Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney

In December, when I was browsing through the books section in Costco, I saw the Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5: The Ugly Truth lying on the front shelf. There's not a single bookstore where this book isn't propped right on your nose, literally. A week before, when I was browsing through Toys R Us for some games for my nieces, I came across an entire row half full of books from this series. By the time I saw this book at Costco, I was itching to know once and for all what the whole deal over this book is. So then I opened it right over there, blocking the way for any unlucky person standing behind me, and started reading. Just half a second into it, and I started snorting with laughter. Now that was embarrassing, but my cheeks were inflaming with uncontrolled giggles. So instead of putting it back on the shelf, I discreetly put it into my cart, started whistling some nonsensical tune as I made my way to the-fish-market-crowded checkout lane. And that's how I came into possession of a book so different from the kind that ever graces my bookshelves.

I started with the fifth book - it really doesn't matter which book you start with - but I would recommend reading in order for the order-obsessed reader. This whole series is from the first person viewpoint of Greg Heffley, a middle-grader with an obnoxiously high opinion of self. In fact, it's an attitude you wouldn't appreciate in anyone but yourself, which is why you end up loving Greg. His elder brother, Rodrick, never misses an opportunity to embarrass Greg or tattle him to his parents. Rodrick also has his own band, Loded Diper (supposed to be loaded diaper, but Rodrick sucks in spelling). Greg's younger brother, Manny, is another devilish little kid, who always gets his way, and unwittingly does things that embarrasses Greg. For instance, Manny addresses Greg as Bubba, in public.

Each book in the series follows Greg at school, during vacation, with different plots, but always filled with the same brand of mischief and laugh-worthy thoughts by Greg. Greg started writing a diary because when he grows up and becomes famous, he wouldn't have to keep answering the same questions asked by the media. He'd rather give them copies of his diary. Greg's best friend, Rowley, mostly sticks by Greg, except when he really senses that Greg is not giving him due credit or getting him to do the dirty part. The best part is Greg himself doesn't see it as manipulation. Rather, he is always convinced that he is doing Rowley a favor. Rowley loves wearing superhero costumes, and embarrasses Greg once when he asks him in front of the older kids, whether he wants to come home and "play". Greg prefers the phrase "hang out" to "play".

I enjoyed reading this series so much, and laughed through most of it. I loved Greg, even in spite of his outrageous schemes, and cunning ideas. At one point, he tries really hard to impress a girl, but particularly embarrassing stuff choose to happen at that time. He also comes up with plenty ways to make more money - you will have to admit that this kid has ideas! Overall, this was one really delightful series, for all ages alike.

I (un)abashedly went to the kids section in my library and borrowed this series.

Review: Russell Wiley is Out to Lunch by Richard Hine

Russell Wiley is facing a crisis - at home and at work. At a time when the newspaper industry is struggling and declining, Russell is working hard to win back contracts and find ways to keep the old customers and bring in new ones. Meanwhile, his boss, Henry Moss is planning for more layoffs and is scheming to prove himself to the big players in the company without any regard to his own boss. Russell's team isn't perfect either, with one manipulative manager, one young intern whose attire is the topic of gossip among his women colleagues, and an over-enthusiastic new hire jumping with utopian ideas for improvement. Into this mess, Henry brings a consultant to find a way to give the company a much-needed growth opportunity. At home, Russell's life has become sexless. His wife is no longer as into him as in the early years of their relationship. And all this is making him think about one of his female colleagues in an inappropriate way.

Russell Wiley is Out to Lunch is set during the years of the decline of the print. While the online media becomes increasingly popular with the young generation, The Chronicle (a fictional newspaper for which Russell works) is clearly not increasing its reader base. I found this a very interesting setting, because I've always wondered how it is to be part of a declining industry - knowing that you could lose your job any time, and even though they know that the trends are changing, they work desperately hard to retain their jobs and clientele. In addition, it was nice to read a book set in the workplace, which although a large part of our lives, doesn't find much of an appreciation in fiction. I felt that this book delivered well on both counts.

In Russell, we have a protagonist that we can root for, though I have to admit that halfway through the book, I got frustrated with him. Every day as he got home, his one obsession was on how to get his wife to have sex with him. I never really saw or felt any bonding between him and his wife, because of which I could not sympathize with his problem. Affecting his credibility further is the inappropriate train of thoughts that keep running through his mind in the presence of his female colleagues. Of course, every married person is not "perfect", but it was very clear to me that Russell was also at fault in his marriage. Of the remaining characters, none of them stood out for me. Sometimes I forgot who was who. This does reflect a typical office environment, where each day you meet a blend of people only briefly, but I still wished that it didn't take me too long to get to know a character well.

In spite of the strong and interesting premise of this book, I felt that it lacked punch and grip. The events take some time to build up and it took me a long time to understand where the book might be heading. In a way, the pace is reflective of the environment where it is set - the most adventurous thing that happens in your typical workday might be you dropping a pen or jamming the paper in the printer or falling asleep at your desk. Otherwise, it is usually a slow monotonous passage of eight hours, during which you keep checking the clock praying for it to move faster, so that you can go home and watch a movie or read a book or play with your kids/pets. The purposeful build-up of the interesting plot-lines however led to a weak ending, in my opinion. There was so much I expected towards the end, and some of what actually happened felt too good or too unreal to be plausible.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has worked in an office environment and loves reading about the workplace politics (in a very loose sense of the word). It is a satirical look at what happens in an office - the challenges, the manipulations, the scheming, and also the male-female colleague interaction - both as colleagues and otherwise. There is quite a bit of humor in the book, but this is strictly not a laughter riot (which is what I expected it to be). Nevertheless, someone with a good knowledge of or interest in a workplace would delight in this novel. This book releases today, so make sure you check it out!

  

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I received this book for free from Goldberg McDuffie Communications for review.

Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Manor Farm is home to a bunch of downtrodden animals, who one day gather together to hear the speech of an esteemed colleague, Old Major, a boar, who calls them for a meeting in the barn. He tells them of a dream he had in which animals live together with no humans to rule over them. He then teaches them the song, The Beasts of England, which feature many times throughout the book. Inspired by his speech, three pigs, Snowball, Napoleon and Squealor make a plan to overthrow their master, Mr. Jones, which they manage to do. Then follows what usually follows a revolution - a means to reconstruct their lives, with plans to be self-sustaining and strong. Several rules are laid out and an order maintained. And of course, the bad decisions, power-control and political bad-mouthing also follow.

I've heard so much about George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984, but both sounded very academic to me, which made me not want to pick them while I was doing my Masters. And I was kind of right in assuming that they were of academic merit, but very wrong in implicitly taking that to mean that the books would be hard to read and understand - at least Animal Farm was definitely not that. I listened and devoured Animal Farm on audio, and just couldn't stop laughing so many times. The book was hilarious, but it was also a very clever take on human nature. It is satirical, and the resemblances made me chortle so many times.

So let's see, we have a bunch of animals, who succeed (of course) in overthrowing their farmer, and then the pigs come out as the natural leaders, because only they knew how to read. This was very interesting, because even in real world, the ones with plenty of degrees to their name (though not necessarily more intellectual or wise), were usually the ones who won the posts to control a whole group of people. The pigs used that cleverly even insisting that none of the animals could possible do a proper thing, because they weren't learned. Hence, knowledge = wisdom.

The leader pigs, Napoleon, Snowball and Squealor, laid out seven commandments, which are rules that have to be abided by the animals at all times. The basic motif was no association with two-legged creatures (yeah, that's us) at all, and no killing the four-legged ones. As in any government, the rules get twisted and contorted to suit the needs of the leaders, till in the end, they become of the opposite of what they started out as. Don't we see that always? But of course, the subjects do not have a way to protest, because 1. they can't read, and 2. the pigs as extra precaution, keep rewriting the rules on the wall where they were originally published. So, knowledge = take advantage of others.

Initially, the animals bonded well, but then the autocratic nature of Napoleon, the "nominated" though actually "self-proclaimed" leader started showing out. Napoleon's assistant, Squealor did most of the talking on his behalf. He was a smooth-talker who knew exactly how to influence his fellow animals. So, dump your dirty laundry on your juniors.

That's only a portion of the lessons from this delightful book. Since we see all such drama every day, it was quite funny to read about it. The interesting attribute of Animal Farm, was how George Orwell easily created different kinds of human characters in the animals - the one who looks for materialistic prizes, the one who wants power, another that blindly obeys the master, yet another who is willing to see the good in others, the smooth-talker who plants ideas in the subjects' minds, the spy, the bodyguards, and so on. Animal Farm is not meant solely for enjoyment. There are oodles of lessons in the quirky animals' interactions. It shows how revolutions rarely set in motion something much better. Although the rebels start off with a lot of just plans and hopes, slowly the corrupt way of living turns to be the easier path, till eventually, they become their old rulers.

I'm not sure why I never had this book to read in school. This is a great book with lots of valuable lessons, because of the parallels to human life. But of course, there is a bit of gore and violence, which is not gory to me at all, but I can see the censor board sniffing its way through. Oh right, this book, its introduction and several plays have already gone through the ritual of being banned several times, but it doesn't yet fall into the usual basket of banned books. This book wasn't hard to read at all. Or listen either. In fact, I never had to look at any annotated notes, though I'm sure doing that would give me more insights - whatever I missed. I can't wait to read 1984 now.

  

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I borrowed this book from the library.