15 January 2015

Duma Key - Stephen King

Finished Duma Key.

It is probably too early to write anything about it, because it is too fresh and it usually takes time for me to think about in a more detached way than an involved reader. However.

However, I still want to write about it. The brilliance of the writing is too bright to ignore. Time and again, Stephen King proves he is the best. Not just in invoking the most basic emotion in humans - fear. But also, in inspiring awe at the way he 'paints' a picture of the whole story with such startling clarity.

The story involves around Edgar Freemantle, a building contractor who goes through a near-fatal accident to realize that his world has turned upside down. His marriage is in shambles, he is under the spell of uncontrollable anger and, he is almost given up on his life. But for his daughters and his supportive psychiatrist and physiotherapist, he would have.
On the advice of his doctor he moves to Duma Key to forget, heal and begin a new life. He takes up sketching and painting as a 'hedge against the night'. What comes out of his talent threatens to change his life and the lives of his loved ones, not in a very positive way. A darker force is in play who is bent on unleashing destruction around him. With a help of a set of unlikely friends made on the island, he has to fight with every bit of mental and moral strength to counter the evil.

The characters are so well defined and explored, it feels more like a literary novel than horror., Wireman, the friend who stays all along, is a personality that stays in the mind for long and so is Elizabeth, the almost-ancient woman who owns Duma Key. Ilse, Edgar's daughter is so likable that you will be rooting for her till the end. The story builds slowly, but at no point did I feel bored or wanted to skip a page. Stephen King has that effect on readers. Fear builds up slowly as well. It reaches a crescendo just short of 200 pages to the end.

Having said that, the end is not nearly as scary as I feared. May be because my brain was protecting my mind against it - by imagining the whole end in a slightly 'Pirates of the Caribbean' kind of manner.

I loved the book.

12 January 2015

Rosehead - Ksenia Anske

My first book of 2015 - Rosehead by Ksenia Anske.

An unusual choice, because the author was unknown, the genre is not my regular and, to top it, it was an e-book. BUT, but...
It was a FREE book. Because, she is a writer who gives her books books away for free. Not that she is not keen on being a professional and make it her livelihood (writing, I mean), yet she gives it for free. A phenomenon that I had never heard of. It was very interesting. I was curious.

I downloaded her book and after much procrastination, I began the book. Frankly, I  didn't have much expectations out of the book, not because she is a bad writer, but simply because she was an unknown entity. One thing my friend Sash recently told me and that has stuck with me is that never waste your time reading bad books, because there are sooo many incredible books out there and even if we keep our standards very high, this lifetime may not be enough to read them all. So, with slight apprehension I had started the book.
I loved it.

The book is about Lilith, a 12 year old girl who is visiting her grandfather's estate in Germany, with her parents and her talking dog, Panther. Weird things happen during their stay, starting with a horrid stench of the rose garden and her strong belief that the garden eats people. She is out to solve this mystery and save people who have gathered for a memorial service of her grandmother.

I wont say its a great book, but it is a good book. It is a curious mixture of mystery, humour and fantasy. I loved Lilith, her dad and her pet Panther. Lilith is witty, sarcastic and vulnerable at the same time. She a cute, albeit isolated little girl. Her interactions with her friend Ed were sweet - the little tween's romance was just right in its taste. The writing is good and keeps you going till the end, although in the end, it is a bit a drag. I would assume that because the author loved the characters so much that she simply didn't feel like ending the story. I can totally understand that. It was fun reading the book. Based on this I will definitely read more of her work.

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I am seventy five percent through with my second book, Duma Key by Stephen King. I can read it only in the mornings, it is too scary to read in the nights. With my imagination, I might not survive the upcoming nights if I tried reading post 8 pm.
I am simultaneously beginning the Confederacy of Dunces.


06 January 2015

Reading List for January


1. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
2. Duma Key - Stephen King
3. Rosehead - Ksenia Anske
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
5. Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil

I am late, I have already lost a week, but better late than never, eh? Starting with the Conferderacy of Dunces. Looking forward to it.

01 January 2015

2015

One year is gone in a whoosh and I didn't realize how!

Many changes and many misses - personal, professional and in my booklife as well..

My booklife was to have been full of journeys - mostly missed, in retrospect, but, I managed to read 12 books in 2014.

Made new friends thanks to books, who share more of them via online and exchange tips and suggestions.  Made writing friends as well thanks to books.

2015 should be more about being realistic - at least my online astrologer says so, if so then so be it.

More realistic - may be that'd help. Whatever. My lofty plans always peter out to become ultra-realistic, even to the extent of being bare bones.

So, I will stick to lofty  :D