Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Book Review: A Flawed God

I was relatively free in early December and for the first time, I opted for the BookReviews programme of Blogadda, the site that I'd been following for long. After two weeks of struggling with logistics, it managed to reach me, but I was no more relatively free. It carried a personalised letter for me from the Founder of Blogadda and that was really sweet of them. The book that arrived was with a really interesting name and a pretty refreshing cover, named The Flawed God by Arjun Shekhar. Much like every other book that arrives in my lap, I was absolutely excited and began reading it immediately.

The narration was fresh, could be aptly called as engrossing, good metaphorical usage and without going totally flowery. The subtle humour when the protagonist keeps blowing his nose seemed very innate at first, however the repeated use of the same act, made it a bit draggy and irritating, because I could expect after every couple of paragraphs that the narrator is going to blow his nose. As I'm a straight-out-of-college entrepreneur, having not experienced even a tinge of corporate life, the book didn't quite manage to strike a chord with me and I had to leave it mid-way because I could not relate it to my own life or experiences. But it indeed convinced me that I had chosen the right path of entrepreneurship because the job life is pretty monotonous and the secret societies which could bring some excitement in job-life exist only in fiction.

The book is worth a read if you are the one who's agonized by your current job, irate boss or planning to get something more than promotion from your corporate life. Note to all Chetan Bhagat fans: you might need a dictionary while reading this book, and even after that, you might not get it, so my advice would be to not bet your money.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

NOTE: Opt for only those books which really interest you otherwise, you would end up vexing yourself, Blogadda as well as the author at the other end; much like me. I happen to be the last one submitting the review, sorry to Blogadda and Arjun. All the best to Arjun for his future work! :)

Friday, January 27, 2012

The Surreal World

How many times have you felt the need to express what you are seeing, what you are hearing? After several years of association with different forms of art, I can somewhat feel why great painters like John Constable used to start painting in the middle of meadows just to express the beauty that they used to see, how Rahman got the tune for the soulful song Tere Bina of the movie Guru in his dreams, how writers can see stories floating in the air and how avid travellers can explore the best of unseen places without prior planning.

I can feel this need to express. When I saw the Taj Mahal last week, or when I saw Van Gogh's original paintings some years ago and now, when I heard Adele carefully for the first time. I can go on and on writing about how deeply moved I feel when those masterpiece stir my soul with their impeccable beauty and inimitable charm. And the appreciation would never stop, just because they are not just real, but surreal.