The Name Of The Rose

In this age of digital communication when almost everyone is reading books online, there is still a huge market for printed books. There is something about opening a book for the first time (or the nth for that matter). The touch, the solid feeling your hand, the smell of the paper and printers' ink, the visual appeal of it - as you turn the pages of a good book, you are drawn into its world. It is a seduction in itself.

The Name Of the Rose is a book about books. It is also a thriller, a who-dun-it, a coming-of-age novel, a piece of historical fiction; it manages to be many things at once. And how!

I was literally unable to put it down once I started reading. And unlike many mystery novels, it doesn't lose it's charm and appeal at the second or even subsequent readings. Rather, nuances and subtleties which you may not have noticed in the grip of the crime solving become clearer and stand out in glory - a little like the myriad details in the background you begin to notice if you observe a Renaissance masterpiece closely after having a cursory first glance.

Umberto Eco transports the reader into a world where knowledge, and the possession of it in the shape of a book - is literally power. A book is not just a source of information and/or pleasure, it is an object of obsession and desire. Men - holy men, monks - kill, and are killed, over it. The climax is a scene out of the Arabian Nights, with a poisoned page and a burning building.

It is a gripping narrative whose story-line beats most routine pot-boilers - there's a body half-buried in a landslide, there's one dumped upside down in a barrel of blood, there's another drowned in a bath-tub and yet another one with the head bashed in.

Yet it's not all gore. Eco recreates medieval Europe, with it's power struggles between church and state, when the church is powerful enough to suppress scientific inquiry. It is a time and place where books are rare and secret; but also a world where a young boy on the threshold of manhood falls in love and explores his sexuality and what it means for the rest of his life as a monk.

The characters are human, with real failings and real strengths. There are echoes of Sherlock Holmes in both the name and characterization of the sleuth-monk William of Baskerville (ring any bells? hear any barks?)

The book is peppered with erudite philosophical discussions - these are learned monks, after all. Some very profound thoughts are expressed in beautiful words, and also in seeming nonsense garbled by an unfortunate inmate of the abbey.

Ok, reams have been written by many greater minds than mine about this book and it's appeal and impact. All I can really add to it is say how much I enjoyed it and how I would recommend it to anyone who wants a suggestion of what to read next (if they haven't read it already, that is).

So here you are, one of my all-time favourites.

Final words - If you want a murder mystery with real substance, here it is.

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey

Didn't like Twilight? Couldn't stand even a few paragraphs of Fifty Shades? Don't even want to know what this is about? Want to set your vampire friends on me for insulting your holy books? Well I have one for you.

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey - this book is a brilliant (albeit a little crude) satire on the Fifty Shades trilogy, as well the original Twilight "saga". It makes you wish you were clever and witty enough to write parodies of all the books you have ever hated in your life.

The pace sags a bit in the middle but picks up again right at the end. The humour isn't very delicate but it tickles in all the right places, and believe me, it's really outrageous at times.

Everything from the graphic design of the cover page to the last rib-tickling sentence is a jibe at the original. And the original's original. Speaking of original, the humour most certainly is (Sorry, couldn't resist!). The reader doesn't have to go through the ordeal of reading Fifty Shades to be entertained by the Fifty Shames of Earl Grey.

Word of caution though - don't read this one anywhere near strangers, they're going to think you're out of your mind with you snorting/giggling/having a good belly laugh at frequent irregular intervals.

I won't say anything about the plot, it would just spoil the fun. Besides, plenty of people have already posted half the book in quotes already anyway. Why bother?

If you're looking for a light read to relax at the end of the day (or anytime during the day or night) this is a safe bet. If you're looking for edifying literature to uplift your mind and broaden your horizons, lighten up and take a break from the edification. Sometimes you just need a good laugh.

Final verdict - A nice light read..

My General Opinion On A Lot of Things Bookish

Since I seem to read a lot and own a lot of books, people sometimes come up to me and ask what to read next, or what I think of any given book(s). Here are a few general pointers:

1. No. Sydney Sheldon may be great at all the "good" bits but no. You cannot say that "reading books" is your "hobby" if you have only ever read The Other Side of Midnight and/or Rage of Angels. 

2. If your comeback to point 1 is that you have also read something by Chetan Bhagat: one word. Eeeuuuuurrggghhhhhhh. People who like the books, and Chetan Bhagat - no offence. 

3. Vikram Seth. Wonderful. Go and read A Suitable Boy immediately. I can even lend you a copy if you promise not to make it all dog-eared. 

4. If you're in a bad mood, read P.G. Wodehouse. If you're in a good mood and want the fun to go on, go ahead. Read Wodehouse.

5. Harry Potter is pretty good. Eragon is okay too. The Lord of the Rings is better. No, the best.

6. The Twilight "saga" (I'd like to make up a pun here using the Telugu word for stretch - saagu. But I'm afraid it wouldn't translate well. But you get the basic idea, don't you? There you go!). Ditto the Fifty Shades series. But then again, suit yourself. I'm told there are an untold number of fans out there.

7.  Dan Brown. (You were just waiting for this, weren't you?) Sure, take a mish-mash of little-known scientific or wannabe-scientific fields of study, doomsday conspiracies, interesting ways to kill people and dispose of the bodies artistically, end each chapter with a sentence filled with vague promises that the next chapter will be a revelation - and there you have it, a Dan Brown masterpiece. Read The Name of The Rose instead.

8. The Great Gatsby. The operative word here is.. drumroll please... GREAT!

9. Orhan Pamuk is the real stuff. 

10. I'll be putting up reviews pretty often from now on, so keep watching this page! If you don't have the time to go through the whole post just go with the last line. It'll tell you what kind of read the book is - Good, Bad or Worse. 

Happy Reading, everyone!! And me too!!!