books, REVIEWS

A place for us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

theguywiththebook

I have always been secretly proud of my ability to express my thoughts on books in concentrated ways enabling readers of my reviews to decide for themselves if they would like to read them or not. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can or want to do that with this one, you HAVE to read it.

I’m going to stick to three main points of the book:

▪️The Storytelling

▫️The Characters

▪️The Relatability

▪️What struck me most within the first 50 pages of the book was how expertly the plot is handled and weaves around the characters. The narrative jumps ahead and around multiple times and it doesn’t take much effort to know when it’s taking place. I noticed subtle hints are included within the first few paragraphs of each new timeline and I’d automatically readjust the ages of each character to fit the narrative.

▫️At our core, we are all flawed and most of us try our best to do what we can to improve ourselves and adjust to our surroundings; to embrace our traditions and yet accept new ones. Writing such characters never seems like an easy task, but to write such characters and join their lives together in a way that compliments and completes them is exactly what Fatima has accomplished. There isn’t one character I could clearly point out and say was right or wrong. They all had their reasons behind their words and actions.

▪️Having been born in a foreign country and then lived almost all of my life outside of my own, there are things that I know and understand and experience regularly but have unfortunately never had the privilege to hear out loud. A Place for Us became my little place where I found solace in the five days I took to read it. It’s going to remain with me for a very long time and perhaps finally become the first book I might revisit year in and year out.

I had the privilege to talk to Fatima right after I read the book, it reminded me of what JD Salinger wrote in the incomparable voice of Holden: “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn’t happen much, though.” Well, it happened! Thank you Fatima!

You can buy the book here

books, REVIEWS

Anne Frank’s Diary (the graphic novel) adapted by Ari Folman, illustrated by David Polonsky

theguywiththebook

“How wonderful is it that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world”

Thank you @aaKnopf for sending the book!

#theguywiththebookreview presents Anne Franks Diary : Graphic Adaptation.

The biggest tragedy with reviewing this book is I don’t remember if I’ve actually read the original version as a kid or not. I think I have, but my memory fails me once again.

Nevertheless, I picked it up and a couple of days later I realized that it has been one of my most surreal experiences with a book.

As with all graphic novels, the focus is on the illustrations but I was happy to see that several pages worth of original texts were copied to it as well.

If you didn’t know Anne and her family with a few other people were hiding from the Nazis in an Attic in Amsterdam. They hid for 2 years.

Anne starts writing in her Diary (she names it Kitty) The book is full of her diary entries or ‘conversations’ with Kitty.

She is brutally honest and questions whatever she can. She is rebellious as well as thoughtful. It’s a book which shows how the human spirit can break and did break during under the Nazi regime.

What I didn’t remember was how the book ended, and ended it did with a lot of emotion. I had almost forgotten that this book is not fiction and was written not by an adult but a teenage girl coming to terms with life and how hers isn’t normal.

I’m pretty sure there is not much I can add without repeating other readers, I don’t think I need to review characters or pace either. This books isn’t about them, but it still somehow excels in them! The hardships of having to live in hiding isn’t just the claustrophobia but also the several impossibilities to life which includes getting enough food to eat, medical attention and simply fresh air.

I think this graphic version might make it a perfect stepping stone to reading the full version.l, especially for teenagers.

You can buy the book here

books, REVIEWS

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

theguywiththebook

The Silent Patient is the type of book I wouldn’t shy away from calling the new representative of a whole genre, The Psychological Thriller!

#theguywiththebookreview presents The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

We have a loving wife who seemingly randomly shoots her husband 5 times on his face and kills him. The interesting part is that she stops saying or reacting to anything or anyone. She’s deemed unfit and sent to a psychiatric clinic where our protagonist shows up, Theo.

He is obsessed with Alicia’s high profile murder case and as a psychiatrist he wants to finally be the one who makes her talk and gets to the bottom of what happened that fateful night.

I enjoyed the ‘back and forth’ between Theo and the silent Alicia. There was a frustrating feeling with how Alicia kept quiet which builds up a lot of anticipation for the final third and the expected revelation of the book!

There were many theories that I had by midway but then I just gave up as none of them made sense even to me and I couldn’t be bothered making an effort which I knew would eventually feel foolish and stupid. I felt stupid any way!

Absolutely brilliant and a must read for anyone who likes a good twist!

You can buy the book here

books, REVIEWS

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

theguywiththebook

There is a certain charm to a book when one of the characters isn’t what normally defines a character. The Australian Outback was just the type of ‘character’ I love in a book!

#theguywiththebookreview presents The Lost Man by @janeharperauthor

There were three things which took center stage for me:

▪️The atmospheric feel of the Outback

▪️The protagonist Nathan’s claustrophobia

▪️The timing of the Big Reveal

Forming an image of the Australian Outback is kind of easy, just think about barren land all around you. But giving it character and defining the undefinable is what set the mood and the plot. The tree and grave, although tiny details, amazingly catapult us into the intricate rabbit hole that Harper creates!

I loved how even though the book is set in the vast expanse of the Outback, the protagonist always seemed to be struggling within himself and feeling bound from all sides, helpless. The claustrophobic feeling around his character made me want him to be free. I haven’t felt like that for many characters in recent times.

With most whodunnits my biggest issue is always the timing of the ‘Big Reveal’. I want it to be right at the end, preferably the last few pages. A feeling that leaves me jaw dropped and wowed! The timing in The Lost Man was exactly that, very well wrapped up right at the end!

You can buy the book here

REVIEWS

Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini

theguywiththebook

I don’t know how to start talking about a book which I went through faster than a cup of coffee. This is the type of literature which has the power to redifine humanity and remould the world.
.
#theguywiththebookreview presents Sea Prayer by @khosseini

I was deeply moved by The Kite Runner and later absolutely shattered by A thousand Splendid Suns. When I heard about this book I thought the primary goal of it was to tell the story of Alan Kurdi, the little Syrian child whose body was washed ashore while he and his family were trying to seek refuge in Europe. Their boat had capsized and Alan along with his dear mother and brother lost their lives. The only one who survived was Alan’s father. But I was wrong, it’s not only about Alan.

Beautifully wed with enchanting illustrations, this fictional take on Alan is heartwrenching and its effects linger for days. I wasn’t able to sleep properly the night I read it and I still get upset when I think about it. I’m writing this review after atleast a month since I failed to write it the last 2 times I tried.

.
This book is linked to UNHCR @refugees and all proceeds from it go towards it and The Khaled Hosseini Foundation.
.
I doubt that @khosseini will read this review, but if you do, Sir, I salute you for what you have done to highlight once again poor Alan’s fate and many other kids and families who risk their lives just to be able to breath, eat and sleep.
.
You can buy this book from my affiliate link here

books, REVIEWS

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

theguywiththebook

Excuse me while I try to make sense of this book and my thoughts around it which not only I, but many others who have read it will remember for a lifetime.

#theguywiththebookreview presents Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

BLRW is an adventure fantasy which keeps moving across its massive size, there are not many pages where you don’t find Marlon James building the world around us. Crazy good part is that the places and characters he has created are not over defined and he leaves a lot to our imagination. The descriptions are part of the story and he doesn’t pause the story line to build the environment.

Second thing or probably the first thing that will come to your mind is the richness of the characters. There are almost no two similar main characters. The ease with which he introduces new types of characters is something I have not seen before.

With BLRW, MJ has blurred the lines between X-Men and Game of Thrones, mashing them together to give an experience unlike any other. The inclusion of Giants, Shape Shifters, Siamese twins, Smoke girl, Witches and many more is done with expert precision.

This has a very interesting effect of the era in which it takes place seeming to stand still, which was mastered by George RR Martin in A Song or Ice and Fire. MJ does the same and you get a sense of stillness in the world he takes you into.

The biggest challenge for me was trying to keep track of the names as well as type of the characters. It gets much easier halfway through once you’re acquainted to most of them. The other thing which might take a little effort is keeping track of the slangs and unique style with which many characters speak.

I think there are a lot of African references and styles used in the book which were lost to me, but I think would be much more appreciated by people having roots there.

Overall, I’m going to be recommending this to everyone. If you’re looking for a book which will take you to places you probably could never imagine yourself, this book is for you. Also, it’s the first in the Dark Star Trilogy, better read it now!

Thank you @PenguinUKbooks for sending me a copy!

Here’s the affiliate link to buy the book!

books

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

theguywiththebook

The Jeckyll and Hyde relationship is one that has been read and watched and reread and rewatched and referred to and used as adjectives for years.

.

#theguywiththebookreview presents The Strange Case is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

.

This is the type of Classic That can get you excited about the genre! Very strong use of sentence structures and dialogues; is spooky yet almost poetic in places which sounds ironic even to me while I write this. But it’s true, every word, period and exclamation point in this book is measured and has an impact. Similar but a more detailed example would be Dracula which had me surprised with the complexity in its writing.

What I liked most is that it takes place in basically a couple of streets and isn’t unnecessarily spread across locations. Very much focused on the characters and their relationship dynamics, a great example of how how Sci-fi isn’t just about, scientific fiction.

.

I was heavily invested in the tug of war between Jeckyll and Hyde and at multiple levels I felt it to be an artful social commentary by Robert Louis Stevenson that’s valid even today and well human nature can’t escape from itself until the end of time and this book’s core will always remain applicable to us.

.

A brilliant book and I can safely say, they don’t write books like these any more.