My very first novel in this year was The God of Small Things, which I started reading in May as soon as I was done with my final semester exams. One reason why I chose to read this book was mainly because the author, Arundhati Roy is an activist and articles about her keep popping up now and then in the newspapers and I was curious to read the very first novel she wrote. I kind of anticipated that she would write something totally unconventional, bold and probably enlightening.
I must say the pace at which I read the novel was too slow, somehow I couldn’t get beyond 10-20 pages at a time (which is very curious in my case as I’m the type who reads a novel continuously without eating-drinking-sleeping till I finish it). I somehow wasn’t interested at all and forced myself to read the first half just for the sake of not leaving a book unfinished. As I came to the second half, the story began to take a shape and it was only then that curiosity arose in me and I quickly completed the second half.
The way the story is weaved by switching the narration recurrently between the past and the present is commendable. The story seems so ordinary initially, as you read all the tragic and shocking elements creep into it.
Though it was quite a good-read, it’s not my kind of novel.
I must say the pace at which I read the novel was too slow, somehow I couldn’t get beyond 10-20 pages at a time (which is very curious in my case as I’m the type who reads a novel continuously without eating-drinking-sleeping till I finish it). I somehow wasn’t interested at all and forced myself to read the first half just for the sake of not leaving a book unfinished. As I came to the second half, the story began to take a shape and it was only then that curiosity arose in me and I quickly completed the second half.
The way the story is weaved by switching the narration recurrently between the past and the present is commendable. The story seems so ordinary initially, as you read all the tragic and shocking elements creep into it.
Though it was quite a good-read, it’s not my kind of novel.
The next book I started to read was The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. I think there is a lot of hype surrounding this book, I dunno why though. Throughout my engineering I would always find someone or the other deeply engrossed in this book, in the college bus, or in the bus-stops.
Naturally, I had very high expectations on this book even though I did not know what it was about (I usually don’t try to find out about any book, I just pick a book by instinct or choose the award-winning ones. Maybe it’s high time I changed this habit and go for any book only after taking someone’s opinion.) To tell the truth, I thought it was a novel a-la The Da Vinci Code or at least a bit adventurous! Poor me :(!
No sooner had I begun to read the book filled with enthusiasm and zeal, than I realized what the book was actually about. Even though I was disappointed, I continued to read it with the hope of getting some enlightenment out of it, something which I could apply to and improve the quality of my life (!!! :P).
I have to say that it was an ordeal to read even ten pages at a time! After the Herculean task of reading about 57 pages (omg!) of that book, I finally decided to call it quits.
Now, I plan of catch hold of someone who already read that book and get from them the message that the book wanted to convey!
Naturally, I had very high expectations on this book even though I did not know what it was about (I usually don’t try to find out about any book, I just pick a book by instinct or choose the award-winning ones. Maybe it’s high time I changed this habit and go for any book only after taking someone’s opinion.) To tell the truth, I thought it was a novel a-la The Da Vinci Code or at least a bit adventurous! Poor me :(!
No sooner had I begun to read the book filled with enthusiasm and zeal, than I realized what the book was actually about. Even though I was disappointed, I continued to read it with the hope of getting some enlightenment out of it, something which I could apply to and improve the quality of my life (!!! :P).
I have to say that it was an ordeal to read even ten pages at a time! After the Herculean task of reading about 57 pages (omg!) of that book, I finally decided to call it quits.
Now, I plan of catch hold of someone who already read that book and get from them the message that the book wanted to convey!
For the record-this is my first unfinished novel :(
My most recent book was The White Tiger, which I completed just yesterday.
A dark tale told in an intriguing manner- this aptly sums up the content of the book.
This is yet another novel I picked to read simply because it won a prize (The Man Booker Prize). And ya, also coz the cover page looked funky and cartoonish :D.
The author solely depends on the ingenuity of the way the story is told to captivate the attention of the reader; he makes no attempt to build any sort of suspense as the turning-point is revealed in the first chapter itself.
It was a novel that was quick paced and managed to keep me glued to it.
A dark tale told in an intriguing manner- this aptly sums up the content of the book.
This is yet another novel I picked to read simply because it won a prize (The Man Booker Prize). And ya, also coz the cover page looked funky and cartoonish :D.
The author solely depends on the ingenuity of the way the story is told to captivate the attention of the reader; he makes no attempt to build any sort of suspense as the turning-point is revealed in the first chapter itself.
It was a novel that was quick paced and managed to keep me glued to it.
