The Adventures of Sally - P.G. Wodehouse

When you enjoy Wodehouse for what it’s really worth – the wonderful phrases, the multi-layered (even if similar) plots, the endearing if not exactly heroic protagonists, etc. that’s all you want from his books. And I thought that’s all his books would ever be about.
But then I read The Adventures of Sally. And it is totally different from any of his other books. Well not totally different – the writing is still as rich and amusing. But the plot! It is an out and out love story. And for once, not one of those love-at-first-sight stories which are so rife in Wodehouse books. This one is spread over several months… in fact more than an year, in which characters develop, people get over their flaws, they evaluate their feelings, businesses are built and destroyed, and what not!! This is a Wodehouse book like no other.
Having inherited 25000 dollars, Sally sets off on a holiday in France, where she runs into Ginger, an amateur pugilist, office assistant, and among score of other things, a dog trainer, and one with an uncanny talent of screwing up everything he ever does. She also runs into a sophisticated businessman wise with the ways of the world, and Ginger’s cousin brother, Bruce Carmyle. Both fall for her over a period of time. Mind you, a period of time and not at the first sight. Well Ginger does somewhat fall for her at the first sight, but truly realizes his love only later. When Sally gets back, she becomes the financier for the production of a play, which is owned by her brother Fillmore. The playing becoming a runaway success, and with Fillmore finding his love in life, all seems to be going okay, except for one little thing: Sally’s betrothed, the playwright Gerald Foster, has gone and married an actress. Though broken hearted, she is not alone, for pining for her affections, both Ginger and Bruce come to America. And Sally flees to London to escape the haunting ghosts of the romantic adventures that she had with her Gerald Foster in the streets and restaurants of America. The peaceful and idyllic London sway her heart one way as she picks a man for herself. Meanwhile there is a ruined marriage of Gerald Foster with his actress wife, a betting business in boxing which goes awfully wrong. And of course, everyone knows one another they way they do in Wodehouse novels.
So you get the picture. The book is about the love story of Sally Nicholas, complete with love letters and tears and everything. I never had an appetite for mushy love stories. But this one was quite delightful. Not that the characters grow and mature and all of that they way they do in Booker prize winners. They do, but in a more Wodehousian way. And they sure as hell make you smile by their quirks and eccentricities like Wodehouse characters always do.

Globalization and Its Discontents - Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Stiglitz is a Nobel Laureate for Economics, 2001. And I thought, well, if he has an opinion on the problems of globalization, I might as well listen. The blurb says – From a leader of the anti-globalization movement, a statement like this [how globalization is not working] would not be remarkable. But coming from Joseph Stiglitz – former Chief Economist at the Worlkd Bank – it is startling and challenging. Exactly my opinion. And the Chief economist was also the Chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors. And if anyone would have a pro-globalization agenda, it would be him, considering his loyalties.
But the author doesn’t have any loyalties so to speak. And he raises his voice as an economist working towards the “greater good”. He analyzes the failings of globalization in varied situations; which leads to the revelation that it is not globalization in itself which has failed, but the manner in which “Globalization” has been imposed on countries not ready for it, through economic and political pressures, or downright blackmail if one were to not mince words.
At some point the book does tend to get repetitive and feels like it is basically a vent to bash IMF. But then whatever the motive of the author, the theories as proposed by the author do seem very credible. I would love to read a counter-view of the author’s allegations against the IMF.
The most disturbing chapter would be the “The IMF’s other agenda”, where the author suggests that IMF, more than acting to bring about a global financial stability, is working for the benefit of “international financial community”. And international financial community for all practical purposes translates to the global mammoth banks and other financial organizations. This does provide a lot sense behind the actions of IMF during the financial crises across South East Asia, Mexico, or Russia. The stand of IMF on trade deficits, fiscal deficits, interest rates, monetary policies, etc. which seem without any reason or logic, with the new agenda in mind, seem perfectly logical. And this is alarming. If we have an international organization working with a bias, it cannot be good for the world.
The book ends with the hope of promise, which is just as good, since the overall picture looks extremely grim and gloomy. A lot of things that matter so much to us seem so paltry and trivial in the larger scheme of things. And the world desperately needs who have the intent and the authority to set things right at the larger stage. It’s a question of yours and mine daily bread.

A Pelican At Blandings - P.G. Wodehouse

Things are stirring up at Blandings castle again, disrupting the peace in the life of Clarance Threepwood, or Lord Emsworth.
The first ominous signs are when his formidable sister Constance, shows up. As if that wasn’t enough, she has invited a Duke Dunstable, a loud and rude mustached walrus who loves throwing his weight around. And to add to that company, Dunstable brings his niece, Linda Gilpin, along. He also invites Wilbur Trout, a habitually marriage-and-divorce addict who is pining for his last wife. Of course Duke’s intentions are not to give Trout the necessary distance and healing touch of a new place and new air, but to make money out of his misery. He plans to sell a painting of a woman, referred to as the reclining nude, which reminds Trout of his last wife and something that he’d pay anything for to possess. And in the spirit of treating Blandings Castle as his own home he invites a John Halliday around who is supposed to observe Lord Emsworth and suggest psychiatric treatment to cure the whims of nightly prowls in pig sties that Lord Emsworth was so prone to. Lastly there is a Vanessa Polk, daughter of the American millionaire J.B. Polk who Connie invites along hoping she could marry old Duke of Dunstable. That’s quite a few characters. Oh wait, there is one more, a friend of Clarence’s son, Freddie Threepwood, This is not mentioning some other peripheral characters, who while not important will still make you laugh, doing their good deed for the day.
Ok, so let’s take an imposter count.
Freddie’s friend, is not really is friend but an American crook come to make merry in foreign lands. Vanessa Polk is not J.B. Polk’s daughter but his secretary and has the same last name by mere coincidence. John Halliday is not a psychiatrist but a barrister and a sleeping partner at an art gallery from where the Duke has bought the reclining nude to sell to Trout.
And now let’s list down the tangles.
John Halliday is actually the heart broken lover of Linda Gilpin, Duke’s niece, who has turned him down because of professional reasons. And when they do make up, they realize that Linda is a court of ward of the Duke, effectively giving the Duke the veto power to decide who she married. Vanessa Polk is an ex-flame of Wilbur Trout, and is being wooed by the Duke. And she plans on stealing the reclining nude from the Duke for Trout while their romance rises from the dead and sways its merry head. The crook who is enjoying the English weather is in danger because John Halliday knows his identity and could bust him. And John Halliday’s art gallery has accidentally sold the fake painting of the reclining nude putting the reputation of the art gallery in a grave danger. So he is after the painting as well, wanting to replace the fake with the original.
That is all too much to handle for Clarence alone ofcourse. So he calls in for reinforcements, or back up if you prefer US Police lingo. Enter Galahad. And sit back and enjoy as he weaves his magic to lead to the eventual happy ending.

Strangers - Dean Koontz

Horror reading, while I enjoy it tremendously has mostly been limited to Stephen King. There have been few other one off novels like Shadowland, Walkers, etc. not written by King that I have read, but there is no author that I have really read on a consistent basis. And Dean Koontz is, well, popular in the genre, and I thought why not.
So I picked up Strangers.
Firstly, at 700 pages, Strangers is a big book. It is classified in sections on the basis of dates at which events occur in the lives of the central characters. And while you do not pay any attention to the dates whatsoever, you do understand what the author was trying to achieve. So there is Dominick Corvaisis – a writer who has sleep walking incidents which escalate to frightening nightmares, Ginger Weiss – a surgeon with a lot of promise whose career is threatened by blackouts and violent fugues, Father Brendan Cronin – who suffers a loss of faith and starts exhibiting mystical curing powers, Jack Twist – a ex-military ops, wronged by his country and ends up being a highly sophisticated thief, Ernie Block, who runs a Tranquility motel with his wife and suddenly develops a phobia for the dark and some other seemingly inconsequential people, as far as their import in the world is concerned, whose life is unraveling with similar disturbing symptoms.
The build-up of this part of the book is great. The way Koontz breaks on to the reader the causes for the above disturbances, and how the characters, at least some of them discover, which all seem psychological in their origin, is exceptionally well handled.
So then these ‘Strangers’ gang up and try to determine the cause, and correct it, not realizing the scale of the foes that they are up against… which is where the book starts its downward slide.
Climax of the any book, more so horror books, is vital. A bad climax will leave an extremely bad after taste in your mouth after you have turned that last page. And if the climax is as long drawn, and eventually as bad as it is in Strangers, the feeling of regret of reading 700 pages is overwhelming and takes away most of the good aspects of the book that you thought were there. There are some well thought out characters, but filling up volumes of pages so you can build them and losing the plot in the purpose does not serve any purpose.
And plus the book is not scary at all, primarily because it is not really a horror book. So the choice went wrong all the way.

Hot Water - P.G. Wodehouse

Ex-flames, murder, blackmail, break-ins, imposters… you might associate the adjectives better with a Sidney Sheldon novel. But when you mix all that with light hearted humour, you know it could only be Wodehouse.
Hot Water is an exceptional novel amongst all Wodehouse novels. Firstly, it’s more international than a normal Wodehouse novel which centers either in England or U.S.A. This one has France as the land of the crimes.
So there is a Wellington Gedge, an oppressed husband of a domineering wife who insists on him becoming an Ambassador of America to France. And with a phobia of all that is genteel and diplomatic, Mr. Gedge’s pining for his homeland America increases all the more. He breathes with relief as he finds out that his wife is planning to travel to England, which would give him the opportunity to participate in the merriment of the local carnival. And he is determined to do so despite being saddled with uncharitable guests like anti-alcohol senator Opal and his daughter Jane Opal, along with the proprietor of his rented Chateau Blissac, (his home for the non-French speaking audiences) Vicomte De Blissac.
A Packy Franklyn, the millionaire American football star, engaged to a Lady Beatrice Bracken, a sublime but scathing beauty, both get dragged into the plot when Lady Bracken asks his beau to befriend an intellectual novelist and a part time sound impressionist, Blair Eggleston, who in turn, is engaged to Jane Opal, the daughter of Senator Opal. Packy Franklyn finds himself increasingly drawn to Jane Opal, ever since he takes up the assignment of cutting Senator Opal’s hair. And as an additional favour to her, he agrees to withdraw a damning letter from the safe of Mrs. Gedge, who is using it as a device to blackmail the Senator into granting ambassadorship to her husband. And since Vicomte De Blissac is a friend of Packy, the footballer manages to get an admission when apparently Mr. Gedge murders the Vicomte.
That’s just the tip of the confusion, really. See, the problem is that Senator Opal thinks that his daughter is really engaged to Packy, and ends up hiring Eggleston as his valet. And then there are other people like a safe blower and a stick-up man and a con-man, Soup Slattery and Oily Carlisle, with their own twisted and sad love stories, who are after some jewels in the safe. Add a cook and her lover, a menacing secretary who could potentially be a detective, a butler who pronounces ‘Madam’ as ‘Modom’, and Lady Bracken and a boat, it certainly is an eventful book. And boundlessly funny I might add. You really ought to read up to find out who gets to the safe and which guy ends up with which girl. It’s a guaranteed stress buster.

Blood Sport - Dick Francis

If you’ve got a Dick Francis two-story omnibus, then you might as well read both the stories at one go.
Blood Sport, as far as Dick Francis stories go, had quite a convoluted plot. And for the first time amongst the four books of his that I have read, I felt at a loss as the racing terminologies started raining. And that did have quite a ruining effect for me despite the story itself being quite fast paced.
The hero, Gene Hawkins, is a ‘civil servant’. The implications of the job title and what he really does for a living are never really clarified. That aspect of Gene hangs like a constant mystery throughout the book, which really adds a lot of appeal to the character. Is he an assassin? A spy? Espionage agent? Police? It’s anyone’s guess. His talents, though not up at par with, say, Jason Bourne, are still pretty damn good at uncovering truths. But his objective is not, as he says, to punish, but to prevent. I wish Gene wasn’t as suicidal however. But Dick Francis does a splendid job of imposing a suicidal trait on such a strong and determined character. And when you read the story you really do realize how the internal struggle of Gene impacts the direction of the path he takes, and the flow of the story. Dick Francis gets down to being poignant. Can’t say I expected it from a writer of horse racing thrillers. But he does a good job at it.
So Gene, given he is some sort of a spy or something, is asked by his employer, Mr. Keeble to look for Dave Teller’s missing horses. He lands in America, in a conquest to find Chrysallis after a murder attempt on Dave Teller, which probably prompted Gene to take the assignment up. Gene, with his half thoughts of killing himself, takes it up with a shrug as one more thing to keep him from killing himself, probably thinking that if he could live and save a life, it might just be worth it.
Chrysallis is the third world class stallions to be stolen in a fairly short space of time, the other two being Alyx and Showman. And Gene, as he retrieves Chrysallis, unearths a shocking and an elaborate fraud, which would shake up the world racing community and risks his as much as his friend’s lives. It’s good that he carries a lugger around in an under-arm holster. You never know when you’d need it. Especially in Gene’s line of work!

Forfeit - Dick Francis

Horse Racing, a brilliant protagonist, and firm, dark, writing which sounds exactly like the narration of Sin City or Max Payne in your head. That makes a very palatable package. And that’s the formula of Dick Francis. His writing is not complicated, but he creates an air of a sort of a calm thrill. If you know what I mean. You don’t exactly imagine a double-woofer, stereophonic death metal music when you read the climax of Dick Francis novel. Nor are deaths unnecessarily graphic. But the thrill is abundantly present.
Forfeit is about James Tyrone. He is a scandal stirring, scam busting reporter at a magazine called Blaze. But this time, the scam that he is trying to prevent threatens to get a bit too nasty for his taste, and a bit too personal as well.
The scam is brilliant in its simplicity. Get a horse piped as a favourite. Gather huge amounts as bets in his favour. And then prevent him from running the race and pocket all the bets since the race counts as a forfeit. As James Tyrone, or Ty, tries a hand at preventing it from happening one more time, he finds himself at the receiving end of physical harm, blackmail, and overconsumption of alcohol. And it’s up to him to get out of the situation he finds himself in. I say, that’s a complicated job to have!
Again, as in most Dick Francis books, the plot is nothing sensational. I mean, you’d think, it’s eventually going to be a plot about horse racing and how sensational it’s going to be? There are obviously not going to be any nuclear missiles that will be fired between nations. But Dick Francis keeps you interested throughout. And that’s where this book succeeds as well.