The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

I had picked up this book a couple of years back but somehow left it even before completing the first chapter. Now I wonder why. I hope it was lack of time or another such reason rather than not liking the book. Whatever, this time I am glad I read it.

A should-read if not a must-read, my intention is not to summarize the story. I will leave most of it for the curious readers to find out for themselves.

The God of Small Things.

“India is a free country”. But not everyone is free to do what they like. Especially when it comes to loving someone. Either you don’t love the right man or you don’t have the right to love the one you do. A typical story about love and castes, it shows how two twins get trapped in the family drama and tragedy.

The story is not new. The two-egg twins are the protagonists. Their mother is a divorcee, educated as well, totally looked down upon by society, by her own family as well. And then she tops it up by loving a Paravan. The twins think of themselves as one, like twins very often do. The family’s distress falls upon these two kids who suffer for no fault of their own. The story begins with the funeral of an English cousin (the twins’ cousin); somehow the twins are held responsible for this. How? Why? You have to read on. For a long time.

For over half the book, the suspense and drama runs high. One by one the pieces fall into place. The narrative moves back and forth in time. Suddenly you find yourself in the present and as suddenly, you are thrown back to the past. There is a lot of wordplay and details, so much so that at times it becomes too much, but there are scenic descriptions of God’s Own Country. Towards the end there is an awesome rendition of a Kathakali performance in a temple. I am tempted to watch a live Kathakali performance now; I want to see if it is as good to see as it was to read.

Amazingly sarcastic, Arundhati Roy takes a dig, no, a lot of digs, at Indian caste distinctions, at how Indians go ga-ga over white skinned foreigners, at how old maiden aunts take it upon themselves to interfere in everything. There are loud glimpses of male chauvinism throughout the book, with a woman being beaten by a brass vase everyday, by her husband of course, just because she was running a successful pickle business; about women’s education: He decided that since she couldn’t have a husband there was no harm in her having an education and so on.

There are some thought-provoking statements too. It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on for so much longer than the memory of the life that it purloined. This is so true. Also some more satire like All Indian mothers are obsessed with their sons and are therefore poor judges of their abilities. I liked the book but I loved it for its sarcasm!

A thought: Ammu, the twins’ mother, found herself badly cheated the first time she fell in love. Her husband turned out to be a drunkard with no morals. Of course she was badly hurt. But she fell in love again, if at all it was love. What about the age-old adage: Once burnt, twice shy?

True History of The Kelly Gang - Peter Carey

While I wondered how Atonement missed the Booker Award in 2001, my husband got me a copy of that year’s winner. Half way through it I had my answer.

Contrary to the title, the story is a work of fiction on Ned Kelly’s life and his rise (or is it fall?) to becoming an outlaw. Told in first person by the leader of the Kelly Gang, the story starts with his childhood and family history and moves on to his later years. The book is divided in 13 sections, called parcels, each with a small summary of its contents, giving it a very authentic air. So much so that I had to keep reading the actual version of the incidents and remind myself that it is fiction, not biography that I am reading.

Set in 19th century Australia, Carey’s description of the hardships faced by Kelly and many others of his class at the hands of the higher-ups and the police, leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind of who the hero is. There is a feeling of great relief and happiness as Ned wins against them. So impressed was I by Ned that I scavenged the internet for more and more information on his life. Even though the book lacks punctuation and follows no grammatical rules, the story telling is so compelling that the writing feels completely natural after some stumbling in the initial chapters.

Very impressed with Peter Carey’s style, his Oscar and Lucinda (Booker Award, 1988) is next on my list. And thanks to Zishaan for getting me the book, this was one of my best reads.

The Gathering - Anne Enright

(w/ Spoilers)

So bleak and dark, you can not read it fast, try as much as you can.

The narrator, Veronica, feels the loss most when her brother Liam goes astray and dies alone. There is a secret buried in the past which is responsible for Liam’s fall. With promises to unearth this secret, the narrator describes her family’s tragic history. However, the secret is not convincing enough. Is that all that happened? Traumatic incident, yes, but how does it link with everything else? What else happened?

The book is not about Liam as it initially promises to be, it is not about their grandmother Ada. It is not even about Veronica or her strange mother. There is a lot about all of them but most characters remain undeveloped and unconnected.

There is something noticeable though. Intentional or unintentional, there is similarity in plot with ‘The God of Small Things’. Veronica and Liam’s attachment, even though there are a dozen kids in the house, is clearly reminiscent of Estha and Rahel earlier. There is resemblance in the way gloom and misery runs through generations in the family. And if none of this is close enough, there is no mistaking the same (not similar, “same”) ‘traumatic’ experience of Estha and Liam!

If you are looking for some happy reading, then I say Not Recommended. But if you do not like the colors around you or are especially fond of gray, please go ahead and read 'The Gathering'.

The Calcutta Chromosome - Amitav Ghosh

For quite sometime I wanted to read Amitav Ghosh. So when my friend offered to lend me The Calcutta Chromosome, I jumped at it.

A quick summary (no spoilers): Antar is some guy who does something on his ultra-psued computer Ava and tracks listing of some objects. Doing this he comes across a certain Murugan’s i-card, who has been missing for some years. He soon remembers that this Murugan was his colleague and gets into the search. Murugan had come to Calcutta for some research on Sir Ronald Ross. There is (or was?) some Urmila and her family, Sonali Das, Mrs. Aratounian, Mangala, boy with palm trees on his t-shirt, Romen Haldar, Cunnigham, Maria, Tara, Lucky, Phulboni, Director and so many more people. What most of them were doing, I have no clue.

Filled with innumerable characters, who are all some how linked to the story, the plot moves on. The mystery remains intriguing for almost two-thirds of the book. However, there is too much going back and forth in time. The mix of the past and the present and the scientific and the supernatural becomes too giddy. I had to keep going back; I had to keep checking who was who and what was happening. And then comes the end! I actually re-read the last two chapters hoping that I would find out what I missed. After reading the whole book, I found that the end was as good as missing!

I think the author himself got lost in the twists and turns and just gave up on the end. He himself must have lost the link between all those bits and pieces and clay models and Renupurs and Sealdahs.

Wait, wasn’t I summarizing the book? I was, but it is just not possible.

Still, I do not completely regret reading this book. Oh, I do regret leaving a book incomplete (after all, the end was missing) but there is a certain railway station scene that is worth mentioning. I would have struck off Amitav Ghosh’s writing as not-for-me if not for that. The eeriness, the mystery, the ghost-ness of that particular scene was chilling. Just for that, I will read Amitav Ghosh again; of course, this time I will be more careful in picking the book.

Any suggestions?

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

Have you ever fantasized about living in chocolate houses and swimming in chocolate rivers? Having the world’s best chocolates? All your chocolate dreams come true in this book. Amazing creativity by Roald Dahl makes it a true classic.

There is not much to say about this book except that if you have missed reading it as a kid, read it now.


A suggestion: Please do not watch the movie. It is horrible and totally undermines the book.

Books Read in 2008

These are the books I read in 2008. There are a couple of them which I didn't read to the end. Because I found them dreadfully boring.

1. The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini
2. The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
4. Lajja - Taslima Nasreen
5. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
6. Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
7. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
8. Its Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong
9. The Inscrutable Americans - Anurag Mathur
10. The Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemingway
11. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
12. Emma - Jane Austen
13. Family Matters - Rohinton Mistry
14. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
15. The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid
16. The Google Story - David A. Vise
17. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
18. Fish!
19. 1984 - George Orwell
20. A Brief History of Time - Stephen W. Hawking
21. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - R.L. Stevenson
22. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
23. The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
24. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
25. Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? - Loius V. Gerstner Jr.
26. Wings of Fire - A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
27. Lord of The Flies - William Golding
28. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
29. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
30. The Hound of Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle
31. Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
32. Iacocca - Autobiography - Lee Iacocca
33. Sam Walton - Made in America - Sam Walton
34. Selected Stories - Saadat Hasan Manto
35. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein
36. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
37. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis
38. The Calcutta Chromosome - Amitav Ghosh
39. The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
40. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
41. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
42. Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
43. Treasure Island - Robert L. Stevenson
44. The Gathering - Anne Enright
45. The Trial - Franz Kafka
46. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
47. How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
48. The Best of Roald Dahl - Roald Dahl
49. Atonement - Ian McEwan
50. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
51. City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi - William Darlymple
52. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin S. Sharma
53. True History of The Kelly Gang - Peter Carey
54. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
55. The Shadow Lines - Amitav Ghosh
56. A Passage to India - E. M. Forster
57. The Siege of Krishnapur - H .G. Farrell
58. Lady Chatterley's Lover - D. H. Lawrence
59. Bringing Down The House - Ben Mezrich
60. The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot
61. The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
62. To Sir With Love - E. R. Braithwaite
    

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

Who is the Lord of the Flies?

Except for one page in the book where this Lord has been mentioned, there is no reference to him anywhere else. And there also I was unable to understand what it means.

I did not like this book. Not at all.

10-12 years boys capable of so much savagery is unsavory to me. So many reviews of this book talk about humanity. What humanity? Where did they find it in this book? Or was it the lack of humanity they were talking about?

Most of the times I was not able to understand the imagery, the beast they are afraid of, the varied descriptions of the oceans and lagoons and pink rocks and what not. I didn’t get any of it. I might have been able to appreciate how the wrecked plane’s survivors slide into total barbarism had it been at least men in their twenties. But reading about small boys killing each other, yes 10-year olds “killing” each other, is something I can not, just CAN NOT, comprehend. And then I find out that this book forms part of compulsory reading in schools. Oh no, why do you want to teach young boys to be savage and barbaric? Let them reach there in their own sweet time.

Just looking at the human aspect might make sense especially in the last chapters, when the savages, as they are called, are hunting Ralph, it makes me think of how mobs behave in riots; how mobs create riots. How people lose all sense of "humanity", in fact how they lose all sense and kill innocents. May be humans are like that. Despite all pretence of being civilized and educated, may be that is what humans are. Savages.

But again, what was it about the beast? And the Lord? Who is the Lord of the Flies? No, seriously. Who is he?

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi - William Dalrymple

This is a book about Delhi, not the Delhi we know now - the second largest metropolis in India. This book is about the Lutyen's Delhi, the Mughal Dilli, and the Dilli of a few thousand years. The Delhi which housed the most beautiful architecture of its era. Delhi, which has been the seat of power and the heart of India. And the Delhi which was torn into two in 1984 – the new Punjabi-settled rich Delhi and the old Urdu-speaking poor Dilli.

The city is not new to me. I have visited it on many occasions, both the newer posh areas like Connaught Place and the old city areas like the Red Fort. And of course we have all read about its history in our school text-books - how Aurangzeb overthrew his father and eventually led Delhi to its downfall. But none of those ever left an impression as strong and compelling as William Dalrymple's City of Djinns.

Dalrymple’s account of the capture of Delhi by Aurangzeb, the strained relations between his siblings, Jahanara’s hatred for her elder sister Roshanara leading to her betrayal of her own father - were amongst the most important historical insights this book provided. The author leads us into shattered Mughal palaces, inside the restricted zenana chambers, the caretakers of which were eunuchs. A stark contrast is shown in the position of eunuchs then and now. As against their despised status in society today, earlier they were the courtesans of the kings and rulers.

This was the first travelogue I read and humour was one of the last things I expected. Accompanied by many funny anecdotes, the style is witty and interesting. Wrapped in the writer's (and his wife’s) one year stay in Delhi, Dalrymple takes us through his landlady’s eccentricities, his taxi-driver’s drinking bouts, his meetings with Britishers who chose to stay back in India after 1947, misfit Anglo-Indians, old ladies claiming to be Mughal heiresses, hakims reluctant to part with their trade secrets, exciting scenes of patridge fighting and the heart-wrenching account of 1984 riots. There is a part devoted to Sufism in India, the trance like state attained by dervishes and even a visit to the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.

All this and much more about Delhi's rich heritage, which is chipping away like old paint on many of its forts, is explored in this beautiful travelogue. Dalrymple has ignited in me a desire to visit the Jama Masjid and old city of Dilli once again. To quote a friend: "City of Djinns converts the most staunch haters of Delhi to its new lovers.”

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

The Book Thief. “The Extraordinary New York Times #1 BESTSELLER”

Oh really?

Unimpressive. Language. Overtly. Pretentious.
Undecipherable. Senseless. Metaphors. Incomplete.
Sentences.

Why, why would someone write like that? Too much repetition, big words which are not required, metaphors which don’t make sense at all. And colors. What is it with colors? Time and again, the author talks of colors. Red sky, gray road, blue sky. Am I missing something? The writing style looks forced upon. The detailed descriptions don’t make sense. Midway the story gets interesting or was it just curiosity getting the better of me? Beats me.

The setting being Germany, a lot of German words are thrown in, however unlike other books, the good thing here is that they are all explained. So now I know a bit of German too. Saukerl and Saumensch, mainly. Personally, I like books with small chapters and even smaller sections in it. Each time I move to a new chapter, it highlights my progress to me. In this aspect, The Book Thief gets full marks. Infact, this might be the only aspect in which it gets any marks at all.

(By the way, Saukerl & Saumensch is when you call someone a pig. Saukerl for a boy, Saumensch for a girl.)

The story was good. But too long. An uncommon narrator, Death, tells about the story of Liesel with her foster parents in Germany. In a country torn by war and hatred for Jews, there are some soul-touching moments. The friendship of Rudy and Liesel, the bonding between Liesel and Papa, the soft side of abuse-hurling Mama, the library of the Mayor’s bathrobe-covered wife, they are some things which make this 550 page book slightly worthwhile.

It certainly does not have what the raving reviews claim. All in all, for all those looking to read all the books in the world, I would suggest keeping The Book Thief for later.

Much later.

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

There is an angel and there is a demon. Heaven and hell are conspiring to end the world and beat each other. The Armageddon is here. Anti-christ has been sent on earth to bring the end.

End of the world, devil, angel...uh..ohh...sounds too religious? Hold on!

The demon is a Bentley driving, sun-glasses sporting cool dude, who I am so in love with! And our dear angel Aziraphale is trying hard not to swear aloud! They have been living on earth too comfortably to want to go back to their respective homes. So they join hands to prolong D-day’s arrival. And to top it all, Anti-christ is a 13 year old boy roaming around in sneakers.

Hilarious doesn’t even begin to describe it!

Loads and loads of amazing one-liners, astute remarks on human nature mentioned so casually, you won’t even notice the sarcasm, this is one rocking comedy. Believe me, you won’t stop laughing. Also, unbelievably, this is a book written together by two authors. However, at no point is there a break in style. With touches of Douglas Adam at places, this is a book I simply loved!

Unless you are unable to take a joke when religion is in the picture, there is no doubt you will like this book! Enjoy!!

Siddhartha - Herman Hesse

Being not too keen on philosophy, I was skeptical about reading Siddhartha but a couple of chapters down, there was no going back. Not just that, I have already read it twice.

Written in an extremely simple yet potently powerful language, this book will force you to think. It will keep coming back to you as you look at everyday things, as you go through life.

Hesse’s philosophy is strikingly different from all others (I know) in its most basic premise on how to attain Nirvana. Instead of forgoing worldly pleasures and ties, it highlights the importance of accepting the world, the Sansara, as part of one’s self. Experience, not teachings and lessons, is the way to enlightenment.

A quick read, I do not claim it to be life-altering, but is surely worth a thought or two.

So what are you passionate about?

Do I have any regrets in life? Yes, I do. Many. But the one on the top right now is that I never cultivated deep passion for one particular activity. What do I do? Nothing. What do I looooove to do? Nothing. What is it that I want to do? Nothing. What am I good at? Nothing.

Oh if you ask me what my passion is, what my hobbies are, like a lot of sites do (Orkut, Facebook etc.), I will say I like music, what music, you say. Oh just anything. And what else? Hmm...hmm...I like reading.

No. I love reading.

Honestly, reading is the only thing that even closely qualifies to be called one of my passions. (Yes, I am sarcastic.) But it doesn't take much for this passion of mine to take a backseat. If I were so passionate about it, wouldn't I be spending time on it rather than simply passing time with it?

Some people are artists, some are hikers, some are photographers, what am I? I seem to be in an identity crisis. I want to be known for myself rather than just being an avid traveller and award-winning photographer's wife (hubby dear, please do not mind). Or let me rephrase that. While being an avid traveller and award-winning photographer's wife, I also want to be known for myself.

So does it make sense to look for a passion? To create a passion?

After a bit of soul searching, I found that I do not need to create one. It exists. All it needs is more focus. Reading. Yes, that is my passion!

I want to read all the books on the face of earth. Of course, that is not possible. But I want to read as many authors as possible, as many subjects as possible, as many books as possible. I want to read fiction and non-fiction, humor and politics (oh, I believe they are opposites), history and geography(?), romance and war. However, I do not want to read self-help-improve-your-life books. I don't like them.

There are a few ideas hovering in my mind. Like setting a target for the year or writing reviews of the books I read or something else. I will be back here once I figure this out.

A retake on some questions:
What do I do? Read. What do I looooove to do? Read. What is it that I want to do? Read. What am I good at? Still the same! Nothing! ;)

Cheers to my discovery!

Muss es sein? Es muss sein! Es muss sein!

Must it be? It must be! It must be!

This is how Milan Kundera describes his characters' needs in his book 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'.

I had my eyes on this book for some time but when I could actually lay my hands on it, at a friend's place, I was a bit skeptical about it. The first review I heard was this: "Either you will love it or you will hate it. There is no middle way". I picked up the book. Two days later I am done reading it. I read a lot of online reviews however the one most precise is still the one I heard first. "Either you will love it or you will hate it. There is no middle way". And I love it!

Even though there was not much time to spare these last couple of days, I read it everywhere, home, office, even on the way to office. I did not want to put the book down, it is so fascinating. I wanted to keep reading it. So much so that as I approached the end I did not want to read it because I wanted it to go on forever.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being. What happens only once is as good as not happening at all. Because we have only one life, it does not matter. A decision can not be judged right or wrong unless we get the chance to go the other way as well. Because our only-once-lived-life does not matter, it makes our 'being' light. This lightness makes our life insignificant thus making the idea unbearable. Hence, the Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Fair enough, I'd say.

"Einmal ist keinmal"(once is nonce), Beethoven's "es muss sein!" (It must be!), Sabina's "Kitsch" summarize the theme. All at the same time, it is philosophical, ironical, sarcastic, humorous, sad and random!

When the subject matter is as random as this, I am amazed at the author's ability to make a book out of it. How people can make an organized (and sensible!) compilation of totally arbitrary thoughts amazes me. This is why I had liked 'A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' too.

I was reading 'The Kite Runner' before this. It was touching. Reading it made me sad. The subject matter of 'The Unbearable...' is sad too but reading it made me happy. Happy that I read the book for if I had not read it I would have missed out on something great!

Even though my liking to Kite Runner has taken a back seat in view of Unbearable.., it is a book I enjoyed reading. So much that Khaled Hosseini's other book, 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' is in my list of To-Read-Soon! Reading Kite Runner refreshed my old feeling of being-unable-to-put-the-book-down after a long time. Thanks to The Kite Runner, I am back in the reading race.