Today is day 5 of not going to work since Christmas eve:) It has been unbelievably wonderful cos’ well, I simply spend time doing nothing much. Nobody that I need to call urgently, nowhere that I must be, nothing I must complete. God, I’ve forgotten how good being slack feels. I did spend time over the weekend grabbing new books from sales and catching up on other unread books. I know I am a geek, but oh man, the musky smell of books make me so, so happy!
– Animal’s People: The book tells the story of a teen living in the slums of an Indian town, Khaufpur. People call him “Animal” because of his twisted back- he walks on all fours, arse in the air, no thanks to a chemical gas leak by an American company which occurred when he was a baby. The Khaufpur slum dwellers are all victims – poor, sick and denied of proper healthcare simply because the authorities won’t give a damn.
The story is told from Animal’s perspective and what a character he is! All crass, sex-obsessed, scheming, nasty even, but completely honest, bold and free from self-pity. The rather crude language takes a while to get used to, but once you get past that, the book is an amazing and absorbing read. The characters are rich, there are plenty of moving and funny moments, lots of politicking and it is altogether a colourful yet powerful depiction of the struggles of the common people. Recommended for anyone who wants a good book, and doesn’t mind something a little heavy.
– High Fidelity: I finished the book in a day. Got the book cos wee said Nick Hornby is a good author and I can see where she is coming from. I’ve always believed that the best directors, authors, artists are either very depressed or very creative (which could actually very well come about because they need to escape from their sorrow) and they succeed in whatever creative realm they dwell in, because they are so good at expressing various states of human misery or creating alternative worlds where people have much more to do in life than mull over their pathetic, meaningless existence.
Sample piece of writing from the book (I really like this paragraph btw): I’m 35 years old and I own a tiny, failing business, and my friends don’t seem to be friends at all but people whose phone numbers I haven’t lost. And if I went back to sleep and slept for 40 years and woke up without any teeth to the sound of Melody Radio in an old people’s home, I wouldn’t worry that much, because the worst of life, i.e. the rest of it would be over. And I wouldn’t even have to kill myself.
Awesome and spot-on, no? Nick Hornby does a great job of capturing and describing the modern man’s knack of getting obsessed, confused, and generally missing the big picture. Not the best I’ve read, but good enough. One important gripe: I got pretty sick of the lead by the end of the book cos’ he is way too whiny. I’ve met people like that, and I can be, ahem, one myself when I have pms, but dude, enough already, get a life! Get this for an easy, rather interesting Sunday read, but skip it if you have no patience for whining:p
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his best book so far is ‘a long way down’! 🙂
high fidelity, like you said, is just gd enough. hehe.
When i was buying, i couldn’t recall which u said was the best! ok will note this:)