Not so idle, after all

For some time I have been thinking (in fact all the times that I made a post on this blog, except for the very first one) that this blog turned out not really about idle thoughts. It is really difficult to write down idle thoughts, much less publish them on web. At the time you do have a chain of thoughts in mind, you are too busy thinking (or should I say, too idle ? ) to write it in any form; when you do get around to writing, that thread is broken, if not lost altogether.
I have more or less turned this blog into my "reading journal". I hope I continue with the activity on this front - that it does not get lost like my travellogue. I didn't manage to write down about my other trips after the first one - that of the day outing to Qutub. Since then, we visited Garden of Five Senses, Neemrana, Nainital, and Mashobra. I still hope to post some of these, although I have given up on the most ambitious of the lot - post on the week long trip to Goa.

The Kite Runner

A friend had gifted me a copy of this book quite some time back. The review had been quite good. But, from what I gathered, the book seemed to be rather sad, and this deterred me from picking it up for quite a long time. For last few months, things have been rather hectic and tiring, and I am not inclined towards heavy reading. Nitin read it some days back, and recommended it, but I still could not muster up enough enthusiasm to start on it. Which goes to show the kind of deep rut I am in - fiction is usually my forte. So, when our recent trip to Shimla promised to provide enough time and opportunity, I looked forward to reading The Kite Runner. I love to read during journeys. As soon as the train started, and everyone settled down, I opened the book. Okay, not exactly - I covered it with a newspaper first, so the pages would not get dog-eared. The first few pages had me engrossed, and I continued to read all the free time I could get, staying up till 1:30 am one night to finish.

 

The book was indeed good, even though there is a constant feeling of sadness throughout; which is to be expected, given the context of the long war and the rule of Taliban in Afghanistan. The story, narrated in first person, is well told. It gets you interested within the first few pages, and manages to sustain this interest till the very end. I think that is one of the main reasons that make it a good read. It portrays different shades of human nature, including the darker ones. It depicts a spectrum of emotions - the innocent joys of childhood, conflicts of an adult mind, devotion of a loyal friend, unapologetic cruelty of an enemy. In spite of all the pain and suffering it shows, and the somber mood it carries, the book does not leave you depressed or gloomy. Perhaps because the negative acts are compensated by virtues - sacrifice, unconditional devotion, remorse, and a desire "to be good again".

HIWSGMAT - Opal Mehta

HIWSGMAT - How I Wasted Some Good Money And Time

We had been browsing in the bookstore, when we found a copy of Kaavya Viswanathan's much commended at first, and much condemned later, book - How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got A Life. Controversies not withstanding, we bought it with not much expectation ("not much expectation" was quite right), considering it a good one time read about college experiences - something like Five Point Someone ( now this is how wrong can one be!).

So, I spent some three hours this saturday afternoon reading this book. The story has been outlined over and over again, in the reviews, so I do not see a point in attempting to recapture it. I would just say that I found it very predictable, and very cliched, and at many places, over the top. It falters in narration and fails to capture one's imagination. One might read it to pass time. Completely avoidable. I wonder if my afternoon could have been better spent sleeping.