Chick Flick Weekend

I am sorry this post is coming a little late . I wanted to post it yesterday but was so immersed in reading ” Names My Sisters Call Me ” by Megan Crane that I forgot .

A really non productive Sunday as far as reading goes. But did lots of other stuff that was fun like cleaning my room (ya , I turn into a cleanliness freak when I get yelled at by mom early in the morning 🙂 ) , cleaning my book shelf  while watching Devil Wears Prada and Legally Blonde I on DVD back to back for like the nth time  , gorging on great South Indian food that mom made for us seeing that we were working like maniacs trying to bring a balance into our room. I call it a Sunday well spent.

I watched three chick flicks this weekend including The Divine Secrets Of Ya Ya Sisterhood.

 

Love the way Meryl Streep says “That’s all”. I cannot think of  anyone else who could say that with more cynicism or should I say that devilish charm .She is a perfect Miranda Priestly , the hot shot , always demanding , never relenting editor- in-chief of Runway . Anne Hathway comes off a little unsure in the role of Andrea .I liked Andrea  Sachs from the book . She was more real. The best in this movie would be Emily Blunt as Emily , the senior assistant  to Miranda who is Andy’s senior . The movie was much milder than the book. At times  I try to imagine what if  it had the kind of ending the book did , how would that have worked out?

With all the faults I find in this movie after comparing it to the book, it still rates as a 5 starrer in my chick flick list. I can watch it any number of times. Do you want to know the exact number of times I have watched this one 🙂 26 times 😉

Did you like this movie? What did you think about the movie ending in comparison to the book’s ending?

Please don’t judge me for this

Just when I thought I had enough challenges not just for the coming year but also for next 10 years 🙂 I go and sign up for another challenge. That’s right , I did it and I am confessing . Wait till you hear the name of the challenge dearies. It is What’s In A Name ? 3 Challenge . Just tell me how could I resist that . So I went ahead  and signed up. The categories are fab too have a look :

Between January 1 and December 31, 2010, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a food in the title
2. A book with a body of water in the title
3. A book with a title (queen, president) in the title
4. A book with a plant in the title
5. A book with a place-name (city, country) in the title
6. A book with a music term in the title

It is hosted by Beth F and it has a blog of it’s own. So what are you waiting for? Go on, sign up..

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Summary from Goodreads:

When Elspeth Noblin dies of cancer, she leaves her London apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina. These two American girls never met their English aunt, only knew that their mother, too, was a twin, and Elspeth her sister. Julia and Valentina are semi-normal American teenagers–with seemingly little interest in college, finding jobs, or anything outside their cozy home in the suburbs of Chicago, and with an abnormally intense attachment to one another.

The girls move to Elspeth’s flat, which borders Highgate Cemetery in London. They come to know the building’s other residents. There is Martin, a brilliant and charming crossword puzzle setter suffering from crippling Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Marjike, Martin’s devoted but trapped wife; and Robert, Elspeth’s elusive lover, a scholar of the cemetery. As the girls become embroiled in the fraying lives of their aunt’s neighbors, they also discover that much is still alive in Highgate, including–perhaps–their aunt, who can’t seem to leave her old apartment and life behind.

My Views:

I have given it 5 stars rating , but did I absolutely love this book? Let me put it this way , I was sucked into the story from page 1 line 1 , read it all night till wee hours of morning , got scared at a few places , was surprised at few twists , shocked and frustrated as it drew to close and when I finally turned the last page I was mentally exhausted. If a book can do all this to you , I think it would be worth 5 stars don’t you think so?

I think William Styron said “A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.”  If I take this quote into consideration I think it is  a great book.But this is all subjective.

Getting on with the review :
Audrey Niffenegger’s latest book has a scary theme but a very interesting one. My favorite character from the book would be Obsessive Compulsive Martin. His neurosis gets on to the readers nerves but you will remember him even after the book has ended.

Julia and Valentina , Elspeth’s nieces who inherit her property after Elspeth’s death are so similar to each other in appearance as different are their personalities. I sometimes wonder if authors create this fierce twin and shy twin characters just to pique the interest in readers but this factor always does a lot to the story line.In this story the factor is multiplied two times with two sets of identical twins.

I was shocked literally shocked at the way everything turned out in the end and was so frustrated at some characters that I thought I must have understood the lines wrong while reading sleepless all night , so I even went back few pages to confirm as to what I had read but that’s the way it was. It is a book that will make you sit up and take notice.

When reading this don’t expect another Time Traveller’s wife. It is a very well written book with no hang overs from the author’s earlier work . A word of caution though; you won’t stop reading once you have begun , you might love it or criticise it or hate it  but you will want to finish it in one go 🙂 Trust me I did .

Highly recommended.

My Rating : 5 out of 5