Nev March > Recent Status Updates

Utterly gripping. And funny. And I can’t stop reading. Hope we have s9me leftovers for dinner coz I’m not stopping now!

I enjoy Persis Wadia the main character who is a Parsi woman like myself. Tough and upstanding she withstands the condescending attitudes of male colleagues and has an inner dialogue I can well understand. So far my only wish is that she trust her dad to be more open minded. Can’t wait to see if she does.

Chock full of useful pointers that my detective will surely use in my upcoming novels

Useful techniques to survive in corporate America! Also neat research for my detective novels.

Although 15 years since publication, the collection of studies on deception is quite interesting

Nostalgic scenes of Bombay, Interspersed with the trials of immigration and assimilation to the North American culture.

Slow going.
“Investigation amongst jungle-men must be carried on in a desultory way, and at fitting times. Any prolonged mental effort soon fatigues their untutored minds. A Kurraba is as quickly tired by a steady course of questions as the most brilliant conversationalist would be if set to push his way through the jungles in which the Kurraba travels from morning till iright without fatigue. “

Ok there’s a lot here about elephants. But also about the desperately poor jungle tribes and how they subsist

“He collected the image and stored it away for moments just like these, when the fear overwhelm him and only she would do for relief.”

Brilliant

“ Perhaps that was the great Ill of the world, that those prone to evil were left untouched by guilt to a degree so vast that they might sleep through a storm, while better men conscience stained men, lay awake as though that very storm persisted unyieldingly in the furthest reaches of their soul.”

And now it turns predictable. Disappointing. So Harris sets up a character of courage and then has him behave like a mouse. Sad. Does every story about injustice have to be dismal? No wonder folks read crime novels where at least there is a fiction of a character arc and consistency.

Emotional and lyrical, escalating in pace and tempo

Beautiful. Endearing characters and excellent craft in the switched points of view

A bit repetitive and in the nature of a brief biography listing his travels.
The descriptions of Punjab are delightful, and the manner of travel, paying tolls and crossing rivers is interesting

Waaaay too much about the difficulties and successes of converting youths to Christianity. However, to do so among villages and towns of Afghanistan one imagines the good doctor must have had a death wish.

Not so. His medical missionary work succeeded in great part because of his own upstanding character and the desperate need in those remote parts for medical care.

Filled with interesting little asides! Curious and enchanting

Research on Mysore state in the late 1800s. Many place names have changed but I located the vicinity of the nilgiri hills

An easy read with short anecdotes illustrating the peculiar contradictions of the tribes in pre modern Afghanistan and what is now modern Pakistan

Good research material from a medical missionary, a physician who lived in the north west frontier and preached to convert Muslims to Christianity.

A great way to grasp the changes in scientific thinking about physics and cosmology

Short chapters with powerful images. Great examples and pointers. Straight talk for writers of all levels.

Absolutely delightful. The book holds its charm as the story matures and with it, the main character Dulcy gathers courage and gains peace. But I know there will be a reckoning to match the opening of the novel

Delightful. I enjoy this protagonist more with each page

Loving it. The description and narration around the semi lucid father are both painful and amusing (!) while the main character grows on me. Beautifully written

A great set up and some excellent characters! The chessboard is set and I can’t wait to turn the pages

Love it.
About the blank page he suggests:
“approach it as a child would—that is, full of wonder and a sense of play. You have a keyboard and a blank screen, a pencil and a pristine sheet of paper. These are the toys. Get used to them. Start putting down words”

Ok I read 6 chapters and this one will have to be a DNF for me.
Why do literary novels ramble on inwith such pedantic esotera? That means bookish details, yeah.
No thanks. There’s too much religion and sex and jumping back and forth in time and back flashes and oddballs
And I cannot find anything likeable about the main character.
Maybe I’ll have better luck with the booker prize nominees.

Three chapters in and I’m uncertain whether I can complete this novel. The complex asides and frequent trips into the past give this a strange rambling quality. Why do I care that Juan Diego’s going to Hong Kong? Unclear. His past has some interesting narrative questions. What happened to Lupe? Will read a bit more and see if I can get into it.

Delightful, although chief inspector Alleyn appears after half the book is done.