The Marriage Bureau for Rich People - Farahad Zama

As the name says, the novel is about an old couple retired and bored Mr Ali and his wife who begin a marriage bureau for upper middle class clients out of their front porch. A poor girl Aruna is hired to help him out. The plot proceeds languidly like the lives of the old couple with interesting clients that have even more interesting demands. Mr. Ali and Aruna's lives also take a slow turn. For Mr. Ali's its due to his son, the rebel and for Aruna when a new yet frightening opportunity opens up. Set in Hyderabad, it captures that quaint and timeless quality of great unhurried storytelling that depends on the characters.

Mr. Ali's essay extracts at the end and a great recipe to finish off are great touches.

6.5/10

Serious Men - Manu Joseph.

Bought this book after The Hindu Literary Prize was announced. (So awards do have an impact on book sales.) Was a little apprehensive, since Hindu is not exactly a masthead for cutting edge style or big on experimentation etc. I was pleasantly surprised. The book is bitter, but funny bitter. The characters, you have met. The story plausible but imaginative and with backgrounds that you can almost taste and smell. Nothing is left out, science, relationships, poverty,class, ambitions and love is split open, turned inside out for inspection with a jaded, pessimistic attitude. But somehow it works.

Ayyan Mani works for Arvind Acharya an eminent scientist. He is married and has a kid Adi for whom he has astronomical ambitions. In the backdrop of Ayyan's bleak, barely held together apartment complex and the hypocritical lives of squabbling, scheming scientists, he comes up with an ingenious plan to ensure his rather average son has a bright future. Is it class revenge or a father ambition, we oscillate through the plot that reveals itself in careful layers.

7/10

Endymion Spring - Matthew Skelton

The story of a boy who discovers an ancient book that supposedly has the answer to everything . He has a know it all sister called duck and a researcher mother separated from their father back in America. Oxford is the setting and the story moves between now and the times of Gutenberg and Faust. Two boys seprated by centuries find a secret book that only they can read (with a little blood involved). Both have to ward off evil adults who want the books power for - what else - evil.

Its an ambitious novel, with children as prtagonists but somewhere along the line the author got too adult on them. (The too smart, too complicated situation syndrome) The authors love of fonts, books and libraries is more than apparent. Its a good read although a bit tedious at times.

 4/10

The Longshot - Katie Kitamura

If you love boxing, you will love this book. Full of descriptive bouts, each sentence shows how much the author is in love with the sport. I have absolutely no clue about boxing and can't stand to watch and felt the same way about some of the descriptions. I couldn't bear to read them. Yet I was strangely pulled into this violent world and as the author may have meant to convey, found some redemptive and courageous qualities to the sport.

With my little knowledge of boxing gained mostly from this book, the entire story that weaves around the two protagonists - Cal the boxer who almost got it all and his trainer Riley seems to be almost like a boxing match. Wearing the reader down to the last gut wrenching yet strangely satisfying moments. You could almost taste the air of Tijuana - where the action happens and smell the sweat and blood. It is a slow book. But as I said earlier - strangely satisfying.

6/10

Drink Play Fuck- Andrew Gottleib

A lot of women like Eat, Pray Love (for reasons I don't exactly understand) and I have a strange feeling a lot of men will love this book. Its plot less, moral less and just a string of "good times" interspersed with some funny stories. Nobody discovers anything except that there are Indian women who fuck for the sake of it and then move on, hidden undiscovered, unbookable paradise resorts in Thailand, a workable strategy for winning in Vegas and above all your gym trainer may be the next best thing to god! It's a fun timepass read and maybe the only good thing to come out of the Eat, Pray. Love phenomena.

6/10

Frida's Bed - Slavenka Drakulic

I came to know about Frida Kahlo and her extraordinary life though the Salma Hayek movie. It led me to an approximately two week run of obsession with Frida. I couldn't decide which was more colourful, morbid and captivating - her life or her work. The same conundrum occurs when you read this book. A first person fictional account, Slavenka tries to get into the pain riddles artistic mind of the artist. No new facets of Frida's life is revealed. The pain, the surgeries, the loves and the emotions and experiences leading to most of her famous paintings is meticulously covered. Sometimes a little too meticulously.
Its a life and a book filled with pain, sometimes getting too caught up in its own little whirlpool of describing the agonies.
All in all a good read for Frida fans.

5/10

Quarantine - Rahul Mehta.

Touted as a book written by and about 'gay' relationships, I was a little vary about reading it. Hype about anything other than the writing itself, almost always means bad writing. But I was pleasantly surprised. The tales explore relationships, displacement and move at a dark lazy pace that draws the reader in. There are some patches that are plain boring, but never does the author try the 'gay shock and awe' tactics that most gay writers seem to do nowadays to draw attention. There is a bit of sex but always where necessary. What he excels at, is describing the Indian diaspora, the slow crumbling or building of relationships. In one story, an achingly lonely young man pretends to be interning at Vogue while staying in a family friends house and connecting with the lady of the house even through language barriers. In another a grandmother is gently forced to apply for citizenship, so she is not 'thrown out' of the US. Every character is gently sketched and closely observed.


Now all the author has to do is move out of this close sphere he has constructed for his writing and experiment. Waiting for his next work, hopefully one that goes beyond the sexual orientation of the characters or the author.

7/10.