A written version of chic-flick by Liz Gallagher unfolds in this young teen novel.
Alice and Jewel were the best friends for as long as they could remember. Their families knew each other, they stood by each other in the worst of times and Alice and Jewel were part of the artistic group in high school, which was mostly invisible to the 'popular' bunch.
Until Alice started getting a crush on Simon Murphy, her group mate in Spanish class, whom she found to be irresistible. And that seemed to be the only crevice in her communication with Jewel - she could never talk about that to him. Yet, on of the days, hanging out with Simon, she kisses him - she was in heaven. And the very next day, she kisses Jewel. They have an almost unspoken fight, while she becomes Simon's girlfriend. She enjoys her time, but everytime she sees Jewel hang around with someone else, her heart breaks. Bit by bit, she also discovers Simon is not her kind. Eventually, one day, Jewel tells her that he would so anything for her and breaks up with his girlfriend. Alice seizes on this opportunity to break up with Simon. Jewel and she are best friends forever again!
With so many Bollywood flicks and typical Hollywood chic romances, I could again fathom what the ending would have been, yet it was a cute read, for the different style and troubles the youngsters face today.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The Road of the Dead
The novel is a young adult thriller written by Kevin Brooks. With my sibling working at the local library as a book reviewer, I get an awful lot of opportunity to be a bookworm of books for ages 12 and up, but this was the first time I took avail of it and I have to say it wasn't bad at all.
Rachael's death comes as a shock to her family in London. While the police are investigating her death, her brother is fuming with rage because they can't yet get her body to bury, as until the investigation is over, the body can't be buried. So Ruben sets out to the moorland, Lychcombe, where his sister was raped, killed and left naked. To keep his hot headed brother from trouble, Cole sets along with him. Cole has a great gift - he is able to sense things from his relations from time to time. He was able to feel Rachael in her last moments and knows that both his sister's killer is also dead.
On the way, they meet Rachael's friend, who bears striking resemblance to her. While living at their place (with her husband), the brothers feel that there is something that Rachel's friend, Abbie is not telling them. After some roaming, threatening, they find out that a huge corporation is trying to buy the whole place so that they can convert the locality into a resort, but Abbie was refusing to sell, since it is her ancestral place. Meanwhile, her husband, an unscrupulous fellow, sets her up with the contractor (just to scare her). But Abbie comes to know of the plans and lends Rachael her raincoat that wet night. Mistaking her, the hireman does more damage than needed. To cover the whole conspiracy up, the hireman is also killed by the contractor. The story ends with both brothers returning to London.
The story was well written and progressed smoothly. There was quite a bit of violence for young adult, but I never understand what is an acceptable level of violence at any age. Nevertheless, reading it, there was some level of anticipation in trying to figure out how Ruben and Cole found out the mystery, but the author bursts the mystery quite soggily in claiming Ruben never needed to know how Cole found out. So the whole anticipation seemed pointless. Also because I had read a few more thrillers than an average young reader would have, I had figured out what had happened to Rachael, when Abbie was introduced to have a striking resemblance to her - it must have been a mix-up. My only motivation to read further was to find out why and I suppose that was cleared in a few more chapters too. So until you are looking for some dramatic, soap opera-like ending to the novel, the plot unfolds in a few chapters. However, it was one of the best books I read with some of the new authors. Definitely a quick and easy read for the mature audience.
Rachael's death comes as a shock to her family in London. While the police are investigating her death, her brother is fuming with rage because they can't yet get her body to bury, as until the investigation is over, the body can't be buried. So Ruben sets out to the moorland, Lychcombe, where his sister was raped, killed and left naked. To keep his hot headed brother from trouble, Cole sets along with him. Cole has a great gift - he is able to sense things from his relations from time to time. He was able to feel Rachael in her last moments and knows that both his sister's killer is also dead.
On the way, they meet Rachael's friend, who bears striking resemblance to her. While living at their place (with her husband), the brothers feel that there is something that Rachel's friend, Abbie is not telling them. After some roaming, threatening, they find out that a huge corporation is trying to buy the whole place so that they can convert the locality into a resort, but Abbie was refusing to sell, since it is her ancestral place. Meanwhile, her husband, an unscrupulous fellow, sets her up with the contractor (just to scare her). But Abbie comes to know of the plans and lends Rachael her raincoat that wet night. Mistaking her, the hireman does more damage than needed. To cover the whole conspiracy up, the hireman is also killed by the contractor. The story ends with both brothers returning to London.
The story was well written and progressed smoothly. There was quite a bit of violence for young adult, but I never understand what is an acceptable level of violence at any age. Nevertheless, reading it, there was some level of anticipation in trying to figure out how Ruben and Cole found out the mystery, but the author bursts the mystery quite soggily in claiming Ruben never needed to know how Cole found out. So the whole anticipation seemed pointless. Also because I had read a few more thrillers than an average young reader would have, I had figured out what had happened to Rachael, when Abbie was introduced to have a striking resemblance to her - it must have been a mix-up. My only motivation to read further was to find out why and I suppose that was cleared in a few more chapters too. So until you are looking for some dramatic, soap opera-like ending to the novel, the plot unfolds in a few chapters. However, it was one of the best books I read with some of the new authors. Definitely a quick and easy read for the mature audience.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
eklavya
This was probably one of the coolest recent Bollywood movies. Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Boman Irani, Vidhya Balan, Jackie Shroff, Jimmy Shergill, Rima Sen, Sanjay Dutt and Sharmila Tagore, the story revolves around the life of the traditional bodyguard with secrets in this Rana family.
Eklavya (AB) is the royal bodyguard of Rana (Irani). The movie begins with a very sick Tagore mumbling Eklavya's name. Rana tries his best to distract her and revive her. But eventually is angered and smothers her to death. He is watched by his insane daughter, Sen. Eklavya is summoned and all rites completed.
With much sadness, Rana confides his impotency and the fact that the Eklavya had fathered his children to Shroff, who is his brother. He implores him to kill Eklavya, since the guard reminds him of his incapacity. Shroff plans with his son, Shergill. Part of the plan was to create a threatened scenario for the Rana. Dutt is called as the investigating cop of the conspiracy. He is indebted to Eklavya, from his younger days for having inspired him to be something in life.
Meanwhile, Khan returns to a saddened home. He visits his sister and sees his childhood sweetheart - Balan. Balan takes care of Sen and also gets a letter from his mother through her, explaining his birth.
While spending time with his sister, he understands through his paintings that his mother was murdered and is disturbed. Meanwhile, Shroff and Shergill carry out their plan. Suprisingly, Eklavya is left alive, while Rana is killed and their driver fatally hurt. While the investigation is being taking place, Eklavya figures out the murderer is Shergill, as he mentions details that even Eklavya hadn't mentioned. When he tries to kill him, Dutt refrains him. The driver, Balan's father, dies and Khan promises to marry her.
Khan asks Eklavya to retire, but he returns to Shergill's lair and kills him. He brings Shroff too, but he is shocked to find out that the second murderer was Khan himself.
Balan on the other hand, finds out that Khan was the murderer and moves away from him. Eklavya comes to kill Khan, but finds out the truth about the queen's murder and stops his son from suicide. The movie ends with the family coming together.
Definitely a good movie with interesting twists. I was kind of annoyed by the funny namaste that AB kept doing and honestly, he doesn't have the strength to carry out a body guard role - he looks so old. Other than that, a good treat.
Eklavya (AB) is the royal bodyguard of Rana (Irani). The movie begins with a very sick Tagore mumbling Eklavya's name. Rana tries his best to distract her and revive her. But eventually is angered and smothers her to death. He is watched by his insane daughter, Sen. Eklavya is summoned and all rites completed.
With much sadness, Rana confides his impotency and the fact that the Eklavya had fathered his children to Shroff, who is his brother. He implores him to kill Eklavya, since the guard reminds him of his incapacity. Shroff plans with his son, Shergill. Part of the plan was to create a threatened scenario for the Rana. Dutt is called as the investigating cop of the conspiracy. He is indebted to Eklavya, from his younger days for having inspired him to be something in life.
Meanwhile, Khan returns to a saddened home. He visits his sister and sees his childhood sweetheart - Balan. Balan takes care of Sen and also gets a letter from his mother through her, explaining his birth.
While spending time with his sister, he understands through his paintings that his mother was murdered and is disturbed. Meanwhile, Shroff and Shergill carry out their plan. Suprisingly, Eklavya is left alive, while Rana is killed and their driver fatally hurt. While the investigation is being taking place, Eklavya figures out the murderer is Shergill, as he mentions details that even Eklavya hadn't mentioned. When he tries to kill him, Dutt refrains him. The driver, Balan's father, dies and Khan promises to marry her.
Khan asks Eklavya to retire, but he returns to Shergill's lair and kills him. He brings Shroff too, but he is shocked to find out that the second murderer was Khan himself.
Balan on the other hand, finds out that Khan was the murderer and moves away from him. Eklavya comes to kill Khan, but finds out the truth about the queen's murder and stops his son from suicide. The movie ends with the family coming together.
Definitely a good movie with interesting twists. I was kind of annoyed by the funny namaste that AB kept doing and honestly, he doesn't have the strength to carry out a body guard role - he looks so old. Other than that, a good treat.
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