Up in the Air

Up in the Air by Walter Kirn

My rating: 2 of 5 stars I start my review with a digression. I read the book and saw the movie (in that order) "Up in the Air" around the same time as the release of the Hindi movie "3 idiots" which is inspired from Chetan Bhagath's "5 point someone" (yet to read). The professionalism with which the book to movie adaptation has been done with "Up in the Air" puts the Bollywood junta and Bhagath in bad light. I think the respective movie makers' approach to the material has been similar. They have taken the essence of a novel and spun their own story around it, making it appeal to a different medium. "Up in the Air" succeeds in the professionalism front - author credited properly, movie-book tie-ins, author lets the movie hold its own and is happy in his place. Now I am not sure if Chetan Bhagath was compensated properly but the acrimonious tussle with the movie makers post "3 idiots" release has revealed how much of catching up the Indian entertainers have got to do in the legal front of adapting books.

I bought the book in an airport. I even mentioned to the sales lady - "seems appropriate for the place". Leafing through the preface, I noticed that a couple of other novels by Walter Kirn have also made it to the Hollywood mainstream and they are already in my Netflix list without me being conscious of it – they have been there for a while now. I finished the first half of the book in record time - I was mesmerized by the materialistic pursuit of Ryan Bingham. His career is an extraordinary one. A lay-off specialist. A good job to have if you love not staying in one place and make more acquaintances than relationships. While he is flying from one city to another he has a couple of siblings, who, through phone calls, try and keep him grounded. The lifestyle of Ryan Bingham is fascinating as much as it is repulsive to a 'family man'. Loved the character's personal quirks of having a new word a day and also the detached outlook on everyone and everything coming his way.The one thing that he is not detached from and is actually pursuing with great zeal is his million miles reward with a certain airlines. At some point in this nonstop travelogue he steps into Vegas and that's where the book stopped working for me. A sort of psychedelic incoherence seeps into both the character's mental state as wells as the writing. The end is bitter-sweet vis-a-vis the million miles pursuit but by that time I reached the end, I was going through the motions of just finishing the book. It is a good commentary on jet-setters with no roots and I believe I can recollect a few of my own acquaintances who are like that.

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I would give an extra star to the movie as compared to the book. The movie also centers around the Ryan Bingham character as well and his quest for a frequent flier reward - 10 million miles this time. The support cast is a little different and far more entertaining than the book. The twist in the movie, which Wifey can't stop talking about, is quick and dirty. George Clooney is perfect for the role. The end in the movie is not a mortal one as it was in the book - at least not of the same kind - but manages to circle back to the beginning of the movie. I like that. View all my reviews >>

Mahabharath reloaded or Bhimsen Begins

Bhimsen by Prem Panicker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars Mahabharath always fascinates me. There is a story for everyone in this epic. Just when I was getting impatient with the literary material coming my way, I stumbled upon Prem Panicker's retelling of MT Vasudevan Nair's "Rendamoozham". I'd felt a similar "oh yes" moment when I read the translation of Vishnu Sahasranamam which is a chronicle of Bhisma's talks with Yudhistra. Among these workds, I get the comfort of a known story while still being thrilled by a new narrative. Bhimsen/Rendamoozham is Mahabharath from Bhima's point of view. When the reviewer at blogbharathi.com mentioned that Rendamoozham can mean "second best", it caught my attention. How can Bhima survive under the overbearing presence of Yudhishtra and Arjuna? The answer is a gritty saga and is available among the pages of 'Bhimsen'. Bhimsen is not your Amar Chitra Katha-like version of the great yarn. It is cold, logical and contemporary in many ways. I've secretly admired scifi explanations such as the Kauravas being the first known case of human cloning and Karna's use and throw weapons were nuclear in nature. The supernatural mythological ethereal happenings are usually filed away with a godly hand in most narratives. Here, the supernatural mythological ethereal works get an explanation with logical backing. Panicker/Nair blame the mythical goings on as media hype from that age. Apparently mankind has been a news junkie from time immemorial. Yesteryear cable news men existed in the form of balladeers and raconteurs adding spice to common happenings to elevate their yarns. In Bhimsen I found logical explanations to Arjuna's magical weapons, the seemingly ageless presence of the characters, the whole Draupadi issue (no explanation for the saree without border though!) and best of all how can Yudhistra be so noble? It is this style of giving a grounded narration that kept me glued to my computer screen as I finished the 377 pages of the e-book over a weekend. I am gland that I discovered this after Panicker completed it rather than follow his blog with periodic updates. Mahabharatha is not a black and white story. Bhimsen manages to show the different shades of grey that only help accentuate the true colors of mankind. Bhima has been a superhero inside out. Sadly, this will never translate to my other favorite medium - cinema. Putting this up on a screen will mean the cinematic equivalent of telling western kids that Santa is not real. The moral police will not allow that. View all my reviews >>

The Road

The Road by Cormac McCarthy


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
An unusual narrative. McCarthy imagines a dull and desolate world - post apocalypse. A father whose only purpose in life is to keep the fire burning in his son. A son who is still young enough to have innocence and a sense of right and wrong. The two travel through burnt down towns and landscapes of ash. They are lucky at times in their journey across the country in search of humanity. That luck is however only relative as they deal with hunger,illness and other perils constantly. The inner eye can only see grey while reading this book. There the author succeeds in his depiction of the apocalyptic world. Again, an unusual narrative - dialogs seem like monologues some times. The small strand of hope that binds the story is present but I became aware of its presence only after finishing the book.
It appears to be an impossible novel to make a movie out of. However, that is what Viggo Mortensen and friends have tried. Not sure if I will watch that one.

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The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My rating: 4 of 5 stars There are movies based on books. I've seen movies based on scrumptious books. Indulged in book vs movie contrasting from time to time. A couple of times I've seen movies and went back to their source material - the original book they were based on. This too winded up with the book vs. movie indulgence mentioned earlier. For the first time ever, I bought and read a book based on a movie trailer and related news articles. "The Lovely Bones" came into my consciousness when Peter Jackson (Lord of the rings trilogy, King Kong) announced that it would be his next movie. The trailer came out this summer. I found myself in the suspended state between book and movie unable to decide which one to pursue first. The book won. The story is narrated by a 14-year old whose life has been cut short by a monster. She is suspended in the after-life and witnesses the effect that her death has on her family, friends, the police and the murderer. A wonderful point of view with the right amount of everything. View all my reviews >>

The Brass Verdict

The Brass Verdict

The Lincoln Lawyer and Harry Bosch join hands in this Connelly novel. Its more of the lawyer than the policeman. I understand that the book is set in the fantasy world of Hollywood but Connelly shouldn't have made a Hollywood (in fact Bollywood) ending to this otherwise trademark grim narrative.

The Lost Symbol

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

My rating: 3 of 5 stars Where the Da Vince code and Angels & Demons provided a healthy dose of puzzles of various forms, The Lost Symbol restricts itself to one big puzzle that sort of underwhelms when revealed. Dan Brown gets a little too philosophical and almost all the main characters mull upon their respective beliefs - sometimes whole chapters are devoted to this exercise. Thanks to the Tom Hanks driven movies, I was imagining the screenplay for this version. It is going to be a tough task without some major alterations to the story line. Will Washington D.C benefit from tourism revenue the way Paris did? I doubt it. View all my reviews >>

And the real life inspiration to the heroine in this story talks to NPR

It’s Not About the Bike

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I feel that I should have read this book immediately after it was published. It would have had a better impact then. At the time of reading this book, Lance Armstrong has ceased to be just a super sportsman. He is now more of a celebrity. There is nothing in this book to suggest where he will go after overcoming the challenges thrown at him. Where he did go seems to be a path of self-indulgence. However, nothing can be taken away from the narrative in this book. Armstrong clearly points out the factors that shaped him - his mother, his humble beginnings, his spirit and benefactors along the way. Good for one read.

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Sholay: The Making of a Classic

Sholay: The Making of a Classic by Anupama Chopra

My review

Indian cinema is supposedly the busiest in the entertainment industry. In spite of this, there is very little that Indian movie buffs know about 'the making' of their favorite movies. Needless to say, I am one of those fore mentioned movie buffs. When so much trivia and anecdotes are available for Hollywood blockbusters, very little is know about Bollywood and Kollywood's behind the scene and beyond the scene activities. What we get to read are generally tabloid fare.
Anupama Chopra's collection of borrowed memoirs of a platinum classic does give temporary respite for... again the fore mentioned movie buffs.
If you have the remastered DVD, if you have the dialogs only audio CD/cassette, then you have to add this book to your shelf.


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Tintin in America by Hergé

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A while back I came across this ad http://www.thehindushopping.co... and started drooling. In my entire experience with comic books, Tintin and Asterix have been quintessential favorites. So, I plotted with care and finally landed all 55 titles earlier this month. Timeless humour and wonderful illustrations bring back some good memories. Plan to treat this set as a legacy piece. The Tintin series is from Egmont printing house - not the Magnet (or was it Magnum) printing house that I used to notice earlier. The difference is only in the font not in the quality of the pictures. Between Asterix and Tintin (sort of a choice between left eye and right eye), I favor Asterix for the humor content. These are European comics at their very best.

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America - The Book

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America by Jon Stewart

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Satire at its current day best. It is a different kind of book and is hilarious for the very same reason - it is designed as a school text book suggesting that American Politics is pretty dumbed down. If you find the show hilarious, the book is a collector's keep.

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The Last Templar

Picked this one up at the Seattle airport for exactly what it was advertised to be - a page turner in the lines of the Da Vinci Code. Served its purpose. Mixed some faith based dialogs in a truly 'masala' setting. There is a passage where one of the characters questions miracles and faith which seemed to have been the author's viewpoint and I found myself drawing parallels to my own questions on religion and faith. It did make me think... for that point alone I would say that this is a slight deviation from my usual 'intellectual' reading on planes.
A side note - I was staying at a hotel in Germany mid-way through this book. There was a bomb scare and we were asked to evacuate. I duly complied and left my room with this book in hand. We were given a choice to stay in the nearby church for a couple of hours while the bomb got diffused. So, I had a book that put faith in question while seeking shelter in a place of faith.
I went to a nearby cafe instead - too much of an ethical predicament for me. Besides... I was hungry.

Catch-22 in Catch-22

It hasn't been love at first sight. I bought my copy of Joseph Heller's world famous novel more in a 'have to' fashion rather than a 'want to' one. Since then it has become an off-again on-again affair. Approaching ten years since the day I bought it, I am yet to complete reading it even once. Heck, I haven't even gone past ten chapters. I invariably get stuck at the point where the whole 'Catch 22' emerges in the narrative. Maybe there is a psychological barrier there. I bought it to find out what exactly Catch 22 was - those days before Wikipedia and broadband Internet! I now know what Catch 22 is and probably don't care what happens in the novel beyond that.

"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.
"That's some catch, that Catch-22," [Yossarian] observed.
"It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed."

 

I also read MASH around the same time and in fact completed it - being a big fan of the TV series. Maybe I need the extra dumb down reference point that movie/TV offers for intelligent literary material. An uncle of mine also made the observation that while MASH and Catch-22 are clever anti-war satires, Catch-22's satire is a lot more subtle and every reading reveals new meanings. Maybe the intelligence of the novel intimidates me at some level... The book is in elite company though - I have volumes of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan right beside it - fresh and unread.

Catch-22 is like a comfort friend. Whenever I run out of books to read, I know that I'll always have Catch-22. If I finish reading it, however, I cease to have that comfort... Catch-22 is my own Catch-22 I guess!

Kill the Messenger

My first "Tami Hoag" novel. This piece of fiction served its purpose - stalled boredom on the five hour cross-continent flights between SJC, JFK and Atlanta. It delivers what it promises - a thriller with cops and robbers. LA based story but lacks the grittiness seen with the Harry Bosch novels set in the same city. Eventually had a tough time finishing it.

The Monk who sold his Ferrari

Okay... I was hooked by the title. I chanced upon this book at a time when I was looking for some distraction, some inspiration. I do very little non-fiction. I gave this book my best shot and I think I covered up to 50 pages or theare abouts. The book then dwiddled into something of a self-help lecture once the chief protagonist returned from the Himalayas. My friend who had lent me the book made my job easier by pestering me to return it. Apparently his boss wanted him to read it... Go figure!