Indian Readers discussion

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake-finished reading yesterday - left me with a 'particular depression'-very weird kind of a story

The Princess Bride and Seven Deadly Wonders ... read both these books because of the rave reviews. Didnt work for me though

The White Tiger- Aravind Adiga and

The Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai

Both r book winning novels but dissapointed me!

I loved 'The Inheritance of Loss' but did not take to "the white tiger"

Smitha wrote: "I loved 'The Inheritance of Loss' but did not take to "the white tiger""

Yeah - Inheritance of loss was liked by quite a few...but somehow I couldnt read beyond a chapter

I just completed --The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks a SF novel....I started with high expectations and now when i have finally finished the book i am disappointed with ending, how it was structured and the unneccessary details in it..... :(

Mansee wrote: "The White Tiger- Aravind Adiga and

The Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai

Both r book winning novels but dissapointed me!"

Kiran Desai always dissapointed me.Right from the beginning.

i am currently reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and its been a very dissapointing experience till now .... considering Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was so brilliant.
The humorous style and the sheer silliness of the story is still there but somehow it doesn't have the same gripping effect as the Hitchhiker series.

I could not read God of Small Things. But that might be because I was too inexperienced a reader at that time. Right now, I'm reading Anna Karenina. It's way too lengthy, and at times very boring.

I really hated The Death of Vishnu. My review was so critical that Amazon rejected it.

Cyril wrote: "I really hated The Death of Vishnu. My review was so critical that Amazon rejected it."

Can I ask you why? In another site like Goodreads the italian community gave to this book a lot of 4 and 5 stars and so I was interested to read it someday.

Mansee wrote: "The White Tiger- Aravind Adiga and

The Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai

Both r book winning novels but dissapointed me!"

I actually liked "The White Tiger", with all its sarcasms and street-smart philosophy. Although his other book was way better.

Last book to disappoint me was The Devil Wears Prada . I loved the movie, and thought the book would be even better. Wasn't that how it was supposed to work? Guess not.

I don't remember if it's here or in some other group, ppl said Devil Wears Prada is one of the few exceptions where movie looks better than the book! I loved the movie, haven't read the book.

Don't! The book falls shorts on content; the characters are fewer and shallower, and instead of a story you get a list of brand names. Shopaholics might like the book though, but it has none of the things you liked in the movies.

I too was let down by the book of Devil Wears Prada. The movie was better. And although i love the books of The Shopaholic Series, i still enjoyed the movie despite certain variations.

The last books to disappoint me were all of Chetan Bhagat's after Five Point Someone.

dely wrote: "Cyril wrote: "I really hated The Death of Vishnu. My review was so critical that Amazon rejected it."

Can I ask you why? In another site like Goodreads the italian community gave to..."

I can't remember exactly why I didn't like it. My original review was pretty detailed, but I don't have a copy. I think it had something to do with shallow characters, sexual explicitness without a point, and an unjust depiction of religious bias. Clearly, however, I am in the minority with my opinion.

Now I'm even more curious to read it!

Sea of Poppies dissappointed me ... I couldn't find anything wrong with the book .. It's just that after finishing .... you feel that the author could have done a better job with the characters he so awesomely created ... it's like buying an Audi Q7 but driving it around to get groceries !

I was somewhat disappointed with Henderson the Rain King as I felt it became maudlin in the latter half of the book. The parts before that were phenomenal, though.

I was a bit disappointed with The White Tiger, too high expectations I guess

The Inheritance of Loss , The God of Small Things , The Zahir , Sea of Poppies , The Lost Symbol are few of the books that really disappointed me, after expecting a lot outa them.

I did like Inheritance of Loss and God of small things, though. I could not complete the Zahir. THe other two are in my to-read list

I actually liked the white tiger and the god of small things. Could not complete the Zahir either, the protagonist was getting on my nerve; at times I wanted to reach out and smack some sense into him.

White tiger was a mix of horrible/good. I can't explain what I feel about it

I recently read Paulo Coelho's "Winner stands Alone" and "Veronika decide to die" . Both were very disappointing. In fact, I couldn't even finish the latter. Maybe, it was due to the fact that they were translated from Portugese. But, the writing style was really bad.

PS : I had liked Alchemist though.

About the White Tiger, I found it shocking,but pretty much like reality. A man who's devoid of a moral compass learns from what he sees, and believes it to be the absolute truth. I liked veronica, specially the end:P. Actually if it wasn't for the end, I'd have been disappointed in the book too.

So I should've finished it? Damn, too bad. But, I was kinda tired after reading Winner stands alone...

I have read Paulo Coelho's Alchemist(Loved it) and Eleven minutes(liked it) as well. I gave up on Zahir and don't regret it. But Veronica's ending's worth the book. It's a simple message he's trying to give, so the book does look a bit too stretched, but if you keep on reading you'll realize the beauty of the solution.
You did finish the Winner..,didn't you? I was wondering if its any good..

Yeah, I finished Winner..And NO,it is not good at all. Even I loved Alchemist. But, I found the writing style of Winner pathetic. The narration keeps shifting from one person to another and the language is very poor. There are places where I found lines repeated-whole ones.
Had given up on Coelho. Will read Eleven Minutes though on your suggestion..:)

I agree that the only thing that makes Veronika.. worth a read is its end. Paulo Coelho's Alchemist and Eleven Minutes, both were good reads. However The Zahir, Brida, Winner.., all were pathetic in my opinion. The narrative goes so haywire that you only want to toss the book away, nothing else!

Eleven minutes- Disappointed me. I was expecting some thing very interesting ,though i liked the flow but it didn't make me sit straight to read through. Same with the Witch of Portbello!! i still have to finish it. It is not driving me that strong to go and grab and finish.

There's a short story in Eleven Minutes about a princess and a bird which sums up the entire philosophy of love as explained by the author. Rest was just a journey of trials and errors to find the relation between love and lust. Its not like Alchermist, but I liked it. Hope you wil too, Ravi. I dont think I'l pick another Paulo Coelho book anytime soon, unless it has strong recommendations:P

True eshan !! The bird story is the strong point of the book !!

Indeed the philosophy begind it is true also :)

The winner stands alone was quite horrible, that i have been put off Paulo Coelho atleast for the time being. And white tiger was quite disappointing too..

Steven Pressfield's The Profession. Pressfield has a talent for describing the universals of human nature in times of war, but this most recent effort by him was more technical than anything else, and I miss that human element he describes so well in terms of leardership and the strains of serving under arms in times of war.

I anticipated Ruskin Bond's "Ghost Stories from the Raj" to scare me. But didn't like any of the stories there.

Most of the ire on this group seems directed towards a chosen few! I did pick up the Inheritance of loss and also Eleven Minutes.
Alas!, while i finished neither i found the language of Kiran Desai to be really evocative. Paulo Coelho....I must say it lived up to expectations! That is I found it to be really ordinary!!!

At the risk of a public lynching (If that is possible online) I must say I have found Marquez to be a very, ordinary writer.
I absolutely loved 'The Autumn of The Patriarch", and "One Hundred years...." But "Memories of my Melacholy whores" convinced me Marquez has grown senile. And dont even remind me of "Love in the time of Cholera" I get a headache thinking of it!

I too find Marquez and even Coelho not to my taste. They may be great writers and loved by many, but I find reading their books a waste of time as somehow I get a mental block and do not understand what they are trying to say...it just becomes mechanical and feels like a chore

The Gravedigger's Daughter disappointed me towards the end. the book is a good read but the ending is not a hopeful one.

its in my to-read list

same here - White Tiger and whatever I started of Paulo Coelho (I think Zahir and Alchemist)

Paulo Coelho's The Devil and Miss Prym was pretty good.The Fifth Mountain was good;but a really slow read.Nothing was happening for many pages :P

Disgrace By J.M.Coetzee !

Sherin wrote: "Paulo Coelho's The Devil and Miss Prym was pretty good.The Fifth Mountain was good;but a really slow read.Nothing was happening for many pages :P"

Exactly. I liked "The Alchemist" and "The Fifth Mountain" only. But "The Fifth Mountain" was tremendously slow.

'Freedom'- Franzen
'Corrections'- Franzen
'A Bend in the River'- Naipaul
'The God of Small things'- Roy
'The Old Man and the Sea'- Hemingway
'A Suitable Boy'- Seth
'Geetanjali'- Tagore
'Between the Assassinations'- Adiga
'The Collected Works'- Marquez
'Life of Pi'- Martel
'The Raven and other Poems'- Poe
'The Town and the City'- Kerouac
etc.

loved 'God of small things', 'suitable boy' though not 'life of Pi', 'between the assassinations' and 'the old man and the sea'
Paulo Coelho is not my cup of tea

it was easy to be underwhelmed by 'God of small things' because I went into it, all enraptured with her essays and screenplays so in those relative terms, it was a disappointment. It still boasts of fine writing though. I especially like the snapshot structure of the narrative. 'A Suitable Boy' is less meritorious even by those standards. Not read much of Coelho, not really dying to anyway. :)

I, however, liked 'A Bend in the River'. I don't have memories of reading 'Geetanjali' though but grandfather used to read them out loud and then explain it, leaving behind a profound impact.

Kunal wrote: "'Freedom'- Franzen
'Corrections'- Franzen
'A Bend in the River'- Naipaul
'The God of Small things'- Roy
'The Old Man and the Sea'- Hemingway
'A Suitable Boy'- Seth
'Geetanjali'- Tagore
'Between the..."

Loved Geetanjali & liked 'Life of Pi'.
'The God of Small things' was OK for me