Just One Look - Harlan Coben (Book)

Just One Look - Harlan Coben.

I love murder mysteries especially when I am travelling and have to sleep alone in the night, of-course I am a little unsettled by the experience but that makes me wake up early the next day :) without an alarm clock. And I needed a new author with a light book to read post my first Kafka. Bought this book from a friend who was moving to a foreign land and was gifting (practically) all her books at throw away prices. I guess this was the only Harlan Coben that I picked up and it became the first from him that I read and it even worked (most of it) to keep me hooked throughout (although I didn't like the convenient ending) and had me finish it in flat three days. As I said, I haven't read nothing from him earlier but just one book is good enough to tell me that he isn't a Christie or Conan Doyle but his cops and detectives plus the protagonist was good enough to keep me guessing. But unfortunately after a terrific start and hooking mid time, the ending and the secret of the missing or dead people was too jumbled up to my taste and sensibilities derailing the total story for me making me call it a stricly average read, nothing special. One very good thing about the book and the Author is that he actually involves the reader in the story, i.e. if he misses a particular word for a situation he uses something regular and request the reader to make do with that :) and a few times he just leaves it to the readers imagination too, the best part? he mentions it that we need to take it with a pinch of salt.

Story of a happy go lucky married couple with two kids and a decade old marriage to boast off, goes totally haywire when an old picture suddenly makes an appearance in their life with five people in it, two of them dead already, one missing, one unknown and the fourth one turns out have an uncanny resemblence with the husband himself who again as fate would have it - goes missing since the picture comes in his hand. How the wife gets the picture and what is wrong with all those characters? There is a parallel track of a serial killer too who only kills "Men" and he decides to confess about the only Girl that he killed to her surviving brother who happens to working for the District Attorney's office. Now these two families too have a common connection and link :) Confusing? it gets better and remains that ways till the reader reaches 70% mark before the things start getting too convenient and jumbled up at the same time. There is even a rock concert in-between which was like a start of the events in the firt place. The plot and idea was simply brilliant but I will say the execution wasn't top notch, somewhere towards the ending the author got confused about how to end it all and who to put in the driver's seat for the entire story and screwed it all for me. But still it wasn't a bad time pass and on top of that it was able to wake me up on time early in the morning to read some more and get to the ending fast. The only good thing about the whole book, if my mom read this she will again get angry on me to love a serial killer and his modus operandi, if I ever recommend this book to anyone, it will be for the silent killer otherwise it isn't worth it.

Have you read Just One Look? or any other Harlan Coben which worked for you? I guess I have only this one from him and I will know in next six months if I have anything else from him :).

PS: Can that be an issue that I read this one as well as its likes in between a Kafka and a Bronte and likes? I don't think so, it should rather work like a charm, isn't it. I gotta give some more tries in between and see how they work. 

Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse (Book)

Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse.

Hermann Hesse is my Dad and Mom's favorite writer, I got a few of his books for them last year and now I know why he is their favorite :). Going by the name, I thought it was going to be some kind of story of Gautam Buddha or may be related to the period before he became Buddha. We too have our own little connection with Buddha too as I said that my parents are not only Buddha's followers, they named my elder brother after Buddha's only Son Rahul. Way back in late 90's when I was working in Delhi, I met a prospective client for consulting business, I have no idea why but after the meeting and handing over the business to us successfully she said "Can I call you Siddhartha"? and I thought "Why"? but said "Of-course, why not, I love that name" :). She called me Siddhartha, for I believe as long as we did business with them. It was hilarious to get a call on the office line from a client asking for a name of a person who didn't exist in our office but gradually I was the one who was forced to attend her calls and meetings too :). Although neither me nor anyone in our company ever asked why she called me Siddhartha. Going back to the Siddhartha that I read about wasn't a person who followed Gautam Buddha blindly, he rather questions his teachings and made his own path as per his own belief and understanding. I loved the way his path actually crosses with the original Buddha and the way he proceeds from there. Author very clearly at the very start makes it very clear that it isn't about Buddha but a different Siddhartha and his own life story.

Another thing that I loved about this gem of a little book of wisdom (hardly 200 pages) is that it is one of those few books that I find myself totally incapable of reviewing or rating. Now that is one reason why I would like to read it again as my Dad too told me that one reading will surely not help understand the deep meaning it offers to the reader. And as far as I know of whatever I have read of Hermann Hesse or heard about him, he isn't an easy man to understand. It is totally philosophical and has so many metaphors spread over the course of 200 pages that I kept smiling as I kept making my own theories of sorts. Our lives in comparison to what he told in the form of this story of Siddhartha looks so futile and meaningless. Siddhartha's experience with his best friend Govinda who leaves him midways as he wants to follow the Buddha as their paths cross with the great man. Siddhartha's experience with a courtesan how he finds love, his friendship with a boatman during the course of his journey in search of meaning and his companionship with a local rich businessman was simply amazing (and the highlight of the entire story). I loved the way he clearly says that the knowledge can be imparted but not wisdom, for that you need to choose your own path and find it yourself, you can get the guidance, someone can show you the path but it is you who has to actually walk on it and learn it yourself. It was heartening to see Siddhartha trying the same thing with his own son, while his son revolts and gradually he gives up because of the same that his friend tells him to let him learn his own ways and there is no way Siddhartha could pass on Wisdom to such a young kid.

I am definitely going to read this shortly again and will discuss it further more with my Dad once we meet next month and come back with another blabber :).
Have you read Siddhartha? Which one is your favorite Hermann Hesse book, do let me know, I am going to do a little more reading of his books soon.

Dear John - Nicholas Sparks (Book)

Dear John - Nicholas Sparks.

To whom it may concern.
I hereby certify that Nicholas Sparks is one of the best romantic writers I have ever read. So if you ever are looking for a book which is a quick read, will always put a smile on your face, choke you mid ways, a tear or two will spill by the time it ends, will surely give you some food for thought that you will stare at empty space doing all the permutations and combinations how you could have ended it in a different (read more predictable) way. But I will say it again, he is indeed a terrific writer, the lat book that I read from him was "Three Weeks with my Brother", it made me so emotional that I called my own brother after ages, worked out our differences, he finally visited and we had such a great time together. I also read his "Message in a Bottle" and as the book ended, I turned and kissed my wife admiring our beautiful life together, who was sleeping peacefully besides me as I was finishing the book, was all emotional, she almost kicked me down the bed (reflexes you see). And as I finished this book today, I actually called my dad (yet again at the end of a book) and said "Pappa, Sorry yaar, I was an arse as I was growing, can you forgive me ever?" and he laughed saying "What are you reading? as I am sure you don't drink over the weekdays" :). Now, let me tell you, if a book makes you do any of that, it has to be a great book (at least amazing) and the writer has to be loved, praised and cherished too. Undoubtedly, he is one of my all time favorites as far as genre of Romance is concerned. I've got another of his six books to read before I run out of data from the man. Hope he is writing another fantastic story as I post this :).

I am sure I must have read a dozen of Nicholas Sparks books by now (almost loved them all) and they are so easy on the reader, just like a good bottle of wine. Usually the protagonist is a very good guy, with a heart of gold, struggles through his initial days, falls in love (almost in no time), at times he loses his love mid-ways to get her back in the end, or he loses her in the very end :(. Now this one starts with the loss in the very first page and makes the reader hoping against the hope that it can't be true what the Author shows us at the very start. And the superb way it ends on a brilliant high made it work so much more for me. Although I tried my level best to predict the ending, putting his earlier 12 books weight on my brain, I still couldn't guess the exact ending (and I am glad I couldn't). Nicholas Sparks is just too good not only with his stories or emotional quotient, but also with the character names. I seriously love the names that he uses, like in this one, imagine a girl named "Savannah Lynn Curtis", now how can you not fall in love with a girl named like that, and on top of that she loves horses and is an excellent rider, she dreams of owning a ranch someday where she will teach Autistic kids how to ride. How fantastic is that. The way she falls for John Tyree and gives him his own dad back for life, was the best-est part of the entire story. The way John's equation was with his dad (my life story) to the way it turns out gradually was so heart-warming, choked me up big time. No doubt, this was a superb Father Son relationship story too that I read in a long long time. Also, this was a great story about some best friends you make in the course of a very short time, accidentally too at times.

The entire book actually made me feel as if it was written with 80's if not 70's audience in mind, where you fall in love with a girl without knowing nothing about her, you don't mind getting into cliche ridden promises like watching the full moon every-time when you are not together and think of the good times spent together and all that :). I was pleasantly surprised to find his protagonist doing these things in 2006 :) where loving someone was a priority and there was no hurry to make love with. And again like I mentioned earlier too, I love the stories where there are no villains :) yet there are situations beyond the human control much to the shock, surprise and sadness of the reader, they do go out of hands.

Have you read "Dear John"? If you have, do tell me how much you loved it and if you haven't read it, you've seriously got to read it at the earliest. And yes, do not watch the movie, it isn't quarter as good as the book is and they have screwed the story royally (yet again). Which one is your favorite Nicholas Sparks book? if you have read any or all of them.

The Castle - Franz Kafka (Book)

The Castle - Franz Kafka. I have read at least five Haruki Murakami books and that too back to back :). But one actually isn't required to read a full Murakami book to get a hang of the man as how it is to read a Murakami. And if you have read one, you precisely know what I am talking about but what has Kafka got to do with Murakami? Right? Kafka is Daddy of Murakami on that front and I am triply sure that Murakami himself must be a huge huge fan of Franz Kafka, that much I can tell you after finishing my first Kafka :). I mean, I have read a lot of books with open endings but I haven't read (before this) any-book which doesn't actually have an ending, neither a story which goes anywhere but revolves around one subject which is very intriguing but I guess Kafka decided to never to give out too much to the reader or may be I am wrong as one reading may not be enough to scale a Kafka? is it? And that's where Murakami came to my mind, One of the trilogy (Rat) that I have read from him, he simply refuses to name even one character, I read them with a microscope and couldn't seriously find any names even in the Epilogue which was the fourth book of the series and even there he simply steered away from any names to my shock, amazement and later awe. Same to same is the case with Kafka uncle, he wasn't any easy on me that too on my first book from him. But I firmly believe on the saying that "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" so since this didn't kill me, it made me strong enough to pick another Kafka very near in future. Now the story, contradicting myself as I said earlier that there is no story, there actually is a Castle where our unnamed protagonist wants to go as he is called by the count (only one mention) for the job of a surveyor (that as per Kafka is giving out too much). Now this guy is named after an alphabet :) and I kept all four of my eyes (two behind my specs) to see if we get a full first name at least if not more. While his target is to reach the Castle which in itself is not very easily visible, he has to go through a lot of struggles in the form of the surrounding village(s) and the people living therein are no respite on the man. To his (and mostly our) amazement, he does indeed has some help in the form of his assistants which he himself isn't sure he knows them :) now you are getting a hang of Kafka I tell you. What happens next is the rest of the story of this man's struggle, acquaintances he makes, a little love he may find on the way to the castle, mysterious disappearing characters making an entry and exit at their own whims and fancies. A lot of people do not like him getting the job, a lot of others actually like and respect him (or his title) and a few have their own doubts on the mans originality, there is so much more to it all than what I can blabber about in my post. I still firmly believe that I haven't got a quarter of the whole book (read 280+ pages) still it was a fantastic intriguing read till I realized that the pages were coming to an end and I could not see any ending in miles. It has everything from similar sounding names to doubts whether one character is really what he or she is supposed to be to a new character popping now and then and disappearing suddenly. I mean tell me this, how can an Author introduce a new character at the second last para of the book and let us live with that? pray tell me about it if that has ever happens in any books that you have read. I have my own doubts that the paperback that I got from one of my all time favorite book store (Blossoms Bangalore) has some 50 odd pages missing. Which I will be checking out tomorrow at a bookstore near me to make sure it does have an ending unlike the book which I just finished which has a new character introduced in the very last chapter who says something yet there is no words following it. Please tell me that you have read this and it actually has an ending, Kafka cannot be like Murakami (other way round is acceptable to me), that he will give me a few sleepless nights thinking of an ending. Have you read The Castle or any other Kafka? Do let me know which one is your favorite Kafka book as my next from him is going to be "The Trial" which I will read after a few books break. Edit: No change, that's actually how it is :(.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino (Movie)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino.

Me and my wife just walked out of a theater in Pune with our minds totally blown to pulp, wifey was thoroughly entertained although she found the movie a bit slow from Tarantino standards (She has seen all QT movies and Kill Bill 2 is her favorite). Unbelievably we were only 8 people in total watching a 12 O clock show but I wasn't surprised that almost all of us cheered, shouted, yippied so many times, guess each one of us was the fan of the man behind it all. Yes, it isn't one of his best works and we have seen better QT movies still I will firmly maintain that one should see it on the big-screen only, the impact of it all, darkness, suspense, music, dialogues, blood, gore, spit, curse the rumble of the cars is something your television and home theater system will do no justice to. I am definitely up for a second viewing myself as soon as I get company to watch it again, may be this time I will check it out on an IMAX screen, the bigger and the louder the better. censor board did screw it up very partially (say 5%) as they did mute some words :) but I am super glad that they left "FUCK" as it is in the whole movie :) as that'something I love counting in a QT movie and of-course I lose the count in the very first 10 minutes only at all times, this was no exception.

As so many have mentioned previously that the movie has no set story, it just goes on to tell us how it was back in the late 60's and 70's, a few months from the life of a fading (TV) star who goes on (kind of) to make a career again and the best part of the whole movie is his body double (the Stuntman). Of-course LDC is the man in lead with Brad Pitt as his Stuntman but undoubtedly for me too, Brad gets the cherry on top, totally loved him for a change. Wifey too exclaimed that she hasn't seen any Brad Pitt movie so far she guessed and I have vowed to correct it by showing her "Fight Club" this weekend :). Imagine one movie with LDC in lead, Brad Pitt in toes and they both come in one frame (may be for a fraction) with none other than Al Pacino :) I can watch that again and again on a repeat mode as long as it will last. With hot Margot Robbie, Kurt Russell and a guy playing Steve McQueen and before I forget about Bruce Lee :) with so many movie references thrown here there and everywhere - makes it a movie worth all the money for movie-freaks especially. And Quentin Tarantino makes his fan laugh out loud, whistle and jump on their seats with that superb mind-blowing ending. You've got to watch this movie for its pace, unbelievable lines, expressions, crazy characters and that total kick-ass ending. I want to tell you so much about the movie, but unfortunately that will take so much fun and surprise element away from you. So I will keep my horses in the stable till the second helping and will edit this post again, you have time till then to watch it or take the spoilers with a pinch of salt.

If you haven't seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, do yourself a favor and watch it on big screen, you can criticize it later but go ahead, have the experience of a QT movie on Big Screen as next may or may not come at all in future.