The Zahir--Paulo Coelho

Love is the history of a woman's life; it is an episode in man's.
---Germaine De Stael
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“The Zahir” is a bad book. Period.

It had a very interesting premise which has been executed very badly as the story progresses. The reader is introduced to a marriage of ten years, torn asunder by the sudden disappearance of the wife. The husband has numerous questions about the disappearance of his wife, who has left without any explanations and these questions turn into a "Zahir” or an obsession for the author.

Take it from me except the plot outlined above, there is hardly anything interesting in the book. To put it simply, the book is a drag.

The whole story or the lack of any sense further in the plot has to be read, to be disbelieved. Granted that the author has written other good books like The Alchemist, Veronica decides to die etc. But with Zahir, the author has committed a huge mistake. Throughout the book, the one dominant theme is that of an egoistic author talking about himself, his achievements and the narcissism is just too much for the reader to bear.

The protagonist of the book is none other than the author Paul Coelho himself although he does not admit to the fact out rightly, it is left to the reader to "read between the lines".

As the story progresses, Coelho(the husband) hams about his new celebrity author life style in which he has plenty of money, fame, respect but he still feels lonely inspite of all the adulation. His wife or rather his 2nd or 3rd wife in the book, Esther is a war correspondent is frustrated with her husband who hardly has any time or feelings for her anymore. One day she gets fed up and sets off leaving a trail of strange clues behind. And then the husband starts searching for her since now he understands that she was an integral part of his life. Sheesh! Why do people always realize when it’s too late? But then again you don’t sympathize or understand the protagonist of the story because he starts having random affairs with other women while searching for his wife, how strange/putting off is that?

While searching for his wife, he meets these spiritual, mystical people from the Steppes including his wife’s so called lover, Mickail. Mickail takes him into various private meetings and a lot of humbug spiritual enlightment situations that will bore you to tears. By the end of the book or rather with more than 100 pages still left, you start getting frustrated and kinda identify with the wife who must have got similarly fed up of her good-for-nothing husband-the author.

Coelho also does not let go of the opportunity to express his views on Christianity and his disbelief about certain things associated and the book simply serves him as a convenient, secret platform to express his views. It would be nice if Paulo Coelho sticks to writing stories like ‘The Alchemist’ instead of selling his autobiography/personal opinions to the public in the guise of a spiritual enlightenment book

I don't like being a non conformist but I don't understand as to why people praise something when they just don’t get it. If you read the book and think that there is some deeper meaning, forget it. There is no deep thinking needed at all unlike "The Alchemist" in which there was a lot of hidden meaning in the fable.

Take my advice and read the above review three times but do not venture out to get "The Zahir" because the book is a huge waste of everyone’s precious time. I didn't even buy the book, just took it from the library for 25 bucks as reading charges and I am venting, so you can understand how disappointing the book was. You have been warned.

The three biggest mistakes of my life-Chetan Bhagat

This book has to be the 2nd biggest mistake of the author's(Chetan Bhagat's) life after his first mistake, "One night at the call center"

ONATCallcenter was very very bad. It was cheesy and was like a HIndi potboiler film almost as if Chetan wanted someone to adapt the book into a movie. And believe it or faint production houses in India actually fought for the rights of that bad book.

This one has the same third person narrative of the protagonist as his first book. Only this one touches upon -religion and cricket -the opium of the Indian masses. The language is in Chetan's trademark kind of writing for the general public-simple and street-style.

The three biggest mistakes of my life is no better-let me correct that is just marginally better. I have no idea why but I am quite confident that inspite of this book being as bad as it is, it will still become a best seller in India.

I want my money back and I am not waiting for Chetan's third mistake now :)

'Unaccustomed Earth' -Jhumpa Lahiri

I just finished readin Jhumpa Lahiri's book 'Unaccustomed Earth'
Out of all the stories the only one that I liked and which stood out for me was Hell-Heaven. The rest didnt quite make an impact for me for whatever reasons. Maybe it was because I had very high expectations after reading the other collections of short stories by the author-The Interpretor of Maladies.

Hell-Heaven was nice with a very unexpected confession at the end. It was about adults gaining a different perspective on people from their past.

The common theme of Jhumpa's stories are characters(migrants?) slightly adrift in foreign lands as they grapple with multiple identities, finding themselves belonging neither here nor there.

I wouldnt recommend this book although I would highly recommend the other one-The Interpretor of Maladies.

This current book really has nothing much to say with the exception of one story-Hell heaven. All the other stories are strictly so-so and I dont get it why people are praising this book as there is nothing else to salvage the stories. I found most of the stories in this one boring as well as quite adrift as the characters themselves. I am for one very dejected as I had expected Jhumpa to write a collection as good as her other book-The Interpretor of maladies.

Doctors-story of wounded physicians

Doctors (1988) is one of ’’the’’ best that I have read in a long time. Erich Segal’s enlightening work of fiction is both a love story and an eye-opening study of the training and practice of America’s most elite health professionals. The author, a graduate of Harvard himself has crafted a powerful and moving account of the 1962 batch of Harvard medical school. We experience the trials and tribulations that doctors go through, to be what they are.

What we understand is that doctors are as flawed as normal people but due to the nature of their work they are elevated to a demi-God status. The book leads us through the various incidences that the med school graduates encounter (demanding hours of internship, facing and overcoming your worst fears, hours of research and residency) which transforms them into the doctors they eventually become.

The central characters of the book are Laura Castellano and Barney Livingston; best friends who attend Harvard Medical School together. It takes many years filled with scientific celebrity and disappointing affairs for them to finally to realize that they have something more than friendship for each other. The stuff they do for each other remind you of your own friendships in life. Its very touching that no matter how badly messed up in life they both get, the other friend is always there to brighten the day.

Laura Castellano?s character is truly an inspiration to women folk everywhere. She achieves success in her work but at the cost of her personal life. She relies on Barney whenever she is in trouble and he helps her out no matter what. Barney(who goes on to become a psychologist) makes it a point to help Laura not lapse into self-deprecation. After a particularly bad relation he advises her in a beautiful one liner, ’’One complete person deserves another complete person’’.

An important character is that of Bennett Landsmann; a Black youth who does his best to overcome racial discrimination. He becomes one of the first colored persons to graduate from the med school. The best part is that he never lets his work suffer inspite of facing trying circumstances because of his color. The Jewish aspect also comes up in the story as Bennett’s adopted parents are Jews.

The Jewish people and their issues is a common factor in the storyline here, as in most of Segal’s other books like ’’The Class’’ as well as ’’Acts Of Faith?. The Judaic flavor that runs through Segal’s books could also be attributed to the fact that Segal was the first of three sons born in a Jewish family to Cynthia and rabbi Samuel M. Segal. Segal’s got an amazing vocabulary, which is hardly a surprise because he teaches literature at Yale, Princeton and Harvard. In fact if you plan to prepare for the GRE Verbal, you could pick up a lot of words from the book.

There are other characters like Seth, who helps in euthanasia rather than watch his patients suffer in extreme pain. Laura?s parents who let her down and go their separate ways. Some characters undergo a great behavioral change e.g. Palmer (Laura?s husband)- from a nice guy to a complete rogue without much of an explanation which mystifies the reader.

The book mentions that doctors have higher suicide and drug addiction rates than the rest of the population due to the rigorous demands of their profession. We learn that many wannabe doctors give up their lives (or end up demented), as they are unable to cope with the intense pressure of their work. We learn the inner secrets of what happens when doctors goof up in their practice and the politics that affects even this profession. Concepts like euthanasia and doctor’s ethics are touched upon, not to mention the adrenaline of the operating room. There is a lot of medical knowledge to be found here and many exciting hospital room scenes.

A long book ? its over 600 pages but it is very captivating and can be finished over a couple of days. I found the initial part of the book a tad slow but the speed picks up once Laura and Barney enter med school. In fact distinguished people of medicine recommend a reading of this book ?Doctors? to anyone who is interested in going to medical school which speaks a great deal about the value of the book. The book is a wonderful read and I would highly recommend it. You wouldn’t want to put this one down once you start it--make it a part of your classic collection!

The Boys At IIT

Seen ?Dil Chahtha Hai’? Well if you transport Aamir, Saif and Akshay (a really overweight Akshay, you will know later what I mean) to IIT and prod them to reveal about life in the campus, this book would be the result.

?Five Point Someone? by Chetan Bhagat is a very good account of life in India’s prestigious institute of IIT. Every year there is strong competition amongst the students to get in to the premier engineering college. We get to know the ’behind the scene’ in the lives of the three ?good? students who are kind of ?average? amongst their peers.

The story set in 1995 takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the four years that the trio spends in Kumaon. Three students with totally different backgrounds and thinking get together because they get a five point something GPA at the end of the first semester. And that?s how they end up being known as five point someones.

This was a huge curiosity factor for me because I had always heard of five point something but a five point someone was an interesting play of words. Ryan, Hari and Alok set out to defy the prevalent educational system but end up nonetheless graduating tamely as everyone else. We follow their ?mis?adventures through the Vivas, the classes, the hangout places etc.

Ryan is the typical ?I-don?t-care? about the system guy, who although not very smart, always thinks out of the box. His plans and creative thinking help out his friends at times and at other times lands them in a whole lot of trouble. Hari, the protagonist is someone who has no fixed opinion about himself or the world

He is the kind of person to whom things happen and not who makes things happen. His girlfriend happens to be his professor?s ?beti? whom he falls for in typical Bollywood style. His affair with Neha is the cute romantic sidetrack in the story. Alok’s character although beset with familial problems, has a deep love for food, which sort of runs in the family.

At the end of the book you realize that its not Hari, but Ryan who is the hero of the story because by his actions. He is a practical example of a proper (I guess) balance between books and extracurricular activities. Notice his fixing up a radio in the lab class, the ’’modified screw jack’’ explanation, the squash games etc.

Many readers must have noticed in the story that the author has left many things unexplained (deliberately?). Some of the vague things like the reason for Hari’s blank outs, his family background, and his future with Neha are all unexplained as the story draws to an end. Maybe the author will take their story forward in a sequel to this book or something like that.

Five point someone is being made into a movie by Ritesh Sinha. If he manages to get the cast of ?DCH? back that would be a casting coup. Aamir will ?improvise? the role of Ryan Oberoi (but naturally) and Saif will make the character of Hari unforgettable. But Akshay will have to like, put on 10 kgs to play the character of Alok, who is a little too healthy. I guess the movie could be named ’’Dil IIT Main Masti Chahtha Hai’’.

I liked Chetan Bhagat’s style of writing but I somehow feel that the book is a little over hyped. If you are one of the people who end up loving this story then you must also read Erich Segal’s ’’The Class’’ and ’’Doctors’’. These other two books also talk about more or less the same things as ?Five point someone?. Engineering students can travel down memory lane with the incidents mentioned in the story.

?Five Point Someone? will have you nodding and smiling throughout the book.