Are We 'Cool'?

Today, I read 'Almost Single' by Advaita Kala. It was gifted to me by Shivi and hence the dedicated reading. I would hate to trash an aspiring novelist and I will just say that the book leaves a lot be desired. At the same time, I take umbrage to the casual treatment meted out to me as a reader and I will add 'Lady put your act together'. Even if it is not that good, at least it should be original. Many ideas are straight from 'Sex and the City' and unfortunately rather badly presented. Since I just finished the series and am pretty impressed by it, I am not so impressed by Ms Kala. Look at some examples:

1. The friends call each other 'Sister'. I have heard this term in this context only in SATC (Sex And The City) - no other book, no real life conversation
   
2. The Shoes! That is so SATC!! how can somebody talk about shoes in exactly the same way!
3. These friends go to the opening of a new lounge bar - The girls in SATC are always going to the openings of new hip places in town. But yes, here i give Ms Kala the benefit of doubt since this is a perfectly legitimate outing for a group of single girls. But again, as Carrie's friend, Samantha, in SATC keeps getting these invitations so does the heroine's friend Anushka in the book
4. The thing of ending the chapter with a lot of questions - so SATC!
5. But the most objectionable of all is the Sunday brunch - that is sacred to SATC! and woe on the person who tries to copy it (unsuccessfully!) She could at least have made it dinner or something
6. Some other sundry similarities which I am not allowed to mention here :-)

These SIMILARITIES to SATC apart, the main problem with the book is that although she brings us lots of issues facing the single metro woman, she does not really explore any of it in depth (as Shivi and I concluded today!). All of us (at least the single set) knows about the issues - the society, the inner conflicts, the decisions etc but there should the author's take on it to make the book worth a read. Or, as Shivi says, she should at least bring out some points and leave in open ended making the reader think.

I felt that the story was not told well- no inner conflicts portrayed - the fight with the hero meaningless - but Shivi says that there was no story! Instead, the author is just portraying a way of life. Well maybe.Still, I wouldn't advise junta on spending money on this one. But, one Review says the contrary!
As Shivi said and I agreed - we could have written this stuff. In fact, Shivi could have written a better book than this!
I am scared by the thought - Do I sound so boring and trite in my blog as the lady does in her book. Sadly for me, I know I do many times! But, I have the consolation that I am not selling this stuff for money and hence have no customer to please! Also, only my friends read my blog and they won't judge me as harshly as I do.

Speaking of SATC - i finally finished the series. And it was a good one, I must say. Although, I felt that in the end Carrie's decision to leave her job and her New York and move to Paris was entirely uncharacteristic of her. Maybe because now her focus was on settling down so much that she was ready to pay any price! Her main idea was that her friends had settled and so should she - sadly, I expected more from her! She was supposed to be stronger! And if she was ready to compromise so much now, she could have got Aidan for much less (and he was a much better guy!) but then maybe at that time she was not that desperate!

Anyway, the ending was very appropriate and it closed the story very well. All the loose ends were properly tied and appropriately tied. I wonder what the movie which follwoed was made on - since there was no loose end to continue! I really don't want to watch the movie since I think it would spoil the series. Finally, all them reached some sort of balance and I would like to have them retain that in my mind!
Its true -sequels can be dangerous. I learnt it the hard way when I read Scarlett and Mrs De Winter (sequels to Gone with the Wind and Rebecca - one of my favorite novels ever!)

Note - Post header dedicated to Madam Mercury! And yes, we single girls are 'cool' in spite of trashy novels and poor boyfriends.

Another Note - What's with Aishwarya, her eyes and her expressions? Yesterday, I watched some scenes of 'Mohabbatein' on TV. The most critical scene where she commits suicide is so expressionless. If the TV is on mute you would never realise that she is so anguished that she would kill herself in the next scene! And, her eyes remain the same in every scene! As I have said earlier, you can never tell which emotion she is tring to express - her eyer remain equally expressionless all the time!

Yet Another Note - Nothing, I am done! If I have anything else to say, I will write a new post :-)