Skip to main content

As I am

Can you recall the last time you read a book cover-to-cover ?

I don't know about you, but I've always felt guilty that my book-reading rate is no longer as high as it was in the past. From a guy who could read 4 books a week, I've become someone who struggles to read even one. Being employed doesn't help matters.

Between 9 hour work days, making dinner, a laughable gym record & an accusingly dusty saxophone case, books had lost out. I'd wondered if I'd become the guy who preferred the internet and even the most inane movie on t.v versus taking the effort to follow plot-lines, remember characters & test the logic of a story. The supposed bibliophile in me was cringing.

Steig Larsson's Millennium Trilogy is going to change that. I'm reading the first part - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Riveting.

I cannot remember the last time I've looked forward to going home, just to read.

Song for the moment: Surprise Ice - Kings of Convenience

P.S: The song is lovely too.

Comments

Dionysus said…
Dude!..I'm reading the same book here. My flatmate had been raving about this one from the 1st day I'd landed up
11 April 2010 at 19:58
girish said…
:) Quite a coincidence. Its a brilliant read man.
12 April 2010 at 10:00
Shivani said…
Ok I'm in a minority here. I read it around 4 months back & didn't like it. Loved the way the suspense builds up, but concluding part is a damp squib
17 April 2010 at 14:39
girish said…
:) hey, it's perfectly fine to have your opinion differ. I guess the ending doesn't seem clinical because it's a trilogy & the greater story develops over 3 books.
17 April 2010 at 18:38
Gauri Gharpure said…
I was never a quick reader, take time to decide whether i like an author, change my opinion midway and so on.. Reading to me, happens in phases- unfortunately with months and months of nothing substantial read in between.

Thanks for introducing me to Stieg Larsson. Did you read the other two books? and which other authors did you pick up in 2010?
2 January 2011 at 17:27
Anonymous said…
Like many others I used to be a quick reader, burning my way through a stack. Sadly, nowadays reading happens only when time & inclination permits.

Yea, I read through Larsson's 3 books, although it feels very obvious that he would have written more in the series.

I read Dalrymple for the first time, but there were others I can't recall :). Revisited others including Seth & Pico Iyer.
3 January 2011 at 13:10
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Longfellow Serenade

Dear reader, A conversation in a buzzing bar over a mug of beer got me thinking on today's theme; the writing of a letter. As with many of the shared contemplations I've had, we spoke about it for the sake of the flowing idea, the peculiarly gentle glee in being able to use what have commonly been referred to as 'big words' in actual conversation without having the threat of perplexity hanging in the air. Perhaps you have & enjoy these moments yourself. Mayhaps, you have debated the same theme ? Nonetheless, I often ponder upon the march of time & technology that has left me regarding life with some ambiguity. I appreciate technology & how it has made living easier on many levels. I do not hanker for the b/w television nor for a computer with 16 MB RAM & the large floppy disk. I thank the heavens for air-conditioning & the photocopier. I use the internet a lot. The Dark Ages or in India's case, the years up to the 1990's, had their moment in ...
8 comments
Read more

Love and Happiness

The year was 1950. Having missed a prestigious Government position in Delhi by the proverbial hair's breadth, a 24 year old youth from the south of India began to look for work elsewhere. In this land, destinies were & are made in Bombay. Fate decreed that this boy, called K, had been gallivanting around the backwaters long enough and directed him to the city caressed by the Arabian Sea. Once he'd begun to work, his family wanted to check off the next thing on the list - a bride. K bluntly told his father that he was not interested in an arranged marriage, practically scandalizing everyone in the vicinity and a few ancestors for good measure. Predictably enough, his wishes were ignored and the hunt for a suitable girl began in earnest, culminating in a small town in Tamil Nadu. K was tersely informed about his upcoming nuptials and although furious, he acquiesced. Which should come as no surprise, really, as young men and women do so even today. The bride-to-be was 20i...
7 comments
Read more

Many the miles

Some time ago, I decided to cut down on the whining that seems to be a major theme on this blog. After having written a couple of short story posts and one interesting challenge, I found that more commentary on life, its machinations and assorted tomfoolery just did not interest me. For the moment, at least. That also thankfully means that I can't talk about the Indian cricket team's test saga. Anyway, in recent weeks, a new trend has taken root in that fragment of the 'gang' that lives in Pune. Instead of meeting up and hitting the tipple every now and then, we meet and they discuss trekking to various forts in and around Pune. Notice how I'm not in these councils-of-war. Although I've played sports in school and college, I've never been a fan of physical toil. All these talks conjure up are images of waking up at some ungodly hour before sunrise, scooting to some random hill / fort and huffing, puffing, slipping & scrabbling around in near darkness w...
14 comments
Read more