A-Z Book List: T for Tell

I had mentioned in one of my earlier A-Z Book series post that I got introduced to Fiction through a friend who owned almost all of Sidney Sheldon’s novels. I have read almost all of his works because she had them with her and I am a fairly fast reader.  One of my very favorites of his work is ‘If Tomorrow Comes‘. I have got a copy for myself when I found it in a 2+1 sale. With such a kick arse leading lady, Tracey Whitney, it was such a pleasure to read that novel. It is still my favorite of all his books. I could have used that book for today’s alphabet, but there is one more very appropriate one.

Name: Tell me your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Psychology, Drama, Fiction

It was another book that got me all wound up and I was not able to figure out who, what, when etc. All of his books have very strong female characters. And this one has three. All of the varied characters and varied levels of complexity. Or are they? Spoiler Alert. Yes. I cannot say anything about this book without giving away a very crucial information.

In Tamil, around 1997-1999 I believe there used to be a series called Marmadesam (Land of mystery). There were three main stories to it which were one the very few series I managed to watch (because my mom was a big fan of those) and I liked it too. Well, it was about mystery, mythology, belief etc. And it was done well too. The second story of that series was called Vidaadhu Karuppu. Karuppu is the God of the village where the story takes place and the title means, Karuppu will not spare you. So if you are doing anything wrong in that village, you better be careful. It was the first time I learnt anything about split personalities or multiple personality disorders. So it did help me to figure out the characters of those three ladies in ‘Tell me your dreams’ almost during the third half of the novel. That doesn’t mean that it did not make me lose my interest.

Later when a Tamil movie Anniyan was released, which was also based on multiple personality disorders, I thought it the director took his inspiration from this novel. Because it was too close. Three characters from one person. All three very varied in their behaviour. There are too many similarities to miss. But the director denied it. Well, whatever.

I also got to show off to my roommates and friends that I already knew what was ailing those women and they were quite impressed 😉 Of course, I did not tell them about the series I had watched already.

Sidney Sheldon’s novels can be very cliched and quite predictable after a couple of novels, but there were a good source of entertainment. And they are all mysteries.

 

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

Portable Magic – Solving the mystery

After my post graduation just before I joined my job in a different city, I remember going through some books and found a novel in the group (how it came there, I don’t remember). I only remember seeing it in my Uncle’s place some long time ago. That book did not have its front page and it was a well used one. It was ‘The Seventh Secret by Irving Wallace’. I still remember that story, because at one point of time, whenever I felt bored I used to take this book and re-read it. And this story introduced me to the genre of Mystery Thriller. And if it is related to Hitler and Eva Braun and their escape and the possible incidents that can come out of it along with some hard core action, what is not there to like?  It was a good and very interesting book, kept me at the edge of my seat and biting my non-existent nails ( I don’t have the habit of growing nails, something I grew out of since I used to go for those typewriting classes in my school days). I hadn’t read many books by then, but this mystery, suspense and thriller genre got me so enthralled that later it became my favorite genre among books. I lost that book somewhere when I changed cities and companies and went to the working women’s hostels. But the fact that this story still remains with me is a wonder.

During my stint in a women’s hostel in the city of my first job, my neighbor was this woman, a social worker and one of the very strong human beings I have met in my life, and a total enigma to me.She had a separate room for herself (I was sharing with 3 other co-workers) and never allowed anyone in her room and kept very odd timings. But when she slowly warmed up to me, and saw me reading my Tamil novel (yes, the same Ponniyin Selvan again) she asked me if I wanted to try some English novels. I was so happy to hear that. And when she opened her room to me, I was stunned. The shelf was almost full of books , all fiction. I didn’t know what to pick and was going through each of them. She then suggested me ‘If Tomorrow comes by Sidney Sheldon’. She was a fan of Sidney Sheldon and had all his books. And she couldn’t have picked a better book of his from that list. Till day, that is one of my very favorite book of Sidney Sheldon and I have read almost all of his books which she had in her library before I left that city. And I own a copy of this book with me now. This book also was in the crime, mystery, thriller category and I decided that I will stick to this genre and read as much of them as possible. I don’t remember a lot of books I have read in this genre even though I can name some, my first preference of a genre if I have enough time to read (not those one day quick reads) will be Mystery and Thriller. But having said that I haven’t read any of Stephen King type horror cum mystery. That is something I am not sure I will be interested in. But would have to try that sometime.

And since then I used to pick up any book that was in that genre and that is how Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie also came into my list. And I haven’t read any non-fiction book till then (not counting my technical books). Who knew that those can be fun too.