Second Prize

SECOND PRIZE
Author: Chris Manby

Finally, Ms Manby manages to please me with this one. Not too much though, regretfully, but definitely notches higher than Girl Meets Ape and Matchbreaker.

The plot here is very thin, and you could guess the epilogue as you prod on. Zero marks for the surprises category. The heroine, Lara Fenton, is pretty likeable, but at the same time, very gullible AND desperate. Sometimes, I find myself sympathizing with her and her sorry circumstances but at times, I wish I could just grab her shoulders and shake her till her eyes roll in her head and make her smell the coffee.

The story is straightforward and Ms Manby manages to inject humor where it should. The hilarity is not overdone and the dialogues are witty and the scenes appear real. Often, I found myself smiling or bursting in short spurts of laughter as I was reading it.

The TRUIzM
A good read, especially after the TND flop. This book also resurrects my first impression of Ms Manby’s ability as a writer.

The Nanny Diaries

THE NANNY DIARIES

Author: Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Hubs was the one who singled out this book to me while we were both browsing at a library. I took a peek at the synopsis and decided that taking care of a 4-year old would be something that I could relate to, and thus, something that I would enjoy reading.

Wrong.

I did not know that this book has spawned a movie, starring Scarlett Johansson, in 2007. But even if I did, it makes no difference.

It could be that I am not familiar with this nanny industry in the US, to be precise Manhattan. Going by the book, it appears to be a career, complete with a uniform and the usual stereotype – soft-spoken, dark-skinned and introvert players. However, it truly does not matter, because if the authors can pen a somewhat realistic background with an attached story, readers would be able to follow suit.

That – it did not happen in TND. I found the authors, former nannies themselves, rambling on and on blindly and even in the first chapter, the story was moving so fast, and detached, that I was unable to follow.

It was about Nan – even the name I was not sure, was it short for Nanny? Or really her name was Nan? – who part-timed as a nanny for the extra spending money while in school. Nan, however, was unfortunate to be working for the X family (oh please, surely X is not a family name?), who seemed to look upon (or down on) her as a family helper of sorts. Her charge, Grayer, appeared determined to make her life a living hell as well.

As a book, the story starts here and stops there and then picks itself again, and then stops abruptly. Even the termination of a former nanny was not being elaborated, so much so that I simply had no idea how Nan suddenly came into the picture. Mrs X first appeared as a likeable character, but she suddenly changed into a monster in the very next chapter. Characters in this book are so flawed; I did not know how was what or who was why.

Didn’t get my drift? I didn’t get the book either.

The TRUIzM

Oh sod it. Don’t even bother flipping through the pages.

The Places in Between

THE PLACES IN BETWEEN
Author: Rory Stewart

I grabbed this book barely an hour before I was due to embark on my own travelogue, or to be more precise, drivelogue – my trip from Johor to Trengganu on wheels, in late March 08.

I thought it would be the perfect companion (read: both on travels) in my foray across several states.

I was wrong. I was unable to read even a page during my 3-day drive. However, once I was back and have settled down to my normal routine, the book quickly became a constant companion.

My drivelogue is, obviously, nothing compared to Mr Stewart’s, a Scottish journalist – who WALKED across Afghanistan during the times when Taliban had just collapsed and whose journey took months, as it was part of an even longer route. He was adamant to follow in Babur’s (the first Emperor of Mughal India) steps in conquering the vast country on FOOT and while doing so, he successfully provides a travel narration that is engaging, witty and very much alive. His quirky writings enable you to see Afghanistan the way he saw it – sometimes, I swear, you could even smell the freshly-cooked naan and feel the scorching heat, and the biting cold.

It certainly helps that prior to TPIB, I have read a handful of stories that were set in Afghanistan. The places that Mr Stewart traveled to were so familiar, and I found that I could relate to the climate, the people and the culture.

TPIB reveals Mr Stewart’s love and deep respect for Afghanistan, and especially how he was very certain that he would somehow ended up ALIVE at the end of his trip, despite him being the very icon that the Afghans would love to hate.

I admire Mr Stewart’s ability in bringing to life a very huge country, with an equally colorful history and millions of shades in the characters that peopled this nation, via such powerful and invoking narration.

The TRUIzM
This book is not only a travelogue, nor a novelist’s blind banter on his travels. This is a book about the true people of the real Afghan – its beauty, its history and its progress, or lack of. Above all, it is also a testament on the bountiful hospitality of the Afghan people and of Mr Stewart’s courage and guts in conquering this beautiful realm.

The Matchbreaker

Oh! I've forgotten to mention one thing - Singapore is being mentioned in this book. I guess Ms Manby does know her geographics.

The Matchbreaker

THE MATCHBREAKER
Author: Chris Manby

You would have thought that I’d learn my lesson since my last foray with Ms Manby’s book, Girl Meets Ape. But no, I was adamant.

This time, it is not that painful, though TM is not as satisfying as READY OR NOT? The only reason I think this is because TM is being narrated in the first person’s perspective. I always find stories written in this manner much more fluid, real and personal.

Lindsey Parker is definitely not someone I would like to have as a friend. Extremely pampered and spoilt, to the extent that she almost ruins others’ lives unconsciously. She learns about life, respect, growing up and most essentially, about the importance of not sticking her nose where it should not be in the first place.

An amusing twist exists in this book, though I could recognize the slight bump early on – this, of course, takes away much of the surprise when all is finally revealed in the end.

However, there is an added drama almost at the very end, that made my jaw opened slightly bigger than usual.

The TRUIzM

My only conclusion is Ms Manby can really weave a darn book story, but only if she is feeling up to it. She continues to be hilarious – you will smile at certain scenes – but above all, TM does not provide the ‘high’ that I got from RON. Having said that. TM is notches better than GMA.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

Author: Khalid Hosseni

After a spellbinding tale in his first book, The Kite Runner, Mr Hosseni once more spins an ALMOST similarly delicious and engaging saga in A Thousand Splendid Suns. Delicious yes, but the aftertaste leaves a thousand unanswered questions.

Unlike TKR, which is written from a first person’s point of view, thus I found easier to be immersed in the character’s mind, ATSS is being told mainly from two women’s perspectives. Often, as the reader, I have had to switch gears in order to follow their train of thoughts.

The story is pretty predictable. And there’s hardly any hidden plot or intricate twist (as you would find in TKR). And when I was done with it, I did not find have the satisfying burp, as you would after a fine, delectable cuisine.

I’ve voiced out the many WHYs to Hubs, who has read the book, and even after discussing about it, albeit briefly, I am still unsatisfied. I felt the characters could have done what they eventually did much earlier in the story. And the near-conclusion – I have to ask – if it is being set during the Taliban era, I would imagine that it would not be so easy for a lone and poor woman with children in tow to move from one county to another.

Those apart, ATSS does not disappoint, especially in highlighting the restricted movement allowed for women during the Taliban era. I marvel at how Mr Hosseni, being a man, can be so sensitive and sympathetic to the plight of these unfortunate women. I will always remember the scene where one character has to endure a Caesarian surgery without any anesthesia (only hospitals for men were equipped with drugs and the proper medical instruments) – how she fought, how she struggled, and how she hang on before eventually letting the world hear the pain she was undergoing.

The TRUIzM
ATSS fails to move me as much as TKR, over which I cried oceans. However, I would still recommend this, as the engaging storyline, though predictable, is being weaved in a very intricate and beautiful manner. It is a waste not to devour it.

Girl Meets Ape

GIRL MEETS APE
Author: Chris Manby

You’ve heard me rant and rave about Chris Manby. You’ve heard me sing praises about that one particular first-book-first-love that I chanced upon. Eagerly, I added her name to my list of must-read books by chosen authors.

So what did I do? I dived in straight to the next book by Ms Manby that I saw on the shelf. And oh boy, what a ride it was. Downhill, I meant.

I do not know which book did Ms Manby write first – Girl Meets Ape or Ready or Not? My guess, and my hope, is that the she wrote the former. If this is the first book, then at least she is getting better.

What a major disappointment in GMA. Heroine Jennifer Niederhauser is a total let-down. Though she is academically bright, the way she is painted in the book does not reflect her modern upbringing. This story, while full of interesting anecdotes on wild life (read: apes, chimpanzees etc), fails miserably in comedy, surprises and ending. All three are lacking, though Ms Manby tries.

Comedy is scattered here and there, but the way the scenes are set up, the humor is very thin and obviously amateurish. Surprises there are none and the ending, why, even before I was halfway through the book, I had predicted the ending (very accurately).

The TRUIzM
I smiled? Nope. I laughed? Nope. I cried? Nah. Maybe a little – of joy, at finally having finished this painful story that tries very hard to humor but falls flat like a big sack of potatoes. I wouldn’t put this book on the shelf in my personal library.