American Pastoral - Philip Roth

'American Pastoral' by Philip Roth is the story of third-generation Jewish-American Seymour "Swede" Levov. A legendary Newark high school athlete and local hero, Swede serves in a military role at the end of WWII and eventually inherits control of his family's Newark glove manufacturing business. Some family strife results from his choices of marrying Dawn, an Irish-American, Catholic former Miss New Jersey, and moving into an old Jersey country farmhouse far outside Newark, but his life mostly resembles a suburban fable of peace and success.

Swede and Dawn have a daughter Merry, who transforms from a delightful child into an angry teenager consumed with violent leftist fanaticism. Roth's protagonist in the novel Nathan Zuckerman was a childhood acquaintance of the Levov family. Decades later, after meeting with Swede and later his brother Jerry, Zuckerman explores the Swede's story, and most of the book is Zuckerman's account of the Swede's disintegrating life during his middle age.

The united States faced some turbulent times during the late 1960's and early 1970's like racial discord, the Vietnam war, the Weathermen and Watergate all of which feature prominently in the novel. The reader needs to have a basic understanding of these historic incidents in order to fully understand Merry's reasons for her extreme views.

Swede's father bemoans the transformation of Newark into a blighted, crime-ridden failure, and urges his son to move the glove factory elsewhere. Even though the plot fades towards a somewhat unsatisfying end, this novel offers strong, memorable characters powered by vivid human emotion. Philip Roth's writing is arduous to comprehend at times for his first time reader, but also is very genuine and well written where dialogue among characters is involved.

Some trivia from wikipedia:

"The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 and was included in "All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels"."

"The film rights to it were later optioned by Paramount Pictures. In 2006, it was one of the runners-up in the "What is the Greatest Work of American Fiction in the Last 25 Years?" contest held by the New York Times Book Review."

The White Tiger

Aravind Adiga tells a compelling story, but what appeals more is the insight he gives into the other India, the one which we see or hear about daily, but care not how it works under the hood. As part of the story, several incidents are narrated which educate the reader of how the feudal system in rural India exploits the poor, which is no different from the way the poor are treated in the cities.

The story takes us through the bustling life in the cities of Delhi and Bangalore, seen through the eyes of a man from the village. Though he has come up in life by not entirely honest means, he describes himself as an entrepreneur, citing that most people in prominent positions do the same to get to the top. It’s the story of a self made businessman who comes up in life from nowhere, all through his deft observations of his environment and acumen.

Balram has a habit of causing himself physical pain for acts committed which he believes should be eliminated - for an uneducated villager, that's remarkable. Shows the desire in him to grow out of his mold - maybe that's where entrepreneurial spirit begins.

It’s an entertaining and informative read.

Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

Quite an epic of a book, it narrates the tale of Saleem Sinai, from the events in India's cultural history before the time of his birth, till the time he is an adult. Rushdie's writing style does not follow the conventions of literary language as such. He captures the customs and flavors of the Indian subcontinent with amazing accuracy.

For most of the younger generation this novel would help educate them about Indian history, politics and culture, apart from the events happening in the protagonist's life. It provides us an insight into the affluent households of the Indian subcontinent, as well as the most poverty stricken slums.

Rushdie marks important political events of the Indian subcontinent - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, relating them to important events happening in Saleem's life. The way politics and general events happening in the countries and to their public have been captured is most amazing and enlightening.

In all, an engrossing and entertaining read.

The Life of Pi

The life of Pi by Yann Markel is a book about the life in sea of a shipwrecked young man called Pi Patel. He has a man eater as his only company, and one which he has to learn to tame in order to survive the ordeals at sea.

The initial chapters of the book provide a bit of dry reading, as the author establishes the character of the protagonist. He provides an insight of the mind of the youngster, who has grown to understand the behavior and mannerisms of certain species of animals, thanks to the zoo which their family owns.

The later part of the book is what gets really exiting, as Pi learns the ways of survival the hard way. In all, an excellent and engrossing read.