Author: Haruki Murakami

Norwegian Wood is a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

It is about the protagonist Toru Watanabe and his journey from late teens to early adulthood where in he grapples the loss of his best friend, Kizuki and his trysts with his own sexuality.

Set in the backdrop of 1960s during which the student’s revolutions took place in Tokyo, the book speaks of the hypocrisies in the so called national movement and the affects on the middle class…through Watanabe’s eyes. Watanabe falls in love with Naoko who was Kizuki’s girlfriend. Naoko is an introvert and is projected to be a docile character fighting her own demons. Watanabe later falls for the vivacious and outspoken Midori.

The story-line is simple which talks about the interpersonal relationships through the eyes of the protagonist.

Ups: Murakami’s language lucidity is simply too good and the writer in me couldn’t help but read in awe. Its picturesque and completely endowed with metaphorical retorts and personified garbs. Through the ups and downs it keeps a smile on your face irrespective of the age group you belong to. Another crucial part is i touches upon mental health… albeit not in a very serious manner.

Flipside: As a reader with a flair for pace, i found the book to be over-hyped. It wasn’t as intriguing as projected. there were times I zoned out mid-way only to go back few lines and get to the plot. It could be due to the time frame when it was first written… it could also be the cultural deviations form India… Overall the reader sentiment wasn’t aroused as i went through the chore of completing the book!

Available on Amazon as paperback and kindle versions

Also made into a motion picture.

In one -word this book is a ‘masterpiece’. And as a few of the reviewers have already said, Ashwin Sanghi can be touted as India’s answer to Dan Brown.

Taking ahead my renewed interest in theology, I had come across this book on a recommendation and it definitely did not disappoint. The protagonist is a History professor Ravi Mohan Saini who is accidentally dragged into a myriad journey of Murder charge of his childhood friend Anil Varshney. The latter had managed to decipher the script of Indus Valley seals. Saini is set on a journey to clear his name and hereon begins the unraveling of the secrets of the past of Hindu mythology. As expected, most of the areas are grey and he inadvertently lands up on the quest to expose an ancient secret which happens to be Krishna’s priceless legacy to mankind. The breathless rush from across the archaeological remains to the mysterious Somnath to the ice covered picturesque Kailash to finally the monument signifying the epitome of love, Saini goes through the tumultuous experience to delve into the mystery. Its actually a race against time to prevent the gross miscarriage of justice.

Whenever a book of such a magnitude is written there is always a danger of over fictionalization. However, while the author manages to keep you glued through out with the beautiful convergence of Krishna’s life and his plots from the current time, he also showers you with a wealth of information. It was indeed a treat to learn different interpretations of the ancient scriptures which we often take at face value and let go of the underlying philosophy. Ashwin’s research is par excellence and as a reader I loved how he manged to blur the line between his conspiracy fiction and the apparent facts. The time travel has been done with amazing accuracy and the reader yearns for more at the end of every chapter…

I specially loved the number of chapters (108) and the significance mentioned very often through out the book. Each character in the story has been given dedicated space without any crossovers or treading of toes.

On the flip side, I found numerous elements repeat themselves when explained by the protagonist camp and later by the antagonist ones. This could have been avoided… However given the kind of information overload, probably the author wanted readers of every caliber to enjoy the story without having to flip pages back and forth.

I now look forward to read the others on his list!

Available on Amazon in all formats.

Author: Aditya Ram

Simply put its a brilliantly researched theological masterpiece… our own Dan Brown. By this I just want to compliment Aditya for the well written book matching up to Brown’s caliber as far as the mystically weaved metaphysical elements are concerned.

Scholarly Mathematician John Raymond from the Newtonian Research Academy (NRA) is called upon to help deduce the symbols left behind in the wake of a murdered terrorist and the occultly planned murders of Nobel laureates. However the symbolic crypts are just the tip of the iceberg and John finds himself sinking in quick sands of time even as he tries to decipher the inherent meaning of the clues spread in an alchemist chasm.

There are a few chapters dedicated to Sir Issac Newton traversing back to the 17th century which delves into a deeply buried secret threatening the existence of modern civilization and Newton himself. Newton was not just the discoverer of calculus in the later 17th century, but he went to extreme ends to protect his secret invention from falling into wrong hands. The answers to the same were put forth in form of a complex mathematical problem the solutions to which remained an enigma of the biggest order even to the NRA in the present century.

A sect from an ancient community, thought to be buried centuries ago, which went against the beliefs of the Church has now reared its ugly head again. The self proclaimed grand master of the same community masterminds a major coup with the sole intent of gaining the supreme power. Ultimately the plot unfolds revealing the chimera of deception and malicious collusion threatening the existence of God…

The novel is very well researched in all spheres be it calculus, physics, mechanics and theology. There is a contrary viewpoint to the interpretation of the existence of the holy Grail and the sects who wanted to protect the same. However the fictional elements add to the author’s quixotic vision and thus churns out the masterpiece. A must read for the lovers of physics and math and for those like me not into it, well… i for once now know Newton is more than just someone who discovered gravity.

Available in both paperback and kindle formats.