Tags
ashok k banker, book, book review, books, her fearful symmerty, nive lives, prince of ayodhya, ramanya, review, right shoe wrong fit, spirituality, varsha dixit, william dalrymple
Finally I do my long pending reviews… Feb was a month where I read a lot (ok Smitha we are not competing with u and neither with u smitha 😀 gosh do all smitha’s read so much or its only our two 😉 ) ok so I read about 6 books in 28 days which is good enough for me 😉 but I never got around doing any reviews for them… kept thinking of doing. There are about 5 drafts for these books in my folder and then I thought its high time I finish them and then publish as one single post… phew finally I hope this post sees the light of the day
Nine Lives by William Dalrymple 
A book so unlike me, so unlike the books I usually read… I am usually not the one reading a lot of spiritual material or spiritually inspired books. So much so that when I read Eat Pray Love India’s part was what I liked the least but when someone gifted me this book I was forced tempted to read it and I am actually so glad I did. It showed me a new face to India. It made me think about the India I don’t know at all, a India I am so ignorant of its existent . The book as the name suggest is about nine lives… nine lives of nine Indian people who take up the spiritual path. I loved the way William captured their lives maintaining a fine balance between becoming preachy and stating the spiritual facts so well.
The characters here of course go extreme in their devotion their thinking clouded by their faith but yet they are happy or rather they are peaceful. The story about the dalit jailor and well digger who transforms himself to a God like status two months a year during Theyam (of which I knew nothing before reading this btw, I mean I knew there exists a dance like this but I didnt know the history)… a Buddhist monk who picks up a weapon to fight against China and then turns to making prayer flags, a Jain nun who gives up food slowly to embrace death.. the characters have been brought to paper beautifully.
According to me a very very good read
Rating 3.5/5
Book Nine Lives
Authors William Dalrymple
Price Rs 495/-
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger 
The second book by the author who gave us the brilliant (atleast I loved it) Time Traveller’s Wife. So since it is out I have been wanting to read it but I have said this before that how on some books I suddenly become kanjoos 😀… (I am strange very strange sometimes) so when I saw this in the library I picked it up… As usual like her previous book this is a very very different book, a book about ghosts. I don’t even remember when was the last time I read a book about ghosts.
Its a story of two generation of twins – identical twins. The two main girls Julia and Valentina find themselves in the London apartment of their dead but still existent as a ghost Aunt whom they had never met all their lives because of some their moms didn’t want to keep the relation going between them for reasons that are not known to anyone.
When I started this book I was mighty excited about it, loved the author the subject was juicy enough – two set of twins, ghosts. Did the book stand up to the expectations – I would say mostly yes.The book deals with its subject pretty nicely and I think if I write anymore I would give in a lot for a review 😉
But all in all a book I recommend too… may be not as good as TTW but a decent read
Rating 3.5/5
Book Her Fearful Symmetry
Authors Audrey Niffenegger
Price Rs 570/-
Prince of Ayodhya by Ashok K Banker 
When I read The Pallace of Illusions it left me wondering why has this modernization of the Ramayan not yet done (yeah call me dumb I didn’t know about the existence of this one 😦 ) and after some research and talking to fellow readers I got to know about it this one and damn I am cursing myself of why I didn’t know of it before. WHY? Its a brilliant book, loved it from the starting to the end
The way Banker has dealt with the ancient text and almost converted it into a modern piece of sci-fi fiction but yet handled the sensitivities of us Indians for their scared texts is amazing.
I have always wondered (like him as he mentions in the preface of the book) that how do people of this generation read the Ramayana. I tried picking up an English translation long ago but its not just the language which is a binding in reading it, its the whole way its written, I never got around finishing that one and I think I have found my answer in Ashok Banker’s series.
A must read for everyone interested in Ramayana. I am surely picking up the next volume soon.
Rating 4/5
Book Prince of Ayodhya
Authors Ashok K Banker
Price Rs 570/-
Right Fit Wrong Shoe by Varsha Dixit 
Aah after three nice books I do have a right to tell you about a bad one isnt it? 🙂 Ok not really bad but a okie tokie read (not a literature material basically)… I think its the one which tries to step into the desi chicklit category again only thing is doesn’t succeed as well as Zoya Factor. No actually let me change my mind here, this takes on making a new leauge.. Desi Mills and Boons 😉
Its a love story between Aditya and Nandini which are kids of a family which are really close to each other who fall in love and out of it and then like all good old romantic movies and books are back together.
The book is a fun ride I would admit and if you are into a fast pace time pass reading it won’t disappoint you and if u are a die hard 16 yr old romantic at heart u might even like it a lot :)…
Rating 2.5/5
Book Right Fit Wrong Shoe by
Authors Varsha Dixit
Price Rs 95/-
Monika's World 