Anybody Out There?

Till a few weeks back I had lost faith in the entire species of Books. I was an avid reader. As my close ones know I read hoardings to 'shingarar thonga' but of late I was not coming across a single book that held my attention.
I started reading 'The Lost Flamingos of Bombay' by Siddharth Shanghvi and I gave up on it's fantastic randomness, I had loved his first book. I started reading 'The Time traveler's wife' by Audrey Niffenegger and it just confused me to hell so I had to stop. I even tried reading 'Eclipse' by Stephanie Meyer, needless to say I couldn't cope with it either. I was losing faith, the only ones I could still go on reading were Agatha Christies. My book rack which does not have many books is full of half and some quarter read books and a living proof of my failures in reading- anyone at this point would think me just plain 'slow'. Believe me, I have been debating that for a while now myself.
But wait, let's not jump to conclusions here- I had after all finished the Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and Gone with Wind by time I was in college. The problem I am sure lies else where.
The books are just not as good as they used to be. I try the intellectual Pulitzer winning writers and all I really feel is depression, I try the bestsellers and they are literally cringe-worthy, sometimes smirk-worthy. Even Sidney Sheldon's dead.
Then a friend suggested a few authors who are "interesting and non-tearing-my-hair-over-obscurantist stuff"in her own words. I still had my doubts and didn't do much about it.
Last week while roaming the book store , which for me consists of two low racks on the 1st floor of the shop that contain the English books and mostly has the Twilight and Harry Potter series, I did notice among them one of the authors that my friend had mentioned. I picked it up, said a little prayer in hopes that it will renew my faith in the act of reading and got myself a cosy little corner at Starbucks to start the process.
The book gods(or is it Saraswati? heh) answered my prayer; it was unputdownable! It was quirky and fun, smart and hip. It had me laughing then crying and then laughing again.
The book is called Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes, it is about an Irish girl who works in New York . The book opens with her in Ireland, recuperating from some sort of horrible accident and is wondering why her boyfriend hasn't even tried to get in touch with her. The book oscillates between flashbacks and present day and keeps you guessing while laughing till you get to the part where it breaks your heart. You cry and then can't help laughing through your tears again.
This book was like the 'chicken soup for the reader's soul,' it will definitely keep you warm when it's snowing outside and all you want to do is curl up, read and forget the world!

Comments

Kuntala said…
Agatha Christie defies all laws of crime literature. She gets better with time....once you know who is the killer it becomes more fun.

Raka, try reading children's literature (or any book where children are the main characters). I mean 10+ category. When every book fails me I just go back and read 'HA JA BA RA LA' or 'Anne of Green Gables' or 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Always works.
September 28, 2010 at 11:24 AM
Deepanjana said…
Kuntala, I totally agree with you. Children's literature like Little Women and enid blytons would always make your day. Books about innocence never fade- a child's journey and adventures are so exciting for an adult to read because we don't think like that and the novelty is enormous.
September 29, 2010 at 9:54 AM
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