Book Review: Neelima by Moncy Skaria (Regional)

 

Neelima by Moncy Skaria is the story of a female artist, Neelima, who is in the quest for completeness. Rajesh settled outside Kerala, is a self-made man and a pretty successful professional. He chances upon the title character, and a bond soon develops between them.

Coming to the positives, the novel is a light read and can definitely be read in one sitting. At just about 150 pages, it never feels overlong at any point in time. Those who have a taste for emotional relationship dramas might find this one as an okayish read, at best. The narration is also breezy and somewhat fast-paced.

This relationship drama didn't work for me because of regressive ideas, wannabe philosophical lines, and plastic, half-baked characters. I didn't get why the narrator, Rajesh felt a strong bond with Neelima in the first place! Many crucial scenes in the novel felt unconvincing. Towards the second half of the story, there is a sequence where Rajesh saves Neelima from a bunch of goons on a beach. Okay, what was the whole point? We were told that Neelima is a super-rich woman who is not short of resources, then why did she have to run around on the beach for something as inane as that in this era where everything can be accessed online in the click of a button?

There are too many coincidences, and almost every major twist in the narrative happens in an unconvincing manner.

Coming to the characters, though there aren't many, even those there are plastic and one-dimensional. The reader never knows the real 'Vikas' or 'Ajith.' Neelima is also a pretty confusing character. (I think even the writer also had confusion regarding how to portray her!). If the writer intended to portray her as a slightly mystic character with emotional swings, I am sorry that It has not turned out that well. The other principal character, Rajesh, also comes across as a shaky guy. In the late eighties and early nineties, Balachandra Menon wrote pretty well-off male leads with a heart of Gold, having an opinion on anything and everything under the sun and ready to sacrifice anything and everything for their best friends. I couldn't help drawing parallels between them and Moncy Skaria's Rajesh. I still can't fathom why Rajesh had to indulge too much stand about Neelima's equations with Ajith and Vikas? The hospital scenes are also written in a lousy manner, to say the least!

On the whole, Neelima by Moncy Skaria is a half-baked attempt, in my opinion. If you are looking for a light read on a lazy Sunday afternoon, you can try this one.

 -nikhimenon

Malayalam Crime Thriller: Pradhamadrishtya (Primafacie)

'Pradhamadrishtya' is a malayalam Crime Thriller by Nikhilesh Menon. It tries to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of Riya Susan and her husband.

If You wish to buy the book, order here.

Book Review: Coffee House by Lajo Jose

                   

                 
                   Lajo Jose’s Coffee House is a work which aspires to be a new-age crime novel but unfortunately is  heavily influenced by the S.N. Swamy –K Madhu movies of the 90s. (Infact the basic thread itself - of the convicted killer opening up about his innocence a few days before his execution, reminded me of the third film in the CBI series)

                  Benjamin is convicted for multiple homicides and is awaiting execution. A few days before his execution he expresses desire to meet the journalist (Esther) who has been instrumental in his conviction and wants to convince the world of his innocence. Esther who works with a leading Malayalam Magazine, 'Kuleena' (modelled on 'Vanitha' and the Malayala Manorama group) half- heartedly accepts the invite and decides to 're-investigate' the case. How she manages to solve the puzzle and clear Benjamin's name of the murder/murders is what 'CH' is all about.Also aiding her in her journey are Peter Achan ,Sub Inspector Chris and Aparna, the scribe's colleague and best-friend.

                First things first.This debut novel is undoubtedly a quick and easy read (no long, boring prose or pretentious metaphors thrown in just for the sake of it).Even an occassional/newbie reader can finish it off in a couple of hours. Quality work of crime fiction is a rare thing as far as new age Malayalam writing is concerned and hats off to Lijo for trying to revive a long lost genre! As mentioned before, the writing is straight forward, the language used being simple and easy to comprehend even for the lay reader. Lajo also makes some interesting remarks about Kottayam town and pretty much succeeds in making this central Kerala town also a part of the narrative. 

              However the book is not devoid of flaws either. For an ambitious new-age crime thriller, Coffee House is tad too slow and the identity of the true killer is predictable quite early on. A lot of time (and 'pages') are spent on the pointless (and often cringe worthy) banter between Esther and her close buddy Aparna. Believe me, Aparna's ('Amma package') is definitely one of the most annoying characters I have come across (read) in recent times.  

              The characters are too shallow and none of them have been well etched out. There is a passing mention about Benjamin’s family but the author hasn’t really bothered to elaborate on his back story. As a result, the reader never gets to empathise for him. The same lack of detail is evident in the case of Esther’s characterization. Okay, we get to know that she has a liking for a pretty upmarket café in kottayam town (Tonico Café), but apart from that, what does she like actually? And what about her family? The less said about the shaky characterization of Chris (the cop), the better-  the guy seems to be in a very bad mood when we are first introduced to him (and seems to be only interested in settling scores with his bête noire , Esther )  but pretty soon , he is seeing hobnobbing with her and helping with the investigation!- His transformation and change of heart (remember the scribe had caused great humiliation to him in the past with even a molestation case filed against him!) pretty unconvincing and whatever meek justification rendered to it too weak and hard to swallow!

             Also, the romantic track between Benjamin and Jinu has not been worked out well. As a result, like one of the characters himself states at one instance in the book, Benjamin only comes across as a typical stalker for the average reader.

            To give due credit to Lajo, I liked the character of ‘Solly Jacob’ and how her character and her magazine were modeled on 'Vanitha' , but again it’s a shame that she has very little (and quite insignificant) presence in the narrative and in this 220 + page long crime novel.

Towards the end, the author seems to be in a hurry to wrap up the proceedings and before we realize, the climax is up leaving behind room for a possible sequel (and even for a new series featuring Esther!)

So the logical issues which I had with this 'thriller' are listed below-

• If the case was such an open and shut case right from the beginning, what was that made Esther & co wage a prolonged media battle to implicate and arrest Benjamin?

• Esther could easily crack the mystery behind the multiple homicides within a span of two days, just based on her intuitions, the 'killer's statements  and a few incidental findings which cropped up during her '3-4 day long' investigation but then, why did the initial investigating officers so easily overlook these same facts during the course of their investigation?Noone seemed to have bothered to even cross check the veracity of the true ‘killer’s initial statements to the police!(they could have atleast verified 'the cell-phone range' thing!)

Looks like the author is keen on making this into the series and also having a film adaptation for this work (as  indicated in the closing chapter) but I genuinely wish he enhances the original source material at hand and make it more taut and racy by adding some more meat into the (future) feature film script.

Verdict: On the whole, Lajo jose’s Coffee House is a decent start for a first time author, but doesn’t qualify as a truly engaging mystery thriller. I sincerely hope that his follow up to this debut work will be much better. I’m giving it a 2.5 out of 5.

-nikhimenon

Mini Book Review: Manjaveyil Maranangal(Malayalam)

Title: Manjaveyil Maranangal(Deaths in Yellow lights)
 Author: Benyamin(Benny Daniel)
 Originally published in Malayalam(2011)
 Publisher: D.C. Books
 Pages: 356
 Price:   INR 226/-
 Homeshop 18,DC Books
                          First Things first.I am not a great fan of Benyamin.Though I loved ‘Aadujeevitham’( Kerala Sahitya Academy Award 2009),his ‘Akkaporinte Irupathu Nasrani Varshangal’ made me mad.So I was a bit sceptical when I picked up his latest best seller,’Manjaveyil Maranangal’.The book turned out to be a half baked thriller and left me terribly disappointed.Manjaveyil Maranangal starts off (well) as a murder mystery,tries to be a historical fiction in the middle and ends up being none as it fizzles out with it’s weak/pathetic climax. 

                        Set In the small island of Diego Garcia,the book is basically the story of Christie Anthraper;the youngest descendant of the Anthraper clan.One day he witnesses a murder(in broad day light) only to realise later that the guy who got killed was none other than Senthil,his old school mate.Pretty soon he finds out that the authorities are trying to cover up the murder and trying to pass it off as a natural death.Meanwhile Christie’s girl friend also dies in an accident and he decides to go to her hometown(Udayamperoor) and meet her mourning parents. But little did he know what was in store for him!

                    What happened to Christie Anthraper?Who was Senthil and why was he killed?Why were the authorities trying to pass it off as a death due to 'Cardiac arrest'?Was Mervin’s death really an accident?The book tries to find out answers for all this but believe me,you are not going to get solutions for most of these even after  you have finished reading it.Agreed,the book is racy,has an interesting premise and gives a vivid description of life at Diego Garcia.But what is the point in wasting your time in a Crime thriller which leaves you with half a dozen un-answered questions in the end?
Rating: I am giving 2.25/5 for this half baked thriller.The climax disappoints big time!

PS: In a pre-climactic scene Christies’ dad is arrested and their house raided for planning a coup.But in the epilogue Anthraper family is seen reviving their plantation business in Etiopia.From where did the (already bankrupt) family get the funds for it,Mr Benyamin? 
PSPS: The book reminded me of T.D Ramakrishnan’s ‘FrancisItty Cora’ at times.The ‘Mariyam Seva’,’Raniyayi Vazhikkal’ scenes’ had a ‘korakku kodukkal’(Francis Itty Cora) hangover to it.

-nikhimenon