The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

Sometimes a book is perfectly written with meaningful themes and you end up acknowledging its greatness while having no personal attachment to it. At other times, you read a book that is just plain awful but you actually end up secretly enjoying it. Some of the reasons that come to mind that makes us like a book are - reading a book at the right time, connecting to the characters in the book or a theme that resonates with us personally. To oversimplify it further - we end up loving books that evoke an emotion out of us. It could be an intense sadness or side-splitting laughter. As long as we feel something and we are engaged to the plot, we end up liking it. I personally end up disliking books that make me feel indifferent to the overall plot or outcome of the characters. On that note, let's get into why I liked 'The Importance of Being Earnest.' It is, by no means, a ground-breaking work of art but it is genuinely one of the funniest and wittiest plays that I have ever read and as a result, I absolutely loved it.

This play is set in the Victorian era. And it is an obvious satire on the conventions and conduct of people living in this era. And as advertised, it is "a trivial comedy for serious people". Now, usually the problem with reading a comedy play is that it is meant to be performed on stage. As a result, some of the humour does not translate well on text. For example, as a part of our school curriculum, we were introduced to two plays - 'As You Like It' and 'Arms and the Man'. Both were comedies and both of them had elements of visual humour because of which, certain dialogues did not have the full comic effect that it was intended to have. However, 'The Importance of Being Earnest' is a comedy that translates well even on text. It relies on situational comedy and on witty one-liners as its main comic element along with subtle digs at the mannerisms of the society.

The plot of the play is a little difficult to explain. The protagonists of the play, Jack and Moncrieff assume a fake identity named, ironically enough, Ernest. However, when both of them arrive at Jack's country house at the same time, they create a whole lot of confusion especially for the ladies whom they have wooed under the false name of 'Ernest'. What follows is complete mayhem as the situation gets more out of hand.

Essentially, it is a satire on society. Oscar Wilde points out the vanity and vapidness of the wealthy aristocrats. But because it is done in the form of comedy, it gets the message across without being overbearing.

"If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being immensely over-educated."

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”  

It is also interesting to note that Oscar Wilde identified as a homosexual. He was compelled to hide his sexual orientation as it would cause public backlash and imprisonment. (Note : He was imprisoned later following a court case involving his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, where his homosexuality was revealed.) Now, his play deals with deceptive double lives and it is apparent that he himself used to lead a double life, hiding his true self from the public. He also observed that, by and large the entire society used to lead a double life. I don't know whether the theme of double lives had anything to do with his own personal struggles. Nevertheless, I find the connection between his art and personal life interesting.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that this was one of the better books that I have read this year and I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Read this when you're in the mood for something that is light-hearted and fun.

The Lover's Dictionary - David Levithan

I have a habit of judging books by their covers and their titles. For example, if a book is named "She Swiped Right Into My Heart", I will avoid it at all costs. So, naturally, even though I knew that this book was supposedly good, I had no intentions of reading it. In fact, the only reason I read it was because of a Goodreads challenge. And let me just say, I'm glad I read it.

The Lover's Dictionary consists of a word and then a passage following it which narrates about a relationship. For example, think of a word. Let's say - absent. It will be followed by a narration of a failed relationship related to the word - absent. Think of it as something like "Terribly Tiny Tales" except all of the individual tales add up to the main story. So, we basically follow a relationship between the narrator and a girl. It alternates between past and present events. So, there is a clear contrast. When the relationship is in its early stages, it is very optimistic and hopeful. And when the narration shifts to the present scenario - it is bitter and sometimes, nostalgic. Overall, the book does an excellent job of exploring a modern day relationship - from its happy beginnings to its five stages of grief ending.

Now, any sort of experimental writing is a bit of a risk. People might love it or absolutely hate it. And not all experimental writing is well done. However, this one is fairly well done. I had mixed feelings about the book because of my personal preferences. But, overall, this is a good book and I would definitely recommend it to the right audience.

A Room Of One's Own - Virginia Woolf

I'm going to go ahead and say something that I probably should not say - I find Virginia Woolf's writing style very difficult to engage with (at least in this book). While I appreciated her sensible tone of making her point, I could feel my focus slipping in parts of the book (to be fair, it could be because of my insistence to read it all in one day). However, that aside, I really liked this book.

This book was originally published in 1929 when gender inequality was worse than what it is in the modern day. 'A Room of One's Own' is actually an extended essay based on a series of lectures delivered by Woolf in Cambridge University. It centres around the idea that women need a steady income and a room of her own in order to explore her artistic capabilities. This book also touches upon patriarchy and the oppression of women under a patriarchal society. While the current situation of women is significantly better than what it was around the time when this book got published, some of her ideas are still relevant. She gives a hypothetical example of a hypothetical Shakespeare's sister - whose literary capabilities equalled that of Shakespeare's. However, Woolf imagines, this sister would never gain the fame or recognition of Shakespeare and would ultimately resort to suicide because of the societal constraints of women present at the time. She also talks about Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, imagining how difficult it must have been for these women to write in the drawing room - where there were constant distractions.

Through her observations and analysis, Virginia Woolf puts forth a strong argument for the need for feminism. However, she keeps her arguments free from prejudice. In fact, she is so sensible that it is hard not to see her logic. This book also stresses on the importance of women to be financially independent - something that resonated with me very strongly.

“All this pitting of sex against sex, of quality against quality; all this claiming of superiority and imputing of inferiority, belong to the private-school stage of human existence where there are 'sides,' and it is necessary for one side to beat another side, and of the utmost importance to walk up to a platform and receive from the hands of the Headmaster himself a highly ornamental pot.”  

Would recommend to : Anyone with an interest in classic feminist literature.

Carrie - Stephen King

When I was a teenager, I used to read The Princess Diaries series. And I distinctly remember a reference to Carrie that the main character made in the first book. As a result, I was aware of the plot even before I read the book. Now, if you're a horror enthusiast, you'd know that once you're aware of the plot, the intensity and the suspense diminishes by a considerable amount. However, in this case, even though I was aware of the plot, Carrie kept me on the edge of my seat.

The book alternates between two time periods - the past and the present. The format of the book is epistolary - it includes newspaper clippings, excerpts from published autobiographies of people who witnessed the "incident" that occurred, published articles by scholars researching about the "incident" along with regular narration in third person of the events leading up to the "incident", thereby, building up the suspense.

Carrie is a 17 year old girl who is bullied by her classmates in school for being a social outcast. Growing up in an overly-protected environment thanks to her fanatically religious mother, she does not understand social norms and as a result, is an easy target for bullies. After a particularly nasty bullying session, one of the girls involved, Sue Snell, feels guilty and convinces her boyfriend to take Carrie to their senior prom instead of her. The act, though done out of good intention, turns out to be the final straw in the humiliation of Carrie. I will not reveal anything further than that as this is one of those books where it's better to go in without much prior knowledge.

The primary complain that I usually have with horror novels is their one-dimensional characters. However, Carrie deeply explores the backstory of all of the significant characters. This book also touches on some disturbing subjects like marital rape which leaves a lasting impact on the victim in the book.

Apart from an engaging plot, Carrie also manages to keep you emotionally engaged without heavily relying on flowery prose. You can feel Sue Snell's guilt as deeply as you can feel Carrie's alienation and distress. You can also tell that the mixed and contradictory messages from her peers and her mother really confuses her and further alienates her from the society.

"Jesus watches from the wall,
But His face is cold as stone,
And if He loves me,
Why do I feel so all alone?"
- An excerpt from Carrie's journal

Another thing that I really liked was the actual horror element. Carrie offers a mixture of supernatural and psychological horror. Her plight is almost horrifying to contemplate. I'm not saying that this book will give you nightmares but, it will make you question a lot of things that you see happening around you. For example - sometimes, bullies are unaware/wilfully ignorant of the deep psychological impact that they leave on their victims. This book makes you wonder how easily avoidable the entire incident could have been if only people were a little more nice and accepting of others.

Overall, I'd like to say that if you want to sample Stephen King's writing before jumping into some of his larger sized novels, Carrie is a good book to start as it is fairly short and fast-paced. You can also check out View from the Bar on YouTube who is really good at discussing the finer points of Stephen King's novels or the movie adaptation starring John Travolta (if you don't want to read the book).

A random playlist of songs mentioned in the book -
Just Like A Woman - Bob Dylan
Tombstone Blues - Bob Dylan

Coraline - Neil Gaiman

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

I was almost sceptical about this book because of it being a children's book, a genre that I can't seem to enjoy much lately. However, Coraline was a pleasant surprise. It was not because the plot blew me away. There wasn't much of a shock value to it. However, the story worked well with the atmosphere of the book. It has Neil Gaiman's trademark humour and simplistic writing style along with badass characters who leave a lasting impression on you.

In this story, Coraline and her family move to a new flat. As soon as she moves there, her explorer instincts start working and she discovers a locked door in the dining room and finds a brick wall upon opening it. When she tries again a second time, she is surprised to find a corridor at the end of which she finds a flat resembling her own. In this other world, she meets her "other parents" who are a perfect version of her own parents, i.e., attentive to her every need. They even look alike - with the exception of their button-like eyes. However, Coraline is able to see through the charming facade and realises that they mean to keep her as their own child forever. She manages to escape and returns to her actual flat only to discover that her real parents are trapped in a mirror and that she must go back to the other world in order to rescue them. And there begins her adventure in the "other world" as she tries to rescue her parents while trying to keep herself from falling for the evil traps of her "other mother". As the plot progresses, the book gets creepier and you're drawn into this intense suspense where you're trying to figure out whether Coraline will be successful or not. As a reader, you feel engaged to the events occurring in the book. For example - when Coraline gets locked in a dark room, you can almost feel her fear in anticipation of what she might find there.

Apart from that, Coraline is filled with fascinating characters. Coraline's character is almost nostalgic as she reminds you of your childhood, when the world was fascinating and full of wonder and when moving to a new place meant exploring every nook and cranny with almost as much enthusiasm as a pirate in search of a lost treasure. Her natural curiosity and quick wit makes her a fascinating character to read about. That, combined with the plot and the way she deals with the situations she finds herself in, makes her a truly unforgettable character.  She exhibits a level of maturity that most adults strive to achieve. For example, this is what she says when her "other mother" tries to lure her by providing her with everything that she could ever want -
“I don't want whatever I want. Nobody does. Not really. What kind of fun would it be if I just got everything I ever wanted just like that, and it didn't mean anything? What then?”
 
One might argue that most children of her age do not have the maturity to understand this and that it is an unrealistic portrayal of kids of her age. However, I personally think that Coraline is a great role model for the impressionable children who are the targeted audience of the book. In fact, even adults can learn a lot from her.

So, in conclusion,  Coraline is a short but wonderfully dark and creepy book that will genuinely end up surprising you. There is also a movie adaptation which I've heard is almost as good as the book (which you can check out if you still feel unsure about the book).

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

As someone who is suffering from a Stranger Things hangover, Neverwhere was the perfect book to go back into the world of alternate universes. Dark, witty and imaginative, Neverwhere was a delight through and through.

The story follows Richard Mayhew, who leads a dull, predictable regular adult life whose idea of "injecting a little personality into his working world" is to place a troll figure on his computer monitor. However, his life turns around when he finds himself in the midst of chaos when he decides to help a wounded girl. He finds out that the girl, Door, is from London Below, an alternative world with rules quite different from our own. Door is on the run from two hired professionals, Mr. Vandemar and Mr. Croup. As Richard starts getting involved in Door's alternate world, he becomes almost invisible in our own. Helpless and desperate to be noticed again, he decides to follow Door to London Below where he goes on an unbelievable and almost life-threatening adventure exploring London Below, interacting with "rat speakers" and seeing a real-life angel for the first time. One thing is certain - life will never go back to normal for Richard or for any of us, for that matter.

“Richard wrote a diary entry in his head. Dear Diary, he began. On Friday I had a job, a fiancée, a home, and a life that made sense. (Well, as much as any life makes sense). Then I found an injured girl bleeding on the pavement, and I tried to be a Good Samaritan. Now I've got no fiancée, no home, no job, and I'm walking around a couple of hundred feet under the streets of London with the projected life expectancy of a suicidal fruitfly.”  

The most wonderful thing about this book is that even though it is technically an "adult" fantasy, it has the imaginative quality of a children's fiction. It creates an atmosphere which almost fools you into thinking that you're a part of the adventures in London Below. 

Then there's the characterization - Richard's as mundane as a man can ever be. He does not strike you as particularly heroic. Yet, when push comes to shove, he surprises you with what an ordinary man can achieve when he puts his mind to it. Another character who leaves a lasting impression is Hunter. She's beautiful and physically strong and a very focused individual, in general. She defies so many gender stereotypes that it's hard not to like her.

In conclusion, this was one of the most fascinating and engaging books that I have ever read. I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Also, this book was released as a companion novel to a BBC miniseries of the same name. I would recommend checking it out (although, I've never seen it myself so I can't really comment on it).

Men Explain Things To Me - Rebecca Solnit

Men Explain Things to Me is a collection of essays focusing on feminism and the need for it. And no, this is not one of those feminist books that delves into the border of misandry. I wasn't aware of this but apparently the first essay (i.e. the first chapter of the book) was originally published as a blog post which went viral which then encouraged the author to write this book.

From the title of the book, you'd think that this book would be mainly about incidents of mansplaining. However, the author only brings that up in the first chapter of the book. The rest of the book focuses on sexism, incidents of rape, increasing sexual assault against women, domestic violence and the effects of patriarchy. It is apparent that the author has put in a lot of research as she uses data, statistics and current events to emphasise her point. And because of that, one cannot deny that while much has been accomplished, the struggle does not end here and there's still a long way to go - a point specially emphasised in her chapter "The Longest War". She also dedicates a chapter on how people in a position of power exploit others emphasising her point by bringing up the incident of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The book does lose its flow in between and that's the only criticism that I have of this book.
Overall, as someone who is trying to understand feminism and the need for it in the modern day, this book was insightful and informative and it put forth a strong conviction.

Easy - Tammara Webber

In the month of February, I ended up reading books that I never imagined I would read (Easy by Tammara Webber, being one of them).

Why didn't I want to read this book with glowing Goodreads reviews?
 Because I thought it was a romance novel judging by the cover. (Inserted below to justify my thinking so)

SPOILER ALERT!!! - It did turn out to be a Romance novel.

Now, coming to the book, it starts out as a conventional unrealistic romance novel. (I would like to clarify that this book is technically considered to be within the "Contemporary" and "New Adult" genre.) The main character, Jacquelyn enrols herself in her long-time boyfriend's college just to "be with him" (sacrificing her own dreams in the process). However, aforementioned ex-boyfriend, Kennedy, decides that he wants to sleep with other girls and doesn't want to be tied down to one girl. So he breaks up with Jacquelyn and justifies himself by saying -

"Look, everyone knows that one of the worst things a political candidate or elected representative can do is to become embroiled in some sexual scandal. I'm only human, Jackie, and if I have these desires to sow my wild oats or whatever and I repress it, I'll probably have the same desire later, even worse. But acting on it then would be a career-killer. I have no choice but to get it out of my system while I can do it without annihilating my future professional standing."

You can already tell that he'd make a great politician. Discretion is clearly his strong suit, after all.(Note the sarcasm)

 Jacquelyn's life takes a turn when a new guy enters in her life (who saves her from a possible sexual assault by a fellow college student, Buck). But, it turns out New Guy aka Lucas has secrets of his own. (Am I the only one who is tired of the mysterious guy with a troubled past trope?)

Anyway, coming to the only good part of the book - it heavily stresses on the importance of reporting sexual assaults and possibly that rape is never the fault of the victim. The book's heavy anti-victim blaming message is possibly the reason behind its popularity among readers. I acknowledge that it is an important message to put out there but, the book was problematic. And no amount of good message can erase that. 

First of all, it was unrealistic - from Jacquelyn's lack of reaction after being assaulted to the fact that Lucas is instantly obsessed with her even before they've had an interaction (there's literally a conversation between him and Jacquelyn where he reveals that he had wanted to "take her away" from her ex-boyfriend when he first met her because he was "inexplicably" drawn to her).

Then there was the issue of the characters lacking depth and the awkward timings of character backstory. The entire thing felt like it was a bait for the readers to pity Lucas. The author wanted you to sympathise with her main characters while, hating everyone else in the process. For example: In Jacquelyn's college, only a few people were genuinely nice. Everyone else, specially the fellow girls of her college, seemed to passionately hate Jacquelyn for no reason whatsoever. And this is honestly something I'm tired of seeing. Not to mention, the justifications that some of the characters gave for their actions irritated me.

So, in conclusion, I was not a huge fan of this book despite its content and message. It was an important message but I'd rather read something else with a similar message, to be very frank.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die - The Stranger - Albert Camus

I don't know how to start writing about this book. I can't pretend that I understood everything that the author wanted to point out through this book and more specifically, through the character of Mersault. But whatever I understood, I enjoyed.

The main character is Mersault (an emotional zombie) who displays behaviour which is not "normal". He is a "stranger" to social norms and it is this inability to behave in a conventional manner that gets him into trouble. Throughout the novel, he commits only one crime - murdering a man as an act of self-defence. However, his real crime ends up being his non-conformity to social norms. During his trial, the circumstances of the murder is not discussed. Instead, emphasis is laid on his character. Why didn't he cry on his mother's funeral? Why did he go out and watch a comedy movie the day after his mother's death? Why did he associate with a man who is believed to be a pimp by the society? Why was he so emotionally detached?
He must be a sociopath who is unfit for living in the society.
The verdict? Capital punishment.
His crime? Not playing by the rules of the society.

This novel explores the meaninglessness of life and the issues at the centre of existentialism (a popular theme with French authors of that time). It explores the fact that life has no true meaning or purpose - it is what you make of it. In fact, there is a lot to learn from Mersault's refusal to conform to the society's rules. His revelation at the end of the novel is perhaps one of my favourite parts of the book.
“For the first time in a long time I thought about Maman. I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a 'fiancé,' why she had played at beginning again. Even there, in that home where lives were fading out, evening was a kind of wistful respite. So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again. Nobody, nobody had the right to cry over her. And I felt ready to live it all again too. As if the blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself — so like a brother, really — I felt I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate.”

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel

"Survival is insufficient"
What do you do when the world as you know it comes to an end?
Emily St. John Mandel's book, Station Eleven, explores this question. The book opens up with the play of King Lear, in the middle of which, the actor, Arthur Leander collapses on stage in the middle of his performance. In this scene, we are introduced to the characters who are then the focus of the novel. The story follows a traveling theatre troupe who are trying to survive in the aftermath of an epidemic that wiped out most of the population. But, to reduce Station Eleven to a mere post-apocalyptic story would be unfair. It is much more than that - it is a story of loss and survival and the uncertainties that come with starting over.

Now, while I liked and appreciated the uniqueness of the plot, it failed to deliver on certain areas.
The main issue that I had with this book was that the pacing was very slow. It was pretty uneventful for a post-apocalyptic fiction. And initially, the jump between time periods and characters got a little confusing. It had all these elements within that could have made it into a truly unique book on survival. But, it got boring. It introduced a lot of post-apocalyptic problems that weren't well explained and a lot of it seemed highly unlikely. Some of the characters in this book were just not necessary. And normally, that wouldn't be a problem. Except, in this book those characters are given their own chapters following their perspectives. And I did not want to read their backstory because I just couldn't bring myself to care enough. And that is problematic because when you're reading a novel about survival, you're expecting it to be intense and thrilling. Station Eleven was neither. Parts of it got intense but then the chapter ended and the next chapter shifted to a different person's perspective following their backstory. This sort of writing style can be very ineffective to the story because it effectively kills the suspense that it builds up.

I think that there's probably something wrong with me because everyone and their grandfather/grandmother loved this book while, I thought it was in the transition line between "okay" and "good". So, I feel strangely inadequate. Almost like I'm missing out on something that everyone else seemed to have picked up on. If anyone's reading this or stumbles upon this post by mistake (highly likely, right?), please let me know what you thought of this book? This was one of those books that I wish I read with someone else because I just had way too many unanswered questions by the end of it.

We Were Liars - E. Lockhart

Summary -
The Sinclairs seemingly lead a perfect life. However, everything is not as perfect as it seems.
(How's that for a clichéd dramatic starting line?)
Every year, Cadence, Gat, Johnny and Mirren wait for the summers when the entire Sinclair family get together in their private island.
However, one summer, due to certain turn of events, their lives will change forever.

Now, I almost skipped out on writing an entry for this book because I didn't want to write paragraphs about how much I hated it.
I'm in the minority here because everyone I know loved the book. And that brings me to my main frustration - What was so likeable? Am I missing out on something?
I can list out everything that I felt was wrong with the book which includes but is not limited to -

• The writing style.

Please don't divide

Your writing into fragments

It's unnecessary.

And bothersome.

And,

If I might add,

Pretentious.

• The characters were flat and uninteresting. And don't even get me started on their pettiness and stupidity. Their "plan" was so stupid and everyone just went along with it without making adjustments that any sensible person would make.
• The "twist". I'm not going to spoil it just in case someone accidentally stumbles upon this post  and has not read the book. But, let me just say, that I saw it coming. It was very obvious from the direction in which the author was going with this book.
• The racism that was brought up just for the heck of it and then abandoned just like that. What was the point? I feel like it was just conveniently fitted into the book without any reason.

So, yes. I didn't like the book at all. It was just boring and I couldn't have cared less if Cadence(the protagonist/unreliable narrator) died at the end of it.

1001 Books to read before you die - Vanishing Point - David Markson

1001 Books to Read Before You Die - The List (Click here)

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to read at least 25 books from the above list this year. Which basically means that I have to live for approximately 40 more years to read all the books. Now, the list I linked contains some books that I've already read so you can deduct those books from the 1,001 and it includes books from earlier lists which have been removed in later editions which, again brings up the number of books to approximately 1001. I'm aware that I might die before I get to them all but, let's be optimistic for the sake of this post.

"Every so often, a painter has to destroy painting. Cezanne did it. Picasso did it with cubism. Then Pollock did it. He busted our idea of a picture all to hell"
The book starts with this epigraph - a quote by Willem de Kooning. Now, this quote is very significant to the book as that is precisely what the author does with this book. He busts our idea of a fiction all to hell. I started with this book without reading the synopsis and, as a result, I was thoroughly confused at first, mistaking the book for a non-fiction. It starts off with what seems like completely random facts about artists - from their birthplace, death, acquaintances with other artists, feud with other artists and how their work was originally received by critics. However, the narrator refers to himself as "Author" and in between the random facts, we get glimpses into what the "Author" is doing. The writing was so absurd and experimental that I was close to giving up on it after a point. But, I pushed myself till the end. And I guess in a way I appreciate it for how unique it was. You have to read it till the end to understand exactly what is happening. While it was a little too experimental for me, I can understand why it made the list. It just wasn't engaging enough for me to appreciate it.

My favourite part of the book was the random facts about artists - mainly the ironical bad review of their work.
"A mass of soapsuds and whitewash, said a critic of a Turner painting of a storm at sea.
 I wonder what they think the sea's like, said Turner."

"Bach spent the last twenty-seven years of his life as cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig.
As the best musicians are not available, we must accept a man of moderate ability - had said a member of the Leipzig Municipal Council in hiring him."

Overall, it was just one of those books that you appreciate for its intellectual quality but, at the same time, you feel like something essential was missing. I would recommend it to people who love experimental writing.

And the Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini

This was the first book that I've read that was written by Khaled Hosseini. And after I started reading it, two of my friends told me that this was his weakest work. All I have to say is, if this was his weakest, then I can't imagine the amount of brilliance that I'm yet to read. I had mixed feelings about the plot but, the writing was beautiful and the depth of the characters and the complexity of emotions portrayed in the book blew me away.

The book consists of chapters titled on the basis of the season and the year the incidents were based in. Each chapter follows the perspective of a different character and are interconnected. Now, this format was a little confusing to me at first because I did not read the synopsis. And because of that, I was a little irritated when the story shifted from Abdullah and Pari to Parwana in the second chapter. In fact, throughout the book, I was more invested in certain characters than others. And the constant jump from one character to the other while leaving some of the stories open-ended irritated me a bit.

As for the plot, it starts out with Pari and Abdullah - siblings who love each other more than anything else. They accompany their father from their village, Shadbagh to Kabul where he goes to find work and an incident occurs that changes their lives forever. Then we are introduced to some other characters - most of them living with the consequences of their actions or a heavy guilt weighing down their conscience. And through these characters, we feel the guilt, remorse and moments of joy that surround our lives. While some make sacrifices for the sake of their loved ones, others can't see beyond themselves. Pitiably human.

There are no perfect characters in this book. No one's a clear cut hero, everyone is undeniably flawed. For example, there is a side character in the book who donates a lot but, he makes sure that there's an audience and that people know of his good deeds. This character also cheats on his wife regularly. But, he ends up helping out an orphaned girl with severe facial deformities caused by an act of rage by her uncle. It is not clear to us whether his intentions were noble, but he helps her out all the same. Now, isn't that how we are as humans? Even the most charitable deeds have complex and sometimes, not entirely heartfelt incentives guiding them. But, it is still making an impact for the better. How do we judge a person under such circumstances?  As the author points out, "Human behaviour is messy and unpredictable and unconcerned with convenient symmetries"

That's the true beauty of the book. We read a book for a lot of reasons. Read this book to think about life, reality, people we meet, their struggles and most importantly - to understand others. Read this book to rid yourself of judgement because that's the impact this book has on you.