Reading Wednesday
Dec. 11th, 2013 04:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhWhat did you just finish?
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I think everyone knows what this book is about, but just in case: Puritan woman has a baby out of wedlock, is forced to wear a red "A", and then it turns out the pious minister was her co-adulterer. I... liked it better this time than when I read it in high school? I think the main problem is there's not really a plot so much as a few set-pieces sketching out the basic idea, all of which are described in excessive detail. I feel like I should read something else by Hawthorn someday, just to see if I like it or not.
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. A novel about a young girl given up by a poor Indian woman to an orphanage (as the only way to save the baby from her in-law's intent to commit female infanticide), who is adopted by a mixed-race, white/Indian, American couple. The novel mostly focuses on the four parents- the two biological and the two adoptive- following them from the early 1980s, when the baby was born, until the mid-2000s when she returns to India as a journalist student interested in her origins.
There's nothing particularly wrong with this book, but the writing and characterization all felt particularly shallow. Everyone was the most obvious, least interesting example of their standard role possible. This was particularly bad with Somer, the white American woman, who I had a lot of trouble sympathizing with. She was just so bland and spineless. Apparently the author was inspired to write this after volunteering for a few months at an orphanage in Hyderabad which... yeah. It feels exactly like that sort of book.
The Case of the Love Commandos by Tarquin Hall. A book I actually liked this week! This is the newest book in the Vish Puri series, a mystery series set in modern day Delhi, starring private investigator Vish Puri and his mother. These books are mostly light and funny- they remind me a lot of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series– and the dialogue is a brilliant version of Indian English (I listened to the first two in the series as audiobooks, which I highly recommend). This one focuses on a pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi shrine near Jammu, and a young Dalit man who is trying to marry an upper caste girl, despite the opposition of their families. (The Love Commandos are a real organization, by the way, who offer assistance to such 'love marriages'.) I liked this book better that the previous one, which I felt didn't quite balance the serious drama with the humor well. But this book managed it much more successfully.
What are you currently reading?
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss. Had to put this one on hold for a little while to finish up other books last week.
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm really enjoying getting to see Komarr up close and personal! Also, I've been spoiled for where Ekaterin and Miles end up, but I like her.
Indian Takeaway by Hardeep Singh Kohli. A travel memoir about a Scottish-Indian cook visiting India. Also, I just realized that in order to achieve my goal of "50 India Books in a Year", I have to read five more before the end of the month. Which works out to one every four days. I will... probably manage it!
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I think everyone knows what this book is about, but just in case: Puritan woman has a baby out of wedlock, is forced to wear a red "A", and then it turns out the pious minister was her co-adulterer. I... liked it better this time than when I read it in high school? I think the main problem is there's not really a plot so much as a few set-pieces sketching out the basic idea, all of which are described in excessive detail. I feel like I should read something else by Hawthorn someday, just to see if I like it or not.
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda. A novel about a young girl given up by a poor Indian woman to an orphanage (as the only way to save the baby from her in-law's intent to commit female infanticide), who is adopted by a mixed-race, white/Indian, American couple. The novel mostly focuses on the four parents- the two biological and the two adoptive- following them from the early 1980s, when the baby was born, until the mid-2000s when she returns to India as a journalist student interested in her origins.
There's nothing particularly wrong with this book, but the writing and characterization all felt particularly shallow. Everyone was the most obvious, least interesting example of their standard role possible. This was particularly bad with Somer, the white American woman, who I had a lot of trouble sympathizing with. She was just so bland and spineless. Apparently the author was inspired to write this after volunteering for a few months at an orphanage in Hyderabad which... yeah. It feels exactly like that sort of book.
The Case of the Love Commandos by Tarquin Hall. A book I actually liked this week! This is the newest book in the Vish Puri series, a mystery series set in modern day Delhi, starring private investigator Vish Puri and his mother. These books are mostly light and funny- they remind me a lot of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series– and the dialogue is a brilliant version of Indian English (I listened to the first two in the series as audiobooks, which I highly recommend). This one focuses on a pilgrimage to the Vaishno Devi shrine near Jammu, and a young Dalit man who is trying to marry an upper caste girl, despite the opposition of their families. (The Love Commandos are a real organization, by the way, who offer assistance to such 'love marriages'.) I liked this book better that the previous one, which I felt didn't quite balance the serious drama with the humor well. But this book managed it much more successfully.
What are you currently reading?
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss. Had to put this one on hold for a little while to finish up other books last week.
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold. I'm really enjoying getting to see Komarr up close and personal! Also, I've been spoiled for where Ekaterin and Miles end up, but I like her.
Indian Takeaway by Hardeep Singh Kohli. A travel memoir about a Scottish-Indian cook visiting India. Also, I just realized that in order to achieve my goal of "50 India Books in a Year", I have to read five more before the end of the month. Which works out to one every four days. I will... probably manage it!
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Date: 2013-12-11 09:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-12-11 09:49 pm (UTC)And thank you! That sounds really interesting, so I'll check it out.