The  God  Of  Small Things

Author: Arundhati Roy

Publisher:  Indian Ink, India

Pages: 339

Publication Date: 1997

ISBN: 0-06-097749-3

Price: 250

Rating: 4/5

I have heard people labeling Arundhati Roy as a ‘One-novel-wonder’. After reading her masterpiece ‘The God of Small Things’ I must admit one thing – that ‘this novel is a wonder’. Poignant, sharp and stylish write. Lines blended with the slight hint of sarcasm are like a dark shot against the feeble shields of hypocrisy, stupidity and orthodoxy. A must read.

Story

The God of Small Things as the name indicates tell the tale of how Small Things can influence Big Things, intoxicate them and completely change them.  The God Of Small Things cannot be assessed to have a protagonist or a central character, even if one can declare it as Estha and Rahel, but Roy’s magnificent work cease to reveolve around any one character, that it becomes the story of everyone- of Ammu,Estha,Rahel,Baby Kochamma,……. every one. And it is here that Arundhati Roy’s genius lies. The God Of Small Things becomes a book about every one, about everything pertaining to a particular era in Kerala , about caste system, politics, Christianity, love, despair,…everything. Apart from that The God Of Small Things is a magnificent make- where Roy’s genius turned a terrible tragedy in to a terrific tale.

The usage of Malayalam words throughout the work, especially during the exchanges between characters make the recipe more corpulent and spicy (well maybe its because I am a keralite and Malayalam is my mother tongue ;)) one can also see simple, yet catchy usages and comparisons such as “like tea from a teabag” (line about Christianity spreading in Kerala) and “as big as the belly of  a beer- drinking man”(end of chapter two “Pappachi’s Moth”)

Buy it from

http://www.amazon.in/The-God-Small-Things-Arundhati/dp/0060977493

Guerrilla WarFare

Author: Dr.Ernesto Che Guevara

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Publication Date: June 1st 1985

ISBN: 0803270100(ISBN13:9780803270107)

No of Pages:  440 pages

Rating: 2/5

Could be described as a handbook to guerrilla warfare. Gives A to Z lessons on how to begin,organize and wage a guerrilla warfare. I must admit that the book is a compilation of the so called Guerrilla tactics which are completely irrelevant and useless in the present scenario. One can also find heavy doses of Marxism protruding out even in lines of technical description. This book can't be perfect, for if it were how did che got executed by a drunken Bolivian army man ;) (he could have implemented the techniques and won over Bolivia)

Amazon link

 http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Warfare-Ernesto-Che-Guevara/dp/149299748X

Chasing China: How I Went To China in Search Of a Fortune and Found a Life

Author: Mark Kitto

Publisher: Skyshore Publishig

Publication Date: 2009 April 22   

  

No of Pages: 368

ISBN: 1602396574

Price: 1321 INR

Rating: 2/4

This book would  help the reader in several platforms; for it could be (and it is) a guidebook on starting, running and surviving in business in China dodging the official onslaught. Or it could be a tour guide to china or more precisely Moganshan. Simultaneously it would strike you as a source of inspiration, which gives you a “well-detailed” tale of a man who fought the Chinese official dragon and its several sister entities in course of doing his business in china.

The book could be divided into o few segments based on what the pages bestow(what I think they do J) in the first pace-50 , tell the details of his early days in china, starting, running business, small skirmishes with the authority, the way he dealt with them etc.. Then with the intro of Moganshan(even if the first chapter describes his visit to Moganshan with a “head-turningly” beautiful shanghai girl, they shift to the place only after several chaps)

Mark Kitto teaches us how difficult it is to “Make things happen” in china, with all the official complication ruining everything. The reader will be astounded by Mark’s persistence and will to remain in the Chinese mainland after having stripped off his hard earned business by the Chinese Communist party. The reader is sure to bestow certain respect for the author. In several accounts of his “troubles” with the unyielding Chinese system, Mark dazzles the reader with his exceptionally positive attitude that of never backing down. Nevertheless it is indispensable to state feature of the book that strike me as a negative and unnecessary – ‘excessive details’. I think the book would have been a lot better if it was briefed to half of what it is now, with some alterations of course.

1) By adding more details of “staring a honest business in china by dealing effectively with the authority” that way it will be a perfect guidebook to those desiring to open a business in china. A GUIDE FOR FOREIGNERS TO START BUISENESS IN CHINA it would have been.

2) With a little more detail about how he made all the money. I mean the book says how he spends it only. A little more light to his past could have helped.

3) Deduce unnecessary details of nature/Moganshan/Purchase/travel/room shift…….etc

I could find some serious grammatical errors too, the editing should have been more perfect. 

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Buy it from

1) Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-China-Search-Fortune-Found/dp/1602396574

About the author : MARK KITTO

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Kitto

LAST STOP

Author : Jessica Cage

No of Pages: 169

Rating: 4/5

The fact I couldn’t do away saying- that I have become a Jessica fan. Reading Last Stop was an amazing experience, one that you cannot confront every day. It was not reading it was experiencing..- so chilling and compelling. I hadn’t read much in the genre, except some (which were exceptional like Joe Bonadonna’s MAD SHADOWS) but this has made me an addict. I’m thirst for more.

In LAST STOP Jessica Cage describes the challenging life that a human being, among us, will have to lead when he/she could savor   a little more with her senses- something that the “common folks” cannot see, hear or feel. In LAST STOP the protagonist Josephine is blessed with the ability to see things that normal people cannot see. That a slight extension to one of her sense organs entirely changes her life. But she bravely manages to accept the fact and cope with the turmoil of change. Instead of letting it shatter her life to smithereens, she channels the same to her advantage. Josephine is characterized as an extremely bold and willful woman. The reader could imagine himself in the protagonist’s position and infer how difficult it would be. This strong characterization is what that attracted me the most – something that the women of our era lack. Something which is essential for survival; the courage to accept the inevitable and go on.

Another thing that a prudent reader cannot acknowledge as an advantage is that the book is short, but heavy- like a spicy Ayurvedic medicine further boiled to corpulence. Short, brief but perfect! Prudently penned that at no part of the reader would find a scarcity in detail. Jessica is surely a gifted writer. Blessed be her pen.
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Buy it from 

1)Amazon 

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Stop-The-Sighted-Series-ebook/dp/B00IGBVESM

2) Bookdepository.com 

http://www.bookdepository.com/Last-Stop-Jessica-Cage/9781495222283

MAGISTAN

Author: Kristy Black

No of Pages: 34

Rating: 4/5

In one simple line I can describe the whole work- “Magistan is pure magic”. Yes, a magic with words and enchanting imageries. Author, with her ink –dripping magic wand has profusely created a wonderful world of pleasant dreams and tranquil; which we frustrated, tensed folks snared in the neo-world’s clamor and rat-race would love to escape to. That, at least within the pages, we could savor the tranquil that we’ve been so desperately seeking for- elixir for the drained soul.

Magistan is the intriguing tale of seven year old Sofia Hanalei, who lives on the island of Ekipa, Ekipa is described as a place of tranquil, a perfect place for life; especially for the kids to grow up- caressed by the cool sea breeze and warm sun, listening to the placid sea’s lullabies at night. The story takes to an entirely different platform when she captures a butterfly (a mysteriously  rare one) one morning. It soon turns out that the butterfly is the soul of the wind. Sofia’s safe and tranquil life on the isle changes completely. This is the point where the streamline, placid flow of the story acquires turbulence; and this change is brought about very prudently by the author, in such a way that the sudden shift does not appear irregular or awkward to the reader- the author deserves a lot of praise. There on Sofia is forced to confront the tragedy of losing a loved one – her papa. Jorah. The truth about this tragedy is revealed further ( ;)I shouldn’t mention it here and brake the suspense). Sofia embarks on a venturous journey, guided by the spirit of the wind and reaches the distant mysterious world of Magistan- of cloudless skies, hibiscus rains and enchanting magical creatures. Sophia makes acquaintance with some strange creatures in Magistan like Joru- the old tortoise who is wise like a scholar, but delivers misleading notions.

Magistan welcomes the reader with full of wonders- packed with trees that can speak, animals with humanly wisdom and keenness. Sofia confronts a mysterious angel like woman- with wings possessing a golden key (the key is termed as the key to Sophia’s destiny)

In the world of mysteries, awkwardness, magic and wonder the seven year old Sophia is to find her papa. An intriguing venture through a world of mysteries and strange magical entities by a seven year old. Keeps the author spellbound until the last page is turned(when the enlightment strikes your head that  IT WAS JUST A BOOK; JUST A  BOOK) That is Magistan. A must read, a “cute” literary monument.


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Read it from wattpad 

http://www.wattpad.com/story/11965939-magistan

I, THE SUN

Author: Janet Morris

Pages: 558

Genre : Biographical

I,the Sun is a magnificent literary remake of the mighty king Suppiluliuma’s  prosperous and powerful Hittite kingdom of the 2^nd millennium BC(1344-22 to be exact) between the   558 precious pages. The book is in 1^st person narration – as dictated by the king himself. This should be noted as an important feature, a cleverly added one to be exact. Applauses for the author’s genius- for, the reader actually starts to savor the whole story through the senses of the king himself, that he/she will eventually develop a particular liking for the king- whom history labels as arrogant and violent(Not to mention his treatment of women). Because the reader is so close to the king as he perceives the whole tale through the King’s eyes. So that deep inside he/she starts to acknowledge the circumstances or environments in which King Suppiluliuma had to act as such; as arrogant, violent and cruel. The reader involuntarily arrives at the agreement that it was all for the sake of an empire! For the Hittite empire, for its people, for its progress and prosperity. The historic observation that the Hittite empire reached the peak of prosperity and power under king Suppiluliuma strengthen this. Referring to this I, The Sun could be described as a brilliantly written book on the Hittite empire(among the other few) in an entirely different perspective. The literary strategy of choose king Suppiluliuma as the protagonist and leading the story through him, has its distant resonation to the introduction of “anti-hero” by  Fyodor Dostoevsky (for example the axe murderer’s portrait in Crime and Punishment), “Randamoozham*”  by Malayalam  writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair*- where the whole story of Mahabharata  is retold through Bhima’s  perspective ,”Ini njan urangatte”* by P.V.Balakrishnan*-the story of Mahabharatha  through Karna’s   perspective, Asura, the tale of the Vanquished* by Anand Neelakandan*- “Ramayana” through the villain Ravana’s perspective. The magic that these exceptional works bring about is that they completely redraw the mental image of a historic/ epic figure that history and society had for long made. The impression gets replaced with a new , more compassionate one.

With a thorough reference to the Hittite history one can understand that every account in “I, the Sun” really happened in the life of Supilulimas. This enlightment (better to someone who had not heard about the Hittites before and is referring for the first time) leaves the reader in absolute thrill. At this point it is impossible for one to do away with appreciating the dexterity and brilliance with witch the author had created the novel, enjoyable and intriguing, yet with good justice to the historical accounts- for it could have ended simply as a boring history lesson if it was just history and history alone. There is romance, rage, bloody battles, defeats & victory, like a colorful action cinema, I must say.

The only negative point that caught my attention is the confusing title “I, the Sun”, but that too for a person with good knowledge of the Hittite culture and ways will appear as the “most appropriate”. I had to do a little study of the topic to know the deep meaning and relation of the usage. I could find that the name is connected to the “Hittite way” of calling the king by the title “Mu sun”. to readers who had marked this Janet Morris masterpiece as “to be read” my advice is to do a slight study of the Hittite period that you can enjoy it better, like it will be an entirely different experience , even if the book itself tells the whole history. I mean, it will be more enjoyable to a reader with some knowledge of the Hittite.

Story

King supillulima was the king of the Hittite kingdom who had fame as a fierce worrier and a successful ruler. He acquired his throne by force and consolidated his power suppressing all domestic oppositions. Suppiluliuma then bean to channel all his efforts in rebuilding (and in that way strengthening) the Hittite kingdom. Supilulima I eventually amazed a strong army and an indomitably loyal intelligence network. With his forces he manages to annihilate all the enemies of the Hittites and widens the borders of his kingdom successfully nullifying his enemies like the Mitanni. At the height of his power, he is met with the tragedy of his son Zannanza’s  murder at the hands of Horemheb’s forces. It drags the king to utter remorse and anger as his son was travelling to Egypt to marry the young widow of Tutankhamun in response of a letter sent to Hittite King by Tutankhamun’s wodow pleading to have her married to the Hittite king’s son. Raged by his son’s death king Suppiluliuma wages war against all territories of Egypt and ultimately turns victorious. But quite unfortunately they become defenseless against the devastating disease of “plague” that the Egyptian prisoners bestowed. The disease kills King Suppiluliuma and his eldest son Arnuwanda II.

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Asura the tale of the Vanquished- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anand_Neelakantan

Ini Njan urangatte/P.K. Balakrishnan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._K._Balakrishnan

M._T._Vasudevan_Nair/

Randamoozham -    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randamoozham