Under the Tuscan Sun - Frances Mayes

A latest trend observed in travel writing is the genre of "villa renovation and restoration" tales. The premise is simple - the author decides to purchase a large and rambling villa (preferably in an exotic location) and then proceeds to renovate and restore it to its original glory together with a commentary on the local populace and the culture. One of the earliest books to explore this idea, "Under the Tuscan Sun" is the story of the struggle of an American family who buy a villa in the picturesque Tuscan countryside and proceed to renovate it to make it a permanent home. The prose is delightfully cheery and upbeat and to the credit of the author, she succeeds in making the dreary job of renovating a house sound like a cheerful year long party. Also, the added descriptions of the Tuscan countryside, the descriptions of Italian customs and traditions and the endless number of excursions, picnics and parties makes for good escapist reading.

However, the very same reasons make this book worthwhile only for a one-time read and prevents it from acquiring the status of a classic. The author fails to inject any humanity into the myriad characters present in this book and none of them stay with you once you've put down the book. This book had the potential to become a classic like 'My Family and other Animals' as the theme of renovating a villa has been explored in the latter as well, but sadly the book fails to reach perfection in terms of character exploration. Still, this is still worth a one-time read especially if you are tired of the drudgeries of city life and want a momentary escape to a quaint and idyllic place.

Perfume : the story of a murderer - Patrick Süskind

Based on an extremely unusual and haunting premise, Perfume narrates the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille - an man born in one of the smelliest markets in 18th century Paris. However, there is a rather macabre twist to this seemingly ordinary phenomenon. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille does not possess any sort of personal odor whatsoever but has an almost superhuman sense of smell enabling him to explore the world of scents like an open book. The author skillfully guides us through his life, his introduction to the world of scents and his obsession to create the ultimate perfect scent that can manipulate the very fabric of human emotion and which will set him apart from all the perfumers in the world. However, as is soon observed, the perfect scent is not to be achieved via the conventional sources of perfume and requires going that extra length ( I guess you can justify the full title of the book now).The obsession and struggle of a man to achieve his life's desire and the complex relationship between scents and human emotions forms the basis of this book.

I do not wish to divulge any further details lest it spoil the reading experience but I would like to complement the author as of the five senses, the sense of smell is most difficult to translate onto prose but to a large extent, you can almost feel the different scents described in the book. Although a tad repetitive and abstract at times, the book is an enjoyable read and it will change the way you perceive scents forever.

Lust for Life - Irving Stone

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most well known artists today in the Post-Impressionistic field of painting. However, he was not given his due recognition during his lifetime and had an extremely disturbing and sometimes violent life. Irving Stone attempts to reconstruct the life and times of this talented artist and uncover the man behind the artistic masterpieces like 'Starry Nights' and 'The Potato Eaters'. Written on similar lines as Stone's other works, this fictionalized biography is based on Van Gogh's letters written to his brother Theo (who was one of his major support systems) and chronicles his life - from his beginnings as an assistant to an art dealer, his subsequent transition towards religion and becoming a missionary in a mining town, his inspirations that propelled him towards a new form of expression through a radical new form of painting, the interactions with equally famous contemporaries like Cezzane and Monet, his attempts to create a place for himself in the then rigidly conservative art world and his final self destructive years when he veered towards insanity. Also, similar to the 'The Agony and the Ecstasy', the most engrossing parts of the book are the ones describing the creation of his most famous works and we get a clear picture of the process of the transference of the inherent emotions and feelings of an artist from his mind to his canvas.

It must be clear at this point that this book is definitely not a fun read. Given the bleak and dark nature of Van Goghs life, this reconstruction of his life is also an extremely dark and sometimes severely depressing read. However, I would still encourage people interested in European art to give this one a shot for it paints a rather engrossing picture of Van Gogh's life and is a tribute to one of the most influential persons in the art world who sadly never lived to see the fame he enjoys now.

A fortune-teller told me : earthbound travels in the Far East - Tiziano Terzani

What happens when a hard hitting journalist (who is often in the line of fire) is told by a fortune teller to not fly for the next one year or he'll die ? Well, this is what was foretold to the author of this particularly interesting travelogue. Any normal and cynical person would have dismissed this as pure balderdash. However, the author in the true Asian sense decided to tackle this prophecy by submitting to it and follow it religiously (pun intended). What follows is an account of one years travel experiences in south east Asia using all possible forms of land transportation and no air travel whatsoever (much to the consternation and surprise of some of the involved people).

Again, this is not your regular travelogue. Similar to the writings of William Dalrymple, the travel writing is often interspersed with the current socio- economic conditions and an exploration into the mindsets of the locals. However, the USP of this book is that since the basis is entirely based on a fortune tellers prediction, the author decides to have his fortune examined by the most famous fortune tellers of every place he visits. The experiences with the different fortune tellers and how the nature and the pattern of the predictions change according to the place and the ethnicity is extensively described and certainly makes an interesting read. I would recommend this one to all readers who like travel writing and are looking beyond guidebooks. Although this one is not so well executed as the works of William Dalrymple , the premise is quite interesting and certainly unique.

My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell

One of those rare books which one never gets tired of reading again and again, this is a semi-fictionalised account by the famed naturalist Gerald Durrell of his childhood years in the island of Corfu (Greece). Gerald Durrell had a passion about animals (of all species, shapes, sizes and varying degrees of danger) since the age of six and this passion was inflamed when his family moved to the quaint Greek island of Corfu following his fathers death. The premise might not sound very appealing to many people at this point but is extremely difficult to explain the charms of this book in a short blog post.

This book could have easily fallen into one of those nature journal categories where the description of each animal and the behavioural observations are discussed which cannot interest people having no idea about biology. But then again, the 'family' comes to the rescue here. Gerald Durrells family is an assorted motley of characters comprising of Larry (Lawrence Durrell, the famous author) the aspiring author and the brains of the family whose highbrow friends are a constant source of consternation and irritation for the family, Leslie (the second eldest brother) who is passionate about hunting and guns, Margo the perennial fashion and diet obsessed girl whose conversations start and end with diets and fashions and finally his mother who struggles to maintain sanity in these motley collection of people (and animals). The presence of a further assortment of supporting characters (each unique in their own right) simply adds to the flavor of this wonderful concoction. To the credit of the writer, none of these characters are caricatures and are infused with humanity to make them real, living people. Although there is a fair chance that the animals might get lost in this crowd of people, the accounts of animals and their behaviors are skillfully interwoven in the narrative. Although it is impossible to describe this book in a short review, I would strongly encourage every one to read this (somewhat underrated) book as it one of those rare books that ensure you have a smile on your face throughout the experience.

The ABC murders - Agatha Christie

On the surface, the ABC murders seems like any other run-of-the-mill serial killer mysteries. The premise is simple - an unknown assassin who murders people in alphabetical order of their names and in alphabetical order of the names of their locations challenges the master detective Hercule Poirot to catch him, even going as far as letting him know in advance the location of the next murder. The alphabetical theme is further exemplified by the fact that the assassins notes are signed A.B.C. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it ?

The masterful skill of the grande dame of mystery Agatha Christie is what elevates this book several notches above than the average crime fiction as what starts out as a simple murder mystery turns out to be an amazing exploration of the human psyche and a commentary on how the brain is the most dangerous weapon of all. Each page simultaneously unravels and entangles the mystery further and just when you think the case is closed - well why don't you read it to find out. All I can say is that even seasoned readers of the crime fiction genre will have a tough time in predicting the climax and when it occurs, it will put all books with twist endings you have read till now to shame. This is clearly the best Hercule Poirot mystery I have read till date and I hope the review is tantalising enough to force you to give it a shot.

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

A considerable of amount of newsprint and e-print has been devoted to this highly controversial and bestselling book. The accuracy of the information presented in the book has also been dissected to the minutest details. As everyone must be familiar with the main plot in some way or the other, there is no point discussing it here. However, as I read the book before all the hoopla occurred over it, I believe that this book might have got it a bit more attention than it deserved. Although it can't be denied that this is a reasonably well written thriller and has the unputdownable quality associated with it, it certainly can't be regarded as a classic. The combination of history, religion and mystery has always been a potent combination and Dan Brown adds just the right doses of all the three to create a page turner. However, there is nothing much in the book that may encourage a second reading and which stays with you after you have finished it.

However as I mentioned before, it is a rather well written thriller with some interesting trivia, puzzles and anecdotes thrown in. The descriptions of the different locations where the action unfolds is well researched and the detailed descriptions has the ability to inspire people to actually go and visit them. However, the characters with the exception of the main protagonist are not very well etched out and the motives behind their actions is not always very clear. In short, if you are looking for an engrossing read on a really long journey and have an interest in puzzles, conspiracy theories and Renaissance art, this is the right choice for you.