The Dwan At Dusk

 By 

Sandeep Nayyar

Genre

I happen to follow to more authors, Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi who write in a similar genre. So, when I started reading the book, I already started comparing it with their work and thus held high expectations from it.

Does is stand upon my expectations? Let's see.

Storyline

The events of the book took place during the post-vedic era, during the reign of Yaduvanshis and Raghuvanshis. The story follows the life of Damodar, Shatavari, Neel, Dhananjay, Vaishali, Amodini and many others. 

Basically, it became difficult for me to keep up with the book as I am bad with names, and have to go back and forth a large number of times.

The story is a simple historical fiction portraying love, betrayal, friendship, discrimination, courage,  etc. It also features wars, kings, loyalty, lust and even a secret weapon. 

Apart from all this elements. one other thing that is peculiar about the book is the character building. All the character, and there are many of them, are very compelling and you feel that you really know them. 

Also, the narration, and the language author  used were a bit different from the contemporary context, which did justice to the story.

The Ending

The end was too good to be interesting. It was a novel version of a fairy tale towards the end. Although it wasn't disappointing, it could've been better.

In A Nutshell

I enjoyed the book and will give three and a half stars. Although, I never read book in this genre, except the ones I mentioned earlier,

I was glued to this one. I assure it as a worthy read even for those who aren't into historical fiction. 

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The Coffee And The Cola

 By 

Kapil Muzumdar

The author, kapil Muzumdar, claims to be fascinated by human behavior, especially, by the complexity of emotions in women.

The synopsis of the  book reminded me of one such Indian author, who specialized in writing about the fairer gender, in his words. Yes, I am talking about Khushwant Singh, who is very well known for his masterpiece, Train To Pakistan. 

So, do we have another Khushwant Singh in making? Let's see.

Storyline

The story follows life of Rahul, who falls in love with two Women. First is of the Coffee type and other of the Cola type. 

He first meets the Coffee girl in a coffee shop after meeting her online on a matrimony site. They like each other, get along and eventually fall in love. When she moves to Singapore for six months against his wish, some bitterness is added in their relationship. 

During this time Rahul meets another girl, who is Cola type, i .e she is a modern, hot and sexy. Unlike the coffee girl, she is very much open to physical intimacy before marriage. A thing that attracted Rahul. 

At this point of time I anticipated the story to be a predictable one, where Rahul will eventually realize with whom he is in love with and they will live happily ever after, like they do in all the shitty stories. But he ending wasn't bad. The author ended the book in a very good fashion, not disappointing his readers. 

Narration

Narration was the flaw I found in the book. The author has a character dedicated to himself, where he as the protagonist's confident. A person who got everything correct, who was wise and what not. 

The impression created by this wasn't effective and rather made the author seem vain. Maybe the author could improvise this in his next project.

In A Nutshell

I would give three and a half stars to the book, mostly because it was a fresh read and wasn't much stereotypical as far as the story is concerned.


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Kashmir 90

Vineet Mishra

The review is powered by Cyclops Literary Services.
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Kashmir 90 is Vineet Mishra's second literary creation.

Introduction:

The novel begins with a scene of tension rising between a married couple. A very familiar scenario about how busy lives affect an intimate relation of a couple.

So, the husband, Vineet, seeks help from a fellow friend, Shiv, who narrates his story in order to teach him what love is all about.

This was the introductory part of the book, which was extended a bit too much.

The storyline:

Then we ride back in time in the early nineties, in the beautiful state of Kashmir to experience Shiv's love story.

The story is presented in a form very much liked by Indian audience. A touch of melodrama can be felt while reading the book. The love story is also idealized in a way that the boy finds his love overcoming all the obstacles. Destiny helps him at the time when he realizes his deep love for the girl who was almost impossible to locate. 

We visit a refreshing phase of college life, where we meet his roommates. One nerdy and other completely opposite, crackpot. The way they go through their phases of hostel and college life was relatable. 

Shiv meets Maya and we go through the innocent phase of love. Then the drifting apart of the couple along with the tragic incidents of the nineties when Kashmiri Pandits suffered an ill fate and were forced to leave their very own motherland. 

In the intermediate phase, we also come across a teacher-student relation, which is still considered as taboo in India. Although the relation doesn't last, it helps Shiv to comprehend his own love for Maya.

Happy Ending:

The novel ends with an expected and happy ending. Shiv meets his love of life Maya. Vineet learns the lesson he needed the most. 

Narration and Editorial:

Although the story the seems fairly good, the editorial work could have been better. The smoothness of story wasn't up to the mark and needs improvisation. From the name of the publisher, it is clear that author has been betrayed in terms of honest reviews about the narration and the language modification one expects from an edited manuscript is unsatisfactory.

We expect improvisation from the author in his next work. He has chosen a sensitive topic of Kashmir riots and also featured a brief incident of Mumbai riots if the same era. The choice of theme was thus apt but he needs to work more on his narration and writing skills. 

Where to get a copy?

To buy the book click at the following link :  Kashmir 90

TOP 10 Novelists worldwide.

Of course, the list will always be in debate. This list is based on my personal opinion and anyone willing to suggest otherwise is gratefully welcomed. But might not get any attention though.

Here is the video of Top 10 Novelists on YouTube:

1. J. K. Rowling

She wrote the Harry Potter series. Enough said.

She has sold more than 400 million copies till the day and to her credit are eight movies and one due to be released next month.

More about her here: J. K. Rowling - Wikipedia and her work here: Home - Pottermore


2. Paulo Coelho



Best known for his masterpiece The Alchemist, he has sold more than 200 million copies till the date.

Notable works:

• Veronika Decides to Die
• Eleven Minutes
• The Winner Stands Alone
• Adultery

His latest book The spy is released in few countries and is due to release in the rest before the year ends.
More about him here: Paulo Coelho


3. Dan Brown



His notable works includes the Books in the Robert Langdon series.

• Angels & Demons
• The Da Vinci Code
• The Lost Symbol
• Inferno

Movie adaptations of The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons were loved world wide and the movie adaptation of Inferno is running in theaters.
He has sold more than 200 million copies till this date.
More about him here: The Official Website of Dan Brown.


4. Stephen King



Stephen King is known for his writing in the genres of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. Although his non-fiction work: On Writing is also widely appreciated.
He has sold more than 350 million copies. King has published 54 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and six non-fiction books.

Notable works:

• Carrie
• The Shining
• The Stand
• Misery
• It
• The Dark Tower
• Under the Dome
• Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
• 
  

5. Agatha Christie



She had sold around two to four Billion books! That’s right, BILLION!
Best known for her detective novels, short story collections, plays and screenplays.

Notable works:

• Murder on the Orient Express
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
• Death on the Nile
• The Murder at the Vicarage
• Partners In Crime
• The ABC Murders
• And Then There Were None
• The Mousetrap

Read more here: Agatha Christie


6. Enid Blyton



She was an English children’s writer. Enid Blyton wrote more than 1,800 books, including 947 short story series books, 186 novels and 227 recreation books.

She has sold more than 600 million copies till this date.

Her notable works include:

• The Famous Five
• Secret Seven
• Noddy

More about her here: Lashings of information about the children's author


7. George Martin



Ladies and gentlemen, this is the guy behind the phenomenal T.V series Game Of Thrones.

Again, enough said.

More about him: Website of author George R.R. Martin


8. James Patterson



He is an American author. He is largely known for his novels about fictional psychologist Alex Cross, the protagonist of the Alex Cross series. He has sold more than 300 million copies till this date.

Notable works:

• The Alex Cross series
• TheWomen's Murder Club series
• The Maximum Ride series
• TheMichael Bennett series
• TheMiddle School series
• The I Funny series

More about him: The Official James Patterson Site


9. John Grisham



He is an American bestselling writer, attorney, politician, and activist best known for his popular legal thrillers.

He has sold more than 275 million copies till this date.
John Grisham has 191 books listed on Goodreads .

His novels has been adapted into movies and T.V series.

Notable works:

• A Time to Kill
• The Firm
• The Client
• The Street Lawyer
• The Pelican Brief

More about him: John Grisham


10. Harper lee



Widely known for her masterpiece To Kill a Mockingbird , Harper Lee has published only one more book: Go Set a Watchman (2015).

To Kill a Mockingbird was published in 1960 followed by the movie adaptation in 1962.

Immediately after its publication it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature.


References:

• Wikipedia
• Goodreads
• Google

P.S. I’ve not included classical literature. No offense intended to Shakespeare's or Tolstoy's fans.

Source: Hard reads

Why Facebook Ads Sucks!

And this is why Facebook ads sucks!

My first YouTube has 2000 views in 16 days which means an average of 125 views per day, Most of which came from social media platforms like facebook, Whatsapp, Blogspot and Quora.
For the next video, I thought of spending some money to promote my content on facebook.

There are two ways of doing so.
1. Buy fake likes from a third party.
2. Promote your videos via Facebook ads.

The second sounded more ethical and I opted for it.

So, within less than 48 hours my post reached to 1716 people, had 460 likes and also had one comment 'NYC' (which meant 'nice' not New York city). Which was great in comparison to the average of my previous video, 125 views per day. So far so good.



But here's the catch. 1716 saw my video on their wall. 460 people liked it but only 200 people actually saw the video. Most of whom, I am pretty sure, I reached on my own.



Then I spent hours on searching the algorithms and techniques Facebook uses to promote the paid content (Believe me, your fb wall is more contaminated than Mula-Mutha river). The conclusion was Facebook sucks. Fb ads are no different from buying fake likes from a third party. 200 Rs well spent.
...with Marketing Zuckerberg.

P.S. Both the screenshots were taken at the same time.

Link to my fb post: The Pragmatic- A Novel By Yogesh Pandey

Link to the YouTube Video:
https://youtu.be/mbVjUUz-uHo

Before you pay for facebook ads, check the following video by Veritasium, one of the most viewed YouTube channels:
https://youtu.be/oVfHeWTKjag

Source: Hard Reads

The Fault in Our Stars: 

Book and Movie review

The fault in our stars (2012) is amongst a few teen romance novels that besides being romantic also make sense.

We also have its movie adaptation released in 2014, for the people who are too lazy to read.

Here's is the link for the video review of the book and the movie.

The Storyline:

Hazel and Gus met in a support group where Gus kept staring at Hazel who reminded him of his ex-girlfriend Caroline, who died due to brain cancer.

Skipping the details, they fall in love and everyone's happy. 

BUT!

.

Hazel, knowing that she could die anytime, breaking Gus's heart for the second time, decides to remain friends with him

Moving forward, Gus uses his wish granted to him by the Genie foundation (as he too is a survivor of cancer, Osteosarcoma)

to take Hazel on a trip to meet her favorite author, Peter. She is obsessed with a book, An Imperial Affliction, written by this author and keeps reading it again and again.

Now, when they arrive at Amsterdam to meet Peter, he turns out to be an Asshole and they are disappointed.

But their trip is not ruined. They then go to Anne Frank's museum where they make out. They're a couple again and everyone's happy again.
And there's one more but.

Augustus dies!

Not to be misunderstood. The book is not about people dying due to having a terminal but about people living in spite of having terminal cancer!

The depiction of people trying to live their lives is unmatchable and the emotions depicted from Hazel's perspective never seemed fake. 

Quotes from the book:

As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.

My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.

You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world...but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices.

Some infinities are bigger than other infinities.

What a slut time is. She screws everybody.

The marks humans leave are too often scars.

Oh, I wouldn't mind, Hazel Grace. It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you.

Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.

Pain demands to be felt.

Book review: One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat, the Salman Khan of Indian publishing industry and the Rakhi Sawant of Indian literary world launched his new masterpiece One Indian Girl, on first of October, 2016. 

You can view a detailed video review on my YouTube video blog channel Hard Reads. 

A typical Chetan Bhagat novel consists of

• A desperate male protagonist
• A hot and bold girl who eventually sleeps with him
• IIM/IIT fascination.
• A sex scene.

But this book is quite different. He has taken a huge literary leap in this book, from a desperate male protagonist to a desperate female protagonist.

The storyline begins in a very innovative fashion. It features a grand destination wedding in Goa, an arranged marriage where the bride's ex-boyfriends arrive realising that they are still in love with her. An idea never ever depicted in any Bollywood movie. Never.

Then we are taken to New York where he fell in love with the first boy. She breaks up with him after two years and goes to Hong Kong to forget her love.

In Honk Kong she again falls in love, this time with a married guy. After breaking up with him she goes to London. 

Now, coming back to Goa, she has to make a choice between the Hong Kong guy, the New York guy and her groom, the guy she met via shadi.com.

Eventually, she chooses neither and cancels the wedding. After which she goes on a long world tour. A cancelled wedding and a long tour, never depicted in any Bollywood movie. Not even in Queen. 

Words of wisdom from the book:

Mr Bhagat's literary advent had resulted into some mind-blowing monologues and quotes. In this novel too he stood up on the expectations and here are few lines from the book:

• Expensive underwear can make any women look sexy.
  
  
• ...whose breasts weren’t the size of football, as Punjabi men prefer.
• ...Tu ghanti Big Ben di
  
• Pura London Thumakda
• If  the British had seen this tribute to London, they would never have colonised us.
  (Or maybe if they've seen what you're doing to their language!)

Love Making:

Chetan Bhagat is a very sensible writer as far as the depiction of love making and the aftermath of it is concerned.

Here are a few words epic comparisons we see in the book. These lines follow the erotic passages.

• So, how did I feel after having sex for the first time? Well, you know how you sometimes wait for a big Salman or Shah Rukh movie for months and then it finally arrives? You go for the first day first show, and then the movie is not bad, but no so great either.
• If Debu was French Fries, this was a gourmet six course meal.

And:

The book is filled with unnecessary reference to iPhone, Apple store, Marriot hotel and everything that could start with Marriot. Everything and anything that can add a bit of glamour to the story is added in the book. The book also features the term super slut, What the hell does it mean?

The protagonist calls herself a feminist and from all the above it is quite clear that she didn't know what feminism is about.

To wrap this up, I'll just give few reasons why one should not miss the chance of buying this book.

Reasons to buy the book:

1. It’s cheap.
2.  You can falsely believe that you’re improving your English.
3. It’s cheap.
4. You can add reading in your hobbies. You can even call yourself an avid reader.
5. It’s cheap.

Contact: yogesh11th@gmail.com 

Twitter Handle: @author_yogesh