The books I've been reading lately...

I try to make the best use of the time I have. Singapore libraries have this new facility where you can borrow up to 16 items be it books or videos. This offer is part of the scheme DEAR which means drop everything and read. The irony in my case is there is nothing for me to drop and leave. I still haven't got a job so where's the necessity for me to drop anything.

Whenever I tell my friends who are working that I was sleeping till about 9 they envy me. I know my life might seem fun and relaxed. But the more time I have to myself, am crushed by the constant anxiety of when I will get a job like everyone and earn a little something.

My grand mom always feels we should engage ourselves in some activity or the other. That way our mind remains active. Actually that’s very true. Because once we stop working and laze around, you can feel your brains slowly rusting and reaching a stage where it rots. Our brains resemble onions. The onion too has several layers to it. IF the layers are nourished the onion is nutritious. IF we do not apply our mind and let it become lazy we are only submitting ourselves to a useless life.

Well I know the title of today's blog might seem totally contradictory to what am writing. But there is a connection if you try to make one. I know I have a lot of time to waste. But utilizing it the best way makes our life richer and prevents it from becoming meaningless. Since the time I came to Singapore I cannot keep track of the number of books I have actually read. Some of them have left a mark on my mind like The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru which deals with the issue of identity and how a boy copes with his transition into manhood and his travel to distant foreign lands.

Every book opens a new land to us. I remember one of my teachers saying that reading is an excursion which when I think of it now is very true. Books give us new worlds to explore and get enamoured with for a temporary period of time. During my school days on my way back home in the bus there wouldn't be a day I did not have a book in my hand. I always read on the buses and some how did not get a headache. Some people can never read books when the vehicle is in motion. It causes a kind of nausea and vomiting for them. I should consider myself lucky in this aspect as I never experienced such feelings.

Ok getting back to my likes and dislikes of books. Being a person who read all the Enid blytons, all the detective stories and classics, I was never really fond of fiction. I was never a Danielle Steele fan or Sidney Sheldon. Nevertheless I have read books of both authors as my friends possessed copies and used to circulate them for a quick read as they highly recommended them. I read to see what kind of style the writers followed. I liked some of Sidney Sheldon’s books. The titles I cannot recall but one book dealt with multiple personality disorders and was really a page turner. I think it was called morning noon and night or was it sands of time. Anyways I enjoyed both the books immensely.

I wonder what some people saw in Mills n boons. I used to see how some girls in my class would pretend to listen to a lecture when actually they were absorbed in the mills n boons placed in the middle of their textbooks. Curiosity made me pick up a copy and read and all I found was mushy stuff and foreplay between the lady, man and their sexual rendezvous. Anyways I cannot totally rule out books like this as it still caters to the tastes of some.

The last book I read was "The End of an affair" by Graham Greene. It was a real good read as the writer has been able to capture the intensity and complexity of emotions within 191 pages of the book. The book was divided into 5 parts and switches between the past and present. The story revolves around 3 characters mainly Sarah, her friend turned lover Bendrix and her civil servant officer Henry. The chapters are delved in deception and confessions of guilty lovers. Mingled with that is philosophy and the love of god which Sarah sees in everything around her-in her love, her hate and in her deceit.

Maurice Bendrix is the narrator who records the histories of the lives. Though he starts a biograpy in hatred we learn that Bendrix has not been made to hate but only love and in that learn lessons in separation and trust. The twist comes when the husband Henry calls upon Maurice to check on his wife. How Maurice engages a spy to follow her, how he gets her diary, how he reads her thoughts and how she dies in frustration forms the rest of the story. What I liked about Graham Greene that his writing is down to earth and conveys emotions so simply ruling out even chances of verbosity.

"The Good, The bad and the Ugly man I've Dated" by Shane bolks was one of other books I laid my hand on. It was a nice read too as it is not only comedy but tells how a girl tries to find her true self in pursuit of her ideal lover. How she loses control over reality, condemns her background and then comes to terms with everything that comprises her identity is shown realistically. How single women cope with their lives, family and job and how they try to live up to the expectations of others is what this book tries to draw out. But my journey with the character Rory Egglehoff was nevertheless enjoyable.

Now am hooked onto the ghost stories written by Ruskin Bond. Well now since I've kept you updated on what I've been reading, I think it's time you shared your list with me. After all intellectual exchanges help the mind grow and reach out to others.