Indian Readers discussion

Only three days left for the new year. I'm ready!

All the best

PSmith wrote: "All the best"

Thanks! I'm ready for the first book but must still decide which one, lol.

Good luck with that :P

1) 4/5

English edition: Cassandra by Christa Wolf

This was a very tough read. I started it two times in order to get into the writing style. This one is really very strange with an "original" punctuation. In addition to this we have a lot of flashbacks who in a first moment aren't in a cronological order. It was very confusing.
The whole book is a monologue by Cassandra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra) and she starts it when she knows she is going to die. All the flashbacks refer to her life, Troy, the war with the Greeks but the most important thing is that her monologue refers also, in a more general way, to all human beings, their emotions and feelings, their strenghts and weaknesses, their faith, love, friendship and so on.
It is a very deep book and Wolf is really a great writer because she is able to use words and language masterfully. It is really worth to be read but also to be re-read.

2) 3/5

English edition: Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K. Narayan

Sriram falls in love with Bharati when he sees her the first time at the market. She is a follower of Gandhi and Sriram decides to become a voluteer too in order to stay with her. At some point of the story they must separate because both are imprisoned. They spend some years in jail but their love is strong and Sriram does everything to find Bharati again.
It was both a tender story about love (though the characters had to deal with difficult situations) but also a sad story because the background are the years full of turmoils just before and after the Independece of India.

3) 5/5

English edition: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

There are many reasons why I loved this books: I was totally engrossed by the story, the story is based on true historical events, I felt for the characters and I had a lot of emotions reading it.
Hanna, a restorer of ancient manuscript, has been called because a 500 years old Jewish book, the Haggadah, has been found. In the manuscript she finds some clues (a wine stain, a hair, a wing of insect...) to find out its history.
The reader follows the story of Hanna's researches and these chapters alternate with chapters with the real story of the book, where the reader finds out what really happened.
It was also a moving story and what touched me the most is that love for art, books and culture goes beyong religions. This Hebrew manuscript has been saved twice by muslim librarians; also when we read about the history of the book, people of different religions are bound by the love of history and culture.
It was a real pageturner, also full of suspense and it was very interesting to follow the story of this manuscript who had travelled around the world surviving a lot of wars. In the afterword there was written which parts of the book are true and which one were fictionalized.

dely, I am reading this one for sure in 2015 itself

PSmith wrote: "dely, I am reading this one for sure in 2015 itself"

I'm sure you will like it!

4) 2/5

English edition: With Downcast Eyes by Tahar Ben Jelloun

It was so good and interesting at the beginning and till half of the book and suddenly everything changed.
It's the story of Fatima, a Berber girl, who has a very sad childhood and she is obliged to live with a bad aunt. Her father lives in France for work and when she is ten he goes and takes his family away from there leading them to Paris.
It was interesting to read about the difficulties and the feelings an immigrant had. There was a kind of love for the new culture and hate for the poverty and desperation of the native country. However, growing older, Fatima had to deal with her past and, above all, her roots.
Suddenly, in the middle of the book, the real characters mingle with characters from Fatima's dreams and fantasy. I wasn't anymore able to understand what was going on. It was a pity because it is a well written book with a poetic language and good quotes.

5) Savona in Giallo 2/5

No English edition.

It is a collection with seven mystery/thriller stories all set in the city where I live. It was just an ok read, nothing worthy. I must tell the truth, I'm not a mystery/thriller lover and I've read this book only because I received it for Christmas.

I might have liked it, dely. :P

PSmith wrote: "I might have liked it, dely. :P"

Yes, perhaps :D

6) 2,5/5

English edition: Best Cat Stories by Lesley O'Mara

This book has 23 stories about cats written by famous authors. I liked only 5 or 6 by them, the others were pretty boring.

7) 4/5

English edition: The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald

It's the first book I read by this author and I liked it. I didn't like only the themes of the book but also his writing style and his language.
The main theme is memory and remembrance and the author talks about them through 4 stories: he meets four different persons who talk with him about their past lives. They are fictional but they seem so real and I really thought they existed! Sebald has added also some photos from the past so the characters and their stories seem real.
He talks also about emigration and the consequent feeling of alienation and loneliness. All the characters are German Jews that go away from Germany and this is another theme of the book.
It is a very deep book, to read slowly because there is really a lot in it.

Sounds interesting :-)

PSmith wrote: "Sounds interesting :-)"

It is! I'm thinking if reading other books by this author but I don't know when. I've heard his others are deep too but they haven't an easy writing style and I don't want to struggle too much.

8) The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari 1/5

I didn't like this book for many reasons.
I add the link to my review (in English): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I knew, dely. :P

PSmith wrote: "I knew, dely. :P"

Lol
Have you already read it? Do you know how the other books by the same author are?

I have read the blurbs. Those books are not for serious readers. :-)

PSmith wrote: "I have read the blurbs. Those books are not for serious readers. :-)"

For me it's a compliment :D

I've read this book because recommended in another group for a game called "recommendation swap" (we do it trimonthly). I like this game because it's a way to explore new authors or genres I wouldn't read and because I like when I can recommend a book to another reader and he is obliged to read it. Till now I was recommended 3 books I really liked; this is the first I didn't like but it can happen.

Liked your review, dely. This probably the wrong place to make a remark about cricket, but completely agreed with your views on the game. I don't know the rules either, although it is obviously played very widely here, and various men I know adore it, even when it is just a commentary on the radio, which I find very strange! It is one of the slowest games I have ever seen, and for me ranks with darts and snooker.

Carol wrote: "Liked your review, dely. This probably the wrong place to make a remark about cricket, but completely agreed with your views on the game. I don't know the rules either, although it is obviously pla..."

I have nothing against cricket. I think I would have reacted the same way if the book was talking about rugby or baseball or any other sport of which I don't know the rules. If it would have been a good book I would have not cared that much about all the talking about cricket. But in the whole it wasn't a book I liked so the boring parts were even more difficult to bear.

9) 5/5

English edition: Youth Without God by Ödön von Horváth

The author is able to talk with an easy and essential language about deep themes: coscience, Truth, live, death, God, faith, redemption.
It's a very short book, less than 150 pages, but it shook me from deep inside. It is a must read.

10) 3/5

English edition: Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant

The book talks about George Duroy, an opportunist, ready to cheat and do everything for money and success. I liked it but I liked much more other books by Maupassant, above all his short stories, where he is more sharp and direct in criticizing society, vices and all the things he didin't like of the people of his time.
Bel-Ami is a good book but I found it pretty repetitive.

11) 1/5

English edition: Delhi by Khushwant Singh

I was expecting much more by this book also because I liked the premise (Delhi's history from Mughal Empire to the killing of Indira Gandhi) and I have liked other books by Singh. But I was annoyed from the first to the last page. It's a pity.
Here's my review (also in English) where I explain better what I didn't like: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

12) 5/5

English edition: My Childhood by Maxim Gorky

Amazing book! I have written a review in English: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Its in my to-be-read pile, though perhaps not for this year.

I'm sure you will like it too!

dely wrote: "12) 5/5

English edition: My Childhood by Maxim Gorky

Amazing book! I have written a review in English: https://www.goodreads.com/revie..."

Just read your review. Really liked it. Gorky's one of my favourites. Life was very grim in Russia then and he is very descriptive of it.

Carol wrote: "Just read your review. Really liked it. Gorky's one of my favourites. Life was very grim in Russia then and he is very descriptive of it."

Thanks ;-)
Usually in Russian literature of the XIX century we find the aristocrat way of living or their troubels; this time I've read only about poor people (though at the beginning Gorky's grandparents weren't that poor respect to others). It was very interesting and so moving.

13) 1/5

English edition: Omon Ra by Victor Pelevin

A satire of the USSR and its race to beat technologically the United States. It was too absurd and surreal, I wasn't able to enjoy it.

14) 3/5

There isn't an English edition but this is the sequel of From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.

Though very short it was an interesting read about what the author has seen while travelling in India at the end of the XIX century.
I've written a short review, Italian and English: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

15) 2/5

English edition: Ubik by Philip K. Dick

It isn't a bad book but it isn't the kind of genre I like.
My review, Italian and English: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I was wondering about the title. :)

PSmith wrote: "I was wondering about the title. :)"

Ubik is everything. It isn't easy to explain.

16) 3/5

English edition: Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler

It's a very short book and Stanley Kubrick took inspiration from it for the screenplay of Eyes Wide Shut.
It talks about a married couple in which both fantasize about betraying the partner. Both are also jealous about the erotic fantasies or dreams of the other about which they talk freely.
The book makes you think about how much truth can be found in dreams and fantasies and how much oneirism can be found in reality.
It was an interesting read.

17) 4/5

English edition: Hotel Savoy by Joseph Roth

I start loving Joseph Roth. This is the second book I read by him and liked both of them. I like above all the themes of his books but also his writing style.

There would be a lot to say about this book and his topics so I add the link to my review, both Italian and English: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

18) 4/5

English edition: The Family Carnovsky by Israel J. Singer

The book deals with the story of a Jewish family, the Carnovskys: from the beginning of the 20th century to WWII; from Poland to the United States.
My bilingual review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

19) 2/5

English edition: Friends on Facebook, Neighbours on Farmville - Tales of everyday Madness by G.L. Lear

I've read this book only to complete a challenge in another group otherwise it's not the kind of book I would have read.
It talks about Elisa, a retired teacher, who starts playing with Farmville, a game on facebook. Her daughter introduces her to it because she doesn't want that her mother gets annoyed being retired. The problem is that this elderly woman is enthusiastic about this game and become addicted to it. It is put on a funny way and the reader can see how all these gamers/farmers of Farmville take the game too seriously.

Looks like my kind of book, dely. Shall give it a try, if time permits. :)

PSmith wrote: "Looks like my kind of book, dely. Shall give it a try, if time permits. :)"

Do you play Farmville? Perhaps people who have facebook and know this social game will like the book more than I did.

I used to play candycrush.
My son used to play farmville. Somehow I got him out of it. Phew!

PSmith wrote: "I used to play candycrush.
My son used to play farmville. Somehow I got him out of it. Phew!"

It seems to me that it is more addictive for people of our age. I used to hear a lot of them talking about this game, more than young people.

20) 3,5/5

English edition: Monkey: The Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en

This is one of the four Chinese classics. It was a good book and I liked to read about Monkey, a monkey king, from his birth to his realization. We follow also the story of Tripitaka, a Buddhist monk, who must go from China to India in order to take the Holy Scriptures and bring them to China to teach them.
Monkey is one of Tripitaka's disciples and he, with other two disciples, will help Tripitaka to arrive in India. It was an adventurous journey and also funny because the three disciples of Tripitaka are very bizarre and unique.

Sounds a fun adventure. I have to read a book with non human characters for one of my challenges. Shall keep this in mind, unless I get something else which I want to read.

PSmith wrote: "Sounds a fun adventure. I have to read a book with non human characters for one of my challenges. Shall keep this in mind, unless I get something else which I want to read."

I think you would like this one.

21) 2/5

Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh

Didn't like it that much though I'm glad to have read it because I had heard a lot about it. And, above all, I'm glad to have read it as a group-read in this group because this helped a lot to understand better many things.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Couple of interesting sounding books duly added to my to-read list.. Getting the hang of your taste in books :D