Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Oh... did I mention 'reading novels'..

I have never been as jobless and topicless as I am this instant, thanks to the one month vacation and intense heat in chennai which made me change my decision and stay at home. Being at home 24-7 is not that bad after all. I mean when and where else can you keep yourself busy trying to keep yourself busy. Nothing can be more heavenly than waking up without letting the alarm ringtone kill your blissful dream, spending more than an hour taking bath without worrying about getting late to college, reading novels, having breakfast in the morning time and not during the lunchtime, reading novels, watching a relaxing movie on the TV, reading novels, playing solitaire on a high speed PC, oh... did I mention reading novels? Undoubtedly 'reading novels' tops any person's "Things to do this vacation" list. Well it did top my "Things to do during my last sem of college" list. Some of the ones I managed to read last sem were...

1. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts- The much hyped very greatly written 933-page novel. An amazing start, engrossing storyline, in-depth description, thought-provoking philosophical one liners but sadly a very hindi-movie-ish, cliched and over-stretched ending.
2. The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur- This book is anything but inscrutable. Trackless, cliched, unrealistic and filled with PJs.
3. Uncle Fred in the springtime by PGWodehouse- Partly amusing but couldnt make me laugh out loud. You can easily visualize it as a classic comedy. Not really my kinda comedy though.
4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho- Plain Philosophical crap. I dont care if the "soul of the caravan can speak to the soul of the desert" or if "the horse knows the language of life".
5. To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee- A simple story of a simple family which describes the complicated nature of human behaviour. It teaches the important lessons of life in a very beautiful way. Indeed a masterpiece of American literature.
6. One night at the call center by Chetan Bhaghat- Blech!! Warning:Donot read this book if you donot want to puke. They should put a "For children under 5 years of age" tag on the book.
7. The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini-
An epic of fathers and sons, of friendship and brotherhood, of faith and betrayal, of sins and atonement. One of the best books I've read. Unputdownable and undoubtedly a must read.
8. Acts of faith by Erich segal- Another favourite of mine. This book is about religion, hope and faith and how they can greatly influence one's life. A must read for today's stereotyped youth.
9. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller- Amazing 'Laugh out loud' PJs but sadly no storyline.

Visitors to this blog, please suggest some good books. You must have guessed that I usually like no-nonsense book with a deep thought-provoking story. Philoshopical books are a sure no. I have never read a romance novel but would like to read one. Meanwhile Ill continue playing solitaire to pass my time :-) .

15 comments:

Revs said...

please DO NOT try "anything for you ma'am" by tushar raheja..its BULLSHIT
you might want to try khaled hosseini's next book a "thousand splendid suns" and write a review on it.i havent read it..
and if u want to try romantic try "message in a bottle" by nicholas sparks. i hate romantic shit but that book was good..
also try "aunts arent gentlemen" and "summer lightning" by PGW.
and thats a wonderful list. its uncanny. i couldnt stand one night at the call center and alchemist and inscrutable americans too and the books which u have listed as ur favorites happen to be my favorite too!! :)

Revs said...

and please do read "mating season" by PGW...its one of the most HILARIOUS books i have ever read!!

P.S:sorry for writing a blog in ur comments page!! :)

Savita said...

@revs
Thanks for the list.. will definitely try them out
Its good that our taste in books match... everytime you read a book and love it please let me know.. :-)

bhargava said...

try "surely, you are joking mr.feynman"...since u dont like philosophy, i am not suggesting you 'atlas shrugged"

keep blogging!!

AChristianToddler said...

hey try
jonathan livingston seagul by richard bach

Anonymous said...

Savitha, I am impressed your blogs. You are a FREE SPIRIT and that is the reason why I am writing. I wish you could read my book AM I A HINDU? and comment on it.

Just like you, I am FREE THINKER and always welcome different opinions on subjects.

Currently, I am writing a book on Gita, totally different from all the translations available in the market. Comments from people like you will help me in that task.

Savita said...

@bhargava
Whos the author of that book? Is it PGW??

@insightfulbystander
already read jonathan livingston seagul. Its philosophy again. Tried reading ONE by the same author. Gave up.. I dont understand how a person can remain sane after reading such books.. beats me :-)

@Ed Viswanathan
visited your website.. I liked the concept of your book.. will surely read it and let you know..
Thanks for dropping by..

humbl devil said...

you might have already read ayn rand...
if you are interested in sagas then try chronicles of prydain...by lloyd alexander...

and try gibran too...
or just wait for the 7th potter...

Anonymous said...

hi. read ur review blogs when i was just about to buy "the inscrutable americans".. shud thank u for stoppin me from wasting a few bucks on it... :)

And as for romance novels, i always prefer classics. u should definitely read Jane Austen's "pride and prejudice" if you havent already. If you want contemporary romance then you might wanna try Nora Roberts..

Just try Orhan Pamuks "My name is Red" one last time before you give up on philosophy altogether :).... It aint boring like the usual philosophical novels.. If you like painting n art you would love it even more

al the best
Ashok
nm_ash@yahoo.com

Savita said...

@humbl devil
nope not read ayn rand... i am scared of philosophical books.. ;)
havent read any sagas too... but dont think its my type...
not very eager to read potter 7 but i would like to finish the potter series once and for all..

@ashok
Glad my blog could be of some help... and thanks for dropping by...

The Unpaid Analyst said...

man one month and so many books!!!! damn i havent read these many books in my entire lifetime :P...dont read ayn rand..the plot is fantastic..but the damned novel goes on and on abt morality and crap....u shld mention here tht u are reading HP7 under the guise of coding

Amandeep Singh said...

Finally I find someone...who knows and feels how good it is to be at home..and free 24 7..

Cool Cool Cool!!

:)

bhargava said...

surely, you are joking Mr.Feynman" is written by Richard P Feynman, one of the greatest physicists of this century. I am surprised that you didnt get the name.

I like the works of gabriel garcia marquez these days. Try his " love in the time of cholera" or "100 years of solitude" or "memories of melancholic whores".

Hope you are enjoying your free time to the max!!

Rashmi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

heyy...read world is flat, freakonomics......i vent tried.... but definately wanna try.... i bought catch 22....sheesh.... :( vent started..... lets c....

Rashmi