Book Review : Raj Quartet I, The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott

Let's just begin by saying that your new yardstick for excellent writing has to be Paul Scott and it's a sentiment well echoed by various reviewers on Goodreads.

Pushing aside all the Rudyard Kipling novels, Jim Corbet, Salman Rushdie etc,  Colonial India couldn't be more descriptive than Paul Scott's Raj Quartet and none other (I will fight you on this).

It's not an exaggeration. Scott's impressive knowledge of India is multifaceted, inter-sectional and dives vertically. I am amazed at the mammoth and detailed understanding of caste, religion, communities, landscape, politics; all craftily woven into a magnificent quartet.

At the heart of the story, we have Hari Kumar or Harry Coomer, alien to India and Daphne Manners, who desperately tries to make India her home. Both of our protagonists pursue a  frowned-upon friendship that quickly turns problematic during the dying days of the British rule. Daphne Manners is violated by a gang of hooligans and the suspicion falls on Hari Kumar.

Through their forbidden romance and  cruel love triangle, we come face to face with the riot-ravaged India. Get ready to let your heart bleed for Daphne Manners and the forged criminality of Hari Kumar.  The plot then takes an ugly turn with Daphne Manners was soon shamed by people of her own color and ranks. Scott's deft writing builds the tension yet manages to retain sensitivity of this cursed affair.

My attempt at reviewing this book in relation to its towering magnificence is feeble. There are delicate subtleties in Scott's allegory and the reader is swift ushered into darker days, lighter times, is familirised to the smells and sounds of the country, riots, war, love, and friendship.

the indigo dreams of flowers fallen asleep

It's a tragic oxymoron to have a story so searingly painful to be laced with poetic delight.

For a humble reader, The Jewel in the Crown would stand as a challenge. The timelines of incidents bounce back and forth, we are introduced to characters one after the other only for their relations to be revealed much later on, it could prove quite complicated to find the association of all the individuals mentions. I did catch myself skimmy through the politics to get to the more paced bits and this is the only reason I would cut points for.

I was introduced to this poignant Quartet when my father was watching the televised series, complete with a commentary on Paul Scott's life and work. It's a pity recognition wasn't rendered any sooner.
Both books and series are highly recommended for their skillful depictions and varied sentiments of the imperialist rule, the tragedies amidst and the ultimate demise.

For a literature lover, the Raj Quarter is a wonderful treat. Like the sweet sorrow of a lullaby.

Final Rating : 4/5

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Book Review : Summer Crossing by Truman Capote

A shocking end to an awry romance and a romance that you perhaps wished, never ignited in the first place.

If like me , you too were allured by the rosy cover, dreamy title and the credible author then perhaps our sentiments would match.

After the raving success of his Non-Fiction Crime novel, In Cold Blood and the darling endeavors of Breakfast at Tiffany's, one hardly expect anything less from Mr. Capote and his ability to enrapture you in a tale simple yet magnificent.
So just like me, you pick this book excitedly dreaming of another masterful story that leaves you longing for more, only to have your expectations sorely hurt.

Feel free to weep your disappointment or swear profusely if you must - I'm not ready to do that just yet.
It's not long before the reader understands the difference between Grady McNeil and Clyde Manzer. A young high society girl and her steamy affair with a working-class gentleman, set in New York soon after World War II (honey, it's never going to work).

Obviously, their relationship is rampant and reckless with barely any room (left) for character development or any ambition. Clyde Manzer seems insipid, Grady made me roll my eyes and before you know it, disaster has struck speedingly chased by tragedy (quite literally).

At this point, every Capote fan would be shaking their heads in disapproval wondering why would anyone want to publish this?
Don't dismiss it just yet. As many flaws and faults, there may be, this is where we see the literary skill of  19-year-old Capote and some skill did he have.

It's simple, well-strung and absolutely gorgeous if you pay attention to the language.  Capote knows how to convey sentiments and emotions with just the right adjectives and trust me when I say, it's a real treat. You can almost see why Capote would have been ashamed of this book since it doesn't really live up to the mark as some of his most renowned work.

For no real reason, I found myself oddly comparing Summer Crossing to Brooklyn by Colm Toibin - both the female leads were filling the empty voids in their lives with, let's say, romance from men not quite from their alley and life doesn't seem to get better from there for either.

My suggestion would be to hang on until the end of Summer Crossing if you could endure it. An author's maiden novel almost always says more about themselves as individuals than the story itself. It's almost like a quick glimpse into their own character before they pursue more successful ventures and I'm certain genuine Capote fans would appreciate this little insight.

Overall Rating: 3/5

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Book Review : The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Feeling a tad bit rusty on revisiting my blog exactly a year later. Forgetting your login credentials is a big enough indicator to how long I have been away. 

Trust me when I say I am reading great books and as the year progressed I found myself gravitating towards feminine themes, female characters, female authors and everything that came with that package. It was exciting! 

After 23 years of its existence, Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides finds it way in my  GoodReads Challenge last year.  The fact that this review is way overdue is epically understated. It took me a while before I latched onto the play in the book title but let's just begin by acknowledging a glaring fact; Eugenides knows prose. He lets literature carry on this grim subject with poignancy in this gut-wrenching and heartbreaking narrative of the Lisbon sisters. There is no room for mindless dilly dally nor any sympathetic romanticised idea of the tragedy that occurs.  

The book starts with death, teases you with the idea of young long, the kind that has sunflower fields, sunsets, power ballads and then all of sudden, in one swoop takes it all away. In all of that time, the five Lisbon sisters were forced to live a life they never wanted, find the kind of love that their families never understood and stay locked in like caged birds never to see the outside world again. The choice was obvious to them and with their actions, the impact last 20 years on the neighbourhood boys, the only people they remotely considered as friends.

It's sad, it's disturbing, its mesmerising. It's also only 250 pages. 

Honestly, it is indeed quite difficult to describe the way The Virgin Suicides makes you feel. How do you recommend a book on suicide to someone? Yet, this is one book that leaves you with a lull and a want to read more it. After the tragedy occurs, the book does impart the idea that the Lisbon family fogged and disappeared little by little before the all eventually vanished with no trace.

Aside from the suicides, Eugenidies subtle commentary on the sleepy oblivious town and the marred memories of the neighboorhood boys are worth note. How does no one see the Lisbon's sister isolation as a plea for help? How does no one reach out to them with a second chance at life? A counter-argument would say how is it fair to the rest of the town, the schools and their lovers to proceed with their lives with all the trauma that left deep dents for years to come.

“In the end, we had the pieces of the puzzle, but no matter how we put them together, gaps remained, oddly shaped emptinesses mapped by what surrounded them, like countries we couldn't name." 

This quote from the book sums it up accurately.

 If I was to take a highlighter to choose all of my favourite lines in this book, I would probably end up with neon pages. Every single sentence is well constructed and supported by strong theories to thoughts being delivered here. Sofia Coppola does a smashing job on the film as well. The AIR's soundtrack is one of my favourite albums till date. 

This book is by far unbeatable on the subject of suicide and I can't wait to re-read it again.

Overall Rating: 5/5

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Book Review : Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Pages : 264

Read on : Kindle

Goodreads Rating : 4.17/ 5

Review:  This is one of those rare series where the second book has outdone the first and that seems to have been the general consensus on Goodreads.

So after 'If I Stay' left us hanging at the end, Mia survives and makes a full recovery. Fast forward 3 years , She's now the rising star of Julliard. What happened to Adam Wilde you ask? This whole book is his side of the story. Who ever said boys have no emotions , has not read this book!

The confusion and bewilderment that Mia's unspoken departure from Adam's life seems to have deep rooted itself over the years.  Adam Wilde , who's finally making it big with his band Shooting Star, seems to face emptiness and even to some extend confusion that has only been suppressed by his focus on Music. Despite years passing by , trying to stay completely detached from Mia and having a stable girlfriend , it's evident that the band's  critically acclaimed album Collateral Damage was fueled mostly by the part depression that Mia's absence had left him with.

As mentioned in the previous post , Adam even after success doesn't portray wild rock star tendencies , although he does get easily frustrated by questions or jibs put to him pertaining the past.

What made me prefer this book over 'If I Stay' is because all of Adam's emotions and frustrations are genuine. It fathomed to me that people do fall out of love with music , something teenage Adam thought was the ultimate goal of his life. It subtly yet perfectly manages to put across how being with that band at all time makes you crave personal space and all the effort it takes to still stick together. 

The simplicity of the book yet the fast paced descriptions of  all that Adam feels in those 24 hours with Mia are extremely accurate to what an ordinary person would feel. The speechlessness, the urge to touch her , the force of unanswered questions gushing out of him , all precise, all normal, all relatable.

For once I see Mia as a stronger character , taking a stand and being bold. Throughout the book Mia takes the lead  and takes Adam from what she would have considered a friendly round. Of course her reasons to hate and love Adam are still weighed on the degree of loss they both faced in the tragedy that struck. More dilemmas.

So far the book seemed great. BUT the downside and the only flaw for my morbid self was at the end of their day , Mia and Adam fall back in love! Why?! It's was pretty obvious that both seemed to be walking on eggshells and were putting up a front but I personally would have loved this book even more had the whole cliched rekindled romance had not taken place and both had gone their separate ways.

Ah well, I guess that's the way it's set to be. 

Final Rating : 4/5

May be it really is true , we depart to meet again. :)

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Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

  Pages : 201

 Read on : Kindle

Review : Story of 17 year old Mia Hall and her impending dilemmas. The plot is narrated by Mia from what seem to be her ghost-like state soon after she loses her family in a tragic car accident and is the only one who could be the possible survivor. That is if she decides to stay.

On reading the description and by the 3.99 Goodreads rating I was waiting for something to wow me or make me an emotional wreck. This book failed to do either. The plot though seemed very deep , most  of the book focused on the  large chunks of memories from her past life. Instead of pondering on whether she should stay or not , she seems to be walking around the hospital in her nebulous state observing her surgeons working on her shattered body.

Very little was explained and described about each family for the reader to the feel attached to this fictional family and actually mourn their death. Although most part of the book focuses on this shared love for music. Mia a cello player , her parents were punk rockers in their yesteryears and her boyfriend Adam Wilde lead singer and guitarist for an emocore band 'Shooting Star'. Just before the accident Mia's primary concern at that time was to leave for Juilliard  and pursue her music career or to stay in Portland to be with her boyfriend.

Highlight of this book was Adam Wilde and the very muted and stable relationship he had with Mia despite their differences in genres. In this regard, the book breaks all stereotypes of Rock boyfriends being infidel , into drugs , excessive drinking and partying. Adam and Mia's love was more based on this shared love for making music on the whole. Since Mia is portrayed  as a regular girl and may be even slightly conservative , not  a lot of words were spent on describing their intimate relationship- a very refreshing change. Not that she was she was portrayed characterless but more like her own person.

If anything said , Adam was made to seem like the ideal boy. Patient , respectful , focused , sweet and most importantly accepting Mia as however she was without comparison. However the bittersweet part ( may be even a tad bit corny)  was right at the end of the book ( spoiler alert!) when Adam begs her to stay.

On the whole , The book seemed to be seriously lacking on emotion, be it happy or sad. Not a lot of excitement was reflected in her memories of her family and her achievements , neither was there any sadness except for when her 8 year old brother Teddy  eventually succumbed to his injuries. Mia, although walking around the hospital corridors , did not seem very fond or emotionally attached to her grandparents nor her aunts and uncles. Also , very shockingly , None of them , except for Kim's   ( Mia's best friend )  mother is seen crying or mourning over the tragedy that has struck.

Either I am emotionally bricked up or this book was not worth the hype.

Final Rating : 2.5/5

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