Hyperactve

মিনিমালিস্ট এর ঘোষণাটা দেখার পর থেকেই আগ্রহ নিয়ে অপেক্ষা করছিলাম। কিন্তু বইমেলায় গিয়ে আর কেনা হল হল না। হাতে পেলাম মেলার একেবারে শেষে। পেয়েই পড়তে শুরু করলাম। যদিও ব্যস্ততার কারনে শেষ করতে অনেক সময় লেগে গেল। উল্লেখ্য আমি ভেন্ট্রিলোকুইস্ট পরেছিলাম লেখক সেটা যখন ব্লগে প্রকাশ করেন তখন। প্রিন্টেড ভার্সনে কি কি পরিবর্তন আছে তা জানি না। তাই এখানে দুটি বই এর তুলনার সময় ভেন্ট্রিলোকুইস্ট এর ব্লগের ভার্সনের সাথে আলোচ্য বই এর করা হয়েছে।

গল্পটি ভেন্ট্রিলোকুইস্ট এর সিক্যুয়েল। তাই থিমের দিক দিয়ে ধর্মের বিষয়টা এখানেও এসেছে। কিন্তু ভেন্ট্রিলোকুইস্ট অনুসন্ধিৎসু দুই বন্ধুর অভিযান ছিল। তারা গল্পের একের পর এক লেয়ার উন্মোচন করছিলেন। কিন্তু এখানে গল্পটা একেকবার একেক জনের দৃষ্টি থেকে দেখানো হয়েছে। বই এর বিভিন্ন অংশে গল্পটা ছড়িয়ে ছিটিয়ে আছে। মাঝে মাঝে ডায়েরির অংশবিশেষ। এক্ষেত্রে লেখন বিভিন্ন চরিত্রের ফার্স্ট পার্সন ভিউতে গল্প লিখে গেছেন। এমনভাবে গল্পটা বলা হয়েছে যেন আমরা একেক চরিত্রের চিন্তাগুলো পড়ছি; আবার একই সাথে গল্পের সাসপেন্স ধরে রাখার জন্য তাদের চিন্তাধারার একটা অংশ আমাদের জানতে দেয়া হয়নি "মাই গড! আমি এটা আগে চিন্তা করিনি কেন?" মোমেন্টগুলোর মাধ্যমে।

অন্যদিকে, মূল থিম এক থাকলেও বর্ণনাভঙ্গির বেশ ভালোরকম একটা পরিবর্তন আছে আগের বই এর তুলনায়। কারো কারো কাছে বিষয়টা উন্নতি আবার কারো কাছে কিছুটা হতাশাজনক লাগবে। আমার নিজের কথা বললে বলতে হয়, ভেন্ট্রিলোকুইস্ট এর স্টাইলটা রেখে দিলে বেশি ভাল লাগত। কারন মিনিমালিস্ট এর যে ভঙ্গি সেটা রিসেন্ট থ্রিলারগুলোতে অনেক বেশি ব্যবহার করা হয় এবং সেক্ষেত্রে অনেকেই মনে করবেন লেখক কারো কাছ থেকে অনেক বেশি অনুপ্রানিত। এহেম, ড্যান ব্রাউন, এহেম। এই আঙ্গিকে বই লেখা কতটা রিস্কি তা হয়ত ড্যান ব্রাউনের রিসেন্ট বইগুলোর রিভিউ দেখলেই আন্দাজ করা যাবে। অন্যদিকে আগের ভঙ্গিটা অনেক পুরনো, কার্যকর, এবং মিনিমালিস্টিক; এতে গল্পের গোটা দশেক পাতা কমে যেত হয়ত।

লেখকের রিসার্চ এবং তা মিলিয়ে গল্প ফাঁদার স্কিল আগেরবারের মতই ঈর্ষনীয়। গল্পে ডুবে যাওয়া খুবি সহজ এবং পাতার পর পাতা উল্টিয়ে যেতে হয়। এই গল্পে ভেন্ট্রিলোকুইস্ট এর সাথে একটা যোগসূত্রও রেখে দিয়েছেন, যদিও সেটা আমার কাছে কিছুটা বেখাপ্পা মনে হয়েছে অথবা ভেন্ট্রিলোকুইস্ট আমার ঠিকমত মনে নেই। গল্পের শেষ দেখে মনে হচ্ছে কমপক্ষে আরেকটি বই পাচ্ছি এই সিরিজের। আমি নিজে আশা করব লেখক প্লট উপমহাদেশ থেকে বাইরে নিবেন না। কারন আমার মনে হয় সিরিজটার মূল শক্তিটাই এখানে। তো নেক্সট প্লট কি হতে পারে? এখানে যেভাবে 'রেস্টিং প্লেস অফ মিনিমালিস্ট' থেকে একদম আনকোরা বিষয় জানলাম, এরকম কিছুরই অপেক্ষায়! :)

সাক্ষী ছিলো শিরস্ত্রাণ by Shuhan Rizwan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



[If you have read enough history there is no spoiler. Otherwise you might get some.]


আমার ঐতিহাসিক উপন্যাস পড়ার ব্যাপ্তি বেশ কম। আর ১৯৭১ নিয়ে পড়াশোনার ব্যাপ্তি তাই আরো কম। এরমাঝেও যে ঐতিহাসিক উপন্যাসটি আমার বেশ ভাল লাগত সেটি হল, হুমায়ুন আহমেদ এর জোছনা ও জননীর গল্প। অনেক বছর পর সেই একই রকম আরেকটা উপন্যাসের স্বাদ পেলাম সুহান রিজওয়ান এর সাক্ষী ছিল শিরস্ত্রাণ-এ।

প্রথমত, বইটির 'পূর্বখন্ড'-তে থাকা অনুযোগগুলোর কথা বলে নেই। বইটির পূর্বখন্ডের বেশকিছু ঘটোনা আগে আমি পড়েছি। কিছু কিছু ক্ষেত্রে মনে হয়েছে হুবুহু এই লাইনগুলোই পড়েছি। লেখক নিজেও উল্লেখ করেছেন কিছু কিছু জিনিস তিনি অন্য বই থেকে হুবুহু তুলে দিয়েছেন। অন্য উপন্যাসের লেখকেরাও সেম কাজ করেছেন বলেই আমার ধারনা। আমি নিজে ননফিকশান কোন ইতিহাস বই তেমন পড়ি নি। কিন্তু হাতে গোনা কয়েকটা বই এর মধ্যে এরকম রিপিটেশন দেখলে কিছুটা আশাহত হতে হয়। তথাপি, যারা প্রথমবার এরকম একটা বই হাতে নিছেন তাদের জন্য এই বইটা অবশ্যই একটা অনন্যসাধারন অভিজ্ঞতা হবে, অনেকটা 'জোছনা ও জননীর গল্প' পড়ার সময় আমার যেরকম হয়েছিল।

তার উপর তাজউদ্দীন এর গল্প বলা হলেও পূর্বখন্ডে তাজউদ্দীন এসেছেন বেশ কম।বরং পূর্বখন্ডে অন্যান ঘটনাই আলোচনায় এসেছে বেশি। এর কারনটা হয়ত বোধগম্য। তখনকার সরকারে এক্সাক্টলি কি হয়েছে তা হয়ত ঠিকমত নথিবদ্ধ নেই; আর তাই লেখক যুদ্ধক্ষেত্রের ঘটনা বর্ননা করেছেন। বই এর বিভিন্ন বর্ননা প্রসঙ্গে আমার মনে হচ্ছে, লেখকের অনেক ঘটনার সোর্সই তাজউদ্দীন এর মেয়ে রিমির সম্পাদিত বিভিন্ন বই বা সাক্ষাতকার। এবং এটা স্পষ্ট যে তিনি যুদ্ধাবস্থায় নিজের বাবার দেখা তেমন একটা পাননি। তাই সেখানে তাজউদ্দীন এর কথা আনাটা কষ্টকর ছিল। তাজউদ্দীন এর দিল্লী ভ্রমণ বেশ সংখিপ্ত, কিন্তু ক্র্যাক প্লাটুন বিভিন্ন মিশন এর বর্ননা, কলকাতার হোটেলে ঘটনাবলী বেশ দীর্ঘ। অবশ্য, অন্যতম প্রধান চরিত্র তারেকুল আলম, আলাউদ্দিন আর আব্দুল বাতেন এর ইন্ট্রোডাকশন আর ডেভেলপমেন্ট এর জন্য এই ঘটনাগুলোর দরকার ছিল; অন্যদিকে খালেদ মোশাররফ পরবর্তীতে এক গুরত্বপূর্ন ঘটনার জন্ম দিবেন, তাই তারও একটা পরিচিতি আগে থেকেই পাঠক পেয়ে যাবেন। তথাপি, দিল্লী ভ্রমনে (figure of speech btw) লেখক আরো কল্পনার আশ্রয় নিতে পারতেন।

বই এর দ্বিতীয় অংশ 'উত্তরখন্ড', এই সমস্যা অনেকটাই কাটিয়ে উঠেছে। তাজউদ্দিন পেয়েছেন অনেক স্ক্রিনটাইম(পাতা)। গল্পের (প্রায়) সমাপ্তি টানা হয়েছে, চার নেতার মৃত্যুর মধ্য দিয়ে। যেহেতু চারজনের ভাগ্য একই সুতোয় বাঁধা ছিল, লেখক পারতেন বাকি তিনজনকেও এক্সপ্লোর করতে। কিন্তু লেখক সযত্নে সেটা এড়িয়ে গেছেন।

কিন্তু উত্তরখন্ডে এসে, প্রায় প্রতি চ্যাপ্টারের শেষেই ছিল 'আসন্ন দূর্যোগের ঘনঘটা' জাতীয় ভবিষ্যদ্বানী। হুমায়ুন আহমেদও এই কাজটা করে থাকেন। অন্যদিকে আনিসুল হক 'যারা ভোর এনেছিল' আর 'উষার দুয়ারে'-তে ব্যাঙ্গমা-ব্যাঙ্গমীকে দিয়ে এরকম ভবিষ্যদ্বানী দিয়েছেনন। এরকম বাহুল্য না থাকলে হয়ত আরো ভালো হত, যদিও সেগুলো একেকবার একেক চরিত্রের মাধ্যমে এসেছে।

এখন শেষ কথা, বইটা একবার পরা শুরু করলে থামিয়ে রাখা বেশ কষ্টকর। বিশেষত 'উত্তরখন্ড' টানটান উত্তেজনায় ভরপুর। আর শেষ এর দিক এসে আপনার মন খারাপ না হয়ে যাবে না। আপনি বাংলার একেকজন সূর্যসন্তানদের জন্য অনেকটা আক্ষেপই করবেন। তিন যুদ্ধ করা মুক্তিযোদ্ধারা বাংলাদেশকে কিভাবে তছনছ করে দিল ভেবে একটা আক্ষেপ আসবেই।

এই ঘটনা নিয়ে হুমায়ুন আহমেদ রচনা করেছিলেন 'দেয়াল'। সেটাতে হুমায়ুন আহমেদ এর আবেগের মাত্রা আরো বেশি ছিল, কিছু কিছু ক্ষেত্রে তা মনে হচ্ছিল জোর করে লেখা হয়েছে বা লেখক পাঠককে উপদেশ দিচ্ছেন। 'সাক্ষী ছিল শিরস্ত্রাণ' বই এ বঙ্গবন্ধু, চার নেতা বা খালেদ মোশাররফের মৃত্যুর পর আবেগের মাত্রা অনেক সংযত। বরং তা প্রকাশ করা হয়েছে কোন একটা চরিত্রের মাধ্যমে বা সামান্য একটি লাইন দিয়ে। যদিও লেখকের বায়াস পরিষ্কার, কিন্তু পাঠক কি সিদ্ধান্ত নিবে বা কি অনুভব করবে তার দায়িত্ব পাঠকের। সেদিক থেকে চমৎকার পরিসমাপ্তি।

লেখকের আরো অনেক উপন্যাস পড়ার অপেক্ষায়, আজকে এখানেই শেষ করছি। :)



View all my reviews

The Martian by Andy Weir

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Now.. there are rarely science fiction books that are well researched. In that small set of books, it is spectacular. First of all the book is easy to read. Even the scientific/engineering mumbo-jumbo is leveled down to below popular science level books. But rich enough to be read as an intelligent article. Three star for that.

And those who like profane remarks thrown here and there, there is plenty. I understand those are LOGs, as the survivor recorded them after the crisis has been avoided. Even though, those logs seems like the crisis was less severe than they actually were. Well, as sci-fi reader, I don't find such dorky character as new to sci-fi. In fact they are quite common. But I think even to talk with NASA officials in a dorky manner is like taking it too far. That said, I really find that, including 'fuck', 'dick', 'gay jokes' are getting quite common now a days in every American literature which was not that present in the past. Probably the society has changed and it seems awkward to me for I'm not from that society. But yes, it is fun to read. For example:


ME: "This is obviously a clog. How about I take it apart and check the internal tubing?"
NASA: (After five hours of deliberation)"No, you'll fuck it up and die."
So I took it apart.
Me: "I took it apart and found the problem, and fixed it."
NASA: "DICK."

Overall, the novel is enjoyable. Very enjoyable.

For one moment I thought if there is a writer brave enough to kill the protagonist even after all these effort... and hell... ^_^



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Phatik Chand by Satyajit Ray

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



If someone said me, "There are some other stories that started as The Bourne Series (amnesia perspective) and they were written before Bourne came into prominence." one day before, I would not have believed them. But after reading this book, I can say they are right.

That said, it is a thriller story for kids. Nice and wonderful. :)



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উষার দুয়ারে by Anisul Hoque

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



The problem with the book is that it takes lots of things word by word from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Autobiography. And adds very little over it.

It is better to read the first book in the planned Trilogy (3rd book yet to come) and then Sheikh Mujib's Autobiography than reading this.

Other things that are written are bland and are not written properly. The first part 'Jara Vor Enechilo' (Those Who Brought Dawn, I made this translation, not official) is ten times better than this book. And that book was written before the autobiography was published.

The extra stuff that comes out looks like text book writing than a novel. The writer should've spent more time while writing this.

I hope the third book will be as good as the first one, if not better than this.



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One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



(This is not a book review. It is a blog that relates strongly to the book and puts light on it's quality. Spoilers! Duh!)

So, finally read a Chetan Bhagat book. I have wanted to read one since Three Idiots. The reviews say, he is the paperback king of India, youth icon and stuff...

Before going into a short analysis of the book, let's hear a long story of my interactions with things related to Chetan Bhagat.

My Interaction with Things Related to Chetan Bhagat - Part I

Several years before this day
My Place, Dhaka

Let's go back to the Three Idiots era. The first time I heard the name I was like, "Meh!". Then almost all my friends (youth!) have started putting Facebook status' about the movie. Then I decided to watch it. As the most other youths I leached it from a torrent site. I found the 'in movie' dialogues and sequences a compilation of jokes, advices I had already heard previously. It was good, but I wasn't awestruck like the most. Then I saw some guy in somewhereinblog wrote a review of the movie and had almost the same thoughts as me. In which another guy wrote about Five Point Someone (source material of 3 Idiots) and how the book was more realistic and better (as always for the books turned into movies). This was the first time, I heard the name Chetan Bhagat. Then the movie became an all time greatest hits with lots of awards and stuff.

I'll skip part II of the saga because that involves how I spread the story - 'source material of 3 idiots is a book by Chetan Bhagat and it involves IIT' - to my friends. It spans several days, but let's have a lumped assumption that all of them belong to part II.

My Interaction with Things Related to Chetan Bhagat - Part III

Five months before this day
Howrah Railway Station, Kolkata

Now this the time when I find out Indian books are quite cheap. When they come to Bangladesh, crossing borders, the price gets doubled. In general, we buy a 299INR book at around 800TK. So what a semi-book lover student on low income like me does is buy some books because he doesn't find it worth to buy costly books in his own country. That said, I started looking for what to buy. Arvind Adiga, R. K. Narayan, Arundhati Roy is the fewest Indian Writers I knew. Then I found out that the shelves are full of Chetan Bhagat books. Since I heard his name before and I also wanted to read one of his books I decided to buy one. Let me take you through the choosing criteria:

1) Five Points Someone: What Not to Do at IIT - Already seen the movie related to this book.
2) 2 States: The Story of My Marriage - I don't know if I like the guy or not. So not interested in his or someone's marriage.
3) The 3 Mistakes of my Life - Well, my friend who is standing beside and also choosing books has decided to buy it. So I won't.
4) One Night at the Call Center - Sounds good. Probably gives the story of one night. Also will probably be a fast paced story. Let's take this one.

There were some other Chetan Bhagat books, but I really don't remember what was going in my mind about them. The other books I bought at this place includes, "প্রফেসর নাট বল্টু চক্র সমগ্র" by আদ্রীশ বর্মন।

My Interaction with Things Related to Chetan Bhagat - Part IV

Five months before this day
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata

A few hours after I bought the book, we arrived at the airport. It was past 8pm, and the stores were closed. We didn't feel like checking in a hotel for the night, we were feeling what people call homesick. So, at the airport, we are. In some sort of waiting hall, we were waiting for the night to be over and catch the plane. We were sleepy and most of us were trying to sleep. I also tried to do it myself. But found out when I'm closing my eyes there were some sort of heavy cold wind is flowing and it makes me open the eyes. What a drag! Let's read the book. I'll be able to tell a story about how I finished (or almost finished) a book even though my body and soul wanted to sleep. Read the first page of this book. Realized, my tired body and soul is winning. I closed my eyes again.

----*----

The Book Review

Present day
My Grandparent's Place, Comilla

So, finally started reading this two days ago, and finished today.
Now the start of the book is really nice, and neat. We have the first person view of Chetan Bhagat in the prologue. Then when the novel starts, we have the first person view of Mr. Shyam. Mr. Shyam is (or I thought to be a) typical sarcastic protagonist. Such books are best read in Mr. Sato's voice. Those who don't know who Mr. Sato is, here is a short description: He is the protagonist of the book and later anime, "Welcome to the N.H.K". But soon I realized, this protagonist is not Mr. Sato Type. He is different and his interests are also different. This contemporary novel mostly revolves around the love interest of Shyam tangled with his and other minor character's (minor) life problems. The character set includes 'want to be model' girl, 'life is a party girl', 'the housewife (! Chapter #26 !) working in call center' girl, the military uncle, the rich dad's boy and Mr. Shyam.

And the back cover does say they receive a call from God himself, and that does happen. But those who are thinking this an important plot point, they will be heavily disappointed. The call comes and ends in the same chapter and it is toward the end of the novel.

The plot mechanism is heavily inspired from some other book I believe. 'The Life of Pi' by Yann Martel. In that novel, the writer comes to India, he meets someone who tells him a story that has a 'fantasy/religious miracle' and then he tells the same story that is totally believable. The author admits the fantasy part makes the story more astonishing and more colorful and stuff. Now there is a similar mechanism in the 'One Night at the Call Center'. Author meets someone on a train, shes tells author a story. First time with a 'miracle' (God has called. Ding Ding!) in it. Later changes the miracle stuffs to something believable. The author admits the first version is better. Well, that's where the author is wrong.

Now, to be honest, it is not worth to compare it to 'Life of Pi'. Anyway, here goes. The 'realistic' setting in Life of Pi gives you goose bumps and changes your view about the entire novel. You start feeling sad for the protagonist and feel like you should've gone there to help him. But this book makes you think, the miracle part is 'bullshit', the realistic part is 'extra dense bullshit'. And if you are careful, you will find few dialogues from the movie, 'Fight Club' (I haven't seen the Indian one. The one by David Fincher) changing a word here and there.

Now about the cheesy Bollywood part of the story: "It was the most disappointing part of the novel". I don't know why the protagonist had to chase through the traffic to get his love. Why it couldn't be more grounded? Even the Call from God is more believable than this cheap stuff.



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The Black Coat by Neamat Imam

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



What to say about a book that says in its cover, "A dark dystopian portrait of Bangladesh under Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib"?
The thing to learn from this line is that there is a very high probability of getting hurt if you are a Sheikh Mujib fan but may find it intensely pleasing if you psyche is the other way around. Now that I've read it I have a lot of question about the authenticity of some of the data I came to know. Let me see the book through the eye of a foreigner, the way I read books about Cold War, Second World War, Vietnam War, Iraq War; mostly written by an American writer. Although the incidents I mentioned are all wars, this book is not about Bangladesh Liberation War but about the events that followed the war.

The Box Man by Kōbō Abe

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Dafuq Did I just read? O.o

The most confusing book I've ever read. Probably I should read it again as at the end it seemed that the book is nonlinear. Although it took me fairly one month (!) to read this book. The less than first half went just fine and I really liked how a person became a box man and the elaborate design of the box it self, I thought the book would be fantastic. But unfortunately after that I started to loose the grip. Probably because the version I read didn't have any chapter marks and all the text was as a single chapter. And there were a lot of nudity in the text which I do not find that attractive. There was a description of a nurse's getting naked comprising several pages!! Probably not my level yet... After that I left the book on my desk for more than a week. Then I almost lost all interest in it, until couple days ago.... :\



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শ্রেষ্ঠ গল্প by Bonoful

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



There are some excellent short stories in this collection.
One thing is sure that Bonoful wanted to give a twist at the end of the story which from my experience most of the short story writers try to give. He wanted to show the twisted nature of mankind directly.

on the other hand Rabindranath Tagore tried to narrate the story and leave the decision somewhat on the reader. But of course Rabindranath has written short stories of the first kind as well.

But both of them stayed true to what happens in the society.

On the other hand, one of my favorite writers Humayun Ahmed actually brought Magical Realism in Bengali Literature. Well, might not be true as I have not read many books altogether. In fact, I didn't even know the the term Magical Realism a year ago. My love for anime led me to read Haruki Murkami and eventually I found Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Which made me admire Humayun Ahmed even more.

Well, without straying too much, let me say the stories are enjoyable. But soon it becomes cliche when you know there will be a twist at the end. Bonoful, tries to show the nature of mankind, but he emphasized too much on the dark side of the force(!) or the person who selected the stories thinks that these will have more positive response from the readers. But there is an exception. That story named অর্জুন মন্ডল (Arjun Mandal) describes a person who started studying at the age of 40. It is the longest story in this book and it gets a 5 star. :)

Another story is at the beginning of the book named বিধাতা (God). That was excellent.

One thing to note is that Bonoful around 1976 in his story বিবর্তন (Evolution) thought that all the Hindu's of West Bengal(Calcutta) should convert to Muslims because Muslims getting more job than any Hindu. Well, in Bangladesh that was the time of political unrest (The leader was assassinated, all his colleagues were in jail and in the line of execution). But West Bengal shouldn't be like that at all. I'm not sure whether he was somewhat ethnocentric or not. It may be interesting to note that, A lot of Bangladeshi thinks that having no beard somewhat facilitates the chance of getting job, whether the job is in a public company or a private company. It is somewhat true for Private companies as they tend to show that they are "westernized" but not that true for public companies; yet the notion prevails.

When I said they always stayed true to the reality, I kind of lied. Now I remember there is a story named দুই ভিক্ষুক (Two Beggars) which narrates two beggars at a shrine.

Another story চিঠি পাওয়ার পর (After Receiving the Letter) tells the story of a person who is going to meet his long lost love for five minutes only. But unfortunately he fails. :(

There are more interesting story and his writing is very humorous. Rabindranth's humor is for a person who has a lot of time to read the things carefully but Bonoful's humor can be seeped even in a busy day. :)



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A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Well, I should've read the book several months ago. But I was lazy as well as busy. Well the book is really good. A bunch of dead souls trapped in practically infinite Library of Babel to find their life-story... This one line is needed for a person to become interested in this book.
Overall it seemed God's way of "I want to play a game....". Trapping people in a library where zillions of books. Story comprises of several things: people coming closer to each other, sharing how they died; some delusional people who thought that they had to make it a hell; couple staying billions of years together(!).. and it ended with some sort of tragedy.
I would like to quote something, "Then came centuries of agonizing thought. I knew I had not even fallen a light-year yet. I had googols and googols of of light-years to go. There is a despair that goes deeper than existence."
To be honest, first I thought it would not be a bad hell as there were tons of books to read. Then the first surprise came to me as how the books were! Also, I had pretty much an estimation how many books are there after I knew how the books were written. Turns out that this is as bad as a lot of other hells I knew about.
Although I wonder how Wand and our Hero made love two time while they were falling. -_-"
Finally, a pleasant story.
:)



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While many writers spend pages after pages describing what is happening inside a person's brain, what turmoil has made some to do something; the specialty of Humayun Ahmed is, he actually tells nothing. Absolutely nothing. He just sews events one after another. The rights to judge a character is all upon the readers.
This 1995 novel is a remarkable example of that. Personally, I like his old novels than the recent ones.
It tells the story of a little girl Natasha (নাতাশা) who is suffering from Meningioma a variant of brain tumor. And she needs to be taken to America to get any treatment started.
Her father, Sajjad (সাজ্জাদ) is vagabond who has given away his prestigious career, became some kind of drunken weseal and went to live in a jungle prior to the events of the story. And the mother Dilshad (দিলশাদ)is a women who is alone struggling collecting 11 lac Taka that is required for the treatment.
The story revolves around two section. One describes Natasha's day to day experience as a patient. The other describes Dilshad's quest for money leaving no stones unturned.
Very small novel, but really good.

The best thing about the book is it takes you right into behind the scenes of Horse Racing. Although, I don't know much about horse racing I enjoyed every bit of it.
The main problem about the story is its predictable. It can be said I knew Nottingham's Nightmare Lucifera will be tamed by Nicole; there will be an accident which will either make the mother & daughter come closer or it will take them far apart. Personally I like tragedies more.
Nevertheless, this is really well written, one should not feel any mental fatigue while reading this.
The story is about mother-daughter conflict between Rachel and Nicole, love/hate between two top trainers Rachel and Reno. The previous is the main plot. But these don't make the story progress. It is the horse racing, wins, losses; the racetrack. The writer being an ex-jockey has handful experience to make such story believable. And I think she has done a wonderful job. As a debut novel, it's solid.