Return: To Be Good, by Nick Hornby

Finally I’ve read a Nick Hornby book!  He’s been referenced in reviews of other books I’ve read by authors I enjoy thus it’s great to finally know what all the hype is about. As well a number of his books have been made into films – High Fidelity and About A Boy.

To Be Good “offers a painfully funny account of modern marriage and parenthood, and asks that most difficult of questions: what does it mean to be good? (official website)”.  Through the eye’s of Katie Carr, a wife, mother and doctor we embark on a voyage through the challenges of a normal middle-class nuclear family life.  As her grump of a husband (David) makes dramatic changes in his behaviour thanks to the influence of a ‘spiritual healer’ she is forced to look at herself to see if this is all ‘GoodNews’.

I enjoyed the book because it sees the humour and challenge of everyday life.  It makes one aware that life is always changing and it’s up to you to decide how you are going to ‘ride the wave’.  Are you going to leave your unhappy marriage, or cheat, or stick with it because the option of not being in it is worse?  What changes are you willing to do to make the world better?  Are you all talk, or will you take action?

I would not discourage anyone from reading this book, however I gave the book a RETURN rating because:

• There are other books from comparable authors (Nicholas Baker, Jonathan Tropper, Douglas Coupland) that I enjoyed more; and
• I’ve been told this novel is not one of Nick’s best novels.

Recommend: Starman Jones, Robert A. Heinlein

While not everyone may know Robert A. Heinlein he’s written stacks full of sci-fi books during his life (1907-1988). You may be more familiar with his titles made ‘watchable’ such as Starship Troppers and The Day After Tomorrow.  ‘Starman Jones’ was originally published in 1976, randomly the edition I read was published the same month and year as I was born.

The story is about Max, a young man who has known nothing but rural farm living yet always dreams of space travel.  His dream of being in space grew out of the admiration for his (now deceased) Uncle who worked as an astrogator (a key position for space flight). When life takes a turn he’s unwilling to accept, Max seeks to make his dream become a reality and the book follows his quest.

‘Starman Jones’ is what I’d consider a ‘beach read’ – a book that’s entertaining but easy to read, not emotionally challenging (and they all lived happily ever after), thus great for lying on the beach.  I recommend it on that basis. If you’re looking for something that’s a bit more of a literary contribution I’d suggest Robert A Heinlein’s ‘Stranger In A Strange Land ’ (published 1961).  It’s the only other Heinlein novel I’ve read and did so based on the high recommended from TJ who has read a great number of Heinlein books.

Refer to my August 8, 2011 blog for my very complicated and intense book rating system (sarcasm). There’s been a lull in my book reading, but with almost 24 hours of plane travel on the horizon I’m bound to make a dent in the stack of books I’m carrying.

Return: one night @ the call centre, by Chetan Bhagat

Despite accumulating a stack of books I’d foolishly left them in storage as I headed out for my trek in Nepal. Thankfully the used book stores in Ghorepani were able to help me out.   The selection, while it included typical North American reads (Grisham, King) and Everest stories it also had a number of books based in or written by Nepalese and Indian writers.  Not only did I walk out with two books but I also left with a small list of other books and authors to explore in the future.

Chetan Bhagart is from India and writes in English stories that relate to cultural trends in India.  His most recent novel is currently at the top of the lists (as is evident by the stacks available at the Delhi airport).  I picked up this book based on 1) the type of author he seemed to be and 2) the description of the story on the jacket.  One night call center workers get a call from God … of course that sounds intriguing!

The story follows six people who work the night shift at a call centre (Connexions) in Gurgaon India, thus servicing a USA company.  The story is told from the perspective of Shyam Mehra (Sam), whose a young (20 something) guy being brought down by his ignorant boss and the life he is leading.  The other characters are in the same age group except for ‘Military Uncle’ who`s a senior.  The book reads easily and is generally entertaining as it provides a picture of the troubles and life of each of the call centre workers (Vroom (Varum Malhotra), Radhika Jha, Esha Singh, Priyanka). However, I kept waiting for the call from God, which doesn`t comes late into the novel and not to the call center as expected.  To me the call from God almost feels like an afterthought rather than the primary objective of the book. That being said there were a few tokens of insight provided from `God`:

• Success is based on four things: success: 1) mediocre intelligence, 2) imagination, 3) self-confidence and 4) failure.
• “once you taste failure, you have no fear. You can take risks more easily…”

While I wouldn`t rush out to recommend this book, I would opt to try the author again.  In speaking with a handful of locales it sounds like his books are `popular` and this one isn’t his best work.  Apparently to movie made from this book is equally un-redeeming.

Refer to my August 8, 2011 blog for my very complicated and intense book rating system (sarcasm). Note that I read this book before heading to the ashram – there was little reading progress made there!