Truly, Madly, Deeply by Faraaz Kazi

Truly, Madly, Deeply is a book about first loves and obsessions.

In his debut novel, Faraaz Kazi, whom I interviewed here, tells a beautiful story about two teenage lovers: Rahul, and Seema, and their touching and tragic love story. From the onset, I thought this was one of your typical love stories where a girl and guy fall in love in school and end up together forever in the island of dreams because everyone is too perfect (which was reinforced by the fact that both main characters were described as very beautiful and intelligent and with beauty that just refuses to fade away no matter how beaten-down they get) but I was happy to be proved wrong. Yes, this is your teenage romance novel. But no, this is definitely not your cliched 'love is a cure-all' novel that looks oddly like a bollywood film story. The story is quite refreshing in its story-line and particularly in its conclusion, which I really enjoyed. 

The story it tells is in a sense very easy to identify with, especially as a high school student, and though both the cases of the main characters might seem slightly over-the-top, I personally find it a very likely and plausible story. The characters are eventually quite well-written, especially Rahul, who tells this story and is as a consequence much more human and likeable compared to Seema, whom we mostly see from the point-of-view of someone who adores her and thus comes across as slightly insufferable. I like how the house struggles and personal rivalries come in the middle of their relationship, with two such strong personalities as the author shows. I also loved the minor characters, from Jai to Sahil, most of whom were nicely shown and portrayed, and thus added depth to the story. 

The writing style was crisp and direct, I liked the use of non-linear structure and different point-of-views to tell the story, it added some spice to a book that might otherwise have been slightly bland. The use of poetry abundantly in the narrative was probably uncharacteristic but really helped break the monotony of having one character mostly narrate his story. I like how the story gives you a sense of wanting to know more, which is exactly how most teenage relationships end. Its particularly well-written in the sense that it can be understood and yet has depth, which is probably really ideal for its target audience. 

Final thoughts: A beautiful, layered story of a teenage love turning into an obsession. Worth a read if you like the concept.

Click here to get an author-signed copy of the book. 

Other thoughts: This christmas I hope to remove my backlog, which means 4-5 reviews are waiting. I hope you all are having a very beautiful holiday season, filled with reading! :) 

Interview: Faraaz Kazi

Its been a long break due to a vacation and some internet troubles, but I'm back with a bang as I bring you my interview with Faraaz Kazi, whose debut novel, "Truly, Madly, Deeply" released December 5th and that I'm currently perusing and will be reviewing in the not-so-distant future. Welcome, Faraaz.

I'd like to begin this interview by asking you what kind of books are there on your bookshelf? What books are you reading right now? Which genre of books do you generally read? Which books do you re-read again and again?

I have been a ‘book worm’ all my life. Just the fragrance of paper-new or the yellowed rusty one (doesn’t matter) - smells like perfume to my nostrils. I read everything I can lay my hands on, mostly fiction though. As a writer, romance is my usual genre but I also do lay hands on fantasy and crime fiction. I stopped counting the books in my house-earlier on I used to take a monthly stock, though I was the only ‘member’ of my ‘house library’- after the count reached an unimaginable amount. My bookshelf is too small to contain all the books in my house and we had to stuff cartons of books and stock them in the attic. A large chunk of them also went into the old cupboards at my other home.

Having so many books and so little time, as I usually multi-task, I don’t often get the time to read each book twice (though I’d love to) because the goal is to read all the books I can lay my hands on. And trust me one life doesn't suffice. I usually make a list of all the books I want to read in a month. It’s pretty much like a forecast, keeping in mind my schedule and health. Currently, I’m reading the second novel of one my favourite authors, Anuja Chauhan. It is titled ‘Battle for Bittora’ and it appears to be even better than her earlier work. Once this is done, I guess I will pick up ‘In Arabian nights’ by Tahir Shah and after that Steig Larsson’s second book in the millennium
trilogy.

2. Tell us something about your work before "Truly, Madly, Deeply"?

‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ is my debut novel. I had to struggle a lot like most first time authors so that it could see the light of publication. Though I have had a decent fan following as a blogger, writing on branding and marketing from an analytical point of view but it was a completely different experience as a novelist. I have written articles for a couple of media houses but nothing more than that. I guess it all changes after your first novel and more so, if it’s a success.

3. Did you always want to be a writer? How did you get into writing? What inspired you to write "Truly, Madly, Deeply"?

I guess as kids we all conjure up dreams- I want to be this, I want to be that when I grow up. I seriously don’t remember whether I wanted to be an author (I remember acting, medicine and cricket in my list of career choices though) but I did start writing at the age of seven. It was a silly adventurous novel about six friends who somehow reach a forest full of cannibals and dangerous animals. I remember it was a novel and not a short-story as most people would expect, because I filled an entire diary scribbling about it. Next, there were a few more fantasy fiction type novels, stemming from watching too many movies and reading too much of young adult fiction. It was not until two years back, when I had taken a break from academics and had time on my hands, so I decided to enrol for a creative writing course. It opened a dormant side within me and I realised somewhere I always wanted to be a writer (not quite a full-time one though. You don’t make much of a living that way unless you end up writing about someone’s points and spending nights in call centres and then make three mistakes in a couple of states) as I found my romantic short-stories to be applauded by the other 30 odd students around me. And then, that was motivation enough to try my hands on a novel. Luckily, for me I had a readymade plot.

‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ stems from a short-story I had written for a national-level story writing competition in 2003’. It surely had the potential as it won the fourth prize at that level. That time it was fully autobiographical, now of course it is a mixture of fact and fiction. All I had to do was expand the story, keeping the plot in mind. Of course, there were some major changes made. And I actually could notice, the difference in my writing (seven years is a lonnnnng time!) I guess it’s a healthy experience curve after all.

4. What kind of people do you think this book will reach out to?

Being a marketer, I define my target as Sec A to Sec E, age group 16-40, reading fiction, MHI> (doesn’t really matter). From a writer’s POV, I can say that the book will appeal to each and every one, who’s passed through the funny stage of ‘adolescence’ and experienced the high of first love. But yes, in general, the book tends to deal with the extremes as it handles a fragile topic at its base, of infatuation turning into an obsession. So, I do expect some criticism and people talking about how it is unrealistic in certain parts. But then no one can separate fact from fiction.

The ultimate trust is between the author and the reader and I’m sure the reader will be able to identify with parts of the story, a similar journey he or she may have experienced in some part of her life, similar decisions which could have backfired and then they would have had to embrace regret. And my thoughts are echoed by none other than Mr. Tuhin Sinha, best-selling author of ‘Of love and Politics’ and two other popular books. This is what he has to say about ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’:

"A fascinating, roller-coaster tale of teenage love, Kazi’s book depicts the emotion in its raw, confusing form- just the way you’d have experienced it the first time you fell in love with someone. Kazi’s penchant for detail is impressive and makes the book an alluring journey for all die-hard romantics."

5. What is your favourite thing about books and reading? How have books made an impact on your life?

The best thing about books is that they take us to an almost illusion-like world, far away from the happenings of life. Mostly, when I’m in the doldrums, you’ll find me with a copy in hand, lying on the bed and soaking in the words. There’s no feeling in this world which can replace the joy of reading a good book on a rainy evening with some hot pakoras for company. Books have elevated me to an altogether different level. I have gained a lot of insight into human psychology through some extremely fine characters. My practical approach to real-life marketing also stems from reading Kotler, Levitt, Ogilvy, Seth Godin and so many other gurus. I appear knowledgeable to some, an unworthy show-off to some, a freak to the rest. But it doesn’t affect me anymore as my best friends (read ‘books’) aren’t complaining.

6. Quick take. Answer the following with the first words/phrase that comes to your mind, in five words or less:

- Love – Separates humans from the rest.

- Life – An illusion.

- The teenage years – Time machine, anyone?

- Innocence – Fake after a point of time.

- Books – Nirvana.

Brighter than the Sun by Julia Quinn

Brighter than the Sun is your regular aimed-at-teenage-girls book.

All the elements of the typical romance are there - the regency era; cool, hunky, rakish hero; the prim and proper but secretly naughty good-girl heroine; a marriage of convenience; loads of drama; loads of love; and the happily ever after. The question here is whether Brighter than the Sun rises above the cliches of the genre into something new and inspiring and different to read. It was with a hope of something along these lines from highly acclaimed author Julia Quinn that I picked up this book. I was hoping that Quinn would write something new out of this done-to-death story.

I was unfortunately disappointed.

Lets make this clear. This book is not bad for its target audience. To the girl who adores sappy love stories (and I will admit here that I can be a bit like that too, only its a guilty pleasure), this story will no doubt deliver. Quinn mixes enough humor, beauty and gaiety into her story to make it both entertaining and readable, weaves a narrative interesting enough to amuse, and creates characters that are just about complex enough to actually care about. There is a lot of love. There is a lot of adoration. There is the perfect-marriage-under-imperfect-circumstances fantasy that a lot of the target audience will really enjoy. The writing quality is actually quite good and it comes across that Quinn has studied her craft well. As a package, the book is not dull enough to be disliked, and there is a lot in it for someone actually looking for this kind of book.

But for the more serious reader, there are some serious pit-falls. The plot hinges too deeply on coincidence (starting with the hero falling from a tree right into the arms of the heroine). Moreover, the plot is quite transparently lacking in suspense. You know exactly what is happening even when the author goes out of her way to hide it. The characters are really mono-dimensional, character traits seem to be added in convenience and some of them are really cheesy. There is little or no depth and little or no growth in the character arcs. The romance is totally unbelievable, and seems to rely mostly on physical attraction even though the author goes out of her way to claim it is not. And as a package, the whole thing is a mess that will make most discerning readers drop the book.

Final thoughts: If you like sappy romances, read the book. Otherwise (and perhaps even if), this book is avoidable thanks the forgettable plot, flat characters and cheesy romance. Quinn fails to deliver.

Other thoughts: I'm a little behind on the reviewing as opposed to the reading - and therefore I have loads of books lined up to review, from The Namesake to the Thousand Splendid Suns, Wedding Season and then of course The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that I've just picked up, and The Color of Magic which I just found. Expect a lot of reviews in the next week.

How to be Popular by Meg Cabot

Despite its rather misleading name, How to be Popular is not a self-help book.

I read this book for the first time a few years ago. I recently re-read because I recommended it to a friend and she borrowed it from a library and then I just had to borrow it from her. (I also read Cabot's Airhead in a similar manner two days before this one. My friends are now being cautious about reading books around me. On the other hand, I've always been like Katy from What Katy Did and my friends do tend to lock up their books when I come to visit. Which reminds me that I must review that book sometime.) Anyway, getting back on topic. I think How to be Popular is Cabot's best book for teens (better than Cabot's Princess Diaries series, which frankly got totally unfocused towards the end, much better than some of her other stuff like the Mediator Series, the All American Girl books, and other, crazier novels like Airhead, Jinx and Avalon High. I think the only ones that I can think of that come close are Teen Idol and Tommy Sullivan is a Freak. (I looked at this list. I've read too many Cabot books. This isn't even the complete list of the books I've read by her, and I don't even like her that much.)

One of the first things that I like about the book is the main character - Steph Landry is one of the best characters in teen fiction - not 'beautiful without knowing it' or even a 'braniac' (which is Em in Airhead, who even becomes 'drop-dead-gorgeous' by the end of the book. Now you see why I don't like it.) Steph is a normal girl with the most normal of all teenage problems - crushes, and weight, and school and getting a social life. Which makes her a perfect character for teenage fiction, because lets face it - not everyone reading this can be either beautiful, or extremely brainy, or both. Steph has been a social reject for many, many years - mostly because she dropped a drink on a friend's white skirt in school and never managed to live it down. (This I thought of as a little exaggerated, but its a novel, so alright). In fact, its so bad that anyone committing a faux pas in her town is told "Not to pull a Steph Landry."

Steph Landry gets her hands on a book - and some money, borrowed from her grandfather - and sets about revolutionizing her social life.

The title of this book - well, you guessed it - How to be Popular.

One of the things I like about this book is the way the author writes, where each (short) scene is interspersed with an extract from the aforementioned book, mostly one which pertains to the following scene. Meg Cabot does this really well in another series of hers that I like - the Queen of Babble (see, I told you I wasn't done) and it works in this book. Not to mention that the advice is actually slightly sound (things like 'be yourself') and reminds me a bit of the best self-help book I've ever read How to Win Friends and Influence People for Girls by Donna Dale Carnegie, which is always a plus. The writing is simple and effective, well targeted, and always interesting.

I really like how this book breaks stereotypes. Airhead, even though it is quite literally about two worlds colliding, still managed to make everyone from the super-model world come off as bland and stupid. In this book, on the other hand, we get characters like Darlene and Alyssa, who just make the book alive, and also characters like Jason (who is seriously almost exactly like Christopher from Airhead, though) and Becky who are also sweet and likeable. Even the main villian, Lauren, is interesting enough to make you want to see her get her due, instead of you just wanting her to get off the page because she's so diabolical and weird that you can see right through her. I also love, love the way this book ends. In a book that calls itself 'How to be Popular', this book certainly managed to disillusion teenagers about popularity as a concept and puts it in its place.

Final thoughts: Good writing, interesting characters, and even a message. It even holds up to a re-read. A good book for passing away some time, especially if you're a teenager.

Other things: Hmm...still reading Frankenstein, and I also started reading Two States by Bhagat (which is not half-bad so far). I don't know which one I'll review first.