A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Book:

Source for ‘The Book’ section : From Wikipedia

A Pale View of Hills is the story of Etsuko, a middle-aged Japanese woman living alone in England, and opens with discussion between Etsuko and her younger daughter, Niki, about the recent suicide of Etsuko’s older daughter, Keiko. Etsuko’s thoughts, however, dwell not on either of her daughters so much as on the more distant past and the mysterious relationship she formed with a woman named Sachiko and with the woman’s young daughter, Mariko, some years before in post-war Nagasaki.

The View:

“A Pale View of Hills” is a classic novel, a welcome change from the usual books that we generally get to read. There is a lot to be said about the plot depending upon how you think the author perceived it. No matter how you ‘read’ and ‘interpret’ the book; you will know when you close it that you have read a book that is a class apart.

Personally I found a lot of similarities between the women in the plot. Etsuko and Sachiko were both very strong women but they continued to stay within the norms of the social requirements in the Japanese community. The interactions that Sachiko has with her daughter was something I could never relate too and was often confusing. She loved her daughter greatly and always put her above everything else…yet when her daughter throws a fit and leaves, she does not go behind her even if it is late. Niki is interesting, born to a Japanese mom but brought up in London she struggles with her identity. The subtle display of her character’s uncertainties is simply mind-blowing. Jiro’s dad’s presence adds a different aspect to the direction of the plot. Things that fascinate him like a couple voting for different political parties or the current education system’s focus in Japan were intriguing. The relationship that Etsuko has with her father-in-law is pleasant and one filled with respect.

Towards the end; with the continued similarities between the two women, I did think that Sachiko was a figment of Etsuko’s imagination or maybe just a representation of her own past. But that is just how I saw it.

Rated a 5 on 5 and when you read this book you will know why it gets (and deserves!) a spot in wiki

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Teaser Tuesdays – 15th May 2012

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules for participating in this meme..

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

“Nonsense,” said Mrs Fujiwara again, getting to her feet.

Taken from “A Pale View of Hills” by Kazuo Ishiguro.

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Theme Thursdays [Drinks] – 10May12

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.

DRINKS , tea, wine, beer, water (anything liquid)

My THURSDAY THEME for DRINKS is here.

And you’re not suppposed to drink it like it’s a cup of tea, dummy.

[Another one]

“I made mango smoothies, you want one?”

Taken from “Dollhouse” By Kourtney, Kim & Khloe Kardashian

Leave a comment here with a link to your post. Do make sure to visit and comment on other Theme Thursdays.

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Dollhouse by Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian & Khloe Kardashian

The Book:

Source for ‘The Book’ section : From Amazon
Dollhouse is an addictively entertaining novel about an exciting, high-profile, complicated family with a huge heart and a lot of love. Written by superstars Kourtney, Kim, and KhloÉ Kardashian, Dollhouse is a delicious glimpse that goes behind the glitter of fame into the hearts of three sisters fiercely devoted to one another and the family they love. Kourtney, Kim, and KhloÉ combined their truly scandalous imaginations with the secrets they know about life in the fast lane to give you a book like nothing you’ve ever read before!

Nothing is more important to the Rameros than family. Just ask Kamille, Kassidy, and Kyle—three beautiful, loving, and deeply loyal sisters who are the heart and soul of their family. Their mother has remarried and their new stepfather, a world-famous all-star baseball player, has come complete with two stepsiblings. Life in L.A. is pretty typical for this newly blended clan.

Until the day everything changes.

The View:

Have you watched ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’? I did; at least a couple of episodes enough to know that it is nothing but immature and enforced drama of the Kardashian’s media life. Dollhouse’ is the written version of the TV episodes. Yes, it does claim that the book is a work of fiction but when you read the book you realize that it is full of the Kardashians. For starters, most of the characters names start with a ‘K’, one of them is a model (read Kim) and one of them is pregnant (read Kourtney). There are two younger step siblings as well .. The only character that they missed replicating in the book was Rob, but I think that was intentional as he is not very interesting even in the TV episodes.

The plot is not thick and has an abundance of inspiration (read as copy) from the Kardashian’s lives. The language used in the book is neither casual nor detailed and a lot of the language usage involves slangs. I was particularly annoyed by the way they kept calling each other as ‘doll’ and liberally used words like totally, cool etc.. The sisters and their friends paid very little respect to each other or their parents and that was another downer.

If you have not watched or read about the Kardashians you would definitely struggle with understanding or identifying with the siblings in Dollhouse. The book by itself has very little character introductions or relationship definitions. The only clear and well-defined relationship was between the two elder sibling sisters as they were portrayed as best friends too. The men in the book where just there and came in only when a little bit extra drama was needed and that includes Chase (who was primarily responsible for most of the drama between the women), Benjy and any other fling the girls had.

I like the Kardashians and I have nothing against them but I think they should stick to mindless reality TV and not writing books. This is definitely not their cup of tea. The book lacked imagination, good writing skills and everything else. I would rate this book a 2 on 5 and assure you that you wont miss anything if you pass this one. It does deserve one plus point and that is for the cover design.

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Teaser Tuesdays – 8th May 2012

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules for participating in this meme..

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

“Let’s get that makeup off your face, and that… that.. olive oil off your body. God, you look like a salad. Or a hooker. Just kidding, honey, but please, put on this robe.”

Taken from “Dollhouse” by Kardashians.

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