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1 BOOK-THE STORY OF MY IRRITATION

Money spent on this book is akin to losing your wallet: the cash is gone and you have nothing to show for it.

Krish, a Punjabi munda, falls in love with Ananya, a Tam Brahm he meets while studying at IIM-A. But in India, love doesn’t conquer all; it has to go through a lot of channels before culminating in marriage. Krish and Ananya have to convince their parents: the Tamil Brahmins who frown at the over-indulgent Punjabis, and the Punjabis who smirk at the sedate Madrasis.

Five tips to write a Chetan Bhagat novel:

Characters: Your narrator is a guy who is pretty much a loser. He should be no older than 30.
Plot: Switch on the TV and check out the latest soaps and/or Bollywood movies. Mix and match characters and settings.
Theme: Go to Google Trends and see the top 10 topics Indians search for. You have the background for your book. Bhagat’s four books have been about IIT, call center jobs, cricket and IIM. Wanna bet that his next book will have a Bollywood theme?
Dialogue: Use Indian English i.e. discard grammar and language to bring in the “feel” of "aam aadmi" India.
Love story: A must-have. Indians are suckers for romance, so make your love story as boo-hooey as possible.

The book is replete with clichés, tacky one-liners and ridiculous situations. The characters are mere caricatures: the parents of the two lovebirds are stereotypical Punjus and Tams, not a hair out of place. The plot meanders along in Bollywood style, complete with wooing and heart-breaking and family bonding. It’s more like a failed Yashraj movie script than a novel. Read at your own risk. Actually, you’d be much better off reading this superb article which expresses my views exactly.

IDYLLIC BLISS

I read this book, along with Swami and Friends, and Malgudi Days, a long time back. I remember vaguely the story of Swami and Friends, but the story of The English Teacher had completely slipped my mind.

Krishnan is an English lecturer at the Albert Mission College, living in the hostel while his wife and child live with his in-laws. When they decide to move in with him, and Krishnan rents a house, where he lives with his dear wife in marital bliss. But their little heaven is short-lived, when Krishnan’s wife Susila falls ill. The events that follow shake Krishnan’s life, but slowly he attains clarity of vision and ultimately, peace.

This book has Narayan’s trademarks: simple prose and an uncomplicated storyline. But the picture it paints of the ordinary Indian family is joyful to read. Narayan’s Malgudi is a small town (Bangaloreans will recognize the amalgamation in the names of Malleswaram and Basvangudi), where people have straightforward concerns: earn money, keep wife and children in relative comfort and live happily. The idyll and routine of daily life is captured very evocatively, and the small things which we often overlook acquire new light through his words. When I read Narayan, I feel like I am seeing the events of the story unfolding around me, as if I were a part of the story too. This is the power that Narayan exerts over his readers: everybody can identify with the characters.

I’d say that The English Teacher is not among my R.K.Narayan favorites. It has a good plot, about dealing with loss, and is reportedly based on Narayan’s own experiences, but it didn’t strike a chord with me. There is nothing fundamentally wrong; it is just one of those books I didn’t like. I can’t really pinpoint what is wrong with it, because it is no different in style from his other works which I loved. Having said that, I would recommend it to anybody interested in Indian literature; Narayan is one of the best, on par with Chekov and Greene.

A LIFE OF LOST OPPORTUNITIES

I picked this book up at Nymeth’s recommendation, and I’m so glad I did. This is a gem of a book, a masterpiece by a very gifted writer.

Stevens, a longtime butler of Darlington Hall, has been given some time off by his new American employer Mr. Farraday. Stevens uses this opportunity to make a cross-country motoring trip to meet Miss Kenton, a friend and former housekeeper at Darlington Hall. During his journey, he reminisces about his master and the company he used to keep and emphasizes the qualities a great butler possesses.

The first thing that strikes you about the book is the stiff, formal voice of the narrator. Indeed, for a while, you feel as if you are reading some official memo about butlering, instead of a man’s reminiscences about his life. This throws a lot of light on the sort of person Stevens is: highly controlled. The emotional restraint that Stevens shows is alarming; he’s methodical and accurate, but more mechanical than human. This restraint pervades all his relationships, that with his father and especially with Miss Kenton. For example, when his father lies dying, he doesn’t spend time by his side but goes his professional duties as if nothing was wrong. Stevens considers such restraint a symbol of dignity, something he believes is a hallmark of a “great” butler, but frankly, his emotional immaturity shocked me. He never pursues his relationship with Miss Kenton, causing her to ultimately leave in despair.

Stevens is also an unreliable narrator, and he presents events as he chooses to see them, not as they actually were. He is blind to a number of things, notably the faults of his employer. He strongly defends Lord Darlington’s policy of appeasement of Nazis, and dismisses allegations of anti-Semitism as “absurd” and “insignificant. There is a distinctly feudal air to his belief that the employer knows better than him, and it is not his position to question his actions. It is a theme repeated time and again, that it is more dignified for a person to know his place and not try to rise above it.

One is simply accepting an inescapable truth: that the likes of you and I will never be in a position to comprehend the great affairs of today's world, and our best course will always be to put our trust in an employer we judge to be wise and honourable, and to devote our energies to the task of serving him to the best of our ability.

The only butlers I’ve encountered before are Beach and Jeeves in Wodehousian literature. The Remains of the Day presented a totally different perspective. The English stiff upper lip is famous and revered, but Ishiguro shows us how restraint can prevent a person from discovering his abilities and exploring his emotions. There is certain stuffiness in the manners of the Englishmen, as much in the bourgeois as in the aristocracy. Ishiguro explores every character thoroughly, in the process, creating a picture of a decaying upper class hanging on to its illusions of grandeur, and the people who help maintain the illusion. At the end of the book, I was left feeling sorry for Stevens, when he ponders about his life and all he has missed.

I gave my best to Lord Darlington. I gave him the very best I had to give, and now - well - I find I do not have a great deal more left to give…

For a great many people, the evening is the most enjoyable part of the day. Perhaps, then, there is something to his advice that I should cease looking back so, much, that I should adopt a more positive outlook and try to make the best of what remains of my day. After all, what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished?

A GOOD LOOK AT AUTISM

This is another of my Guardian challenge books finished. Honestly, I’m really glad I signed up for this challenge; otherwise I might never have got around to reading this really great book on autism.

Christopher Boone is an autistic child, who lives with his father after his mother dies of a heart attack. He cannot fathom emotions and social niceties, hates to be touched and has a pathological fear of crowds. When his neighbour’s dog, Wellington, is killed with a pitchfork, Christopher decides to become a detective to find the murderer. But what ensues is a startling discovery about his mother and a harrowing journey to London, which shakes him to the core.

The first thing which strikes you about his narrative is the digressions. Every other chapter has Christopher talking about his likes and dislikes, famous puzzles and solving numerous math problems. He numbers his chapters in primes (2, 3, 5, 7 etc), something I found really interesting. Christopher has a lot of quirks: he won’t eat his food if the different items touch, he doesn’t like yellow and brown, he can’t stand any change in his routine.

Mr. Jeavons, the psychologist at the school, once asked me why 4 red cars in a row made it a Good Day, and 3 red cars in a row made it a Quite Good Day, and 5 red cars in a row made it a Super Good Day, and why 4 yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day, which is a day when I don't speak to anyone and sit on my own reading books and don't eat my lunch and Take No Risks.

But that doesn’t mean he is stupid, no way. His general knowledge is great and he is a whiz with numbers, knowing all the primes up to 7057. But he cannot interact with people and has difficulty making simple connections, such as a smile implies happiness, raised voices mean an argument and so on. His life is one of routine, order and stability, and any deviation from status quo can have him curling up into a ball, screaming or groaning. He also displays a complete lack of emotion, and some of the most heart-rending moments, such as his mother’s death are presented dispassionately. He doesn’t pick up on obvious facts, such as the disintegration of his parents’ marriage. If you expect an adorable kid, he is not it; if you’re looking for a rebel’s story, this is not it. But you are drawn into Christopher’s neat, emotionless, analytical routine, as you learn how his mind works. There is a saying that when God closes a door, he opens a window. The door of social normality is probably closed to Christopher, but he has a huge French window of analytical brilliance to make up for it.

The character I hated most was Christopher’s mother. I understand that taking care of an autistic child is a mentally draining job and it can take a heavy toll on marital life. But that did not excuse her actions. Essentially the message she was sending was: my son, you are a freak and I can’t stand to take care of you any longer, I need my own life; I’m sorry. The dad is not nice either, but at least he tries. I was also a little surprised that despite going to a special school, Christopher is still not comfortable with change in his social environment, as I was given to understand that autistic behavior improves with a proper support structure. But then, this book is about how Christopher sees things, which differs from a third person’s view, so we really have no idea if there has actually been any change.

I cannot say if Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is an accurate portrayal of an autistic child, considering that my only exposure to autism is watching the movie Rainman. But I do believe that this will help neurotypical people understand an autistic person’s needs and be better equipped to interact with him/her.

STRICTLY BUSINESS

I cannot believe that despite being such a voracious reader, it took me as long as it did to read this book. I mean, this has been on my reading list ever since I watched the movie, but it’s only now that I got around to reading it. Probably it’ll be another century before I buy it.

The Corleones, headed by Don Vito Corleone, are the most powerful Mafia family of New York. The Don is highly revered, but his unshakeable code of conduct annoys many people. So when the Don turns down a drug smuggler Sollozzo’s offer of partnership, Sollozzo, with the help of another family, the Tattaglias, decides to take out the Don. This drags the Corleone family into a bloody war, and Michael Corleone, the youngest son of the Don, who had till then removed himself from the Don’s nefarious activities, must step in and get his hands bloody.

The only Mario Puzo book I had read before was Omerta, and while I liked it, I wasn’t ecstatic about it. But Godfather met all my expectations and more. It’s a mind-blowing story about a powerful man, and the “family” he controls. I fell in love with Puzo’s complex plotting and his ability to sketch this huge canvas filled with diverse people, from mafia chiefs to movie stars, from peasants to princes. The characters are very well fleshed out, and their back stories are the most interesting parts of the book, where you see how they became what they did. This is something the movie doesn’t manage to do quite fully, and is one of the reasons why I liked the book so much. There is a lot of sexism in the book, the women are hangers-on more than anything else. I also found the writing to be a little soap-operatic, especially in the portions dealing with Michael’s exile in Sicily, but that complaint was short-lived when the story moved back to the Corleone family in New York.

What I found absolutely fantastic was the way the Don was depicted in the book. He is a cold-blooded murderer, a chillingly dangerous man, but when you read about him, you feel you’re reading about a strict but lovable uncle. He is an honourable man, one who lives by a strict moral code and values friends a lot. In the words of Michael,

My father is a businessman trying to provide for his wife and children and those friends he might need someday in a time of trouble. He doesn’t accept the rules of the society we live in because those rules would have condemned him to a life not suitable to a man like himself, a man of extraordinary force and character. What you have to understand is that he considers himself the equal of all those great men like Presidents and Prime Ministers and Supreme Court Justices and Governors of the States. He refuses to live by rules set up by others, rules which condemn him to a defeated life. But his ultimate aim is to enter that society with a certain power since society doesn’t really protect its members who do not have their own individual power. In the meantime he operates on a code of ethics he considers far superior to the legal structures of society.

Puzo doesn’t glorify the Mafia, he doesn’t gloss over the criminal aspects of the Corleone family. He presents to you both the deadly side and the family side of ceive him as. You know the Don directly or indirectly killed many people, but admire the way he dispenses justice to one and all. You respect the way he built his own life, you like his calculating mind, which is both unemotional and passionate at the same time. My favorite bit is when Puzo describes the Don’s analysis of his first criminal act. It’s cruel, but weirdly fascinating.

If he did not kill Fanucci, he would have to pay the man seven hundred dollars cold cash. Fanucci alive was not worth seven hundred dollars to him. He would not pay seven hundred dollars to keep Fanucci alive. If Fanucci needed seven hundred dollars for an operation to save his life, he would not give Fanucci seven hundred dollars for the surgeon. He owed Fanucci no personal debt of gratitude, they were not blood relatives, he did not love Fanucci. Why, then, should he give Fanucci seven hundred dollars?
And it followed inevitably, that since Fanucci wished to take seven hundred dollars from him by force, why should he not kill Fanucci? Surely the world could do without such a person.

But the greatest revelation was Michael Corleone. His transition from the soft-spoken war veteran to the equally soft-spoken Mafia chief was a brilliant one. His tactical brilliance at ending the war and restoring the Corleones their position was an awesome one. The ending was smashing, as multiple storylines collided together, all the different threads were wound up so well. Al Pacino’s face kept floating into my head at every step, and I realized, as I read the book, what a great job he’d done.

Godfather is a classic, a novel I believe everybody must read once in their lives. Have you read it? Do you agree with me?

UNGODLY THINGS IN GOD'S OWN COUNTRY

This book was smaller than I expected, but I couldn’t wait for it to end. It is not a difficult book to read, but the plot was insipid, the characters so lackluster that I didn’t care what happened to them. Roy brings a new dimension to Indian-English writing, but I wished she put as much thought into her plot development as she did into her sentence construction.

God of Small Things is a non-linear narrative about dizygotic non-identical twins, Rahel and Estha, belonging to a pickle-making Christian family of Ayemenem in Kerala. They live with their divorced Ammu in her maternal home, along with their Marxist-loving uncle Chacko, their spinster grand-aunt Baby Kochamma and their violin-playing half-blind grandmother. The great turbulence in their lives begins when Chacko’s ex-wife Margaret Kochamma and her daughter Sophie Mol arrive for a brief visit in Ayemenem, a visit that culminates in Sophie’s death, Ammu’s banishment from the house and the twins’ separation.

The book dealt with a lot of issues: the dominance of the caste system in society, the unbridgeable gap between Touchables and Untouchables, the impact of Communism. It also explores the hollowness in relationships and the animal emotions that lurk behind the respectable façade of most people. Baby Kochamma’s jealousy, with her desire to poison the lives of others and joy in others’ misfortunes, Mammachi’s blindness a symbol of her possessiveness for her son, Comrade Pillai’s hypocrisy, Ammu desperately wishing to be free of her claustrophobic existence. Her portrayal of the caste system and its ramifications on society is both empathic and emphatic; she points out all the hypocrisy in Indian society through the Keralite family which inhabit the pages. Her writing is descriptive, vivid, awesome at times. Sample this:

Centuries telescoped into one evanescent moment. History was wrong-footed, caught off guard. Sloughed off like an old snakeskin. Its marks, its scars, its wounds from old wars and the walking-backwards days all fell away. In its absence it left an aura, a palpable shimmering that was as plain to see as the water in a river or the sun in the sky. As plain to feel as the heat on a hot day, or the rug of a fish on a taut line.

But there were quite a few bits that went straight over my head; parts that made me think this book was more a demonstration of the author’s command over the language than the actual telling of a story. I felt little or no connect with the characters, not even with the twins. Also, I was quite uncomfortable with the obsession with sexuality: every sentence had sexual connotations. Don’t get me wrong, I am not squeamish, I just don’t like the society of perverts that inhabits the pages. And the ending: incest was way too much for me to stomach, I was left with a grossed-out feeling at the end. So, despite Roy’s impeccable writing, this book didn’t work for me.

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SPIRITUAL SEARCH FOR A SOULMATE

I have a lot of pending book reviews, but I thought I’d review this one first because if I leave the review for a few more days, I probably won’t be able to pinpoint what about this book I don’t like. This is seriously one of the weirdest books I have read. Though I got the gist of what Coelho wanted to convey, but I still think it was convoluted and strange.

Brida, a young girl wanting to learn about magic, meets a Magus in Ireland. The Magus recognizes the presence of a Gift in the girl, and agrees to become her Teacher. During the course of her travels, Brida meets Wicca, a witch, who teaches her the Tradition of the Moon. Thus advances her travel into the land of sorcery and spirits, to fulfill the ultimate quest of finding her Soulmate.

The book is essentially about searching and finding The One (as they say in chick-flicks), but it was couched in mystical terms, which I personally didn’t much like. There is much discussion about witchcraft and occult practices, but the descriptions, though wordy, are vague. Coelho’s style of writing remains nice, but the content failed to touch a chord. If I wanted to get an idea about magic, I would be left with a few rituals and not much of an insight into Wiccan practices. The book also talks about plunging in and daring to live your dreams, but as I said before, I didn’t like the mysticism surrounding it. And I also thought this book stretched a little more than necessary; near the end I was checking how many pages I still had left. I guess liking this book depends on taste: the concepts of spirituality propounded wasn’t quite up my road.

FOR YOU, A THOUSAND TIMES OVER

After a couple of dreary months reading totally forgettable stuff, finally a book which reaffirms my faith in good writing. Yes, if you think I am sadly behind the times, I am. Seriously, it's not my fault. But I finally read it. And read it again. And plan to read it atleast five more times. What a book! Amir's journey from cowardice to courage mirrors the story of his country, Afghanistan, from prosperity to poverty.

For those of you who still haven't got around to reading the book, The Kite Runner follows the life of Amir, the son of a rich businessman in Kabul, and his brave friend Hassan, his low-caste servant's boy. Amir is desperate to gain the attention of his Baba, and enters the local kite-flying tournament, with the loyal Hassan by his side. The tournament affects their lives in more ways than they expect, with Amir being a silent witness to an act that leaves him shamed forever. Unable to face Hassan anymore, he frames him for theft, driving him out of their home and shattering their friendship forever. The Soviet invasion forces Amir and his father to flee to America, but neither the passing years nor his new life can assuage his guilt. A chance for redemption draws him back to war-torn Afghanistan, where he faces the ghosts of his past and tries to make amends for his mistakes.

Hosseini's writing feels like a Persian carpet- intricate and velvety. This is only the second book by an Islamic author I have read, but the similarities are distinct-subtle, vivid imagery, poetic flow of prose. His descriptions of Hassan's and Amir's friendship is poignant, the images of Kabul, then and now, are rendered beautifully. Amir's betrayal of Hassan, his final confrontation with Assef, Sohrab flying a kite with Amir, some of my favorite scenes. You feel angry at Amir's spinelessness and choke at Hassan's selfless love. To me, the story was not very novel; I have seen versions of it in many Bollywood movies. But the way he told it simply blew my mind away.

Oh, by the way, skip the movie. One, the actors (except maybe for Baba and Rahim Khan), were not how I pictured them. The acting was wooden, and grown-up Amir looked more like a Lux model. Two, lots of stuff edited out, others condensed, making you feel like you are watching a hurriedly made docu-summary. It just doesn't touch you the way the book does. Beg, borrow or buy (try not to steal), but read the book.

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