Where the Crawdads sing

Author: Delia Owens

Plot: I finally got my hands on the book “Where the Crawdads sing”. The story revolves around a marsh girl “Kya”, whose battle for survival starts when she turns six. She lives in a shack on a marsh near a quiet town Barkley Cove on the North Carolina Coastal line. Domestic abuse in the house forces her mother, and later her siblings to leave the shack leaving Kya alone with her abusive father at a tender age of 6. After few days of feeble sunshine, things get gloomy when her drunkard father also abandons her at the age of ten.

Kya battles her loneliness and puts up a brave face when confronted with adversity. She grows up to be a beautiful maiden, men begin to take advantage of her. Scorned, humiliated and rejected by the town folks as the Marsh Girl, she is determined to make her identity in this world, which she eventually does, magnificently.
But troubles don’t seem to leave Kya when she gets caught up in a murder mystery. Everyone in the town suspects Kya and she has to face criticism and rejection, yet again, despite being an accomplished naturalist and an author.
There are two protagonists in this novel, Kya and the marsh itself. It took me a while to understand the setting and I struggled to get a clear picture of marsh in my head. I have never read a more vivid and beautiful description of a marsh before. By the end of the book, my head was filled with the inhabitants of the marsh, the birds, the shells and the different fauna which grows there. I understood the difference between a marsh and a swamp, how a lagoon opens up to a beach and how a beach narrows to a tunnel and how it opens up to the sea.
Then comes the heroine Kya. Her struggle for survival and her resilience is certainly commendable. But I did find her story a little unrealistic , she seems to have the right people walking in her life the right time. And considering that she was a Marsh girl who had been alone most of her life , some of her achievements seemed incredible .
Nevertheless, Survival stories are my favorite, and I am fortunate to read this story of the Marsh girl and her struggle against loneliness. This book is a brilliant piece of fiction. It is poetic, beautifully written. I am looking forward for the movie, which is supposed to be produced by Reese Witherspoon. I am looking forward to see Kya but more than that, the marsh. Don’t miss this book , it is a different experience all together.

Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍

The Vineyard

 Check out the complete review of The Vineyard at

https://theworldofmovies.com/the-vineyard-season-1-review/

The overdue life of Amy Byler

Author : Kelly Harms 

We got into a situation when as a group we decided to read comedy, voted on a book which looked comical based on reviews and figured out the book is anything but comedy . A complete bummer . But well , we did have fun discussing the pains we took to finish the book . But what was interesting was that the book had such rave reviews and was rated laugh out comedy . All the more reason to stress on the importance of genuine reviews !

Rating : 👎

The little Teashop in Tokyo

 Author : Julie Caplin

Plot: The little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin is a breezy romance between two photographers who happen to meet each other in Tokyo after an unpleasant encounter they had a decade ago . Fiona is a travel blogger and a photographer who wins an all expense trip to Tokyo , a photography mentor for two weeks and an opportunity to display her photos in an exhibition. What she doesn’t know is that her mentor is going to be someone with whom she got into an embarrassing situation ten years back , an ambitious, successful and handsome photographer Gabe . How the equations play out between them is the rest of the story. But the heart of this book lies in Tokyo itself . During her stay , Fiona stays with a Japanese family which owns a tea shop in Tokyo . She gets a chance to meet women of three generations in that family and through each of them , she gets to understand the little customs, food , attire , the traditions and also the bohemian practices of the Japanese people . Because her profession is photography, she travels with Gabe to all the prominent attractions in Tokyo and captures the soul and the beauty of those places on camera. The first half of the book is really enticing with lot of nitty gritty details about the streets , the houses and the local restaurants of Tokyo. There are vivid descriptions on importance of chopsticks , the broken pots , the Bonsai trees and the cherry blossoms . It is the second half which precipitates the whole book and fails to capitalize on the pace which is set in the first half . There should have been some twist or action, instead the plot drags with stereotypical romance and misunderstandings between the lead pair . I also felt that there should have been few photographs of the places and things in the Epilogue for the readers to appreciate the descriptions in the book a lot better .

But overall, I liked the book. It’s a fast read and for a while , I got lost into the world of cherry blossoms and appreciated the beauty of wabi-sabi and kintsugi once again . If you have a fascination towards Japanese culture , go for this book. Don’t expect too much on the plot , you will not be disappointed.

Rating: 👍👍👍

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News of the world(Movie)

I finally managed to watch the News of the World movie yesterday, renting the DVD from Redbox at a reasonable price. I have already reviewed the book before so I will not go into the details of the plot. My objective here is to compare the movie and the book and conclude which fares better.

To recap, the plot revolves around a 70-year-old retired veteran, Captain Jeffrey Kidd who earns his living travelling from place-to-place, reading news to the people in small towns in North Texas. In one of the towns, he meets a young German girl, who was captured by the Kiowa tribe, and raised as one of their own. The girl, who has lost touch with the civilization, has to be now returned back to her original family, her German uncle and aunt, and the job to escort her, falls on Captain Kidd.

Together they travel four hundred miles down south to the hill country during which they make several escapades. Their journey to the destination and the bond they forge enroute is a feast to watch.

The movie is very well crafted and the visuals are splendid. The aerial shots of the vast Texas Prairies are breathtaking. The unruly terrain, the rolling hills and the hardships of the locals are beautifully captured. I especially loved the enigmatic aura in which the Kiowa tribe is presented in the movie. The lead pair did an incredible job, Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel excel in their roles and get into the skin of their characters.

The movie captures the political atmosphere of Texas in 1870s very accurately. Texas was part of the Confederates during the Civil War, so some of the views presented in the movie may not be to the popular liking. But the screenplay is crisp, the arguments are stated and noted. The political opinions are just presented, they are neither advocated nor ridiculed.

The movie does deviate from the book at many instances. To start with, in the book, Captain Kidd agrees to escort Johanna because he is given a good coveted 50 dollars to do the job, Whereas in the movie, he is shown to be a kindhearted man who is doing the job to answer to his own clear conscience. In the book, Captain Kidd does not read the local news as he believes that information could be obtained easily to the local public. Instead, he entices the audiences with the news from lands, far far away across the globe. In the movie, though there is a glimpse of “The Times of India”, Captain Kidd is seen reading primarily from the Texas newspapers and the federal newspapers. Most of the supporting cast is given little screen time, and they disappear into oblivion once the Captain and Johanna leave the place and continue their journey. Whereas in the book, we learn about the lives of each of these characters in great detail. The captain’s children are not even mentioned in the movie, the chronological events summing up the life of the captain in the movie seems to be different from the book.

Albeit the glaring differences, my observation is that this is one of the rare instances where it is difficult to choose between the movie and the book. I loved them both equally. The movie excels on its own, but if you want to dig deeper, go for the book. The history of Texas is intriguing and indeed worth your time.

👍👍👍👍👍

News of the world

 Author : Paulette Jiles

We were asked to read this book for a book discussion and the theme was western. A movie based on this book was released last Christmas with Tom Hanks in the lead role. That set the expectations in the right course. Any movie which features Tom Hanks, cannot go wrong.

So, albeit the fact that the book started slow, and the dialogues were mixed up with the narration, without any quotation marks, I held on to the book in good faith, trusting Tom Hanks, and oh boy, after a while, it paid off so well. The book revolves around an unlikely bond between an ageing itinerant reader and a 10-year-old German girl who was captured by a native Kiowa tribe when she was 6.

The year is 1870, just after the civil war. Texas, like other states in US, is trying to stabilize post war and deal with the changed political and cultural landscape. There are colored men who are set free, the Republicans have got their foothold on Texas, but still there is rivalry with in the party upon the direction the state is heading to, the captives who were held long by the native tribes are being ransomed by the US Army and are set free to rejoin their families. Captain Kidd, a 71-year-old retired army officer and a widower, has seen it all, participated in three wars, run a printing press, raised his family, and has seen his daughters married and settled in far off places. He earns his living in a very interesting way, he collects information from the leading newspapers around the world, and then reads all the fascinating information across the globe to the people in the small towns in Northern Texas. People come in hoards for his reading sessions, they love hearing news on what is happening in far off places like Europe, India or Russia and pay him for the news.

When he is travelling to one such small town to read the news, he is asked to transport a captive back to her family near San Antonio, south of Texas for a good 50-dollar gold. The girl is 10-year-old, captured by the Kiowa tribe and is completely transformed as one of their own. She does not speak English nor does she remember any events of her past prior to her capture except the memories of her parents and her sister. Captain Kidd and the girl, Johanna, begin their journey in North, near Wichita, to travel down south, where few of her German relatives, are willing to adopt her.

Then the story follows the western style, the vast plains and wilderness of Texas, the raiders, thieves, bandits, chase and ambush. As they confront few perils, slowly they begin to warm up to each other, and Johanna starts trusting Captain Kidd and calls him grandfather. He tries to teach her the civilized way of living and she starts speaking broken English with him. Captain Kidd is initially under an illusion that he is saving her and reforming her, but Johanna loves the free native Indian way of living so much, that she finds civilization more binding. But despite their contradicting beliefs, they still bond with each other. In their journey, they meet some real interesting characters, a fiddler whose music transforms the world around him, a kind lady who makes the most delicious chocolates, and a farmer who has to let go of his chicken to satiate the hunger of Johanna. Johanna is looked upon with scorn at many places and is an object of interest to few. They meet soldiers, raiders, thieves along their way and also narrowly escape a chase. When they finally reach the destination, Captain Kidd is left with two choices, can he leave Johanna with her foster family, who are resolute on using her as a slave, or should he take her under his wing, which makes him a kidnapper in the face of law?

It is a beautiful tale of courage and affection, books like this reinforce empathy and kindness in each of our minds. The book does have a fairy tale ending, so it is difficult to categorize it as realistic fiction, but we all can use a dash of fairy dust in our lives, isn’t it?

On the flip side, the book is a slow read. It takes a while to get into the book and understand it’s rhythm. It covers a great deal of history about Texas, especially the social and political landscape post-civil war. It does get difficult to keep up with the facts.

But if you are ready to plunge into the vast Texas plains, encounter native Indians, thieves, raiders, the rolling hills of the hill country, and witness a very unconventional bonding between two interesting characters, do not miss this book. Trust Tom Hanks and delve deep. I just watched the trailer and looking forward to watch the movie as soon as it is available to rent.

A full five stars from me for this book, the true Texan style.

Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍

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The Song of Achilles - Published Review

"If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die.
Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say, I lived in the time of Achilles."

American novelist Madeline Miller spins her web of magic with one of the most dazzling retellings of the Trojan war hero, told from the point of view of his sworn companion and his dearest friend, Patroclus.

Read my complete review at

 The Song of Achilles - Bengaluru Review

Farmaan (DD Serial)

 Most of my recommendations in February ( the month of love) had romance as a central theme, be it forbidden love between Meggie and Ralph, the blossoming love between Natalie and Peach (that is what the book claimed) , spiritual companionship between Tabrizi and Rumi (retrospective) or the close friendship between Patroclus and Achilles. I wrapped up February with an old DD serial Farmaan, which I had watched before in my college days.

The episodes are on youtube, the print is bad and acting, not really upto the mark. Despite all the oddities, nostalgia kicked in with the Hyderabadi charm. The Nawabi costumes, the Dandeli wilderness, the sweet Urdu dialect , in the midst is a romance between a dashing Nawab and a spirited girl who is hired as a general assistant to his mother.
If it was current day Netflix, it could have easily been Bridgerton. Thankfully it is not. The old charm comes with it's own rustic beauty. Not that the characters are flawless, in fact they are all complicated, each carry a baggage of their own past. The spendthrift youngster, the cunning swindler, a young flirtatious widow, a misled daughter, a carefree artist, a cruel father, an obsessed complex lover are the central characters of this complex television adaptation based on the book "Alampanah" . But despite all this, your heart does melt when the headstrong Azhar demands a confession from the sweet Aiman, " In aankhon ne mujh se kahaa hai, hum tumhaare hue".
And the Hyderabadi "Baatan", "Raatan", "Aisaich, "Vaisaich" make you smile big time !! Fall in love with imperfections, yet again. But be patient with the print.

Rating:👍👍👍

The Lost and Found Bookshop

 Author: Susan Wiggs

I am usually enticed towards any book which has a “shop” in its title. So, when I was asked to review this book, I got carried away. The blurb also led to a misconception that it is a romance read.

This book is not a romance book albeit there is a little bit of romance in it. It is about love, loss and family with some history and romance woven into it. Natalie Harper is heartbroken when she realizes that her mother and her boyfriend died in a plane crash. Her mother Blythe, a carefree, fiercely independent woman, ran a bookshop, along with her grand father Andrew who suffers from dementia. Leaving her lucrative career, which incidentally never appealed to her, Natalie returns back to San Francisco to take care of her grand father and resurrect the struggling book shop.

Natalie constantly worries about the finances to sustain the book shop and the decline in her grand father’s health. She hires a local contractor Peach Gallagher to do the necessary repairs to the book shop. His daughter Dorothy comes as a ray of sunshine in Natalie’s troubled life. Peach Gallagher becomes an integral part of the book shop finding some historic artifacts in the walls during renovation. The romance between Peach and Natalie blooms, slowly and steadily.

How Natalie copes up with all the trouble and finally heals, finding love and acceptance is the crux of the book.

It is a very slow read with a predictable plot, but the characters are etched out pretty well. Natalie, Blythe, Andrew, Peach, each of them have had a difficult life and try to cope up with their past differently. The immense inner strength they display when they set out to gather the shattered pieces of their past and take charge of their lives is very inspiring.

I am not sure if I will recommend it. As I said earlier, I set out with different expectations and it backfired on me. But to be fair to the book, if you are looking for a heartwarming read which will lift up your spirits, it is not a bad book to choose. It did remind me of the movie “Chocolat”, the hero’s description so matches Johnny Depp in that movie. So, see, after all, there is a reason to celebrate!

Rating: 👍👍

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The Baker's secret

 Author : Stephan P. Kiernan

Plot

The World War II witnessed many horrors and murders, heinous crimes where people were treated like filth and many died a horrendous death, facing the wrath of Auschwitz.

Germany was looking for supremacy across Europe to establish The Third Reich. The Germans captured France in 1940. It took four long years before the D-Day on June 5, 1944 when Allied forces rallied into the small village of Normandy on the French coast to make the German forces retreat.

The Baker’s secret is the survival story of the villagers in Normandy during the German occupancy and the camaraderie and grit which pulled them together through those atrocious times.

Many a times I found myself comparing this book with The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, as both of them have a very similar story line.

Emmanuelle is the local baker in the village whose father was arrested for participating in the Resistance, her lover taken away to work for the Germans and her tutor, the local baker who taught her baking, was killed mercilessly because he was a Jew.

Left alone with her grandmother, at a tender age of 22, Emma has to tread a dangerous path, to keep both herself and her old grandmother safe from the German troops. Emma takes up this challenge splendidly and even goes two steps ahead, helping other fellow villagers in whatever means she could.

The only reason Emma is spared from the troops is because the kommandant of the German army stationed in the village loves her bread. So, she is given flour strictly sufficient to bake twelve loaves of bread every day and deliver it to the German forces. She ingeniously mixes straw to the flour and bakes 2 extra loaves per day to distribute it among the villagers. And then starts her trading venture, where she travels across the village and starts trading one good to another, fuel for fish, fish for eggs, bulb for tobacco and so on, thus touching the lives of most of the villagers and helping them survive.

But things start getting difficult for Emma and the villagers when the German forces tightens their vigilance and start shooting people mercilessly. They are on the brink of losing their faith and hope to live when finally, on the D-Day the Allied forces attack the German base by air and the sea.

It is a story of courage and survival, and could have been an exceptional book, but the narration style makes it a little difficult to read. The narration is a little passive and delves too much into details which are perhaps not very relevant during war times. It does take a while to get into the story and see what is going on.

Survival stories without a lot of heroism are a little tricky, it does take a unique narration style to make them interesting. That is what made Guernsey quite engaging, the entire novel is narrated through a series of letters, a budding romance comes with its own merits. This book lacks that aspect and hence proves to be a slightly arduous read. But in the end, the very fact that hope, grit and courage win over despair and grief is too strong a message to ignore and let go.

I would definitely recommend this book, but be prepared for a slow run. It is quiet one.

Rating: 👍👍👍

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