The Miniaturist

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was on my to read list as it seemed to be a must read book, but after reading the whole book, I am slightly confused about why it was so.

Definitely there were some unexpected twists, and some that you were expecting. The book was nice to read and it pulled you back till you finished it, but after finishing it you are no nearer to the answer as earlier. It leaves you in hanging, trying to figure out what it all meant, and who the miniaturist was. It never clears the mystery about the miniaturist. I liked it since it gave a view of Amsterdam of 17th century and life in the older days, but that is all.

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Cleopatra's daughter - Michelle Moran

Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book starts with the victory of Octavian Caesar over Marc Anthony and Kleopatra (this is apparently the correct spelling according to the book), and their children(twin brother and sister and a younger brother) are brought to Rome while both Anthony and Kleopatra commit suicide rather than being taken alive to Rome. On the way the younger brother also dies leaving only the twins to reach Rome. The children grow up with Caesar's own children and nephews and nieces. They also had to go to school everyday (like common children) but after that they visited horseraces and placed bet on them.

The book gives a glimpse into the life of noblemen and their day to day lives in that period. It also shows how Caesar and others of his stature had to maintain the guise of living a simple life, but had a lavish life hidden from the common men or the plebeians. They both looked down upon and were intimidated by the plebeians, as they knew if the plebeians overthrew the senate, their power would go.

But during this phase, slave revolution had just started rearing its head (a long time after the Spartacus incident) and there were some people who tried to make conditions better for the slaves and educate common people about the rights of slaves.

We are also able to see through the eyes of Selena, the daughter, how Egypt did things differently than Rome and how Greeks thought themselves superior to Romans and vice versa. She keeps comparing the new life with the old life. The brother on the other hand, settles into the new life very quickly and does not question it as much. I felt the character of the brother settled into somewhat a shadow of the main character, whereas being twins, there should have been more of an attachment or communication between the two. I also felt the romantic thread developed in the story for Selena was not very realistic, neither in the crush she had, nor in the final marriage that took place.

Overall I felt that it was a nice view of the society and culture in ancient Rome and Egypt, but there was not much well structured plot that would keep you waiting in suspense. It was more like a snapshot of a part of the life of Selena - Cleopatra's daughter, and it was worth a read.

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Neither Here Nor There - Bill Bryson

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A travelogue, but with a difference. This book deals with the author visiting a lot of cities in Europe, some where he stays for a month to see the northern lights, or some where he flees off as soon as he enters because he hates it so much. He actually retraces his own path, he had gone over all these cities as a student and came back again to see whether he feels the same way about them still.

I have never read a travelogue before, so I did not know what to expect, but it was really interesting to see the world through a different set of eyes. It made me want to visit these places, to see it for myself. I am not sure I believe all that he writes! :) But he has a knack of finding small amusing stories in each place and invoke a curiosity in the reader to know more and get a first hand experience.

I would definitely read more of Bill Bryson's books after this.

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When we were orphans - by Kazuo ishiguro

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have read a couple of books by Ishiguro, and Never Let Me Go is still my favorite of the lot. This book deals with the life of a detective who tries to figure out what had happened to his parents in childhood, and how he realizes that his memories are not always correct, how things are not always as they seem at the moment. The book consists of a timeline happening in the future interspersed with flashbacks of the past, and of his childhood. I felt the style of the flow is similar to Ishuguro's The Remains of the Day. It gives a glimpse into the life of British settlers in japan during the early 1900-s and the opium trading business. It also has some scenes in the setting of the Chinese Japanese war.

But all together, there was nothing sparkling to hold on to, it did not blow me away at any point. In a few places, claims are made that if the protagonist solves the crime of his parent's disappearance, a world catastrophe will be avoided and everyone knows that and is preparing for it. It is not at all clear why that was the case though. It is possible I have not understood the deeper significance of the book, but even though I do not regret reading it, it was an ok book, the book has not left any indelible mark on me.

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Back again with book reviews

I have been away from the blog a long time, and now I have decided to come back, with my views of books that I am reading. I will write a short review of every book I read, thus forcing myself to write something, as well as becoming a nice chronological set of posts to look back on. 

A love of my life...

Beach and sea, the words bring a smile to the face and peace to the mind... I have been to the sea before, but my attachment started at the time I was selecting colleges for Undergrad studies... One of the reasons I put Surathkal on the list was that it had a beach, and as luck would have it, I was destined to go to surathkal, to enjoy 4 years of bliss.. :)

The first glimpse I had when I went for getting admission with my father. We went as directed, went till the beach, and saw there was a gate with the words "NITK BEACH" written on top. My heart swelled with pride at the words. Its my college now, and its MY beach, my very own... But the gate was locked, and as my father did not allow me to climb the gate at that moment, my first meeting with her was still to come.. But I could see the golden sand, and the blue-green sea stretching out to infinity, reaching the horizon, and the ships in the distance... That was all it took for me to love her for life..

Next was within the first 2-3 days of starting college, that a I and group of friends decided to go meet her. She seemed to be glad to see me, and came eagerly all lively and cheerful to wet my feet.. :) Gradually from there to hands to the whole body, in no time I was playing with her, not caring about the state I was in. :) That was the beginning of our bonding, and 2 years later, I still miss her like crazy. From this day onwards then on it was a regular meeting, a few days without going, and I would start missing her, feeling sad for no reason.. One visit would bring back the smile.. :)




I used to go in the mornings, afternoon, evenings, any time possible. Blazing sun, heat, no shade, did not diminish my enthusiasm. Used to love every get up of hers, every mood... The calm one, with soft white waves on the golden sand, blue sea, clear skies with white clouds. with gentle breeze blowing through the green leaves.. The stormy one, high winds, huge waves crashing upon the shore and the stones, the sky with ominous clouds, about to break into drenching showers, the leaves fluttering in the wind as if they want to just fly far far away.. There is a rebel instinct that is brought out, the trees bearing testimony to that, seeming to strain against the chains holding them to the ground. This is her terrible beautiful deck up. She also reverts to fits of glooms in between... Gray sky, gray waters, the whole atmosphere drenched in a dreary gray color. It gave rise to empathy and the smile faltered.

At night, she was glamorous, with the moon shining on the top, giving her a soft silver shimmer in the velvety black darkness. The horizon marked with rows of ships, all lighted up. The soft sound of the waves lapping on the tired beach..

Hours I have spent, with her, or with other friends along with her.. Laughing, playing, crying... She has seen every emotion of mine, and been there for me.. Waiting to get back to her, to see her one more time..

My dream remains, a glass house on the beach, to remain near her for ever, seeing her always.. :) And always, it will remain a dream..

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

That was what Robert Frost said. Though it is a commonly quoted line, I wonder how many people seriously think about the meaning of it. We have seen from childhood the urge to build a career and the concept that engineering and medicals are the main two ways to go about it. I have grown up with a bit more liberal environment, which very graciously even accepted some of the courses as worth graduating in, like math, physics, economics, English. But that is mostly the extent of the less traveled roads that students try taking. In some other places, there’s no life outside medical or engineering. Any other profession is not worth a career.

There are a lot of reasons for this mindset, one of the greatest ones being the fact that the population and the competition faced due to that population is too much to take anything lightly. Anything which is not the most common path, have some risks involved with worthwhile returns. When people are fighting for daily food, how can someone ask them to take risks? They know some paths have guaranteed income, and its safe to follow those.

But again, by doing this, people lose out on their dreams, their wishes. And after that is over, life is a mechanical way to exist. It’s not living. I have seen students being forced to study engineering, when they are extremely talented in say art, or music. How many people can you find who will encourage something apart from studies to form a career in? Just keep the talents and things you most like to do for a hobby and work on something you have medium interest in. Here you need to compete with people who are really interested in the topic which you care nothing about. So of course you are at a losing end, because your strengths are not being utilized to the utmost and you are spending all energy on something else.

What is the way around it? We should learn to widen our vision, to feel that not getting into medical or engineering is not the end of the world. And not pressurize everyone into following the same streams. We should learn to appreciate the different careers possible in today’s world. Money is not everything is it? Money will come after success and satisfaction. But we need to look for those first in paths less travelled. Else how will there be a “difference” in the way Robert Frost had felt?The world is beautiful, go out and explore... :)