.

And guess what, the moment I started reading it, I wished I could finish this book without having to stop.

The unique style in which Sidin wrote this book speaks volumes about his experience in experimenting with writing. I wish to congratulate Sidin on the superb writing style.

Diary, Robin ‘Enistein’ Varghese and an infectious enthusiasm will be amongst the things that you will certainly remember when you are done reading this book.

After ‘Five point Someone’ this book gives a superb description of college-campus life and the life afterwards. It seemed to me that this book carried on from where ‘Five point Someone’ ended. The book does appear to give a heavily drugged view of the world through the eyes of the protagonist., but that is what kept me glued.

There are several things I loved about the main character of the novel – Robin ‘Enistein’ Varghese. Some of the most notable to me were:

• Superb description of men/women/situations/surroudings – giving a vivid, visual image to characters & so much so that you start to see them develop in your vision
• Fantasies of Robin with regards to women
• Super confident, day dreaming B-school grads for whom nothing is impossible and everything is too easy

This work of fiction made me laugh out loud on a couple of occasions and certainly made me smile on most pages. I am pretty sure that this book would make most people smile if not laugh.

You can buy it online from most stores like ‘Flipkart’, ‘Indiaplaza’ etc.

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

PS: Heard that it is a trilogy. I certainly am not looking at the other books in the series, no sir!