[OT] Official Books -|- Literature Thread

[Blastwave]

peer-e-kamil is ok, but it lacks the coherence of a novel.
considering how it was written as an episodic series for khawateen digest, that makes perfect sense.

no comments on the content. let's just say i'm not a fan. (edit: not because of any religious commentary but because it's just not that interesting of a story. i guess that's a comment now.)

Peer-e-kamil has way too much hype.

Miserably fails to deliver.

Is Ismat ChUghtai worth reading?
[MENTION=6068]Ottoman[/MENTION] [MENTION=39471]Blastwave[/MENTION] [MENTION=48]Crow[/MENTION] @anyone

Yes and NO

YES its worth reading

NO if you haven't an idea what the stories are about

 

[shahbakht]

Peer-e-kamil has way too much hype.

Miserably fails to deliver.

Agreed. Just about to end it. It is good, but not that ​good.

 

[UltraViolet]

Good so far. Basically a 500 page overview of what was going on in the later days of the Eastern Bloc.

 

[shahbakht]

If you like Wall Street, if you like Boiler Room, if you like Margin Call, if you like Too Big to Fail....​read this

 

[Jester]

Haven't read anything in ages, need some recommendations.

Particularly looking for something dark and macabre. Also looking for thriller/mystery that isn't highly cliched. Any other A-listers are also appreciated.

 

[shahbakht]

Haven't read anything in ages, need some recommendations.

Particularly looking for something dark and macabre. Also looking for thriller/mystery that isn't highly cliched. Any other A-listers are also appreciated.

Dark and macabre....I would recommend Dennis Lehane, especially his Kenzie and Gennaro series. And Mystic River, of course.

 

[shahbakht]

So, I am around done with the new book from the fabled Paulo Coelho. I have just read two of his books, the perennia The Alchemist, and Manuscript found in Accra. I loved The Alchemist but I found Manuscript found in Accra to be just ordinary. It started good, but the lack of narrative and a preachy style (which evidently it was going for all along) didn't work for me a lot. Some of the stuff was good, but most of it was rehashed philosophy.

I was looking forward to this one from Mr. Coelho as this is a topic that I find interesting: Marital fidelity. Coelho paints the picture of a perfect family and perfect life but portrays it so dour and colorless that you are already feeling down. Every dream, every conception that a person has about an ideal life is destroyed in the first few pages. I liked the set-up, hence. I am interested in the mechanics of daily life. As the great show Oz told us that nothing kills you more than routine, this novel seemed to be treading the same path.

Told from the perspective of Linda, a woman who has it all on the surface and by any benchmark, on the inside as well, but she is dissatisfied. It is a purely first-world problem. What do you do when you have it all? What is there to live for? Coelho has always managed to infused his own brand of philosophy punctuated by narrative structure and same is the case here. But it left me utterly perplexed this time. His narrative structure was all over the place. Linda was a woman of contradictions and so was the story. The protagonist was flawed, hence relate-able but not in the wide world what she does makes one inch of a sense. And how it fits in the story is also baffling. So, I would say that this is a misfire from Coelho. It is a breezy read, no doubt and there are moments of traditional Coelho insights into human nature, but overall the platitudes are more than actual realities and that is what disappointed me.

I am not a hardcore Coelho fan, so I don't know how diehards will react to this novel. But for me it was an un-fulfilling read, though some part of the book will remain with me. The part about lifelessness in your world, to making the most of life, doing things you have not done before, etc. These are all things that we have read countless times, because Internet has popularized every philosophy there ever was. So, now it is even more difficult to sift out the ones that apply to you.

 

[Blastwave]

I am not a hardcore Coelho fan, so I don't know how diehards will react to this novel. But for me it was an un-fulfilling read, though some part of the book will remain with me. The part about lifelessness in your world, to making the most of life, doing things you have not done before, etc. These are all things that we have read countless times, because Internet has popularized every philosophy there ever was. So, now it is even more difficult to sift out the ones that apply to you.

Another lame, below average book by a lame, tactless, bland author.

Coelho is a complete waste of time in m opinion.

 

[shahbakht]

Another lame, below average book by a lame, tactless, bland author.

Coelho is a complete waste of time in m opinion.

Agreed about this book. I haven't read Coelho extensively so I am in no place to give a general verdict on his talent. But for me it is 1 out of 3 at the moment.

 

[Ottoman]

The Alchemist was a nice book. But it wasn't something that prompted me to buy any more of Coelho's books.

 

[TheProdigalSon]

Finally completed this amazing piece of literature by Lesley Hazleton! As a guy who has always entertained family/friends from both major sects; the book was certainly an eye-opener and exceedingly informative. Although I didn't find the writing style of the author remotely intriguing, but the tales itself and her neutral POV on everything made it a worthwhile experience.

Highly recommended to everyone who is least bit interested in early Islamic History. 9.0/10.

 

[shahbakht]

Finally completed this amazing piece of literature by Lesley Hazleton! As a guy who has always entertained family/friends from both major sects; the book was certainly an eye-opener and exceedingly informative. Although I didn't find the writing style of the author remotely intriguing, but the tales itself and her neutral POV on everything made it a worthwhile experience.

Highly recommended to everyone who is least bit interested in early Islamic History. 9.0/10.

What a book. Opened my eyes to fresher perspectives. Do read The First Muslim ​by her. It is also a great read.

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The Alchemist was a nice book. But it wasn't something that prompted me to buy any more of Coelho's books.

Yep. Exactly my reaction when I read The Alchemist. It was a good read but it didn't prompt me to dig deeper into Coelho. Hence I read Manuscript found in Accra in 2014, 5 years after I read The Alchemist. I only read Adultery because the idea was to my liking, and it was by a famous author, so I thought why the heck not. It turned out to be a trainwreck.

 

[Benighted]

I hate The Alchemist with a passion. It stands on its own in the lowest category possible of reading.

New Age bullshit disguised as a "novel".

- - - Updated - - -

Haven't read anything in ages, need some recommendations.

Particularly looking for something dark and macabre. Also looking for thriller/mystery that isn't highly cliched. Any other A-listers are also appreciated.

Edgar Allen Poe is the guy you're looking for.

 

[shahbakht]

New Age bullshit disguised as a "novel".

New Age bullshit. Hahaha. I like the way you think, boy.

 

[Jester]

Edgar Allen Poe is the guy you're looking for.

I have read most of Edgar Allan Poe, Rohl Dahl and Kafka. Looking for something new.

 

[FUEL2009]

Eaters Of The Dead by Michael Crichton




An amazing book by a brilliant writer.

Its been sometime since i am finding my self so deeply engrossed in a book.

An absolute must for anyone looking to find a good read.

(There's also a film based on this book made in 1999, called 'The 13th Warrior' starring Antonio Banderas, but the book is in a class of its own.)

 

[shahbakht]

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Agatha Christie


I used to be a huge Agatha Christie fan, back in my teens, 2008, 2009. Then I outgrew her. She is amazing, no doubt about that but there is a time for everything. Ever since I started reading Christie, I had wanted to read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd because it frequently topped her best novels' list. I had read almost all her masterpieces but this book, I was unable to find in Pakistan. So I gave up on it. I moved on from Christie and developed other tastes in books.

Fast forward to 2014. I am going through readings.com.pk and without any reason, or any real purpose, I typed in Christie. And there it was "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". Something stirred in me. I had not spared a thought to this book for a long time. But I did not order it straight away. I do not know why. A week or two later I again visited readings.com.pk and decided to order it. Alas, it was not to be found. Stupefied, mesmerized, heartbroken, I let it all go. Maybe it was not meant to be. Then, a day later, I visited 786cart.com and typed in "Ackroyd", and beholld! I found it!.

So, as soon as I got this book, I devoured it. It was amazing. I loved it even though I have outgrown Christie. It was old school, twisty, fast paced and funny at times. A must read for detective fiction fans and an absolute yes-yes for die hard Christie fans. This is truly one of her greatest books. The ending just blows you away.

Spoiler: show

Takes unreliable narrator to a whole new level. The Usual Suspects, Fight Club, etc. owe the greatness of their narrative style to this, I would say

 

[shahzadfootball]

Anyone here read ,"The Moving Finger by Edith Wharton" ? It's an awesome story !! more like that creepy and sad sort of thing.Just finished it ! I love it !


and there is also this short story ,"The Hollow of the Three Hills by Hawthorne" that is sooo freaking awesome :3

 

[Deadly Shadow]

Got really busy once again, so I have not had the chance to read many books. I did buy "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" a few days ago. Anybody read it? Seemed interesting.

On a much more relevant note, I finally had the pleasure of reading The Kite Runner.

My god what a book! Incredible. Brilliant. I must admit, it was emotionally captivating, it brought me to tears.

I still remember the words echoing in my mind: "Only a smile" "For you, a thousand times over" I may be preaching to the choir but you have to read this book if you have not done so already!

 

[TheProdigalSon]

Just completed 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' by Mohsin Hamid. Written in tale-within-tale manner, the book allows readers to come out with their own ideas of the story. The unreliable, omniscient narrator keeps you hooked from the beginning till the end.

An epic tale of a brilliant Pakistani who's in love with New York City and how his perception changes post-9/11 scenario. A highly recommended book!