I am amazed that I haven’t yet waxed poetic about Georgette Heyer on this blog. It’s not snobbery, because I have no qualms admitting to anyone that she is one of my favourite authors, critically acclaimed or not.
My first Georgette Heyer was Lady of Quality, a book I read when I was about 12 or 13. My mother and sister were most disparaging, but I was fortunate that I had a great aunt who loved her books. To anyone who dismisses them as mere romance fiction, I would like to humbly say that they are a lot more. They are romances alright, but not particularly romantic. Quite realistic in fact, with characters, who even if they conformed to type, were still well-drawn. I have read loads of shoddy historical fiction and regency rip offs – Mary Balogh etc and even M & B’s own legacy of love series. Forget actual anachronisms, these books make their characters behave in ways that a Heyer fan would instantly recognise as anachronistic.
Heyer wrote both intense romances and the light-hearted ones. It’s hard to say which I enjoy more: the frothy yet meaningful romps or serious ones with the ever persistent vein of humour.
My favourites undoubtedly are Friday’s Child, False Colours, Cotillion, Devil’s Cub, Venetia, Lady of Quality… although I have enjoyed all and most many times over.
But what makes me bring up Heyer now, two decades after I first read her? I guess I always underestimated the pleasure she brought me. Or in what esteem I, a so called serious reader, hold her. I recently introduced her to a friend via Friday’s Child, but she hasn’t enjoyed the subsequent Heyers she picked up as much – although those were the admittedly less enjoyable ones like April Lady and An Infamous Army. I am deeply tempted to force her to read my favourite Heyers, and to say ‘but she is credited with inventing the historical romance genre’ as though it would validate her! I am surprised at myself, really.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Sorry...cheating :)
Have nothing new to write or review, so am enclosing a few links to book reviews done sometime in 2004, on a website called mouthshut.
On favourite kiddie books:
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Favourite_Books_Of_Childhood-48322-1.html
Worth Winning - Dan Lewandowski
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Worth_Winning_-_Dan_Lewandowski-50732-1.html
The World According to Garp - John Irving
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/World_According_To_Garp___The_-_John_Irving-47418-1.html
Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Vernon_God_Little_-_DBC_Pierre-58432-1.html
White Mughals - William Dalrymple
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/White_Mughals_-_William_Dalrymple-49522-1.html
Miss Smillas Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Smilla%27s_Feeling_For_Snow_-_Peter_Hoeg-48397-1.html
Howards End - EM Forster
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Howards%27_End_-_E.M._Forster-46372-1.html
In retrospect, some of the reviews are pretty decent.
On favourite kiddie books:
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Favourite_Books_Of_Childhood-48322-1.html
Worth Winning - Dan Lewandowski
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Worth_Winning_-_Dan_Lewandowski-50732-1.html
The World According to Garp - John Irving
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/World_According_To_Garp___The_-_John_Irving-47418-1.html
Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Vernon_God_Little_-_DBC_Pierre-58432-1.html
White Mughals - William Dalrymple
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/White_Mughals_-_William_Dalrymple-49522-1.html
Miss Smillas Feeling for Snow - Peter Hoeg
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Smilla%27s_Feeling_For_Snow_-_Peter_Hoeg-48397-1.html
Howards End - EM Forster
http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Howards%27_End_-_E.M._Forster-46372-1.html
In retrospect, some of the reviews are pretty decent.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Summer vacation
A lazy time. No school timetables to follow, no lunches to pack, no homework to supervise. It should follow that I spend these days reading up a storm.
Well, yes and no. My domestic help quit in early March, we made our bi-annual trip to the hometown(s), I had my parents over... and it has been a really busy time at work.
Now that I have a new servant, I do have a little time. But the way things are in my life this year, I haven't felt in the least compelled to read anything serious. Just something light and escapist, thank you very much. And so I have been reading Agatha Christies back to back. About 10 at a go. They still make for such fresh reading. I always check the copyright before I start one - most of them were written between the 20s and the 40s. I am both amused at some of the quaint notions and shocked by how 'modern' some of it is. The mysteries are always ripping good fun - some I had read before so vaguely remembered the ending to. Also, am not above turning to the last page :) (Sorry!)
Unfortunately the kind friend who has been lending them to me has nearly exhausted her collection. She does offer me more serious stuff, which I turn down. Since I have known her under a year, I'm sure she thinks I am one of those low-brow readers. Which I cannot remedy anytime soon. In fact I am going even more lowbrow this week. I have borrowed a stack of M & Bs. The first one quite promisingly, is set in Bordeaux. In return, I plan to introduce her to my preferred light reading: Georgette Heyer.
Well, yes and no. My domestic help quit in early March, we made our bi-annual trip to the hometown(s), I had my parents over... and it has been a really busy time at work.
Now that I have a new servant, I do have a little time. But the way things are in my life this year, I haven't felt in the least compelled to read anything serious. Just something light and escapist, thank you very much. And so I have been reading Agatha Christies back to back. About 10 at a go. They still make for such fresh reading. I always check the copyright before I start one - most of them were written between the 20s and the 40s. I am both amused at some of the quaint notions and shocked by how 'modern' some of it is. The mysteries are always ripping good fun - some I had read before so vaguely remembered the ending to. Also, am not above turning to the last page :) (Sorry!)
Unfortunately the kind friend who has been lending them to me has nearly exhausted her collection. She does offer me more serious stuff, which I turn down. Since I have known her under a year, I'm sure she thinks I am one of those low-brow readers. Which I cannot remedy anytime soon. In fact I am going even more lowbrow this week. I have borrowed a stack of M & Bs. The first one quite promisingly, is set in Bordeaux. In return, I plan to introduce her to my preferred light reading: Georgette Heyer.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Into Harvard Business School
I remember my first job. Two months of ‘sales’ – ad space and subscriptions – for two small time trade publications that shall remain nameless. Going from company to company, making cold calls. Finally I faked a bad tummy to stop going to work and then resigned. I was 20.
When I got into copy, I knew I had found my place. It was a struggle to unlearn everything I had learnt about writing, to write to sell rather than to be self indulgent, to be coherent rather than veiled. But I knew with a certainty that this was what I wanted to do with my life.
Still, adapting my writing to the demands of the market didn’t come easy to me. I was, after all, weaned on a diet of Byron and Ibsen, not Drucker or Kotler. But over the years I figured out that it was all about identifying customers’ motivations and speaking to their needs or even creating needs.
The best copywriters have an instinctive understanding of people’s needs and motivations and address them. They don’t need an MBA to get into their customers’ psyche. However there have been times when I have acutely felt the disadvantages of not having a business school education. Especially with some clients who take exception to my rather simple, conversational style of writing copy. They, I know would love their brochures dense and heavy, laden with management-speak.
All this introspection is the result of the book I am reading at the moment: Philip Delves Broughton’s ‘What they teach you in Harvard Business School.’ The title itself is a reference to Mark McCormacks management tome, What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School. Phillip Delves Broughton was a journalist with 10 years of experience. At some point he felt like he had plateau-d and wanted to explore new opportunities, maybe even think about going into the media business for himself.
What they teach you in Harvard Business School is neither a management self help book, nor is it an out-and-out expose. I would say it is a journal or memoir of the author’s time at the one of the world’s most respected institutions. Many things in it resonated with me. Broughton is not from the world of management or finance; he is no ambitious young turk, he is English – and he uses his outsider’s perspective to great advantage. He is highly and genuinely critical of high-powered, soul-less ambition, meaningless jargon, fatuous networking and yet, manages to see the entire HBS experience with enough wide eyed wonder to convey the excitement of being in its rarified atmosphere. His descriptions of how the HBS system works, as well as interesting titbits on the classes, fellow students and the professors give me a vicarious thrill. The numerous case studies described in the book (again, through Broughton’s fresh eyes, unsullied by any sort of management experience) are absorbing. The descriptions of behind the scenes machinations, hyper competitive peers, and mammon worship are to be expected, but still manage to surprise. And the best thing is he manages to do so without the slightest whiff of a sour grape.
Broughton in some ways is very old-school – preferring calculator to spreadsheets. He talks of going to Yahoo and his experience there reminded me of my own reaction to a visit to a top IT firm. After being shown rec room after rec room, cafeterias, outdoor green zones etc, I remarked to my boss that the company clearly didn’t want their employees to have a life. I was dismayed rather than impressed, and that was how Broughton seems to have felt as well. I especially love his consistent bewilderment at the literature that comes out of HBS - from the alumni or the institution itself - indecipherable management gobbledygook.
As he grapples with excel and finance, and does poorly in his summer placement interviews, I can’t help but think that’s its okay to be not so good at some things. In this world where multi-tasking is celebrated, it’s important to remember that we each have our strengths, and it's best to play to them.
When I got into copy, I knew I had found my place. It was a struggle to unlearn everything I had learnt about writing, to write to sell rather than to be self indulgent, to be coherent rather than veiled. But I knew with a certainty that this was what I wanted to do with my life.
Still, adapting my writing to the demands of the market didn’t come easy to me. I was, after all, weaned on a diet of Byron and Ibsen, not Drucker or Kotler. But over the years I figured out that it was all about identifying customers’ motivations and speaking to their needs or even creating needs.
The best copywriters have an instinctive understanding of people’s needs and motivations and address them. They don’t need an MBA to get into their customers’ psyche. However there have been times when I have acutely felt the disadvantages of not having a business school education. Especially with some clients who take exception to my rather simple, conversational style of writing copy. They, I know would love their brochures dense and heavy, laden with management-speak.
All this introspection is the result of the book I am reading at the moment: Philip Delves Broughton’s ‘What they teach you in Harvard Business School.’ The title itself is a reference to Mark McCormacks management tome, What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School. Phillip Delves Broughton was a journalist with 10 years of experience. At some point he felt like he had plateau-d and wanted to explore new opportunities, maybe even think about going into the media business for himself.
What they teach you in Harvard Business School is neither a management self help book, nor is it an out-and-out expose. I would say it is a journal or memoir of the author’s time at the one of the world’s most respected institutions. Many things in it resonated with me. Broughton is not from the world of management or finance; he is no ambitious young turk, he is English – and he uses his outsider’s perspective to great advantage. He is highly and genuinely critical of high-powered, soul-less ambition, meaningless jargon, fatuous networking and yet, manages to see the entire HBS experience with enough wide eyed wonder to convey the excitement of being in its rarified atmosphere. His descriptions of how the HBS system works, as well as interesting titbits on the classes, fellow students and the professors give me a vicarious thrill. The numerous case studies described in the book (again, through Broughton’s fresh eyes, unsullied by any sort of management experience) are absorbing. The descriptions of behind the scenes machinations, hyper competitive peers, and mammon worship are to be expected, but still manage to surprise. And the best thing is he manages to do so without the slightest whiff of a sour grape.
Broughton in some ways is very old-school – preferring calculator to spreadsheets. He talks of going to Yahoo and his experience there reminded me of my own reaction to a visit to a top IT firm. After being shown rec room after rec room, cafeterias, outdoor green zones etc, I remarked to my boss that the company clearly didn’t want their employees to have a life. I was dismayed rather than impressed, and that was how Broughton seems to have felt as well. I especially love his consistent bewilderment at the literature that comes out of HBS - from the alumni or the institution itself - indecipherable management gobbledygook.
As he grapples with excel and finance, and does poorly in his summer placement interviews, I can’t help but think that’s its okay to be not so good at some things. In this world where multi-tasking is celebrated, it’s important to remember that we each have our strengths, and it's best to play to them.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
To Aditya
You asked,
will you be my mother in my next life?
And I swore to myself
I would love you enough
for every life hence.
will you be my mother in my next life?
And I swore to myself
I would love you enough
for every life hence.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Not just books
I don't know what to do with my spare time at work - yes there is such a thing - other than read. I seldom carry a book to work (that would be going too far), so it's usually mags, advertising books and blogs. There are quite a few blogs I check out and some that I keep returning to. It's usually the author's style of writing or personality that engages me.
www.gofugyourself.com
My favourite. This is a fashion blog that lets rip on the fashion foibles of the rich and famous. Jessica's and Heather's posts are cleverly written with loads of puns and pop culture references.
www.apartmenttherapy.com
This is one of those blogs many people contribute to, and I stumbled on it just after we bought our new home. The writing is patchy, but the site has fabulous energy, regular, multiple updates, loads of ideas and colourful displays! Have gone to many many interior design blogs and this is by far the best.
www.brooklynlimestone.com
This is the blog of Stephanie (Mrs Limestone, as she styles herself) and its all about how she and her husband are redoing their heritage Brooklyn home. Very interesting and inspiring.
www.makingitlovely.com
Similar to brooklynlimestone, this blog chronicles Nicole Balch's home reno. It's mostly done by this point, but people new to the blog will have fun with the archives.
www.swastanimasta.wordpress.com, www.educatedtatya.blogspot.com
Mitali is the woman behind both these blogs as well as styleperdiem.com and I'd like to think that we are alike, serious enough to appreciate poetry, frivolous enough to love fashion. The first is a regularly updated series of budget fashion finds from Mumbai (it makes me want to shift there immediately), the second is her personal blog written with a mixture of irreverence and gravity. Style per diem is devoted to daily ensembles.
www.garancedore.fr/en
French blogger and artist who has become a fashion industry insider thanks to this blog. Loads of eye candy pics, fashion events, and above all Garance's own wry and very Parisien take on things.
www.the-leaky-cauldron.org
Is this a blog or a website? Either way its a favourite and the best Harry Potter relates site IM0. I do occasionally check www.danradcliffe.com too.
Honourable mentions
www.sepiamutiny.com - the desi voice
www.compulsiveconfessor.blogspot.com - a very famous blog by a very famous writer - and- dare I say it - overrated.
www.zannyleo.blogspot.com - blogger oormila is a writer, painter, musician and mother
www.whatay.com - Sidin Vadakut, fraud mallu, blogs on this Domain Maximus
www.trickmybrick.blogspot.com - Another home reno blog
www.thesartorialist.com - Photographer Scott Schuman's blog
www.sandeepmakam.com - ads from around the world. Hasn't been updated in a while.
www.designspongeonline.com - A lovely interior decor blog...I never miss the sneak peak section.
www.aamirkhan.com - Aamir's humour and intelligence make this a delight to read
www.firth.com - A must for all Colin Firth fans
Blog Modus Operandi
I check these blogs every 3-4 days usually so that I have enough updates to read. Except Apartment Therapy, which i catch up with every day, since it has at least 5 pages of updates daily.
Favourite websites
www.salon.com
www.people.com
www.neimanmarcus.com
www.facebook.com
and of course, can't live without google or wiki!
www.gofugyourself.com
My favourite. This is a fashion blog that lets rip on the fashion foibles of the rich and famous. Jessica's and Heather's posts are cleverly written with loads of puns and pop culture references.
www.apartmenttherapy.com
This is one of those blogs many people contribute to, and I stumbled on it just after we bought our new home. The writing is patchy, but the site has fabulous energy, regular, multiple updates, loads of ideas and colourful displays! Have gone to many many interior design blogs and this is by far the best.
www.brooklynlimestone.com
This is the blog of Stephanie (Mrs Limestone, as she styles herself) and its all about how she and her husband are redoing their heritage Brooklyn home. Very interesting and inspiring.
www.makingitlovely.com
Similar to brooklynlimestone, this blog chronicles Nicole Balch's home reno. It's mostly done by this point, but people new to the blog will have fun with the archives.
www.swastanimasta.wordpress.com, www.educatedtatya.blogspot.com
Mitali is the woman behind both these blogs as well as styleperdiem.com and I'd like to think that we are alike, serious enough to appreciate poetry, frivolous enough to love fashion. The first is a regularly updated series of budget fashion finds from Mumbai (it makes me want to shift there immediately), the second is her personal blog written with a mixture of irreverence and gravity. Style per diem is devoted to daily ensembles.
www.garancedore.fr/en
French blogger and artist who has become a fashion industry insider thanks to this blog. Loads of eye candy pics, fashion events, and above all Garance's own wry and very Parisien take on things.
www.the-leaky-cauldron.org
Is this a blog or a website? Either way its a favourite and the best Harry Potter relates site IM0. I do occasionally check www.danradcliffe.com too.
Honourable mentions
www.sepiamutiny.com - the desi voice
www.compulsiveconfessor.blogspot.com - a very famous blog by a very famous writer - and- dare I say it - overrated.
www.zannyleo.blogspot.com - blogger oormila is a writer, painter, musician and mother
www.whatay.com - Sidin Vadakut, fraud mallu, blogs on this Domain Maximus
www.trickmybrick.blogspot.com - Another home reno blog
www.thesartorialist.com - Photographer Scott Schuman's blog
www.sandeepmakam.com - ads from around the world. Hasn't been updated in a while.
www.designspongeonline.com - A lovely interior decor blog...I never miss the sneak peak section.
www.aamirkhan.com - Aamir's humour and intelligence make this a delight to read
www.firth.com - A must for all Colin Firth fans
Blog Modus Operandi
I check these blogs every 3-4 days usually so that I have enough updates to read. Except Apartment Therapy, which i catch up with every day, since it has at least 5 pages of updates daily.
Favourite websites
www.salon.com
www.people.com
www.neimanmarcus.com
www.facebook.com
and of course, can't live without google or wiki!
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