The Debt to Pleasure- John Lanchester



The challenge with this book is to write about it without repeating the things on the back cover. Or for that matter, the front cover. So here goes.


Tarquin Winot has freshly shaved his head and is on a journey, in disguise-telling why would be a spoiler, from Portsmouth to Provence. He describes his journey and his life through his menus. His is brilliant, highly –learned, darkly funny, deluded (or does he want us to think so?), ironic, super- snobbish and chilling.,

One review claimed he was one of the best characters to come out of England since Dickens put pen to paper and I am inclined to agree.

Brilliant, elegant pro se, steeped in irony. At the same time you can taste and smell the flavours of the food.

Caveat- Too much of the detail in the menu made my eyes glaze over. Perhaps t was just me- most of his dishes were about cooking succulent meat and I am a vegetarian. A word of caution- blink if this happens. Or you will miss something vital about the Sinister Tarquin, his life, his family and his emotions.

Read- This is lemon cheese cake. It’s tart, sweet and then after the lest forkful, you discover it was laced with arsenic.

©Maya

Jaya- An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata- Devdutt Pattanaik

This is yet another retelling of the Mahabharata. Or is? The answer is yes and no. Yes, the core story is the retelling of the epic written by Vyasa. But interest in the book comes from the fact that Pattanaik provides the variations to the incidents in the epic written in other languages, wherever they occur. What is more, he has dug an amazing amount of interesting spin offs and side stories that make the reading very rich. For example do you know Draupadi has five husbands? Do you know she was the super Sati-Savithri Nalayini in one of her previous births? Also that this Nalayini was a very lustful woman who , when granted a boon by her husband, requested that he take different forms and make love to her? Ah, darn. That was a spoiler!


Do you know what Shakuni’s dice were made of? No, don’t Google it- read the book. The story is much more interesting.

What is missing is Pattanaik’s delightful tongue- in-cheek, irreverence. Maybe the epic’s canvas was too large for him to keep to that narrative e style .Or perhaps the tale to sombre?




However, he does make it up by giving a social commentary or perspective on the incidents and places them within the context of the then society and draws out attention to their values, codes and mores.

Read- A must for mythology lovers and maybe even socio-historians.

©Maya

The Shape of Water- Andrea Camilleri



Of all the books, murder mysteries are the hardest to resist. More so if the blurb talks of ‘wit’,’ high-comedy of corruption’, ‘the landscapes of Sicily’, and ‘delicious meals’. I have set you up for the ‘but’; so now I can talk of other things.


The story- Crime- murder of the powerful Luparello, found in a disgraceful condition in a disgraceful part of the town.

The detective- The honest and street smart cop, Mountalbano.

Suspects- None as the corner’s verdict death from natural causes.

The detective smells something fouler than fish and sets on the trail of truth. There are the usual clutch of corrupt officials, false clues and true testimonies. The story is interesting but not great- this is the first but and the second one - final twist is not really a surprise.

The other buts are that the characters are just a shade above stereotypes and the motives are pedestrian. Oh and the book is a bit too, er, earthy for my palate.

Verdict- Definitely not Christie, read if you want a quick, not entirely boring , murder story.

© Maya,

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society- Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows



How could you resist a title like this? I couldn’t and I am glad I succumbed. It was delightful to read an epistolary novel after such a long time. There- that is the first and obvious thing about this reading experience but it needed to be said. Now I can move on.


The bonus is that it is written with wit, elegance and lightly worn erudition.

Briefly- It is 1946 and author Juliet Ashton is in search for a subject for her next book. A chance letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey leads her to the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and its members. Soon Juliet gets involved in the lives of its members and moves to Guernsey, where she finds not only the subject for her next book but also her destiny.

The characters are charming and original- there- I found a good substitute for the over used quirky- and the story is heart warming. This is perhaps one of the rare stories of the war which is about human beings in the war and their everyday life where even the darkness is treated with a light hand.

Read it- This is a book that is filled with hope and joy. It touches you without being maudlin. and you will go back to again and again. I already did.

© Maya

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE- Barbara Kingsolver

What can I say? Congo at the cusp of liberation comes heartbreakingly alive in the hands of the immensely talented Kingsolver. She does it with cleverness as it comes alive through the narrative of the self- centred Rachel, of Leah who years to be daddy’s darling, of Adah who refuses to speak and of the baby of the family Ruth May. Through the narrative it is not just Congo, its history and culture we discover but also the four sisters and their father who never speaks to us directly. The mother, Orleanna speaks to us later and when she does for the first time leaves a smear in our heart and questions in our mind that keep us going until the last page.


In a sentence- it’s a book of tragedies and triumphs, personal and national and a fitting ending. A final thought- Poisonwood Bible could not have been better named.

Read it- it’s brilliant, powerful and you wouldn’t want to miss something that’s definitely going to become a classic.

©Maya

The Monochrome Madonna – Kalpana Swaminathan

There comes a time when the writer you follow, arcs over the curves and rises to a new, higher level, delighting and greatly satisfying the faithful reader. That is what Kalpana Swaminathan does in her new book, the latest in the Lalli Mystery series.


Sita gets a call from her friend, Sitara declaring she is dying. Sita reaches her house to find a body, only it’s not Sitara but a strange man. Who is the man? What was he doing there? Why is Sita drugged? Why is there a Madonna hanging in the living room, that bears Sita’s face and is in monochrome? Why does Ramona turn nasty? And how did Sitara’s gleaming gold toe- nails become plain and grimy? Most importantly who really murdered him? Is Sitara’s husband who she claims he really is?

Swaminathan takes you on a journey that is highly readable; where the tale is well--plotted with a slice of psychology that will satisfy even the most stringent of the readers. The regular Lalli readers will find the characters more finely etched the crime more sophisticated and the narrative more assured. Swaminathan travels from humour to emotional to gritty with ease, keeping the interest hooked to the end.



Read it- one of the best detective books of Indian writing.



©Maya

Salt and Saffron- Kamila Shamsie

                                                                


Shamsie weaves magic with words. Here’s a sample:

“I could mention the spices, so perfectly balanced you could almost see the mustard seed leaning on the fenugreek, the cumin poised on the dried chillies”

And with this delicately poised, evocative prose that is laced with dry wit she weaves such a fine web- about Aliya, her family the Dard-e-Dils, and their family legend that you never notice that it is after all just a love story about falling in love with boys from the other of the tracks. The characters and their eccentricities, the aristocratic society they inhabit, the thin edge of class borders and the bigger boundaries between countries all come alive without burying you under their weight. You close the book with the feel of having had a sumptuous feast.

A fine blend of salt and saffron.

©Maya