Random Thoughts

Review of Week 3 ending on 22/1/2020 Week 1 review can be found here Week 2 review can be found here Ok, so I finished the book, Scion of Ikshvaku this week. The feeling is mixed. As mentioned earlier, I liked the premise of the novel, but can’t say I was too thrilled to read. One of the things I felt was that the author was superimposing the events of the present into the narrative. Especially the killing of Roshni after cruel gang rape led by a minor and the accused being spared by law because he was a minor alludes to the infamous rape case that happened in Delhi a few years ago. Also, mentioning of Vyomkesh (undoubtedly referring to Byomkesh Bakshi, the famous fictional detective created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay) also was so unnecessary. It didn’t add to the narrative, I thought. Although the book, much like the Shiva trilogy, we can see reference to actual places of today. And yet, the very concept of India was much different then as compared to what it was i...

Find the previous post here Review of Week 2 ending on 15/1/2020  1.      Jim Corbett Omnibus – Jim Corbett – Ok, so the omnibus included some of the stories I had already read, such as the Maneaters of Kumaon. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the book as much as I had enjoyed reading the stories for the first time. I absolutely loved the chapter on Robin, the author’s dog. [ I had, a long time ago, fantasised myself as a forest explorer and used to wear my father’s old discarded raincoat (with two big pockets) and search for clues in the thick bushes around my home. I had my revolver (fashioned out of old newspapers), currencies (leaves of a wild plant), old canvas shoes from the previous year of school, a discarded Click-III camera hanging on my shoulder to add to the effects. I remember carrying the ‘pazhampori’ made by my mom as emergency snack in those pockets while I carried on my role of explorer. A dog to follow me and track the beasts of the j...

Preface: This year, I am making a conscious effort to read more. I love reading - right from children's book to serious books (although history and non fiction makes my reading a bit slow paced). Even though I like reading both English and Malayalam (can read in Hindi too - might read Munshi Premchand one of these days), I have difficulty in accessing Malayalam books here. So, most of my reading is and will be English books. But I am reading a bit of Malayalam via blogs and FB posts and also some books I could download on Kindle.   On that note, let me get on to the  Review of Week one ended on 08/1/2020 Here, I hope to keep a record of the books I read this year. My target, although I am not very sure it is achievable, is 100 books this year. I have started in the earnest and seems to be on the right track because today is just 8 th of Jan 2020 and I have already read close to five books. So, without much ado, let me make a quick note of the same. Sp...