Book Review - A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman

Book Review A Man Called Ove by Frederick BackmanOve is 59. Ove is an "archetypal, grumpy old sod". Does not like cats. Does not find why there has to be any extravagance in life. He has his own way (which he thinks is the right way!) of doing things - "Why you need to make saffron rice, when potato and meat and sauce can do just fine", Ove wonders. Why do you have to break rules when there are sign boards all around stating you should not be doing something like this. Basically, Ove is someone whom you would love to hate. Someone who is not fit to stay in the modern society.But as the book progresses, you get to know this grumpy old sod. Orphaned at a very young age, Ove lived a very lonely life, his only passion being automobiles and houses. His life was pretty mundane and colourless till he met the love of his life Sonja - the only person who understood Ove. But life had a different way of mocking him and once again, with the turn of events Ove was left alone. Then moves in a foreign family of 5 right next door. From a not so pleasant first meeting, things move to something beyond people could comprehend about Ove. His liking for the family, specially the pregnant Iraninan woman and her two daughters, brings out the compassionate side of Ove and he goes to extreme levels to help people out in his neighborhood. He even starts liking cats and lets one stay with him! Parvaneh, the pregnant Iraninan woman, is the complete opposite of Ove, talkative, full of life, expressive, but she somehow sees in him things that others fail to see. It is her way of dealing with Ove that brings about the change in Ove. My favourite is the chapter where she learns driving from Ove.The story revolves around Ove, who is the main character, and things that happen in his neighborhood. It unfolds, slowly, one chapter at a time and gives you the details of Ove's past. His parents, his marriage, his house, his car. We experience the life events of Ove and feel his joy, pain, frustrations and anger. His lone fight against the authorities. The narrative is so free flowing and beautiful, that even though it takes us through a lot of harsh realities of life, there is still a lot of optimism and humour in everything. The descriptions are so vivid that you can clearly visualize each and every scene, as if they are happening right in front of you.Overall, "A Man Called Ove" is about empathy and optimism. Inspite of all the harsh things life throws at you, you cannot help but realise that happiness lies more in giving than anything else. A wonderful reading experience.

Book review : Sita - An Illustrated Retelling of Ramayana by Durjoy Dutta

My earliest memory of Ramayan was a Bengali book named "Chhobite Ramayan", which was the story in the form of a Graphic novel. That was my first and last encounter with the epic. Apart from the Ramayan which was broadcasted in television, I have never made any attempt to read the epic.

So when I got this book as a gift, I actually sneered in the beginning. But when I started reading it, I was fascinated by it. Simple and smooth narative. Makes it easy to understand all the characters and the stories. This is particularly helpful when you are telling a story with too many characters and which has link to other stories (Mahabharata, Purana, Upanishads etc) as well. 

The fact that Ramanyana has so many retellings were unknown to me. It has been written in almost all Indian Laguages and also has Jain and Budhhist retellings. To top it all it also has South-East Asia versions (Thai and Indonesian). Each version has some uniqueness in their retellings depending on the local culture.

The dialogues are enriching and full of wisdom. It is through this book that I realised the idea of Brahman. It is more of a state of mind than the caste and a lot of devotion and "tapasya" is needed to attain that state of "Brahman". I liked the dialogue between Hanuman and Raavan and also Sita and Lakshman (when Lakshman came to leave Sita in the forest for good). Overall very informative but not at all boring and an enjoyable piece of work.

Book review - Blue Light Yokohama by Nicolas Obregon

The title of the book attracted me. So when my brother bought this book, i asked him to leave it at my place once he is done reading it. And honestly, I am glad he did.

The story starts with Hedio Akashi trying to save a woman from jumping off a cable car but fails. Fast forward 15 years and you have TMPD Homicide Inspector Kosuke Iwata and Assistant Inspector Sakai investigating a gruesome murder of a family of four. Investigation leads them to some more murders, some following this incident and some done years ago. The murders seem to have some connection with a religious cult. Are they all related?

This is not all. The story also gives us hints about Iwata and Sakai's disturbed pasts and about the corruption and manipulation in TMPD. It slowly goes on revealing the details and takes us close to the suspect. The blend of the personal lives of the Inspectors and the crime they are investigating is very well done.

Being a crime novel there are graphic description of murders and dead bodies, but the narration is so smooth that the cruelty does not get on to you.

The book hooks you from the first page and keeps you gripped throughout. Undoubtedly one of the best crime thrillers I have read in recent past.