reviews

I read The Face by Phil Whitaker a couple of days back and didn’t feel like writing a review about it. I felt cheated. This novel is supposed to be a thriller, but there are no thrills for the reader. Phil Whitaker makes a futile attempt to create mystery to get the readers hooked till the end, but the narrative is so boring that one eventually leaves the book midway. I had to read on though as I had decided to write a review of The Face.

Zoe wants to know the truth behind her father’s death, she wants to know Nottingham, the city where her  father was born and died. She doesn’t get to know why her father was driving like a maniac when he crashed his car, though the initial implications of the author are to suggest it a case of murder. The reader’s curiosity is never raised to an optimum level. There is hint every where that Declan has something to do with Zoe’s father Ray Arthur’s death, because they did something terrible togethr in the past.

That something terrible was just a replacing of a sketch of a supposed criminal when his original sketch is misplaced. You get it in the end and you feel cheated. Its not a good thriller and its not a good family drama too. Declan is jealous and fascinated by the way Ray treats her daughter with such affection, whereas Zoe never gets to be close to her father all her life. She doesn’t know that he had been suffering from depression, that he didn’t want to live alone in the house, and yet she embarks on a journey to find out more about how he died and  about his past.

The Face: To be avoided. Do something useful with your time.

Rebellious Arab Girl is a rebel who is not too happy with her life. I got on her blog just by chance.It was long time back. Mona is a Palestinian girl who is a software and net expert. She speaks her mind on everything that she feels. When I read her blog, I am reminded of my self as a teenager. I was more or less like her. Always ready to take on the world in order to defend my views and opinions. Like Mona, I too wasn’t very forgiving. What’s wrong is wrong, I won’t support any lie or deceit. That was my motto.

Today I sensed a lonliness in the Rebellious Arab Girl. She isn’t too happy that she is not married though she is 28, while other girls who have done many sinful things are blissfully happy. Mona may not realise that most of the guys ( cut across the nation or races), like their wives to be docile and meek, which she clearly isn’t. Who likes a woman who speaks her mind and doesn’t fear to call a fool a fool in his face? This isn’t considered a woman’s virtue anywhere around the world. But Rebellious Arab Girl is holding fort and I am sure these moments of sadness will pass.

I like Edinburgh more than London. But there is one thing that I miss. The Poundland shop. It is strange that Edinburgh doesn’t have a Poundland.  Or if there is one then I don’t know about it. Though I have searched many a times on internet on ” Poundland in Edinburgh”, but the result was always zero.

I always buy books for my daughter from poundland. The books are hard-bound and full of big pictures. Small kids like to play with papers and tear the pages which is also a play for them. These hard bound books are very durable, and don’t get easily torn.
You get every household product at affordable prices in poundland. Most of the stuff is for one pound. I think pound land is a haven for shoppers like me who don’t have to stay at one place for long. The essential commodities are at throw away prices. You get everything from headphones, to DIY tools, from toiletries to computer games, foods, toys, books. Poundland is not only affordable for adults, it is a place for kids too. Children can confidently go in and buy something of their interest from their pocket money.

Downside of shopping at Poundland is that you get carried away and shop more than you need. When every thing before you is one pound or less, you tend to spend on things that are not needed in your household.

I heard the news from my husband. The legendry retai shop is closing its more than 300 shops all over UK. That’s a shock for me and many others who were so used to dropping in Woolworths every time we passed by one of its stores. I bought my daughter;s first bike from here. She still rides it. I had never imagined that the ecomomic clampdown will hit Woolworths too. Its really sad.

I went to watch this movie with my sister-in law and I went mad with laughter. The movie has so many quirky moments which reminded me of my romance with my husband. We too were a group of six friends and we felt such closeness with each other that our friendship is still same after ten years of passing out of college.
Imran Khan is very cute and so is Genelia. Her talent hasn’t been utilized by Bollywood and Jane Tu… should change that. The movie has that peculiar Aamir Khan stamp which makes each of his movies different from run of the mill stuff.
Abbas Tyrewala has been able to extract wonderful performances from the cast. Did you know that Smita Patil and Raj Babbar’s son Prateek Babbar has played Genelia’s brother in this movie? He has done a good job, so have Jayat Kriplani and Anuradha Patel, Ratna Pathak Shah and Manjari Phadnis.