Angels and Demons, starring Tom Hanks. An adaptation from the book Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. It is one of the books I enjoyed reading, a unique blend of art of Rome and fast paced thriller. But on seeing the movie, I was totally disappointed. Here goes my reasoning behind it.

I expected to see Rome and its beauty. Its churches, the art of Bernini, in its regal splendour, if not in the entire movie, atleast some portions of it. I expected to see the cardinals chanting the Carmelengo’s name, it is the highlight of the book. The speech between Langdon and Carmelengo, the speech that Carmelengo gives to Cardinals to justify the war between the church and science, the BBC correspondent and his adventures. I expected an aerial view of Rome, showing the giant cross that marks the Path of Illumination. I expected the final Illuminati symbol, the Illuminati Diamond to be shown.

Lots of expectations, but all these were missing in the movie. So my verdict will be, if you have already read the book, Avoid watching the movie. If not, go and do watch it.

I just completed reading ‘The White Tiger’, a novel by Aravind Adiga. It is really fast. Interesting point about the book is the way Adiga had portrayed India, Delhi and Bangalore. There are controversies surrounding the way he had treated Nepalis, Tamilians in his novel. Forgiving those, I found it to be entertaining.

The story is about a person moving from rags to riches, in a crooked way. It is written as a narrative by a person living in the backyard slums of Delhi, moving to Delhi to become a car driver and then a entrepreneur in Bangalore. He discusses the pitiful state of the drivers, the poor in the towns and cities of India.

‘Anything is possible, provided you find a way’, is the gist of the book.

Among all the detective stories read worldwide, there is one character that remains on top. Sherlock Holmes. A tall, lean man, with a smoking pipe and used to cocaine and playing solo on violin from Baker Street in London that is how Sherlock Holmes is described by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle’s tells the adventures of Holmes in the voice of his roommate Dr. Watson.

I started reading from the novel ‘The Study in the Scarlet’, where Watson, Holmes are all introduced to the readers. I liked ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ the most among all other stories. The style in which Doyle narrates the stories make the reader believe that there was a man Holmes who lived and solved the mysteries.

The approach is analytical and logical. Holmes was such a character that when Doyle decides to put an end to the character, he was forced by his readers to bring the character back to life. The address No.7, Baker Street in London where Holmes was told to reside has become a landmark.

Holmes still lives in the minds of his readers.