Tom Clancy’s “Executive Orders”

I did spent my vacation while reading this huge book

I and Books

I read Tom Clancy’s name when I was reading the review of a book by different author and it caught my attention. I had seen his books in bookshops but never paid any attention to them before. The first book that I picked up was “Executive Orders”. It was quite a surprise to me in terms of scale, detailing and scope of plot.  I have read many more books by him after that and I will write about them separately but this is the one that got me hooked to Tom Clancy.

The first thing that attracted me in the book was the characterization of Jack Ryan’s secret service agent Andrea Price. She has the job of personal security of president after the disaster that makes Jack the President in the book. Even though Tom has kept this relationship purely professional in the book, it does strike your mind many…

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Chetan Bhagat’s “Two States”

One of his best books

I and Books

I have liked this book from Chetan Bhagat most as compared to his other books, even better than “Five Point Someone”. It is a  very simple story where you almost know what is going to be the end but you are curious to read how it is going to happen. The beauty of the book is not in the story as much as it is in the narration of completely different cultures of north and south of India. Again the view is more from the Delhi Guy perspective but still it captures a lot of South Indian Tamil nuances.

The story also feels real to me since I have many friends who have married across different cultures and have gone through similar experiences. To an outsider, it might seem why I am calling it different culture because Krish and Ananya are both from India but Indians would know that Punjabis and Tamilians are as…

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Same Book, Different Effect

It was my first post on general book reading without reference to any specific book

I and Books

I am going to write the tenth post on this blog, so I thought of writing a general stuff instead of a particular book. Can a same book create a completely different effect on its reader at different time? I believe yes. In fact it has happened to me multiple times. There have been times when I have picked up a book based on recommendation from a friend, but I could not read it. Whenever, I started to read, I found it boring, un-interesting and in most of the times sleepy. But then I will pick the same book after few months or years and I end up reading it with lot of interest and was unable to put it down. What changed between these times? The book was same and the reader was also same.

What changed was probably the mood of the reader or the environment or the…

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“Eragon” by Christopher Paolini

This series started so well …

I and Books

I have heard about comparisons being made between Eragon and Harry Potter or Eragon and Lord of the Rings, but I would like to not go into those. I was primarily attracted to Eragon since I was reading a lot about this in media. The book is responsible for making dragons most loved mythical animals. To me it was a love story between Saphira and Eragon. A love that was based on strength and care about each other.

The most important aspect that I liked was the concept of creation and storage of energy which is then used to create magic. The idea almost look plausible at times. It is as though Paolini has figured out some advanced form of energy creation and storage and then he is just converting that energy for either material transformation, communication or transportation.

Saphira is not a slave to her master. She is a…

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“Eye Of The Needle”, By Ken Follett

It does not happen very often but I seem to be going back to Ken Follett again and again. I am probably finding it difficult to start a new author and Follett is still keeping me interested. “Eye of the Needle” is very typical world war II fiction story that seems very plausible and has all the elements of fast paced thriller. A German spy in England with whole might of MI5 behind him, Hitler waiting for most important information from the spy and Churchill waiting to make sure that information is not delivered. He almost succeeds in his mission but for the courage of lonely woman on storm island.

It is a story of ruthless German spy Henry Faber who has managed to evade MI5 for a long time and this time manages to get the most crucial information that could jeopardize final attack from allied forces. He is on the run with MI5 behind him and manages to reach “Storm Island” where Lucy lives with her crippled husband and son. Lucy is attracted to him but eventually realizes the truth and acts as hero in saving the war for England. In any such spy thriller chase, it is always lots of hard work for police forces but there is also a lot of coincidence and good luck that ends up working in their favor. Of course everybody likes a good ending.

I have not read this kind of thriller for some time and it reminds me of authors like Alistair Maclean, Frederick Forsyth and Tom Clancy. This is the first book of Follett I have read that is not steeped in history but is pure fictional thriller. It is quite enjoyable for a change but I think I like him more when I read historical fiction from Follett. Looks like a movie was also made based on this book and I should see that one. The book reminds me of Indian movie “Fanaa” as well.