The Museum Of Innocence

By Orhan Pamuk

It’s not that I don’t believe in true love. I do, but not the kind that lasts forever. Am sure most of us have loved someone truely, for a day/ month even a few years. But I am the sort that believes that when you cannot maintain the same mood throughout the day, how can you love someone forever? And why, it’s proven that we cannot maintain the same mood throughout the day, ‘normal’ in the human being remaining constant i.e.

Therefore, while the book is very realistic, it’s easy to say that it is, in fact, fiction. Because it is about true love that lasts forever.

However, Orhan Pamuk is a favourite to many for a reason. His writing is so beautiful in its depth and details that it’s hard to put the book down. Even when it gets frustrating at times and you start to wonder where the story is headed. The book is paced well most of the time and the details are sometimes overwhelming. As is in most of his books, Istanbul is the hero. This time it’s the Istanbul of neo-modern times where smoking Malboro among the men and women are considered upmarket, where the parties are pristine, where the women folk are aware of Parisian fashion and yet in their minds virginity is still considered a virtue. We Indians can relate to the Istanbul of that time.

Then of course a crash course on the museums of the world is a definite take away. The style of writing also where Orhan Pamuk himself is part of the story is something I have not read before and is quite a nice touch.

You will love the characters in the book (if not forever, at least for a while), especially Fusun, Sibel, Kemal, and driver Efendi, the story telling and finally the story itself.

Read it, the book is for keepsake, afterall, it is the museum of innocence.

For other views log on to http://themuseumofinnocence.com/

The various flavours of coffee

By Anthony Capella

A very amusing read on very serious subjects – business, coffee, love, rebellion, business of love, love of coffee and rebellion of all kinds - all of it in this one action-packed novel.

I am not a business person, but if there is a book which has helped me understand it a bit better, this is definitely one of them. It comes second only to Richard Branson’s autobio.

Then of course if you are a coffee aficionado, then this book will enlighten you with its description of the various flavours of coffee.

Contrary to what they preach in Hindi movies about love, this book shatters the notion that you fall in love only once in life. This book goes to show how you can fall in love in various ways, to different people and how that can change the course of your life!

A very satisfying read, Anthony Capella is a master story teller and a weaver of words. He takes you for an adventure ride you will not forget. In its humour, in its backdrop, (o and it has many backdrops, from the compelling feminist movement to the beginning of advertising history to the establishment of the retail industry – it’s a joy ride, pretty informative joy ride at that) to its characters and descriptions.

Anthony Capella is un-put-down-able as he takes you from uptown London to the jungles of Africa. From the uber English society to the exquisite slaves of Africa. From the hard world of business to the heart of romance.

The determined Emily, the exquisite Fikre and the very human Robert will surely move you.

It’s a must read!

Thank you Bharthi for lending the book.
Read more: http://www.anthonycapella.com/pages/books/various_flavours_of_coffee/intro.asp

Sputnik Sweetheart

By Haruki Murakami

This is the first book I have read by the much talked about author. Maybe I should have started with other famous works of his like ‘Kafka on the shore’, because I am quite disappointed. Yes, true my blogs are only about the good books, but in spite of my disappointment I found the reason to include this book in my blog.

For one, it’s the most fast paced book and secondly, it’s un-put-down-able till the end! I opened the book and read it till the end without literally not putting down the book even once. I missed going out to buy birthday present for a special someone, I missed going out shopping to cook something fantastic on the birthday and I even missed lunch!

You’d expect a book which tracks loneliness in people to be boring. While it compares the lives of people to sputnik satellites, travelling alone in the darkness, the book is never boring. All 3 characters are fascinating: 2 of them realistic and one character surreal - two straight and one lesbian - one suffering from delusions, another stuck in the real world and Sumire suffering from malaise - which is as always, unexplained. The reason why I felt Sumire is not surreal is only because I suffered a malaise too when I was just about her age. Unfortunately it is bad enough to be true.

It’s a must read considering the style of writing is quite different, the journey takes you to Japan and then to Greece and then to an ‘inception-isque’ world of dreams.

It’s disappointing because it could have been longer, the dreams aspect could have been deeper and there could have been more explanation. It feels like you just ate cotton candy when you are through with this book – ‘I ate a handful, but nothing happened’!

To read more log on to http://www.murakami.ch/about_hm/bookreviews/bookreview_sputnik_sweetheart.html