The Dutch House - Book Review

An audiobook narrated by Tom Hanks? Sign me up! If you told me Tom Hanks was reading the economics section of the newspaper, I'd pull up a chair and fight for front seat. Nothing the man ever does could bore me or not bring stars to my eyes! I listened to this audiobook the whole time, playing it out like a movie in my mind, with Tom Hanks ofcourse, as the lead. I am forever in love with him and because of this, I cannot tell you if I truly loved the book or if I just love Tom Hanks a little too much.

'The Dutch House by Ann Patchett' is a story of a family and a house. It is well written, keeping the reader interested in the long, transcending story which in some ways also stood still in time, urging one to come back to the book every chance you get because the grand house, the siblings, the people who work for them/with them, their stories everything engulfs you. The novel primarily revolves around Maeve and Danny Conroys, or as in my version Tom Hanks (playing Danny Conroy) with intermittent appearances from others. The house is its own lead character in the story always there, forever lingering in all the conversations and quietly playing the backdrop throughout the book. It was a long but mostly light read, which I think hit the right spot for me. I fully loved Maeve Conroy and found myself agreeing with Danny on everything. Some lines in the book made me hit pause and rewind just so I could re-listen and absorb the beautiful writing. Great read!

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop - Book Review

A very light and heartening read that I began with little to no expectations. This is my second book by a South Korean author. I have been intentionally trying to expand my horizon since the last few years by trying to read more books from different parts of the world. Cultural differences fascinate me, it's one of the most important reasons why I travel and have so much curiosity when I meet new people. Ask my shipmates and they'll tell you about my incessant questions about their lives in their countries. I want to be a sponge, absorb all the world's diversity and it's similarity. Perhaps this is why I love reading books so much. Books are gateways, portals that secretly transport you to a place and back, with only words. You get to learn so much about someone imaginary living so far away, about how they like their coffee or how they perceive their wins and losses and more, without ever moving an inch.

'Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop' brings you a simple story with simple characters who have simple lives. Sometimes as in life, complex problems show up in the book every now and then but even those are dealt by the author with a light hand, never coating anything with too much heaviness. The book touched upon so many interesting topics within the realm of its characters and the space of the bookshop, a coffee roasters office and Yeonju's home- Yet no problem overwhelmed me or made me too sad or anxious. Even in those moments there was always an undercurrent of hope. This book is filled with a sense of community and an encouraging nudge to just focus in the moment and slowly keep moving forward even when things feel dire. 

I grew fond of the characters and found myself rooting for them. I felt like I was part of the ensemble most of the times, sitting at the Hyunam-dong bookshop watching things unfold. It made me yearn for such a warm, friendly independent bookshop in my area. A place where everyone loves books, there's excellent coffee available, bestsellers are not the main gimmick and you can meet like-minded people. Like every book lover, I've spent time wondering what it might be like to own a bookshop and envelope myself in books, to own a business where owners' profits are not the priority but meeting book lovers and making books accessible and interesting to everyone is. This book gave me a glimpse into that life and now I only want it more. 

Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing - Book Review

Picking up the Matthew Perry memoir was a no-brainer for me, for 2 reasons:

1. Chandler Bing was my favourite character on FRIENDS. I was like any other FRIENDS fan greedy for more tidbits and BTS stories about his character, the other leads and the show in general.

2. I had a curiosity about Matthew Perry, the man behind the Chandler mask, in particular I wanted to try and understand his addictions.

I've read a couple of lifestories, biographies, memoirs, the genre and from what I've seen, even in an autobiography, the authors tend to present to you only the best versions of themselves. The most perfect version of themselves so you'd get to know them and their lives with fondness. I imagine I would do the same thing, when we are nostalgic we paint our favourite memories with a rose tint. But this book took me by surprise. Matthew Perry (MP) has laid out his life and thoughts, bared himself like nothing else I've ever seen. Listening to this audiobook was like having access to somebody's secret self, their inner monologue. Atleast in my case that's where I'm most honest, THIS honest. It felt like he held back no parts of himself under the veil of privacy and that took me by surprise. It made me feel a tad nervous and strange. I wondered, "Is this much honesty allowed?"

I love listening to audiobooks narrated by the authors themselves. I feel then I get to read/hear the book in the exact same tone it was intended by them. When I started this book, I winced a little because MP at 50+ years old did not sound like the young and timeless Chandler Bing at all. His speech was slurred and it took me a little to get used to older, sicker MP's voice. It quickly grew on me though and soon felt warm and friendly, like listening to someone I knew closely. 

The first half of the book had me hooked. I was pulled into it like a magnet to iron. I was only one chapter in and I already thought it was among the best books I've ever read. I got through the first half of the book in one sitting. I haven't quite done that in a long long time. The only reason I stopped even then was because I wanted to slow this experience down, stretch it out and make it last. It was the first time looking at the "time left" on my audiobook made me visibly sad because I didn't want this audiobook to end at all. 

His writing is poetic, funny, witty, honest, had a beautiful sense of direction (in the beginning) which made the story telling excellent. How could one write so well? How can one be so unpretentious, funny, detached yet completely present, sincere and real about their deepest feelings and regrets, even their most painful memories?

As the title says this book is about the show FRIENDS, his friends, his lovers and the big terrible thing- his addictions. I got a very detailed insight into his addictions to drugs, alcohol and nicotine. I found myself clutching my chest with sorrow for him every now and then because I had the misfortune of reading this book after his death which meant throughout the book, even the good parts I always knew this one didn't have a happy ending. I had very little understanding of addictions and my empathy for people suffering from them has grown multifold now after this book. 

The storyline jumps back and forth in time which eventually got harder to keep track of because there were friends and lovers and addiction stories which kept coming and going sometimes with the same characters making reappearances or were they similar characters? The repetitive incidences with his relapses and sobriety were also starting to mash together in my head towards the last quarter of the book. I was beginning to lose count. I have to mention, the editing of this book was very poorly done because I noticed he repeated some stories and lines towards the end. I kept looking at the audiobook player wondering if I accidentally replayed an earlier chapter. I'm assuming from his own retelling, that this book was written over a long period of time with lots of breaks in between which may have caused MP to lose track. However this is a job for the editing team and I felt like they may have let this book down. I wonder if it could've been less loopy and more free flowing with better editing and honest feedback to the author in the initial stages of proofreading.

Nevertheless I do not regret spending 9 hours on this book. I have learnt a great deal about so much and I'm immeasurably inspired by his matter-of-fact acceptance of his life, narcissism, choices, money, addictions, fame, shortcomings, feelings and everything else he's written about. I found him to be endearing, incredibly brave and utterly simple in his core. I started reading this book with the intention of finding out more about Chandler Bing and the guy who played him. I honestly ended up liking MP more than I expected. He is way more interesting and fascinating than Chandler because Chandler was a character and he was played to perfection. He was given a character arc and he found redemption in the end. But not MP. I found his story to be a lot more wholesome, characterful and scarred, mistakes n all, the real deal. 

- 03 Jan 2025