Feb 19, 2001 03:37 PM
7034 Views
Shobha De....brought up in a narrow minded, middle class family has surfed through many waves of life. From a rebellious teenager to a modish model and a frustrated copywriter...uprooting to the editorship of stardust and to today, a glittering socialite and perhaps india's best known (and most criticized) writer, she has been there, done that.
These 50 words recapitulate her life pretty suitably. That she decided to do the same in about 500 pages is another matter. This is one of Shobha De's less popular books, and fittingly so because it doesnt have the customary stamp of quality her writings carry. It keeps wooing your interest on and off...but you need an excellent attention span to enjoy all of it.The most exciting part of the book is where she describes her encounters with and impressions of other celebrated people....
amitabh bachchan - pokes fun at his attempts to appear graceful
v s naipaul - writes of his vanity and narcissism
mf husain - praise galore!
Something I noticed while reading this book is be it her days as a defiant teen who had a crush on a rugby player next door, or the fiery editor of stardust who couldnt care less for the stars, shobha de has always been ahead of her times. She writes candidly and scrupulously of her dislikes and painstakingly sketches some very interesting experiences... like the one when she found herself weeping at the brussels airport or how she met her husband and married him after a week.
A large part of the book is about her younger years (just about readable), her thoughts and her family (bores the wits our of you). The string that holds this book together is her observations of diverse people and issues.she doesnt get enough of it in her columns, does she.
Autobiographies seldom make for dreary reading, so while Selective Memory might not be all that dull, if you really want to read something of this sort you have much better alternatives out there...so try some selective reading : )
2.5/5
