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review, Thriller |
Don’t you hate it when life creeps up on you at unexpected times? That is exactly what happened to me and Blood in the Paradise
. I had received from The Tales Pensieve a few months ago for a review. I read it almost immediately. But then life happened. Shifting my residence and then moving out of the country took its toll on me, and I missed reviewing it. So here I am to review a book that I read months ago, would my memory be able to do justice for this whodunnit?
Book Name: Blood in the Paradise – A tale of an impossible murder
Author: Madhav Mahidhar
Genre: Fiction – Thriller
Characters: Madhumitha and Vikas Nandan, DCP Vishwaroop, Anupriya Gautam
Settings: India
Disclaimer: Thanks to the Author and The Tales Pensieve for the free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The story begins with a suicidal note and the eventual suicide attempt of Madhumita Nandan and her husband Vikas calls up for help once he gets to the place. But before the police could reach the area, Vikas is murdered. On a surprising turn of events, Madhu bounces back while Vikas does not. The case is handed to DCP Vishwaroop, a perfect combination of intelligence, honesty, and diligence.
He is suspicious about Madhu’s involvement in her husband’s death, and her persistent marital woes don’t help her either. Her friend Anupriya, an activist herself comes to her rescue by bringing in media’s attention and involving a competent lawyer. To add to the DCP’s problems, he has not found the weapon involved yet. So is it a murder at all? Or is there a simple explanation to all of these and it was indeed just an accident. Read Blood in the Paradise to find out more.
Blood in the Paradise is steady paced, and the author’s efforts to do the ground work on the plot shows well. The characters are etched to perfection, and no one acts out of character which made the plot grounded. The part about Madhu and Vikas’ marital troubles sticks to the reality of the life in an Indian society and is commendable.
Even though guessing the murderer was anyone’s game, the writing kept me through the end. Except for the dialogues that kept interrupting the flow of the story and could have done very well without. Some things were bit of Bollywood-ey, while I agree that there is an audience who might like it, it just didn’t appeal to me.
Blood in the Paradise could have used another round of editing to weed off those typos and errors and could have ended 15 pages earlier, with the right editing effort. The author has made it a point to talk about the meaning of feminism and the impact of media and activists’ intrusion into the legal system. If you like to solve an impossible murder, then you should pick Blood in the Paradise this weekend.
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Drama, review |
Like most readers my to be read list seems never ending, and I have lost hope that I would ever clear it off. On the other hand, my to be reviewed list is not too long but as I do not follow any hard rules in picking the book from that list to review, the books I loved too much or the books that I might find difficult to write about tend to settle farther and farther down the list.
So here I am, picking one of those books that I read a long time ago (read as almost two months) and yet was hesitant to review. Mostly for the fear that I would not be doing any justice to it or that I might be a tad partial in my critique. Someone suggested me, Zadie Smith, when I was talking about feminism and related topics. On the quest to finding her much-acclaimed debut ‘ White Teeth’ or ‘On Beauty,’ I stumbled upon Swing Time her newest release.
Book Name: Swing Time
Author: Zadie Smith
Genre: Fiction – Literary, drama
Characters: Tracey, Aimee, Lamin, Fern and unnamed narrator
Setting: The USA
Accolades:
- 2017 Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
- Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction
- 2017 Finalist, Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
The story follows two little ‘mixed race’ girls who grow up in the not so rich part of London Tracey, the dancer, and our unnamed narrator. Tracey stands out in everything they do together – she is confident, rebelling and imaginative and a better dancer of the two, while the narrator is a good student and hopes to get out of the neighborhood. Her mother’s upbringing makes sure she realizes that only hard work pays, while Tracey’s home-life is almost ungoverned.
She joins as an assistant to the super star singer Aimee and travels worldwide as her works demands. She loves the job as she shuttles between the UK and a downtrodden country in the West Africa where Aimee was building a girls school. She feels alienated in the Africa as much as she does in London.
Our narrator is quite taken with strong characters right from her childhood while she is happy being invisible in the backdrop. She doesn’t have any talent like Tracey or an ambition like her mother or the drive like Aimee. This makes her a less compelling character to love or remember.
How do the friends gravitate towards each other when things go south? How long could she live in the shadows of others or if she did, would she happy? Read Swing Time to know more.
The story oscillates among various time frames and places and does a brilliant job in weaving a quite fascinating tale. Though there are a few parts of the story that might have been little dragging and I admit to skimming a bit here and there, the author’s literary skill makes it all worth the while.
I found Swing Time to be a solid piece of social commentary, rather than a piece of fiction that talks about two friends, which is what it is primarily. Zadie deals a variety of themes like different races and the privileges that come with them, parenthood and the importance of family, poverty and classes, that add up succinctly into the coming of age tale.
I particularly liked the thread of dichotomies between the haves and have nots, coloured and uncoloured, the Americans and the British, the talented and privileged and the ones that aren’t, that ran throughout the novel. This is the first time I am reading Zadie Smith. I am not entirely in love with the book, but I am ready to read more of hers, like White Teeth and On Beauty that everyone has been raving so far.
Swing Time is not your typical summer reads. It has little hard to get into and harder to stick to especially in the middle. If you love reading prose that promises you insights about the society and the world as a whole accompanied by beautiful and strong writing – Swing Time should be your pick.
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Authors, Book Lists, Bookish, Quizzes & Tags, write |
I don’t read poetry as often as I would like to claim. If you are like me living within the clutches of the social media then you have nothing to worry, you can catch up. Presenting you the list of my favorite ‘new-age poets’ that rule our age! The subject matters they talk about range from feminism to erotica.
They call out attention to the problems of the LGBTQ to soldiers. Their words do not necessarily follow the traditional rules of poetry or deal with nuances of the writing, but they do strike the chord among the reader and they are here to stay for a long time.
This Somalian poet hit the poetry world with a bang with her debut book Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth. Warson’s poetry has been featured in Beyonce’s film Lemonade, making her the talk of the town again.
Her poetry draws her poetry from her African culture and her English upbringing. Her poem Home talks about refugees and their plea for help.
No one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
Her poems have been translated into various languages like Italian, Danish, Estonian Spanish and Portuguese and she recites poetry countries like South Africa, Kenya and Germany. She is an active advocate for feminism and gender equality.
Sofia used pigeon blood on her wedding night.
next day, over the phone, she told me
how her husband smiled when he saw the sheets.
She voices for the feminine sexuality, especially among the Muslim women. Her work against female genital mutilation and its risks is based on her ancestors who had themselves undergone it.
Some nights I hear in her room screaming We play Surah Al-Baqarah to drown her out Anything that comes from her mouth sounds like sex Our mother has banned her from saying God’s name.
You can buy the books by clicking on the following links
2) Lang Leav
The millennials do not need an introduction to Lang Leav who has attracted the world of the young and young at heart alike through her social media posts. She may not follow the traditional poetry formats and uses conversational language in her poems.
We may be just two different clocks, that do not tock in unison.
Her poetry is usually filled with melancholy and poignancy that seems to resonate with young and old lovers.
Here and now – I love you, for this moment, you have my heart. But you are not entitled to my future – you have no ownership of my past.
She published her debut novel Sad Girls this 2017 and her poetry books continue to be top sellers worldwide. You can buy the books by clicking on the following links.
And it wasn’t my choice to love you but it was mine to leave. I don’t think the moon ever meant to be a satellite, kept in loving orbit, locked in hopeless inertia, destined to repeat the same pattern over and over – to meet in eclipse with the sun – only when the numbers allowed
She lives in New Zealand with her partner and fellow poet Michael Faudet.
Her debut book Milk and Honey has made this Canadian poet of Indian origin into the best seller list with a whopping 1.4 million copies sold. This first-time poet self-published her book, despite having her friends warn against it.
The thing about having
an alcoholic parent
is an alcoholic parent
does not exist.
Simply
an alcoholic
who could not stay sober
long enough to raise their kids
Her book is broken into four parts: hurt, pain, breaking and healing. She talks about abuse, feminism, love, loss and everything that would resonate with a young woman.
every time you
tell your daughter
you yell at her
out of love
you teach her to confuse
anger with kindness
which seems like a good idea
till she grows up to
trust men who hurt her
cause they look so much
like you
– to fathers with daughters
Though she published her book in 2014, her moment of spotlight arrived when she posted a picture of her menstruating in Instagram as part of her assignment, and it was removed. She pointed out the hypocrisy and she found her following soon enough.
emptying out of my mother’s belly
was my first act of disappearance
learning to shrink for a family
who likes their daughters invisible
was the second
the art of being empty
is simple
believe them when they say
you are nothing
repeat it to yourself
like a wish
i am nothingi am nothingi am nothing
so often
the only reason you know
you’re still alive is from the
heaving of your chest
– the art of being empty
Her second book will be published this October 2017. Click on the links to take a look at her books.
Clementine is the founder of Where Are You Press and she still enthusiastically takes part in word slam worldwide. This 24-year-old writer and publisher is based in Portland, Oregon.
All this time
I drank you like the cure when maybe
you were the poison.
Her words from her debut book Mouthful of Forevers has often been quoted in wedding vows and even tattoos. She writes about love, loss, uncertainties and beauty in life.
But my heart is an old house
(the kind my mother
grew up in)
hell to heat and cool
and faulty in the wiring
and though it’s nice to look at
I have no business
inviting lovers in.
Like many of the other new age poets here, she uses a conversational language which bodes well with her audience.
He used to love me, and now he’s just a stranger who happens to know all my secrets.
You can read more from on her tumblr. Click on the links to take a look at her books.
Andrea Gibson is the first poet ever to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam and she leads the spoken word movement.
Before I die, I want to be somebody’s favorite hiding place, the place they can put everything they know they need to survive, every secret, every solitude, every nervous prayer, and be absolutely certain I will keep it safe. I will keep it safe.
She provides a strong voice for the rights of LGBTQ and gender equality. She does not believe in identifying herself as a male or female to perform at and often uses her gender neuter name Andrew during her performances.
she’s wondering how many women are walking around this world
feeling the tingling of their amputated wings
remembering what it was to fly to sing
She also believes in using her poetry as a medium to comment on the issues of today’s world. Her works speak about varied topics like war, white privilege, Patriarchy, capitalism, etc.
How many wars will it take us to learn that only the dead return?
You can read more from here and here. Take a look at some of her books.
For a long time, Micheal Faudet was an Internet enigma. He is active and has thousands of followers in all social media network, but there has been not much of a talk about personal life. Even his face has not been published yet anywhere.
When it came to love, she enjoyed the thrill of the search, but seldom stopped to check whether happiness was keeping up.
His writing focuses on love, relationship, loss and lust. Most of his poetry has a tinge of eroticism. He and his partner Lang Leav have a similar aesthetics and language style that have made ripples all over the world.
You can buy the books by clicking on the following links
I am hopelessly in love with a memory. An echo from another time, another place.
I write because you exist.
Not quite long ago, there was a discussion that Michael was just a figment of an imagination of Leav’s, considering him not being “physically” available on the internet. Fear not Faudet fans, he is real. His twitter has been officially verified with the government ID, photograph, etc.
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Did I miss any of your favorite “new-age poets? Let me know what your favorite quotes are and why. Click here if you would like to read more quotes.
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Classics |
Dystopia has never been my preferred genre, thanks to the very many badly written YA literature strewn around the world that befalls into the said genre. Yet there were several times while I read the book The Handmaid’s Tale that I had to recheck the publishing date.
About The handmaid’s tale
Book Name: The Handmaid’s Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Fiction – Literary Dystopia
Characters: Offred, The Commander, Serena Joy, Nick, Moira
Plot Summary of The handmaid’s tale
Set in not so distant dystopian future, women have lost all that they won in the recent past, at least partially – the ability to chose what they wore, what they did for life or even handle money. They are forbidden from reading, writing and even speaking freely.
Their existence is based on their functionality – the wives (in charge of the household), the helps (Marthas), the teachers (Aunts), the wombs (Handmaids), the sexual toys ( Jezebels) and the outcasts (Unwoman) are sent to Colonies where they are left to harvest cotton or clean up the radioactive waste.
Offred, our narrator, a handmaid belongs to Fred, who is on her third and final attempt to conceive a child with a government appointed ‘Commander.’ Every month she has an impersonal intercourse with the Commander and his wife, who is barren.
She had had a child with her husband Luke (a divorcée from his previous wife), before she became Offred and before her marriage was declared void. Everything changed overnight. Money was replaced, women were declared to belong to their men and were offered ‘safety’ and ‘respect’ than they were in the free modern world.
She is desperate to figure what happened to her family, to know what is happening in the world outside the wall, to read write and just to live. She is given a friend Ofglen, who is accountable for Offred’s actions while she runs errands and her for Ofglen.
Offred falls for Nick, the Guardian for the commander, a crime that could lead them both to be publicly hung. Was the risk worth taking? Did she learn anything about her family? Read to know more.
A personal note
Written in the 1980s and still, it has not lost its relevance may reason out why the book is called a classic. If anything, The handmaid’s tale has become more and more pertinent today, given the current world scenario. I hail from a nation where rape seems to the screaming weekly headline, where feminism is more or less a topic for the keyboard warriors and reservation and rationing are the only ways to go by.
Incidentally, I live in a country which believes in ‘respecting’ women, ‘saving’ them from men, yet are not allowed to make decisions about their unborn fetus. There are nations where women are not even allowed to drive or make a visit to the mall without a proper chaperon. Let us not forget the wall that our dear Mr. Trump has promised to build to protect us from the immigrants and the religious terrorism he is raging against.
You guessed it right, every one of these actions is a fragment of imagination that Margret Atwood takes us through in her novel. And you know what? Somehow we are all conditioned to living and adapting to these rules, that we no longer think that we are complying with them but accepting them as the way of life. Yes, I no longer feel The Handmaid’s Tale is a far-fetched work of fiction.
Book review of The handmaid’s tale
The Handmaid’s Tale might be a little hard to get into, yet once you are into it, you can not stop it. I started reading the book and heard the rest of it when I was out and about living my life because I could not put it down.
The narration is not linear, there are places where you might be confused, especially at the initial parts, but it will grow on you. And oh, I loved the emphasis thrown on the importance of the written and spoken word in creating a new world, as any bibliophile would.
And my dear grammar nazis, yes there are a lot of commas, quotes and other generic rules that are broken, but somehow it works. In fact they make it better. (Mother Earth can swallow me). There are too many seemingly simple lines that make them powerful quotes for that very reason. The ambiguous ending works so well that I cannot stop pondering over.
I am yet to watch Hulu’s take on the book as a TV series, but it is on my to-do list (update: done and I loved it) . You can not read The Handmaid’s Tale as a breeze through the weekend read. You can not unsee once you have been to the Republic of Gilead and not relate it to the real world.
Bottom-line
If you are one of those who gets offended by the term ‘feminism,’ read the book with an open mind. Given the current state of chaos we live in you will relate to it.
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Let us talk
Have you read The handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood? I love the Hulu series, how about you? Let us talk.
Author: Madhav Mahidhar
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