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September Book Reviews!

Salivation Of A Saint By Keigo Higashino. 

My 3rd Book from Keigo Higashino, 2nd one of the year and two and half days of another page tuner from Keigo Higashino.

The Writing is so engrossing. Murder has already being committed in the first thirty pages and You might have the hint of who the murderer might me. But How it actually happens remains a mystery…Until Detective Galileo works around the theory with the Police officers and comes to the conclusion. A Book & author you wouldn’t want to miss reading, Who surprises you with a perfect Murder Crime that you wouldn’t in your wildest thought, imagined to take place like the one mentioned in the books and with logical backstory and supporting evidence, This book is all  the more enjoyable where you just want to read  more stories like these from Keigo Higashino one of  my new favourite Crime/Thriller who doesn’t disappoint. Now the next one I want to read is his bestseller “The Devotion of Suspect X”

Seventeen by Hideo Yokoyama 

A Story about a plane Crash that took place in 1985 and How the piece is reported by

Kazumasa Yuuki, a reporter at the North Kanto Times who is responsible for covering the news of the Plane Crash. The Story revolves around the daily battles of the power struggles and office politics in the Print Media and Media as a field .

Itself ,But in 2003 Seventeen years later, Yuuki remembers the adrenaline-fueled, emotionally charged seven days that changed his and his colleagues’ lives. He does making on a promise he made that fateful week—one that holds the key to its last solved mystery and represents Yuuki’s final, unconquered fear.

Though I picked up this book for the story. What I enjoyed the most was the way it was written,The Writing and setting was just like how internal politics & power takes over.

When it comes to reporting & publishing news. If you are looking to read a nice Investigate Journalism book on reporting a disaster. This one you should be reading.

A Story written by a writer who has been in the journalism field for years working with Jōmō Shimbun the largest general circulation daily newspaper based in Gunma prefecture, Japan. The same region where apparently the Aeroplane Crash takes place.

Seventeen, is a slow burn but a very interesting. Battles, arguments over departments who feel they contribute & our more important for publishing business are well written. I guess writing a setting one knows, does truly bring out the authenticity in the writer while writing his story. Hideo is best known for six- four a murder thriller.

After Dark by Murakami 

Yes! This year I have read more than a couple of books from Murakami. Ranging from his Bestseller “Kafka on The Shore”to “After Dark” Though the style remains the same in the writing,The ideas that are shared in the writing by the writer are amusing to immediately get you interested in wanting to read the book. The same thing happened After Dark. After Dark is story that’s written describing the dreams and psychology of a person while in sleep, the thoughts, the nightmares etc. Coincidentally just like After Dark being Murakami’s Eleventh novel. This also happens to be my Eleventh read from his collection.

The Story revolves around a night in Tokyo where two college students bump into each other after a long time.

And Mari one of the protagonist in the story is approached by the manger of a restaurant as Mari is fluent in Chinese and the manager isn’t and request her to act as a translator for her. Soon both open up about their feeling within Mari opens about how she became fluent in the language and her feeling and comparison with Eri who is sister.

Meanwhile, strange things have been happening at the sister Eri’s place. Eri has already gone to bed by the time the events of the novel take place, but as she asleep strange things happens around which the writer narrates in his writing.

The Novel like most of the authors works ends abruptly, without any definitive answers to its many mysteries.

Incase you haven’t read any of the works by the authors and are considering starting of. Please don’t read this book first read a couple of his other works first.

2020 Thoughts!

Ever since 2020 began! 
It’s been setting up new challenges every day. 
Two months into the year and we were all dealing with a pandemic that even more than six months later doesn’t seem to end. 
As the year moved ahead! We lost a legend and one of the best actors in our Hindi Film Industry. Just when we were coming out of these two shocking deaths. We were thrown a mysterious death of another actor. Which was cited as a suicide, but reports were pointing to murder, three months later we still aren’t sure whether it’s a suicide or a murder. 
While there was just a hand full of those who questioned and wanted justice to be served for the late actor as it was strongly pointing towards a murder 
But, Things started to change when we were forced to pick up a side as one of the prime suspects in the investigation was arrested for Drugs and also used PR tactic’s to defend herself exclusively with two Broadcasting channels without first being questioned by The CBI. 
Weeks later, An Actor who began the fight of justice for the late actor, who had also being vocals and her ”Nepotism” Conversation took an ugly turn for. Leaving her with no movies offers. Plans to come to Mumbai and is not only threatened for her remarks a couple of days ago for comparing the city and situation with an enemy territory but just a few hours before her arrival to The City of Dreams! Her Office is tarnished citing reasons, illegal construction work. 
Mind you all these series of events are taking place while India is at its peak on the Coronavirus. 
The economy has hit it’s lowest since we had our independence and our in the middle of a war with another neighbour of ours. 
And what hurts the most is people who are considered role models, people who are looked up by Millions and Billions not just from our country, but from around the world. 
Haven’t spoken about anything at all from the injustice or justice for a late actor whose death remains a mystery, For an actor who’s office has been attacked wrongly. 
Or for the matter of where our country is headed in terms of our economic mess, How one should be tackling the pandemic or for that matter about the tensions amongst the borders, Are they all scared to open their mouths, Are these the people we aspire to be like? 
Where is the Freedom, If our well-known celebrities themselves can’t speak about anything? 
Is this the country we want to live in? Where there isn’t any democracy any more, but just dictatorship from all sides… Where power is also being misused by the powerful and not used the way it should be used. 
Where we speak up in minutes and condemn the West, but can’t really address and speak about the issues that are taking place in your motherland. 

Golden Gate By Vikram seth & Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami Book review.

The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth. 

The Novel  follows the lives of five characters who are  in their mid-twenties and set 

In  California describing the  Silicon Valley life in the Early  Mid 80s.

 John is working in as an Electronics Engineer He is successful in his work and is happy with his job. But he doesn’t have a life besides his work. 

A Book, That isn’t like anything that I have read in all these years. 

No! It’s not exactly a poetry Book like Pablo Neruda’s or a Rupi Kaur. 

But It’s a novel! That’s written in a very novel way. 

It’s written in a prose style &  verses style. 

Writing is very poetic and The Word Play makes it beautiful read. 

This is one book, You should give it  A Shot, If you are looking to read a different style of writing with a literary twist to it. 

The Wild Sheep Chase by Murakami 

Having this time to read as many books and more books than the previous years. Instead of just reading one book a year by Murakami. This year I have already read three books from the author in the last six months.  At regular intervals. 

“The Wild Sheep Chase” Wasn’t even a book that I thought would be enjoyable, But having all the elements of a typical Murakami book (Mystery, Love, Loneliness and an experience) This book had yet another Animal/Insect character called the Rat and of course sheep too! This is what makes the book such a fascinating and enjoyable read that you can’t get enough of it and wonder how some simple ideas can be written in so much length, that keep the readers wanting more…

“The Wild Sheep Chase” has been my Tenth Murakami read since, I first read his “Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of pilgrimage” about five years ago… A story about characters who all have a name that has a meaning and reference to colour. But Tsukuru Tazaki doesn’t have a name which signifies any colour and how lonely and left out he feels by his friend’s circle and in the world. 

Thrillers Books Worth Reading!

It’s very difficult to find thriller books, that keep you engrossed till the last page. And if you have found it by the same author twice, it couldn’t be better. 

Keigo Higashino a Japanese Author! Ah! Yes, another Japanese author. 

Journey under the midnight sun is about A group of children playing inside the building have found the body of a pawnshop owner, 

Detective Sasagaki’s investigation unearths more questions, but never reaches any conclusions. One of his chief suspects, the partner of a woman who the pawnshop owner visited on the day of his death, dies in a car crash soon afterwards. 

Though Sasagaki’s suspects there is more to the deaths, the case is abandoned. But, Twenty years later there are some leads that hints sasagaski that he could finally solve the mystery. 

This is one Book, I came across after enjoying reading “Midsummer Equation by Keigo Higanshino” 

  and what surprises me most about the author and his books is that when you are searching for “Best Thriller Books” You only come across American authors & British Authors, but none of the  Japanese authors, in the first few links and in the first few reviews. And I wonder why? “Japanese authors” are really underrated. This whole curiosity for “Japan” For me grew after I visited the country, it was a place I wanted to know more about? 

Keigo Higanshio is best known for his book “The Devotion of Suspect X” 

Yasuko Hanaoka accidentally kills her ex-husband, when circumstances rose to an unendurable level of ghastly behaviour from him. What follows is an elongated and witty brain-game between the investigator and her accomplice, Ishigami, who aided Yasuko in covering up the murder. ”The Devotion Of Suspect X”is the story about an ingenious plotter, and clever Dr Manabu Yukawa, who helps in solving the case.

In case you are looking to read a nice page-turner and are finding it difficult which one to start with you could surely start with “Journey Under The Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashnio” 

Plotters By Un-Su-Kim 

I have been in a frame of mind, where I am enjoying some nice thrilling stories, 

That is a quick read, written in a way, where you want to know what happens next. 

And after reading Keigo Higanshino’s ”Midsummer Equation ”last year and Under the midnight sun, I found Plotters by Un-Su-Kim a South Korean writer. And having watched some really good thriller movies by Korean Filmmakers, Maybe I had high expectations from Plotters, And as the story unfolds it becomes a predictable story, with not much material to keep you holding to know why, Whereas Books like “Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins” “Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn” Keeps you engrossed. 

While I am not saying  “Plotters”  wasn’t a good read, It certainly wasn’t as good as these, But very much alike like a series I just watched on the streaming platform “Giri/Haji” where The main underworld boss, hires people to do the damage (Assassins/HitMan)  But surely questions if we continue behaving like Assassins/Hitman all for that chair to be the boss for a reason, That we might think we hold the power, Power to continue the same racket/Practice where nobody gains anything, but only losses.

Plotters are read for those, who enjoy a little cliche story and someone who just would like to enjoy a crime story of how the Mafia works in a very simple, plain and easy to understand read. 

Some of The Best Movies Now Streaming

  • Jojo Rabbit

    • A Movie I missed watching in the cinema theatres and wasn’t sure until how long would I have wait to watch this film, But a few months later It released on another streaming platform. And so I watched the film.

    A story about a boy who is nicknamed Jojo Rabbit after a summer camp weekend and a story set during the conflict of German-Jews and during a period where Hitler was hailed by Some of his Fanatics and how one had to be careful in the communication.

    But this film is a hilariously funny and slightly emotional film worth watching and When you have The director himself portraying Hitler it just can’t better.

    The movie is actually based on the novel “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunens.

    The novel centres on a young Hitler Youth who discovers a Jewish girl hidden in his house by his mother.

    Hitler in the movie is Jojo’s imaginary friend thus he is the Hitler that a young boy would imagine.

    He also pointed out that Hitler is an amalgamation of different people in his life, such as his father, the Nazis in town and even his friend Yorki.

    One of the tensest scenes finds Gestapo officers (led by Stephen Merchant) searching Jojo’s home. However, the scene is also hilarious with the Gestapo doing little more than greeting one another with the “Heil Hitler” salute which is made 31 times in the scene

    1. At the 92nd Academy Awards, the film received six nominations
    2. Including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Johansson, and Best Adapted Screenplay

    Johansson earned both her first and second Oscar nominations this year.

    In addition to being up for best supporting actress, she also nabbed the best actress nod for her work in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story.

    Contagion 

    Just Imagine have written, Directed a film almost a decade ago on the exact same way we have all been struck by the pandemic. It’s surprisingly an exact replica of the way the Coronavirus has come about. The Imagination of such accuracy is unbelievable.

    The last five minutes of the story – The way it has been shot & directed is the best explanation of the full film. You have to watch this film. The star cast has lived the story once already while filming, But today we are all living this in reality.

    Marriage Story  By Noah Baumbach

    Marriage Story is a true story based on Noah Baumbach relationship and separation of his marriage with actress Jennifer Jason Leigh as well as his parent’s divorce. 

    Marriage Story is about a relationship of an artist couple Charlie Barber played by Adam Driver and Nicole Played by Scarlett Scarlett Johansson While Charlie Barber runs a theatre company in New York City, Nicole was a teen film actress and they both are going through marital troubles. 

    At the same Time Nicole is offered a role in Television Pilot in LA and soon decides to live in NYC and live with her mother  Henry her son and follow her dream of being a Hollywood actress. 

    While Charlie stays back in New York and works on his play that he would like to showcase at the Broadway. 

    The Story then follows the couple mutually decide to divorce. However one day Nicole hires a family Nora lawyer and tells him the full story of their relationship and mentions a  few speculations of Charlie’s relationship with his stage manager in the theatre company.   In the meantime, Charlie flies to LA to Nicole to share his happiness of winning a prestigious Fellowship grant But instead has divorce papers handed over. 

    Charlie lawyer believes they should play dirty, but rather Charlie doesn’t want things to go bad. 

    While the movie moves ahead with both coming to a common conclusion for their separation while living on a different coast, they have different laws for the same. 

    The film brings out a lot of emotional and realistic feel as the story is based on true events  And  Since Scarlett Jhonasson too had a divorce just a few months before the filming of the film. The Acting too was very real. The movie was very well made and a well- deserved nomination for the film and Scarlett Johnson