Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Title: The Fault In Our Stars

Author: John Green

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 316  

Price: Rs 399

Genre: Fiction / Young Adult / Contemporary

Rating: 10/10

Format: Paperback

I had already read such rave reviews about this book on the internet and from friends that the moment I opened the book, I knew something special was going to begin. And it sure did. Reading ‘the Fault in our Stars’ was an emotionally moving experience. It is an extraordinary book and restores my faith in fiction. I am not going to forget it for a long time.

16 - year old Hazel Grace Lancaster’s and 17-year old Augustus Waters’ stars cross for the first time at the Cancer Support Group. Hazel thinks Augustus is hot, while Hazel reminds him of Natalie Portman from ‘V for Vendetta’. He invites her to watch the movie together, she tells him about her favourite book ‘An Imperial Affliction’ by Peter Von Houten, and so begins this beautiful story of love. ‘An Imperial Affliction’, a fictitious book, almost becomes a character in their story with the kind of significance it eventually has.

Their love is magical. When they converse, you feel as if they are complementing their thoughts, as if they are always on the same page and as if soul mates exist. Their conversations are sometimes philosophical, sometimes frothy, sometimes intellectual, but all times in perfect sync with each other. The terrible truth is that you know both of them have very limited time. You don’t want it to end but perhaps the beauty and preciousness of all great love stories is that they are so short.

It is hard not to feel for both sets of parents [extremely likable and loving] who see this young love blooming, although happy that their son / daughter got a chance at love and yet knowing well that someone is going to hurt.

Till 240 pages, I read it at a breakneck speed but after that I intentionally slowed down. I did not want it to end. But it had to, and let me also assure you, it is one of the most satisfying, not necessarily happy, endings I have read.

Be assured that you will be deeply, emotionally invested in this book. When Hazel and Augustus will fall in love, you will have happy tears for the mushy, teenaged, young love, and you will cry buckets when life will take its toll. At least I did. I haven’t cried like this since a long time while reading a book. But this remarkable book is just not a tear-fest, it has humour, playfulness and mush in good measure too, which you would find heart-warming. One tip I want to give you is that start this book only when you have enough time to finish it. If you don’t, you would not feel your heart in anything else. Trust me.

A few of my favourite lines from the book:

“What a slut time is. She screws everybody.” 

“Some people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them," I said.
"Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway.” 

“You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.” 

“Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”

Read more quotes here.

And if you have not understood in so many words, READ IT.

Review Book courtesy: Penguin India

Image source: GoodReads

Book Review: The Style Diary of a Bollywood Diva by Kareena Kapoor, Rochelle Pinto

Title: The Style Diary of a Bollywood Diva

Author: Kareena Kapoor with Rochelle Pinto

Publisher: Shobhaa De Books (Penguin India)

Pages: 288

Price: Rs 699

Genre: Non Fiction / Style / Fashion / Bollywood

Rating: 7/10

Format: Paperback (Royal)

Kareena Kapoor, though not really a trend-setter, is almost always well-dressed. I noticed her experimental and interesting styling during the promotions of ‘Heroine’. Earlier, her Manish Malhotra dresses and saris were fashionable but they never stood out. To her credit, she did spark media frenzy for Size Zero because it was too drastic and shocking, considering she was chubby earlier.

The book has high production value (like a coffee table book) with lots of glossy pictures, although I am not such a huge fan of the cover page image of the lady (it looks ghostly/ pallid and not diva-esque). The font size on the back cover is also too big. But the book makes up with lots of gorgeous pictures – old and new, published and unpublished, glamorous and simple. The book also has a lot of doodled drawings which render the feel of a diary. The pages are in shades of pink.

The book has Kareena’s distinct voice and personality – unapologetic, undiplomatic and straightforward. It reminds so much of that line from Jab We Met, which translates to – “I am my biggest fan” and Kareena Kapoor is! It comes out very clearly in this book as well as in all her interviews. She has always been extremely confident, even as a newcomer. The book is chatty, conversational and confiding.

When I first read about this book, I was curious because it was something new. I don’t remember any other Bollywood actress writing about her style secrets. Which girl wouldn't want to know the style secrets of a Bollywood heroine who lives a life of glamour and style, and who is spoilt for choices?

I would say I have mixed views about this book, and whenever I feel that way, I jot down ‘what worked for me’ and ‘what did not’, to be fair to the book and to give an indication to the potential readers on what to expect.

WHAT I LIKED

> Tonnes of fabulous pictures – beautiful, glamorous and many from personal collection
> Neatly organized into 4 sections:

1. Body Basics – Growing up years, Size Zero, diet plan, workouts, Yoga asanas, exercising while you travel, food, etc. 
2. Fashion Fabulous – her favourite looks from films and how to get them, personal favourites / style, fashion tips, different kinds of clothing, favourite brands and shopping destinations
3. Beauty Truths – Hair care / skin care / personal beauty tips and tricks, everyday maintenance and grooming, make up, understanding your best profile to look good in pictures 
4. Man Power – snippets from her love life, making your relationship work, dressing and grooming your man and gifting right to your love

> Snippets from personal life like how she plans her travel, her favourites, her growing up years, her relationships, creating looks for her films, preparing for big events, etc. 

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE

> Repetitiveness, like her favourite destination is Gstaad, she is a winter person, blessed with good skin and so on and so forth

> Exaggeration about sparking trends on how her looks from movies and public events were copied soon after. As far as I am aware, Kareena can take credit for Size zero frenzy and Long kurta with Patiala from the movie Jab We Met (which also was Imtiaz’s idea)

> Digressions from the book’s main topic like planning your wedding (!); detailed information on various types of everything – inner wear, Indian dresses, gowns, shoes, bags; dressing for office (!). 

> A lot of common style and fashion tips 
> Dilution of the main focus of the book : Trying to tell us the behind-the-scene story on Kareena Kapoor’s styling, and her tricks and tips; and also trying to be a fashion guide to a normal girl. The book should have focused on Kareena’s style and her favourites, and not attempt to bring out her ‘normal girl’ side, because there are no parallels between her lifestyle and a normal young girl’s. We cannot buy those brands or designer wears (forget about custom-made) neither can we shop on Net-a-Porter.

Frankly, I don’t know what I was expecting from this book because largely a star is as stylish as her stylist (her stylist, by the way, is Tanya Ghavri).

This book will certainly appeal to Kareena Kapoor's fans. The fashion and style enthusiasts may only end up pointing out the abundance of common information and tips in the book. 

All these fashion gyaan surely made me curious about fashion. I am not too much into fashion and latest trends but surprisingly I follow some fashion blogs, so of late I have started distinguishing designers and new trends. So, yes, this book made me excited about fashion because she is around my age. And celebrity or not, if you don’t experiment now then when? 

Here's an excerpt from the book.

Review Book courtesy: Penguin India
Image source: Amazon

Book Sale: Discounts Alert January 2013

This discount offer has been going on for a while now at the Landmark Bookstores. They have a huge collection of books available under "3-for-2", which means that you can buy 3 books by paying for 2 from the books on offer. And this is a really good offer because several popular titles are available on offer.

Besides, Penguin India has been celebrating 25th anniversary. So, I also found 25% off on Penguin Titles at Landmark stores. But this was sometime back so it needs to be validated if the offer is still running.

Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Title: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 451

Price: Rs 299

Genre: Historical Fiction / Social drama

Rating: 8/10

Format: Paperback

I finally read the much-talked about and much-loved ‘The Help’ recently. It was a page-turner alright but only as much as a social drama could be. ‘The Help’ addresses an important time in history through a beautifully crafted story but it is not without its shortcomings.  

The narrative alternates between three main characters – Aibileen, Minny and Miss Skeeter (Eugenia Phelan). The story is set in 1962, Jackson, Mississippi.

22-year old, fresh out of college, Skeeter dreams of becoming a writer and, unlike her childhood friends, Elizabeth and Hilly, her life’s calling is not in finding herself a suitable match and settling down to the idyllic life of Jackson. In her attempts to make it as a writer, Skeeter finds herself looking for an interesting idea to work on a book. Her own fond memories of Constantine, the black maid who raised her, and the silent presence of several other maids with the families Skeeter comes in contact with, makes her believe that giving voice to their thoughts and experiences could be a path breaking idea for a book. Those were the times of strong opinions against the rights of black people, and a marked divide between whites and blacks in social diaspora.

Aibileen is the quiet and elderly African-American maid with Skeeter’s friend Elizabeth, who spent her life raising several white children. She exudes warmth and wisdom. She lost her grown up son in a tragic accident while her husband left her for another woman many years ago.

Minny is a fat, talkative and quick-tempered African-American maid who is known to be the best cook around but she has a problem in keeping her mouth shut or minding her own business. She had to change several households as a consequence. She worked with Skeeter’s friend Hilly’s mother Miss Walters but she is thrown out on false charges of stealing silver. She eventually starts working for the enigmatic but endearing Celia Foote.

‘The Help’ is essentially about how these women come together to work on a path-breaking book for those times – compiling good and bad experiences of several black women who worked for white people. Although an enlightening anthropological study, it was a dangerous book to get involved with.

There could not have been a more simple yet apt title for this book. The main characters are interesting and fairly well-defined. But I had issues with other characters, say, for example, Hilly is somebody who embodies evil. She is the nemesis of every black maid in town. We don’t get to know too much about her beyond her strong opinions on showing black people their place! Besides, I felt there was injustice with Stuart and Celia Foote’s characters. I would stop myself from elaborating on what happens with Stuart but I thought he should have been at the ending. Ditto with Celia Foote’s character. The character was developed and abandoned. I also felt that the book predominantly had female characters. The male characters were too marginalized, as if they did not exist.

The book has a strong and serious theme of racism. The characters talk about the lurking ‘dangers’ but the reader does not really feel any.

The book holds your attention from the beginning but I felt the ending leaves a few loose ends. Like I said, some characters should have made it to the closure. I wanted to know what happened to them.

Nevertheless, what works for the book are its engaging storyline, interesting main characters, controversial subject and fast pace.

Needless to say, it is a must read.

P.S. I look forward to watching the movie now. It is always fun to be able to see these characters than only visualize. The first thing I did after finishing the book is searched for the actors playing various characters in the movie.

Image source: Amazon

 

Book Review:The Man Who Tried To Remember by Makarand Sathe

Title: The Man Who Tried To Remember 

Author: Makarand Sathe (translated by Shanta Gokhale)
Publisher: Penguin Viking
Pages: 237
Price: Rs 399

Format: Hardbound
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 7/10

‘The Man Who Tried To Remember’ primarily deals with two things – human mind and the importance of collective against an individual.

Achyut Athavale is a renowned economist and a revered public figure. As an aware social citizen, he has an opinion about everything. He is often invited by institutions to give lectures. One such lecture leads to riot in the city. Pained by the turn of events, Athavale decided to spend the rest of his days in an old age home and to disassociate all ties with his previous life. During his days at the old age home, he murders a fellow inmate, around the time he has lost his memory for a short period. Achyut admits to his crime, but people and circumstances around him collectively work towards proving him innocent.

The beginning is interesting. The narrative indicating the gradual loss of Achyut’s memory is good. The restlessness of the mind has been depicted quite well, more so with respect to a man who loses his memory for some time and the way he tries to recollect in a logical manner using certain technique that he has devised. The narrative moves back and forth in time to guide readers through the story. In this book, the story is not as important as the thoughts and actions.

Honestly, I don’t fancy such subjects yet I fairly enjoyed the book. It is a different kind of story, multi-layered and complex, tipping towards philosophical. It is not a typical page-turner, it requires you to mull over. 

The cover page is interesting. This book has been originally written in Marathi and the narration clearly shows that English is not the language of conception of this story. When a book is translated, it rarely transforms. But I am thankful atleast we are able to read interesting books from different languages through translations.

If you prefer philosophical books and workings of human mind, you might enjoy it much more than I did. 

Image source: penguinbooksindia.com