[Book Review] Paper Towns

John Green's romantic adventure novel "Paper Towns" is an adventure to nowhere. This fictional novel has been adapted to movie version by the same name and stars Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff.

The cover page is really attractive with a red tack pinned on a map. The whole idea of the book is depicted on the cover page. Truth be told, the book's cover page made me read this novel.

"Paper Towns" is about a boy named Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and his search for Margo Roth Spiegelman; who goes missing after an adventurous night of revenge. Following some unintentional clues, Q and his friends manage to find Margo in a paper town. Slowly, Q realises that Margo is nothing like he imagined.

Q is a likeable teenager who tries to satisfy everyone's needs while Margo is independent, self sufficient and adamant in her own way. Q's friend Radar is an interesting one. I really liked him and his family's Black Santa tradition. Radar is the powerhouse of knowledge with his online Wikipedia called Omnictionary. I was not at all impressed by Margo's attitudes. She was like a stump; standing only to attract a feeble and innocent boy like Q and dragging him to an utter mess of an impractical adventure.

I personally felt that the book had a strong plot and it was well constructed till the end. The theme being that 'the image we create for someone is never that person'; is really an intense one. It could have had a better and deeper impact if it was developed a bit more well. The ending was wobbly and quite impractical. I mean how can a high school girl live alone in a big city without neither a job nor a house? If these are plotholes then there sure are lots of them. Their final amicable departure was nice but I felt like I was missing something. I'm not saying that the book was a complete mess; it was fun to read and join clues which were never meant to be clues at all. After reading John Green's 'The Fault in Our Stars", I expected a bit out of this one (because of its great cover and all) but I am disappointed. The only part I loved in this book was Q's ride with his friends to reach Agloe. The hour division of that chapter till they reached Agloe had a young vibrancy and joy. Overall, it was not great but not completely hopeless either.

[Book Review] Chemmeen

T. S Pillai's masterpiece "Chemmeen" is a mesmerising seaside story. "Chemmeen" is a realistic fictional tragedy which focuses on the lifestyle of early fishermen folk in Kerala, the southern part of India. Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's "Chemmeen" is the first Malayalam novel to win Sahitya Akademi award. The English version has been translated by Anita Nair and the translation is simple yet beautiful to read.

This book had been made into a Malayalam movie by the same name. The cover page of the book is still from the "Chemmeen" movie. The malayalam actress Sheela who portrays the character 'Karuthamma' is seen holding earthen pots on a sea shore. She is in her fisherwoman dress and she seems to gaze at someone or something.

The story revolves around Karuthamma, a fisherman's daughter destined to marry a fisherman of her same caste and religion. When Pareekutty, a Muslim fisherman helps her family, Karuthamma couldn't help herself from falling into the forbidden love. Little did Karuthamma know that fate had other plans for her. "Chemmeen" is a story about hope and hopeless love.

The vivid description of seashore is striking and the story takes us through the life of the fisher folk. It also elicits how the caste division affects the people. The characters often question the ethics and norms set by the society. The novel has been translated into many languages over the world and is one of the best translated works of Malayalam. Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai brings out the simple story in its brief detailing, but manages to enthral readers from all over the world. I would definitely recommend this book as a one time read. Eventhough this belongs to the tragedy genre and the ending seemed to pull a sudden brake, the plot unfolds beautifully which is guaranteed to entertain all readers.

[Book Review] The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt's widely acclaimed fictional novel "The Goldfinch" bridges into a visual treat through its beautiful and elaborate depiction of each and every scene. This winner of Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014 swings somewhere between suspense thriller and realistic fiction.

The partially visible goldfinch peeking through the torn part of a realistic looking paper is attractive enough to grab your attention. The use of charcoal chalk font brings out the fact that this book is something related to paintings. The paperback cover feels so smooth to touch that I instantly fell in love with this one. This sophisticated cover manages to cover up the slightly ugly truth that it is a large book (more than 800 pages). I guarantee you that it is uncomfortable to read as much uncomfortable as it looks because managing heavy books lying on bed is a challenge I never came to overcome. With all that said, let's move onto the novel.

In a nutshell, Theo Decker is a devoted son of an equally devoted mother who is admired by everyone. When Theo loses his mother at a terrorist attack in an art gallery, he manages to gain the painting of Carel Fabritius's The Goldfinch which draws him to a series of events and into a complex stressed lifestyle. The journey of Theo through these events gives him the definition of life and living.

Theo is a careful, innocent character while his friend Boris is a complete opposite package. He is carefree, mischievous and flirty. Eventhough they are different in many ways, they also share many common interests. Theo is a likeable character with whom we can relate to the most. Donna Tartt gave us a vivid picture of each character and their interests. 

Donna Tartt strikes the right chord with the usage of elaborate language as this is a first person narrative. Her concentration on details and description is like hearing the words which Theo thinks. Many of the references and similarities are often quite interesting to relate to. The one major problem of this book is that it gets unbearably boring at some part into the book that I felt like putting it back on my bookshelf. Overall, it's a not such a bad read but not a must read. To wrap it up, "The Goldfinch" is a novel focusing on every bit of detail as possible and if you like paintings, drugs and furniture making, then you might want to grab this one.