Let's Do This 2666 Thing!

So, Sarah managed to convince me to join in the Roberto Bolaño 2666 readalong. I was a little sceptical at first, having just finished Cloud Atlas, and wanting to do some lighter reading. However, the temptation of reading 2666 along with a bunch of other people was too strong to resist. Plus, the readalong seems to be relatively easy - just fifty pages a week. Essentially, bedtime reading every Sunday! So, I've read the first fifty pages (fifty one, if you want to be pedantic), and I'm cruising along. The writing is beautiful, but surprisingly easy to get on with, and the characters already seem interesting. Four scholars, from different countries, with one common interest: an author called Archimboldi. The author is a mysterious persona; no one knows his whereabouts - it's like he's vanished from the face of the earth.

It's just fifty pages. Even the stage hasn't been set yet. However, the chemistry between the characters is evident, and, a love triangle of sorts has already emerged. All the characters are fascinating in their own right, and I do feel like rushing ahead to the next fifty pages. The only slight concern I have at this stage is the minute details, which seem unnecessary. I might be proven wrong, and those details might amount to something as the book progresses. For now, I'm keeping an open mind.

In terms of "reviewing", I'm going to try keeping it simple. Provide a quick weekly update, much like this post, and do a regular longer review on each chunk of the book, which is divided into five parts. Just as an fyi, the first chunk is called The Part About The Critics.

I am already looking forward to reading the next chunk, but, I shall refrain and follow the schedule.

To give you a kind of idea as to what to expect, I'm going to quote my favourite part of these fifty-one pages. On reading it, do let me know how you can not be completely mesmerised by the writing?

And speaking of the Greeks, it would be fair to say that Espinoza and Pelletier believed themselves to be (and in their perverse way, were) incarnations of Ulysses, and that both thought of Morini as Eurylochus, the loyal friend about whom two very different stories are told in the Odyssey. The first, in which he escapes being turned into a pig, suggests shrewdness or a solitary and individualistic nature, careful skepticism, the craftiness of an old seaman.

Michael Cunningham - The Hours

It's not often a book leaves me completely speechless. Wowed. Awestruck. Absolutely blown away. But then again, it's not often that I come across a book like Michael Cunningham's The Hours. Both, Claire and Rachel, recommended the book to me, saying I should read it once I finish Mrs. Dalloway. And then, I saw this fantastic review over at deucekindred's blog, and I felt compelled to read the book sooner rather than later - specially as I'd just finished the Virginia Woolf classic as part of Woolf In Winter. In the first chapter, Clarissa, a fifty-something year old woman, steps out to buy some flowers for a party she's having that evening. She loves the city she's in, enjoys the hustle-bustle of life, bumps into an old friend, and contemplates the perfect party that evening.

However, unlike Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa isn't in London this time, but in New York. It's not the 1920s anymore, but we've fast-forwarded to 1999. And, Clarissa isn't Mrs. Dalloway, but, she's Clarissa Vaughn. Her best friend, Richard (a poet suffering from AIDS), does call her Mrs. Dalloway after the famous fictional character though...

While the book chronicles a day in her life, as she plans the perfect party (in honour of Richard), much like Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, the book also chronicles one day in the life of two other women in different times and places: Virginia Woolf in the 1920s and Laura Brown in Los Angeles in the 1940s. All three stories are interspersed with one another, resulting in a heartbreaking emotional masterpiece, that illustrates that despite the barriers of time and space, lives do interlock.

The second chapter is when we're introduced to the legendary author in the 1920s. Virginia Woolf's account is semi-fictional. She's ill, refers to herself as an eccentric genius, and lives in Richmond with her supportive loving husband, trying to recuperate, but missing London dreadfully. Cunningham imagines Woolf in the initial stages of writing Mrs. Dalloway - her thoughts, her inspirations and her character development - as well as her illness, and her fragile state of mind.

She despises Richmond. She is starved for London; she dreams sometimes about the hearts of cities. Here, where she been taken to live for the last eight years precisely because it is neither strange now marvellous, she is largely free of headaches and voices, the fits of rage. Here all she desires is a return to the dangers of city life.

And the third chapter introduces us to Laura Brown in the 1940s. Mrs. Brown is the wife of a World War II veteran, and she has a three year old child. She's a recluse, an obsessive reader, who is working her way through all of Woolf's fiction, and has just started Mrs. Dalloway. And, she has suicidal tendencies.

Right now she is reading Virginia Woolf, all of Virginia Woolf, book by book - she is fascinated by the idea of a woman like that, a woman of such brilliance, such strangeness, such immeasurable sorrow; a woman who had genius but still filled her pocket with a stone and waded out into a river.

The prologue is set in 1941: a new War has just begun, and Woolf is walking purposefully toward the river, certain of what she'll do. The prologue ends with her husband discovering her suicide note... and me feeling incredibly overwhelmed, just eight pages in. Cunningham doesn't mince words, doesn't beat around the bush, but the language is wonderfully concise, while being eloquent and metaphoric.

Cunningham also makes subtle changes to the story of Mrs. Dalloway, to illustrate its timelessness and universality. Moving from one big city to the city that never sleeps, making Clarissa lovers with Sally, and Richard taking on Septimus' role (I think), are just some of the quirks that makes the story read almost completely differently. However, if you read this book prior to reading Mrs. Dalloway, I strongly suggest reading the classic.

And then, we get into the intricacies. According to this work, Woolf intended Clarissa to be the suicidal character in her novel - that despite her love for life, some small domestic failure could potentially push her over the edge. Say, her party being a failure? From what we know of Clarissa Dalloway, would that be so impossible? Was Clarissa Dalloway merely a reflection of Woolf herself? Or, was fiction and reality still two completely different threads for Woolf in the 1920s?

Someone else will die. It should be a greater mind than Clarissa's; it should be someone with sorrow and genius enough to turn away from the seductions of the world, its cups and its coats.

This is a multi-layered story, with enough allusions to merit a thesis of sorts. I'm still left flabbergasted as to how much I loved this book, and how little justice (if any) I've done to its genius with my extremely trite review. What leaves me really puzzled is, how on earth did the author pack in so much in just 226 pages? Details, amazing descriptions, incredible characterisations and an enthralling storyline of three complex women, while simultaneously reworking one of the greatest classics of the last century, Cunningham's book is pure gold.

Waterstone's Books Of The Decade

As some of you may already know, I was quite disillusioned with the top 20 books that defined the noughties, according to The Telegraph website. Yep, I know that was a list of books that defined the noughties, as opposed to being the best books of the decade, but, it still left a lot to be desired. While at Waterstones the other day (no book-buying, if I may add, ever so proudly), I picked up their leaflet Waterstone's Books Of The Decade 2000-2009. I was fully prepared to throw it at someone in angst, but, was pleasantly surprised, and hence, thought I'd share it with the rest of you.

Note: this list isn't in any order - just top fifty books. Nothing more. Nothing less.

1. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher - Kate Summerscale {2008}
2. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz {2007}
3. The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid {2007}
4. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini {2007}
5. Half Of A Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie {2006}
6. Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney {2006}
7. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert {2006}
8. The Secret - Rhonda Byrne {2006}
9. The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne {2006}
10. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins {2006}
11. A Short History Of Tractors in Ukraine - Marina Lewycka {2005}
12. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro {2005}
13. Arthur and George - Julian Barnes {2005}
14. Untold Stories - Alan Bennett {2005}
15. No Country For Old Men - Cormac McCarthy {2005}
16. The Secret River - Kate Grenville {2005}
17. Freakanomics - Stephen Levitt {2005}
18. *Runaway - Alice Munro {2004}
19. Small Island - Andrea Levy {2004}
20. Wolfbrother - Michelle Paver {2004}
21. The Master - Colm Toibin {2004}
22. Suite Française - Irene Nemirovsky {2004}
23. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell {2004}
24. *Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama {2004}
25. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver {2003}
26. Inkheart - Cornelia Funke {2003}
27. *The Bookseller Of Kabul - Asne Seierstad {2003}
28. A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson {2003}
29. Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss {2003}
30. *Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi {2003}
31. *Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts {2003}
32. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters {2002}
33. *Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides {2002}
34. The Crimson Petal And The White - Michael Faber {2002}
35. If Nobody Speaks Of Remarkable Things - Alice Munro {2002}
36. Everything Is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer {2002}
37. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold {2002}
38. Atonement - Ian McEwan {2001}
39. Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman {2001}
40. *Austerlitz - W.G. Sebald {2001}
41. Carter Beats The Devil - Glen David Gold {2001}
42. Life Of Pi - Yann Martel {2001}
43. The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen {2001}
44. It's Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong {2001}
45. *True History Of The Kelly Gang - Peter Carey {2000}
46. The Human Stain - Philip Roth {2000}
47. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell {2000}
48. *Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon {2000}
49. *The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood {2000}
50. *White Teeth - Zadie Smith {2000}

So, I've only read seventeen of them, and have about ten of them on my TBR/wishlist (the ones preceded with an "*"). There's no Big Brother celebrity, no Ashley Cole, and no Twilight! Only 22 books overlap with the Telegraph's Top 100. Looks like, unfortunately, the books that defined the decade weren't actually the best books of the decade (guess there'll be no arguments there).

At least, after seeing the above list, my faith in the 2000s has been restored a little bit.

David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas

In January 2009, I was introduced to the wonderful world of David Mitchell by a friend, who lent me the surreal number9dream - a book I absolutely loved. She proceeded to lend me Cloud Atlas next, and it's been sitting abandoned on my unread shelf for about a year now, as I've been reluctant to pick it up for a myriad of reasons - book bloggers everywhere rave about it calling it a favourite, it's considerably chunky at 529 pages, and, well, it's Mitchell's most acclaimed book yet. Anyhow, I finally picked it up about a week back, and rode the long roller-coaster that is this book - it's a heck of a ride, you're almost begging for it to finish (as, all said and done, it is a difficult book to read), but when you eventually do turn the last page, you want to experience it all over again.

The book comprises of six independent stories, that span centuries and the atlas, of which five are told in "halves," revolving around the central tale of the post-apocalyptic future, where humans are living as savages, after The Fall. In the first set of "halves", which goes chronologically, each story is read/seen by a character in the subsequent one. In the second set, the stories start moving backwards, so the characters end up reading/seeing the story that follows. Hence, the opening chapter of the book (the first incomplete half-story) is completed in the last chapter.

The common theme that runs through the book is the presence of a "comet-shaped birthmark" - a distinction present in the protagonist of each story. Does this suggest reincarnation? The existence of the soul across generations? Or, is that merely coincidental?

Souls cross ages like clouds cross skies, an’ tho’ a cloud’s shape nor hue nor size don’t stay the same it’s still a cloud an’ so is a soul. Who can say where the cloud's blowed from or who the soul'll be 'morrow?

The Pacific Journals of Adam Ewing {1850s} : A journal written by an American notary in the Pacific, who befriends an English surgeon as well as a stowaway Moriori. This story is cut off mid-sentence (and comes together nicely as the last chapter)...

Letters from Zedleghem {1931} : A young aspiring bankrupt composer, Robert Frobisher, goes to Belgium to apprentice with a famous composer, hoping to make some easy money, and simultaneously finding some success. Here, he discovers The Pacific Journals in the library...

Not only are there some romantic (and otherwise) twists in the tale, but, as Frobisher details his life in the Belgian estate to an old friend, Sixsmith (in the form of letters), the reader is introduced to Frobisher's biggest work, revolutionary or gimmicky: The Cloud Atlas Sextet.

Half Lives : The First Luisa Rey Mystery {1970s} : We move across the pond for this one, where Luisa Rey is a journalist, and is focusing on a big expose on the Swannekke Island Nuclear Plant in California. Sixsmith is the scientist who gave her the lead for the story, and in time, she reads the letters written to him by Frobisher. Luisa, trying to follow in her father's footsteps, seems to be hellbent on justice (consequentialism), even if it is at the expense of her own life.

The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish {present-day} : The focus shifts to present-day United Kingdom, where Timothy Cavendish is a struggling not-so-moral publisher, but, when he is tricked into admitting himself in an old-age home, with no way out, he starts trying to figure out the best way to escape, which leads to more trouble for him. A manuscript of The First Luisa Rey Mystery was sent to him by an author, and he's contemplating publishing it...

An Orison of Somni 451 {near future} : In this dystopia, where fabricants are slaves to purebloods, Somni 451 has ascended, and managed to develop her own personality, by acquiring immense knowledge. It's a story about the struggle of powers, the violence that emerges and the unfortunate state of things as they stand. She's not a partaker though, merely an observer, who recites her life-story to an Archivist. She was watching the film of Timothy Cavendish, when she was taken away...

Sloosha’s Crossin’ an’ Ev’rythin’ After {Post-apocalyptic future} : Zach'ry is the protagonist here, in a civilisation that considers Somni god, and Ol' Georgie the devil. Zach'ry and his family are savages, in awe of the Smarts, believing that the Soul either reincarnates or gets set to stone. Technology is a myth in this civilisation, and, the people mainly herd goats or the like, living in tribes in forests, fearing invasion and power struggles by the terrifying Kona.

This book is immense - the writing style in each of the stories changes significantly, so much so that they read as completely different stories : from Victorian formal english, peppered with ampersands and other shorthands, to pidgin english which I personally found quite annoying to read. However, each style seems to reflect the age it it set in, appropriately, as well as, the structure of each story seems to be similar to its genre. For example, the Luisa Rey mystery is written in numerous short chapters, much like an airport thriller, whereas, the post-apocalyptic narration is written as a rather long rant.

The common theme that binds these stories together soars above and beyond the comet-shaped birthmark. It's a story about power, domination, and the ultimate quest to rule. The stories stress on the selfishness of people, and how ultimately, this will lead to the inevitable apocalypse.

Yes, the devil shall take the hindmost until the foremost is the hindmost. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.

While I enjoyed this book, parts of the stories just didn't grab me, and I was left quite unsure as to what's going on, and how these stories are inter-linked together. Why isn't it just a book of short stories? A much less author might have done that... or, attempted six different novels, with completely different themes. However, Mitchell, managed to tie most of the loose ends together, and left me questioning my own existence, and the power of one individual. It's an ambitious work, but, in my opinion, Mitchell's managed to pull it off surprisingly well.

Haruki Murakami - A Wild Sheep Chase

The amazing thing about Murakami's books is, you never know what you're going to get - when that bridge between reality and surrealism will get crossed, and, what avenues the surrealism will take. Past experiences with Murakami have also taught me that the story is not going to be like anything I've read before. Experience is a great teacher. A Wild Sheep Chase, originally published in the early 1980s, is literally the story about a young man (who is a partner at an ad agency and PR firm) and his girlfriend's (a girl with the most sensual ears) quest to find a sheep - not just any sheep, but a sheep with a star on its back; a sheep that, by all rights, shouldn't exist in Japan, where all sheep breeds have always been monitored and documented closely. You could say that their search is a metaphorical wild goose chase, but....

So, what's special about the sheep with the star on its back? Well, he's this omnipotent super-intelligent power, that takes over human beings, and makes them immense despite their innate mediocrity. However, when the sheep's finished using one person, it leaves the body, in search for its next target, leaving the previous inhabitant sheepless.

In the story, the sheep had inhabited inside the right-wing Boss, a character who sat at top of the Tokyo food chain. Boss was mediocre; there was nothing special about him, until the sheep took over, and made him the single power that controlled almost all the advertising, stock markets and even information services in Tokyo. In 1936, Boss had been diagnosed with a fairly large brain tumour, which hadn't killed him - the miracle lay in him still being alive! Now, sheepless, the boss is at the brink of death, and his right-hand man manages to corner the book's narrator to search for the sheep, so that the Boss can be effectively replaced at the top, and the network built over the years will not disintegrate into nothing. The narrator does attempt putting a feeble fight, when he's cornered, but, the rest, as they say, is history.

Nor do you know where you stand. Now listen, I thought it over last night. And it struck me. What have I got to feel threatened about? Next to nothing. I broke up with my wife, I plan to quit my job today, my apartment is rented, and I have no furnishings worth worrying about. By way of holdings, I've got maybe two million yen in savings, a used car, and a cat who's getting on in years. My clothes are all out of fashion, and my records are ancient. I've made no name for myself, have no social credibility, no sex appeal, no talent. I'm not so young anymore, and I'm always saying dumb things that I later regret. In a word, to borrow your turn of phrase, I am an utterly mediocre person. What have I got to lose? If you can think of anything, clue me in, why don't you?

And yes, that's the narrator for you! You might have noticed I haven't used any names - just references - and that's because Murakami himself doesn't use any names in the books.

The book is a timeless universal one, where the narrator could have as easily been running an ad agency in the States, as in London, as in... well, Tokyo! Quoting Murakami:

There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why, 95 percent of the information that reaches you has already been preselected and paid for.

The journey taken by the nameless narrator and his girlfriend takes them to places far and remote, where the population is in the thousands. They meet plenty of fascinating people referred to as the Sheep Professor - someone who was once inhabited by the sheep, but is now sheepless, and has devoted the rest of his life searching for the sheep; the Sheep Man - a person who is half-sheep, half-man; and Rat - an old friend of the narrator, who actually lands the narrator in his present situation.

While the narrator undergoes a physically challenging and mentally exhausting journey (peppered with sex, cigarettes, alcohol, and Sherlock Holmes), the reader embarks on a philosophical journey, in order to determine what the search is actually for. What does the sheep symbolise? Totalitarian power? The devil? And, what is the sheep searching for, that makes him constantly discard people and occupy others? Sufficient weakness to takeover, and turn the victim's weaknesses into a thing of the past? And, what will the outcome of this search be? Will sheep end up ruling the world, by occupying people, through their supreme intelligence?

Murakami's casual style of writing, filled with modern day references and thought-provoking allegories makes for a good read. Add to that the surrealism, the randomness, and the incredibly fascinating characters, and the good read becomes and extremely captivating one.

Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway

Claire {@ kissacloud} and three friends are doing a Woolf In Winter read-along. The first book they're tackling is Mrs. Dalloway, and it's being hosted by Sarah {@ what we have here is a failure to communicate}. I picked up the Vintage classic last year, while idly browsing a second hand book store, and have since been extremely ambivalent about it - mostly because I've never read a book by Virginia Woolf, and I have an inexplicable fear of the unknown, specially when it comes to much-acclaimed classics. Mrs. Dalloway is probably the most difficult novel I've ever read. And, I'll go out on a limb and say it's probably (one of) the most difficult book(s) I'll ever read.

Woolf's meanderings is essentially a stream-of-consciousness-style narrative to provide an insight into the lives of a few Londoners, including the protagonist: Clarissa Dalloway, who is preoccupied with the last minute details of a party she is to give that evening. Yet, the book digresses between reality, flashbacks as well as imaginary visions of the characters, and these digressions are helped greatly by the complete absence of chapters, so that the reader is left trying to figure out which character's on centre-stage at any given point in time, and how their story fits in the grand scheme of things, the grand finale, the party.

Set in London, a few years after the first World War, Mrs. Dalloway unsurprisingly starts off with the spotlight on the protagonist herself, the wife of a politician, who is planning to throw a party. Yet, as the book progresses, and the clock on the Big Ben ticks, the spotlight falls on a myriad of characters including Peter Walsh, an ex-boyfriend of Mrs. Dalloway, who has just come back to London, and brings back old memories; Septimus Smith, a war veteran, who seems disconnected from the story, as he slips into insanity, haunted by the ghost of one of his friends who died during the war; doctors who attempt treating Smith; his worried wife, Rezia; Mrs. Dalloway's daughter Elizabeth, and Mrs. Dalloway's enemy, Miss. Kilman.

The story, in real terms, lasts just one day, but, with the many different perspectives that Woolf weaves in, it seems to last a lifetime (in a good way). It's sensitive, philosophical even, giving an insight into human nature as we don't really know it, but, emphasising, ever so subtly, on the appreciation of life, and the eventuality of death.

So, he was deserted. The whole world was clamouring: Kill yourself, kill yourself, for our sakes. But why should he kill himself for their sakes? Food was pleasant; the sun hot; and this killing oneself, how does one set about it, with a table knife, uglily, with floods of blood - by sucking a gaspipe?

It's a relatively short novel, at 172 pages. However, it took me over five hours to finish it, and all my concentration. There were sentences about fourteen lines long, there were connotations long-winded and intense, there were provoking thoughts that stayed on, long after you'd flipped the page. Yes, Mrs. Dalloway's primary preoccupation was with the party, and exulting in life's wake. She had married a man she presumably didn't love as much as she loved someone else. Yet, her character is anything but superficial, flawed with merits - or, should that be meritorious with flaws?

She muddled Armenians with Turks; loved success; hated discomfort; must be liked; talked oceans of nonsense; and to this day, ask her what the Equator was, and she did not know.

All the same that one day should follow another; Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday; that one should wake up in the morning; walk in the park; meet Hugh Whitbread; then suddenly in came Peter; then these roses; it was enough. After that, how unbelievable death was! - that it must end; and no one in the whole world would know how she had loved it all; how every instant...

The other thing I loved about this book was it's glimpses into London in the early 1900s. I thought that Woolf captured the heart and soul of central London beautifully (this book is mostly based in and around Westminster), and I actually felt that I was accompanying the characters, as they ambled the streets, or rode the Omnibus, or napped in Regents Park, or, for that matter, enjoyed the hustle-bustle at the Strand.

I am really pleased that I read this book, and I will be seeking another Woolf book sometime in the future, albeit, I don't think I can do four Woolfs in eight weeks - it's seriously hard work! Hats off to all those of you who are! Claire {@ Paperback Reader} and Rachel {@ Book Snob} recommended reading Michael Cunningham's The Hours after reading Woolf's masterpiece. Subsequently, I'll be reading it later this month.

Thanks to Claire {kissacloud}, Sarah {what we have here is a failure to communicate}, Emily {evening all afternoon} and Frances {Nonsuch Book} for hosting this wonderful read-along.

J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix {Audio Book}

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth book in the popular Harry Potter series. I've read the book thrice: when it first came out, before the release of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price, and of course, prior to the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, hitting the stores. One of my friends insisted I hadn't lived until I heard the Harry Potter audio books, and she proceeded to lend me six of the seven.

Needless to say, I was a tad bemused when I imported this to iTunes, and saw that the audio spanned twenty-eight hours. Reading the book took about seven hours. Four times more for the audiobook? However, I did finish it in five days, and, I enjoyed every second of it.

Stephen Fry narrated the story, and he did a marvellous job! He handled the emotions, the voices and the arias scenes incredibly, and actually brought J.K. Rowling's book to life. My imagination was running wild with his narration, and I was totally floored. What made the experience even better was, a couple of hours into the book, and I could actually pinpoint the voices, without having to wait for the "Hermione said quietly", or "Harry groaned" which ends most of Rowling's dialogues. Maybe reading the book helped with that, but, I was still impressed.

Order of the Phoenix takes off where Goblet of Fire ended, and the content of the book is much more mature, and significantly darker. At the end of Goblet of Fire, The Dark Lord rises again, and his followers, the Death Eaters rush to serve him again. Harry battles him, and somehow manages to survive - again! He returns to Hogwarts, and breaks the news to everyone, before school ends for the summer holidays.

In Order of the Phoenix, Harry is stuck with his Muggle family, with no word from the wizarding world whatsoever. He subscribes to the newspaper, Daily Prophet, but the front page is always bland and doesn't mention the return of Lord Voldemort at all. Even worse, the letters he's sent by his friends are superficial, with no real news about what's going on. And then - one night, his cousin and he are attacked by Dementors, who he manages to drive away, using an advanced spell. What follows is a note from the Ministry of Magic, saying Harry has been expelled from school, due to practicing magic outside school premises. Soonafter, this is rescinded, and instead, Harry has to appear for a hearing, which will deem whether he's expelled or not.

Within a few days, some Aurors (wizards who fight dark arts) come to pick up Harry and take him to his godfather's place, which is also the headquarters for The Order Of The Phoenix - a secret organisation that fights the Dark Arts, and protects the innocent who might be the target of the Dark Lord. When Harry arrives there, he is informed that the Ministry is turning a blind eye to the return of You-Know-Who, and instead, trying to undermine the efforts of Dumbledore - the only wizard that Voldemort has ever feared - as well as discredit Harry.

Despite the Ministry's best efforts, Harry is cleared of all charges, and returns to Hogwarts, to find that the Ministry has decided to impose its authority on the school as well - employing Dolores Umbridge as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. In my opinion, Umbridge might be one of the most villainous characters in the Harry Potter series (and, in fact, in children's literature). In fact, she makes Miss Trunchbull from Matilda seem angelic!

Not only is Umbridge the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but she is also the High Inquisitor, and with help from the Ministry, passes new rules and regulations, which essentially gives her supreme dictatorial power over every teacher and student at Hogwarts bar Dumbledore.

Harry is miserable back at school, due to the new changes, and tries to find happiness in the smallest things - which, Umbridge revokes one by one. Being the year of their OWL examinations, academic pressure is high as well, and of course, there is the small matter of Harry's scar hurting, and the teenager feeling the same emotions as Voldemort - and, even seeing some of the things that Voldemort does. As per every Harry Potter book, a battle scene is mandatory at the end, and Harry and his friends are forced to take on the Death Eaters and Voldemort once more... with the added pleasure of dealing with Professor Umbridge.

As I've said before, this book is far darker than any of its predecessors. Not only in terms of the magical world, but, also, in terms of the dictatorial regime that seems to be cast over the whole wizarding world. When Harry gives an interview to a newspaper, recounting the events of the previous year, he is handed with a week's worth of detention. Free speech isn't allowed, apparently. Not only that, but, the newspaper is banned from the school premises and, Umbridge has threatened severe action if she sees anyone with the newspaper. All societies, teams, groups, and organisations that have more than three students needs to be signed off by Umbridge - including the Gryffindor quidditch team. And, when Harry gets into a spat with Malfoy, who insults the Weasleys as well as his dead mother, Harry is the one who bears the brunt of the punishment, while Malfoy walks away scot-free.

The fear of losing power (to Dumbledore) is what keeps the Ministry going - not the welfare and safety of the "subjects" of their kingdom. Spies are everywhere, and, no one knows who to is trustworthy, and who will turn out to be a sneak. It looks like Voldemort has successfully managed dividing the wizarding community, without even trying, and at the end of the day, that's the kind of thing he does best : divide, conquer, rule.

Rating : A+ {for Stephen Fry's narration}

Top Twenty Books That Defined The Noughties

The Telegraph has done a feature on the hundred books that defined the noughties. I'm listing the top twenty here: 20. Schott’s Original Miscellany - Ben Schott

19. Snow - Orhan Pamuk

18. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

17. Madoff: the Man Who Stole $65 billion - Erin Arvedlund

16. The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith

15. Samuel Pepys - Claire Tomalin

14. Boyhood / Youth / Summertime - J.M. Coetzee

13. 9/11 Commission Report - WW Norton

12. Jade: My Autobiography - Jade Goody

11. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell

10. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

9. Atonement - Ian McEwan

8. White Teeth - Zadie Smith

7. The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano

6. Being Jordan - Katie Price

5. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

4. A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius - David Eggars

3. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

2. Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling

Am I the only one really depressed after seeing this list? Tabloid celebrities. Big Brother stars. 9/11. The Financial Crisis. And, Dan Brown. Are those the highlights of the last ten years? The things the noughties will be most remembered for?

I haven't read all the books on the list, but, surely, Dan Brown doesn't deserve to feature there. And, despite enjoying the Stieg Larsson, does it really merit a place in the top twenty books that defined this decade? I loved Summertime to bits, but, if a Coetzee has to be on the list, why isn't it Disgrace, or Diary Of A Bad Year. In fact, I would've thought the latter would be the default choice.

I know there's going to be a lot of debate about Harry Potter taking the number one spot, but, considering the raves, the queues, the anticipation and the waiting lines for the final book of the series, I'll go out on a limb and say I can't complain. At least, it's not Twilight (which is on the list, at 32).

The only book I've read in the above list, which hasn't taken me completely by surprise and horror is Ian McEwan's Atonement. I hope the tens (is that what this decade is going to be called?) ends with more substance...

I mean....

• Cormac McCarthy's The Road is at 52
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half Of A Yellow Sun is at 62
• David Vise's The Google Story is at 64 - Google and Apple have defined this decade in terms of technology! Madoff makes it to the top twenty, Google doesn't?
• Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram is at 69
• Ed Husain's The Islamist is at 73 - a story about a young extremist doesn't make it to the top fifty in the decade of 9/11 and 7/7?

What books define the decade for you? Do you agree with the above list?

Terry Pratchett - Equal Rites

Terry Pratchett's Equal Rites is the third book of the Discworld series, and, it's the first Discworld book that I have read. Equal Rites explores the world where women cannot be wizards, and men cannot be witches. However, when a dying wizard visits a blacksmith, things in the wizarding world are about to change. The blacksmith is the eighth son, and his wife is about to give birth to their eighth son - perfect for the dying wizard to pass on his staff. Granny Weatherwax, a central character, who helps bring the baby into world, takes the baby to the smith, who makes it grab the staff. The old wizard dies, but, what the smith failed to realise is, the newborn baby blessed with magical wizard powers is a girl!

For the first eight years of her life, the girl, Eskarina, shows no sign of magical powers. Once she inadvertently turns her brother into a pig, Esk's parents, under Granny's advice, decide that she needs to go to the Unseen University - a University where girls are not allowed, as female wizards are against the lore! There, and only there, will she be trained to practice magic responsibly.

Esk, of course had not been trained, and it is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you are attempting can't be done. A person ignorant of the possibility of failure can be a half-brick in the path of the bicycle of history.

With the staff giving her the power, Esk takes on the journey through the hills, towns, rivers and valleys of Discworld, to find her place in a man's world, against all odds. With all the child-like rebellion in the world, and the obstinacy, Esk runs away from Granny, attempts finding her own path, but, at the end of the day, she needs Granny's help to take her places she wants to go, to ensure she fulfils her destiny - to become a wizard.

Not only does this book tackle the equal rights debate quite effectively, but what makes it thoroughly charming is Esk's character coupled with Granny's attitude. Esk, brimming with innocence as well as impulsiveness, is a great character, and her adventures are wildly entertaining. Granny, on the other hand, is careful and protective of Esk, while having some of the most humorous lines in the story, and all-in-all, making the reader wish they actually knew her! Oh, and the town the story is set in is called Bad Ass. It can't get much better, can it?

This book can easily be read as a standalone, as it doesn't really refer to any previous on-goings.

Rating : B+

Toni Morrison - A Mercy

I finished this book over two weeks ago, and have been struggling to write the review ever since. I honestly hoped I wouldn't have to drag it into the new year, but there you have it... This is the first Toni Morrison I've read, and I started the book with great trepidation. I've heard phenomenal things about Toni Morrison, and I was intimidated... unsure of what to expect. I really hoped I'd enjoy the book, and it would make me go out and buy more books by Morrison instantaneously, but unfortunately, I was left feeling fairly indifferent. I didn't like the book. I didn't dislike the book... and I'm not accustomed to having that kind of a reaction to a book - especially as I've mulled over it for about two weeks!

A reasonably short book (almost a novella), A Mercy is the story set in the 17th century, and provides insight into the life and times of four women living under Jacob Vaark's roof, prior to slavery becoming commonplace. Vaark is a Dutch trader, who has a farm in rural America, and he gets Florens (a young slave girl) as payment for a bad debt. Rebekka (his wife from England), Lina (a Native American who survived small pox, and now runs the farm), and Sorrow (another servant, who survived a shipwreck, and is grossly incompetent) make up the other three women.

The book starts with Florens' first person narrative, as she leaves the farm in search of the blacksmith, who has medical expertise - expertise needed to save the life of her mistress, Rebekka. However, Florens' primary reason for finding the blacksmith is her unequivocal love for him.

The narrative of each chapter  focuses on one or the other of the female characters (as well as Vaark). We hear their story, determine their origins, and figure out their co-dependencies on each other, as well as their insecurities. Be it Rebekka's ambivalence when she first arrives, and see that Lina runs the farm, or Lina's annoyance with Sorrow's lack of commitment to the jobs at hand; be it Lina's overprotectiveness about Florens, or Florens' desire to wear shoes - just like a lady!

There are multiple layers; a multitude of relationships and emotions explored; events of historical significance weaved into the story. However, I found the book lacking depth, and the characters to be fairly two-dimensional. There was a lot packed into the book, and I found that I couldn't relate to them. Frankly speaking, I didn't really care much about them... other than Florens. The opening chapter had me fascinated, and I found the final chapter to be redeeming, to an extent. But - can a book really tick with just two chapters, and some other captivating events?

Maybe I didn't get the book. Maybe it's just too intelligent for me. Or maybe, it's not one of Morrison's better works. I don't know - it's the first Morrison I've read! Would you recommend trying out another book by the much acclaimed Toni Morrison? Okay, that was a rhetorical question. The main question is: which one?

Rating : C

Junot Diaz - The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao

The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao won the Pultizer Prize for Fiction in 2008. The protagonist, Oscar, is an overweight American boy (with Dominican roots), who aspires to be the next Tolkien. His interests include writing passionately, role-playing games, comic books, sci-fi and fantasy, and of course, women. However, one bad experience with his first love meant his adolescent nerdliness vaporising any iota of a chance he had for young love. He lives in New Jersey with his demanding difficult-to-please mother, Belicia, and his rebellious punk sister, Lola.  While the protagonist of this book is Oscar, it's narrated by Yunior - Oscar's roommate from college, as well as a love interest of Lola. Also, this is not a book about "the brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao" - instead, it's an epic story of the curse (fukú) that Oscar's family has been subject to, for the past two generations, in the hands of Trujillo, a dictator in the Dominican Republic in the mid-1900s.

This is a book rich in history, cultural references and social comparisons.

That's white people for you. They lose a cat and it's an all-points bulletin, but we Dominicans, we lose a daughter and we might not even cancel our appointment at the salon.

We learn of the hardships the family has faced, the co-incidental misfortunes that have befallen each of the members, the lucklessness and hopelessness that seems to embrace all the characters, and how everything is ascribed to fukú - its only counterspell being zafa - which, the narrator admits, that the book might be.

I wonder if this book ain't a zafa of sorts. My very own counterspell.

More importantly, the book is an insight into the harsh rule of Trujillo, a man who

took your wife houses, your properties, put your pops and your moms in jail. Well, it was because he wanted to f- the beautiful daughter of the house. And your family wouldn't let him!

So, despite the fukú that Oscar is under, the past overshadows his present, and the importance of the migration to the States, as well as the hardships his mother has undergone is the predominant story. Oscar's presence, in the grand scheme of things, is "brief" and debatably "wondrous".

Yunior (the narrator) speaks (writes) in colloquial english, with Dominican words and phrases scattered throughout the narrative. All the historical references are accompanied with footnotes, to give context to the events that occur, and this makes the book more real, more interesting, and ultimately, more thought-provoking. I don't know much about Dominican history, and I haven't read any book about DR before. Reading this book has actually been an informative and enriching experience. Dare I say, even wondrous?

The only problem I had with the book was some of the Dominican phrases/words that were left unexplained. I could more-or-less guess what was being said, but, in some cases, I wasn't sure at all. Additional footnotes might have been handy there, if including those references in the main text would break the flow.

Rating: B

Reading in 2010

Happy New Year, everyone. Have a fantastic year ahead, where wishes come true, and disappointments are a thing of the past! Considering my year has started with me realising my beloved laptop (which has been the only constant in my life for the past three years) is on the verge of dying, I'm getting a little ambivalent about the new year already! Oh well... I won't dwell on that.

Reading Goals

Of course, with a new year comes new challenges and new reading goals... well, for me, at least. Last year, I really wanted to complete hundred books, and I ended the year on eighty-seven (a couple of backdated reviews coming up). While I'm marginally disappointed by that, I figure I can rectify it this year, so wish me luck! I know, I know, it's quality, not quantity. However, don't worry - I'm not going to compromise on the quality of books I read to reach a grand total!

The other big thing for me this year is going to be a self-imposed book-buying ban 'til I've gotten the number of unread books on my shelf to a respectable ten. At the moment, I possess about thirty-eight books I haven't read, and that's way too many (I think, anyway). If I include the books borrowed from friends, the total goes up to forty-two. Ouch.

Challenges

I'm not planning on joining a multitude of challenges this year, but will hopefully join a couple of "meaningful" challenges. Like last year, I'll also be looking to do at least fifteen books written by authors who don't belong to English-speaking countries.

Also, I've joined the The Complete Booker Challenge which I'm quite looking forward to, as the Booker Prize is my favourite book award. As per usual, I hope to read some more award-winning books as well, and if they're as immense as some of the books I read in 2009, I'll be ecstatic.

Finally, I'll be trying to cross off more books from the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die list. Last year, I read a total of sixteen books from this list. Matching or exceeding that would be pretty amazing.

Reading Plans for January

So, that brings me to what I intend to read in the first month of the year... well, here goes:

I know it's already been said, but, one can never say it enough : Happy New Year! And have a fantastic reading year ahead!