Friday, December 14, 2007

For One More Day by Mitch Albom


My Rating: 7/10

When you lose your loved one, you yearn for one meet/encounter/one day with them. You wish for just one chance to go back and fix everything you did wrong in life. You wish you could tell her that you loved them one more time sincerely...You wish you could ask their forgiveness for times when you didn't stand for them. You wish you could spend one fulfilling day with them when you could do everything you loved to do together: pouring your hearts out to each other or just doing nothing and basking in the warmth of your love for each other...

This is what “For One more Day” by Mitch Albom is all about: wistful thinking...Its the story of a man who after losing his mother, lost his grip on life. Apart from losing his job and his wife, he gave in to alcohol addiction and repented for his distasteful behavior with his mother. Not being able to bear pain anymore, he decided to end his own life at his childhood home. But when he goes there, he finds his dead mother welcoming him back as if nothing has ever happened. He spent one whole day with his mother; doing normal everyday chores and pouring his heart out to her; He asked forgiveness for his nonchalant attitude, for all the lies he told her and for all the times he, without understanding, blamed her for his misfortune...

This rendezvous with her dead mother served as a closure for him and helped changed his life. Thereafter, he led a relatively normal life.

So,as you can see, the story is pretty simple but Albom's use of simple, conversational language makes it powerful and effective. For one more day would make you smile, it would make you nostalgic and teary-eyed. But the most important thing, it would make you believe in mother's love.

I came to know that Oprah has included this book in her 'book-club' and there's also a TV movie being made based on this book. So, its a must-read now!!!

Its a small-sized book with only 208 pages, so qualifies for a quick read. You can buy it here.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

A Death in Vienna by Frank Tallis

My Rating: 9.5/10

I have been away for a long time...caught in the rat-race of modern living; couldnt write about what I am reading...Shuffling between work and home life is taking away all my time but interestingly, I am managing to read! So, here is the latest psychological thriller by Frank Tallis...

It is an astute and beautifully written psychological thriller. I must say, after a long long time, I found something so refreshing to read; Tallis himself is a practising clinical psychologist and it definitely shows in the details. He has an outlandish style of writing; his descriptions of colorful suspects and witnesess, rich and dark Viennese society of the time and his psychoanalysis of mundane details adds scintillating charm to the plot. The unexpected presence of Sigmund Freud( yeah, the famous phychologist!) in the story brings higher level of anticipation...overall, a fascinating and must-read novel for all mystery/thriller aficionados!

Here's what it is about:

In Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century, Max Liebermann is at the forefront of psychoanalysis, practicing the controversial new science with all the skill of master detective. Every dream, inflection, or slip of tongue in his hysterical patients has meaning and reveals some hidden truth.

When a mysterious and a beautiful medium dies under extraordinary circumstances, Max’s good friend, Detective Oskar Rheinhardt, calls for his expert assistance. The medium’s body has been found in a room that can only be locked from inside. Her body has been shot, but there’s no gun and absolutely no trace of bullet. On a table lies a suicide note, claiming that there is ‘such a thing as forbidden knowledge’.

All signs points to a supernatural killer, but Liebermann the scientist is not so easily convinced. HE interviews the members of the medium’s séance’s circle- a nervous looking lock-smith, a flamboyant count, a stage magician and other. Then one of the suspects is brutally murdered, and the pieces fall into place in Max and Oskar’s hunt.

You can buy the book here.