Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil


                       Mesmerizing and deeply moving. Jeet Thayil takes you on a ride through the suburban Bombay of late 70's. The story begins and ends with Bombay, the city dreaming troubled dreams, a pile of inexhaustible accumulation of small defeats. A story of Opium with hijras, pimps and fucked up opiates who caress it. His vivid description of Rashid's opium khana, the smoke, the procedure of making opium as if its a religious duty and later how the introduction of  heroin made things bad make the story a wonderful read. Puts u on a dream, a hallucination, makes you feel like you are there right next to Dimple, the hijra, Rumi, the friend, Bengali, the care taker and the author himself.. waiting for your turn to have a drag at the pipe... to cloud  Rashid Bhai.s khana with thick smoke.. to laugh for no reason...to talk about importance and unimportance of religion...to walk on Shuklaji Street which extends till Bombay central, crowded with paan wallas, drug traffickers, pimps, sluts and opiates...to have a look at the brothel numbered 007 and smile.. to smile for one last time before this hallucination gets over. Reluctantly acknowledging the story has come to an end.


                                                                                                          -Nisanth Thomas
                                                                                                           (nisanththomas@gmail.com)

How I braved Anu aunty and co-founded a million dollar company - Varun Agarwal


             When I met this guy Varun at Hindu lit fest in chennai two weeks back I was skeptical about getting his book and reading it. Of course he wasn't an accomplished writer. But yet there was something in the title which made me buy this book, i believe. A crazy title about about a very crazy out of the box business which he started with his friend, Mal (that's what he calls his friend Rohn)

       A neatly narrated book, i should say..hilarious and informative. His anticipatory bail in the prologue about not being a good writer makes it more interesting. Save for the over usage of F- word, the book is a must read for budding Indian entrepreneurs It takes you through his struggles, fantasies and his accomplishments regarding the business. If you are worn out reading all serious stuff..grab this book...sit back..relax and laugh your fat ass out.. oops...!! Varun does leave an impact,you see.

                                                                                                      -Nisanth Thomas

Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

                         Story is about a girl who has down's syndrome who had been given away in her birth, and about her father who tells the wife that the daughter died in infancy. Carrying this secret all his life. Shows the deepest secrets which every family has and how these secrets would finally get revealed on its own. Apart from these two factors, the whole book could be concluded in just one word "trash"!! The book is filled with irrelevant characters and unimportant incidents. Author, just for the sake of making the read more sentimental creates sad incidents which would make the reader just giggle with sarcasm not cry. Any person with sense would find the book extremely boring and scientifically incorrect.

                     One humble request to all the ladies, please avoid this book because it teaches you on how to be infidel. The Mother of the girl, Norah Henry who apparently thinks that her daughter is dead starts sleeping around with all the men who comes across her way and at the same time suspects her husband who happens to be a beloved doctor. Never knew that this is what American wives do when they find that their infant is dead. And also there is a thirteen year old boy who sneaks in his Dad's study and smokes marijuana with his friends.When his dad finds out, he just stays silent and forgives the child. Wonder what would have happened if the Dad had been an Indian..!  Strange world, indeed. Thirteen and grass and in Dad's study...?? you must be kidding me..!! Though the story is about a girl, nothing much is said about her in the novel. She is like a guest, appearing now and then, reminding the readers, " people, read on.. I am still here..somewhere". The book is a collection of poorly crafted incidents which have been intended towards nothing but increasing the volume.

                  Dear Author, bribing book reviewers and making them write its a deeply moving one is utter cheapness and a marketing technique. Your book is dead slow and will make the readers curse themselves for picking it up. Please stop writing and be in some business where you can mint a lot of money. Writing is for the illuminated souls and please do acknowledge this fact. If it had been a best seller its just because you have portrayed all the male characters as good for nothing, selfish pricks who doesn't even utter a word when they catch their wives cheating on them.. Which apparently any woman would love to read.

           My dear friend (who suggested this book to me), u hate me so much is  it ?

                                                                                                     - Nisanth Thomas

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