A WALK TO REMEMBER

SMRITI
0 Comments »


I am a sucker for romance and romantic novels, no denying that fact. That is probably the reason why Nicholas Sparks finds his way into the list of my favourite authors.  I happened to watch the movie first then read the book.


Nicholas Sparks begins this book, A WALK TO REMEMBER, by promising that "first you will smile, and then you will cry --- don't say that you haven't been warned".  A WALK TO REMEMBER is a heart wrenching account of a young, first love and the choices and steps a person will take to provide another with happiness.   

Devoted readers of Nicholas Sparks are already familiar with his earlier works, THE NOTEBOOK and MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, as well as his extraordinary ability to accurately illustrate his characters and the setting around them.  He finds the perfect words to describe the nature of the characters, so much so that the reader can identify with the feelings in their hearts. This book is no exception, it lets the readers explore their own feelings and memories of love.  

Nicholas Sparks writes about a young man and woman in 1958 on the coast in Morehead City in Beaufort, North Carolina.  Landon Carter is a seventeen-year-old high school senior whose father is a United States congressman.  He and his father are strangers --- his father is on the road quite a bit of the time and he spends the majority of time being raised by his mother.  His father insists that he needs to run for student body president to increase his chances of getting into a good college.  His father believes that "We Carters always win" and he wants to mold Landon into a miniature version of himself.   

Landon wins the election and one of his responsibilities is attending the homecoming dance.  Due to the fact he has just broken up with his girlfriend, he doesn't have a date and in a panic, he pulls out his yearbook and scans the pages for someone available.  He finally decides on Jamie Sullivan, a junior, who is the minister's daughter, knowing that nobody else will ask her to the dance.  Jamie wears old sweaters, plaid skirts and her hair up in a bun.  She carries the Bible wherever she goes and believes that whatever happens in life is according to the Lord's plan.  She is obviously not your typical high school student and not someone in whom Landon or his friends would be interested. 

Both Landon and Jamie star in the school Christmas play that Jamie's father has written.  The play details the personal story of his life after his wife's death and his search for love and the meaning of life within his daughter.  Jamie plays the angel and Landon, the lead male role.  Over time, in rehearsals and occasional talks together on her front porch, Landon starts to like Jamie.  As a result, he becomes a better person, helping her do good deeds and accompanying her to the orphanage.  The opening night of the play, he is amazed when he first sees her walk on the stage dressed as an angel, with her hair loose and flowing down her back.  She glitters onstage and he falls for her true beauty. 

With plot twists and turns and an untold secret that will change their lives forever, Landon and Jamie fall in love.  Pain and sorrow lie ahead  but the story lets you believe in the power of love and that dreams do come true.  Their story is unforgettable and as you wipe your tears away, you come to an unbelievable end --- the sort of story that only Nicholas Sparks can tell. 

Though the plot seems somewhat cliched and nothing new, it is the trademark Nicholas Sparks treatment that makes you fall in love with this one. The movie version of this book is somewhat different in its execution, but it is a good read nevertheless. A recommended read if you love romantic novels. And watch the movie too :)


P.S. Since i had wanted to put up the review as soon as I could, most of the content of this one has been taken from bookreporter.com. This review is not my work entirely, and I promise to write up another one here for this one, sometime in the near future.

, ,

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

SMRITI
11 Comments »


Yes Anoop, I've finally read this one. Your review was helpful in making me decide which book to pick up from my ever-piling collection. After the very touching "THE KITE RUNNER", Khaled Hosseini's "A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS" is yet another winner by the author.

Almost everyone is aware of the stupendous success of Hosseini's last work (THE KITE RUNNER) published almost five years ago, and comparisons are bound to happen by THE KITE RUNNER loyalists. In my personal opinion, a comparison between these two books would be totally unfair to the story they present.

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS is a story set amidst the backdrop of Afghanistan and introoduces us to the lives of two women, over a period of forty years. One is Mariam, born in 1959, who is an illegitimate child of a wealthy man from Herat. After a terrible tragedy strikes Mariam at age 15, she is married to a man from Kabul who is almost three times her age. Mariam's husband Rasheed, who seems a pleasant man at first, turns out to be a lecherous, violent man as the story progresses. Mariam suffers a lot at the hands of Rasheed who treats her no better than a useless house-cat.

On the other hand, Hosseini introduces us to Laila, born into the house-hold of a teacher. Laila is much younger than Mariam. She is educated under the guidance of her father, even though the kids still have the opportunity to go to school in the Afghanistan that she lives in. However, as the Soviet troops start to crumble and the mujahideen start running amok, tragedy strikes her and she loses her family and her childhood sweetheart Tariq. Circumstances force her to take cover with Rasheed and his wife Mariam.

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS isn't a story of two women fighting it out with the Taliban. It is a story of the hardships, the trials, tribulations and triumphs of two women in the backdrop of a more than challenging life. Its a story of warmth, friendship, love, affection and every other beautiful human sentiment in the face of adversity. A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS is a story of many Mariams and Lailas who suffered a cruel fate in the war ravaged Afghanistan.

Personally, I would still say that THE KITE RUNNER remains my favourite. Having said that, I would not like to discount the fact that A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS makes for a very good read. If you are a fan of Khaled Hosseini, chances are, you will end up appreciating his writing and narrative style even further.

For those who haven't read it yet..Here's an excerpt:

Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami.

It happened on a Thursday. It must have, because Mariam remembered that she had been restless and preoccupied that day, the way she was only on Thursdays, the day when Jalil visited her at the kolba. To pass the time until the moment that she would see him at last, crossing the knee-high grass in the clearing and waving, Mariam had climbed a chair and taken down her mother's Chinese tea set. The tea set was the sole relic that Mariam's mother, Nana, had of her own mother, who had died when Nana was two. Nana cherished each blue-and-white porcelain piece, the graceful curve of the pot's spout, the hand-painted finches and chrysanthemums, the dragon on the sugar bowl, meant to ward off evil.
It was this last piece that slipped from Mariam's fingers, that fell to the wooden floorboards of the kolba and shattered.

When Nana saw the bowl, her face flushed red and her upper lip shivered, and her eyes, both the lazy one and the good, settled on Mariam in a flat, unblinking way. Nana looked so mad that Mariam feared the jinn would enter her mother's body again. But the jinn didn't come, not that time. Instead, Nana grabbed Mariam by the wrists, pulled her close, and, through gritted teeth, said, "You are a clumsy little harami. This is my reward for everything I've endured. An heirloom-breaking, clumsy little harami."

At the time, Mariam did not understand. She did not know what this word harami—bastard—meant. Nor was she old enough to appreciate the injustice, to see that it is the creators of the harami who are culpable, not the harami, whose only sin is being born. Mariam did surmise, by the way Nana said the word, that it was an ugly, loathsome thing to be a harami, like an insect, like the scurrying cockroaches Nana was always cursing and sweeping out of the kolba. 

Later, when she was older, Mariam did understand. It was the way Nana uttered the word—not so much saying it as spitting it at her—that made Mariam feel the full sting of it. She understood then what Nana meant, that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance.

, ,

THE BOOK THIEF

SMRITI
3 Comments »


Phew!! Finally done with this one... After an un-put-downable "THE KITE RUNNER", Markus Zusak's literary genius "THE BOOK THIEF" was the next one on my list. I was still under the "KITE RUNNER-HANG-OVER" as I like to call it, when I picked up this one from the list of piling unread books in my collection. If you think that the title is captivating, then I suggest you start reading this book to understand what "captivating" means...


We've all read THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, NIGHT and other books that give us an insight into the Nazi Germany of Hitler. This book visits Germany in that era, through the eyes of one force that was widely prevalent then-- DEATH. The author appropriately uses Death to narrate the events unfolding in the life of 9-year old Liesel Meminger. Coz death travelled everywhere.


Death has its first encounter with Liesel in a train on which she is travelling with her mother and her brother, to a foster home at Himmel Street. Death takes away her brother, but is somehow transfixed by Liesel. It is then that Liesel, the book thief, does her first act of thievery. She picks up a book from the graveyard, thus starting on a journey of multiple book stealing sessions.

Her foster parents are good to her. Hans Hubermann, her foster father helps her to learn how to read and is the most comforting force in her life. Rosa, her foster mother, is a strict woman who swears a lot. But loves her nevertheless. Apart from them, she find solace in her best friend Rudy, who is a huge fan of Jesse Owens and wants to emulate him. There is also a jew named Max who is hidden by the Hubermanns in their basement, with whom Liesel forges brotherly attatchment.

The Book Thief is an amazing read for anyone. It gives a complete different perspective of the Nazi Germany, though still painting the grim pictures of that era. It still gives you hope amids despair and contains some really amazing moments. Its a definite must read for all book lovers. MUST BUY!!!!

Excerpts

DEATH AND CHOCOLATE

First the colors.
Then the humans.
That's usually how I see things.
Or at least, how I try.

***HERE IS A SMALL FACT ***
You are going to die.

I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic, though most people find themselves hindered in believing me, no matter my protestations. Please, trust me. I most definitely can be cheerful. I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's only the A's. Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.

***Reaction to the ***AFOREMENTIONED fact
Does this worry you?I
urge you--don't be afraid.
I'm nothing if not fair.

--Of course, an introduction.A beginning.
Where are my manners?I could introduce myself properly, but it's not really necessary. You will know me well enough and soon enough, depending on a diverse range of variables. It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.At that moment, you will be lying there (I rarely find people standing up). You will be caked in your own body. There might be a discovery; a scream will dribble down the air. The only sound I'll hear after that will be my own breathing, and the sound of the smell, of my footsteps.The question is, what color will everything be at that moment when I come for you? What will the sky be saying?Personally, I like a chocolate-colored sky. Dark, dark chocolate. People say it suits me. I do, however, try to enjoy every color I see--the whole spectrum. A billion or so flavors, none of them quite the same, and a sky to slowly suck on. It takes the edge off the stress. It helps me relax.

***A SMALL THEORY ***
People observe the colors of a day only at its beginnings and ends, but to me it's quite clear that a day merges through a multitude of shades and intonations, with each passing moment. A single hour can consist of thousands of different colors. Waxy yellows, cloud-spat blues. Murky darknesses. In my line of work, I make it a point to notice them.

As I've been alluding to, my one saving grace is distraction. It keeps me sane. It helps me cope, considering the length of time I've been performing this job. The trouble is, who could ever replace me? Who could step in while I take a break in your stock-standard resort-style vacation destination, whether it be tropical or of the ski trip variety? The answer, of course, is nobody, which has prompted me to make a conscious, deliberate decision--to make distraction my vacation. Needless to say, I vacation in increments. In colors.Still, it's possible that you might be asking, why does he even need a vacation? What does he need distraction from?Which brings me to my next point.It's the leftover humans.The survivors.They're the ones I can't stand to look at, although on many occasions I still fail. I deliberately seek out the colors to keep my mind off them, but now and then, I witness the ones who are left behind, crumbling among the jigsaw puzzle of realization, despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs.Which in turn brings me to the subject I am telling you about tonight, or today, or whatever the hour and color. It's the story of one of those perpetual survivors--an expert at being left behind.It's just a small story really, about, among other things:
* A girl
* Some words
* An accordionist
* Some fanatical Germans
* A Jewish fist fighter
* And quite a lot of thievery

I saw the book thief three times.

, , ,

THE KITE RUNNER

SMRITI
4 Comments »


This is the second book I picked up to read after exams, and finished it in my personal record breaking single sitting. Never has any other book captivated and enthralled me like THE KITE RUNNER. I came to know about this book thanks to, yet again, Sari Bua. She is the same aunt who introduced me to The Chicken Soup for the Soul book many years earlier.

THE KITE RUNNER is a book, which I ventured out into reading due to the fact that it has been made into a major motion picture and its advance screening at various places was generating rave reviews. As it normally happens with me, most of the times the books recommended with the "must-read" or "awesome" tag, end up disappointing me spectacularly. That series of disappointments has finally come to an end with THE KITE RUNNER.

Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel, THE KITE RUNNER, starts out by describing the relationship between two Afghan boys --- Amir, who is the novel’s narrator and the son of a well-known Kabul businessman, and Hassan, the son of Ali, a servant in the household of Amir’s father. Amir is a Pashtun and Sunni Muslim, while Hassan is a Hazara and a Shi’a. Despite their ethnic and religious differences, Amir and Hassan grow to be friends, although sometimes Amir is troubled to label their relationship as "friendship".

Amir relationship with his father is often a source of tension in his life. He comes to feel that maybe Baba (his father) supports Hassan more than him. Baba feels that Amir isn't strong enough to carry the legacy of his father. Whenever Amir falls into trouble, its usually Hassan who comes to his rescue. Desperate to prove himself to his father, Amir turns to the kite flying tournament, and at the age of 12, with the assistance of Hassan, he wins the annual tournament in Kabul. Hassan, the best Kite-runner in all of Afghanistan, offers to run down and bring the kite which Amir last sliced to win the tournament. But Amir’s victory turns into a nightmare when he witnesses a vicious assault against Hassan, and fails to come to his aid. Amir’s cowardice is compounded by a later act of betrayal that causes Ali and Hassan to leave their home, and he now faces the nightmare prospect of bearing the burden of his ill-fated choices for the rest of his life.

A few years later, the Russians invade Afghanistan, and Amir and Baba are forced to flee the country for California. In America, Amir graduates, marries and becomes a successful novelist. Amir’s world is shaken in 2001 when he receives a call from his father’s best friend, informing him that “There is a way to be good again.” That call launches him on a harrowing journey to rescue Hassan’s son Sohrab, orphaned by the brutal Taliban, and at the same time redeem himself from the torment of his youthful mistakes.

This is one of the books that you can't put down that easily. Hosseini's writing is like a beautiful poetry. Every word takes you deeper into the heart of Afghanistan, over a period of 30 years. The story of Amir and Hassan's friendship lingers in your mind long after you've put down the book. As I read it, I just had a haunting feeling that I was there first hand, looking at all the events taking place. Khaled Hosseini's writing is so powerful that you feel the pain, the friendship, the betrayal with each page that you turn. For a debut novel, THE KITE RUNNER is just breathe-takingly well written. A sure must read for everyone.


Excerpts from the book:



Excerpt # 1:

December 2001
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.


One day last summer, my friend Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked me to come see him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew it wasn’t just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins. After I hung up, I went for a walk along Spreckels Lake on the northern edge of Golden Gate Park. The early-afternoon sun sparkled on the water where dozens of miniature boats sailed, propelled by a crisp breeze. Then I glanced up and saw a pair of kites, red with long blue tails, soaring in the sky. They danced high above the trees on the west end of the park, over the windmills, floating side by side like a pair of eyes looking down on San Francisco, the city I now call home. And suddenly Hassan’s voice whispered in my head: For you, a thousand times over. Hassan the harelipped kite runner.

I sat on a park bench near a willow tree. I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an afterthought. There is a way to be good again. I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. Ali. Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today.


Excerpt # 2:


Then he would remind us that there was a brotherhood between people who fed from the same breast, a kinship that not even time can break.

Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And under the same roof, we spoke our first words.

Mine was Baba.

His was Amir. My name.

Looking back on it now, the foundation of what happened in the winter of 1975 - and all that followed - was already laid in those first words.

, ,