Dark Harbor: Building House and Home on an Enchanted Island (Mehta, Ved, Continents of Exile.)

Rating:
Summary: the man is interesting, not the house
Review: Forget the other Great Autobiographies like Paustowsky and Proust. Ved Mehta and his Continents of exile is far better then anything in this field of writing. In very elegant, humorous English he gives you the story of his life, and the angle differs a bit each time. That counts for the disappointed readers that expect a book about The New Yorker or A House On A Maine Island. What you get is the fascinating story of a blind Indian man that grew up in India, came to America, went to England and back to America, and combines all these influences and continents with humor and an intelligent attitude.
A great series and another great book.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: I found this book to be tedious and far too concerned with the parochial, and frankly dull, details of Mr. Mehta's feelings about having a house built on an island off the coast of Maine. Not enough about Maine. Too much about Mehta. Too bad.

Rating:
Summary: Travails and Tantrums of Building a (blind man's) House
Review: Why should you read a book about building a house? Aren't millions of them built in the US every year? What's special about them?

Well, the author (who is building the house) is blind for one. Add to it the fact that, he couldn't afford it when he started building. And then he was building it on a remote island in Maine. If you thought that this is a recipe for disaster, you are correct. But he seems to persevere through the whole thing and builds a fabulous house in the end.

Two of the reviewers (I couldn't help notice both are from New England) seem to think that the book is about the beauty of Maine. And therefore conclude that the book is not a good book. So what is the book about? .. it is about a blind mans life, his aspirations and desperations; about how a house project always costs much more than is budgeted; about how a house is a never ending project; about architecture; and of course about the beauty of an island in Maine (but not just that).

All in all a very interesting read.