Primeval and Other Times - Olga Tokarczuk

The importance of having friends of similar interests from other parts of the world is that you get to know of books and writers, you otherwise tends to miss or overlook. Over the past few years I have been the beneficiary of some great recommendations from a few. This had been another strongly recommended book and I am grateful to him for this. Reading authors from Hungary and Poland , of late, I am surprised by the talents emerging from the old Eastern Block countries.

Olga Tokarczuk, paints the picture of a small town polish village ( pirmeval as the name given - which always existed and always will be) , over the 70 plus years through both world wars and the communist regime that ruled the country in the second half of 20th century. "Primeval is the place at the centre of the Universe" , satrts the novel. Located strategically between two rivers, The Black river and the White River which merge at the end of the village loosing their respective characterisitcs, and by four archangels protecting or rather watching ( as they hardly intervene in the affairs) the inhabitants of the place. The neighboring towns provide the necessary goods for living, and the lone church completes the remaining apart from the all absorbing and protecting forest.

Michal is out on war during the World War I, leaving the mill to the care of his wife Genowefa. The Tsars Soldiers came one day and took him with them. Their baby girl is born while he was still at war. Angels were present at the birth of the girl giving the mother all the support. Genowefa, running the house and the mill had her on way of flirting, but the hope of her husband's return controlled her. Michal returned from the other end of the world, he said, the other end of Russia at the eastern sea. The time of peace did not last as the German Soldiers came in and settled in their village. Half the villagers were loaded in trucks and sent to Germany for being Jews, while those resisted were killed. The German atrocities continued, raping villagers and looting things. It is then the Russians came in as liberators. Village Road now become the line of separation where continuous fighting and firing across the streets continued, until the retreat of the falling Germans. Post war control came into the hands of Communist regime.

This is the story of the place, of the people and told by them. Each has his own 'time' and they live their times in their own way. It has bad people - bad man, who nobody knew from where he came , who walked into the forest, lost his words and only howls and Cornspike lives a nomadic life sleeps with anyone in the village, later moves into the forest and submit her body at the will of badman, but continue to maintain her contact with the village, squire Popieski and his family. Michal , Genowefa and their descendants -Misia and her numerous children. Each has their own 'times' and their points. There are Kurt, the Nazi Officer, e Philosophical Russian Ivan Mukta, the drowned, the dead, the nomads, the Gods and Angels, animals living their part of the history,

The viewpoint changes from one chapter to the other. Moving it from people, animal, forest, the occupiers. However the voice does not change. It continue to be the writer's and with a strong feminine voice (not that I am complaining ). The issue in it is that the flow is not as seem less as it is in the other cases because of the change of handle. It takes a lot of effort to move the story along with out loosing its continuity. However, despite few crossing, the story in general is moved very well.

The initial part, until the end of World War II, the narration is very vivid and baroque. Not sure if this was intentional, but I found it changed a bit and dry in the later part. It is where the country being occupied by various forces, come under the control of its own, albeit being remotely controlled ideologically and politically by Soviet union. The people in general had been very passive to these forces. Be it being forced to move into the jungles by Germans, Jews being evacuated and loaded into trucks -few loosing their lives, or when the Russians came and occupied their home. They never resisted, suffered the humiliation in silence. They continued the same during the regime post the World war. On the flip side, the struggle is internalised. With the river, with the Gods, with the surroundings. Each character live in their own world.

Primeval ( always existed and always will) is a representation of any place where the land, weather, people and animal alway lived within its rules. There had been 'times' of every one in their own way, and in conjunction with the rest. There had been and will be period of oppression and difficulties. While the life goes one from one 'world' to the other as the 'times of the game' tells us , where not only the GOD but the rest of the nature takes different forms and shapes. However the core virtue of the life remain the same.

Interesting set of characters live and die in a Macondo'-ish small vilage, spanning seven decades. While the story is around few central characters, it is the wholesomeness of the village and its people give this a completeness.Its lyrical, its magical and it is moving and its comes out with a freshness. Little disappointed towards the end, but very well written, nonetheless.

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Primeval and Other Times ( 1996 )

Olga Tokarczuk ( translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones in 2010)

Twisted Spoon Press

248 Pages

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Bookslut, Polish Writing

Spy Princess : the Life of Noor Inayat Khan - Shrabani Basu

Typical persons you associate with a spy is what you see in movies. For most of them, I guess, the famous Mata Hari provided the benchmark/guidelines. I am not a great reader of spy novels and was apprehensive about this book, even though this is a biographical book. My fear was that the fictional or the element of glorification take the upper hand in the narrative. However, it wasn't so, at least evidently in this book.

Born to the royal lineage of the legendary Tipu Sultan, daughter of hindustani classical Musician Inayat Khan and his American Wife Ora Ray Baker in Moscow before moving into Paris, Noor had her initial schooling in French. The house full of musicians and Sufi sect followers ( her father was a Sufi Practitioner and teacher), she had an upbringing which were very unlike of the others of her generation. Her early years after the schooling began as a wrier. She wrote children's stories for French Magazines and had the famous Jataka Tales translated and Published into French. It was during this time she lost her father and the responsibilities of running the family fell on her as her mother withdrew herself into a solitary living confined to her room. These were the years of financial struggle for her. Just before the situation improved and they were back on their own foot, the war began. Germany with its ambition to conquer attacked France and annexed French Territory. Boor and her family like many other Paris residents, left home and were on the road. With some miracle, they entire family managed to escape to London and its here her new life started.

She was not some one who can pass as a spy. Fragile, very beautiful and vulnerable. Her only qualification was her training as radio operator, which she was fast. She made less errors. Her training process was long and she was given non favorable recommendations by almost every one who interviewed her or trained her. In the selection interview regarding a question about Indian Independence, she spoke in support of the Indian Leaders almost jeopardizing her selection. Her training period was also not so remarkable. She failed miserably at the mock drills/tests and practice interrogations ( her religious belief did not allow her to lie). The only positive in her profile was her ability as a radio operator and the hard work she put in apart from her proficiency in French.

After almost two years of training, she was asked to go to the action field. She and her colleagues were dropped in the French soil. She was asked to join one of the groups in Paris. The fate played spoil sport again. Within 10 days of her arrival , the entire team was in disarray after German's managed to crack through the squadron and arrest most of the senior leaders of the team. With no equipment to transmit and no leadership, she survived the days , slowly building up her service. the next 3 months, she was the only available radio operator in France working for the British and that put her in a difficult position. It was easy for the Germans to track her down through her transmission and that called for short transmission and constant shifting of her place. Wtih an equipment of that size, she managed to avoid the ever approaching Germans for almost 4 months supporting her bosses with information and holding position single handed.

She had a couple of narrow escape, but eventually by treason she was fallen into the hands of the Germans. Even under captivity she did not succumb to the pressure and never uttered any word that could be useful to the enemy. She made three attempts to escape the captivity, but failed in all. This put her under the category of 'dangerous prisoner' and she was treated with such hatred and was constantly kept chained even within her solitary cell. Even the long 8 months of jail terms she withstood the torture and constant pressure by the Gestapo, before transported to the concentration camp at Daache where she was shot dead after a long night of torture and molestation.

As a spy and operator, she was active only for over three months period. What made her different is her determination to stay focussed and her inner belief in her ability to hold on, while most other prisoners broke down and confessed. Despite her initial vulnerability and her fragility, she proved to the world what she is capable. Both British and French Governments recognised her contribution to the cause and have awarded her the highest military honours : The George Cross ( UK ) , and the Croix de Guerre ( France ). A very shy and family person who was very close to her brother, it was not very clear what prompted her to attend the selection process and join the SOE.

For me this book gave glimpses of the secret agent operatiives and the methods during the World War and some of the unsung heroes of the time. There are elements of suspense and thriller and the final pages are read like a fast page turner. As the introduction clarifies, "Noor was an unlikely spy. She was no Mata Hari. Instead she was dreamy, beautiful and gentle, a writer of children's short stories. She was not a crack shot, not endowed with great physical skill and a far cry from any spy novel prototype "

It is not easy to write about some one who is as elusive as Noor Inayat. She hasnt left many marks and there aren't many details available apart from what is available.She had very few friends and was reclusive most of the time. Considering all that, Shrabani Basu has done a lot of work to get the book into a near complete story of Noor, to her credit. The book is easy to read as a fiction and is chronologically arranged typical to a biography ( family background, her birth and childhood, upbringing and the early years of her life). Good attempt to bring light to a mystical and mysterious Indian princess who actively participated in the world war II.

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Spy Process : the Life of Noor Inayat Khan ( 2006 )

Shrabani Basu

Roli Books - Lotus Collection

234 Pages

Rs 395
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Other Reviews : Sawnet Review , BBC Gallery, Wiki Entry

The Rape of Sita - Lindsey Collen

'Once upon a time, there was a woman called Sita'
'When?'
'Now.'
'Where?'
'Here.'
'So why did you say "Once upon a time" then?'
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First and foremost, this is a feminist novel. Not that it stand against it. The book had caused a controversy and was banned within three days of publication for insulting religious sentiments in Mauritius. Sita is the central character in the Hindu epic, "Ramayana" and a divine goddess to many. Using Sita as a metaphor for the universal struggle of womankind, Lindsay Collen has brought out a brilliant book. Sita, in the epic was abducted while she was in exile, by Ravana , and was rescued by Rama in an epic war. Sita has to suffer the humiliation and have to come clean through 'baptism by fire" at the end of the victory, to prove herself.

While this novel has no direct reference to Sita of the epic, some of the characters have names resembling to the epic. Sita's husband in the novel is Dharma ( for Rama) , his brother is Lutchman ( for Lakshman) and the villain of the story ( the accused, is Rowan - for Ravan) and Dharma's father is 'Dasharatha' as in the case of Ramayana. To me, this novel is as appealing without these references to the Ramayana.

Sita, in this tale is tormented by an incident that occurred 9 years ago. She had buried the memories for all the years after deliberating over it for a while. But, all of a sudden, there are sprouts at the buried land. She recounts the time and events that leads to the eventful day and her internal reaction to the same during and after that incident. Though she was able to bury the bad feelings and been able to continue her life, it come back strongly after all these years. Sita is no common woman. She is a political activist (along with her husband), and the leader of the Women's Movement of Mauritius. So has the moral responsibility to be the spokeperson of all the women in Mauritius , in Africa and for the world. As she construct the article, pertaining to rape and humiliation of women, going through case by case, she looks at the philosophical and psychological and social aspects of rape.

Very interestingly, the narrator here, is a man ( Iqbal, the umpire - Iqbal was a man who thought he was a woman) who re-tell the story for Sita. Towards the end, Iqbal himself, is asking the question..

And I once again, intervene. How did they come to this decision, this group of ordinary men and boys? And how did they perform? Did they stand in a queue beforehand? And what did they do afterwards? These are the questions we all have to answer, dear reader, for what if we were one of those men? Would we be among them? Would we be like them? Would we be them? Are we, by any chance, them?

This book brings the novel of Virginie Despentes to mind ( which was published in 1999, 6 years later). Virginie Despentes book is a porno-fiction to me with no substance. Rape of Sita, on the other hand deal the issue at a higher intellectual level. Though at times, these discussions tends to be monotonous and superficial, which is one of the short coming of the novel.
The initial part of the novel before it gets serious on the aspect of rape, is extremely well written. The tales and legends of the people of Mauritius, the various characters of the novel, the history of their ancestors, the freedom struggle and the story of the narrator himself provides a good build up.

A very well 'constructed' book, with some interesting take from the feminist angle.
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The Rape of Sita
Lindsey Collen
The Feminist Press @ the City University of New York
232 Pages
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Here is an interview with the author discussing the book : http://www.triplopia.org/inside.cfm?ct=374

The fan-maker's inquisition - Rikki Ducornet

"I stink, therefore I am ", says Sade in this interesting novel by Rikki Ducornet. "The world, some time can be known through the body".

Believe me, I would not have bought this book, if not for the tag I saw on the price. It said ,

Original Price Rs 602
Special Price Rs 60
You save Rs 542.

What ? Shouldn't it be 10% discount and the price 542 was there a typo error ? I called the assist and he confirmed the price is Rs 60 !! Hmm, that would be interesting and what kind of a book would it be whose value depreciated by 90% and yet no one wants to pick ?

I generally glanced through the book and the opening line had caught me off-guard. Here it is..

- A fan is like the thighs of a woman: It opens and closes. A good fan opens with a flick of the wrist. It produces its own weather - a breeze not so strong as to muss the hair.

Wow. I remembered some of the great opening lines.. The one from One hundred years of solitude, the one from Anna Karenina ... ( check this for more of them ). I was impressed with the "it produces its own weather" and not necessarily the first line :-)

The cover also said "A Novel of the Marquis de Sade ". Marquis de Sade is one of the most controversial character in the history of literature, and having read few article about him and the anti-social writings during his time, I was curious to read about him.

The novel is about the interrogation of Gabrielle ( the fan-maker) about her friendship with Marquis de Sade, who is serving the sentence at the prison , during the french revelution. Gabrielle had to defend her relationship with Sade and to had to justify her collaboration with Sade on his writing of Bishop Diego de Landa's torturous treatment to the Mayan people and their culture. Beautifully written by the author it gives us glimpses of the life of Marquis de Sade, through the letters written to and by Gabriella ( the fan maker) with Sade and his writings of a novel on the Spanish inquisition, his memoirs from the prison about his childhood and the testimonials by Gabriella. Though Gabriella is able to protect him on his writing on the account of Artistic intentions with the inquisition committee of the revolution, she is not able to escape beheading for her relationship with her female lover, Olympe de Gouges.

Marquiz de Sade recollects his childhood time he spent with his uncles and his library had shaped his character and his writing. He writes ," she told my uncle that I would be a force to be reckoned with". "And what sort of force would that be ?" . "Of nature" , I said. "I wish to be a force of the nature".

Very sensuous and erotic, and very well researched book on Marquis de Sade by the author. I found this book very enjoyable and an easy read. And before I sign off, remember this.. "There is nothing forbidden by nature. All is permitted."
The Fan-Makers Inquisition
Rikki Ducornet
Ballantine Books
212 Pager
Original price Rs 602

PS : I have also found some nice little quotes; here are some

A book is a private thing, citizen; it belongs to the one who writes it and to the one who reads it. Like the mind itself, a book is a private space. Within that space, anything is possible. The greatest evil and the greatest good.

I'm certain that if we could navigate Infinity, the closer we'd get to the stars, the more we would feel at home.

What are books but Tangible dreams ? What are reading if it is not dreaming ? The best books cause us to dream; the rest are not worth reading.

The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector

'Death is an encounter with self' says Clarice Lispector in her last novel published in the same year of her death in 1977.

A very abstract and experimental novel mostly told in a 3rd Person narrative about a north-east Brazilian girl living in Rio de Janeiro slums. Macabea, the girl from the north-east living in poverty and misfortunes. There are many like her in this world whose life does not matter to the world, their existence is a mere biological fact and nothing more. They have nothing to look forward to it and just pushes their life until death. As Macabea puts it , she should be happy that she is alive. They also have hopes and despair , to be a movie star like Marylin Monroe as she says.

Macabea lives with the small income she gets as a typist and we mishaps after mishaps affect her until her sad end under a Mercedes. Soon after her birth her parents dies and she was brought up under a bad auntie (as in case of all the stories) . She comes to Rio as every one in search of job and food and lives in the slums of the red-district area of Rio. She is ugly and virgin and share a room with few others, about whom we have no information.

She represents the lower section of the Brazilian ( for that matter all the 3rd world countries) society. She is alien to the brash metropolis and what it has to offer and become more and more away from the mainstream. Her only contact to the external world has been her short term boy-friend ( whom she looses to her workmate) and her workmate who represent the new hopes and new world.

A very sad and disturbing existential book written when Claris Lispector was diagnosed with cancer. This book written during her time of serious illness would definitely have provided her with enough personal difficulties. The 3rd person narrative ( The novel is as told by Rodrigo S M ) is her other self and it possibly is her attempt to detach herself from the story.

The beauty of this novel is that you can have multiple interpretation of each character and incidents. Some of the prominent critics call this as "existentialism of the masses".

The hour of the star
Clarice Lispector ( Brazil)
Translated by Giovanni Pontiero ( with a beautifully written 'after word'")
96 pages
USD 9.95