I decided to read another Sidney Sheldon book even though the last one was a disappointment to me mainly because I had already bought the book. This one turned out to be a great read. It was fast-paced from the onset and spanned such broad areas in subject matter, that it was also quite instructive. One of its central characters is Leslie Stewart, a P R executive, who decides to model her life after media mogul Katherine Graham after being jilted by Oliver Russel. Russel is an attorney who an all-powerful senator Todd Davis has earmarked for success, even presidency. Russel chooses to sell his soul to politics, success and Todd Davis, over love. Leslie follows his life closely and waits to publish the story that would destroy him as soon as it appeared to him that all his dreams were within reach. Her one chance seems to fall into her lap when a series of deaths involving liquid ecstasy is linked to President Russel, who's major failing is a weakness for the fairer sex.
Revenge is one thing that we all wrestle with but very rarely admit to indulging in. Sheldon very adeptly lets us glimpse the poisonous hate that the a need for retaliation cultivates in all of us and portrays it as both a motivating and a self-defeating impetus. Even thought The Best Laid Plans starts like the tale of the revenge of a woman scorned, it unfolds into much more and exceeded my expectations. It has a wealth of characters that Sheldon develops in parallel, while leaving the reader in complete suspense of how the story will unfold.
SCORE: 3.5 pearls
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Codex, by Lev Grossman
Why on earth am I doing what I do? What do I forgo by taking the path well-trodden as opposed the path that my heart truly desires? This may not be what most see when they read Grossman's Codex, but that was the one thing that hit home for me. Seeing the main character lose himself in yearning for fulfillment the one instant he paused from his busy life caused me to force myself to pause....
In Codex, Grossman walks the reader through a month in a life of a star investment banker, Edward Wozny, who is facing a minor existential crisis while on vacation before taking another high powered position in London. Edward finds himself questioning what the point of his life has been as he embarks on a quest to locate a book that could shed doubt on an obscenely wealthy Duke's lineage. He does so at the request of the Duchess, Blanche, who he manages to romanticize and at whose beckon and call he throws himself regardless of the consequences to himself, or to her. On this quest, he meets Margaret, a Columbia graduate student who is very knowledgeable about all things medieval literature and whose charm is her lack of charm and common graces, and her quiet beauty.
Grossman narrates the story with such ease that I as the reader felt like an insider in the world of medieval literature and larger than life role playing video games. These very different genres are married together quite harmoniously in this pager turner. This a great book for anyone who has ever wondered why they wake up every morning and do as they ought to, and who has ever wondered what it would be like to toss it all to the wind and for a moment go after that one thing that your heart wants the most. This aspect, which is a major appeal of the book, is also one of its major frustrations: As Edward loses himself in finding and delivering the codex, his questionable decisions and eagerness to trust belie his four years as an investment banker.
Maybe all I need to do is find where the intersection of my hearts desire and human expectation lies.
SCORE: 4 pearls
In Codex, Grossman walks the reader through a month in a life of a star investment banker, Edward Wozny, who is facing a minor existential crisis while on vacation before taking another high powered position in London. Edward finds himself questioning what the point of his life has been as he embarks on a quest to locate a book that could shed doubt on an obscenely wealthy Duke's lineage. He does so at the request of the Duchess, Blanche, who he manages to romanticize and at whose beckon and call he throws himself regardless of the consequences to himself, or to her. On this quest, he meets Margaret, a Columbia graduate student who is very knowledgeable about all things medieval literature and whose charm is her lack of charm and common graces, and her quiet beauty.
Grossman narrates the story with such ease that I as the reader felt like an insider in the world of medieval literature and larger than life role playing video games. These very different genres are married together quite harmoniously in this pager turner. This a great book for anyone who has ever wondered why they wake up every morning and do as they ought to, and who has ever wondered what it would be like to toss it all to the wind and for a moment go after that one thing that your heart wants the most. This aspect, which is a major appeal of the book, is also one of its major frustrations: As Edward loses himself in finding and delivering the codex, his questionable decisions and eagerness to trust belie his four years as an investment banker.
Maybe all I need to do is find where the intersection of my hearts desire and human expectation lies.
SCORE: 4 pearls
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Memories of Midnight, by Sidney Sheldon
Looking through Sidney Sheldon's eyes, I cannot help but think that when he looks at humanity, all he sees are our flaws and weaknesses. Most writers tend to create one dimensional characters who are either all good or all evil. While Sheldon does not necessarily fall into this trap, his characters are, on the other hand, all too human. They revel in their vices, they are tormented by their fears, they are drawn ruthlessly by their obsessions, their carnality overpowers them. This all too distorted lens through which he portays his characters does not appeal to me.
Memories of midnight, in particular, read like a screenplay. The central character, Catherine, returns from the grave only to fall into the care of a man who would wish to see her dead, but only after he seduces her. The man, Constantin, is a demigod with a knack for revenge. The central themes of the story are love, hate, money, power and vengeance. All in all, this book is Harlequin Romance meets soap opera meets psycho-killer thriller meets the all-knowing mafia-like arm of power and money. This concoction has all the makings of an unmemorable made-for TV movie.
SCORE: 2 pearls.
Memories of midnight, in particular, read like a screenplay. The central character, Catherine, returns from the grave only to fall into the care of a man who would wish to see her dead, but only after he seduces her. The man, Constantin, is a demigod with a knack for revenge. The central themes of the story are love, hate, money, power and vengeance. All in all, this book is Harlequin Romance meets soap opera meets psycho-killer thriller meets the all-knowing mafia-like arm of power and money. This concoction has all the makings of an unmemorable made-for TV movie.
SCORE: 2 pearls.
The Client, by John Grisham
The first thing that always strikes me about John Grisham books is that they are vividly visual. The Client was no exception. It was as if I was in that car with Mark and Romey, the air thick with smoke, my heart beating faster with every word. This book was an experience. From the very first chapter when two young boys set into motion a remarkable series of events when they come across a suicidal lawyer with a secret, I knew I was in for a treat.
Grisham dedicates as much time to the characters as to the plot. The plot varies wonderfully in pace and has a surprise at every turn. As for the characters, with both joy and anguish I was amazed at conflicting ideas the protagonist embodied: A shocking maturity that enabled him to take responsibility for his family, a lack of maturity that deprived him of healthy fear and sound judgment when faced with potential danger, a cunning that enabled him to twist those around him to his will and a childlike fragility that reduced him to tears when he contemplated the hand he had been dealt. The Client is a tale of the absolutely improbable, told so deliciously convincingly that I found myself unable to put it down as my heart raced to the very last page.
Grisham dedicates as much time to the characters as to the plot. The plot varies wonderfully in pace and has a surprise at every turn. As for the characters, with both joy and anguish I was amazed at conflicting ideas the protagonist embodied: A shocking maturity that enabled him to take responsibility for his family, a lack of maturity that deprived him of healthy fear and sound judgment when faced with potential danger, a cunning that enabled him to twist those around him to his will and a childlike fragility that reduced him to tears when he contemplated the hand he had been dealt. The Client is a tale of the absolutely improbable, told so deliciously convincingly that I found myself unable to put it down as my heart raced to the very last page.
The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
This is one of the first books I read this summer. I was attracted to it because I am always drawn to things that are above and beyond the ordinary. The central issue of this book is death, untimely and unjust death. Death is a force far larger than life and its main victims are those that remain living. We live our lives fearing personal injury and fearing the loss of our loved ones. And yet few among us spend much time visualizing what happens after we draw our last breath. I enjoyed seeing Sebold's view of the afterlife, how she imagines heaven, or rather how she fails to imagine it at all by merely positing that we all experience a different kind of heaven. What struck me most is the extent to which she sees death as intertwined with life, the dead pining over the living and the living obsessing over the dead. This novel is a must-read for anyone who enjoys stepping outside of reality as we experience it. Sebold took me through a journey that ignited anger, joy and pain and brought my imagination and curiosity back to life. What really lies on the other side of that last breath?
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