The Amazing Racist by Chhimmi Tenduf-La

Title:The Amazing Racist
Publisher:Hachette India
Author:Chhimmi Tenduf-La
Genre:Romance,Humour
Pages:232+
Price:399/-
Source:blogadda book review program

Plot-Well,the plot is quite wafer thin.Eddie Trusted has got appointed as a teacher in an International School in Srilanka.He falls in love with Menaka Rupasinghe,a Srilankan native and the daughter of Thilak Rupasinghe,the great litigation lawyer and former President’s Counsel.He is infact a terror and obviously,a difficult man to please.Amazing Racist,a 'Meet the Parents/Bewakoofiyan' meets 'Something Something Unakkum Enakkum' kind of story, is all about Eddie's struggles to win over his lady love's no-nonsense dad,Thilak, the 'amazing racist'.

Characters-As mentioned earlier,Eddie is the hero and Menaka is the heroine.But the book is actually about Thilak(the villain of this romantic tale)and his idiosyncracies.Now,don't get me wrong!They are not the only characters in this novel.Chhimmi Tenduf La has made sure that there are a host of quirky and unique peripheral characters in his debut work as an author.For instance,we have Gayan,(Menaka's second cousin and best friend) who doesn't mind asking our hero whether he has a p****s or not,right during their 'first meeting'!Them here are many funny and interesting characters in the narrative,with almost all of them well etched out.

Language and Writing-The language is simple,yet effective! However,'simple' doesn't imply that Chimmi's writing is as bland/mediocre as that of the average 'National Best-Selling desi romance writers'.'The Amazing Racist' is definitely not one among those assembly line romance-dramas which hits the Indian book stores every other week.This one definitely qualifies as an enjoyable light read peppered with sarcasm and satire(the observation about SriLankan roads and pedestrians).I think,we Indians will easily relate to the author's observations as things are pretty much the same,here too!

Book Design,Overall Layout and Print quality-The book scores high in all these departments.The Cover design is also quite good.Obviously,when it's priced at 399 INR/- and brought out by a renowned publishing house like Hachette,what else do you expect?

Remarks-Hilarious and thought provoking,Chhimmi Tenduf-La’s debut novel,’The Amazing Racist’ is an absolute page turner.Though the story line of this book may not be exactly innovative or path-breaking,the debutant writer has more than made good for it with his execution.The book is witty and manages to entertain the reader with it's satirical take on the Srilankan society.

On the downside,the plot is quite generic.Desperate boy-friend trying to woo his potential father-in-law is something which has been tried since ages!Some of the jokes actually fall flat.A little bit of editing in the second part of the book was also needed,I feel. What say,you?

What I liked the most about this book-
1.The overall tone of the book.
2.The author's unpretentious writing style.
3.The genuine LOL moments in the narrative.
4.The well etched out characters and their natural transformation.

What I didn't like-
1.The plot was too simple and pretty familiar.
2.The climax-it could have been better!

Verdict-On the whole,'The Amazing Racist' is a highly entertaining work.This book is much better than the 'Half-Girl Friends' and the 'One Night@Call Centres'!Give it a try,you won't regret it! I'm giving it a good 3.5 out of 5.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

-nikhimenon

The Unreal Elections By C.S.Krishna & Karthik Lakshman

          
Title-The Unreal Elections
Publisher-Penguin India
Year-2014
Genre-Satire/Humour
Pages-298
Price-250 INR

            Most of you must be aware of the existence of a political satire website called 'the unreal times'.(If you aren't,please visit the website at the earliest-believe me,it's awesomely awesome!)This election season those (brutally wicked)brains behind it have come up with yet another really amusing idea (or a set of ideas) called as 'the unreal elections'.(Well,you can't really call it a 'proper' literary piece of work because what the writers have actually done is penning down satirical backstories for the many political incidents that made headlines in run up to the General Elections of 2014).

           The book has different sections punctuated by Ravishastri cricket quotes and has almost all the 'real'(life) characters from the Great Indian Political Circus making an appearance in the narrative.The book opens with the intro of nautanki Kejriwal through a scene which is a hilarious take on the opening scene of the iconic 'The Godfather'.Very soon,we are introduced to the principal characters one by one- RaGa:the rich spoilt prince who can't even write a half-decent line without the aid of his Dad's longtime associates,the Gujarati Lion and his Liuetenant,the Former diplomat (Tharoor) who uses extremely complicated sentences to prove his point and the Diggie Rajas and the Shindes who are eternally loyal to the 'first family'.The narrative is peppered with funny Facebook posts(imaginary ones) and one on one conversations which are amusing at times.

          On the downside,towards the end I felt that the writers lost focus to an extend with the narrative becoming hazy and the jokes falling flat one after the other.There are also a couple of below the belt jokes which could have been done away with.Another issue I have with this book is it's length.At 298 pages,'the unreal elections' is overtly overlong by atleast a fifty pages and better editing could have made it tighter and less monotonous. 

Verdict-On the whole,'The Unreal Elections' is an okay read.I'm giving it a three out of five.

-nikhimenon

Me talk pretty one Day- David Sedaris

Author : David Sedaris
Genre:Humor
ISBN:9780613674652
Price: INR 395

Synopsis(As given at the back of the book) :

David Sedaris's fourth book mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path, and his move with his lover to France. Though his anarchic inclination to digress is his glory, Sedaris does have a theme in these reminiscences: the inability of humans to communicate. 
Every glimpse we get of Sedaris's family and acquaintances delivers laughs and insights. He thwarts his North Carolina speech therapist ("for whom the word pen had two syllables") by cleverly avoiding all words with s sounds, which reveal the lisp she sought to correct. His midget guitar teacher, Mister Mancini, is unaware that Sedaris doesn't share his obsession with breasts, and sings "Light My Fire" all wrong--"as if he were a Webelo scout demanding a match." As a remarkably unqualified teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago, Sedaris had his class watch soap operas and assign "guessays" on what would happen in the next day's episode.

It all adds up to the most distinctively skewed autobiography since Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia. --Tim Appelo

AaishanniA :

This is one book I just couldn't put down.Except when it fell out of my hand, because I was laughing so much. Right from the first person narration that makes one feel that they are having a conversation with the author to the ironic sense of humor that David Sedaris possesses, I loved this book. There have been many many bad reviews about this book, but I absolutely loved it! Its witty, tongue in cheek humor will have you giggling throughout.

'Me talk pretty one day' is a set of personal essays written about the authors real life experiences he had during his childhood as well as while he lived in France. This book is my 'cheer up' book. When I'm low and down, I refer to a funny essay and its a road to short, stupid laughter. I literally stopped reading this book in public, as I always embarrassed myself laughing out loud, sometimes falling off where I was sitting attracting awkward stares.

Some of the funniest essays are about David Sedaris's experiences while learning french.

"I horrify the French every time I open my mouth."

Like any new language it can be particularly confusing and he struggled with gender in the language and his french teacher did not help matters much!

“I hate you' she said to me one afternoon. 'I really, really hate you.' Call me sensitive, but I couldn't help but take it personally.” 

Another thing David Sedaris does it bring out major satire in the book. In a humorous indirect way he criticizes society and how people look at things in todays era.

"Every day we're told that we live in the greatest country on earth. And it's always stated as an undeniable fact: Leos are born between July 23 and August 22, fitted queen-size sheets measure sixty by eighty inches, and America is the greatest country on earth. Having grown up with this in our ears, it's startling to realize that other countries have nationalistic slogans of their own, none of which are "We're number two!""

Sedaris has a knack of telling stories, relating incidents that somewhere you can relate to, and thats what makes one enjoy them.His perfect grammar, flawless timing for catch phrases and jokes makes the book brilliant!It is filled with intellectual sarcasm that is not too loud or out there, but evident enough to entertain you! If you're expecting great literature, then this may disappoint you. But if all you're looking for is a good laugh and a complete stress buster, then a book that can be read and re-read!

Who Let The Dork Out? - Sidin Vadukut

The Dork Series or The Epic Saga Of Robin "Einstein" Varghese, what should I begin with ? ROFLMAO is an understatement for Sidin Vadukut's new book "Who Let The Dork Out?". Right from the beginning, the protagonist of The Dork Series has successfully managed to leave me in splits during each chapter and that too several times. I remember, it was because of a friend's suggestion that I picked up God Save The Dork, and ended up recommending it to a lot of people. I still remember that Vietnam episode in that book while Robin addresses a conference. Such a LMAO description it was. Who Let The Dork Out? is no less to say the least.

This time, Robin Varghese is sent to India to oversee and Allied Victory Games 2010. The whole plot is inspired from the Commonwealth Games Delhi chaos and has been represented in a hilarious way. As usual, the preparations were much behind the schedule, politicians trying to outdo each other in scams, government officials going berserk and media is busy creating a shit storm out of everything and nothing. The Prime Minister Of India asks for someone to oversee the preparations for the games and thats when Lederman the company for which Robin "Einstein" Varghese works steps in and hence inspiring Robin to talk to his diary endlessly.

Along with that, Robin pours his heart out about his relationship with Gouri, work, and all that crappy jazz that happens on day to day basis in his life.

Sidin Vadukut surely knows how to catch the right nerve of the reader. Throughout the book, you would keep grinning from ear to ear and at some points I burst out laughing and scaring my sister who is preparing for her exams these days. Dork, God Save The Dork and Who Let The Dork Out, all three of these books are highly entertaining and takes you to a different world altogether. Try them out over a weekend. I am sure, it would be a happy weekend. :D

Book Source : Personal Copy
Publisher : Penguin Books
Genre : Fiction, Humour
ISBN : 978-0-143-41409-4