प्रेषित


यावर्षी वाचून आवडलेलं हे दुसरं थरारक पुस्तक. खरं तर ही एक विज्ञानकथा आहे. पण प्रत्येक पानागणिक आपली उत्कंठा वाढवणारे आहे. सदतीस वर्षांपूर्वी ही कथा लिहिली आहे यावर विश्वासच बसत नाही. आपल्या काळाच्या मानाने लेखकाचे विचार व कल्पकता कितीतरी पुढे होती याची जाणीव हे पुस्तक वाचताना होते.एक वैज्ञानिक, प्रिंगल, अवकाशात अजून कुठे जीवसृष्टी आहे का याचा शोध लावतोय. ते सुद्धा लपून छपून मिलिटरीच्या यंत्रणेने. एका अपघातात त्याचा मृत्यू होतो. जवळजवळ चाळीस वर्षानंतर एका युवा जोडप्याला एका शेतात एक मूल सापडते ज्याचे नाव आलोक ठेवले जाते.

लहानपणापासून हा आलोक समवयस्क मूलांपेक्षा जास्त बुद्धीवान असतो. कुटुंबाचा फॅमिली डॉक्टर आणि मुलाचे शिक्षक त्याच्यावर लक्ष ठेवून असतात कारण त्यांना हा मुलगा विशेष आहे हे कळून चुकते. कथानक पुढे सरते तसे हा मुलगा एक परग्रहवासी आहे याचा उलगडा हळूहळू होत जातो. पुढे आलोक काय व कशासाठी करतो हे अत्यंत सुंदर पद्धतीने लिहिले आहे.

सुरूवातीला म्हटल्याप्रमाणे हे पुस्तक उत्कंठा वाढवणारे आहे. एकदा वाचायला सुरुवात केली मग सहज सोडवत नाही. लेखकाने उत्तम प्रकारे विषयाची मांडणी केली आहे. साध्या भाषेचा प्रयोग केल्याने वाचावयास कठीण जात नाही. चुकवू नये असे हे पुस्तक मुद्दामहून वाचा. नक्की आवडेल यात शंका नाही. 

Artemis

 

Somewhere in near future, say 100 years when most of us who are reading this will be dead, Man makes base on the Moon. The base soon turns into a full fledged city which is named Artemis, named after Greek goddess. Author should have studied mythologies from other cultures. He could have come up with a better name.

The book has Artemis at its center and a character named Jazz. Her actual name is Jasmine. She arrived on Artemis when she was six from Saudi Arabia and have been there for last 20 years. She works as a low-level porter and earns her living by delivering and smuggling goods. That’s when you learn that no world is free from crime. Where there is man, there’s crime.

Trond is a telecom tycoon who shifted to Artemis because of her daughter who is crippled by an car crash on Earth. The low gravity on Moon helps her walk with crutches which would have been impossible on Earth. Trond is typical businessman who is always looking to expand and make profits. He finds an opportunity to make it big on Artemis. He hires Jazz for a job which leads both of them into deep trouble. Do they get out of the trouble? Who helps them and who is after them? You’ll find answers to these questions when you read the book.

When you start reading this,  you won’t even know that Jazz is female. Not until a few pages when author uses the noun. She behaves like a man which she carries till the end. Her tomboy image adds some spice to the story. After 30 odd pages, you’ll start comparing this to The Martian. You will be disappointed. Especially in the climax part when there are more intelligent and experienced person living on Artemis, why everyone looks up to Jazz? It doesn’t make sense. She is witty. She is clever. She is a rebel. These qualities make the reading delightful just until the climax. It doesn’t click. There is something missing in the finale. Let me know if you find that.

Humor is the biggest plus point of the story. It makes you laugh. There is some sarcasm and crude humor too. Something for everyone I say. If you find it difficult to laugh while reading this, then my friend you should make that appointment with your shrink. You need it.

The blend of characters makes a tasty smoothie. You’ll get to taste many flavors. You’ll like every flavor. Even if you don’t like it, you’ll not dislike it. You’ll enjoy the smoothie until it hits the bottom where it wouldn’t be smooth anymore. I just hope that wouldn’t leave a bad taste.

Beg. Borrow. Steal. Read this shit.

P.S. – If you are a devote Muslim or a hardcore feminist, You may want to skip this book. Jazz is a Muslim girl who sleeps around with different guys. She talks freely of her sexuality. She drinks. She doesn’t wear hijab. She leaves alone, away from her family. These things don’t go well with the Muslims I guess. For the feminists, you have a lot to criticize about the way author has presented her. There’s a lot of sex talk, jibes which are awkward. If you fall into the above two categories, you may want to stay clear.

Lovestory 2050 – Is it so rubbish??

While sleeping on bed I had nothing much to do other than sleeping. To kill time I was tracking the path of the mosquitoes and trying to visualize the curves. Then I put these examples in my twelfth  class(In my dreams) to equation with the help of integrals. I have lost my dominance over integration and limits after my college. It seems there is no way back.

This movie Lovestory 2050 was lying for some days on my hard disk. I was hesitating to watch this due to many reviews and negative comments. But I have to. C’mon it’s got Priyanka. So I started and soon realized why this received so much booos(it’s “s” and not “z”).  Because there is a pet robot named boo in this film. I thought I’ll get my headache back and my fever will start again. I managed till the half. Then it was a bit easy.

I liked the plot of the story. But the screenplay is total mess. It is too much stretched with unnecessary events in the start. Most of you will get bored up during this time. I was about to but there was presence of Priyanka which was eye soothing. What else can make you resist the nuisance of screenplay? Our hero Harman does dance well. But fails in dialog delivery. Learn some acting. Go to some acting school. Continue reading →