FIRST IMPRESSIONS
By Suchitra Behal
The Sunday Philosophy Club, Alexander McCall Smith, Abacus, £2.50.
WHEN Alexander McCall Smith created Precious Ramotswe as his central character in the series innocuously titled "The No1 Ladies Detective Agency", few expected much. But such was his manner of writing that Precious became a star.
With an uncanny gift for looking at the obvious and translating it into an almost amazing piece of action, Smith with The Sunday Philosophy Club once again proves that he is no mean writer. Where Precious leaves off, the somewhat diminutive, steely and charming Isable Dalhousie takes over. Smith lives up to his formidable reputation of recreating another society in such intimate terms that as you read, you can actually feel the town springing around you. For Isable Dalhousie, an inhabitant of Edinburgh, her city has more to it than the gentle Georgian facades. There's lust, sex, love, greed and even murder hidden behind the curtains.
The Dalhousies' curiosity is awakened with the death of a young man at a music concert. Unwilling to take it as yet another strange occurrence, Dalhousie, who instinctively senses good from bad, decides to conduct investigations, Her quest leads to some unnerving situations where she finds that there is more to life than meets the eye. As the novel gently climaxes to an end filled with suspense, McCall Smith demonstrates that he is a true master with words.
The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank, Ellen Feldman, Picador, price not stated.
SOME novels defy being boxed into a genre. Instead, they take on contours that are their own. When the Diary of Anne Frank was first published, it caused a sensation. The war seen through the eyes of a child.
Generations read and re-read the diary of this young girl, literally living through moments of a war which they had never experienced. Records proved the existence of those in hiding with Anne and what happened to them subsequently. Except in the case of a boy called Peter. If Peter did not die with the rest, what happened to him? This book is a result of that speculation. The author mixes research on the actual life of Peter with her imagination and comes out with a touching story.
Hacks and Headlines, Rashme Sehgal, IndiaInk, Rs. 295.
IF you are not privy to this world, the irony of this book may be lost on you. There is a plethora of characters, who may seem familiar to those in the business of journalism. For the lay reader it may be difficult to not only grasp the turn of events but also the similarities that have been drawn to people in the business of news reporting. Surprisingly, journalists tend to live myopic lives and seldom venture beyond the confines of their fish bowl. So the faithful flock to the Press Club for their dose of booze and gossip. There are, like in any other office, affairs and break-ups. Only, most of these revolve around deadlines and stories of national importance.
The book centres around the caste-killing of a young couple. What should be a routine story in most national papers suddenly assumes gigantic proportions when the editor of a leading paper uses it to thrash the present government. He has his own agenda, and his henchmen have their own interests at heart. In between all these are various characters of the newspaper world and politicians. Some are entirely credible but others seem a tad too pat. What could have been an interesting account of how the present day media runs its businesses turns into a rather confusing potboiler. Even as you digest one plot another pops out and there is confusion as to what exactly this is all about.
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