Review: Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient And The Past Life Therapy That Changed Both of Their Lives

Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient And The Past Life Therapy That Changed Both of Their Lives by Brian L. Weiss
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: A true story of a counseling session of hypnosis opening up the portal to the spiritual realm of reincarnations.

A bit confused on how to put down the review here. There is the concept of hypnosis and counseling that opened up the realm of reincarnation for an erudite professional which helped heal a patient. Totally blown away with that as a concept and the touch points with masters and spiritual gateways. Recommended by a good friend to check it out part of a conversation on the topic, the idealist me has always believed in this concept because it can be romanticized by those with creative leanings. The eye opener was the potential scars of today lasting from previous lifetimes and the conscious being since DNA can't survive through. Makes for a great fantasy but if he is trying to sell it from the scientific lens, he doesn't even try hard from that aspect. Most of the book focuses on Dr. Weiss and his thoughts even if it could have been about Caroline's mental state.

Dr. Brian Weiss might be a great psychiatrist but not a good writer as per this book. As a piece of fantasy / fiction, Caroline jumping from lifetime to lifetime makes for exciting premises and how she tries to relate to people across lifetimes make for interesting reading. After a while, It becomes all about Brian Weiss and the routine like Q&A he has with his leading questions and gets too monotonous a framework. I would have loved the book more if I could hear out Caroline's experience of this entire journey and more scientific approach to give it the credibility it was looking for. Else as a fictional piece, the concept was a sure shot best seller.

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Review: Tharoorosaurus

Tharoorosaurus by Shashi Tharoor
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Hooter: Collection of 53 obscure and not so obscure words curated by Shashi Tharoor

This is Shashi Tharoor flexing his brand image as a man of big words especially as obscure as they can get. Quite a few aren't so obscure courtesy him having made them trend on Twitter. The selection of words have been done so to keep current trends and relevance to the Indian English market so probably why you'd have seen / read them. This book could have been a listicle would be my feedback.

Not all have interesting origins which I was hoping for hence making it as humdrum an exercise like reading a telephone directory back to back and most examples of negative usage were in-your-face political jibes at a specific political opponent/ideology.

This book probably works well as a fun gift during Secret Santa but I'd say someone get a listicle up and we are sorted here.

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Review: 1Q84

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: In Japan, an Assassin and a writer are coming to terms with their shifted reality in 1984, terming it as 1Q84 as their lives are seemingly parallel lines which are bound to intersect thanks to a super secret religious commune coming into the mix.

This trilogy needs to be read in one shot as it is a continuation and can't be read stand alone. Cat town and 1Q84 comes to a conclusion with this third book. Murakami springs in a new POV with a lot of focus and to be honest, I wouldnt have minded a spin off with him being a detective because he logically does break it down and draw to the same conclusions we the readers were hinted to through out the storyline so would do a brilliant job at deducing probably not in 1Q84 but maybe in 1984 somewhere.

I missed Fuka-eri ! Her randomness was refreshing even for a Murakami book , instead we had a long drawn out waiting game Bollywood style will the hero and heroine meet or will there be a tragic ending a la Murakami style. Without getting into spoilers because the suspense adds a mild flavour to book 3 which was set up so well with books 1 and 2.

There is nothing Orwellian 1984 about it as Book 1 had hinted at nor is there much about the secret religious organization that Book 2 hinted at but gets a lot more philosophical and completely different theme. I know see how a trilogy made sense because what Murakami has served up is a 3 course meal - none of the courses alone would have whetted your appetite but together, they complete each other, though I would have liked a strong round of desserts to end a satisfying meal.

A lot of threads are closed, a lot more left open for more air chrysallis to be made I guess in this imaginary make believe world and the premise that Murakami set up had a lot more to offer than what he did. Hence I give a 3 for this edition of the book just because my expectations had been set much more higher. As Tengo defines reality - when you prick someone and there is blood, there is a lot left to understand the receiver and perceiver. The hint of sexism continues to be sprinkled all over this book too. Overall though, Murakami manages to connect you with Ponytail and Buzzcut ( them being identified by their physical appearances alone) , side characters to the main plot but get their appropriate air time too which I think has been Murakami's strength.

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Review: 1Q84

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: In Japan, an Assassin and a writer are coming to terms with their shifted reality in 1984, terming it as 1Q84 as their lives are seemingly parallel lines which are bound to intersect thanks to a super secret religious commune coming into the mix.

The second book in the trilogy picks up the pace after the character building exercise of the first book. It fast forwards through a lot of open threads of the religious militant commune and it's Great Leader as Aomame meets him on a secret mission to eliminate him thanks to the dowager. The great leader instead helps open up a lot of mysteries for her . In parallel, sitcking to the story progression in parallel chapters, Tengo our math teacher gets up to date with the story line thanks to Fuka Eri. The tension of these two eternal love birds and will they ever meet continues whilst the Little People get more exposure in this book. Their motives still unclear but their existence has been registered.

The first book focussed on building the environment, the second one has the protagonists coming to terms with it but still a lot more to be answered in the third one. As a lot of folks have rightly mentioned, you can't do these books alone and need to read the trilogy as one big book.

Murakami continues to follow a structure of his own with vivid descriptions, mundane details and a non-conforming story structure along with dialogues. He is mixing up fantasy with realism and drawing a very thin line amongst both. This isn't going down 1984 path which seemed to be the case after book 1 but building a whole new giant world of it's own.

What I have never quite understood is how lightly he treats rape especially underage ones even if as a concept in the book, he explains it isn't so. Dress it in whatever finery you want, underlying sexism is out there for all to see. I get from Book 1 the publisher talking about sex being a critical part of a bestseller and that Murakami draws from real life probably.

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Review: 1Q84

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hooter: In Japan, an Assassin and a writer are coming to terms with their shifted reality in 1984, terming it as 1Q84 as they lives are seemingly parallel lines which are bound to intersect.

Murakami has a very non-linear thought process when describing everyday scenes making it a unique take on everyday stories whilst there is an air of mystery and fantasy that interlays with the reality making you wonder there could be an iota of truth to this unexplained phenomenon. You need to get through the trilogy because at the end of Book 1, you are heavily invested into the characters and the storyline but he literally adds an intermission like a movie that leaves you hanging no better than where you started off.

He follows the journey of two protagonists in alternate chapters keeping you refreshed and on your toes. One who seems to be an assassin and another a writer who will surely intersect at some point in the story. Murakami literally bares the soul of each of the protagonists as he shares their mundane lifestyles gingerly allowing us to really connect with them even when I highly doubt you'd ever meet such an individual in your life. Murakami is prone to adding sex and describing it in the weirdest manner across his book. There are a lot of interesting characters he has introduced so far and how he captures daily life in Japan provides an outsider like me a glimpse into the culture. Noticing oddness in the year, the protagonists decide to call the year 1984 as 1Q84 to mark the shift in reality they feel. Also references to George Orwell's 1984 , a religious sect, Little people as an allegory to Big Brother, there seems to an interesting premise building up.

As a stand alone book, you are only introduced to this world and will have to invest in the entire trilogy (or atleast so I hope) to get closure. Moving on to book 2 to piece this entire story together. Also the book is brandishly slow and big, so assume quite a bit of patience would be required to get through but well worth (or so I hope )

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Review: One Arranged Murder

One Arranged Murder by Chetan Bhagat
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: An Agatha Christie whodunnit with ample helpings of desi tadka.

Chetan Bhagat isn't a literary genius but he knows the pulse of the average Indian aspiring to be part of the English literature milieu. His books while sticking to simple English are always filled with relatable Indian places and concepts starting from his Five Point Someone. This makes his book fast and light reads - sort of like watching sitcoms on TV, you don't walk away with anything new but that was never the plan.

This is him trying his hand at whodunnit murder mysteries as a series focusing on Keshav and Saurabh, this time including Saurabh's fiance Prerna in the mix. Without giving much away if you are looking for a quick read on a lazy Saturday afternoon, you can go about sleuthing but like any Agatha Christie book, expect some twists and turns. I figured the culprit somewhere in the middle of the book, but only got the reason partially as CB threw a few more twists and turns to the mix. He does pretty well on this front and being an Agatha Christie fan, I feel he's done well for himself in attempting that genre. He's also made sure there is enough content for a Bollywood director to feel inspired and convert this onto the big screen with a joint family setting where everyone has a shady past and is suspect. Obviously there is a lot of drama added in the setting of locales around Delhi.

What I am completely clueless about though is the emphasis on weight of some of the characters in the book with repeated references. If he was trying to increase the humour quotient, totally backfired with these juvenile and regressive jokes. There are other ways to make the protagonist unlikeable if that was what he was trying to get at.

Overall, if you need a quick breezy mindless read while waiting for your flight at the airport, this is the book for you.





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Review: Legend of Suheldev: The King Who Saved India

Legend of Suheldev: The King Who Saved India by Amish Tripathi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Hooter: A medieval Indian king fights against all odds to repel the invading forces.

First of all this is a group of ghost writers writing this book under Amish's guidance as per the foreword. Not quite clear what is each one's contribution there. But clearly not the magic Amish Tripathi had put in with his debut. I had no clue about Suheldev prior to this book so that was a great eye opener into Indian history which surprisingly never made it to our history textbooks. All through school always naively assumed Mughals were the only rulers in that time period. So identifying such stories is a great way to reclaim complete knowledge of the country's history.

That said, Amish Tripathi sticks to his formulaic writing hence the novelty has rubbed off from his initial series. Also feels like he is angling towards Bollywood script adaptation inspiration type of writing. Token representation from various faiths to symbolise a secular India fighting together against an invader implies a lot of random characters thrown in randomly to keep the story going. There also has to be a love interest. There are also a lot of modern day references like Gandhi's quotes, the current prevalent political climate and a forced LGBT angle to hopefully trend with the current affairs but not helping the storyline at all.

It's a light read with extremely simple English to cater to the wider population from a commercial perspective and it shows as you find similarities to Chetan Bhagat's style of writing. Am sure we will see a masala potboiler from Bollywood on this soon so you can decided whether you want to read this over a day or watch the same in 2 hour format.

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