Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck (1994) Genres : Classics, Philosophy, Fiction Rating : 5/5 Absolutely loved that the author had created character masterpieces in such short page count!! The future is unforeseeable and some of the best laid plans fail to turn out. Sometimes those who are the most vulnerable amongst us also turn out to be the most misunderstood and wronged against. Lennie (big man, mentally unsound) and George (small, smart man) move between different jobs and look out for each other. Well, its George saving and rescuing the blubbering and blundering Lennie most of the time. But this time, Lennie does something that even George cannot swing. How do the duo escape a fate that threatens their togetherness and friendship? How does it shatter their plan of owning their own place and living off by their ownselves? The immense pity I felt towards Lennie - a big, strong man capable of great physical labor but mentally challenged/incapable - soon coagulated ...

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb  (499 pages) (1992)  Genres : Mental illness, Contemporary, Fiction  Rating 4/5  Wally Lamb is one of my all time favorites. I absolutely loved his second book 'I know This Much Is True' about twin brothers, one of whom is schizophrenic - It is invariably my all time favorite book in this genre. 'She's  Come Undone' is his first novel and I thought it showed some amateurish handling of the subject matter. I am not saying I haven't enjoyed it or it is bad but while the title suggested a person - a woman/girl most likely - succumbing to the hold of a mental illness, the story is not exactly that.  Dolores Price is well crafted and moulded - Lamb has breathed life and soul into her character. This is the story of how mishaps,abuse and loss drives a young impressionable girl into the clutches of despair/depression and how she navigates back to a sure footed normal life. She becomes a slave to her culinary urges and gr...

The Fisherman (2016) By John Langan  290 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Genre : Horror, Fiction, Magic Rating : 4/5  The content of this book is quite a surprise to me. I knew this is horror and naturally based on the title, expected monsters and threatening sea creatures to inhabit this scary world - but to tie it all with undercurrents of sorcery and black magic felt surreal. I would say I was hooked - like a fish - to the plot till about 50 percent. The history of the fisherman was having quite a spell on me when it all starts falling apart.I skimmed through the rest of the book just catching the flow of the narrative from disconnected scenes.  The author's descriptions of fight sequences and landscapes fail to evoke the right imagery. They feel flat and designed towards being scary while not really being so.   I think the author could have improvised on the character of the Fisherman - he is a centuries old black magician that succeeds in bringin...

Disturbing the Peace (1975) by Richard Yates  292 pages(Kindle Digital Edition) Genres : Fiction, Mental illness, Contemporary  Rating : 4/5  I have always thirsted to read a book like this one! I read it real slow and lived through every page. The author kind of hints at what is going to come before it does .. and yet I wasn't ready to face it with a stoic calmness. The main character and his quick downward spiral into madness .. his unquenchable drinking problem and subsequent lock down in a mental asylum are very tangible and well portrayed.  A salesman John Wilder from New York with a stable marriage and a son goes berserk in the mind. He has a drinking problem and is easily irritated. He stays for a brief period in a psychiatric ward. He visits a shrink who prescribes him strong medicines and warns him repeatedly to lay off his drinking. He also attends a few AA(American Alcoholics) meetings to help him off the addiction - but uses them as a fro...

I'll be gone in the dark  By Michelle McNamara  Rating 3/5  Genres: crime, non fiction,true story  Only a part of the book is written by Michelle - which has cohernce and a logical layout. The rest of the book is compiled by her associates after her sudden death, using the humongous amount of material she gathered - it feels patched as they try to drill through her notes and use them to deduce what she might have if she was not stopped mid track. I did not read this book to completion and my following review applies to the part of the book written by Michelle herself.  It is very gripping and intriguing. The author has been able to balance both gorical nature of the cases and the human side of the victims masterfully. She has given a monstrous face to the ski masked killer /rapist while also uncovering and giving a human side to his victims making us sympathise for them and defend their cause against the man. She takes us on an interesting ride ...

Gone Girl [2012] by Gillian Flynn  470 Pages {Kindle Digital Edition} Genre: Psychological Fiction, suspense, murder, thriller, best seller Rating 5/5 ✌👀👀👩   Someone in the need of a good mystery thriller to curl feet on bed and sink into? This would be a perfect fit! The mindboggling plot unravels fast and steady releasing more shattering and shaky pieces to put the puzzle together.  I have never come to hate or fear a fictional character so much .. that's how good the character of Amy is developed. If there is a gauge to warn us of such disturbed/destructive people as Amy in our vicinity/life .. it would be so much better! Flynn has managed to create Nick and Amy so good they become personal - take Nick's side or Amy's side but not both. Husband and wife play at a zero sum game .. Amy framing and proving him to be her murderer while Nick trying and struggling hard to prove otherwise. It is fun until it is not. An innocent man could have lost his life for the vic...

The Midnight Library (2020) By Matt Haig  258 pages (Kindle Digital Edition) Rating : 4.75/5  Genres : alternative reality, fiction, philosophy  A rigmarole and long unwinding ride but it is strangely satisfying. Deeply philosophical and the reader emerges out of this book feeling replenished and cathartic. Matt Haig tries to redefine what it means to be successful and happy. He explains what makes for a fulfilling life and how to not be deluged by regrets.  Most of us beat ourselves up with all the missed opportunities, all the ways things could have been different if a choice in the past was made  differently, all the things that were left undone/unsaid and desires left unexplored. One with such strong proclivity is the main character of this story .. Nora Seed. She has a huge list of regrets and missed opportunities in her life. She struggles with depression and unable to cope with life where everything seems to go against her - her parents d...