The Millenium Trilogy: A Review

    Its been a while since I read these books. I wanted to write about them but have been putting it off. When I read the first book, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the first few pages felt a little weird. However, I was immediately captivated by these books. I was not aware how immensely popular these books were when I read the first of them. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could not wait to get my hands on the next two. I was in India at that time and had a hard time finding the third one in my home town, but was glad I did not give up, when I found a lone copy sitting on the shelf in a book store.
    The stories revolve around a journalist Mikael Blomkvist, and an unusual leading lady Lisbeth Salander, who is a mathematical genius/computer hacker/abused eccentric, unafraid of the law.
     In The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Mikael Blomkvist loses his reputation and his savings after a lawsuit against Wennerström. He faces the prospect of jail time, when he is contacted by a renowned industrialist Henrik Vagner, to investigate the disappearance on his grand-niece. He works with Lisbeth Salander to solve the mystery and in the process they get to know each other.
    In the second book, The Girl Who Played With Fire, Mikael comes across material with strong evidence of  sex trafficking of young girls in Sweden. He starts investigating  and is completely unaware that Lisbeth is following his work closely. She herself was abused as a child and is looking for revenge. But then she becomes the chief suspect in three murders and ends up on the run.
    In the last book of the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest, the author provides all the answers to Lisbeth's life. This is a true sequel to the second book, starting where the second leaves us. Lisbeth was shot in the head by her father, Zalachenko who is in the same hospital, trying to kill her at every possible chance all the while claiming that she tried to kill him. A conspiracy involving government officials, who wanted her locked up since she was a child is eventually unlocked with Mikael's help.
    The stories are complex pieces of puzzles waiting to be unfolded, which makes it thrilling for the readers. The narrative was laced with quite a bit of violence and though it was part of the plot it felt excessive at times. And every book contained facts and statistics sometimes irrelevant to the story. The Swedish backdrop felt fresh and interesting. Since these books have been translated from Swedish the prose falls short at places. These are definitely not great works of literature but the complex story leaves you wanting for more. Having said that I have to say that these books are certainly a level above most thrillers and books of this genre. I would certainly recommend these books to all kinds of readers. Let me know if you have read them and what you think of them.

PS: The author Steig Larsson planned to write a total of ten novels, but sadly, his untimely death prevented him from doing that. It was said that he wrote for his own pleasure and never attempted to publish them until a short time before his death. The Millenium Trilogy was also published posthumously, and the author never saw the great success of his books.

Pillars Of The Earth: A Review

    I have never been a great lover of Ken Follet's works. Sure he writes amazing suspense thrillers, excellent page-turners, but I have always felt his books a little too raw for my taste. That being said, I loved his epic story - Pillars of the Earth. The book came out in 1989 and made its way to Oprah's list in 2007.  I never heard about it until I saw Follet's TV interview recently about the new mini-series they are making based on this book. I am glad to have picked it up a little later than never. It is a riveting page-turner. Once I started the book, I could not put it down, and spent three sleepless nights over it. And it was a whopping 1000 pages!
    It is an epic work, true to the word, with magnificent characters, grand buildings and an excellent narration. Based in the medieval times, it rotates around the construction of a Gothic cathedral in a fictitious town called Kingsbridge. The story takes place from 1123 to 1174 A.D. The book reflects the political anarchy from one of the most contentious times in English history, when the country was ravaged by civil war, with self appointed heirs fighting for the throne after Henry I. The novel however, does not focus much on the war, but with the building of a church. It describes the lives of a few specific fictional characters that are involved with or are affected by the construction of the cathedral, with the backdrop of the political happenings of those times. The book describes in great lengths the development of Gothic architecture, and the typical growth and fall of market towns in medieval England, inter-laced with the political tug between the church and the state. The characters include stone-masons from two generations, a prior, the daughter of a knight, the daughter of an earl, and her brother who try to earn back their earldom- give life to the book and are greatly engaging. The narrative is quick and captivating, with lots of twists and turns and the political backdrop is exciting.
     The only complaints I have with the book, are the unnaturally conniving behavior depicted by some of the characters and  excessive narratives of unnecessary sex at times. But then it's a Ken Follet novel. Since its an old book, you should be able to get a used copy easily just like I did.
     All that said, my recommendation for you: Do pick it up! Do not be discouraged by the size of the book, since you will hardly notice how long you've been reading for. And at the end, you will be sad that it ended.

PS: There is a sequel to this book named, World Without End. I have yet to pick a copy.

Colored Toys

This morning I read this beautiful poem by Tagore. In the poem he draws parallels between a mother's gifts to her child and God's beautiful creations. The mother's song is compared to the music in the leaves and the colorful toys to the many hued flowers. The poem is filled with amazing imagery describing nature's many gifts to us.  It is truly lovely! Read on...

When I bring to you colored toys, my child,

I understand why there is such a play of colors on clouds, on water,

and why flowers are painted in tints

—when I give colored toys to you, my child.

When I sing to make you dance

I truly know why there is music in leaves,

and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth

—when I sing to make you dance.

When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands

I know why there is honey in the cup of the flowers

and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice

—when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.

When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling,

I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light,

and what delight that is that is which the summer breeze brings to my body

—when I kiss you to make you smile.

(Picture taken from)

The Road Less Traveled

I am reading Paulo Coelho's  "The Winner Stands Alone". Yesterday I came across a chapter where a character in the book reads the poem tiled, The Road not Taken by Robert Frost.  It is one of my favorite poems, and I was happy to revisit it. The last three lines give me goosebumps every time I read them.  I wanted to share it here...

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.