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.

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

I remember being very impressed by this tale of survival in which a 16 year old boy, Pi, is stranded on a boat in the middle of the Pacific ocean with a tiger on board!

The slow first half doles out lesson after lesson on animal psychology. Examples of goats and rhinos living together blissfully and rats and snakes cohabiting form a build up to the eventual calamity when Pi trains a Bengal tiger to be his subordinate on his 227 day long journey.

Reading the book a second time makes me realize there is more to it. A tale of survival, yes, but it is also a tale of faith. The reflections of the author on the subject of religion are thought-provoking. Pi is a Hindu, a Muslim and a Christian, all at the same time. The pandits, imams and priests mock him, his family doesn't understand him but he doesn't give up on any of his faiths. All three beliefs come in handy when fighting for his life in the Pacific. He prays to Allah when it is night, says Amen when he finds food and chants his mantras when scared.

"Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims.

An adventurous book, there are parts which are unbelievable, but that again is just a test of faith.

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'.