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Saturday, April 30, 2005

The Mistress of Spices - Chitra Divakurani - book, 4 stars

The Summary: The novel follows Tilo, a magical figure who runs a grocery store and uses spices to help the customers overcome difficulties. Tilo provides spices, not only for cooking, but also for the homesickness and alienation that the Indian immigrants in her shop experience. In the process, she develops dilemmas of her own when she falls in love with a non-Indian. This creates great conflicts, as she has to choose whether to serve her people or to follow the path leading to her own happiness. Tilo has to decide which parts of her heritage she will keep and which parts she will chose to abandon.


The Review: Imagine giving up everything in your life, every single thing, all of those smaller things that you enjoy, for one huge love of yours. Not the only one, but you are ready to make it the only one, ready to give up everything else for it. I can't imagine doing that, probably because i haven't experienced something that i liked/loved doing so much, that i would be willing to give everything else up for it. Yet, Divakurani's Tilo does just that, for her own love, the Spices.

She is a mistress of Spices, and has the power to channel them. Not control them. Just channel them. And as a mistress, her 'job' is to use the Spices to help others.

Say "hello" to an Indian, Female Paulo Coelho. This isn't me saying she's ripping him off or anything. It's just me saying that this book reminds me alot of the way Coelho writes. This is the kind of book, that starts to pull at those strings in your head, such that the tied up thoughts start to fall up, only to pull them tighter, and tie 'em even harder at the end of the book.

I'll probably say plenty in this review, but it'll be nothing compared to what i might've written, had i been halfway through the book. The book is written in the first person style, that makes you, not a third observer, but the character herself. Tilo, is an Indian Expatriate, and as an Expat myself, i found myself nodding in agreement to some of the thing she thinks of.


'Course i didnt relate completely to her (She's an Old Indian Woman, with some Magic...does that sound like me to you?) but the book still crosses a lot of barriers, and ,in the end, the first person narration, with carefully calculated third person interludes, just works.

Now i found myself agreeing with a lot of ideas in the book, but i stumbled up against the Heart-Mind concept a lot in the book. You know what the Heart-Mind concept is. It can be explained in a simple movie scene, that spans hollywood, bollywood, and any other 'ollywoods' out there. Gender doesnt matter. It's this person telling another person, don't listen to this *points to head*, listen to this *points to heart.* Well, all i can hear is "thud, thud, thud."

Yeah, i'm against the concept. In My opinion, it's just a manfestation of Human's constant need to have a villian. Don't have anyone outside to blame? Blame the Mind, it interferes with what the Heart has to say! But i digress, if you want to discuss further, please comment.


The story rules the book, but the writing falls into place, which means that you'll recommend the book, whether or not you like the story, because it's got some great writing. BUT, I must warn, i AM biased, i AM an Indian Expat, and i Can't say what the book would mean to someone who barely knows the Indian Culture.

If you like Coelho, or even Yann Martel, and you have any sort of connection to India, you'll like this book. If you have no connection to India, based on how you treat things, you'll either like the book a lot, or call it rubbish.

Yeah, that was very Diplomatic, with all those If's. Sue Me. :D

Anyways, whatever kind of stories you like, once in a while, read a book like this. It might change your mind about things.

Edit: Again, not so happy about my review, i Should redraft this sometime. Some OTHER time. :D

Friday, April 29, 2005

State of Fear Michael Crichton - book, 4 stars

Global Warming is the largest money spinning environmental cause right now, not least because it clubs together all those other major 'negative' activities, like pollution, deforestation etc. Not a day goes by today, without a reference to global warming in the newspaper.

Michael Crichton's latest book, State Of Fear, is about just that, Global Warming. And before you jump to any conclusions, No, its not another book prophesizing the impending destruction of the earth due to Global Warming, complete with Day After Tomorrow-esque Scenes. Nope. How could you expect that from Crichton?

Instead, the book is about the potential farce, that is Global Warming. Indeed, the very concept of Global Warming is still a theory and is being debated by many respected Scientists. And of course, it weaves an otherwise average thriller around some very interesting GW source material. The book doesn't come close to Andromeda Strain, or Jurassic Park, and cannot even be compared to Congo, but it's still a fascinating read. I would compare it, not to another Crichton, but instead, that book that so many people have been talking about, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

The Da Vinci Code, how? Well, The Code is basically a rather large expose on the church activities over the years, and how much of what is told the general populace is nowhere near the the truth. And this expose (dunno how to put the accent), is complented by a vaguely interesting murder'ish, mystery. State Of Fear is very similar in the concept. It reveals a whole lot about Global Warming, what is happening and what is being done, that is not known by the general public, and includes that thriller. Of course, the writing is a bit more 'big picture' view, when it comes to Crichton, but that's a Crichton trademark. And there is a LOT about Global Warming that we don't know. For Example, a very common misconception is that extreme weather has increased in the past 2 decades, and that there are more Thunderstorms, Cyclones, Earthquakes etc, which is, in fact not true. It's a matter of more media, and faster travelling of news. Today we KNOW OF more extreme weather than there was before, we don't know whether it has increased or not. Another Misconception is that an increase in Carbon Levels will be damaging to the environment. In Fact, Studies done by GW Scientists revelaed that more carbon would result in more plant growth. And unlike Brown, Crichton actually has references to reports by Scientists for every claim he makes in the book.

So then, why isnt that book anywhere close to the popularity of the Code? Well, here's an idea. Today, the Church isn't as powerful as it was 300 years ago. Outnumbered by other religions, and also losing its status as the sole method of Communication with God (i'm not saying there are less poeple beleiving the christian religion, it's just that there are fewer people who beleive that the Church is the Way to get in touch with Him), so any major statements against the Church, won't actually receivel arge amount of confrontation. Unlike that, Global Warming, and the corporations that support it, and thus earn money, are very much in power today, and so a statement like this that, what they're saying is false is definitely not going to garner much attention.

Crichton's references to the 'State of Fear' Concept, that we are today being governed by Fear, which has evolved from the 'enemy' (the Soviet) to terrorism amd so on, fit in the storyline very well, and any reader will be able to understand what he's trying to convey. On the other hand, some of the Scientific Jargon, especially about Global Warming, might not fit in very well with an average reader, but no matter what, it's very intersting.

In my opinion, this book should've done better than it has, especially considering the competition, Da Vinci Code, and it's contemporaries, don't have great writing or a good side story, to carry you along the very well researched source material.

Go Ahead, get the book, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I sure did.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Sakkara - Noel Barber - book, 4 stars

Politics and Law have always intrigued me, and i've always wanted to have something to do with them when i started working. I was intigued by so many other things that i decided to become a Journalist, with one Potential finger in all pies.

Noel Barber's Book, Sakkara, is full of the former, and includes an interesting amount of the latter towards the end of the book.It is the story of 2 Familys, one High-Class Egyptian, and the Other High-Class British, and especially the Daughter of the Egyptian Family, Serena and one of the Sons of the British Family, Mark, through Egypt's Tumultous history between 1919 and 1953. The rest of the Familys also play major roles, with a Sport-crazed son (from the British Family), who ends up in a wheel chair, a Rebel son, and by rebel i don't mean liek a teenage rebel, no this is a REAL rebel, against the King of Egypt and the British in Egypt, from the Egyptian side, as well as the Fathers, both wiht political proffessions, and the mothers, who are both sort of fashion-obsessed. Besides the Two families, only a few characters play major roles, and the most major is Jim Stevenson, an American Intelligence Officer.

At first there are 2 sides to the book, the political side, which invloves the (F)ACTUAL, history of Egypt, as a British Protectorate (hah, the british only kep it for the Canal), and the Romantic Side, between Mark and Serena, even though Serena is married to Mark's Sports-crazed brother. A warning here, The story involves quite a bit of, "unusual" happenings, that well, the average person would Shudder at, and yet Barber makes us beleive that it's allright, using the Robust, Unbeatable defence of Love, No less. As the book moves on, the major characters, the major characters experience a series of Tragic Events, including, Death, by various means, Assasination Attempts, a rebellion, and a lawsuit, which soesnt justify the book, because there's a whole lot more. And yet the Love between Mark and Serena Perseveres, and slowly the two sides of the story, Politics and the (unmarried) Romance, merge, involving another Character, King Farouk, a bloated, perverted, Dictator Monarch.

The story moves along well, involving some real and some fictional happenings, written from the view of Mark. The book has some action, but not much, and it is mostly concerned with the Egyptian Rebellion against the Monarchy, and also the British versus the Italians and Germans in World War Two. Politics, and Law towards the end, are depicted very well, and finally Romance....uh, yeah, Love Perseveres.

Noel Barber has skillfully woven Actual events and Fiction, into a Great Chunk of Reading. The Book basically shows how the Good Times, in this case the constant partying, and everyone happening, Never Last, and of course, it's always there, the inevitable, Perseverence of Love. Have i Used that too many times already?

Certainly borrow this book from the library, and if you Like History/Political Happenings or Fictional History (like Me), and, well, Love (the Perseverence of it, too), then Buy this Book.

The Missing - movie, 3.5 stars

Ron Howard, director of A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13 and the upcoming The Da Vinci Code, choses very interesting storied for his movies.

The Plot (from JoBlo): A strong-minded woman, raising two little girls on a farm, is visited by a man who walked out on her and her mom years ago, a man better known as...her father. Livid to see him again, she shoos him away, only to have her older daughter kidnapped by Indians the next day, after which, she swallows her pride and asks her dear ol' pop for help. Together they search through every warehouse, outhouse, doghouse, henhouse, treehouse and shithouse, hoping to find the lost girl.


The Review: A western/period movie, including Renegade Native Americans, with Cate Blanchett in it? I'm there!
I wasn't dissapointed at the end, but i certainly didn't feel it was a great movie.
The Plot is entertaining, and moves ar a fair pace, with plenty for everyone, including shoot-outs, chases (on horses), emotional moments, Native American "magic", kidnappings and more. It is quite predictable at places, but you're still vaguely interested in what happens at the end. The movie is mainly concerned with the Pursuit of the Indians to get back the kidnapped daughter, but has it's fair share of "happenings" along the way. The 19th century world was recreated quite well, though at some points you feel as if the non-important characters are more from the 20th century in their style of talking. I Did miss uite a bit of the dialogue in the movie bacuse all the NA-speak was subtitled in arabic instead of english, and i have only a spattering of spanish...


Cate Blanchett Fits the role perfectly, and does a great job at it. Tommy Lee Jones, too, does a good job, and looks even older than he normally does. The Kid (Dot), also does a great job. Crater Face Vilian who keeps shouting "Hookah" (and i know only one meaning for that, esp since i couldn't read what it meant), does is role well, but the script-writer, or maybe Howard, was in two minds, because initially he's like an Urban'ish myth, which the backcover affirms, but later in the movie he loses this aura....

The Movie teeters on an edge, which is it's biggest flaw. You're not sure whether this a Pursuit movie, with emotion thrown in, a Mysterious Native American movie, or as it seems in some places, a pseudo-horror movie. Howard is not ready to take the movie fully down one of those roads and instead finds himself in the wilderness between all three. I would've gone the Mysterious way, because the Story has plenty of opportunities to establish that kind of feeling.

All in all, an interesting 2 hours, wiht a great perfomance by Blanchett, and a could've been better, but not-bad feeling aobut the story. Don't take time out to catch this movie, but if there isn't anything better at the Video store, this'll occupy you for 2 hours....

Friday, February 25, 2005

The Aviator - movie, 5 stars

I've been to quite a few movies with my dad, especially recently, and we've never had the same feelings as we came out of the theater.

For example, it was me and Father Geek, Harry Knowles, being the only people who liked Oliver Stone's Alexander (As far as I know), whereas my dad hated it...I liked Ocean's 12's Slickness, though I can't compare it to "11" since I haven't seen that one, though everyone says it's much better, and my dad said that "12" was a REALLY bad movie....Rituparno Ghosh's Raincoat, turned out to be a well set movie, with some GREAT direction, and of those present while watching it (including My dad), only I liked it.

And Today, 6 Days before my Board Exams, I Saw Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" with my dad and mom. In a Nutshell, I thought it was EPIC, and up there with The Giants of Hollywood Movies, like PULP FICTION, and LOTR (Though not BEATING them, but certainly up there), whereas my dad said:” that was the first time I’ve actually felt like leaving a theater halfway through the movie."

I haven't seen any other Scorsese movies, meaning as SOON as my Boards are over, I’m catching Goodfellas and all other Scorsese movies. The Movie portrays the story of Howard Hughes, the psychotic and Obsessive Compulsive Aviation and Hollywood star, and is basically a Biopic. It shows how Howard Hughes, a genius in his own right, builds up his empire, realizes his dream, and deteriorates from mild OCD, to All-out, Full-blown OCD.

The directing is BRILLIANT. Some of the shots are so amazing, that I couldn’t breathe while watching them. My favorite Scene, where Hughes meets Kate Hepburn for the first time, is set in a Golf Course, and the Colors that Scorsese uses are, just, wow. Of course, besides this scene, are all the shots of the planes, which are absolutely Gorgeous.

The Casting was EXCELLENT. DiCaprio as Hughes, Blanchett as Hepburn, Beckinsale as Gardner, Baldwin as Juan Trippe, Reilly as Deitrich, and of course, the man who came in every major movie of 2004, Jude Law as Errol Flynn. Now, I can’t say that they fit in their characters to the point, because I have never “known” Hepburn, Gardner or Flynn, but whether or not they fit those actual personas, they acted excellently.

The acting, as I just said, was EXCELLENT. DiCaprio has the right sort of face to Frown, and thus we see a WHOLE lotta Close-up shots during the movie. He portrays Hughes brilliantly (he portrays a REAL OCD person, not like Jen Garner’s trying-hard-but-not OCD ELEKTRA). Blanchett is, well, I don’t know, just, wow. If that was what Hepburn was like, then I have mist A LOT by not seeing her movies, and I definitely have to catch some of them. Beckinsale as well, though not as well as Blanchett, does a good job. And I HAVE to mention, Alan Alda’s Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster, who squirmed like he never squirmed before. Ellen Lewis (the man who cast all of these people), you have done a GREAT Job.

Later on, after watching a movie, I may start to fell less strongly about it, but while I am watching the movie, and immediately after it, the feeling of a good/great/bad movie, is very strong, and I have come to trust this “instinct” very much, no matter what other people say. And Truly, after this movie, I was Breathless. Literally, I was breathing deeply, and letting it all sink in.

Scorsese SHOULD get his Oscar, whether he will, is a different matter, but this movie will definitely get BEST MOVIE, whether or not Eastwood denies him the Best Director award.

You, reader, are entitled to your own opinion of the movie, and I’m not one of those guys who shies away from exchanging views. Go on, comment.


This, was, a BRILLIANT, EPIC, UNFORGETTABLE, movie.

Scorsese. I applaud You.

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