The Paperbackers

It is the narrators journey,away from familiar territories,to reconquer his kingdom,which is corrupted by routine. The 59-year-old narrator bemoans,I cannot and could not spend the rest of my life8230; contemplating the oak tree in my garden,waiting for wisdom to descend8230; I would understand that my path is reflected in the eyes of others and that,if I want to find myself,I need that map.

So he decides to take a journey with his publisher,translator and the mysterious violinist Hilal on the famous Trans-Siberian Railway. The narrator,married now,learns that the 21-year-old Hilal is the woman he loved,ahem,500 years ago. Confined to the trains closed spaces,the passengers discover each other,but more importantly Coelho comes to discover the Aleph. And what exactly is that? The readers discovery of Aleph,alas,is far less successful than Coelhos. The explanation is more confounding than mystical. I am in the Aleph,the point at which everything is in the same place at the same time. And then: The great Aleph occurs when two or more people with a very strong affinity happen to find themselves in the small Aleph. Understood? I didnt.

The unfolding landscape outside the train window is done away with small towns,forests,small towns,forests. For an author to reduce the Russian countryside to half a sentence,speaks of an unfortunate lack of imagination,but for Coelhos 2.4 million Twitter fans the landscape of the mind could perhaps prove more engaging than the world outside.

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks Hachette,Rs 350 deals with the world of star-crossed lovers Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole in a small town in America. Amanda comes from a well-to-do family,while Dawson hails from the most vicious revenge-driven family east of Raleigh. Opposites attract and the two teenagers fall sweetly and deeply in love,despite all opposition. But realising that they dont yet have the means to make a future together,they part ways.

They meet 20 years later,through the plotting of the old romantic Tuck,who had been witness to the magic of their love. By this time,Amanda is mother of three,and married to college sweetheart,who becomes an alcoholic after the death of one of their children. Dawson is still unmarried,and has endured a four-year jail sentence and a series of other misfortunes. The meeting,of course,forces them to re-evaluate their choices and decisions.

This is an interesting-enough tale about love against all odds. The main characters will hook you,but the minor characters like Dawsons father and cousins are so villainous that they seem unreal altogether.

The book trundles towards a Bollywood ending,complete with shootout,death and the idea of family prevailing over eternal love.