Who's reading what,when & the experience

batistuta

Aishah, Totally fed up with the Miniaturists, horse, Olive and stork, Eh? Yes, the style gets a bit repetitive and the novelty of the narrative style wears off.

Life of Pi, for me, starts of well, but I could not complete the book as it got too boring in the end. I would like to read your review about it.

Cheers,

Aishah

Now that is interesting, Batistuta. You know I think I will go back at a later date and finish where I left off My name is Red and now it sounds like I am going to have a similar reaction to Life of Pi! It is definitely easier reading than the other and my initial reactions have been:-
love the quirky humour, his ideas are interesting, the Indian connections keep my interest, his similes e.g. in school talking about the heat of the day "the geography lesson, which in the morning had been as compact as an oasis, started to stretch out like the Thar desert;" I can relate to personally and the writing is clever. My father was a swimming pools'superintendent so you can see I am bringing a lot of my personal background into the beginning chapters of the book and it is holding my interest. But we will see as we progress! Might end up feeling like you did... When I first started My Name is Red I found the detail, the historical period, really fascinating then it began to pall. Will let you know if I 'give up' or read to the end!

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"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

Nick-H

I enjoyed The Life of Pi.

I ignored it on the bookshelves for a long time, thinking that someone had succeeded in turning 3.142 into a novel and I wasn't interested in that kind of intellectual trickery!

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

2020angel

Poisonwood bible...excellent!

ScarletLSG

Casey,

Thanks for the tip on this book/author. I just went to Amazon and bought hardcovers of this author that contain 3-4 stories each. Hoping they are as good as the reviews indicate!!

ScarletLSG

wonderwomanusa

Indeed! And I especially like the account of the family unpacking in Africa, and how they brought all thw wrong things!

Aishah

Poisonwood Bible - a wonderful read, indeed I posted it previously as one of the best reads for last year! Anything by this author is brilliant - read some short stories and Pigs in Heaven whilst up in Mussoorie. All very good.
Nick - when someone mentioned 3.142 previously I had to stop and think -as kids we were taught 22/7!! Maybe a country peculiarity!

Aishah

Batistuta - Finished Life of Pi this afternoon and I really loved it! Right to the end... A great read on many levels - for a good 'deep and meaningful' review, check out this one posted by Phoebe kate Foster for PopMatters: http://www.popmatters.com/books/revi...fe-of-pi.shtml
written not long after book was published.
The humour appeals to me, and a few elements of IM in there e.g. the making of lists, a kind of illogical logical progression towards solutions to bizarre, awful problems, the importance of a whistle( brought to mind one of IM posters packing list!!)Not a bad idea to have a whistle after all..
Anyway, I thought an excellent read.

global_yatri

got to say though - sometimes an "in-depth" review can sort of kill some of the personal profound joy from the read... nah - no more analytical reviews for me at least for books that i really enjoy!

speaking of which -went back to good old jeeves after a long break from wodehouse -- am reading one of the earlier ones. am trying to get a hold of "aunts aren't gentlemen" - is it any good? i think it's the one just before "carry on jeeves" which i always thought was the first of the series!

batistuta

Love in the time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Marquez explores the variouus stages of love and all it's different connnotations in his usual elegant writing style. An ode to love set in the carribean with a neat ending. Not as good as One Hundred years of solitude as the canvas was not as vast, but very good Nonetheless. A love that lasts the test of time.

Aishah, That is a nice review that you have posted, Thanks. Yes, the writing style is quite funny and after your review, I will complete the book, one of these days.

Darmabum

is a classic. In my opinion, "as good as", though not as labyrinthine or intricate as One Hundred Years of Solitude. Marquez is a Master.

I am reading (again, or is it - again and yet again) "Bruce Chatwin - A Biography" by Nicholas Shakespeare. Biography at it's best. I've been a Chatwin fan since "In Patagonia." And have read everything he's ever written (multiple times). His writing is elegant. He was elegant. Shakespeare takes the Gordions' knot that was Chatwin and, instead of cutting it, unravels it.

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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure - Marianne Williamson

amyl

Sinks too, probably!

that reminds me of my long-time-pending read ...umm..ummm..Damn! I do not even remember the title now. It's about a psychological approach to the notion of LOVE. By a psychologist (or was he a psychoanalyst?!). It's based on the lives of two of his 'patients'. Any pointers to the title and the author, anyone?

Currently reading 'Africa and Africans'. Had randomly picked up from an old-books fare in Mumbai. It's kinda factual and unravels a lot of myths and misconceptions about Africa, its history, culture, ppl and lifestyle.

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capt_mahajan

My Marquez favourites, in order (have a long list of his still to go)

One hundred years of solitude
No one writes to the colonel
Leaf Storm
News of a kidnapping
Love in the time of Cholera
Living to tell the tale
Memories of my melancholy whores

Aishah

Batistuta - Marquez is an author I must read - are all those titles by him?
Darmabum - Wholeheartedly agree about Chatwin, definitely an elegant writer. Not so long ago I read On the Black Hill and really enjoyed it.
Global Yatri - agree with your comment about reviews! I never read this type of review until AFTER I have read the book. I thought this sort of added another dimension to my reading of it and confirmed some of my ideas... I think reading before can thoroughly 'kill' a book for me!

Cross-posted with Capt Mahajan who has answered all my questions re Marquez - Thanks!

devleenas

Came upon this book on a Landmark sale .
It is about the sinking of an overloaded Nazi cruise ship during
WW2.
Planning to read "The Tin Drum" by the same author next