Though I met the 2017 reading challenge, the books that I read
were little disappointing. Starting with James Patterson & Ashwin Sanghi's Private India, it was below average. It
was poorly thought of plot that resembled some B grade movie. Where was the research
and excitement which usually Ashwin's brings in his novels? Equally
disappointing was The Krishna Key.
It started on a good note, built the story, characters were strong but got sloppy as the story ended. Climax was dead. Not
done Ashwin. I had high hopes from both the books since I adore your work.
Next disappointment was Binodini
which is a product of Gurudev Tagore. I got my hands on the
translated version randomly in a bookstore at a metro station. Oh boy, this was
the most irritating book that I read. With due respect to Tagore, the Bengali
version I am sure would be good, since it won several accolades. I guess the
essence was lost in translation. Binodini was poorly translated which least
captivated. Widow-remarriage, plight of a married lady, extra marital affair, a
devastated mother, friendship, romance and all emotions fell apart
with an extremely bad translation.
The books which held me till the end were The Lowland and The Sialkot Saga,
not because they are my favourite authors but because the books had the essence
of what the authors are good at. Tugging at emotions (Jhumpa Lahiri) and
well-paced plot backed by superb research (Ashwin Sanghi) made the books to my
top list of reads in 2017. While The Lowland was about two brothers one of whom chose to be a Naxalite, leaving his pregnant wife alone to the mercy of the cruel world. The elder brother comes to her rescue and marries her, against his parents' wish. The plot moves to Rhode Island is the U.S where they live as a married couple but never attached to each other. Desolate, hopelessly in love and complicated relationships- Jhumpa excels at writing on these.
The Sialkot Saga is a story woven pre-partition where two young boys separated in communal clash, are adopted by different families and grow up to be professional rivals to each other. Characters in different states of the country, imparts the feel of two different stories being narrated simultaneously until destiny brings them face to face for a never ending battle. This book is typical of Ashwin's style which I thoroughly loved.
Preeti Shenoy's Life is
What You Make It got the 3rd place
in my "good reads". A very good story indeed. I was impressed by the
way Shenoy researched, brought in the angle of teen age love, career ambitions,
clinical depression and seamlessly added conviction to the story. The characters seem real and every young person would be able to connect to this book. I want to
read more of Shenoy’s work now.
Terminal
Love was an experiment. New author Vicky Arora tried touching upon the
unusual story of gay love. The plot was well-thought of, but lacked expression.
The story has the power to make you cry in the end, but this is one of the
books which does not leave you "feeling good". Depressing climax but a
good attempt at first novel. It takes guts to write on a bold topic and Arora
partially succeeded. Only the plot needed to be a little stronger.
Potpourri
by Ruskin Bond is a collection of short stories and each story left me with a
smile on my face. I guess that's emblematic of an incredible author. Stories
are of different genres and give moral learning too. Short and sweet.
John Grisham's The Client
has a unique plot but do not expect more than court room spectacle and lawyer
turning into detective. The all's-well-that-ends-well plot has plenty of drama,
action, violence and of course law theories. This book as better than his The
Testament.