Book Review: Delhi is not far

Title: Delhi is not far

Author: Ruskin Bond

Publisher :Penguin 

Price : 150 INR

Points : 3 out of 5

"Delhi is not far" is  a story of a writer and his struggle to make a fortune, of a thousand rural voices wanting to reach out to cities and the unchanged rural setting that forms the background of most of bond stories.Although a lot of attention has been accorded to  detail , it is not a thick volume and has been written with sensitivity to the subject.

The story however is not that appealing and is full of discontinuities .Sometimes it moves very fast and on other occasions it creeps into existence from moments of boredom and lethargy.It fails to convey a clear message but the life at a village has been very well portrayed.

Altogether it makes for a good read given the size of the volume.A bigger canvas could have done more justice to the subject. 

          

BOOK REVIEW : The Kite Runner

Title: THE KITE RUNNER (Now a motion film)

Author: Khaled Hosseini

Bloomsbury Publications

Price : £ 7.99 

Points: 4 out of 5

" It pulls every string of emotion in your heart.Engrossing and inspiring."

" When guilt leads to good , its called redemption." A hundred such great thoughts and an inspiring story makes it one of the most enjoyable and fascinating journies, a journey not just though geographical borders but through a ocean of human emotions, through a quest of right or wrong,guilt, grief, anger and devotion.I will refrain from calling it a 'book'  for it will be undermining the creativity and the ability of its author to make the characters so lively that you never feel like reading a book, you are always living the life of its main charcter: laughing, playing,developing,growing, crying with him as the story progresses.

The story is based in Afghanistan,Pakistan & California on the life of its central character Amir and how he unknowingly (or because of the circumstances) commits a few mistakes which creates a 'hole' in him and how he goes all the way back to set the things right.To get redemption.The story highlights the transition that made Afghanistan , what it is today. It pulls every string of emotion in your heart and at the same time is full of rich humour and  instances that leave you spellbound.

This very ability of reaching to the bottum of human feelings and expressions makes him one of the most inspiring writers to write on issues of social significance.I end here with a few more inspiring lines from this novel.

"There is only one sin .And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft.When you kill a man, you steal a life.You steal his wife's right to husband, rob his children of a father.When you tell a lie, you steal someone' right to the truth.When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness."

PS: To know more about the author and his initiatives, visit http://www.khaledhosseini.com/

BOOK REVIEW:THE LOVELY BONES

THE LOVELY BONES
Author : Alice Sebolt

POINTS : 3.5 out of 5

"Beautifully written with a strange and new theme."

The book starts with the central character Susie who is dead and narrates the whole story from heaven.The story starts with the girl's murder.The murderer is mentally disturbed person who has murdered many girls/women in the past and is obsessed with it. What follows is the investigation by the police.The girl's father suspects a neighbour who is actually the murderer himself and he does all he can to collect sufficient evidence against the murderer.The story talks about human behaviour in different circumstances and brings to fore the bonds that exist between the members of a family in wake of a crisis they had never imagined.

It also takes us to heaven and tells a lot about the Soul and its abilities of coming back to life forms.Even though its all about a murder, it doesnt take the shape of  a thriller as the story starts with a murder and the murderer is also known.Its a very new idea and hence could have been rejected given the risk.But that is not going to happen.The intellectual depth of understanding of human relationships and behaviour and its equally great narration in form of words makes it an outstanding read.The out of the box approach and the larger than life characters dont let to put off the book until you finish it.