And Then There Were None – “Christie, the Queen”

This time I decided to try AgathaChristie, the uncrowned queen of crime thrillers. My first attempt On Christie. 

And I am happy that she didn't put my expectations down.

"And then there are none" is the story of ten total strangers gathering in an island named 'Soldier Island' on invitation from someone named U N Owen. 

They had met her/him at different places and had been friends, the invitation they had received said. To their surprise, they could not recall meeting the person named U N Owen, but could trace a vague idea. 

Perhaps, their subconscious mind fooled them of meeting that person in the past!

None of them could deny the golden opportunity to spend a holiday at exotic 'Soldier Island'. That also without spending a penny from their pocket. 

Of late, the island had been in news in connection with some Hollywood actors, increasing its value multitude.

Reaching there, one by one starts dying back to back. That’s when they realize the invitation was not random, but a perfectly planned one. They were selected by somebody, to eliminate them.

But, who?

Is it one among them?

Or some outsider, who is hiding in the island?

There was no way to get help from the mainland. And they had to investigate the murders by themselves. Their numbers start reducing day by day. 

What will happen to them?

Will anyone survive?  

Read it, to know it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns - PICTURESQUE, but, POINTLESS

Picking up “A thousand splendid suns” from the magician who had created “The kite runner” my hope was sky-high. I expected the book to be as wonderful as his first one. This, very, expectation is the worst thing one can have. It would play dirty tricks with your heart. It will amplify the unsatisfied feeling you have. It will make you believe that you are offered a bowl of rice, when you were expecting a feast.

Apologies, Khaled Hosseini!

He may never read this blog post, but it was my responsibility to apologize to him. As I had failed to keep expectation at bay. Had I not known him, had I not read his debut book, had I not expected anything, I would have definitely enjoyed the book more.

  

Of course, I have enjoyed reading the book. But we are human beings and we want everything MORE. 

The story is narrated in first person through the eyes of two female protagonists Mariyam and Laila. They are not linked with each other, until the book reaches the third section. An incident results in one entering into other’s life. The story changes from there and mostly you would sense what is coming. 

Here, it would not be wrong if a reader feels the incident was inserted. 

Since, nothing much was happening in the book until that point. It certainly was the case with me. I felt the centre portion was sagging and the author was trying to find ways to move it ahead.

Trying to give a meaningful twist. 

The narration was good and descriptions vivid. Being a talented author, Hosseini could describe each scene and incident perfectly. You can see it happening in front of your eyes. You can feel the pain. 

You will feel helpless, as Mariam. 

You will be pained, as Laila. 

You will be angry with the Taliban (here, he has repeated the rules by Taliban as in The Kite Runner). 

However, at the end you will be left wanting for……more. Read it if you like emotionally charged, which is close to real life. Don’t expect a joy read at any point in the book. 

Pros: Beautifully articulated emotions, strong female characters.

Cons: Storyline, too much Afghanistan, forcefully inserted scenes. 

Rating: 3.5/5

Debut Author? Keep these 07 Points in Mind

Yes, I am here again! 

This time I have tried to arrange a few essential things a debutante writer must, MUST, look into. This, I feel, will be useful for those “dreaming lot” out there. At the same time, you may note that it is purely my perception and hence is not foolproof. 

Then, who’s, what’s, infallible in this world!

I will not go around, and around, filling in unnecessary, meaningless word. I don’t want you to stop halfway and get back to whatever you were doing before landing at this page. Saying inwardly, “we don’t have time for such bull crap.”

The points are….

• Sit down. Sit down in front of your PC/Laptop. Sit comfortably. And start typing whatever comes to your mind. Believe me the words will not be meaningless. Since you are thinking to turn a writer, you will be bearing a thread in your mind. And most of the writers (at least, me. Yes, I claim to be a writer. Don’t you agree?) do not start writing after creating the whole story inside his heart.

 They will only have a speck, a small seed, a sentence.

• Are the words meaningless! You may think so, at the beginning (however, chances are very less). Not to worry, the pieces will definitely fit into some parts of the novel/ story. You will start understanding the meaning as you go ahead.

No, do not stop, even if you think you are typing meaningless crap.

• Read a lot. Read whenever you get the time, read whenever, wherever possible (if not possible, make it POSSIBLE). THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE STEP to begin the answer with, still, I deliberately put it here presuming that you are an avid reader and that only made you think about writing one (No, don’t tell me that you are a fan of Ravinder Singhji and don’t require to read books before writing one. Please! )

A good writer definitely should be a good reader first.

• Control. Control your characters, according to the length (word count) decided for your book. Otherwise, the characters have the habit of going around places and meeting new people and creating unnecessary subplots, which will make the book thicker.

Word count from 45000 to 65000 considered the apt length for a novel.

• Minimize Subplots. Keep the subplots less and short. Of course, subplots would make the book layered and it’s good. At times, you may find a particular subplot interesting and end up writing a lengthy and strong subplot. This would overshadow the main theme. It will be difficult to bring the readers back to main theme, once they find the subplot more interesting.

Moreover, subplots normally break the flow.

• Descriptions, VERY, LESS. A good and pacey book (am saying about commercial fiction only) would have a balanced description/ dialogue ratio. Check the paragraphs (a) and (b):

****

(a) Mumbai (/mʊmˈbaɪ/; also known as Bombay, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous agglomeration in the world, with an estimated city population of 18.4 million. Along with the neighboring regions of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, it is one of the most populous urban regions in the world and the seсond most populous metropolitan area in India, with a population of 20.7 million as of 2011. Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2009, Mumbai was named an alpha world city. It is also the wealthiest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West, or Central Asia. Mumbai has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires among all cities in India (courtesy: Wikipedia).

****

(b) “Hey, Mumbai is the capital city of Maharashtra,’ I said Arun. “Did you know that?”
“Of course yaar.” He winked. “It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous agglomeration in the world.”
“Is it!”
“Yup,” Vijay said smiling. He added raising his right eyebrow, in a typical Arun style. “It has the estimated population of 18.4 million and has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires in the world.”
“I didn’t know that,” I said rubbing my chin.

****

Which one you liked? It must be (b).
In fact, have you read (a) completely?
That is what happens when you add too much description.

• Don’t tell, SHOW. Readers should be able to connect with the story, the characters. They should feel all the emotions, which the characters are undergoing.

For example, check the two methods of telling the same situation:

****

(a) He was angry. He said her not to disturb him. He walked back to his bedroom angrily. She tried to stop him, but failed.

****

(b) He stood staring at her. His fist tightened, eyes red. “Don’t disturb me.” He ground his teeth.
Tears oozed out from her eyes. “ I…I…” She stammered. Her lips shivered.
He turned back shaking his head and walked away.
She wanted to hold his hand, stop him. But, her frozen legs refused to budge. She could hear him slamming the bedroom door.

****

Which one conveyed the situation better?
Isn’t it (b)?

These are some steps you may consider (You may check this video by Harry Bingham on how to plot a novel). At the same time, your mind is the biggest game changer and it can do anything. There’s no hard and fast rule in the world of creativity. Your ultimate aim is to entertain the reader.

That’s it. 

Salvation of a Saint - “Planned, Perfect”

Keigo Higashino was a name unknown to me till it was connected with the Malayalam movie “Drishyam”, which was later remade into various languages including Hindi. It was told that the movie was inspired from his first book “The devotion of suspect X”.

I would have gone for “The devotion of suspect X,” had I not seen the movie. 

Coming back to the story of Salvation of a Saint, Yoshitaka, who was about to leave his marriage and his wife, is poisoned by arsenic-laced coffee and dies. His wife, Ayane, is the logical suspect—except that she was hundreds of miles away when he was murdered.

The only other suspect is Ayane’s pupil Hiromi. 

However, the question of the story is not “who done it”, but how he (or she) did it, as we can guess the culprit after certain point of time. And you will keep on assuming the method used by the culprit, till the end! 

Some may find it a normal murder mystery. 

The language is simple and the story is laced with small doses of twists throughout. There are no unnecessary subplots, which may have affected the pace. Once begun, it will be difficult for the reader to keep the book down. 

Even a slow reader like me could finish the book in two days!

A thing that I distasted was the number of investigators. Not one or two, but five investigate the case in their own way. I have never come across more than two (one male and one female) investigating a case in any of the story I have ever read. Maybe the author used a real life scenario, wherein different teams would be investigating same case. 

All in all, a good read. You can go for it, if you like to read a fast-paced murder mystery.

Pros:   Well narrated and fast-paced

Cons:  Nothing out of the box, another murder mystery 

Rating:     4/5