Book Review(Regional): Akhila Loka Aadu Company by Majeed Syed

 

Majeed Sayeed is one writer with that uncanny ability to derive humor from innocuous situations. Like his previous work, ‘Chembilammini Kolacase,’ Akhila Loka Adu Company is a humorous take on the state and the society we are living in. Part social satire, part allegory, and social commentary, ‘Akhila Loka..’ is a novel that sees the world we live in through the eyes of Pokkar, a twice ‘converted’  male goat.

The novel almost reads like the life story of the Rajasthan-born, Kerala-raised “Pokkar Aadu,” but I must say that this one is indeed a well-written social satire. The world that Majeed creates is so vivid and lively that once you start reading it, you can’t put this down until you finish reading it. The author has no qualms in making fun of most present-day quandaries.

The characters are a good mix of humans and animals, but often the line gets blurred, and one feels that the animals are far more civilized than their human counterparts. The novel has a wide array of characters: Baby, Balkis, Chekkutty, Lilly, and Pratap Singh. The writer has also poked fun at the Malayalee Psyche of ‘treating anything as holy’ at the slightest instigation of half-truths and part-boiled facts. The ‘Lilly-Holy Goat’ episodes are a hoot. At just about 70 pages, this one is a fast-paced read! For Majeed, the goat and the setting are just a prop to drive home some pertinent statements. There are no holy cows in the world that he creates. To the writer’s credit, he has successfully weaved in the themes of Casteism, regionalism, and communal undercurrents in the narrative in a very subtle but effective manner.

Through the mind of the Pokkar, the author also reminds us of some essential life lessons. So when he laments that “we are far better than humans who get rid of their parents when they fall ill” or when he quips that “it is better to end up at the dinner table rather than continuing living in the world dominated by humans,” one can’t agree more!

On the whole, this one is a thought-provoking read! If satire is your cup of tea, go grab a copy now!

-nikhimenon

 

Dork: The Adventures of Robert Einstein Varghese by Sidin Vadukut

                    Sidin Vadukut's 'Dork' is a book which came out in 2010, at a time when the Indian writing in English for the young Urban readers was 'trending'. I had chanced upon this book soon after it's release, but for some reason, never felt like picking it up for reading. But after all these years, finally managed to get a copy and finished reading it in a couple of sittings.
                  As the title suggests, Dork is all about the adventures of Robert Einstein Varghese, soon after he joins his new office.How he manages to get into the company, how he bonds with his fellow team-mates and what happens to his non-existent love life with Gouri.Written in the form of diary entries, Dork is the kind of book which works in parts. For a satire which doesn't have a plot per se, the writing should be sharp and witty for it to work. But 'Dork' is only funny in parts and doesn't manage to be a laugh out loud kind of work.
                 The book begins well, but once the novelty wanes, the diary entries did get monotonous and even plain boring. so ,by the time Robert manages to be an 'associate' following an illogical  'twist',neither the reader nor his team-mates do care much about it!

On the whole, I 'm giving it a 2.5 out of 5.

-nikhimenon

QBR: The Windfall by Diksha Basu

                                                     

                                                       Satire/Drama
                                                        376+ pages 
                                                   Bloomsbury (2017)
                                                       RT Rating: 3.5/5

The Verdict: 'The Windfall' is a humorous take on the life of a typical middle class family from East Delhi.Told in a honest and hilarious manner, 'The Windfall' is definitely a must read!

Synopsis: Mr Anil Jha and family have been leading a middle class life in East Delhi. Mr Jha recently sold his website for a whopping 20 Million US Dollars making the Jha family rich all on a sudden.Since they have succesfully climbed up the social ladder,the family decides to relocate to Gurgaon, the place for the super-rich.How the neo-rich slowly get acclimatized to the new neighbourhood and how they make new friends is all the story is about.Though on the face of it, it looks like Mr Jha and Mr Chopra are in a constant race to out do each other,pretty soon we realize that they do have a lot of things in common.

The Good:The setting is perfect, the jokes are fine and the characterizations (Mrs Ray, Johny, Rupak, Mr Jha) are brutally honest, Diksha's prose manages to be a social commentary and a satirical (Mrs Ray and her stolen Yoga Pants, a perfect case in point) take on middle class ambitions at the same time.

The Bad:The ending was a bit abrupt and ambiguous (may be it is intentional and the author is planning for a sequel?)

Recommendations: Buy it!

Miss Laila Armed and Dangerous by Manu Joseph

                          

                         Manu Joseph's award winning 'Serious Men' and it's follow up ,'The Illicit Happiness Of Other People' were books which I enjoyed a lot. So, I was eagerly looking forward to reading his latest work,'Miss Laila....'. Infact I was very pleased when I could finally get hold of 'Miss Laila'  A good couple of hours and a 200 + pages later,I should confess that I have been left with missed feelings.
                          'Miss Laila,Armed and Dangerous' is the kind of book which is very difficult to review. First and foremost, it's almost impossible to consider this book as a pure work of fiction.May be because of his background as a journalist, Manu Joseph has an opinion about almost everything which has happened in our country in the last decade or so(which in my honest opinion ,is a perfectly fine thing!). But when he tries to pack in too much of his opinions into his latest work and try to pass it off as fiction ,without even bothering to change the 'real-life' names of the personalities involved in a jumbled and often confusing narrative, it results in something like 'Miss Laila'.
                        The Plot goes something like this- A building has collapsed somewhere in Mumbai and in the midst of the ruins, there is a man who is mumbling something about a potential terror plot. A social media prankster, Miss Aiyer is one of the first persons to reach the spot and with her help , the IB and the officials soon spring into action and commence their 'mission' to nail the potential terrorist. What happens to their 'secret mission' is what the story is all about. 
                       The story line is quite plain and the book is hardly 200 pages long. The language is  simple and Manu Joseph's trade mark humour and sarcasm are quite in place which tries to make up for the dullness in the plot , to an extend. Aiyer's 'Pranks' are often quite hilarious. Using Aiyer's character, Joseph  has tried to poke fun at almost everyone, be it the media , the so called 'fascists' , 'activists' or the 'neo-liberals'. (Mind you , even the economist Raghuram Ranjan is not spared! The scene involving activist Sathya and his bid for the Nobel Prize is particularly funny! BTW, what was Bill Gates doing in this work?). But the basic problem is , all those funny bits remain as isolated set pieces and they never particularly gel with the story line nor do they add anything to the core plot- they just stick out like isolated, random scenes!
                      As I mentioned in the beginning, it's very difficult to categorize this book as a pure work of fiction.It's mostly like a string of opinion pieces on some of the important incidents which has happened in our country in the last one and a half decades or so.The author has taken the convenient route of masquerading it as a work of fiction.However, some of his observations and one-lines are quite interesting. Sample this- When the elite of a system become the underclass in another system,they search for a moral cause to restore balance of power. This is popularly known as activism
            or this- An erection is the same hydraulic event in political economists as it is in jackasses
           or  this- It appears that if only passenger trains were equitable systems, many revolutions would not have occured.

Verdict- On the Whole, Miss Laila is an okay read. But a writer who has given us gems like 'Serious Men' and 'The Illicit Happiness....' is defintely capable of much more!

-nikhimenon

The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain

There are few works of some authors that will surprise even the best of that author’s fans. Not many could believe Rowling wrote The Casual Vacancy. This short novella by Mark Twain is another. At first read, I couldn’t quite understand how the author who wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn could write such a tale. The novella is considered as his last work, to an extent that parts of it are not even Twain’s.

The story deals with humanity as a whole, and goes into an exploration of religion, moral sense etc. It is satirical, and with small events, shows aspects of society we are accustomed to seeing. It is a discussion between “Satan” and the narrator. The concept of Satan itself is well dealt with and his character, intriguing. It made me wonder how Satan could befriend the three boys, and the narrator Theodor in particular. But I guess, if Satan can appear anywhere and know every thought, then it’s quite easy for him to control people too.

The story goes quickly. It would appeal to certain readers more than it did to me. I chose the book only because of the author. Though it did not have that essence of Mark Twain’s style that I had hoped for, it was worth exploring. On the whole, I rate it 3 stars.

---

Reviewed by Vinay Leo R.
Source: Own Copy

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

Whisper of Worms by Marcadian

Book Cover

Title:Whisper Of Worms

Author:Marcardian

Publisher: Cactus

Pages:300+

Price:240/-

Source: review copy via Tales Pensieve

         Being a book blogger, I have had the chance to read and review a good number of books in the past few years. In my initial years as a blogger, I never screened the review requests and used to accept whatever books that came my way. As the years passed by, I figured out that it made sense to accept only the books which I would potentially like reading. So when this book my ‘Marcardian’ (I guess it’s a pseudonym) came up for review, I was in two minds initially. I had never heard of this title before, the publisher was little known and the ‘author’ was virtually unknown. Still, I decided to give it a try, more out of curiosity than anything else.

To be very frank, I am confused what to say about this work. Where will I start?

To which genre does it belong?

 Is it a thriller? Hmm…, though it has traces of one, it never elevates itself to become a nail- biting experience.

Is it a love story? Partly yes, but terming it a love story will be like calling Rahul Gandhi a full time Politician.

Then is it a revenge saga/crime thriller? Definitely Not.

         May be, I can term ‘The Whisper Of Worms’ as a brutally honest, satirical account of a Man’s (Thobias Mathai) life as a banker and his rustic, eventful days in his native-the imaginary land called ‘Marcadia’. In the beginning of the story, Mathai who is recently diagnosed to have Cancer in the United States decides to come back to his native place to spend his final days there. The initial chapters are more of Mathai’s nostalgic trip down the memory lane and the reader is introduced to his childhood friends and the bonding which he had with them. These portions are sure to remind you of Anita Nair’s ‘Better Man’ and ’Mistress’, nevertheless are fun to read. As the plot unfolds, we get to know about a financial fraud which had happened in the bank for which Mathai was working. The remaining part of the book is all about the investigation of this fraud and has been narrated narrated in a humorous and satirical manner by the first time author.

        This one can be a decent read if you are someone with a lot of patience. It’s slow paced but once you get used to the mood of the book, I think it won’t be much of a problem. The language is plain and simple but sentences often feel like they have been translated to English from Malayalam. The writer definitely has got good ideas but he has to really work on his writing style. The problems which I felt with the book were the poor design of the book, formatting and typesetting (though the author cannot be blamed for it). The cover design is not at all appealing and I still cannot fathom why a title like this was given for this work. The pricing is okay. 

To Conclude, I feel Marcardian's debut work as an author is an okay read. It’s definitely not run-of-the-mill stuff. Pick it up, you may actually like it.

Verdict-A decent debut. I’m giving it a 2.6 out of 5.

The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve

-nikhimenon

The Merchant King by Shakir Husain

There are few books that I remember so clearly 5 weeks after I read it. Mind you , this book has so many names and so many overlapping events that at first it was really difficult to imagine I will finish this book.i

The Merchant King starts with introducing Saqr , the young prince of Balad and his ambitious dream of making his tiny island into a self sustained nation. And he does make it happen though the after effects are nothing he or any reader would have imagined.

Though I read quite a lot of varied books and topics , I had never been able to understand much about politics and economics or how both are interlinked. But this book made a lot of these matters a bit clear to me.By taking the reader through the process of how a nation gets recognition , how the infrastructure , the policies , the relations are formed over time. There are forces , both good and bad that influence a nation's growth and how important it is to have a strong and wise leader to guide the nation through this phase.

The book very subtly shows the true colors and nuiances of every section of society - the politicians , the page 3 class , the bankers , the international embassadors, the news people , the new people who migrate to new nations , the developed and other developing nations reactions and maby more sections. i was amazed how everythibg fot so well in the plot without being overwhelming, apart from the names of people and organizations. 
The names used are a block some times 'cause they are hard to remember and follow. 
But same time , the abbreviations of the organizations are funny and sarcastic too.


Overall , 
I enjoyed the book and would reccomend it to all.