Thousand Cranes - Yasunari Kawabata

Its time to read Kawabata again, revisit all those previously read works again to reiterate my belief and to refresh the memories. I did read snow country last month, and now "thousand cranes". The rest of the works will be in line for a re-read. I carry a fond memory of reading Kawabata ages ago. The entire process of re-reading begun after "Beauty and Sadness", which to me was very ordinary. As a reader you grow over the years and the taste become more polished or finer and many of the books you liked earlier, fails to impress me any more. However, both my second reads of Kawabata , not only restored the faith, but was able to appreciate them with the inherited wisdom of experience.

A short novel of guilt, love, seduction and deception, in the backdrops of tea ceremonies and shattered dreams and plans ( and the precious tea cups, symbolically). Twenty five year of Kikuji, trying to fight the past  of the memories and guilt as well as the cunning plans of his fathers mistresses to have their control over him. Kikuji inherited his father vast wealth, post his death. A well respected man, with finesse tastes, collector of ceremonial cups for the Tea functions, and also some one managed more than one mistress while he was alive. This short novel begins with one of his father's mistress Chikako, inviting him for a tea ceremony, only to realise that the pretext behind this was an ulterior motive of a potential match-making.  Cleverly positioning Inamura Yukiko, along with him during the function to play the role of a collaborator. Spoiling her manipulations by arriving at the function was Mrs.Ota, another mistress of his father, with whom he spent majority of his days,  and her daughter Fumiko arriving at the function uninvited. The game of one-upmanship between the mistresses continue as they fight their way to his life.

Kikuji has to endure and carry the guilt of his fathers past, through his mistresses. The girl with the thousand crane kerchief ( he remembers Inamura girl though this symbol and not through her face or character) and the daughter of Mrs Ota ( who is much more prudent and possesses self control), are representative of the new generation and can understand the conflict and difficulties Kikuji is trying to overcome. The real tussle is between the mistresses. One who did not win his fathers favours in bed but was mostly used as an accomplice, and the other, probably younger and better looking who continued to enjoy the favours until the death are now vying to extend their control over the son. Chikako, ugly with a large birth mark spread across half of her breast ( a distant memory remained with Kikuji, which he happens to witness as a young boy) with her poisonous , manipulative acts of taking control and the other by trying to lure the young one into her fold by seduction, and committing suicide out of guilt. The two girls and Kikuji had to face the consequences of the designs of the rivalry, which distance them from one another instead of making alliances and prospective marriage.

The rituals and culture play a major part in Kawabata's works. The concept of thousand cranes ( though not directly referred here) is a Japanese tradition of folding 1000 origami cranes for getting their wishes fulfilled. The 'tea ceremony' again so much of part of the Japanese psyche, which we see in the book going through a deterioration from generations to the next. An event, once very close to his fathers heart, a pride and prestige, a symbol of aristocracy with well preserved and maintained vessels and utensils, are to Kikuji and the new generations are mere curios. One can sense his unhappiness in being forced to participate. The function he would like to conduct in his house, is as a respect to his father, a respect to the past, and not something for the current. These cultural and traditional undercurrents along with the landscape, be it the snow peaked mountains, the flourishing valleys or the changing seasons. The book will have to be absorbed including these vivid and marvelous settings. There are  strong undercurrent of traditions and social stigma in all of his works. Hence the mere story of love and deception, seduction and manipulation, guilt and conscience has a different meaning and values in his novels. Under a calm narrative of simple tale, lies the turbulent currents attributed to these subtleties. Which is why he is one of the masters of 20th century literature.

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Thousand Cranes ( 1952 )

Yasunari Kawabata ( translated from Japanese by Edward G.Seidensticker 1958 )

Penguin Classics

91  Pages
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Wiki, Complete Review,

The View from Castle Rock - Alice Munro

Typically, I read the newly crowned Nobel Laureate, during November or December, if they aren't in my familiarity zone. I did not have to do that for a Saramago or a Llosa or Mo Yan as they weren't new to me when they were chosen for the award. But as for the current laureate,  I haven't read any book of Alice Munro, barring a couple of stories published in New Yorker. For various reasons, the customary reading (of Nobel Winner) has split into the new year, and on a collective suggestion and a group reading choice,  The View from the Castle Rock, was decided.

Being the first writer  known only for writing  'short stories', to be a Nobel Laureate, it did attract a higher attention and expectation. The inside Cover specifically mentioned it as 'stories'. The book, however, is a progressive narrative of her own family, spanning over three centuries and two continents. As they say, one can always look at sources closed to us for inspiration, hence the vast number of 'autobiographical' or 'semi-autobiographical' writing in literature field . Alice Munro does exactly that, looking back at her family's history , from her great great grandfather to her step mother in a captivating, touching collection of stories.  The book read like a novel to me, than a collection of short stories. A seamless narrative , chronologically progressed, albeit not in continuous sequences, leaving gaps in the story, space and time. 

From the small Islands of Scotland, Alice starts her tales, of survival, of migration to greener pastures, intricacies of family connections and incidents and anecdotes. Set in two parts, part one,  the family's journey from Ettrick Valley in Scotland to North America, and part two in the new lands and the later generations of her family. I personally liked the initial parts The back yard search for the clues and stories about the ancestors, few prolific ones, and the threading of these various anecdotes into a seamlessly woven story form was marvelous. I am not as enthused in the later part ( especially towards the end) , where the narration tends to be a bit disjointed. A bit of triviality takes over. The later part has a lot more personal experiences and more autobiographical in nature. The first part is more adventurous, the quest for hints and connecting dots, bringing few interesting characters of the Islands. The plan and the dream of the new land, the metaphorical "View from the Castle Rock" to the new world.

This is one of my first reading of Munro and I was talking about this being a progressive stories as in novel vis-a-vis a collection of short stories. I argued that a random reading of one of the stories in the middle, probably will have a lesser impact, as against reading these stories as a collective. I was told that she tends to play along these lines and the narration often breaches the boundaries of the novel and short story.  Characters , places and events apparently pops up repeatedly in the other collections as well.

I would look at the two parts separately. Part one, largely based on the snippets of information she gathered during her visits and from various mentions in the old documents. She stich together a compelling story, enriched with beautiful imagery, characterisation ( build up from the data available) and fixing the missing links. This part which has more fictional element is fabulous, and a creation of a worthy hand. The second part, largely autobiographical and contemplative has lesser amount of fictional element, but more of internalisation of her own life and observations. The energy of her ancestors is derived into the later part, but these two remain different and in contrast in many aspects.

The terrain and the place has a large part of participation in her stories. These stories are all of limited scale and scope. Largely around relationships, confined within the family or short extensions in a few cases. There is a sense of intimacy, a closeness, a dependency of mutual existence. The gradual demo graphical and geographical changes in the landscape , minute observations of the changes in the living conditions et all are carefully handled through the stories.  Beautiful passages, meditative, emotionally deep story telling and fabulous control over language makes this a great read.

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The View from Castle Rock ( 2006 )

Alice Munro

Vintage Books

349  Pages
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Wiki, Guardian, NY Times, Quill & Quire

Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh - Mo Yan

Last years ( 2012) Nobel Laureate Mo Yan goes back to his childhood days in the province, to the days of poverty and hunger the days of cultural revolution t the early days of one family one child policy, in this collection of carefully chosen eight short stories. 1960s , Mo Yan says, is "one of China's most bizarre period. On one hand, those years saw the country in the grip of economic stagnation and individual deprivation. The people struggled to keep death from their door, with little to eat and rags for clothes ; on the other hand, it was a time for intense political passion".  He talked about people surviving by eating coal. "The more I ate, the better the stuff tasted, until it seemed absolutely delicious". These collection of stories are reflective of the time which Mo Yan experienced as a young boy.

The title story talked about a factory worker laid off from job, barely a month before his retirement. Known for his exemplary work, a role model to the rest, even he could not survive the axe, as the bad economic situation, caused the authorities to shut down the factory. All the sweet words that flew and the promises that were given, as Ding Shikou soon to find out, had no meaning. Forced to find a way to live, Shikou takes the help of his friend to transform a abandoned chassis of a bus into some thing called a 'lover's cottage', which he rents out on a fee to young lovers seeking privacy and seclusion. While it gave him economic freedom, as the business grew to greater heights during the 'season', Shikou looses his conscience and self esteem, resulting in his hallucinatory visions of 'visitors' to his cottage.

Man and the beast, reflect upon the plight of a soldier who fought Japanese and was captured and taken as prisoner to Japan. Visiting the island of Hokkaido, the nameless narrator, recounts the story of his grand father and his exploits in the lush valleys and hills adjoining the Sapporo Sea. Remembering his grand dad's words of his time in Japan, the heroic story of resistance of his grand mother, his uncles and aunts against the enemy, the ten years of solitary life in the mountains before his return to China and  the accusation of his rape of a Japanese woman as per the police records ( grand father never actually had intercourse with that women, so the furry baby described in Japanese historical materials, is not related to him. But even having a young uncle who is half Japanese would be no disgrace to our family, and could in fact considered our glory, says the narrator) the grand son tries to get the records right and restore the glory of his family. "One must honour the Truth".

Soaring, is a fantastic story with a touch of magical realism. Forty year old, badly pockmarked Hong Xi marries to a beautiful YanYan, in exchange for his sister to Yanyan's brother, a mute. However, the marriage wasn't one he hoped for, as the bride took off from his house and jumped and flew over the village, from one tree to the other, free like a bird to escape the marriage, refusing to come down despite the plea from him and the villagers, until she was brought down by the village policeman's rifle. Iron Child is an ironical story about a young boy living by eating pieces of iron, during the "great leap forward" campaign, in possible satire on over industrialisation while the country is in famine. "Cure" on the other hand is too visually compelling, forced to witness the mass execution by the authorities, a young boy and his father waits below the bridge for falling bodies to extract the 'gall' from the corpse as a cure for his ailing grand mother. 'Love story', about a city educated young girl forced to labour at the farm collectives, having a affair with a younger boy. "Abandoned Child" is about female infanticide, a larger social and political issue due to the strict one family one son policy. A story relevant in the present day India ( especially Haryana and Punjab and to a lesser extend Tamil Nadu), trying to get the attention of the people to one of the most 'disturbing' trends in the modern era. Restricted to having one child per family, young people abandon or murder new born babies, if they are born with any defects or if they are girls ( preference to male child).

'Shen Garden' is one of the story which stand out  and is my pick from this collection. The most recent story of the book, this is a poignant account of a middle aged couple ( either divorced or separated for a long time), coming to terms with their life's dreams and compromises.  Story starts with two middle aged man and woman, sitting in the bakery, having referential, trivial one sided conversations. We can gather that they are not together and the relation is already cracked. Both will move their own way in the evening ( a reference of an eight 'O clock train) not likely to meet again. Its all of a sudden she demands "I'd like to visit Shen Garden". Shen Garden might be the symbolic of their good times. Its a place where they wish to be together. As we understand from his expression, Shen Garden is not in Beijing, but in Zheijiang province . Nonetheless, they set out for the garden, the Yuanming garden in Beijing.

'This isn't my Shen Garden' she said. "You're wrong, this is your Shen Garden". He felt like a stage performer. In a tone of voice pregnant with meaning, he added, 'Of course, it's my Shen Garden too. It's our Shen Garden."

The royal gardens of China are an attraction by themselves. Having visited many, I can vouch for their effect and impact on the visitors. A place of calmness and serenity among the hubbubs of the crowded city life, the rich vegetation and green surroundings. When they entered the garden it was raining and the place was deserted. The rain lashed on them and their life. The weather is changing, it rained out and the rainbow is in the horizon,  swinging the mood of the couple. She was hopping around like a girl and shouting and the joy was infectious. Mo Yan writes,

"Without being aware of it, they had drawn close together, as they gazed intimately into each other's eyes. No evasions or sidesteps, no hesitation or wavering; first their hands joined naturally, and then they fell just as naturally into each other's arms. They kissed."

Mo Yan derives the characters and his subject from his childhood days( except may be Shen Garden). The intense fragrance of the province in the sixties is visible in each of the tale. The hardship, the ability to look at them and laugh ( as the title story reminds us) and the resilience, which are characteristics of the people comes out strongly through these stories. Its a clever mix, of some hard hitting social issues , few fantastical stories, a fabulous love story. Mo Yan, writes beautifully and they are rich in imagery and deep in content. Even a preachy story like 'abandoned child' has the elements of a good story telling. The translation is smooth and the selection is well thought out. May not be the best of Mo Yan, but are very important and reflective of the resources of this writer , the world recognised through the Nobel Prize.

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Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh(2001 )

Mo Yan ( translated from Chinese by Howard Goldblatt in 2001)

Arcade Publishing

224 Pages
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New internationalist, NY Times

Snow Country - Yasunari Kawabata

A couple of weeks back, I read one of his later works which did not impress me greatly. I remember the lasting impressions his other books ( Snow Country, Thousand Cranes, House of sleeping beauties) on me when I read them. That was a long long ago, and I started wondering why did that make such a lasting impact on me. One grow as a reader over the years and the tastes get refined and somewhat polished. While this seems to be a progression as a reader, on the negative side it prevents you from the enjoyment and entertainment you derive out of a work of literature.  It was thus, I decided to go back to one of his works again to see if I over rate his works earlier. Now that I read the book again, I am quite happy and relieved ( ! ), and  my previous impression is now reinstated. Not only I loved the second read, but it also gave me a lot more insight to the writer and his style.

Shimamura, a wealthy loner travels back to the west coast of Japan, to the small hot spring town. A small love affair, or his closeness to the geisha brought him back to this place within an year. As he takes the train back to the snow country, to revive himself, from his idle life. His previous acquaintance, Komako is assigned to him again as the geisha to be his companion during his stay. As the familiarity and companionship grew, Shimamura realises his inability to love her. The affair is destined to fail even before it began. He is a wealthy well to do man, and she is a geisha, expected to entertain guest who comes to the inn for a few days. The closure they become by togetherness the wider  was the separation of the mind. From Komako's point the submission was complete, unconditional and possessive.  Shimamura, wasn't committal, but was the one with fatherly tenderness. Over the days of his stay, he was rather attracted with the young protege of Komako, beautiful Yoko, who takes care of the sick man who probably is the fiancee of Komako, a topic she refuse to divulge in. Even here, despite her request to rescue her from this hell and take her to Tokyo, he is not able to decide. In a rather ambiguous ending, which we find in many other stories of Kawabata, this novel also ends in a disaster. Its rather the end of the affair, the end of his ability to stay afloat in his dreamy days( interesting metaphor of milky way is deployed by Kawabata). We are not to know whether Yoko is dead or alive, but we are aware that for Shimamura both Komoko and Yoko are dead as he was pushed aside and was made to stand as a impotent witness to the whole action that takes place.

The book has a strong connect with the local culture and the heritage. Some of which is not very clear to me and I'm not sure if some of the references ( not directly though) are incomprehensible to me ( or a bit lost in translation). The rich imagery, the vivid landscape, the amusing conversations and the rich traditional set up of the inn gives a fantastic background to the story.  His lyrical writing, the short sentences ( a haiku in prose as some critics call it ) of heavily loaded conversations, rich cultural undertone and the control over the language makes this a wonderful wonderful read. The complex relationships with a man at the center and two women fighting it out in subtle maneuvers . Komako is all vocal and noisy around Simamura, who bores him after a while. Yoko on the other hand appears in all beauty and purity, uncorrupted and unpretentious.  Komako is pushed to doing the job of geisha to support many who depends on her - her ailing music teacher, her sick friend. 

Snow country is one of the greatest work of the Japanese Master and a shining example  from Japanese literature. Its relevance , its style , its ambience of rich culture and tradition, its intrinsic strength derived through those beautiful imagery.  Simple and flowing narrative which appears straight forward, hidden inside with such depth of human conditions and social complexities.  The landscape and nature plays a big part in the tale. The plot and story is not very important, but the characterisation the interplay between them and the descriptive passages and the silences that build up the effect in the whole narration. Master piece !

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Snow Country (1952 )

Yasunari Kawabata ( translated from Japanese by Edward G Siedensticker 1956)

Penguin Classics

188 Pages
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 Japanese Literature, Wiki, Blog Critics

Beauty and Sadness - Yasunari Kawabata

"Hello."
"This is Oki." He waited. "It's Oki. Oki Toshio."
"Yes. It's been such a long time." She spoke with the soft Kyoto drawl.
He was not sure how to begin, so he went on quickly to avoid embarrassing her, as if he were calling on impulse.
"I came to hear the New Year's Eve bells in Kyoto."
"The bells?"
"Won't you listen to them with me?"
She made no reply, even when he repeated his question. Probably she was too surprised to know what to say.
"Did you come alone?" she asked, after a long pause.
"Yes. Yes, I'm alone."
Again Otoko was silent...

Twenty four years since their last meeting. Oki was 30 then, and Otoko was only 15. A Love affair, went astray, after she conceived and delivered a dead child. He was married then and was living with his wife. They separated, giving a life time of horrible memories to Otoko. The baby she delivered died at child birth, a failed suicide attempt and a few years at the mental asylum. But she survived all and is now stay at Kyoto, as successful painter and artist. Otoko is a successful writer, lives with his wife and son. His most famous book has been the story of his love affair with Otoko, which sold millions of copies, soared his popularity, while drifting Otoko into obscurity, when her character was talked about.

The rendezvous did not go well with every one. Kieko Sakami, young protege of Otoko, her lover , her accomplice, who stays with Otoko, seems to be jealous and does not hide her unhappiness over the new spark triggered in her teacher's life. She did take it to her heart and  promised to take revenge on Oki, for his abandoning of Otoko. In a clever manipulation and various duals (with Oki and later his son) she had her way, managing to lure Oki's son into her trap and bringing him to his death.

Kawabata has a simple way of story telling, stacking various layers of human subtleties. The revenge  itself  is not one sided. One can infer his own versions from which angle he intend to approach.  Kieko is jealous of Otoki's continued love of Oki, Fumiko ( Oki's wife) is jelous on Otoko, Otoko herself is jealous of her protege's ability to get both father and the son under her spell ( Keiko even had stayed with the writer in a hotel room for a night).  Oki's son, despite his intelligence and positive outlook, realising the danger he is getting into, seems to have taken the path that has been paved by the manipulator. The clever twists and turns in the hands of a master story teller is not enough to lift this book to something of a literary achievement..

This is one of the last novels of Kawabata, whose Snow Country and , thousand cranes have been some of my favorite books. However, this short novel did not have the same impact. The book has the signature Kawabata style,lyrical writing, brilliant dialogues and the initial parts of the book was very good. But it soon, degraded to a mediocre revenge story of a possessive lover. A short novel, failed to create the profound impact. While most characters have their own identity, most remain short lived without blooming into one that stand out. The smart craft works, and intelligent writing alone do not lift this into a good piece of literature. At many places, this reminded me of the "Quicksand" of Tanizaki, which again failed to impress me.

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Beauty and Sadness  (1964 )

Yasunari Kawabata ( translated from Japanese by Howard S. Hibbett 1975)

139 Pages
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 Wiki

Waiting for the Barbarians - J M Coetzee

Every occupation has few common traits. It does not matter whether it's man versus nature, or man versus man. Once you set foot in a new land, its the struggle over the resources with the rest. The concept of co-existence is not known to us. We need complete control over the territory and all that it an bring us. Once you are in, then you set about conquering more and more, by encroaching into what belongs to the others. Every occupation, since the beginning of the world, or from when we have the documentary evidence, is followed the same pattern. The inhabitants of the land is driven away, by force ( most of the times) or by crooked action of cheating them. The indigenous population, not familiar with  the ways of the visitors, with their life style in perfect harmony with the universe, is now subjected to the new ways of the foreigner.  Every act of rebel, is quashed with force, by means of humiliation, torture and killing. The action is justified under various pretexts. Religion and God ( those who does not follow my God is a Pagan and uncultured),  education and culture or the approval of the authority ( empire). Even after many centuries, these fears continue to torment man-kind across the universe.

Waiting for the Barbarians, brings this fear into light. In an unnamed colony, the new occupants spread their holdings by expanding their territory by driving away the 'barbarians'. The imminent threat on the population of this border town, from the attack of barbarians continue to be the point of discussion. On the directive of the Empire, new forces are deployed to hunt and bring them to 'justice'. The expedition, mostly unsuccessful, manages to bring a few 'fugitives' as a catch. They are subjected to all those inhuman torture and abuse, and put in jail, until they perish.

On this small frontier town, the Magistrate, had been running the state of affairs for decades now, under the constant threat of war between the Official forces and the Barbarians. However, with the arrival of new sets of specialist officers for interrogation, His sympathy takes a turn towards those who were at the receiving end. His rescue of a violated girl, blinded by the interrogators, rejected and left for survival by her comrades, forced to live by begging in the street gets him on the wrong books of the Empire. The relation, kindled hidden desires in the old man, only to be satisfied with the local prostitute, gets into a strange affair of love ( very physical but not sexual) . Later,  under his authority and his ability, he decides to take her back to her people, travelling into their territories, meeting their leader and leaving the girl to her members of the clan. It did not take long for him to be named an enemy of the state and put under arrest and a subject to torture ( not physically, though). Under solitary confinement,  with more and more arrests and torture of the 'barbarians' , he confronts the authorities in public.

As time passes, the Empire, under the torments of waiting and their failure to capture the 'tyrants' make their retreat, leaving the town people to fend for themselves. Now back on control, the Magistrate, lead the remaining inhabitants, in their wait for the imminent attack, helpless, abandoned.

All the symbols of the colonialism is present here. The religion, the use of power, the need to exhibit control by all means. As the interrogator puts it. ''First, I get lies, you see -this is what happens - first lies, then pressure, then more lies, then more pressure, then the break, then more pressure, then the truth''.

The eternal struggle between the oppressed and the oppressor, the tense atmosphere there of ( Its the scare that is driving people and not the action) is brought out fabulously by the Nobel Laureate. The story has no specific place or time. Its universal and is beyond time and space. Its the same with man and nature/wild. The recent news about animals ( elephants / leopard) entering human settlements in Mysore, Bangalore, many parts of Kerala can be read along with this.

Coetzee, deploy some clever signals in here. The language for example is very interesting. collecting the wooden engraves of the inhabitants. the Magistrate tries to find the meaning of their words and a glimpse into their way of living. He even tries to interpret them , in his own mocking ways to the authorities, but  realises that language can be a powerful tool under occupation and he don't 'understand' his own people despite speaking the same language.

Under a fairly simple narrative, a very deep, fundamental questions on civilization. Profound and master class.

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Waiting for the Barbarians ( 1980)

J M Coetzee

Vintage Books

170 Pages
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Wiki Entry, NY Times, Academia.Edu,

The Hunger Angel - Herta Müller

" I know you will return"

This book came out in 2009, the year she won the Nobel Prize for Literature, adding on to her status as a phenomenal writer. The English translation, however, came only after three years and for a the impression that one carried from all those rave reviews are not un-founded. She has a distinct voice. The voice is not of complain or bad taste. It has a sense of detachment to it, despite the nature of the plot and subject of her novel. I have read only one other book, "the land of green plums", the same year she won her Nobel and was impressed with this writer.

17 year old Leo Auburg was deported to the Soviet Labour Camp, picked up from Romania with their advance towards Berlin towards the end of the WW II.  As a part of "re-building" the nation, from  the destruction during the WW, Soviet Union, needed labour to help them in their effort .The German speaking inhabitants from the liberated area, were sent to the Gulag for 5 years of forced labour. 

Leo, attracted to men and started discovering his sexuality, at the park pavilions, the neptune baths and elsewhere.  But, "every rendezvous could have landed me in prison. Minimum 5 years, if I had been caught". But that was not needed.  "I was on the Russian's list. And that was that".   "It was three in the morning, on the fifteenth of January, 1945, when the patrol came for me. The cold was getting worse; it was -15 C".  Leo, spent his next 5 years in a coke plant, shoveling coal, mixing cement and other trivial work in a camp shared by many like him.  "I know you will return" was the departing words of his grand mother.

Reminiscence of the trip to the concentration camp, packed in the train compartment with no place to stretch, into the cold blue sky, in the dead of winter. A travel lasted 12-14 days with multiple stop. The contingent was deported at the camp site. The rest is as good as one can imagine. All detention camps are the same.  Call them concentration camps, labour camps or Guantenamo. Humiliation, pain, injury, freezing cold,lice, deceases, death are their constant companion. However, instead of the atrocities and the gory images of torture and submission, the narrator focusses his attention on what affect them the most.  As Leo explains, "all you can say about yourself is that you're hungry. If you can't think of anything else. you mouth begin to expand, its roof rises to  the top of your skull, all senses alert for food. When you can no longer bear th hunger, your whole head is racked by pain..your cheek wither.."

The "Hunger Angel" which torments them through out, made them do all those inhuman things. From robbery, theft, begging, selling coal and themselves ( the women) apart from  other products from the camp in the open market for anything edible, to the random fights within the camp at the eating hall.   "Every person with chronic hunger has his preferred eating words, some rare, some common, and some in constant use. Each person thinks a different word tastes best".  Every interaction, connection and relation has something to do with hunger. "Hunger is an object. The angel has climbed into my brain. The angel doesn't think. He thinks straight."

Driven by hunger, Leo and the rest live the rest of their days. Every thing else is immaterial. The cold, the lice, the cold, or the books that was brought ( whose pages are used for rolling cigarettes and or as toilet paper).  Every thing you do is measured against the food. One shovel of coal equals to one gram of bread. Many perish, few decided to end their own life, but those who survive, carry the hunger into the world they live post release. To be a survivor is also not easy. The days of hardship torments you for ages as we have seen in many holocaust cases. There is nothing to speak, nothing to remember. 'I carry silent baggage. I have packed myself into silence so deeply and for so long that I can never unpack myself using words. When I speak, I only pack myself a little differently."

 "The deportations were a taboo subject because they recalled Romania's fascist past." recounts Muller in her afterwords. Her own mother, spent 5 years in one such camp. The book however, is based on another victim, a poet Oscar Pasitor. The idea, she says, was to collaborate and develop into a book. The death of Pasitor, made this a individual effort from Muller, using the notes she wrote from their multiple interaction. While the details of the camp are from Pasitor and her mother's experience, the insight and the language is her own. The gruesome reality and the beauty of the fictional elements have to be managed with some clever handling, which is what Herta Muller has achieved.

Brilliantly crafted and narrated book. Her sparse use of words, the intensity of the subject and narration, the 'monkish' detachment' to her characters and the lyrical prose  makes her one of the best contemporary writers. While, this is very good, I thought "The Land of Green Plums" was a notch better to this one.

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The Hunger Angel ( 2009 )

Herta Müller ( translated from German by Philip Boehm 2012 )

Portobello Books

290 Pages
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Guardian, Telegraph, Rochester.edu,Independent, NY Times

The Bridge Over the Drina - Ivo Andrić

One of the master pieces of the twentieth century literature. I had been having the book for last 10 years and haven't read it until now.  I like books that cover a large canvas and period in history.

The Bridge over the Drina was built in the 16th century,  on the orders of Grand Vizier Mehmed Paša Sokolović.a Bosnian soldier, who moved up the ranks in the Ottoman Emperor to reach the all powerful post of the Grand Wizier. The order was issued and the construction begun. These were hard times. People forced under slavery made to work on the completion of the bridge which took nearly 6 years. There were attempts of sabotage, which was dealt with cruel punishment.  Having completed, it continue to attract attention as it become the center of every activities of the town of Višegrad. The town sprout around the bridge, as this became the meeting point of lovers, of spies, of merchants, of old people during their evening walks. Over the years, the control was moved from the Turkish to the Austro-Hungarian empire as the political fortunes of the Balkans went through major changes.

The bridge is the symbol of many things. Its the demonstration of the might of the ottoman empire, the Turkish influence on the eastern Balkan which withstood all the trouble and turmoil for more than 3 centuries. Its is also the history of the Balkan states, divided between three believes and multiple conquering forces. The Islam with the huge Turkish control and connection, the Catholic  Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Orthodox Serbian. Bosnia, a connecting point or rather the 'bridge' of these three regularly fighting civilizations. The Bridge, thus us the meeting point of the East and West, the Islam and the Christianity, the developed modern Europe to the Mystic East.

For a subject with cover more than 400 years, it has to be kaleidoscopical. We move from one generation to the next, one historical event to the next, one ruler over the other but remain truthful to the ever-lasting monument, which not only bridges the civilisation of east and the west, but the story from one century to the other. In these pages we come across a whole lot of memorable characters,  communities and often unconnected events, which on a larger scale is the history of the Eastern Europe for 400 years,  It's an interesting contrast of the ever-lasting, constant, all enduring bridge against the flurry of changes that takes place in the town and the world in general . The bridge is the omnipresent force. It was always a center of attraction, from technological leap in the 16th century to the exotic location in the 20th century.

The world was changing around this time. As the 20th century dawned, the power of Austro-Hungarian empire was on the raise. The new ways of thinking influenced by the Bolsheviks were a hit among the youths. The Bosnian young, who went abroad and studied in the universities of Vienna and other parts of the world, came in with the fresh thoughts and energy. The second decade of the century saw larger levels of activities among these youth and it was during these days, the Heir apparent of Austro-hungarian empire was murdered in Sarajevo, resulting in the out break of the Worls War I. Višegrad , close to the capital of  Bosnia, had the highest amount of devastation. The town was deserted as it was occupied by the forces and large scale murder of Serbs were targeted. A few who refused to leave were victims of the attacks from both the sides. Bomb, shells and stray gun fire took away the remains of the lives. To complete the devastation, the once mighty and ever lasting bridge was destroyed by a bomb, bringing down the fine balance of the ethnic and religious fabric of a region.

An outstanding work of fiction by a master story teller. The events and the people who come and go through out the book are the real symbols of the era. Everything revolves around the bridge, as a catalyst. Ivo Andric, with the clever use of the lasting monument, gives us a gem of a story.

Ivo Andric, wrote the book during World War II while he was under house arrest in Serbia. It was published in 1945 who went on to win the Nobel prize in 1961, largely for this work. Epical, such a sensitive portrayal of the people, with acute vision and sensibility. An extraordinary book.. Stunning.

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The Bridge over the Drina  (1945)

Ivo Andrić ( translated from  Serbo-Croat by Lovett F Edwards)

The Harwill Press

314 Pages
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The Bridge , Wiki Entry , Independent

Caligula & Cross Purpose - Albert Camus

Reading Camu almost after 20 years has been a new experience. This time, reading his plays. These are written in the early days of his literary career, before the celebrated novels and his raise to stardom. As I understand from the introduction, Camus was deeply involved in the theater movements in Algeria, and played a prominent part in founding the so called Theater du Travail, in Algiers. This collection of two plays brought together by Penguin are my introduction to this aspect of the writer.

Caius Caesar Caligula, the third of the 12 Caesars, ruled Rome from AD 37 to AD 41, from the age of 25 until his assassination. He was known as a cruel ruler, He was known to have incestuous relationship with his sister Drusilla, and was intended to marry her. An untimely death of her prevented this, but he was a changed man after that. Often absconding from the palace for days, spending sleepless nights in the streets and in the open, he planned and plotted his cruel actions against the citizens. He killed and tortured many of his subjects so that the patricians finally came out in open rebellion and assassinated him.

Camus intend was not to present the 'monster in human form' the the audience, but to examine the nihilistic response of individual and its not so obvious reasons. One do not see a bad character here, but a Ruler carried by his own actions trying to find a logical conclusion of his misdeeds, knowing the repercussions could be his own death, even manipulating the events that leads to his own death.

" I'm the only man on earth to know the secret - that power can never be complete without a total self - surrender to the dark impulse of one's destiny. No there's no return. I must go on and on, until the consummation."

Despite the knowledge of the conspirator among his men, his close friends, Caligula is unperturbed. As the plot thickens and the eventual end of his life

"Then there must be two kind of happiness, and I've chosen the murderous kind. For I am happy. There was a time when I thought I'd reached the extremity of pain. Bu,no, one can go farther yet. Beyond, the frontier of pain lies a splendid, sterile happiness. Look at me."

Even as the dagger thrust and gasping for his last breath, he goes down with a shriek "I'm still alive".

Originally written in 1938 , as a similar nihilistic ruler was gaining control over large part of Europe, his play seemed to be having a prophetic outlook. Unlike his novels that came out later, these do not seems to have the existentialist overdose. Mostly going by the French and European absurdist style, Camus too presented his plays as expression of ideas, of moral dilemma rather than the judgmental and morally decisive.

Cross Purpose , written in 1943 ( as The Misunderstanding ) is Camus idea of the absurd. Jan, the prodigal son, who had been living abroad for more than 20 years, returns home to his mother and sister. Widowed mother and sister, now making a living by providing lodging to travellers and then murdering them, taking away all their processions. Not recognizing Jan as their son and brother, they continue their act, as usual. Jan, on his hand deliberate the idea of announcing himself first, but decide to surprise them later. Having realised their mistake of killing their own family member in a rather cold manner sans any emotions, mother commit suicide by drowning in the river and the daughter followed her by hanging herself only after advising Maria, the wife of Jan, " to pray God turns her to stone or kill herself too". Maria cries to the heavens for help and in what is supposed to be an incarnation of the power of the world, the old man servant appears and conclude the play with an emphatic 'NO".

Camus once remarking that this play "resembles me the most", While not reflecting on the philosophical nature of the human, Camus seems to have written this during his time as a propaganda agent for the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation. It must have influenced by his own live in distant land leaving behind his wife and family in Algeria. Cross Purpose, interestingly is the reversal of the classical prodigal son's story of the bible.

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Caligula & Cross Purpose ( 1938)

Albert Camus

Penguin Plays

156 Pages
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Caligula, Cross Purpose, 

Raised from the Ground - Jose Saramago

Call it as a reader's superstition, but you always wanted to begin the year with reading a great book. Last year, it was Laszlo Krasznahorkai with "Melancholy of Resistance" and I had one of the best year, thus far, in reading. To choose the first book of the year was a big task. There are more than 25 books lying in the shelf unread and it wasn't easy to pick one given the above prerequisite. When in doubt, its better to go with the known names, especially one who has not yet disappointed you.

Raised from the Ground was originally published in 1980, and surprisingly, this was not available in English until 2012, two years after his death. This one, apparently was one of the early works of Saramago and gives us the glimpses of the style and narrative voice that we are familiar in his later works, that made him famous. This too employ, long sentences but have a bit more controlled and paragraphed. The narrative voice is continue to be in control, often shifting, and merging with the characters and taking independent observer form most of the times, being omnipresent through out the history.

This is Saramago's vesion of the 20th century Portugal through the 4 generations of the fictional family Mau-Tempo. From the first decades of the 20th century until the fall of Salazar's regime is in discussion here through life of the Southern Portugal peasants and workers. The word "Mau Tempo" means "bad weather", trying to give the indication of the times the family has lived through. The World Wars, the famine, the raise of Salazar's regime, the elections, the resistance movement that attracted many a workers, the arrests and torture, the fall of the regime and the new Portugal have been the subject of the book very cleverly and written with great style and compassionate voice.

The novel begins with a beautiful description of the the drunkard shoe maker Domingoes Mau Tempo and his family ( wife Sara and infant son Joao) arriving at a small town of Southern Portugal, drenched in storm rains and struggling through the dirty muddy road, in search of a living. Domingoes, always a nomad, never able to stay and earn a living in one place, known as a drunkard and wife-beater, did not last long, committing suicide by hanging on a branch of tree. Young Joao, who inherited the blue eye of his ancestor, a German who molested and raped an adolescent girl in the 15th century giving the generations the blue eye, a reminder of the cruel injustice done to them, had to fetch himself for a living at the young age of 10. Finding labour at the land owners, mending sheeps and pigs. The social and political system of Portugal is undergoing a change. The land owners, continue to hold control over the workers and the police. The regime of Salazar is in power. The poor workers, continue to live under famine, illness and at the mercy of the powerful land owners. There are resistive movements inspired by the Soviet revolution. The reflection of the same arrive at their land as well.

The collective forces of the Regime, the land owners, the army and the Church is always oppressive of any raise. There were arrests and torture. Joao, despite his limited involvement gets arrested and tortured. Neither the torture nor the promises manages to shake his resolve. The workers continue to press their demand, making slow progresses amidst the continued interrogation and arrests. The new generation of workers including Antonio, the eldest son of Joao, his son-in-law and the rest now take the leadership. The success is sure to come. Before the imminent, the land owners escape to safer havens, rather than increasing the wages and the other welfare of the workers. We see the occupation of the lands by the workers in the final chapters, distributing among themselves.

While I am not qualified to comment on the historical part of the book, to me this is a significant achievement in bringing out the 20th century Portugal through the life of a common man. When the novel begins, Portugal is not a republic. While the impact is not known, the people seem to rejoice in being a republic, not knowing what does it mean to them. The Republic then falls in the hands of a dictator, who ruled the country for most part of the century. The regime changes to a democracy after a 'revolution' in 1974. When the last of the family member Maria is still in her middle ages. At the outset, these changes are very superficial and deep down to the peasant's life, these have little significance. Their life in poverty and hunger continued through out the decade. Even after the revolution, the land owners leave the country en-masse fearing retaliation from the people, taking away substantial sum of money and all the resources. the spread of revolution itself is slow, and even the participants, did not know they are part of the large movement. When he gets arrested for the second time, Joao was as clueless as he was four years ago. He did not have much information to reveal, and any amount of torture did not get him to speak as he did not know. However progress they make, slowly. They demand minimum wage, and succeed. The working hours, now are eight hours. But all these were possible only after prolonged activities and suffering of a few.

The peasants did not understand why they are not given work. “What kind of world, is this, divides into those who make a profession of idleness and those who want work but can’t get it”. Their life continue to be at the mercy of the land owners to the level of slavery.

The people were made to be hungry and dirty. People who wash regularly are the people who don't work....That is the great thing about this day and age, the sufferers glory in their sufferings, the slaves in their servitude. The beast on earth must remain a beast, who never rubs the sleep from his eyes from moring to night, indeed the dirt on his hands, face, armpits, groin, feet, arsehole must be for him the glorious aura surrounding work on the latifundio, man must be lower than the beast of the field, for they, at least, lick themselves clean,man,however, must degrade himself so that he respects neither himself nor his fellows.

To Saramago's credit, the novel goes beyond the political propaganda. The peasant life, the knowledge of 'latifundo' and its behaviour, the social and political upheaval of the Portugal is handled with a masterly sensitive hand. The reference to the blue eye, symbolizing the injustice done to them for generations and other the use of metaphor ( the ants , the constant representative of the church Father Agemedes etc) appear through out the book. The innocent peasant minds, the subtle changes in the style and language towards the later part, each fabulously and cleverly crafted. Some very moving passages, some explosive revelations, some insightful sentences makes this an astonishing read. The first chapter, the workers life under latifundio, the chapter on the torture and death of the prisoner ( with the ants play a great part of the narrative), the interrogation of Joao, the town meeting and the resulting police action.. there are many memorable scenes of recollection. The often slippery narrator, moving from third person to first person is the only area I was a bit uncomfortable in the whole book.

Very powerful, often with his characteristic humour and a sensitive portrayal of the peasants and workers life in the rural Portugal during the regime by one of my favorite writers of twentieth century. This novel stands along with his other top books ( Gospal according to Jesus Christ , blindness etc). Brilliant..

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Raised from the Ground ( 1980 )

Jose Saramago ( translated from Portuguese by Margeret Jull Costa in 2012)

Harvill Secker

387 Pages
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NY Times, Guardian, Miguel

The dream of the Celt - Mario Vargas Llosa

This book was published immediately after he was selected for the Nobel Prize in 2010. The anticipation and expectation were very high. More so, after the disappoint over the previous one- The Bad Girl. However, it took a couple of years before the English translation  to come out. In line with his later works ( those released in 21st Century) , Mario Vargas Llosa, takes up subject from history and historical figures and work his magic around those incidents. His earlier works such as 'The way to Paradise ( on Paul Gaguin) or 'The Feast of the Goat' ( on the dictator Rafael Trujillo of Dominican Republic) were very good, especially the feast of the goat. This time, he takes the case of Roger Casement , an IRISH revolutionary who spend his early days in Africa and later in Amazon fighting for the cause of the indigenous people against the abuse of colonial power.

Waiting for the hangman's rope in the Pentonville Prison in London, Roger Casement  ( "one of the great anti-colonial fighters and defenders of human rights and indigenous cultures of his time, and a sacrificed combatant for the emancipation of Ireland.” )  recounts his turbulent life spent across three continents. His appeal for clemency is under scrutiny by the Parliament, however the hope seems to be less, after the revelations of his sexual preference ( for the young dark boys of Africa and Amazon)  is made public by the authorities, obtained from his secret dairy. He seldom has visitors, most of his high profiled friends including some of the leading writers of the world abstain from meeting him or supporting him in public, for he is now under trial as a traitor of the kingdom, which once honoured him with Knighthood. Few visitors include an acquaintance in London and a Catholic Priest.

Roger's childhood is spend with his uncle and aunt after the death of his mother ( who continue to appear to him in his dreams) and later his father. Joined as an apprentice in a logistic firm, he get an opportunity to travel to Congo , which changes the course of his life.  Accompanying the great African explorer Stanley ( whom he recall as "one of the most unscrupulous villains the west had excreted on to the continent of Africa"), he had witnessed the atrocities of the colonial power Belgium inflicting upon the natives in their quest for 'black gold' rubber which is in great demand in the industrialised world. Its his investigation and report that opened the truth of the atrocities and cruelties that are subjected on the natives by the colonial powers.

On his return to England, he was entrusted with another challenge. This time to enquire about the activities of a British Company owned by Julio C Arana, in the Amazon jungles at Putamayo, Peru. To his dismay, the situation in Amazon is no better than what was in Congo. Those in power used all their cruel means to subdue and servile the native for their personal fortune. The levels of cruelty and abuse is no less and not surprisingly, those who were to take action were found in indulging the same atrocities, often paid by the business.

It is during these days in the jungle, that kindles Roger's patriotic believes. "Wasn't Ireland a colony too, Like the Congo ? Hadn't England invaded Ireland ? Hadn't they incorporated it into the empire by force, not consulting those who had been invaded and occupied, just as the Belgians did with the Congolese ?".  The rest of Casement life had been now focused towards Ireland.  Learning its history, its unique culture, and unsuccessfully trying to learn Gaelic, he started working with the Irish republican brotherhood and other similar organisations. His currently acquired fame made him the attraction and he was busy spreading the message across the country despite his physical illness in the form of arthritis. Raising funds for the organisation, trying to gather support of Germany ( enemy's enemy is our friend) to work along with the Irish Republican  Brotherhood in the event of an armed offensive, trying to secure arms and ammunition to the fighters, he worked round the clock for his dream. He was caught by the British Army, on his attempt to return to Ireland from Germany prior to the Easter Rising offensive, and was sentenced to death, by the court.

Written in three parts, each dedicated to Congo, Amazon and Ireland, Mario Vargas Llosa, does what he is best at. Weaving his narrative from the historical facts with his mastery and imagination, he build the case of Roger Casement. The cruelty and atrocities of the colonials ( chopping of penis and limbs, the whip marks on natives for smaller errors, the knife mark on the bodies with the company details etc), the plight of the soldiers who are asked to perform these atrocities by their superiors, the business houses with the eye for money and the personal preferences of Roger Casement,  etc are noted with keen observation and with detachment. Where history does not provide him with direct details, I think he excels himself. Where the available data is sufficient and with no scope of imagination, his writings are dull and plain as a text book., The part of Congo and Amazon are written brilliantly. However, the last part on Ireland does not live upto the previous two. However, he finishes in style.

Though this do not stand among his best books, it is better than the previous one.  Despite the uneven narrative towards the end, it still holds pretty well as a strong powerful tale. The narratives technique is brilliant often moving between the present ( 1916 at Pentonville Jail) to the respective continents. The ease of shifting of the narrative space is amazing. The language is fluid and poetic at many places. Again, not amongst his best,  good nonetheless.

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The Dream of the Celt ( 2010)

Mario Vargas Llosa  ( translated from Spanish by Edith Grossman 2012)

Faber & Faber

403 Pages
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Wiki Entry, Guardian, NY Times, Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald, Telegraph, Independent

The Room and The Dumb Waiter - Harold Pinter

The room, originally written and played in 1957 is the first work of Harold Pinter. The familiar absurd, ambiguous yet disturbing plots and scenes did originate from his earliest work itself. Having read a few of his plays already, I guess this was easier to get into. However, the same disturbing conversations( and monologues), the end page twists and the contradicting narratives makes it very interesting to read. While not getting into the summary, one can get the glimpses of the 'suffocating life' that Rose and Bert living in the small room. Her constant reassurance of her life with cosiness and the warmth of the room, is enough to make it obvious that the reality is the opposite. Never leaving her room, she take solace in her state of mind with the status of others. Captive and restrained her movement within the room by her husband, while he takes his evening drive, Bert is trying to protect her from something. The arrival of the mysterious man living in the basement, creates curiosity in her when he sends across his intention to meet her, through the land owner. The Blind Negro Riley, comes up to the room, while Bert was away, asking her to "come home to her father". A possible escape from her detained life to the open world, which she possibly had lived before her living with Bert. In the end, Bert returns after his evening drive and murders the Blind Negro, possibly to protect Rose from her disturbing past ( which few theories associate Rose to be a prostitute and the Blind Negro her pimp).

The dumb waiter, to me is more profound in its arrangement. Two supposedly hit-men are waiting in a room in the basement for their job assignment. The hierarchy of the two member team is clear with Ben acting as the senior member and Gus the junior. The wait is perennial, and while there Gus is questioning Ben on their job, even their role in the assignment, when Ben is immersed in the newspaper, often reading few snippets ot Gus. As the tension mounts, between them , there is a mysterious 'dumb waiter' the floor above, who sends across food orders to the duo down below. Surprised over the choice, two men, sends across the few food items that left with them, which has no co-relation to what was asked. As the tension increases with the wait, the duo gets to physical assault. Through the waiters 'talking tube' comes the signal , while Gus is in the bathroom, about the arrival of the victim. In typical Pinter style, it turns out that, as Gus enters into the room, he is the one who are to be eliminated by Ben. It is sort of evident that the instigators of violence are the victims of the game, at the end. I've read elsewhere that the caste was two Irish actors as the hit-men, giving it a political angle.

Small book, with two of his early plays, is the typical Pinter affair, which I like. Absurd, often comical conversations, the gallant twist to the end and the after effect that linger over a long time. Fabulous.

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The Room and The Dumb Waiter ( 1957/1959)

Harold Pinter

Methuen Co Ltd

71 Pages
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Wiki - Dumb Waiter, Wiki - The Room , Guardian, The Crimson

The King of the Fields - Isaac Bashevis Singer

I haven't read any other books of Isaac singer, hence it is too early to judge the authour, especially for a Nobel Prize winner(1978). This being the later works of Singer, I'm sure there are more prolific works that missed my attention. This book, a short fable set during the medieval Poland, talks about the growing of civilization from the nomadic, hunter community to the farming community, living together amidst the growing insecurity of attack and murder.

At the outset it is a simple folklorish tale set in Vistula province, where Lesniks ( the hunter community) and Woyaks ( the farming sect) are under constant war. After the last attack where Lesniks lost most of their men, most of the women were raped by Woyak men they escaped to the mountains living in the caves under the leadership of Cybula , who is the best hunter in their surviving group. Cybula's daughter is detained and is now the wife of the Woyak leader. It was soon evident that the few Woyak men may not be able to work in the fields without some additional support. Hence the efforts begun to lure the Lesniks back to the settlement with lucrative offers. Lesniks were persuaded by Cybula's and a new joint community settle working in the fields. however the basic difference between the team continue and the murder and rape did not cease.

Cybula in the meanwhile become the lieutenant of the chielf and was sent on a mission to the nearby ( few weeks travel) town to sell few gold and get necessary seeds and other essentials. On his return, he brouhgt along a Jew slave, as their official shoemaker. The Jew however was much more equipped, as he taught the youngster to read and write as well as telling them stories and about the 'one and only GOD'. The community where single GOD does not exist, and polygamy is the way of living, it was a harsh shock. While they continue to believe in their various GODs , this new concept of a single GOD who is omnipresent did cause some ripples. It did not take long for the systems to fail again and the Lesniks to abandon and escape to the forests. Only to comeback at an appropriate time to kill all the Woyak men and seize power. Cybula , now the new Krol ( chief) is now rule with kingdom with the support of his mistress ( his wife's mother). It is to this setting came another stranger who proclaim to belong to a new belief called Christianity. Similar to Jews, he too believe in a Single GOD, whom he says was done to death by the Jews. Community is now divided between the two beliefs, while not abandoning their own GODs , especially Cybula who continue to believe in his GOD of Death

They were again attacked by another group of horse laden mercenaries, who take over the regime from Cybula, and declare the place as Poland ( derived from Pola , meant field). Disheartened, Cybula escape back to the mountains with his expecting wife , embarking on a long journey.

Fairly simple story of tribal warfare and the change of civilization. Or it can also be said as the birth of the new Polish state. May be it is an attempt to look at the modern civilization through the history. There are interesting characters, each named after some of the vegetables or animals as is the practice then. Most exhibit their primitive behavior, killing raping and engaging in other sexually influenced activities, while not hunting or in the fields. Their emotions are strong, either love or kill. It only Cybula, who thinks beyond these basic states and arrive at his own philosophical understanding. Beyond that there was nothing that caught my attention and I do not consider this as a major work of fiction.

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The King of the Fields ( 1988 )

Isaac Bashevis Singer ( translated from Yiddish by the author)

Plume Books

224 Pages
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Redrookreview , NY Times

Six Characters in Search of an Author and Other Plays - Luigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello, Italian Play-wright was in the fore front in establishing the direction of 20th century drama and theater. To many one of the initial practitioner of the 'modernism' in literature and a strong leader of the 'absurdist' plays. Winner of the nobel Prize in 1924, pretty son after two of his most reputed and celebrated plays were written and staged in 1921. Haven't read none of his works earlier, this compilation of the-most-known plays of Luigi Pirandello was a welcome receipt. I had to make some amends to my rather poor reading of plays in general. Three plays, translated by Mark Musa is compiled in this book. His most famous and controversial "Six Characters in Search of an Author", Henri IV and "So it is (of you think so)" are considered some of his best.

Six Characters..., starts with the the rehearsal of one of Pirandello's play by his theater group with the director leading the artists and the support staff to the stage. Six characters , member of a family literally invade the stage, demanding their story to be taken up and written. The leader of them, the Father, tells the director that their story is unrealised and they need some one to conclude. Intrigued by the scenario, Director give them the chance to narrate. The family story of betray and the complex relationship between father, mother, their son, the second marriage of the mother and her daughter all comes at once to narrate their part of the tale. The act of switching between the characters and the actors who are expected to portray them begin. the reality and the realisation now get entangled, as the characters wanted them to be appropriately portrayed.

Cant you see all the trouble lies here ! In the words ! All of us have a world full of things inside us, each of us his own world of things! How can we understand one another, sir, if in the words I speak I put the meaning and the value of things as I myself see them, while the one who listens inevitably takes them according to the meaning and the value he has in himself of the world he has inside of himself.

The play is more than the structural and theatrical possibility of the extension of the boundaries of the stage. To me it also examines the unknown or unspoken relationship between the characters, the actors who portray them, the theater hands including the director and the audience. In the whole sequence of performance, each owe to play their own parts to perfection.

According to Pirandello, the interpreted meaning of the characters being portrayed on stage has more truth than the character's reality. Its is the realization of the characters through the artist completes their existence.

miracle of a reality that is born, evoked,attracted and formed on the stage itself and which has more right to live here than all of you, because it is much truer than you ?

But for an author, he only have to let the characters do the task of telling the story, he is merely someone who documents what the characters do independently.

When characters are alive, truly alive before their author, he has only to follow them in their words and actions which they precisely suggest to him... When the character is born, he immediately assumes so much independence, even from his own author..

In the theatrical experiment, Six characters has much larger scope of expansion.

Henri IV ( enrico IV ) , looks at the madness of an actor resulted from a fatal fall from the horse. Believing himself to be the 11th century King Henri IV, he was looked after under a closely guarded room, with his relatives imbibing the appropriate characters to match his illusion. Having spent 20 years thus, his family is trying to revive him and bring him back to normalcy, with the help of a doctor. As the scene progresses, it become unclear to the readers and audience, on who is insane. Henri IV, declares to his helpers that he is indeed sane, and he is getting the rest to act to his will by behaving this way and he believe it is better to act insane in the 20th century and live in the world created by him, than to live among the others who believe themselves to be sane.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am cured because I know how to play the part of the madman to perfection, right here; and I do it quietly. The trouble with you is that you live in your own madness with such agitation that you do not even know of see it !

The subject is very interesting and can be interpreted and modelled to the time and place of its stage. Once you are prepared to play the role of insane, the rest appears to be in your control. It is you who decide the roles and actions of those around you. So, for the 'Henri IV' , he prefer to remain insane, even after he reveal his true nature to his assistants. Now, the true nature is known, he goes back to the role he chose for himself. I find this idea brilliant and the narrative multi layered and with scope of multiple scope of interpretation and understanding.

So it is, tracks the Ponza family mystery through the prying and curious eyes of the town people. Ponza, moving into the town as a clerk to the Governor , having lost the entire relatives in a natural disaster. He also brings his mother in law to the town and place her in the room in the same compound as his superior. He along with his wife moves into an apartment located in the 9th floor of a nearby building. The rumour spread on the mother and daughter and their relation. According to the gossip, mother and daughter do not meet each other and the son, being the only link between them divides his time between the mother-in-law and his wife. Various theories emerge and the lady folks in town in general are curious. It is now become the responsibility of the authorities to demystify this to the public. The complication starts with the version of mother in law and the Son, both claiming the other to be mentally instable and they are acting this way to keep the other in their current belief. Ponza claims that the lady's daughter, whom he had married, had died long ago and he had married for second time. however, knowing the medical condition of his erstwhile mother-in-law, he wants to keep things as it is with the lady, pretending to be married to her daughter. Bringing them together, can unveil the whole build up thus causing unwanted issue. However, according to the mother-in-law, the illness is to the son, and her daughter and she had planned to this to keep him sane, getting him married to the same women twice. As the listeners are divided in their opinion, convinced with the respective versions, the Governor now get involved to solve the mystery, summoning the wife of Ponza.

Pirandello is a master in extending the possibilities of the stage beyond its construct. Six characters explore this possibility brilliantly. The characters and audience and the behind the stage hands all become part of the experiment. Characters claims that they have an identity and the artists are only trying to portray only part of it. Written almost a century ago, and having seen its imitation in various forms, I thought it still has a freshness that is unique. Henri IV, to me stands much better in terms of its adaptability and interpretation. The often blurred line of sanity and insanity is examined here brilliantly through the character Henri IV. Who is acting sane and who is really insane is becoming subjective to the time, space and the situation. 'So it is' is more dramatic and appears as cheap suspense thriller. It goes through the melodrama , the anti-climax and the reflection on the of the society ( which is not new) in typical theatrical style.

Both Six characters and Henri IV is written after some he had some personal tragedies. His daughter attempted suicide and his wife went insane towards the end of second decade of the 1900s. These personal tragedies supposed to have hugely influenced his creative output during which some of his all time great works are originated. Outstanding..

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Six Characters in Search of an Author and Other Plays ( 1921)

Luigi Pirandello ( translated from Italian by Mark Musa 1995)

Penguin Books

206 Pages
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Independent People - Halldor Laxness

After working for the Bailiff for 18 years under near slavery, Gudbjartur Jonsson, is now the owner of his own croft. His eighteen years of previous experience is enough resolve for him to be independent man. Now known as Bjartur of Summerhouses, running his farm with multiplying numbers of sheep, he now determined to preserve his status as an independent man. Plain and simple, he has no two ways of thinking nor any polished way of communicating his feeling. Anything that comes in between him and his perceived independence, he is fight with all his might. The place acquired by him is no great shakes. It is believed to have been haunted. The spirits of Kolimkilli and Gunnvor ( from the Icelandic saga) , is believed to be the owner of these wastelands and does give torrid times to the people, unless they made pact with them with offerings. Halldor Laxness starts his epic with the reference to the myths and legends of Kolimkilli and Gunnvor and continued the subtle references to this from time to time.

Even in the face of one mishap after other, Bjartur is unperturbed. He has decided to face the repercussions for his belief. His wife, dies after giving birth to a illegitimate daughter. His second wife with whom he had 3 sons, also did not live long to serve him. His sons, one after other desert him ( either perish or migrated to other pastures). The famine stuck many times, His fortune with sheep oscillate like a pendulum, from great years to being lost all due to some illness. The croft remain the same despite his promise to build a mansion to his daughter. He stood firm despite all the backlashes and the sacrifices, being an independent man. The only soft corner in his mind was towards his foster daughter Asta Sollilja (born to his wife and Bailff's son). But, when she was pregnant ( illegitimate again) , he did not think twice in expelling her from his house.

Its a sad story. One can not but sympathise with Bjartur, despite his stubbornness and thoughtlessness. He had clear ways of behavior and looked at everything else as a plot to put him back in debt. He did not give a damn to the church or to the authorities, neither thought it is important to educate his kids in the traditional way. He found all those a waste of time.

We Icelanders have never had any great respect for kings … for everyone is equal before God; and as long as a farmer can call himself an independent man and no one else’s slave, so long can he call himself his own king.

Despite his stubbornness and the rejection of all the believes, Bjarthur at time display his conciliatory side to the myths. He even offered a cease-fire with Gunnvor and Kolumkili , albeit momentarily. However, he remain critical to the church.

Tragedy stuck one after other in his life. However, he managed to complete the promised house, but only after the daughter was thrown out. But, he did not have the chance to live in his dream, as he lost all his properties, succumbed to the debt and clever ploy by the mighty ( they had forced him the loan for the raw material and the labour in building the house)..

Against this backdrop, the book addresses a lot more basic questions about the human survival. Despite his initial success and the shear ability to stay out of the water. The noose is always hanging above them. The politician and bureaucracy is strengthening their hold on the poor , looting them and pushing them down the debt track. People loose properties and all their belongings.

The World War 1 has a great significance in this novel, as it did for Iceland. Though it is not participated in the war, for geographical reasons, the repercussions are felt even at this distant land. People keenly follow the happenings as it changes their fortune, mostly favourably as the demand for raw material and meat was increased. There is also reference to the death of CSAR and the raise of Communism, as people are eager to learn the outcome of this experience. Laxness was known for his affinity towards Communism, and the subtle hints of new regime of people in that country is mentioned as a new light at the horizon. There are workers agitating, some of them even taking the path of looting the rich ( only the bread and milk ). There are proposed strike against the authorities for wages and their rights. Their resolve was firm despite the news that the authorities are expected to use force on them including firing squad. At the end despite all the setbacks and tragedies, Bjarthur stands tall, and the books ends with the reconciliation of the family and beginning of a new life with the hopes of new era for Iceland.

This is a fabulous book, and what is impressive is the detached tone of language and its simplicity. The narration never takes over the plot, nor the characterisation is exaggerated or typecast. He is the representation of the society , who would like to stand on their own without dependency of the authorities be it bureaucratic, papal , ideological or even familial. The "independence" for him does not merely an economic means, but on every aspect of his life, including his personal interactions with his wives and children. This does not mean he is not in love with them. He shows his softer side, by composing verses for his daughter, by looking out for his estranged son, allowing the youngest one to leave him and migrate to America.

Independent people is an outstanding novel. Originally published in two parts in the year 1934 and 35, it was published in English in1946 and Laxness went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1955. Though long and slow moving, it never leaves your attention to the narration. Despite the general feel of the book, it never come across as a gloomy , grim and sad novel, even while we are sympathetic to the protagonist. Carefully crafted and progressed, cleverly articulated ; Great read and a master piece.

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Independent People ( 1934-1935)

Halldor Laxness ( translated by J A Thomson 1988)

Vintage Classics

544 Pages
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