Reflections on pop culture

Its scary to have high expectations. More often than not you end up devastated but I am happy to say this is not one of those instances. China Mieville has exceeded all my expectations and come up with the most unique book that I have ever read. Embassytown is a science fiction novel that is at once a thriller and a treatise in linguistics and as usual Mieville takes on a genre and turns it on its head.This is at its core a study of language albeit one carried in so thrilling a manner that I hardly paused while reading Embassytown. Imagine there are aliens, of course they have means to communicate with themselves but for them everything is as is, their language does not have a concept of abstraction. They cannot lie and make things up so to speak. What they say has to be the truth. Mieville takes this simple idea and stretches it to its absolute limits, building a world, a system of space travel that is incredibly well realized.The writing is just magnificent. The way Mieville chooses his words and the way he skillfully he shows and hides the physical characteristics of the aliens teasing the imagination of the reader. The way the first words of the novel prepare you for the ride ahead.At one point of time I was so engrossed in reading this book that I was shocked when someone called out for me. This book is going to win all sorts of awards and this review does not do it justice. A work of pure unadulterated genius and an absolute masterclass.”The word must communicate something (other than itself).”

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a brilliant and utterly fantastic book. It takes an unconventional setting and makes a genius novel out of it.Its the last decade of the 17th century. The Dutch seek to restore a floundering trade relationship with Japan a nation that gives access to a few foreigners.The Dutch have the port town Dejima near Nagasaki. The red haired idealistic Jacob De Zoet enters as a clerk hoping to find his fortune and then proceeds to fall in love of course.(I make it sound as if it cliched but it is anything but). Corruption is rampant and Jacob de Zoet questions his motives many times. Complications arise, a conspiracy is uncovered and an attack on Japan is taken care of with Jacob De Zoet having a prominent hand in the affairs. The book is beautifully written. The characters are extremely well realized. David Mitchell says a lot but he conveys a lot more by not saying everything out aloud. Also the thousand autumns contains the single greatest first chapter that I have ever read. The sense of pacing, the beautiful prose. It just hooks you in and refuses to let go. Read that first chapter here A pitch perfect book.

I have become a truly compulsive reader. When I get tired of reading a book I pickup another one to relax.

This is probably one of the finest albums that I have heard in recent times. Give it a shot

My favorite tracks

Junkie Doll : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obCJje7PQmY

Speedway at Nazareth : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=praUaqWWLyk

Sailing to Philadelphia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrLdKYRBOEE

This is how you write a thriller. A fantastic book. Taut with suspense and an ending which will leave you stupefied and although you might be able to predict the climax it will still shock you when you get there.

The previous work I tried to read by Dennis Lehane was Mystic River and I was just unable to get through the first few pages but Shutter Island is a totally different beast and it grabs you from the get go.

I had seen the movie before reading the novel but this only served to make the novel better. I couldn’t help recollecting scenes from the movie and Caprio’s performance as the Marshall was the one I kept coming back to.
One of the finest thrillers I have read in recent memory.

Beatrice and Virgil is a great book. It concerns itself with the story of an author Henry who wants to write about the holocaust as an allegory because he finds that the holocaust hasn’t been given the fictional treatment that it deserves and is treated as a very matter of fact event by all authors.

The novel drags a bit in between but the writing is fabulous. Yann Martel is probably one of the few writers in the world who could write about anything without a care in the world for the subject matter.

Strangely enough where the book failed was the actual conversation between Beatrice and Virgil. They tended to go on and on without any discernible aim(Perhaps thats the point but I am not sure)

Definitely a worthy follow up to the Life of Pi. I enjoyed the book.

Norwegian Wood is the story of a certain Toru Watanabe who upon hearing Norwegian Wood(His girlfriends favourite track) begins to recollect his teens and campus days.

I don’t know what to make of this book. Around 100 or so pages the book got quite boring but then picked up pace again thanks to the introduction of Reiki.

The book is peppered with little observations on everyday life which make the book worth reading. Also Murakami sure knows how to describe women with all their flaws and strengths.

On the whole I didn’t enjoy the book as it was too sentimental for my taste but the fact that I managed to wade through such sentimentality must mean that it is one of the better ones out there.