Books that I read

I was confined to my bed on doctor's order for about a month. Two weeks I stayed over at my parent's place in Behala. Within these two weeks, I read a great many books there. Listing them here:

1. Back on the Road - Che Guevara [Not as entertaining as 'Motorcycle Diaries'. Also did not like the way Che treated his first wife after she had just given birth to their daughter.]

2. Taken At The Flood - Agatha Christie [A good one but definitely not one of her best - had too much going on by way of the plot]

3. Uttamasha Antarip Ebong - Nabanita Deb Sen [The title means 'Cape of Good Hope' in Bengali. This absolutely crappy travelogue was a birthday gift from ma-in-law. That is the only reason why I finished this book. Dwelling unnecessarily upon Winnie Mandela's wayward ways and promoting the authoress's daughter Nandana seriously pissed me off.]

4. A Woman Of No Importance - Oscar Wilde [A gem. I will write a separate post on the dialogue I liked most in this super-witty play which was well ahead of it's time with it's feminist stance. The last line of the book just clinches it!]

5. The Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemingway [Another jewel. Loved the Bengali abridged translation when I was a kid. The original was very graphic and deeply moving.]

6. Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell [An average novel on the whole barring the character of Cynthia. Also Penguin seemed it ethical not to mention that this is an unfinished work in either of the book's covers.]

7. Triple - Ken Follett [Tedious spy-thriller. Difficult to believe that the person who wrote 'The Eye of The Needle' wrote this one too. With my old cherry framed circular glasses, these days I look like Nat Dickstein :)]

8. Kenilworth - Sir Walter Scott [Loved this one. Had read the Bengali abridged translation as a kid. The English is 17th century. Yet the pace of the novel is exemplary. Though she left no stone unturned to get herself killed, the cruel death of Amy Robsart in the end is heartbreaking.]

9. Perfume: The Story of A Murderer - Patrick Suskind [Have just started this one. And loving the sensual style of writing]

PS: I am about to finish the e-book Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres. I was deeply impressed with his 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin'. Cannot say that this novel is of that stature. Also, the characters are somewhat repetitive. One character in particular - Drousoula is the same in both novels. Ibrahim is a shadow of 'Corelli's' Mandras. Lieutenant Granitola feels like an older Captain Corelli. The chapters on Mustafa Kemal are quite tedious. And the Philothei chapters are way too small to get at the heart of her character and her love for Ibrahim. Overall, I am dissapointed. Good part is Leyla Hanim's cat Pamuk which I am fearing will face a fate akin to Psipsina (Pelagia's pet pine-marten in 'Captain Corelli') at the end of the novel.