Going Postal

Source – Wikipedia

Soon as I started reading Making Money, I realized that following Moist von Lipwig’s adventures is worth every dollar. And I mean literally! The guy has nothing to lose except maybe his life and so he sets out himself to entertain the crowd while filling up the government’s coffers. Going Postal is the 1st book in Lipwig series and the 33rd in the Discworld series.

Moist von Lipwig is a professional conman if there was ever one to grace Discworld…the one of his kind I’d say. Unfortunately for him, his crimes are discovered and he is sentenced to be hanged. A short while later, Moist finds himself before Lord Vetinari, the tyrant and ruler of Ankh-Morpokh who offers him a delicate choice between taking up the job of Post Master of the city’s Post Office vs. a certain painful death. Moist of course chooses the former and so finds himself in a dilapidated relic that is the Post Office with only a Mr. Groat, the Jr. Post Master and Stanley to guide him. Their jolly little team has 2 other members – Moist’s parole officer Mr. Pump and Mr. Tiddles, the office cat with occasional help from Ms. Adora Belle Dearheart, manager of the Golem Trust. And here I must add the introduction given to Tiddles -

“A large black-and-white cat had walked into the room. It paid no attention to Moist or Groat, but progressed slowly across the floor toward a battered and unraveling basket. Moist was in the way. The cat continued until its head butted gently against Moist’s leg, and stopped.
“That’s Mr. Tiddles, sir,” said Groat.
“Tiddles?” said Moist. “You mean that really is a cat’s name? I thought it was just a joke.”
“Not so much the name, sir, more of a description,” said Groat. “You’d better move, sir, otherwise he’ll just stand there all day. Twenty years old, he is, and a bit set in his ways.”

Added to the mess are the thousands of letters and the ghost of their writers’ voices that begin to haunt Moist and of course the one and only competitor – Mr. Reacher Gilt and his company “The Grand Trunk”. Will Moist manage to restore the Post Office to its former glory while evading Gilt and his devious deadly schemes or will he fail and be hanged yet again? And with this description I’ll leave it to you readers to decide whether to pick or drop this book.

Moist von Lipwig is probably one of my most favorite characters after Hercule Poirot and Granny Weatherwax. Once he gets his rhythm going, there’s no stopping him as he sets out to woo the crowds employing some of the oldest tricks in the history of marketing. And to summarize his description – “He had an honest face. And he loved those people who looked him firmly in the eye to see his inner self, because he had a whole set of inner selves, one for every occasion. As for firm handshakes, practice had given him one to which you could moor boats. It was people skills, that was what it was. Special people skills. Before you could sell glass as diamonds you had to make people really want to see diamonds. That was THE trick, the trick of all tricks.”

As for the theme itself, there are several, first and foremost of which is the Post Office. It so reminds me of USPS…perhaps Mr. Pratchett was alluding to the British Govt Post and the possible changes that the postal system may have undergone in the last few decades. Then there is reference to the telegrams and the mobile networks…as described through the improvements to Clacks. And last but the most entertaining is the allusion to Organization and Change management, which features predominantly in the conversations between Mr. Gilt and his associates while discussing the affairs of the Clacks system. The following statement is probably also the most used by CEOs of companies worldwide -
“Gilt waved him into silence, and continued: “ – several hundred thousand dollars in a challenging, relevant, and exciting systemic overhaul of our entire organization, focusing on our core competencies while maintaining full and listening cooperation with the communities we are proud to serve. We fully realize that our energetic attempts to mobilize the flawed infrastructure we inherited have been less than totally satisfactory, and hope and trust that our valued and loyal customers will bear with us in the coming months as we interact synergistically with change management in our striving for excellence. That is our mission.””

And so with enough fodder for thought and plenty of quotes, I’ll conclude my blog post for the book – Going Postal. And to make my experience of this wonderful book complete, I even got hold of the film adaptation aired by BSkyB in Britain which was okay while not on par with the book. A hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable book through and through!

And Then There Were None

Source – Wikipedia

On my first glance at the title, the only thought that occured to me was that it sounded so cliched yet just perfect. Short, sweet and swift with a kind of rhythmic lure to it…a bait perhaps for some fish.

Coming to the facts, And Then There Were None is recognized world-over as Agatha Christie’s best-selling novel and a best-selling mystery of all times. The story is about 8 people who are invited to a palatial home atop a private island for a holiday. They arrive there to find that their host/hostess who only goes by the pseudonym U.N.Owen is away, but their needs would be attended to by Thomas and Ethel Rogers. The first realization that hits the guests is that their host/hostess had been very vague in their communication but things become clear by dinnertime when a disembodied voice reads out the major crime against each guest and pretty soon a death occurs before their very eyes. When the next morning another of them turns up dead and all communications with mainland is cut off, the hunt begins for the killer is amongst them and will stop at nothing till every one of them is dead.

The novel focuses on the perfect crime, a crime so well planned and well executed that the identity of the killer remains a mystery until the last page. The victims are executed quickly and efficiently following the sequence of the rhyme “Ten Little Indians”. The psychology of the killer is portrayed as highly complex for none could suspect him of the crimes based on his profile. His keen sense of observation and study of his victims’ mental makeup helps him manipulate the situations so much so that often people turn against each other without their knowledge. He uses his victims as his weapons and alibis thereby escaping detection. I specifically choose not to mention the character names here for if I do that I’d be spoiling the fun for the readers. A crisp and intense plot with a multitude of characters is what makes this book thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely deserves a place in your home libraries!

Garden Spells

Beautiful cover with an intriguing blurb…the perfect bait for bookworms lurking around the murky depths of a lake called library! The blurb evoked memories of watching this Nicole Kidman – Sandra Bullock film titled “Practical Magic” that I wondered if the film became the source for the book or vice versa.

The Waverleys were always considered different by the residents of Bascom and their garden even more so owing to a mystical apple tree that throws its prophetic fruits at people. While Claire Waverley accepts this fact and lives in the ancestral home with a flourish catering business, her half sister Sydney flees home rejecting her heritage. Claire’s quite life is shaken up like a cocktail mix on the arrival of a stranger who has eyes only for her and it is further rocked by the arrival of her sister. Sydney is on the run again and this time is accompanied by her daughter Bay, a true waverley herself. This time though, Claire is ready to face the changes, adapt and even embrace them. How the Waverley sisters transform their lives for better forms the rest of the story.

I guess this is one book where I rooted for 2 characters who are of course the Waverley sisters. I enjoyed reading about their past, their decisions, they present and how they fight together for the future. Sarah Addison did a wonderful job is keeping the backdrop of the Waverleys simple weaving the characters as ordinary folks yet giving an element of magic to each. The story is strongly women-centric and deals with the life of a woman in every phase of her life…and you see this through the eyes of Bay, Claire, Sydney and Evanelle. Another endearing character that is worth the mention is Evanelle Waverley, a distant cousin of Claire and Sydney. Her uniqueness lies in the element of surprise that she keeps springing on the residents of Bascom. These gifts of hers serve to nudge the sisters along the way onto the path of forgiveness and fresh beginnings. On the whole, Garden Spells is definitely well worth a read!

Tristan and Iseult

Source - Wikipedia

When I chanced upon a first edition paperback of this tragic tale at NPL, I realized that it was time to read this book at least once. And thankfully the copy I picked up was a rare edition…a translation of the original by Joseph Bedier. Unfortunately though I couldn’t recall the foreword although it was well written.

Tristan is born prince of Lothian to King Rivalin and a princess of Cornwall. The prince is so named by his mother who shortly dies. And this is just the beginning of the many tragedies that mark Tristan’s life. The prince grows up to be handsome knight, leaves his kingdom to serve King Mark of Cromwall, his uncle and only living relation. Tristan’s undying devotion and bravery earn him enemies at court who fearing his growing power pressurize King Mark to marry. And Tristan is goaded into winning Iseult, the fair and pretty maiden of Ireland as a wife for his aging uncle. A dabble with the love potion gone wrong, Tristan and Iseult irk their fates by throwing themselves into a nicely doomed affair. After many foiled attempts, the affair does come to the notice of King Mark who blindly condemns the lovers and takes the harshest of measures to separate the lovers. Tristan moves to Brittany and marries Iseult of the White Hands, a namesake both in beauty and well name while Iseult of Ireland returns into the good books of her husband. How a seemingly simple happy ending turns into one of the greatest tragedies of all times forms the rest of the story. And so I closed the book quietly as I realized the folly of naming my 3rd dog and Pomeranian Tristan.

Tristan is a beautiful name but a beauty attached with tragedy. As for the knight himself, he struck me as a guy who was perpetually grieving and I felt sorry for him for getting his fate sealed on the day of his birth. That apart, the qualities that bring him glory also mark his end. And with that conclusion I decided not to over analyze his actions nor those of Iseult’s.

The story originates from an Irish legend, a celtic romance between a knight and a beautiful maiden and was passed down generations in the form of poetry. While this tragic tale has been adapted and retold in various forms across Europe, the 19th century opera version composed by Richard Wagner takes the cake and is considered one of the most beautiful and influential pieces of music. A must read for patrons of classic literature.

The Night Circus

The circus arrives without warning.

No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

                                                                 Opens at Nightfall
                                                                 Closes at Dawn

Le Cirque des Reves

A night circus whirls out of nowhere…travelling across cities and continents without a moment’s notice. A circus so magical, enchanting that it closes around you, tugging at your wildest dreams and imaginations while tempting you to try out the daring and unimaginable exhibits on display… Illusionists pulling off tricks that you could only watch open-mouthed with wonder, contortionists performing the most inexplicable feats, mazes with an unexpected doorways and bridges and bottles that capture the very essence of memories…they are all there for you to visit and visit again. Wanna visit it again? Ask the Reveurs, for they may be the only ones to know where it may appear next.

Such is Le Cirque des Reves, a mystery and an enigma to both the participants and the Reveurs. It is but a secret venue for a duel between 2 illusionists- Marco and Celia, apprentices to the greatest magicians unknown to mankind. As each tries to surpass the other in their feats of illusion, little do they know that it is a duel unto death.

This lovely piece of historical fiction is set in between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The story which begins on an ominous note flies swiftly and silently between the past and the present sprinkling abundant notes of enchantments, history with an overall aura of melacholy to the readers. If you don’t pay attention to the dates and years, you will find yourself lost trying to remember the year that you are in. The characters exist somewhere between the conscious and subconscious figments of your imagination…they are present one minute and disappear the next. The only constant is the circus and its monochromatic beauty and the colorful secrets hidden within its massive tents. Every page is a delight to read as the story swings back and forth like a pendulum and your heart simply races to figure out Marco and Celia’s fates…are they doomed or do they find their happy ending?

Erin Morgenstern doesn’t waste time giving an elaborate backdrop to her characters…they just exist. I got the sense that the story was about a circus with the duel and the illusionists laid in as an afterthought…the tiny threads that hold the web together tightly. Despite this flaw, I enjoyed reading the book right from the cover page and that my dear readers is the power of a good story. So if you are looking for some fantastic and magical story that is grounded to reality just a bit then be sure to pick this book!

And if you’d like to take a more interactive approach to your reading then check out this website – http://www.nightcircus.co.uk/signup