The Amulet of Samarkand

So happens that I am at the Chennai airport waiting to board the flight to Colombo, and S decides to pick up something to read.. I tag along, sternly making up my mind not to buy anything for myself - after all I have my holiday reading already lined up.

But I have this thing about bookshops. If I visit one, I cannot leave without picking up something! I felt guilty about indulging, and so picked up this book with half a heart. I read it in a day and a half and absolutely LOVED it!

I have been meaning to read a fantasy book for a while now. I have this sudden love for the magic, gore and mysticism that this genre offers. 'The Amulet of Samarkand' by Jonathan Stroud did not disappoint.

The first of the Bartimaeus triology, this is the story of Nathaniel, a young, upcoming, emotional and extremely rash apprentice-magician and the djinni Bartimaeus that he summons.

Nathaniel lives with his master and mistress and is bitter towards the attitude his master has to him. The emotion strengthens when Simon Lovelace (a magician-minister who's ambition is to take over the government and will stop at nothing to achieve this) pooh poohs him as a mere child. An angry Nathaniel summons Bartimaeus, a 5,000 year old djinni, to seek his revenge.

The Amulet of Samarkand is a fast-paced, action-packed story with very funny, witty footnotes (I actually had to put down my book at times because I was laughing so much). Jonathan Stroud moves from the second-person narration of Nathaniel's story to Bartimaeus's first-person narration with elegant ease.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amulet_of_Samarkand

Good Night and God Bless

M gifted me this book during a trip to B'lore. She is a ardent fan of Indian writing and was trying to get me to read some 'quality' books for a while.

I finally picked this one up from my shelf after 6 months of her giving it to me, and I regret not reading it earlier!

Good night and God bless by Anita Nair is a collection of short essays. Nothing spectacular. Except that it is! Every piece has an anecdote that she relates to some book, line from a book, character from a book... A complete comparison of events, people and places in her life with events, people and places that she has read about. And if you are a voracious reader yourself, you will love it!

When I thought the essay I had finished reading was the best I had ever read, the next one came along! What made the experience even more delightful were the little sketches and footnotes. I was floored by her wit.

Anita Nair's passion for reading, writing, food and life is exuded in every page. I loved the description of her study and hope to have something similar soon!

The best part though is the list of recommended reading that the author has given at the end of the book. I have written them down and intend to buy them all!


http://www.anitanair.net/novels/Goodnight_and_God_Bless/publishers_gnagb.htm

Ayubowan!

Went to Sri Lanka!!!!

The passport didnt come that day. We had to wait over the weekend. But it did surface finally and plans were made almost immediately. Super package!! 3 nights in the Taj Exotica, Bentota; 2 nights at the Galadari, Colombo; airport transfers; hotel to hotel transfer; bed and breakfast, all for INR 31,000 odd.

We left at 10.30 on the 2nd of Sept., Wednesday which happened to be S's 30th birthday! Got an upgrade on Sri Lankan. Did you know you have to wear full pants to travel business class?? Weird and stupid if you ask me! Anyway, S had to change out of his shorts. Sri Lankan has deteriorated since the last time I flew the airline (in 2005) - no alcohol was served, food was pathetic, that too on business class! Service was good though.

We landed in Colombo after an hour and a half and passed immigration and customs suprisingly fast. The drive from the airport to Bentota was very pleasing. Bentota is a village south of Colombo. It takes around 2 and a half hours to get there from the airport. Nearing Bentota, the road runs along the rocky shoreline. This is one of the most picturesque routes I have ever seen!

Taj Exotica is awesome! I heard that it's like Fisherman's Cove here, I think it's much much better. Although smaller, the sea and the property are beautiful! Our room overlooked the Indian Ocean (the receptionist said it was not 'directly' sea-facing; it was good enough for us!!). We had the most wonderful 3 days there. Only, the food is pretty expensive. But the breakfast spread took my breath (and hunger) away! What a spread!! Appams, stringhoppers, fish curry, potato curry, chicken curry, idli/ upma, a dosai counter, an omelette station, an array of breads, vegetable and fruit juices, sausages, meat, eggs, baked beans, potatoes, tomatoes, cereal..... need I go on??

We had lunch at 2 other resorts nearby. One day at the Lihiniya Surf Hotel. S said the place reminded him of the town in 'Grand Theft Auto - Vice City' and so instantly loved it! He had a pizza and I opted for the prawn biryani. The prawns were juicy and big, but the rice was not much to talk about. The next day we went to the Serendib. I would NOT recommend this place AT ALL!!! S had a pasta and I ate the chicken curry and rice. We got a whopping bill for extremely salty food. I am certain they charged for the salt!

Overall, the Taj was the best. After all, what more could one expect?

The Galadari at Colombo is rated 5 star but could fairly be a 3-4 star hotel. A once-grand hotel that has obviously aged - the wall paper was peeling at the ends, there was mildew under the basin in the bathroom... The view from the room, though, was breath taking. It overlooked the Indian Ocean on the right, and right in front of us was the old Parliament building which is now the Prime Minister's Office. Beautiful!!

We spent 3 days and 2 nights at Colombo. D, who loves there, took us to The Museum which is a night club at the Galle Face Hotel. I found that I actually knew the songs they played which I loved!! The next two days were spent predominantly shopping. First at House of Fashion... big mistake!! It was a Sunday and resembled a fish market. Did NOT enjoy shopping there, although we picked up some pretty decent clothes. What made it worse was the 20 minute wait in the line to pay. Bloody pain! Anyway, the next day we went to Cotton Collection and Odel. CC was nicer I thought.

We took the flight out of Colombo that evening and were here by 8 that night.

What struck me most about Sri Lanka was that it is so CLEAN. Even though the LTTE has fallen very recently, the place does not look war-torn in the least. The country seems to clean up good. Having said that, I suppose the northern parts were most affected in the civil war and they will have obvious wounds.

Also what I loved was the friendliness. The Sri Lankans make excellent hosts.

A trip to never forget!