Tag: drama

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The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Rating: 4 Stars

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is a curveball that comes and hits out of nowhere! I was not ready for the impact of this story at all. This book is considered a classic, and it is rare to find a bad review for this book. All the reviews that I have ever read of Donna Tartt’s books have cemented her as a critic’s darling in my eyes. This to me, means that her books are difficult to read and full of verbose philosophy. The Secret History is exactly that, and so much more.

The book starts off with a vibe similar to that of Dead Poet’s Society. You are tricked into thinking that this is a story about a teacher’s influence on his students. It’s not. Maybe there’s some shade of Lord of The Flies here. No, not really. As I read on (with much difficulty in the beginning), I thought maybe later books like We Were Liars were based on this book. Again, there’s no similarity except in the most superficial sense. It is useless to compare it to any book. It is original and shocking in its coldness and lack of feeling. This is Dark Academia at its best.

From the beginning, the characters cause conflict within the reader. They are odd, unemotional, and leave you feeling cold. None of these people elicit any sympathy in the the heart of the reader; not even the murder victim whose murder is the central theme of the book.

Richard Papen is nineteen years old when he comes to Hampden College in Vermont. He is from a small town in California, and all he wants in life is to get away from his roots. He becomes obsessed with a teacher and his exclusive group of students studying ancient Greek, and wants to join the class by any means.

However, once inside the clique, he realizes that these four boys and one girl are not as golden as he thought. Instead of becoming disillusioned, Richard becomes even more enamored of his new friends. Finally, he starts to feel like he belongs. Still, he cannot shake the feeling that his new friends are hiding something from him.

The truth, when it hits him, is wild and gruesome. Yet, Richard is by no means repelled or disgusted by it all. He is ready to do whatever is needed to get rid of all irritants and threats to his friends. What follows is something bound to end in disaster.

For a debut novel, this has to be one of the greatest that I have read. No wonder this book inspired a whole new genre of Dark Academia. Donna Tartt draws such a vivid picture of Vermont in fall and winter, that you cannot help but give a real shudder. The cold feels real, the darkness feels menacing, and at times, you can even smell the cigarette smoke! The mood is oppressive and heavy on the heart. There are no comic reprieves, just more coldness and cruelty.

It is no mean feat to write a book where you feel no sympathy for any of the characters, yet are unable to stop reading. You feel the need to read what happens next because something like this can never end well. And it doesn’t, but not in the way you expect it to. The climax is sudden and unexpected; it comes out of nowhere. But once you read it, you realize that it makes a twisted sort of sense. However, there were a couple of things that I was uncomfortable with. The hint of racism and Islamophobia was one. The other was the fact that Henry emerges as a hero when he was anything but!

It is definitely not easy to read The Secret History. It requires concentration and attention; and a little bit of heartlessness. But if you’re capable of all this, the book will not disappoint. I love the way Donna Tartt writes, and have become a fan. Still, I don’t think I will recommend this book to everyone. Certainly not for the sensitive and easily offended audience.

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Review: Salt And Saffron

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Salt And Saffron by Kamila Shamsie is a light-hearted book about family history, class divisions, prejudices and familial love. Shamsie has created a fictional aristocratic family, proud of its roots that go back many centuries. She has used this family as an example of the elitism and caste system deeply embedded in our culture in the guise of family values and pride.

The very name of the family, the Dard-e-Dils (the Heartaches), is so unreal that you know what will follow can only be satirical and tongue-in-cheek. This family, the Dard-e-Dils, is proud of its heritage and they love to tell stories, mainly about their ancestors. Most of these stories are about the “not-quite” twins. These “not-quite” twins have been born quite frequently through history, and have always brought about the downfall of this family.

Aliya is the main protagonist, going back from the US to her family in Karachi, by way of London. She last talked to her Dadi (paternal grandmother) 4 years ago when they had a massive falling out. After avoiding her for 4 years, Aliya thinks that it’s time to heal the breach. But first, she makes a stop in London to see her older cousin with whom she is very close. And it is there that her own story seems to take an unexpected turn. She not only finds herself attracted to a boy who might be unacceptable to her family, but also meets the Indian side of her family.

The Indian and Pakistani sides of the Dard-e-Dils refuse to acknowledge each other, and still carry old wounds from the time of the partition. Aliya learns something about herself during her meeting with her Indian relatives. This makes it even more imperative for her to go back home and figure out what she wants from life.

Essentially a love story, Salt And Saffron also takes a look at the deeper consequences of the Indo-Pak partition; the deeply ingrained prejudices that are passed down through generations in the form of class and caste. How family history is written through stories that become legends as time passes.

Kamila Shamsie is an excellent writer and it is hard to find fault in her writing. She takes very real elements from her surroundings and turns them into a riveting story. The only problem is that since this book is written from the perspective of a particular class, it might be difficult to relate to for people who do not belong to that class. However, this does not stop me from appreciating her craft and her command of words. She is definitely a master storyteller.

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Sunday Blues: Will This Pandemic Ever End?

The last three months have been the strangest of my life, maybe of everyone’s lives. Due to this pandemic, life was put on hold and a new normal has been born. I spent the first month just trying to get used to having everyone at home all the time. The second month was smoother, and now it’s like we have always been like this!

Before the social distancing and quarantine woes started, I had completely given up on reading. I had a ganglion cyst in my right wrist. Over the last few months it became too painful to hold even the lightest of things. So, I gave up books, tablets, my kindle and to a great extent my phone as well.

When things became really bad, I decided to get the cyst removed and try to get back to normal life. As luck would have it, by that time the world was waking up to the pandemic that would wreak so much havoc around the world.

I had the surgery and found out, much to my annoyance that there won’t be a miracle and I would still need a couple of months to get back full use of my right hand. The bandage was removed after ten days. And then all hell broke lose!

The world went into a lockdown, and the help that I was counting on to get me through the next months was no longer there. As everyone who has faced this situation knows, there is a lot more work when everyone is at home. The kids and husband tried to chip in as much as they could, but they had school and office respectively. I’m thankful that my kids’ school hasn’t lost a single day of studies and are on track for the scheduled summer holidays.

Unfortunately for me, my wrist never got the rest that it needed. It has been almost 9 weeks and my hand still feels uncomfortable and painful sometimes.

Last week I finally decided that enough was enough and picked up my first book in months. What else? Agatha Christie of course! Since then I have decided that right now I’m more comfortable with my Kindle which is lighter and more easily manageable. As a result, I have finished two books in the last three days!

It is a big achievement considering it is Ramadan and things are a bit off kilter with fasting and quran classes every day. Yet, I’m determined to hold on to my Kindle and get back into the saddle.

It’s funny how I’m suddenly so attached to this little device that I have been so vocal about disliking! My love for physical books is still there, for nothing can come close to that smell and that feeling, but I have also decided to reserve a little corner of my heart for e-readers that help you when you need it the most.

I just hope that this pandemic ends sometime soon in the future. But I have a feeling that the world will never get back to where it was before this horror started.

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Review: Daisy Jones & The Six

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid may be a fictional account of a 70’s rock band, but the stories, the songs and the music sound so real that you can’t help but think about getting your hands on that awesome album that doesn’t really exist!

The book follows the rise of Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne and his band, The Six; and how it all came to an abrupt end after a sold out show at Chicago Stadium. No one knows why it all ended the way it did when everything seemed to be going so well for the band. Now, after more than 30 years, someone is making an effort to find out what actually happened.

The book is written as an oral history, recounted by several people. However, instead of going the usual route of everyone telling their stories one by one, this book gives a voice to everyone in one go. It feels like you have a number of people in your head talking about the same thing, yet looking at it from different perspectives.

I thought Jenkins Reid was a good writer when I had read her “Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.” This book confirms my belief. The way she writes about her female protagonists, it’s impossible not to feel their pain. You may not agree with their life choices, or what they stand for, but you can understand their misery.

Throughout the book, what I wanted to do the most was to hear all these great songs being talked about. You know a writer is a winner when she pushes herself to write all the lyrics for all the songs mentioned in her book! I certainly hope someone can get a real life Daisy Jones and a real life Billy Dunne to sing these songs some day!

A powerful book with a great soundtrack to accompany it!

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Review: Where The Crawdads Sing

Rating: 4.25 Stars

I had been hearing so many good things about this book, that I was sure it was going to disappoint me. For one, the story seemed like something I could never get excited about, being set in the U.S of fifties and sixties, and for another, everyone kept harping on about how emotional it is. Fortunately, Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens lived up to all the hype surrounding it.

I cannot call this story of Kya Clark, popularly known as the Marsh Girl, a roller coaster of emotions because there were only high emotions all through the book. Catherine “Kya” Clark is barely 7 when she sees her mother walk away from home, never to return. The youngest of 5 siblings, she is left alone when all her much older siblings also leave their abusive father. What follows is a tale of heartache, hardship, the resilience of human spirit in face of adversity, and the need for love and belonging in a person’s life.

Kya’s family lives in a marsh, on the outskirts of Barkley Cove, a very small town on the coast. They are known as the town trash, just one step up from the “coloreds” in North Carolina of the 1950s. When her family disappears, hardly anyone in the town is bothered. It is with the help of a black couple and an old friend of her brother, that Kya manages to survive on her own, all alone, surrounded by hundred of acres of marsh land.

While we learn of Kya’s past, there is an alternate story about the suspected murder of Barkley Cove’s golden boy, Chase Andrews. His influential parents, and many others in the town, believe that the Marsh Girl is responsible for the murder. Now Kya has to face a murder trial in a town already prejudiced against her, with the possibility of being given the death penalty.

As I read the book, I was struck by the fact that real and true love doesn’t mean making things easy for the other person. Real love is when you work towards making that person independent and able to stand on their own feet. Reading about a little girl left all alone to fend for herself was not easy. To imagine her going through life without anyone to cuddle her or take care of her, just broke my heart. At the same time, her will to survive, and her determination to win despite all the odds against her, made me cheer her on.

The book is also full of lessons on the wildlife found on the North Carolina coastal areas. All types of birds and insects make an appearance and it was hard not to stop reading and look up the creature being talked about. There are zoology lessons along with some stirring poetry that makes this book a unique experience for the reader. Many reviews talk about the murder mystery in the book. However, I was so invested in Kya and what was happening to her that I couldn’t care less about the mystery of who killed Chase, or whether it was a murder or an accident after all.

A sweet, poignant book about a girl’s journey through life, this book is recommended for those who like drama, emotions, romance and love, as well as those who like reading about wild life.

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Review:Luckiest Girl Alive

Rating: 3 Stars

No matter what you think when you see the cover and read the blurb, Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll is NOT a thriller. I went in expecting a thriller, and kept waiting for the twist which never came. I had seen the book on bookstagram, and as always, avoided reading reviews, which is why I never knew what genre the book belonged to. Not to say that I don’t like reading other genres, I do. And this book is not too bad.

I admit I am very squeamish reading about sexual assault and rape, especially so when it is a teenager who is later ostracized for it. It was something that made Bear Town almost unbearable for me even though I was so invested in the characters. This book also made me uncomfortable and angry, but I couldn’t connect with the characters at all.

Ani FaNelli was a character I had really high hopes of; she came off as cunning, ruthless, and a bit twisted in the beginning, and I was waiting for the moment when everything will go to hell because she was intent on taking revenge. So it was a shock when suddenly in the last quarter of the book, she became a victim and lost all the characteristics that Knoll had built over the course of the book.

The story is fast paced and keeps you interested. The past is such a big presence in the present that you want to find out what happened quickly. The author, however, makes you wait for the whole story, which is a testament to the author’s skillful writing. What doesn’t come up to the mark is the climax, or in this case, the lack of one. It is like suddenly it’s all over and we should sympathise with the poor victim, and isn’t it great how everything worked out to prove how strong a woman she is.

After writing in such detail about everything past and present, Knoll suddenly decided to end the book on a high note, with Ani becoming the ultimate hero of her own story. I just felt that there was something missing in that last quarter of the book. I wish I could have enjoyed the last part as much as I enjoyed the rest of the book.

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Review: A Place For Us

Rating: 4 Stars

All individuals are a unique sum of their life experiences, so much so that reading the same book at different stages in your life sometimes results in completely different reactions. The place where I am right this moment in my life made A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza resonate with me very deeply.

The book starts off with the wedding of Hadia, the eldest daughter of Rafiq and Layla. We are immediately made aware of the tensions within the family, as Amar, the youngest and only son, returns after 3 years of leaving his family, to do his duty by his sister. In all this, there is also Huda, the typical middle child, overlooked by not only by the family, but also by the author herself.

As we go back and forth in time, we are given a glimpse into the life of a Muslim couple who moves to the US from India, and try to bring up their three children according to Muslim and Indian traditions and culture. As is the case in most cases, the children all try to rebel in their own individual way.

Being a parent bringing up my kids in a foreign land, while I understand the worries of the parents and their fear of the children losing their religion, I don’t agree with trying to scare them into conforming. As this book shows, pulling the strings too tight causes them to break ultimately. When you have two children who are good at being obedient, it is natural to assume that the same mode of parenting will work on the third. Most of the time this is not so. We, as parents, know our children better than anyone else, and this is why sometimes we need to keep our egos aside and change our ways in order to avoid regrets later.

The book jumps from one time to another without any warning, and as the pattern starts becoming evident, you realize the importance of all the different instances from the eyes of three people, Hadia, Amar and Layla. We see how small betrayals and forgotten reactions all lead to the eventual breaking up of this loving family. We also see how people form opinions according their own understanding of the situation, instead of trying to find the real facts.

It is very sad that open communication is something that is lacking in most of our interactions, especially when it comes to families. In most families, the father is considered the one who lays down the laws, the disciplinarian, the person his own children are hesitant to approach. In such families, the mother assumes the role of the middleman, the one who is responsible for changing the father’s mind. No one realizes that some things are lost in translation when you have indirect communication. This can sometimes cause rifts in families that become almost impossible to breach over time.

As I read the book, there were a few instances where I felt that the writer did give in to stereotypes, and the constant strain of “The Ali Boy” was really getting on my nerves. So, I was completely ready to give this book 4 stars and move on. Then came the last part.

What was missing in the whole book was there in the last part. As I read about a man trying to do his best by his family, I couldn’t help but feel for that man. A person brought up to hide his feelings can never feel comfortable letting his emotions show. The way Mirza has written about Rafiq’s thoughts is moving and heart wrenching. The struggles of a father who is unable to voice his love for his children, are brought to life in the last part of the book. I couldn’t help but think of my own father, who while lying in bed, too sick to move, and in so much pain, was worried about how he had been unfair to his son! It all felt personal, and I want to admit that I cried while reading the last part of this beautiful book.

This is a book that is meant for everyone. I even found myself wanting my teenage son to read it even if only to understand how parents love their children in their own different ways. A beautiful book that will stay with me for a long time.

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Review: The Good Girl

Rating: 3 Stars

I had been thinking about reading The Good Girl by Mary Kubica for a long time. It seemed to be a favourite on Instagram. I was a bit disappointed with it though. First off, there were comparisons to Gone Girl, which is never a good thing. A book should be original and not remind you of any other books. Then, as I read it, I realized that there was nothing in the book (except the “Girl” in its title) to make it seem even remotely like Gone Girl.

The book is told in alternate voices, flipping back and forth in time. One of my most favourite things in a book is to have more than one perspectives of the story. This book, however, failed to catch my interest from the beginning. The start is quite slow, and it takes a long time to come to the point. I was halfway through before I got a bit interested in the story. By that time, I was only interested in knowing what had actually happened and whether my guesses were correct or not.

The love angles in the book seem forced, and if there was ever a case of the Stockholm Syndrome, it is in this book. The character of Mia Dennett is like that of a typical Mills & Boon heroine, perfect and flawless but not valued by her own family. She is the essential poor, little, rich girl who shuns her father’s wealth to live hand-to-mouth while teaching the underpriveleged. The constant refrain of how her own father doesn’t love her becomes too much after a while.

Of course, Mia’s father is shown to be utterly heartless while her mother is utterly helpless. There are too many cliches here to count. Detective Gabe Hoffman works in a strange police department, where he has to tackle only one case at a time, and even when he has other cases, it still leaves him enough time to not only visit Mrs. Dennett, but also keep an eye on Ms. Thatcher regularly!

I would have overlooked all of this if the book had been marketed as anything other than a thriller and a worthy successor to Gone Girl. It is a drama at best, and the only part that might make it a borderline thriller is probably that last chapter.

The Epilogue is definitely something I was not expecting, though it makes me question the palusibility of the whole story, particularly the mental stability of the main character. An average read if you go in without expectations, and keeping in mind the usual books published under this particular publishing house.

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Review: The Sense of an Ending

Rating: 4 Stars

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I had no idea who Julian Barnes is until I picked up The Only Story from a bookstore in Karachi. Even then, I was unaware of his other books, or that he is a Man Booker Prize winner. When I saw The Sense of an Ending, the only reason I bought it, was that I knew the name of the author (even though I still have to read his other book), and that it was a thin book which I could carry easily while travelling.

I had the good fortune to read this book while I was in beautiful and serene surroundings, and I had time to savour each and every word of this equally beautiful work. This might be a work of fiction, but it resonates with the reader on so many levels. In addition, it has elements of suspense, a great bonus for a lover of thrillers like me!

The main character, the narrator of the book is Tony Webster, who starts off by recounting the story of his friendship with Adrian Finn. From the start, we are warned that whatever we are reading is based on Tony’s memories of what happened more than forty years ago. He keeps insisting that history or memory varies from person to person. Everyone remembers things that they want to remember and over time, might embellish them to make themselves feel better, and as more and more time passes, it becomes the truth.

“History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.”

This is true about all kinds of history, popular as well as personal. When a person tells the story of their life, the listener has no way of knowing how much of it is truth and how much fiction, unless there is someone to corroborate it. The listener has no choice but to believe the story, until someone or something comes along to dispute it. This is also true of a person’s own memory.

It is human nature to see things from your own perspective, and that is how you remember everything that happens in your life, just the way you saw and perceived it. Julian Barnes takes a look into the human psych, and forces you to reassess all your memories. After reading this book, you will be compelled to take stock of your life and wonder how much of what you remember of the past has been coloured by your personal prejudices and experiences.

The Sense of an Ending is one of those rare books that stay with you long after you have finished reading them. It may be lean in terms of volume, but in my eyes, it is a heavyweight of a book. I loved it.

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Review: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

Rating: 4 Stars

In The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Neil Gaiman shows us the world as seen by a 7-year-old boy. The world that children live in is not the same as our adult world. Their realities are different from our realities, and it is a fact that as they grow older, they forget the perspective their childhood gave to their world.

An older man comes back to his hometown to attend a funeral and decides to take a walk down memory lane. Something seems to pull him towards the home where he lived for seven years, from age 5 till age 12. He knows that the house had been demolished a long time back, and that he has no fond memories with that place.

As he passes the house, he realizes that his destination is actually the farmhouse at the end of the lane, where he had become friends with a girl when he was 7 years old. Lettie Hempstock was 11, and the two had become best friends immediately. When he reaches the house he starts remembering things that he has forgotten a long time ago. He is met by Lettie’s mother (or grandmother, he’s not sure) who tells him that she remember him. He asks if he can sit by their pond and reminisce about the past.

As soon as he sits down by the pond, he remembers that Lettie used to call the pond an ocean, and this recollection opens the floodgates of memory long forgotten. Here begins the story of how a 7-year-old boy was saved by an 11-year-old girl, in more ways than one.

Gaiman’s stories are always fairy tales, with elements of magic and surreal settings, but at the same time everything can also be a metaphor for something real. This book is no different. Told from a child’s perspective, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane is mostly about magic and other-worldly creatures. But it is also about how children are always aware of what is going on around them, even if adults choose to think otherwise.

A child’s mind can imagine great things, and at the same time it is capable of accepting truths that adults might dismiss as being fanciful or imaginary. This book leaves the differentiation of real from imaginary on the reader, and takes you on a ride into the mind of a child as remembered by an old man. In the end, memory is fleeting and what we once thought was unforgettable becomes a figment of our imagination as we age.

Once again, I find myself lost in Neil Gaiman’s brilliant imagery, and cannot help but think of him as one of the best writers of our time.

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