Book Review of “Love’s Journey” by Rashmi Singh

Love’s Journey

By Rashmi Singh

 

In this world, where nothing works, faith and hope keeps us moving. This forms the crux of Rashmi Sing’s debut novel- Love’s Journey.
An endearing journey of a girl seeking love, Love’s Journey shows the struggle that Jennifer Sebastian undergoes to attain the love and affection she truly deserves.
Jennifer Sebastian loses her family to a communal riot at a tender age of fifteen. Facing hardships and orphanages to end up in Mumbai was not the kind of life she had expected or deserved. But once in Mumbai, working as an “extra” in Bollywood, Jenni lives in poverty, with her infant son, making all compromises in life that she could to give him a decent living.
The author seamlessly knits the emotions and hardships faced by Jenni who is trying to make a place for herself in a city of big bad wolves.
Jenni is mothering an illegitimate child, stuck in a web of lust, fear, poverty, corruption, greed and the endless upheavals one could imagine. Life’s miseries do come to an end but not easily. Crushing some dreams, braving some realities, facing the evil, only to provide a decent life to her child, Jenni decides to walk the path of compromises (with her body) and what happens thereafter is what makes the story a readable one.
The tale projects the true colors of life. And each color with its varied hues. Faith, distrust, anger, love, lust, sex, emotions and so many emotions blend seamlessly to spin a yarn of a capturing tale that engrosses you till the very end.
Living in the slums, bearing lewd remarks and lusty advances, living a dark depressing life, Jenni eventually gets her place in the sun, professionally as well as in her personal life.
Readers would at a point connect with the characters, esp. Jenni. Her innocence, her naivety, her strengths, her fears…her love, all make her one of the most loveable of all characters.
People in and around her life portray real (dark) streaks- Jay Kumar, Shambhu Vasan, Shantanu Arora, Deepak, etc. Kudos to the author for bringing out such finer traits.

Just a few hiccups:
The writing has a certain flow but at places, I feel, I could’ve been edited or written more crisply.
Stressing on certain details (one too many times) doesn’t make it any more important.
Bits and parts of the tale seemed very predictable.

But overall, it was an entertaining and enjoyable read.

Book Review of “South of Broad” By Pat Conroy

South of Broad

By Pat Conroy

I was “oh-so-excited” to read another creation of Pat Conroy, only to keep the book down with bigger disappointment.

The story is about a group of friends their heart-touching enduring bonds of friendship.

The story addresses a lot of issues of high concern – like racial and social divide in the community; problems in dysfunctional families; sexuality related issues; etc.

There’s a lot of melodrama, irony, absurdity, lots of unwanted twists with death, depression, suicide, rape giving it a bit of a soap opera feel rather than a beautiful story that was originally intended.

Conroy brings in elements of poetry to lift the spirit from the depths of misery and despair – if only he could incorporate better dialogue and setting, this book would’ve been a bigger success.

Get Real

All ye aspiring authors around…lend me your ears. I need to share with you a bubble of thought that burst in my head. It derailed my cognitive train and killed about a million brain cells in the vicinity. Investigation is on and I know serious damage has been done. But that story is for another time.
What I want to highlight today is the present situation of our nation. Nope, not the political one. We have other flag bearers and upholders of truth, honesty, etc. to take care of that. My worry is the literary scene.

Every day I hear or read about a new author getting his/her book published and promoted virally through all forms of media. And more often than not, present day writers focus on similar clichéd material.

We have a hoard of novels revolving around IITs, IIMs, schools, colleges, campus life, corporate life, or girl/boy journal that reveal certain instances – good, bad and ugly. Don’t make me name them. It will fill up the entire space here. Hey, I’m not saying it is bad. But for how long are we going to read clichéd fictional material? I see myself suffering from an OD. Not a good thing. At all.

How about getting real and showing the real side of life? Some real feelings and sensitivity. Things that we see every day and take for granted. Things that sometimes are so “in our face” that we end up ignoring them. It is a real world after all. The mind needs some quality reading at least once in a while. Is it too much to ask from our well qualified budding authors?

I feel that every time you read a book, a part of you is remains with the book and a part of the book remains with you. But given the current scenario, all books look and feel the same. There is no USP left. No EQ to connect with.

People read what is presented to them. If you keep offering mundane fiction stories, people will end up reading that. They will eventually grow to expect nothing but that from others as well. That is until they reach saturation.

Ok let’s not entirely point fingers at the authors here. When an author tries to modify or alter his/her track, he/she is either pulled out (ignored) or is put up on a pedestal (honored). I understand there is a fine line you writers have to walking to prove your skills. And a single step out of line can make or mar your growth. (Yes, it might also show how drunk you are. Oh wait…that’s for another time.) But you have to take a chance.

Classics are classics for a reason. They have literary value. They have universal appeal. And most importantly they touch your heart and enlighten your mind about a certain aspect. If you think you have enough determination and courage to present the world with a new platter of real life stories that make readers sit up and take notice, get on with your writing paraphernalia and bring out the best in you.
It’s time we all get real.

Book Review of “Answered Prayers” by Danielle Steel

Answered Prayers

By Danielle Steel

 

A deep and touching tale of friendship, family and love.

After a scarred childhood, Faith Madison falls in to a bad married life. Her cold and unwelcoming husband, Alex, (an investment banker) cheats on her. She is a mother of two grown up girls who has given up everything to make a happy life for her family, only to feel left out all the time.

At the funeral of her step-father, she re-connects with a long lost friend Brad Patterson, who is now a lawyer.

Faith’s brother, Jack, and Brad were best friends. And when Jack died, Brad and Faith found solace in each other’s support. But as life moved on, they got busy with their personal lives and lost touch. But now, memories of childhood days come running through their hearts.

Faith decides to give herself a chance and take up a career she always wanted. She decides to go to law school. And her decision is severely opposed by her family, of course.

But as she firmly stands her ground, Faith ends up being more confident than ever and finding solace in her friendship with Brad, over emails and telephone calls.

Brad too is stuck in an empty marriage. And over time they fall in love. They gather courage eventually to walk out of their meaningless marriages to be together.

But yes, on a very personal note there were some points I could not relate to at all. Faith being a new-age woman; a very stylish and nearly perfect housewife and mother, comes across as a very under-confident lady; looking for approval all her life.

It seemed like Brad, being a busy lawyer, seemed to have all the time in the world to answer Faith’s emails and calls. Wait…that could be a sign of “being in love”. But c’mon – all the time!!!??

Maybe I have mixed feelings about this one.

High on emotional quotient and drama, it is a very insightful tale of relationships (esp. marriages and friendship) beautifully presented by Danielle Steel.

Not many get a second chance in life. What would you do if you got one? Would you be ready to take the plunge? Well…we never know till we come to it.

 

Book Review of “Handle With Care” By Jodi Picoult

Handle With Care

By Jodi Picoult

Well, this one seems to be a mixed bag of emotions. The ideation is bright but delivered in a some-what sloppy manner. By the end of it all it seems like the controversial topic was chosen just to keep Picoult’s formulaic trend running . Her knack to tackle tough subjects with ample twists seems to be disappearing.

The story is about a family with two daughters – the younger born with a rare disease – osteogenesis imperfecta, and how the family endures it all. With a bit ofcontroversial and heart-wrenching moments (about the younger daughter); the feelings of sympathy for the neglected bulimic elder; complex characterization; confused or rather inarticulate parents, the story flows at a slow pace but the climax seems very artificial.Yes, she does raise very logical and moving points – would you ever abort yourbaby if you know that it will be born with a disability? And if you proceed with such a pregnancy, how would you protect the baby from a lifetime of pain and suffering and how would you provide for the baby’s well-being for the rest of his/her life? Her insights are amazing and they sure make you ponder over a lot of things you generally would’ve taken for granted.

Apart from this central theme, the story has other issues that really appear mindless and an utter waste of time and energy.