r/IndiansRead

The Guest by Nikki Smith

The resort of their dreams.

A destination to die for...

WELCOME TO PARADISE!

Enjoying a holiday at the luxurious Asana Fushi Resort sounds like a great idea! But for the Hamilton family, this dream holiday soon turns into the trip from hell.

The story begins with the Hamilton family arriving at the Asana Fushi Resort in the Maldives to enjoy their holiday. As the story progresses, you’ll see how secrets can destroy lives and how lies can create even more discomfort in relationships.

Initially, you might feel that the story is a little slow, but gradually, it picks up the pace and becomes more interesting.

I liked the fact that the chapters are short, which makes the book easy to read. You get a taste of romance, deception, betrayal, and suspense throughout the story.

Amazing storyline!

However, I didn’t really like the ending. I feel it could have been much more suspenseful and thrilling. The book also felt a little lengthy at times. If it had wrapped up a little earlier, the ending might have had a stronger impact.

My Rating: 6.5/10

>Premise:

This is a short novel written in the form of 17 letters between a child and his mother. Set in 2011, Vinod is struggling to build a life for himself doing odd jobs, while trying to reconnect with his mother in Naala Sopara, Maharashtra.

🔞Some themes are definitely 18+.

>What I loved:

• One of the most brilliant stories I've read. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time... I'm not easily moved by emotional stories, but damn... I'm still quite shaken by this one.
• To give you a glimpse of the heartbreaking stuff - There's an orphan who looks into the mirror to see his parents - who he has no knowledge of. In his own reflection he names his parents... his white complexion and beauty must come from his mom he thinks, he consoles himself - "of course I know my parents! I see them everyday in the mirror!".
• The transgender community's lifestyle and perceptions: Struggles of the transgender community are depicted, their alienation, abuse and inhuman treatment. Bimli doesn't like to be grouped with the Kinnar life- Work is Worship for him. He refuses to walk,talk and dress according to society's (and his kinnar group's internalized) prejudices. He questions their defeatist attitude, and seeks some radical reforms (politically and socially).
• The relationship of the letter writer (Vinod) with his mother - extremely heartwarming. The longing to meet her again comes off so beautifully.
• Education, Employment, Empowerment: Or as Dr. Ambedkar said, Educate, Agitate, Organize. Powerfully depicted here too.
• I feel this novel is in itself a letter to the LGBT+ community of India, and whole Indian society as well. A message, a hope, to treat all with Dignity (connects well with FRATERNITY in our Preamble, as explored in TMK's We the People of India. It's been 10 years since the novel was published, and while there's been significant progress on that front, we as a society still have a long ways to go...
• Poonam Joshi 🙌 what a character.
• Arnica 30, Sintex water tank, Egyptian Pyramids...common motifs in Chitra ji's novels? 😆 Idk why, but they were mentioned in Giligadu as well. Might be her cherished memories... IYKYK
• Epilogue: what a brilliant and creative way to end the story! I've seen it used before, but this was equally effective. Excellent stuff.
• Ending: >!Are we to assume that Vinod reached home, received the sad news, and killed himself, or that he was killed by his brothers? Or the underworld as the article suggests? All endings are tragic,!< yet all are possible. Really well done. Which would you prefer?
• Title: I found this great interview of the author on YT, explaining the origin of the title and inspiration behind the story. I'd recommend you to watch it after reading the novel :) "Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do"~ Voltaire's quote haunts me daily. Now this novel will too, as it does the author.

>A Point I'm a bit unsure of:

• >!While Bimli's political attitude towards transgender is understandable, I'm not sure if the discussion is limited to transgenders only now - Gender's a spectrum, so Bimli's call for "being considered an equal male/female and no 'Others' category" is what I'm unsure about. On the one hand, we can say it's only Bimli's perspective, and he got its dissent within the story itself, while on the other hand it could be construed as Chitra ji's opinions on the matter. I may be too naive to think it's a pro-LGBT novel, as the times have definitely changed since the novel came out, so any suggestions or critiques are welcome 🙏 To my mind, Bimli's ideas don't diminish the rightful longing of a transgender in India to be treated with dignity, and to express themselves as they wish to. !< It's a tough issue of course, I'm not qualified to talk about it, but I recognize the need for it to be discussed seriously. Perhaps in some other review I'll try to explore the issue in detail.

>Conclusion:

I give 3 chances to any author whose work I'm approaching for the 1st time - if none of the 3 impress me, I devote my time to other authors. Just my handy rule to navigate the plethora of literature. {Stephen King has failed my test sadly}.

This is Chitra ji's 2nd novel I've read now, and it's even more of a masterpiece than the previous one. I'm truly amazed by the depth of emotions she's able to put to paper, along with subtly discussing contemporary issues of the society, and still be able to make a thrilling story utilizing unusual structures! Giligadu had 13 days POV of an old man, with shaky memory; this one has 17 letters over 6 months tell a tale of mother-child reunion. Chitra ji truly is, a modern writer. Definitely deserving of the Sahitya Akademi Award 2018🙌

>If possible, I'd recommend every Hindi speaker to listen to the audiobook, by Shaily Mudgal: you'll thank me for the eargasm. For my fellow English readers, there's an English translation by Madhu Shrivastav.

>Rating: 17/17. {Each letter being better than the previous one...till the last one}

Probably my favourite novel of the year so far.

P.S.: I've obviously played with the identities and genders of the characters in this review to avoid spoilers. >!I know Binni=Vinod=Bimli!<

Just finished A Nation of Idiots by Daksh Tyagi and honestly, I didn't expect to enjoy it this much.

I went into this book with almost no expectations. At first, it felt like a light and easy read. It wasn't trying to overload me with information or sound intellectual just for the sake of it. But as I kept reading, I realised what makes this book work so well.

It doesn't feel like you're reading a book. It feels like you're having a conversation with the author.

The writing is incredibly flowy. He jumps between different topics, observations and opinions, but somehow it never feels messy. Every time I thought I knew where a point was going, he'd slip in a punchline or an unexpected observation that genuinely made me stop and appreciate it.

What's funny is that the author spends a lot of time ranting about things, but it never really feels like a rant. Instead, it feels like listening to that one friend who somehow puts thoughts you've had for years into words. Half the time, I found myself agreeing before I even realised it.

The book brings up a surprising number of topics and questions that force you to think, but it never becomes boring or preachy. That's probably what impressed me the most. A lot of books that try to make readers think end up feeling like lectures. This one never did.

Will everyone agree with everything in it? Probably not. But even when I didn't completely agree, I was still interested in what he had to say.

Overall, this was one of those rare books where the writing style itself became the main attraction. I picked it up with very low expectations and ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would.

Has anyone else read it? Did the writing style work for you, or did you find the author's ranting annoying?

I'll be honest; I entered this quest as a skeptic. After the first 100 pages, I assumed I knew that I've signed up for a disappointing, sloppy read of an author who is indeed in his 'eleventh hour'.

I've been — to my immense joy and pleasure — been proved wrong.

Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote boasts an influence on world literature as large and all-encompassing as Karamazov, War & Peace, or Ulysses (not considering the great Greek epics). To stand upon its shoulders and construct a world that seeks to look further, examine deeper, and ask harsher questions is challenging — to put simply.

But Rushdie has taken upon the challenge and come out victorious. There aren't many authors who are looking at the new, ever-changing world so closely and with such concern. His penchant for the 'magic real' puts us face-to-face with a world that is declining, becoming more extremist and uninhabitable.

As always, his literary genius binds together a tale as old as time with a world that is hyperfixated on social media, apathy, and extremism, and asks fundamental questions about the soul, the self. This, with the recurring theme of a father and a son (having read Midnight's and Haroun before).

Is there a simple synopsis that I can roll out (like a carpet, not flying for now) for the fellow review-reader? No. Go in blind. See if it works for you. It worked for me, but only after I was patient and surrendered to the text. Do I speak like the Don? Has he hopped out of the pages and inhabited my mind? We'll never know.

A Man Called Ove is one of those books that made me laugh, broke my heart a little, and somehow left me feeling warmer by the end.

It’s one of those stories that reminds you how much a little kindness and human connection can mean. 🤎

What’s your go-to feel-good book?📖** **

I rarely manage to read 10 pages of any book, given how dopamine fried I became after years of doomscrolling. Yet I finished this book (approx 350 pages) in one day.

As a computer engineer by education and having been interested in business and tech developments since I was a kid, this book was an absolute delight. Starting from WW2 and the beginning of computing, It takes to California where US military funding led to a number. of chip companies getting formed. It takes you from there to latest AI led data center surge and China-America conflict related to chips storage.

Often on our feed we read articles related to chips, all of these would start to make sense if you manage to understand the context which this book gives quite lucidly. You will also understand how American dominance in semiconductors helped in US completely incinerating Iraq forces in the 1991 Gulf war.

10/10 for me, for people not aware/interested in tech this book may be a little harder to read as technical terms are everywhere.

The girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy- What every book in this trilogy has in common is an absolutely amazing plot, the details, the history and the different povs as well. It'll be pretty slow in the beginning, a bit more than usual with useless details but that's what the calm before the storm is supposed to be right? And as soon as our girl's- Lisbeth Salander and her journalist "friend" Mikael Blomkvist's cogs start running, there's no going back. The "juicy" part is so gripping you cannot stop. There'll be a lot of history and a lot of names and I think after reading you'll probably be very familiar with Swedish beaureaucracy and history. Dark secrets of how the government works and how far they'll go to hide their incompetence at the cost of people's rights and their lives. Now there are some issues with the way some characters are built up.

Lisbeth for some reason has been bestowed with all of the things you can imagine - Hacker? Check(even though the stuff she did is pretty basic in 2026 but a big thing back then), Photographic memory? Check, Has a very small build like a kid? Check, Tattoos all over her body? Check, but can also defeat 2 men on her own and ride a bike? Check, Queer?Check, Emotionally closed of? Check. She is the epitome of perfection when it comes to work, but normal human relationships? Not so much.

Michael Blomkvist- A ladies man of course, every woman he meets is just so drawn to him for some reason. Since the author was a journalist himself, he made Blomkvist- the guy who cares for everyone, loves the women he is with currently, but can't settle down xD.

I liked the mentions about feminism and sexuality, made me think they were way ahead of us back then as well in some ways or another. They actually discuss the lack of women workforce, the harrasment and stalking they go through if in a position of authority. But at the same time it shows a very powerful image of women through Lisbeth, Berger(Editor in chief of "Millenium"- The magazine Mikael and Berger run together), Monica Figuerola- the "gym freak" lady who works for the Swedish Security Police and Mimi(i won't reveal who she is :p, if you've read this far drop a balloon).

The first book starts with Mikael getting sued for libel by Wennerström- a businessman. His career and his magazine are going downhill and that is when he is hired by the head of the Vanger conglomerate- Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of his niece - Harriet Vanger almost 40 years ago. Every year on his birthday, which is the same day Harriet disappeared- Henrik receives an exotic flower mailed by an anonymous sender which is why he just cannot make peace with her disappearance.

The other two books revolve more around Lisbeth herself but oh boy it just gets better and better.

Ps- all three books mention some triggering topics like sexual abuse and homophobia.

The difference I've seen in thriller books written 25 years ago and around 2020ish is humungous. The older books have SO MUCH to offer, the plot just keeps on thickening, branches out and just somehow it all ties down and makes sense. The only thing is- you need to be patient, which is something I'll also discuss in part 2.

Happy Independence Day to all!

This thread has been considerably peaceful than the other thread I've posted this on. I'm still gonna post this comment here, just in case.

Woah. I honestly didn't expect a book to attract this much discussion, and especially this much criticism because of its author.

I also thought Reddit would be different from other social media platforms. At least, I thought this sub would be. Having no social media is actually quite peaceful, so I don't spend much time keeping up with gossip or controversies. Anyway, I finally had some time to respond to the comments, so here's where I stand.

To those spreading hate:

1. I don't have social media, so I don't follow gossip or rumours about the author. I know him primarily as a lawyer and as the author of this book.
2. I read books because I'm interested in the ideas and arguments they contain. I don't automatically agree with everything an author has ever said or done.
3. At the end of the day, opinions are subjective. They aren't objective facts, so I don't think someone's opinion of the author should dictate what another person is allowed to read.
4. I've only completed the Introduction so far, along with some of the research and references. So far, I haven't seen anything that has given me a reason to stop reading. I'll judge the book on its contents as I make my way through it.
5. I don't have Reddit on my phone either, so I won't be following every comment or notification. I'll get back to my review when I've actually finished the book.

To those who have been supportive or neutral:

1. I still believe in Reddit because of people like you.
2. A bunch of comments aren't going to stop me from reading a book I've decided to read.
3. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their perspective instead of telling others what they should or shouldn't read.

I'll make up my own mind about the book. That's what reading is for.