Review: Blemishing the Odds

Blemishing the Odds by Harish Penumarthi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is not a story. The book starts with a prologue where a father narrates his school days to his kids. This is more like a memoir rather than a story. Everyone can relate to this book. However, there are a lot of shortcomings which I noticed while reading the book. Firstly, this could have been edited. It looked as if the book was published without a thorough editing job. Secondly, a story has to be engaging enough to keep the reader hooked and make them want to know what happens next. Here, the book fails miserably. Cuss words, first kiss, coming of age experiences, experiments with cigarettes and alcohol are all fine as it is given at that age. But where is the story ?

Coming to the story, Raghav meets Trisha in the 8th grade. He is a lazy and incompetent guy while Trisha is the exact opposite. Opposites attract. Spending 3 years together, circumstances change. Duffer boy becomes smart and hardworking. Passes school with flying colours. Both separate and they meet again. Lots of tomfoolery between them in those 3 years. That sums up the story.

There is a reference to surfing the internet by Raghav somewhere in the book. If you think a bit, Raghav is actually narrating his story to his kids who are 18 and 14 years of age. So he must be at least 45 given that he has two kids. It would have been at least 30 years back when he was in school, which may be circa 1987, if not earlier. India did not have the internet at that point of time..at least it was not accessible to kids. Another irritating thing which I came across was the word"awesome". It was used at least about 50 times in the entire 170 page book. Moreover, which Indian dad will narrate his love life and first crush in school to his kids just because they are pestering him ?

Bad editing or no editing spoils the book. The author has tried to delve deep into his four main characters, Raghav, Trisha, Dad and Mom but that's about it.

The climax is awful and unbelievable. One fine day, Raghav is suddenly sent to Mumbai to study and the day he lands he meets his lady love. That ends the story (sorry, there never was a story !). The one good thing I liked was how the author drew up the Indian parents' mentality of constantly pushing their child to study which is prevalent throughout.

Now comes the epilogue. Raghav's kids ask him to complete the story. He tells them that he will some other time. Is there a sequel to the book ?

The author being a debutante, I wish him success for future.

PS: - I thank the author who gave me the book for an honest review.


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Review: Prayers For Rain

Prayers For Rain by Dennis Lehane
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow !! This is one hell of joyride. I loved this thriller of a book, with the right pacing, the writing style and a nail-biting unpredictable climax. This was my first Lehane and absolutely loved the style. His writing is fluid and easy on the mind with sarcastic humour thrown in. Way to write a thriller.

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The Pillars of the Earth


- Ken Follet


This was a magnificent book . Took me over a month to complete. Woww!

Set in the 12th century, the story is about how Prior Philip goes about building an imposing cathedral through wars, famine and other miseries in town of Kingsbridge. The seed of thought for the cathedral is planted by a gifted architect (called master builder in those days) Tom Builder to escape his misery and follow-up on a dream of building the most beautiful cathedral.

The story is about how the characters encounter various obstacles thrown in by their rivals and main villains, Lord William Shiring and Bishop Waleran Bigod in order to exact revenge in their quest for power and wealth, to bring a halt to his dreams in building the most beautiful and biggest cathedral in the world.

There are multiple characters and each have been beautifully etched out in the book. The plot is fast-paced and a page turner. There is never a dull moment and you always want to know what happens next. There are grotesque scenes rape, violence and mutilation. The author knows how to captivate the reader and keep him / her on tenterhooks. Although it cannot be termed as historical fiction, it comes close to that. I still cannot rate it 5-star. There was something missing in the book, although I could not figure out what.

No, i am not taking out "World Without End" off the shelf right now. Need a break with some short reads.

Yes, it is can be made into an Indianised movie version of the TV series with a sprinkling of songs and dance considering the story and plot. Wonder if any producer or studio would be interested !

The Emperor of All Maladies
- Siddhartha Mukherjee



"Cancer changes your life" a patient wrote after her mastectomy. "It alters your habits...Everything becomes magnified."







This statement is so terrifying that it always rings in your subconscious mind while reading this book. The book is beautifully written and an epic tome on cancer. Full marks to Siddhartha Mukherjee for his detailed analysis and extensive research on the disease. Each chapter starts with quotes by people associated with the disease and about half-way down the book, you realise that it is not a book but a work of art painstakingly brought to life by Siddhartha. A gamut of emotions overwhelm you while reading this book. You feel sad when you read that people who have strived to fight cancer and find a cure themselves died of the disease (ironic isn't it ?). You will be horrified to learn that mastectomies (or for that matter, surgeries) were performed on patients without anaesthesia in the 18th century. You will feel the unbearable and mind-numbing pain of patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. You feel happy when patients are cured and do not relapse . You feel a sense of despondency and helplessness when doctors break the news of diagnosis of the disease to their patients, especially so, when it has reached a stage beyond cure. You feel gloomy for patients clamouring for a ray of hope to find a cure.

Folks, it would be apt if you read on kindle. There are medical terms / jargons used which might require a dictionary / wiki to refer to. The book is a heavy read. It took me two months to finish this. It has been a wonderful journey!!

The Girl on the Train

- Paula Hawkins

This is an utterly boring and much over hyped book. I am giving it 2 stars just because the climax is good. I picked up the book purely out of curiosity and the hype it created. The first 100 pages are a drag and by the time you read through, you are in an alcoholic daze just like the main character Rachel. The setting is dark and gloomy and you feel like throwing the book out of the window. The next 100 pages becomes a bit interesting. By the time you reach 250th page (if you have not thrown out the book by then), you know who the killer is. The last 65 pages you want to know how and why he killed her. The only saving grace is, the book is short and only 315 pages. Phew what a collosal waste of time and bit of money !


Verdict - Avoidable !! Dare you to complete if you have already started reading !

Fear: The Last Days of Robert Mugabe

 - Peter Godwin





Till I bought this book, my knowledge of Zimbabwe was limited to the fact that it had a national cricket team, one among the twelve cricket playing nations in the world. A legacy left by the British as it did to other colonial nations. The moment I started reading the book, it was so depressing that many a time I wanted to quit reading it midway. This is a horrible account of the reign of terror unleashed by Robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.


This a first hand account of the human rights violations, rapes, tortures, beatings and executions unleashed by Mugabe supporters and partymen on their own people who opposes his rule or the opposition party members thus tightening his grip on the country and its economy. I never thought such horrors were prevalent in the country. The author travels all over Zimbabwe and puts his observations into writing talking to the people most of them Mugabe's rivals or opposition party members. The only grouse was that the entire 350 pages were devoted to the horrors and tortures inflicted on the people most of them descriptive which makes you cringe. Would have liked if the author also delved a little more into the life of Mugabe. Also the book ended abruptly which left a lot more questions to be answered.




Warning: Please do not read this if you are faint hearted owing to the tortures depicted in minute detail.

The Devotion of Suspect X 

- Keigo Higashino



What a fantastic book ! Brilliant plot narration by the author. One of the best books in the thriller genre I have read so far. It is about a murder and how the protagonist helps the culprit cover up the crime recreating the crime scene (not disclosing the details here). The climax is absolutely surprising and it definitely keeps the reader on tenterhooks.

I wonder if the Hindi / Malayalam movie "Drishyam" was inspired by this book.

Enjoyed this immensely !!