My Precious!

I must tell you about this wonderful book that I stumbled upon. I had no idea such an author existed
but the moment I found him, I knew that we would go a long way!

Ever heard of Alexander McCall Smith and his wonderful "The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency" series? I read about them first on this blog, Hail! Mount Helicon. For those who love reading, this is in fact a good blog to follow. You can read the article here (scroll down for the article or try finding ‘Alexander’). I could not write better about the book or the author, so I will not even try. But I still cannot resist telling you a bit about why I love them so much.

The series is about Mma. Precious Ramotswe and her ‘The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency' in Botswana. Sensible, middle aged, and ‘traditionally built’ (I love that word - so far the best euphemism for ‘fat’. So all you people- call me traditionally built now), Mma Ramotswe is highly respected and loved. What sets these books apart from the usual ‘case files’ format of sleuth stories is that they predominantly explore her life, during which she also happens to find solutions to a few issues in her town.

This seemingly boring setting is what in fact makes the book such an excellent read. It is as simple as simple can be. There are no prosaic passages, no words that will have you referring to the dictionary often. And yet, the style is so lucid, so enchanting that you will not put down the book before you are through it. The characters are full of life, but live on their own pace, never in a hurry to rush past the world. The book is full of worldly wisdom blended into the characters without the usual conscious ‘positive thinking’ formulae.

Amazing still is the response the book evoked in all the friends I passed it on to. All of them were hooked to the first – and craving the rest. So now all of us are buying/borrowing all the parts. And we do not even need to say the name of the book anymore – we communicate through numbers. I know that an sms that says “You want 4 or 5?” – is about The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series and not about the number of doughnuts that I might want my friend to get.

If you enjoy books on people (and not necessarily ones who have walked the earth), you might love this. I am now the proud owner of parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7. I love you Ms Rao for parts 3 and 4! All of you who might want to gift me the rest (there are a total of 10 books in the series as of now) please check with me to make sure I have not already got them by the time you are at the book shop.

Cheers!

PS: I have almost decided that I will update my blog twice a week – by Tuesday and Friday evening. This will leave me with enough time to write. It would also be easier for you to know when to check this out and leave your comments. (Oh pleeeeeeeeease do!)