Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

NEVERWHERE

ISBN - 9780060557812
FIRST PUBLISHED - 1996
PAGES - 370 (Paperback)
GENRE - Fantasy
PUBLISHER - William Morrow

AUTHOR - Neil Gaiman

SYNOPSIS - Under the streets of London there's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.

Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizarre. And a strange destiny awaits him down here, beneath his native city: Neverwhere.

QUOTES - 

• You've a good heart. Sometimes that's enough to see you safe wherever you go. But mostly, it's not.

• I have always felt that violence was the last refuge of the incompetent, and empty threats the last sanctuary of the terminally inept.

• So the day became one of waiting, which was, he knew, a sin: moments were to be experienced; waiting was a sin against both the time that was still to come and the moments one was currently disregarding. 

• So many things to see, people to do.

• Can't make an omelette without killing a few people.

FL Speak - 

This was my first Gaiman book and truth to be told, I'd need to read a few more of his before I join his exclusive cult.

Neverwhere is a pretty straightforward story. Anyone who says otherwise needs to read more books. God gave Gaiman an idea and he turned it into Alice in Wonderland. Although, I'd say I liked Alice more. Richard, our protagonist and odd hero, really got on my nerves. I got dead tired of his whining and wondered if I should simply skim his parts. Well, as it turned out, he's almost in ALL the pages. That pansy, crybaby!

Enough of that. Neverwhere introduces you to London Below. A shady place beneath the roads of London where time works differently. London Below is not a place of evil, however you'd find all sorts of people and things (yes, I said things) living in the dark. It also has some fantastic places, like a Floating Market which never opens at the same place again. And then, there are metro stations that actually live up to their name. Earl's court is actually a court and Angel station is (no points for guessing it)

By far, the strength of this book lies not in the plot (which was completely obvious), neither in the god awful humour. It lies solely on the characters. Gaiman has done some wonderful magic on the characters and they shine throughout the book. Except for Richard, of course. Door is good, the twins who look nothing at all like are better but Hunter and de Carabas are the real ones you should read about. They steaaaal the show. I really wanted/wished for one of them to kill Richard and proceed on with the story. That would've been so much better.

So we have a Gaiman book, world building which is fantastic, a plot which is extremely predictable and characters you'd hate to love and vice versa. So what's missing? I'll tell you what's missing. The finale is missing. The answers are missing. The whys and hows are missing. The ending was a gigantic piece of shit. It's like Gaiman got tired of writing the book and suddenly had to be somewhere else. So all we got is a haphazard finale without tying it off. You ask me, what's not tied off? Read the book sweetheart. If you finish it, we can go through Q&A later.

I'd really want to read another book with Hunter or De Carabas in it. Or even Door. Just to placate my curious mind about the shitstorm this ending left behind.

RATING - 3/5

Thoughts on Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

(This post is not going to be a detailed review of this book.If that's what you are looking for,please visit this link)

          Cuckoo's Calling is the first Cormoran Strike Novel.The book,though marketed as a crime thriller,reads more like a character study of it's principal characters-Cormoran Strike,the Afghan war hero-turned-private detective; Robin, his dedicated secretary and assistant and 'Cuckoo' (Lula-the victim),the troubled celebrity.Galbraith's debut work is not your conventional crime thriller with twists and turns happening at regular intervals,has an underdog as it's hero and also takes his own sweet time to settle down,but that doesn't make Cuckoo's Calling less entertaining or boring at any point of time.

         The book traces the life of supermodel Lula Laundry,through the eyes of detective Strike.The whole of Britain might have dismissed her death as a case of suicide,but not her millionaire brother, John Bristow.That's the reason why he turns up in front of the private dick Strike,one chilly morning.Though initially apprehensive to take up this high profile case,Strike relents later owing to Bristow's compulsion and also because of the personal equation which he develops with him(thanks to John's deceased brother Charlie Bristow).

       Some readers might feel that there is more of London darshan than any real investigation happening in the first 150 pages of this book.Well,you can't blame them for that!The reader is repeatedly reminded of Strike's feelings for his ex,Charlotte,but never gets to know the real reason why she dumped him.Likewise,I also felt that Galbraith has stuffed too many twists/surprises towards the fag end of the book.As expected in any detective story,the least expected person is made the culprit in the big climactic revelation.(Frankly speaking,I could guess the murderer midway through the book,but the motive was indeed surprising)

     On the whole,if you have a taste for slow thrillers,you will definitely like Cuckoo's Calling.I liked it.Looking forward to reading it's sequel!

-nikhimenon

Maid In Singapore - Kishore Modak

Maid in Singapore, a tale based on true events, relives the bizarre and often troubling journey of a family consisting of an Indian woman and her British banker husband, forced to move to Singapore from their home in London. Their chemistry quickly turns acidic with the hiring of a maid who enters their web of carnal excesses, redefining the rest of their lives.

The blows dealt on each member are enough for any to give up, choosing actions that are shocking, as only true events can be.

Nimue Says :

Before I got this book, I read a review of the book on some blog and I was turned off a bit. If the book was really all about sex and that too a web of multiple partners sort , I certainly was apprehensive. when I started the book , the sex part came in quite early in the pages and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Maybe i am quite old fashioned in this regards, yet somehow I could not put the book down. The events were written so clearly and even if the language was sophisticated and simple , the flow of the book was inspiring.

The book is in three parts : Shame , acceptance , laughter. It is written in form of a journal by Rashmi starting from her move to Singapore with husband David and son Jay. It tells us of the maid Mary’s entry into her household and subsequent exit – the circumstances , the consequences and later in second part she tells about how she dealt with all this. Sometimes when we push a limit , or accept some one doing it , we forget that there is no turning back. How our actions affect the ones connected to us , we do not really comprehend. Human mind works in weird ways and often truth is far stranger than fiction. While I read this book, I felt myself connect to Rashmi at many of her thoughts and decisions.

The Last chapter is in another voice – of a lady Eve. For some reasons , that is my favorite part of the book. Where everyone sort of escapes the eyes and words of Rashmi and spoke for themselves.

I am not sure how to describe the book is mere words. This was a journey for me to understand that even in weirdest of events happening around you , all you need is to keep your head and heart clear. Communication is must in every relationship and no means is ever better than talking face to face.

I liked this strange tale.

True or not , I know such people do exist. And I feel for all of them.

Rating : 3.5/5

Yatin Says :

I really dont know from where to begin with. When I got the blurb about the book, I got a fair idea from its title that what it is going to be all about. Still, I thought, I should give it a shot. May be, the book can surprise in some way. So, I said yes to it. 

Kishore Modak, an engineer from NIT-K and MBA from IIM-A, has come up with a weird story with Maid In Singapore. Apparently, based on true events, the book is set up in Singapore, London and Philippines.

The book is divided into three parts, first two taken from the personal journal of Rashmi Kettlewood. Rashmi is an Indian, married to a britisher, David with a fourteen year old son Jay. David gets a job in Singapore and the family shifts their base from London to Singapore. They hire a house help Mary and then happens a series of indigestible events. David had this habit of making love to Rashmi in a perverse way, pointing a gun to Rashmi and making her do weird things. David's lust and desires overshot and one day Rashmi catches him making out with Mary and then unfolds a lot of weird things. Rashmi gets to know a lot of things and it opens a Pandora's box for her till the very end. 

Kishore Modak's writing has a flair, the vocabulary is good and the book just flows. But somewhere I couldn't connect with the story. It was too much to handle for me. Sex was the only thing that was driving the book is weird ways. If you will read the book, you would know. As it is said that the book is based on true events, I am just wondering how difficult would have been for the person to face such things. Just to encourage Modak's writing skills, I would say, give this book a shot. May be you find the story gripping. 

Book Source : Publisher
Publisher : Grapevine Publishers
Genre : Fiction
ISBN : 978-38-184-1235