There is always, if not exactly a ‘happily ever after’, at least an ‘afterwards’ to every story…
Author: Jaishree Misra
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 276
Price: INR 250
Jaishree Misra’s book takes one through the emotional turmoil and mental agony of a young man who loses the love of his life to fate’s vindictive hands. More than half of the book is consumed by the anguish Rahul undergoes after he loses Maya to a terrible car accident and eventually Maya’s little daughter Anjali to her biological father.
Maya, a married woman with a child, suffers from a loveless marriage, or so it seems to her. She finds solace in the friendship of her next-door neighbor Rahul, a tourist and an NRI from England who comes to Kerala to spend his vacation and take up Mrudangam classes whilst on the job. Rahul, smitten by her looks although she is married with a child, decides to help her get out of the troubled wedlock and takes her along with him to Delhi and eventually to London from there.
The book is told from Rahul’s perspective and, as stated earlier, focuses mostly on his distress after Maya’s death, who he loses to a car accident after spending 3 years with him in London.
Strangely, Jaishree’s book fails to evoke any sense of sympathy or compassion towards the characters, although it elucidates the pain and suffering of loss of human life. Her writing is, however, captivating in most parts. Besides, her technique of beginning and ending the book on a same note is definitely poignant – if not in the beginning, certainly in the end.
Rahul’s journey to India to meet Maya’s parents for performing her death rites remains the highlight of the book.
Bottom Line: Fast Read
For some strange reason Mario Puzzo's Godfather seems to be dragging, so is Jaishree Misra's Afterwards... May be they are good books, may be i still haven't gotten enough into it.... in usual cases all it takes to me is a weekend to finish a book... strangely in this case it is not so... may be i'm just a l'l lazy :-)
“There are moments in all long journeys when the whole business of traveling seems utterly futile. One feels homesick, tired and above all bored. Nothing pleases. Everything palls. For me that moment came in Tashkurgan.” 
Author: William Dalrymple Publisher: Flamingo Pages: 320 Price: INR 295In Xanadu is William Dalrymple’s first book that marked a glorious beginning of his career in travel writing. The book follows William’s attempt to cover the route Marco Polo took. As a final year Cambridge student, William backpacks his way through Turkey and into Iran finally reaching China to end the journey in the Inner Mongols in Xanadu where Marco Polo ended his historic voyage. William dutifully wants to stick to the route Marco Polo took during his voyage; however, the prevailing volatile political conditions in Iran prove otherwise. Sometimes as nomads and sometimes as illegal occupants William and his travel companion Laura (and Louise who joins in the latter leg of the journey from Lahore after Laura leaves to India) explores the passage. William’s writing is a blend of history with present day events and his insight on every place he visits makes the book effortlessly interesting. Besides, his honest impression of places – often strewn with cynical undertones – makes the reading experience a pleasure. The bumpy trial that proves nothing lesser than an ordeal does not end with William merely following the track. He explores the sights Marco Polo mentions in his ‘Travels’ and quite often has only the 13th century book as his travel guide. And when William succeeds in finding the monuments mentioned in the book, it substantiates his conviction and the whole meaning of the travel. The book showcases William’s outstanding style of writing that is equally amusing and hard-hitting.
William often takes pride in boasting to be the first European to visit the unexplored places only after Alexander and Marco polo. The book is no less of a treat and William makes sure that the sense of fulfillment when he completes his travel in Xanadu is equally shared by the reader. Bottom Line: You will love it if you enjoy the travel-writing genre
‘Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’
Author: Harper Lee
Publishers: Arrow Books
Pages: 309
Price: INR 250
Harper Lee’s book about growing up during the 1930s in the US is amazingly engaging. The book’s mammoth success is not so difficult to make out given the fact that Lee chooses to throw light at the major issues during the times of the Great Depression in the US through her characters rather cynically.
Besides, Lee’s smooth and effortless narrative travels seamlessly throughout the book absorbing the reader into a whirlpool of events. Although the narrative is that of Scout, Lee chooses to interrupt the narrative every now and then providing her insights.
Wikipedia states: “The mockingbird is used as a recurring motif to symbolize the innocence of various victims of injustice throughout the novel.”
Various victims of injustice being mainly the black people who are afflicted to color prejudice. The story, narrated by Scout Finch, follows the school going days of Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill. Their inquisitive attempts to enter into the house of the neighborhood recluse Boo Radley, their struggle to cope up with their strict cook and caretaker Cal, wisdom endowment of their noble father Atticus, and the dirty trial of the rape of Mayella by the black man Tom whom Atticus is defending are the incidents that by and large form the story.
The book is semi-autobiographical and Lee won Pulitzer Prize for the book including many other awards. Easy to say why. And, To Kill a Mocking Bird remains her major work till date. She was to remain a one-book wonder exhausting her entire imagination on ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’.
Bottom Line: A definite read
Title: The Glass Palace
Author: Amitav Ghosh
Publisher: Harpercollins
Pages: 552
Price: INR 295
Lucid narration at its best. That is what crossed my mind when I put down Glass Palace after reading. Amitav Ghosh’s splendid narrative grew on me during the process of reading the book and as the story unfurled, the characters become part of my life and I can’t help but feeling for them as if they were my acquaintances.
The story begins in the port town of Mandalay, Burma just before it was captured by the British and the King and the Queen were taken into custody. It revolves around the Indian coolie boy Rajkumar’s life for a while before embarking on a journey with the King and the Queen as they were being sent on exile to an Indian town called Ratnagiri.
But soon enough, the emperor’s life loses track and Rajkumar takes the center stage of the novel. The story details the life and times of people in Burma, India, and Malaya during the pre-colonist era and war times through the life of Rajkumar and his family.
On the downside, the plot is clichéd in places and a few dramatic events only decelerate the pace of the novel. Besides, as the novel reaches the final chapters one cannot help but notice Ghosh’s urgency in winding up the book that has already consumed enough pages.
Bottom line: You won’t regret reading it
