Little Printed Pages

The Earth was Good!!

2011-08-29T19:46:00.000+05:30

Although it isn't a book i would normally gravitate to, The Good Earth was an interesting read. The China of old alot similar to the India of old; women subjected to slavery, wives treated as just son-bearing machines, daughters being called fools and slaves from the day of birth!

The feminist in me wanted to kill the men, but I thought the better of it.

What I found really strange is the fact that the synopsis of the book talks about the life of the female protagonist, Olan, her sacrifices, her condition etc, the book deals alot more with the male protogonist, Wang! It describes his journey from a poor farmer to a rich land owner and how money corrupted his mind and beliefs but how through it all, the famines, the droughts and the slavery, he held on to his land for that was his life.

At the end, the book really proves that in those days and even today, money can buy you everything but not peace. The simpler the richer you are!

The Good Earth!

2011-08-19T17:03:00.000+05:30

One of the masterpieces by Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth, is my next read.

The book tells the story of a slave girl turned farmer's wife turned mother of four turned savior of the family. Set during the reign of the last Emperor of China, the book narrates clearly the way of life, the thinking and treatment of people.

A woman's role as only one of child bearer (sons only) and not one of equal, one who shouldn't speak or shouldn't be spoken to, one who walks six paces behind her husband, one who is not cherished or treasured makes me thankful that I'm born in this day and age!

So, as i dive into the story of O-Lan and Wang, I hope to learn alot about Chinese life and culture!!!!

Echoes from the dead - The End

2011-08-18T18:02:00.000+05:30

Couldn't sleep last night in the dark...thought I could hear the echoes!! Well almost!!

A well deserved award for this fabulous story teller. You hoped beyond hope that little Jens was still alive! At times you just wanted him to move a bit faster so you would know but Johan took his time with all the twist and turns, all the tiny details and all the drama! So am i!! ;)

He's one of those authors that really makes you fall in love with characters, makes them seem like people you would know, makes them people you would want to know...and it's just brilliant!!!

Lost in Oland, Sweden, the search for young Jens lost 20 years ago is so beautifully intertwined with the past filled with greed, revenge and desperation! Jens and Nils Kant how beautifully their life stories are told and how easily you fall in love with Jens although his presence is only in one chapter!

Echoes from the Dead is a must read even though i can't explain it well here, this book should not be given a miss!!!

Echoes from the Dead

2011-08-09T19:58:00.000+05:30

After i finished Room (oh how i love this book!!!), I logged on to a site that tells you what to read next. The site picked Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin. So i found myself buying it!

The story revolves around the disappearance of a 5 year old boy from the Swedish Island of Oland and the subsequent search by his mother and grand father to find him. The suspected kidnapper and/or killer has been dead for a good part of the 20 years that the boy has been missing. But however, someone is still trying to obstruct the search, someone very close to the family!

The book won an award for Best First Crime Novel by a Swedish Author given by the Swedish Academy of Crime, being the first of his 3 part series set on the same island of Oland. Award or no award, I'm just hoping it's better than the last one!

So here goes...fingers crossed!!!!

City Unveiled!!!!

2011-08-08T19:20:00.000+05:30

And not very well indeed!!!

The book did its bit to excite and interest in the first part; stranded American woman, rebellious Saudi woman, devout Muslims, sincere cops and a murdered woman...but somewhere down the line the sub plots lost their hold or just seemed too many.

Broaching on the concept of the Quran not being the true word of the prophet or the outrageous behavior of the Mutaween or even the true yet hidden dark side of Jeddah, all three of which would make great endings for the book, were either unanswered or not carried through. What surprises me is, why go there if you aren't going to make it the focal point.

The stories of relationships between the protagonist and supporting characters filled a lot more chapters than the actual crime. The internal battles with religion and emotions that the characters face, their wanting too but not being able to break out of the mold that they have been brought up in, especially the men, is drawn out way too long. We know about the culture, many a books have given us that. We know about the plight of women, the ways of men in the Middle Eastern countries, we really don't need it retold without any new thought or perspective!!

The end, the killer, the reason are somewhat of a anticlimax that once your done makes you look back and say, 'Are You Serious????'

Here's hoping the next one will be better!!! *fingers crossed*

She is a Book....Craig Forman

2011-08-05T17:50:00.000+05:30

Was just surfing the net and found this....couldn't have put it better

She is a breathing book

each night I touch her pages

delicately turn to find

her heart in letters

written by her hand…

Scent of vanilla

soft and sensuous

unveiling another thought

another smiling memory

another intimate piece of her…

And I read with such abandon

across her pages

my fingers trailing

her soft paper skin…

In her sighs

she speaks of

stories and sonnets

history and fantasy

blue skies and silvery silks…

I hear her voice

in the pages

wanting to know her

every line

every word

every letter…

Now I take her into me

share my book with her

until we know

can read each glance

each whisper

each touch…

She is a book

and I love to read her pages…

Change in Plans

2011-07-30T16:51:00.000+05:30

Okay...now i know i said i was gonna start with Three Men in a Boat, but when i got to it.... humor just didn't excite me. Not after two really serious, heart warning books...wasn't in the mood for something funny.

So instead, I've got my hands on Zoe Ferraris's book City of Veils. Something about the Arab nations just intrigues me, after the Princess Trilogy and Not without my daughter books. So i couldn't help but get this too.

So what's it about? knowing me, it has to be a crime fiction novel and it is. Set in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the book tells the story of a Jane Doe corpse found ashore, the sudden disappearance of an American body guard to one of the 500 Princes of Saudi Arabia, and the complicated relationship between a Bedouin and a female crime lab technician.

Too many stories running? i know...I've just begun so the stories are yet to connect although i do the see the lines starting to form. For starters they found blond strands of hair on Jane Doe which could just be from the American who disappeared very suddenly. Probably transferred onto her when he was trying to dispose of her body after the Prince killed her in a moment of lovers strife!!!!

Too many crime novels, too many detective serials making me feel partially able to solve crimes myself! lol!!! But so far the books seems interesting, haven't reached the 100 page mark yet but i'm sure their lives will connect at some time!!!

See you back soon!!!

Happy Reading!!!! :)

Mercy - The End

2011-07-27T14:17:00.000+05:30

Just finished with Mercy, a truly captivating, engrossing (spent half an hour every morning reading instead of making breakfast) and rapid read!!!

They say Karma is a Bitch! and this book just proves it! You just don't know when the past catches up with you and Jussi does well not to give away the secret! Totally unrelated to the present yet totally connected to the past, Mercy is not just Merete's plea but the plea of all the characters in book.

It's Carl's plea for mercy for his life that has taken away his two closest colleagues! It's Assad's plea to wipe his slate clean and start a new life! It's Hardy plea to kill himself and end his life of misery stuck on a bed without the ability to do much besides talk! It's Lasse plea to bring back what he lost in the fatal accident! Everyone's life revolves around Mercy!!!

A really good ready and really interesting story that leaves you thankful for what you have and the moments that have made you stronger.

Won't give out more on the story coz you should read it...but lets say it will be worth your while!!!

Next on the cards....Three Men in a Boat by Jerome k Jerome!!!

Happy Reading!!!!!!!

Mercy by Jussi Adler-Olsen

2011-07-23T13:34:00.000+05:30

The first of a series of suspense stories by Jussi, tells the story of the first case the newly formed Department Q dive into to try and solve in Denmark. Department Q was formed by government policies to look into old unsolved cases featuring high profile persons, politicians and others who were either victims or suspects. Ex homicide and blatantly arrogant detective Carl Morck heads the department that consist of him and his strange yet endearing non cop assistant Assad.

5 years ago the head of the government health department, a beautiful and complex Merete Lynngard disappeared from the ferry she and handicap brother were taking to zoo in Russia. After dead ends and no clear suspects, Merete was declared dead by suicide.

5 years later, Carl delves into the case files again, with his assistant discovering new leads and interesting twist that were never explored while the case was fresh.

Half way through the book right now and the plot is just thickening. The build up for each character no matter how small is pretty good. Carl seems like an everyday homicide detective with tons of personal baggage and Assad just like your everyday alien....you can't help but love the guy and his English!!! What is really hard to grasp though is all the political jargon and situations...Denmark's government structure is too bloody complex!!!

But so far so good...let's see if Jussi can keep up the pace of the book and the story line without totally dampening the end...like most suspense-murder-killer books!!!!!

Day One

2011-07-20T20:56:00.000+05:30

This would be my first ever attempt at writing something and having it out in the world...i really don't know how authors do it...but I'm gonna try and make this work...

A friend of mine suggested we should have a Book Club after we discovered we both read and loved the same book (Room by Emma Donoghue...get your hands on it if you haven't already) so i thought why not start a blog...although i haven't told him yet...which i should! we can sill discuss stuff here and leave comments and actually have people all across the globe read the same book at the same time!! wishful thinking...i know!!!

but hey! the internet makes the whole world smaller...so i'm making that my goal and let's see how far we get!!!

so as of today, i shall be beginning on yet another journey, but this time with Jussi Adler-Olsen and the book Mercy...which by way of the synopsis i can tell is all about a women kidnapped and presumed dead and the ex-homicide detective all out to find her!!!

if you've read it let me know your thoughts...if not...we could read it together!!! :)

this didn't feel all that bad...writing i mean, so i think i can keep going!!!

see ya soon!!!!