Dear book lovers, perphaps, you could share with us some of your favorite summer readings. Pico Iyer is one expressive writer (author of "Video Night in Kathmandu") I have read and loved:

ABANDON
By Pico Iyer.

ýKill me now, for I long to be with the One I love!ý John Macmillan, an English graduate student of Islamic mystical poetry, determined to view the world in Sufi light hears these words in the somber lecture hall of his California University. In Pico Iyerýs novel, ýAbandoný, the protagonist struggles to understand the more obscure work of the prolific Sufi poet, Rumi. Set against the backdrop of a sunny California, Macmillanýs insatiable desire for some rare but elusive Sufi manuscript leads him through Spain, India and Iran. Equally disorienting is his attraction to the elusive but neurotic Camilla Jensen who seems to float in and out of his orderly-thesis-writing life at the most inopportune times. The story is a merger of Sufi mysticism, spiritual confusion and romantic love ý all of which give a new but parallel meaning to the word ýAbandoný. ýAbandonýýThe state where the true Sufi, the passionate lover and the spiritual travelerýall, give up reason, passion and faith to understand the all consuming desire for knowledge.

At this new age era when new age spiritualism has taken a gigantic hold in the West, Iyerýs book seems timely. Iyer, who was born to Indian parents and educated in England, now lives in Japan; no doubt, his very lifestyle aids him in his depiction of cross cultural mergers and transitions. A keen observer and a sensitive writer, Iyer, in his ýVideo Night in Kathmanduý, reflects on the effects of modernity in traditional societies. A well traveled ýnowherianý, as he refers to himself in his other book ýThe Global Soulý, Pico explores worldwide displacement while experiencing the ýglobal villageý where cultural fusion serves to overwhelm the senses at an alarmingly rapid rate.

"You are the violation of my vows,

My apostasy, my faith.

I shatter myself and you,

I bend to pick up the pieces.



You move me.

Out of stasis.

I see your reflection in the mirror.

I can't tell me from you.



No, no closer.

Stay away!

Already you are as close to me

As the fire to the flame."

(A Sufi Poem from "Abandon", a book by Pico Iyer)

i loved "life of Pi"

books I like:

Tell me your dreams : Sidney Sheldon.. and other books by sidney are good too
books by Judith McNaught
The Thornbirds was good too

Bedrock: I found some parts of Life of Pi -- specially in the begining -- extremely funny. However, once Mr. Pi was lost at sea, I thought the story took a very boring and monotonous turn. The end result: Although I enjoyed some parts of it, I regretted having bought the book.

Sitz: My attempts to read Imperial Hubris suffered an abrubt break due to long-awaited vacation. Nevertheless, from the dozen or so pages that I had finished, I got the impression that it's a Chomsky-type investigative (perhaps informative too, if the facts presented in the book are accurate) attack on the Bush administration's handling of the so-called "war on terror". I would say one would love that book if s/he agrees with the general belief of the author, and you'd hate it if you don't -- there is practically no room for middle grounds. The author is "Anonymous" because s/he is supposedly a high-ranking CIA official who'd like to protect his/her identity.

I lop dictionary! anyone else?

that's cuz Red just evolved into a man ! Everyone knws what he was before! :p