The Railway - Hamid Ismailov

One of the best novels I have read in recent times. To be frank, I haven't read many reviews about this book earlier, neither I have heard his name before. It caught my attention as I was glancing through the shelf in the bookstore, and it accompanied me home. One of the captions on the book compared the book to the great "One hundred years of solitude" and may be that would have helped my decision.

As we started the comparision with the "One hundrder years of Solitude" , let me tell you upfront that the book resembles the story telling in many ways. The period covered may not be over 100 yrs , but nearly 80 yrs ; the Macondo (did I spell it right?) is replaced by Gilas ; the Buvendia family is replaced by Obid-Kori and his extended family. This novel too is filled with lot of fables , folklore ( the translator calls it a folkloric novel), attached historical and social perspectives and a touch of magical realism ( it does appeal to me even after all these years).

This gifted Uzbeck writer takes us through the life and times of the people in the Central Asian Republics of the erstwhile Soviet Union. Set in Uzbekistan between 1900 and 1980, The Railway is about the people of the small town and surrounding villages of Gilas , lies on the ancient Silk Route. There are many characters , with their funny nicknames, of various culture and language and religion , all intermixed in the small place. People of Uzbeck , Armenian, Khazakh , Georgian, Korean settlers, Tadjicks, Arabs, Persian and other communities ; people speak and communicate in various languages , Russian, Arabic, farsi , uzbeck and other local dialects ; Muslims ( shiites and sunnis and sufi practitioners) , Christians, Jews and the new religion of communism living in harmony. People endures various wars and skirmishes -first and second world wars and attackes of various rebels in the region ; are also caught by the soviet authorities and being sent to Siberia or on exile. The time after the 1917 revolution and the forced spread of communism has its own effect in the people. As Obid-Kori reacts : "One proclamation told Obid-Kori how the mullahs of Turkestan had decided to create an Islamic state free of distinction of tribe and birth; the other told him, in Russian, about sone "classless" society in which everyone would be equal. Obid-Kori pondered all this for a long time.The two documents seems to be talking one and the same thing, so what was the difference between them?"

The railway is the silent witness to all. Like a never-ending ladder with wooden rungs and iron rails and that stretched across the earth from horizon to horizon ( I quote). There is a scene where the boy, with all his contempt of the world , wanted to lift his cloth and show his insult to the all enduring, all witnessing railway. When the train arrives and passes him, all he could do was to shout "I LOVE YOU" the the girl standing near the door of the last compartment.

This book was banned in his native land Uzbeck , and he was named a persona non grata there ( unacceptably democratic tendencies), had to flee and move to London, where he works with BBC.

This paints the 20th century Central Asian population so beautifully, almost like a kaleidoscopic view. The original prose and a methodical , painstaking translation makes it a fantastic book to read. There is explanatory notes at the end of the book, without which it would be difficult to understand some of the aspects of their life and the introduction by Robert Chandler, the translator, helps to prepare for this read. The last pages also includes a part of interview with the writer by the translator.
Incidently, Robert Chandler has been named in the list of "The 50 outstanding literary translations from the last 50 years " list by The Translators Association of the Society of Authors.

The book is full of lyrical prose like this one, "He himself was now burning on the straw, along with these half open books whose pages were now being turned not by the hands but by fire, and he could see words rising from these books in the shape of flames and their ashy shadow was falling back down beneath his burning bare feet. ' Sumari yerga urdi'(his fruit fell on the earth) he whispered for the last time - and these words were the last words to burn in with him, their dazzling sweep was the last thing he sensed."

Bollywood movies are popular in many parts of Central Asia, Arab , Persia, Afghan and in Russia. There is a chapter on the effects of "shri 420" of Rajkapoor ( who is very famous in that part of the world) and I find it quite interesting. Of course, there are few mistakes with some words and some meaning, but that does not matter. "Once, on the day of Yom Kippur, after writing the film title "Shri 420" with his own urine on the wall of Huvron-Barber's little shop, Yusuf-Cobbler went to see the film itself. Why he went is unclear- he may have wanted to laugh at those who were weeping, or he may have hoped to see a size 420 shoe - but the film affected him more deeply that he expected. Stealthily weeping thousands of years worth of Jewish tears onto the floor, he saw his tears join streams of other tears flowing across the dank carpets Ortik-Picture-Reels has accquired after they had been written off by the party; these rivulets rose to the level of his clients' ankles, to the level of their calves, to the level of their bottoms - and soon Yusuf-Cobbler was thinking not only of the Great Flood and Noah's Ark but also the Mount Ararat of salt-corroded soles and heels that he would soon be required to repair. Be that as it mey, he was so shaken that he decided never again to piss against the wall of Huvron-Barber's little shop. Such is the power of Indian Films."

This is one brilliant book and I am not equipped to bring the whole beauty of this work in this small paragraph. To know more you may visit these reviews:

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2006/03/book_review_the.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-railway-by-hamid-ismailov-translated-by-robert-chandler-468197.html
http://uzbekistan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/19/hamid-ismailov-the-railway/
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The railway
Hamid Ismailov translated by Robert Chandler
306 Pages
Random House
Rs 408/-

Training for Leadership - Brig.Parmodh Sarin(retd)

I was asked to read this book and give opinion before my dept go ahead and buy this for the employees. I had a weekend to complete the task.

My first impression was very poor. The books overall appeal was very ordinary. It's design, the printing , page layout , front cover etc very not something which makes the casual surfer to take and leaf through, if kept in a book shelf.

When you get started, you are hit with a series of pages such as , Preface , foreword , acknowledgement, definitions,prologue and introduction before you get going.

The book is written by a person who was with the Indian Army and not from our walk of life ( so called current generation of sales / IT people).
These days it is a fashion to find management and leadership wisdom from all walks of life. From FISH! market to car sales agency, Ice cream maker to classical music ( here and here) , we are offered with variety of choices from all parts of life.

However, what impressed me about this book was the way it was organised. I found this very structured and crisp. Though he covers the often talked about topic ( for a regular reader of management and leadership books) and quotes the same Jack Welch , Peter Drucker and other management gurus, it still has a style and vision in accordance with his experience.

I am still not very happy about some of the languages used such as subordinate development et all. I found them in appropriate to use for your colleague in the current business scenario ( at least the industry I work in). He also discusses the Quality Circle concept, which I though is already over the hill. There is a important discussion on the difference between Manager and Leader which is worth mentioning here. According to him "Manager works with things and numbers. Leaders work with people and their feelings".

There are no clear and final answer to leadership and team management. Here is another book in this already over crowded space.

Training for Leadership
Brig.Parmodh Sarin(retd)
Manas Publications
236 Pages
Rs495

Tiare - Celestine Hitiura Vaite

Materena's professional life is at its best times. Her job at the local radio where she hosts a call-in show is a hit in the island and she enjoys a new found celebrity status. Pito, spends his time between his work and drinking with his friends. Pito, never manages to get the respect of his wifes family. Their family life is on wrecks and like many of the Tahitian households are on the verge of breakage, though he doesn't realise this.

Pito's, life has taken a complete change after the surprise arrival of his alleged grand daughter, dropped by the relatives of the mother, a girl who fled the house to live her life. The girl is supposed to be the daughter of their son, seeded by him in her girlfriend during a single day ( as he claim) of loving. Materena ( the grandmother) , did not know what to do when the girl was handed over and the lady left the house without giving Materena sufficient time to contemplate and decide. Their attempt to reach out the family of the girls mother, turned out to be futile, as the neighbourhood and the family were too difficult for Pito and Materena to handle.

The girl, Tiare ( named after the famous flower), helps Pito to re-live his neglected time of fatherhood, and changes the man in him, making him more responsible and 'friendly', to the surprise of his wife. During one of the new found vacation which Pito and Materena enjoys, she even tells him that she find a "friend" in him when she looks at his face. After 25 years of marriage and many times near collapse, they started finding out the better days of their married life. They even manages to bring in some responsibility and respect to their young estranged son. The author in one of her interview remarked "``Men become fathers early and they're hopeless, but they become fabulous grandfathers,''.

It was just three days before when Materena decided that enough is enough. Materena, like many other people in Tahiti, fills her fathers name in the register as "unknown". Born to a Tahitian women, fathered by one of the French Officer on Duty, Materena wants to find who her father is and wants to confront him. One of the reason to accept the girl as their own, is because of this, as Materena does not want another girl in Tahiti to fill her school register with fathers name as unknown.

This book is the 3rd in the series ( Breadfruit and Frangipani were released earlier) by this Tahitian writer. I haven't read the other two, but never felt they were the pre-requisite to read this. She has a very different style of writing, soft with lot of local expressions , french et al. Impressive work of fiction, recommended for serious readers , as it opens up the curtain ( to use the words of Kundera) to the Tahitian life.

The other major book I have read about the Tahiti is by Mario Vargas Llosa, "The way to Paradise" based on the life and times of Paul Gauguin in Tahiti. Now, that has got very little to do with Tahitian people, except his multiple girlfriends and wife, but more on the painter himself. It is also written by a Peruvian writer. This book on the other hand is written by a Tahitian author ( though she is living in Australia now) and is about the Tahitian way of life. The only tales you get to hear from these tourist destinations are those of the travellers, who understand things from their perspective.

Here is an informative page about the author and a brief interview. Interesting to know she writes her book on a kitchen table. ``The kitchen is vibrant and I usually have a stew cooking or I am baking muffins,'' she says.

Tiare
Celestine Hitiura Vaite
Arrow Books
250 Pages
Rs 352

Brida - Paulo Coelho

The latest book released from the celebrated Brazilian writer, was a huge disappointment, to say the least. Not sure if it is a new book, or it was translated to English recently.

Paulo Coelho, thread the path of the witchcraft, magic, spiritualism once again. After reading his last novel 'the witch of portobello' , this seems to have set in similar environment. Searching for one's own soul mate, the teacher , elaborated and meaningless rituals, and the similar playground in Ireland. The last one was set in England.

The novel follows Brida, 21 yr old Irish girl, in her quest for knowledge and wisdom. She is interested in the magic and its various form and wanted to know about the truth of the world. She meets a man in the deep of forest, who teaches her about overcoming fears and taking risks in life to follow one's own path. There is another teacher, who is a witch, takes her through the tarrot reading and to dance to the tune of the world. As she seeks her destiny and wisdom through teachers, one a man, who finds his soul mate in her , who practices the 'tradition of Sun, which helps the followers to learn things on their own; and the other a women , a witch, who practices the 'tradition of moon'.

Brida, as she seeks her knowledge and wisdom, trying to balance between the different traditions, , and the desire to become a witch. Wicca, the lady who practices the 'tradition of the moon' takes her through the process and rituals preparing her to become a witch. Novel ends with an elaborated ritual sequence at the end of which, Brida is conferred to the tradition of witches.

This has all the ingredients of a typical Paulo Coelho novel. Witchcraft, rituals , forces of nature, finding your own destiny, love, spirituality, re-incarnation , unlocking your Gift and what not. Weak story line, no insight apart from few sentences to be used at the end of your mail closing like , "if you want to learn about some thing, plunge in to it" or " life is about making mistake, the world move only on mistakes" etc..

Even for a hard fan of Paulo Coelho, this novel will be a let down. What was his last book which worth a mention ? " Devil and Miss Prym "?

Brida

Paulo Coelho

Harper Collins

266 Pages

Rs 295/-

The Rebels - Sandor Marai

This is the 3rd novel for me of this famous Hungarian writer, of the three that had been translated to English. Sandor Marai is a prolific writer, who got the due recognition posthumously, surprised the world with the translation of Embers, considered to be one of the best novelist of 20th century. Rebels, written in 1930, is about four high school boys few days/weeks prior to their graduation, during the period of World War I. Graduation not only means the end of their school days, but a definite entry into the military service as like other men of their country. The town, already without grown up men, who are fighting the battle at the frontiers; Fathers, elder brothers, uncles all have been in at the battle field. Women folks, young kids yet to qualify for military service , old people and other invalids ( injured in action and people with lost limbs) fills the inhabitants of the town. The four boys are drawn together, not by the common interest they carry, but more as the common rebellious nature of their life. The alienation from the family, from the friends and the rest of the society is what binds them together. War wounded elder brother of one of them and a mysterious actor of the local theatre form the part of their extended circle. They indulge in activities of rebellious nature and of frustration and anger. The game soon become serious as it gets into small time thefts from their home. This events soon gets out of control and this has become a point of n return. The distrust and frustration grows among the members before a disastrous end.

A novel about adolescent life and coming of age. Though there is no direct impact of the on going war in their life, the effect of this is visible in the behaviour of people.

Its about the despair and fear of imminent call of duty and the loss of hope. Very negative emotion through out the book with no hopes of recovery. Not a single character shows signs of optimism and happiness. There is an urge to continue playing the childhood pranks, against the certain demand to grow up as men and join the forces. With subtle under currents of love and homosexuality, comradeship , this is more about distrust and treachery.

Though an interesting book of a great writer, it does not live up to the expectations what 'Embers' and 'Casanova ..' raised.

Here is a blog site dedicated to this writer , have a look.

Here is what David Leavitt ( author of "Indian Cleark") has to say about this book and Sandor Marai..

Link to NYTime review and Complete review.

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The Rebels

Sandor Marai translated by George Szirtes

Randon Books

278 Pages

PS : some interesting thoughts from the book:

"What he wanted to know was why the books existed. Do they bring joy to those who write them ? He felt they must cause more pain than pleasure. And if you write something down, is it then lost, does it have nothing to do with you anymore, is there a only a memory , an ache left behind, as if you had been found guilty of something, something for which sooner or later, you would have to answer."

The Marquise of O- by Heinrich von Kleist

Heinrich von Kleist, is an 18th Century Born German Play write and novelist. He ended his life in the tender age of 34 by shooting himself ( after shooting his girlfriend who was suffering from terminal Cancer, where they had signed a suicidal pact before executing the same). His style and language have influenced the next generation of German writers including Thomas Mann and Franz Kafka. After his short term military service, as his father, he enrolled and devoted himself in to education and have started writing short stories and plays. His encounter with the writing of Kants have made a huge change in his way of looking at the world and the people which in turn have ended in his suicide.

This book , re-published by London based Hesperuspress include a foreword by Andrew Miller and an introduction by the translator Richard Stokes, giving us insight to the interesting author. This short book consists of a novella with the same name and two short stories, 'the earthquake in Chile' and 'the foundling'.

The little town of M** in northern Italy was greeted with this announcement in the local newspaper , by the Widowed Marquise of O** , a lady of excellent reputation and mother of several well bred children, without knowing the cause, come to find herself in an interesting condition, that she wished the father of the child she was expecting to present himself; and that she was resolved, out of consideration to her family, to marry him. The lady, who is the daughter of Colonel G**, commander of the citadel at M**, have lost her husband three years ago during a journey. She along with her parents and brother have to come out of the citadel, after the citadel was attacked and held control by the Russian Army. During the siege and attack, she along with her mother who was escaping from the citadel to their bunglaw in the outskirts, have been molested by a group of soldiers, before the young Count F** , the lieutenant colonel of of the rifle corps, came to her rescue. The family, now in their country house, rejects the repeated request of Count F** to marry the widowed marquise. Sooner, she gets this odd sensation and get herself examined by the doctor , and a midwife. She is not willing to accept that she is pregnant and does not know how is this happened. Midwife answeres to her query of divine pregnancy as she is the only other case, after the holy virgin. Unable to accept the shame and the insult, the family discards her and make her leave the home. The newspaper advertisement comes thus, before the issue is settled and the family unites.

The earthquake in Chile is also talks about a lady of repute, gets pregnant by her tutor of lower origin and was condemned to death by beheading, while her lover was imprisoned awaiting his death sentence by hanging. On the day of the execution, a huge earthquake hits the city of Santiago and the city is destroyed. The turn of events get the lovers back together with their newborn kid. Planning to escape the city and to request pardon from the viceroy, the couple joins the other families who are spared from the disruption, attends the mass at the only surviving church, where they were identified and attacked by a group of people, accusing them of bringing the damage to their city.

The Foundling is about a wealthy businessman and his young wife, accepting an adopted boy as their son, in place of his own son who dies of plague during one of his business trips. As the folk tales go, the time and turn of events make the young man lead an anti-social life and gets killed by the old man after his sons attempts to seduce and force his stepmother to his desire. The old man is sentenced to death by hanging , but refuses to receive absolution. He wanted to go to hell, where he is sure that his adopted son will be, and wants to continue his revenge. " I do not wish to be saved. I wish to descend into the deepest depths of hell. I wish to find Nicolo, who will not be in heaven, and proceed with my revenge, which could only be partially completed here on earth" was hi slast words before climbing the scaffold.

As Milan Kundera said, you need to understand the era of the writing and the life and background of the author to understand the text well. Considering the time by which this is written and the turbulence this would have caused in his lifetime, these are interesting reads. Unlike the earlier style of translations of old texts, I found this translation to be very good and easy reading. This is an important read for serious book readers.

The Marquise of O-Heirich von Kleist - translated by Richard Stokes
Harperus Press
100 pages ( incl of introduction)
Rs 240/-

The Joy of Drinking - Barbara Holland

For a non-drinker, like me, this book is an interesting read. Having lived all my young age with room-mates who had the motto "never a dry day" , I always wondered what it takes people to get into the habit of drinking. Despite my moral and orthodox upbringing, I never had an inclination to try and get into this majority. I have also seen that most of the people ( atleast here) start their drinking more as a social / friendly compulsions. I have been witness to many of the after effects and pranks caused by excessive, uncontrolled drinking of my friends, which only increased my distance from alcohol.

Having said that, I have always wanted to know what it is , that attracts millions and millions to this. This has been there though out the humankind and most probably would have started with the first settlement ( after being nomads hunting the animals ). The leftover grains have fermented and our ancestors have found its soothing effect to the soul. Barbara Holland quotes from William Faulkner as " civilization began with fermentation" .

Mentions and descriptions of this can be found in most of the ancient literature, including the Vedic literature of India. The book examines the early days of alcohol, its variations at different parts of the world. Each region have found a way to ferment the grains and fruits found in abundance in that place into an alcoholic drink. Our own TODDY from coconut and palm trees , the famous Goan Fenny from the cashew , rice beer of China, GIN , wines, the Vodka from Potatoes. As the sophistication increased, and the exploration and travel on the rise, people start tasting drinks from various part of the world. the European conquerors in Latin America, The early settles in the US etc have brought their native drinks to the new territory, later started developing breweries in their new homes.
The taverns were also become a place for social get together and bonding. This has become the place of social and cultural activities of the towns and villages. Most of the development in literary , art and cultural revolution have began in such a place. While the popularity and acceptance of drinking grew to an extend that it had its own effect in the social and family structures and functioning. The first words against this started within the house hold. The stories of drunken father, beating husbands started gaining momentum and so the resistance against the taverns and alcohol in general. This was the beginning of prohibition and controls.

The book also discusses the issues of 'hang-over' and the remedies which have been there since the days of drinking. There haven't been a medicine developed to make the next morning fresh with zero after effects of the previous night. There was new movement to help the addicts to get out of this habit. Movements like Alcoholic Anonymous and similar came up to help those in need.

In the middle of the last millenium, came a new drink as a substitute to alcohol. It took less time to replace the famous taverns with the new COFFEE houses. The new drink offered a fresh new taste, with no after effects. It also had better social acceptability. Coffee become the craze in Europe so much that there were objections against coffee houses as well. One such described in this book is an interesting one. There was a petition files by a group pf women in London in year 1674, which said "'Now, alas, their old vigour was so decayed that they couldn't perform their marital duties. The occasion of which Insufferable disaster.. we can attribute to nothing more than the excessive use of that Newfangled, abominable, heathenish liquor called COFFEE".

Was it the afterthoughts of prohibition or the quest to experiment, did create the cocktails like martini and others. Though there are different version of the origin of Martini and cocktail, what it did was to revolutionise the industry. Not every experimentations stayed , but what was accepted became a rage. Prohibition never worked anywhere in the world. It always made a new opportunities for the people to make illicit ways of producing liquor. Many Indian states are into the prohibition bandwagon in and out, often causing larger damage by people relying more on the illicit liqour. More than 200 people died this month in such an inciden in Bangalore and neighboring districts in Tamilnadu.

Over the centuries, we have also found out the medicinal use of alcohol and it is still a practice in many countries to have an alcoholic home remedy for many of the diseases. The famous brandy+hot water medicine for the common cold , is one I remember followed here.

Towards the middle of 20th Century, Alcohol was replaced by a larger menace. Many youngsters in the US and Europe, drifted towards drugs, for faster and stronger results. There was a different culture developed and it took decades to reduce its influence in people. It is still an issue being fought, but to a considerable lesser extent. End of 20th century and the early years of 21st century saw a new craze for health and fitness among the corporate citizens and the new generation of youngsters. They spent their evenings pumping in the gym instead of having a drink or two with colleagues and friends. Soon alcohol was projected as health hazard and dangerous. Adding to the restriction imposed by the authority limiting drinking and driving, it become less and less popular and confined to the 4 walls of your home. Now, there are studies and research papers being published , proclaiming that a small amount of alcohol per day reduces chances for heart-attack, depression, diabetics and what not. However, if this report in the latest outlook magazine is right, the story in India is different. More and more people are getting into the habits and the sales of Alcohol beverages are on the rise. So much that in many states, the state Govt does the collection and sale of alcoholic beverages. In most of the Indian states, Excise Duty on the alcohol sale is a substantial income to the treasury.

This is an interesting book, written very well without getting into the research or historical style. This is full of stories and anecdotes , few poems and other interesting articles. Her style and the subtle humour adds to the reading pleasure. One such story on George Washington is interesting. Apparently, he lost his initial election to the local body, later realised the power of alcohol in the electoral battle. This time he invested in 144 gallons of rum,wine and beer handing out to the voters. In India, it is a regular affair in the election , from the local bodies to the supreme Parliament, that supply of Alcohol does impact the result of the election. I recall one of the cleaning staff in Office telling me as " he gave me Rs150 + 2 packets ( of local arrack) and I voted for him where as the other candidate gave only 100 and one packet ".

An interesting subject and one can write pages after pages on this subject. However, the book is well structured and short.

My last thoughts on this are, if this is so much fun and entertaining , am I missing something ?

The Joy of Drinking
Barbara Holland

US $ 14.95
Bloomsbury Publications
148 Pages

More read :
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/books/review/Harris.t.html

Truck Stop Rainbows - Iva Pekarkova

Novels and literature from erstwhile communist countries have always been popular in the west and when I bought this book, I considered it as another one in that category. however, this book has taken me by surprise. Instead of the expected banter of the regime and their struggle to escape the iron fists and hard rules, this gives more human angle to the same, alienations of individuals within the society and within the family.

Fialka , is a young rebelleous woman of Prague , 25yrs , still has a university student pass where she is enrolled for psychology, likes to overcome the monotonous urban communist life by doing nature photography for the local magazine. Her friend Patrick, who is crippled and bound to the living room and clutches was into photography as a hobby and a plumber as a profession.

She escape from Prague on every possible opportunity , on hitchhiking trips to the interiors to photograph wild flowers and engages in many one-night affairs with the czech truck drivers. After Patrick is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and the waiting time for wheel chair is 6-7 years according to the authorities, she takes up the task of getting some hard currency to buy him a wheel chair on her own. She starts picking up the western truck drivers en-route to the eastern exotic destinations , selling herself for money and the adventure. She falls in love with a Swedish truck driver, for whom Prague become a regular stopover on her onward and return journey. She rejects the offer by her lover to move in with him to Sweden , but not before securing the precious wheel chair for Patrick.

While that is the plot of the novel, Pekarkova examines the state of the people through the complex portrayal of her narrator - young , rebellious, adventurous and angry. A fresh look at the Czech society, under the communist regime, under decay and soviet influence. Her parents and only sibling are killed in an accident which the authorities have closed as a drunken driving case. During one of her later visit to the accident sites ( while hitchhiking) she gets to know the truth from a local shop keeper as a Russian military truck is involved in the case. Using her sexuality as the only tool to fight against the system, Fialka tries to come out of the shackles. In the process, she goes through major changes both physically ( in terms of her dressing , appearance and makeup) and mentally ( she is surprised at her ease to get adjusted to her new way of living) , before a she realises the effects on her. Though immune to all that is happening around him, Patrick too gets attracted by the eastern philosophy and re-incarnation before deciding to call it quits.

All of us are in search of the rainbows in our life. In this fascinating novel by the czech author Iva Pakarkova, it has used as a metaphor of something not within reach. A very feminine novel, beautifully written and thought provoking.

Truck Stop Rainbows
Iva Pekarkova Translated by David Powelstock
266 Pages
Vintage Books

Devil in the Hill - Cesare Pavese

Cesare Pavese was an Italian writer and Poet , who ended his life at the age of 42. He was one of the authors who skipped my reading list for a long time. I could not get hold of any of his works in India despite my search , until recently through the new Peter Owen Classics collections.

This novel about post war Turin youths spending their holidays in the country side, moving closure to nature. During their stay in Orsete's wine yard in the village, they spend their time sunbathing naked in the clifts and drinking in the wineyards. They spend few days at their friend Poli's residence and the game of seduction and morality begins. This interesting novel is about the rich young Italian aristocrats and their life of crime, adultery, drugs and suicide. Pavese explores the different human characters through this very personal narrative, taking us through the Rich/ordinary , youth / aged , family / independent adultery/morality conflicts.

This has been talked about as the most personal novel of Pavese, and gives us a good view of post world war Italian urban/country life through his experience. Having said that, I hope this is not the best of his works. I would be disappointed otherwise. None the less, it gave me the glimpses of a genius writer, I missed reading so long.

Cesare Pavese
Devil in the HillTranslated by D D Paige
Peter Owen Publishers
190 Pages

The Bastard of Istanbul - Elif Shafak

Kazanci family is cursed. The men in their family do not survive, they all face premature death. Some by accident, some by decease , and some by murder. The family is now with Three generations of women, all of them very different from each other. Into this family is born Asya, as a bastard. She does not know her father, her mother Zeliha, never reveals the name to anyone. The novel starts with Zeliha going to the clinic to have an abortion, but returns back deciding against in the last minute. Asya now 19 years is a born rebel as her mother is, whom she calls 'Auntie' as she calls the other inmates of the Kazanci family.

However, Mustafa, the only male member of this family is still alive, away from the family and homeland, to escape the bad luck befallen on them, in the deserts of Arizona in US. Mustafa's stepdaughter, Armanoush is an Armenian-American, grown up on stories of the Armenian genocide in Turkey in 1915. She lands up in Istanbul in search of her past ( the past of every Armenian family forced to exile from Istanbul).

Asya and Armanoush become friends and set out to locate her ancient house and the history of Armenian's in Istanbul. Two young ladies, both 19 yrs old, one who does not have a past and do not want to know the pasts and the other whose preset is linked to the past and the history of the Armenian people. For Asya, history mean nothing. She does not even know who her father is and for Armanoush everything is the past.

The novel now takes to the usual expected sets of events and a predictable end. Armanoush's parents comes to Istanbul worried about the safety of their child. Mustafa is returning to his homeland after 20 years, and more and more unpleasant history of the Kazanci's family unveiled as the days goes by. As expected, Asya finds out who her biological father is, and Mustafa fails to fight the destiny.

In this second novel by Turkish novelist Elif Shafak, she tries to looks into the Turkish identity and the issues related to the Armenian genocide with the story ( history) of two families; a turkish and an Armenian-American family suffered during the 1915 genocide. Though the novel discusses the issue at places, and the inability of the survivors family to get over with it, it is not covered at length. The only history we understand of the family is from the revelations by the 'djinn' on the left should of Auntie Banu. Similarly, the discussion on the Istanbulites, who does not take responsibility and refuses to accept any genocide, limited to few encounters at the Cafe Kundera.

The novel already gained sufficient controversies after Elif Shafak was charged with "public denigration of Turkishness" , which was later dropped.

Few links to some of the reviews on this book: http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/bastard_of_istanbul/
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1944

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2008/01/25/stories/2008012550050200.htm
Credits :
The Bastard of Istanbul
Elif Shafak
Viking Penguin
368 Pages
Rs.370/-

Nine on Nine - Nandita C Puri

A foreword by Gulzar and the cover design by M F Hussain , with recommendations by Shobha De and Khushwant Singh.. Written by a noted columnist , who is the wife of one of THE BEST actors in Indian Cinema. This has all that it takes to get my attention.

However, the end result is disappointment. Pretty ordinary stories of upper middleclass Indian Urban women told in rather superficious manner. None of the stories live upto the 'awesome' categories. This was heralded as the new Indian Writing. Let me admit, I have not read many Indian English writings to pass a judgment. But if this is the yardstick, we have a long way to go in fiction / short story writing.

Most of the stories are about the fall in moral values; social, family, couple and individuals. Every human is living in a dream world; may be it is the reflection of today's urban life. Barring 'Pages From Indulata Debi’s Diary' , which is styled as a biographical essay, there aren't many worth mentioning. On the whole, these stories failed to strike a chord with me.

However, here is a different view on the same.

Nine on nine - stories
Nandita Puri
224 Pages
Rs 295

The Attack - Yasmina Khadra

Amin Jaafari, an Israeli-Arab, lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and is leading a happy and content life as a successful surgeon in a hospital. A suicide attack in the nearby Cafe, opens this book, as his hospital and colleagues prepare themselves to save the victims. After an eventful day and trying to get some sleep, Amin is woken by a telephone call by his friend Navid, a detective asking him to come over to the Hospital at once. Little did he know that the devastating explosion, is going to change his life forever. One of the victims, is suspected to be his wife, who had gone to her grand mother's place and expected to return the same day. Worse still, is that they suspect her to be the suicide bomber behind this gruesome attack.

He goes through the rigorous interrogation by the authorities on his wife's involvement and his knowledge about the same and on release confronted by the locals as a traitor. But, these are not the real concern to him. He refuses to believe his wife's involvement and maintain that this is a mistake and she was only a victim. His quest to know the truth about the event in order to prove himself that his wife is innocent, takes him through the painful journey. Amin, confronts the Imams, the commanders, and his relatives to unveil the truth tracing the path of his wife. Instead of relieving from the stress and despair, that envelop him, he gets further dragged into the turmoil, until the point of no return. He does not get any help from the imam , the commander-in chief and multiple leaders he talks to as all of them tell him that they were persuading her against such an attempt. So, who has done the damage , is it the cousin Abdel ? Is it her early life and upbringing, or is it in their blood for generations ? The author does not give the answers. This journey become a personal pilgrimage to Amin, as he goes through the learning.

"Your wife died for your redemption", says the militant leader to Amin. "There are only two extremes moments in human madness, the instance when you become aware of your own impotence and the instance when you become aware of the vulnerability of others. Its the question of accepting one's madness, doctor, or suffering it.". And for them "there is no happiness without dignity, and no dream is possible without freedom".

The difference between the thinking is simple, For him paradise is at the end of a man's life; for me, it's at tips of of your fingers.

This book is very sensitive and have to deal with a subject which is under international discussion. Though it does not tells you any thing new or what we does not know , he is succeed in telling us a story from the human point. This is not a book on terrorism as the author tells in one of the interview " but everywhere you retain only terrorism, terrorism, terrorism. My novels do not speak about terrorism; they talk of human brittleness, anger, humiliation, the fears, sometimes the hopes; and of this burning and fatuous actuality which spoils our life".

A very well written book by this Algerian writer, who writes under a pseudo name Yasmina Khadra ( real name is Mohammed Moulessehoul ) whose other novels also deal on the same subjects , swallows of Kabul, In the name of God , The sirens of Baghdad. A contemporary fiction, but does not demand a second read. More reviews here..

The Attack
Written by : Yasmina Khadra ( Algeria )
Translated from French by John Cullen
257 Pages
---------------------
PS: The real bastard isn't the man who doesn't know his father; it is the man who doesn't know his tradition.

The Queen of the Prisons of Greece - Osman Lins

Let me start this with a warning: This book is one of the toughest read I have ever had. Extremely complex and demanding.

Osman Lins is a prolific writer from Brazil and this is his last fiction completed an year or so before his death of cancer. He was relatively young ( 54 yrs) when died and was recipient of numerous literary awards in his short career in fiction.

In this book, the narrator, examines the unpublished novel of his deceased girlfriend , died in an accident. Was his intention to know her better, or to know their love and relationship better or to know himself better ? However, written as the entries in his diary ( with dates) he takes the reader (and himself) through the pages of the manuscript while discussing literature, critics, art , social commentary, history of Brazil and various other topics.

Maria , the main character of the fiction being discussed, is fighting with the social welfare system of Brazil to get her eligible benefit. As usual, she has been sent across various functionaries for want of multiple documents and proof. She was treated briefly in a mental asylum and we realise that the story of his girlfriend is no different from the character. At many point of time, the narrator, the writer ( his girlfriend) and the character of the novel Maria all intermixed. The division between the narrator,writer and character diminishes. At the end of the reading, you are still left with such a confusion and ambiguity, and not sure who is in the disturbed state of mind ? Is it the narrator, the writer whose unpublished novel the narrator is describing, or the character in the novel Maria. And may be that was the intention by the author. The last chapter was one of the most "unnerving" one I have seen. As the narrator himself declares he doesn't understand anything anymore.

However, this book has some of the best discussion I have seen about the art of writing, the role of narrator in a fiction , critics, the readers and the book itself. They are outstanding and will give us some insight, though adding more complication to the fiction.

Here are some important points, I noted:

The comparison between novel and reader in our times, however, is not limited to a matter of age. The contemporary reader and that of old days are different. The reader ready to evoke what he has read, seduced by processes the sum of which have resulted in a sort of magic he wasn't aware of, has been replaced by suspicious, rebellious reader, not in the least naive, who seems to be saying, when asked: "I don't remember and I don't want to remember"

The new relationship between novelist and reader emerges clearly in the elusive entity to which the narration is entrusted. The story obliterated the text..

Narrative is a verbal event, and therefore it requires an agent to enunciate it; the role of the narrator, enigmatic being, is mysterious and diverse; contemporary fiction has been eliminating the interdictions that hindered its mediator and attempted, in their rigorousness, to impose the laws of the physical world, unchanged, upon the universe of the novel.

This time has come many times for me, and the novels I have read open their sealed doors to some hidden corner of my soul. As for others, they remain inviolable and I contemplate them from the outside, half frightened, half ignorant.

What's the use of a book's synopsis ? A superficial practice, its spreads and resurrects the common idea according to which the story is the novel, not one of its aspects, among those that illustrate the art of narrating the least. Imagining desires, mishaps, reversals of fortune, capitulations, death or triumph, pertains to invention in its raw state. The novelist is born by the act of arranging these events and elaborating a language that could either reflect them or simply make use of them to exist.

I'm not , however, a respectable critic, I don't even aspire to being a critic, and, as far as respectibility goes - so often an industrial virtue, like endurance in engines or color fastness in fabrics- whoever said I possessed it? I'm a sensitive man and, from this point of view, out of step with my times, a sensitive and grieving man, simultaneously the bearer of his fascination for a text and of his love for the one who created it

What I conceal in my eyes is fear. Fear of knowing how time passes.

I know and you knew that works of art are as unlimited as our grasp is limited. For this reason at seeks more lasting and,in some ways, indestructible incarnations than men: so that many minds, successively prodded by the work's never ending secrets, may accumulate decipherings. It's for this reason too, we preserve them: because we know that they try to speak to us, they try to speak to us, they try.

This book require multiple reading to make some sense. If I borrow the words from the book "work of art is unlimited and our grasp is limited".

The queen of the Prisons of Greece
Osman LinsTranslated by Adria Frizzi
Dalkey Archive Press

The Edge of Heaven - Dir by Fatih Akin

This movie was nominated for Golden Palmes in 2007 Cannes Festival and have won the best screen play award.

The movie is done in 2 parts. Yeter, a turkish prostitute in Germany is the new live-in partner for ALi Aksu , a widower and lives on pension. Nejat , his son , a professor in German University is not in approval of this , until he finds out from her that she uses this money for the education of her daughter. Yeter, dies in an accident, after a quarrel with Ali . Nejat is now in Turkey with the coffin, in search of her daughter.

In the meanwhile, the poilitical unrest and the related events makes Yeter's daughter Ayten escape the Turkish Police and moves to Germany. The daugher is in search of her mother and be-friends Lotte, a university student , who invites Ayten to stay with her. The fondness and love between them flourishes , but Ayten is caught in Germany and her plea for asylum is rejected. She is deported to Turkey and is arrested and jailed in her country. Lotte, come to Turkey to save her friend, but ends up murdered by a bullet shot by the street childer, while trying to save her bag and belongings from snatchers.

Her mother Susanne , is now in Turkey to understand her daughter and help her cause in saving Ayten and befriends Nejat. Movie ends with the release of Ayten from police.

One of the good movie I watched recently and have some good performances. It has one of the best last scenes ( Nejat waiting for his father to return from his fishing by the sea) and a noteworthy screenplay and dialogue.

More info can be found here

Farewell my concubine - Directed by Kaige Chen

I have been waiting to see this film ever since it was honoured with Golden Palms at Cannes in 1993. I heard, this was the first movie from China to win at Cannes ( by the way, have we won any ? ).

I managed to get the book written by Lilian Lee ( on the same name) in 1995 and was truly impressed with that ( I referred the notes I have written 12 yrs back ,today before posting this) book.

A movie set in the begininning of 20th century, through the turmoil of Chinese history, is about two stage-brothers of the famous Beijing Opera and a woman comes between them. It gives you the glimpses of their early ages of training under the master, with its tough and torturouse way of inculcating the skills. The duo become the most sought after pairs in the Opera scenes, and the opera "Farewell my Concubine" become a master piece. Deiyi, who acts as the concubine in the opera and Xialou the fallen king. As the China goes through the political turmoil with the attack by Japan, the triumph of the Nationalist Party and later the Communist Army taking control of the city. The patronising of the Opera House thus goes through different regime. The actors and the team are often subjected to questioning for their alleged performance for the enemy. Xialou, who falls in love with a prostitute, later marries her, causing the drift among the friends. Situation turns worse after the new Commuist Soldiers arrest them for their involment in pre-revelution rulers and the chain of blame and betrayal set them apart.

Every aspect of Film making is superb. From story and screenplay ( by the author himself) , the performance, the direction , the visuals..

I found this little piece in the book, not sure if I noticed this in the film.
"Our Soldiers and Comrades", she replied sarcastically. "I thought they also served the people. They can't be the people".
"Well, who are the people ?"
"We singers aren't the people. Women aren't the people. Workers and soldiers aren't the people. Nobody is the peolpe, but everybody seems to be serving the people. Who are the people ? Who's left ?"
"Chairman Mao ?"

The BAD GIRL - Mario Vargas Llosa

Just finished reading "The BAD GIRL" of Mario Vargas Llosa. This book released end of last year is already making waves with some great reviews and recomendations.

Very nicely 'written' book about a Peruvian expatriate (Ricardo) living in Paris as translator , interpreter with UNESCO and his love affair with the BAD GIRL.

Lily came into his world as a 14 year old in his Miraflores neighborhood of Lima and he was smitten by her charm at the first instance. This lady follows ( he calls him the BADGIRL) him in his life and dreams ... from the disguised Chilean girl in his neighborhood, later as a revolutionary on her way to Cuba (whom he meets in Paris and helps her to get away to Cuba) , as the wife of a French Diplomat (Madam Arnaux) , as the wife of a English entrepreneur in London , the keep of a Japanese gangster in Tokyo, returning to him all broke and in disarray after every adventure before leaving him again. She is treated in Paris with his money and marries him later in order to obtain legal papers in France. She again leaves him to lead her preferred life before returning to him, sick and lost. While she is trying to disguise her origin and her background from him, he could not get over with his love for her. She like many , is after power, money , adventure, continue to leave him in search of these pleasures.

It is also about the dualities of life. The good boy and Bad girl , lust and indifferent, poverty and power , love and betrayal , countrymen and expatriates , domination and submission....

Llosa also discusses the falling living standards and the political and military commentary , through the letters and discussions of his uncle Ataulfo with Ricardo and the disappointment of the educated and qualified youth with the regime. Like all other work of this master story teller, the language and the style is good, but there is no meat. This book fails to give me any new insight. However, from a pure fiction point of view , it is very good and recommended.

I borrow the words from a review I read to summarise - " But for all its thoughtful tackling of complex themes, The Bad Girl is certainly not all seriousness; as the Washington Post declares, "Obviously, the novel was written for the sheer fun of it -"the fun for Vargas Llosa in writing it, the fun for us in reading it."
Many readers and reviewers have compared this to Madam Bovary, with possible influence from Flaubert. However, to me, this book evoked the memories of reading "Love in the Time of Cholera". May be for the perpetual wait for their love. Believe me, there are no comparison..

I always believed, that Mario Vargas Llosa is one of the writers who deserve the Nobel Prize for Literature. Though not in the league of "Death in the Andes" or "War of the end of the World" , this book definitely contribute to the cause.

The BAD GIRL
Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
Translated by Edith Grossman
Faber &Faber
276 Pages
Rs 495

PS : I'm particularly fond of the beginning and end sentences of the fiction I read. Here is the last line of this book : "At least admit I've given you the subject for a novel. Haven't I , good boy ?"

Curse of the Golden Flower - Yimou Zhang

I watched this movie by the Chinese Director Zhang Yimou yesterday , called "Curse of the Golden Flower". Very impressive. Little too colorful and extravagant for a movie, but the story undertone and the performances were very good.

This is about the 10 century Tang Dynasty emperor, and the in-house power struggle. Well crafted screen play and editing.

The over use of the set, colours, stunt choreography and costumes does take away some of the cinematic values, though.

for details on the story and other credits , check this

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.

Once ( Irish ) by John Carney

On the insistence of Sri, I watched this lovely movie by the Irish Director John Carney. This movie had already won many awards and nominations. This is also nominated for "Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song" in 2008 Oscars. You can read all that and more here

A story about 2 musicians; he, a street singer and a hoover repairman and she, a czech immigrant and flower seller who plays piano, trying to help each other and themselves in their pursuit of music and personal life. Yes, it is he and she , there are no names. There is no pretence of an 'art movie' no visible effort to please the serious movie critics, no flamboyant dialogue , no superficies love and the so on.

It is not a musical like Moulin rouge or Chicago , but a movie about music. And dear, it has some very lovely tracks.

Added on 25/Feb : This movie won the oscar for the best song from a movie. Here are the details.

The complete oscar winners list can be found here

The Music Room - Namita Devidayal

History of Indian Music is very interesting and laden with stories, legends and myths. Little do we know about the hardship and the dedication of those who fight it out to come into the limelight. Be it the Hindustani style or the Carnatic style, the story is the same and often mis-represented. The eccentricities, the infights, the never ending egos , the selfish patrons , connoisseurs takes away the major part of their lives. These classical arts demand a life time of dedication and practice, often without any financial returns. A vast majority of once popular practitioners, end up living under poverty without anyone to look after them.

While a few fight it out in the commercial world, a large number of them does not get the recognition they deserve, who are as talented and as dedicated to the music. Mainly because of the lack of supporting systems such as patrons and weighty sponsors and many times because of their unwillingness to compromise on their believes.

Reading Namita Devidayals's absorbing book "The music Room", gives us the inside view of the life and times of the legends of Hindustani Music and their ways. As a ten year old girl, Namita was taken to one of the icons of the Jaipur Gharana , Dhondutai Kulkarni for her music lessons. Dhondutai , a living under sub par conditions, disciple of the famous and often controversial Kesarbai Kerkar, sees the glimpses of young Kesar in the young girl and accepts the girl under her tutelage. The long association of learning and admiration begins, which continues for almost three decades.

Namita Devidayal, takes the readers through the history of Jaipur Gharana and hindustani music in general over the period of 100 years with Dhondutai Kulkarni. The history covers the legendary Alladiya Khan and his musician family, Kesarbai Kerkar , the finest singers of the Jaipur Gharana and the life of Dhondutai Kulkarni.

The book looks at the life and times of the charismatic Alladiya Khan, the founder of the Jaipur Gharana, famous for their repertoire of rare ragas and krithis and their fast paced Taans. Though a Muslim, he and his family used to do sing every morning at the temples in Kolhapur and is still wear the thread across his chest like Brahmins.

Kesarbai Kerkar , considered as the most powerful hindustani singers of the 20th Century , learned from Alladiya , pioneered and preserved the Jaipur Gharana's tradition, and passed on to the young Dhondutai who joined her as a disciple and was with her until her death in 1977. There are enough examples and stories of the famous indian school of Guru-Shishya parampara and their often all submissive relationships. We also witness the steady deterioration of their financial wealth as well as their tradition as there are lesser and lesser listeners for this music and even lesser takers for learning. They lead a life so away from the mainstream and so detached from the worldly life spending most of the times in their small rooms with the gods and demi-gods in company.

Though this is biographical in nature, and not having most of the fictional qualities, Namita Devidayal uses the method of writing, which is a combination of both styles, retaining the admiration of the art and the gurus as you often observe in biographies, as well as the use of language as in fiction writings. At no point of time she is away form the events and the stories, always retains her ( and the readers) interest in the stories and anecdotes. A very well written book and great value to someone like me who has near zero knowledge of the Hindustani Music and its heroes.

Hindustan Times has set up a nice site on this book which can be accessed here

Here are the links to few reviews about this book.

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/09/23/stories/2007092350120500.htm

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070928/asp/opinion/story_8367570.asp

=================================================

The Music Room

Written By : Namita Devidayal

Random House Publications

316 Pages

Rs 395

Perfume : Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind

Set in the late 19 centuray France, this novel written in 1985 by German writer Patrick Suskind. Heralded as a litereary sensation, this book had now been adapted into a movie ( which I haven't seen).

This is part of my backlog clearance exercise.. I have more than a dozen books in my shelf , bought over last few years , and not read. I have taken a resolution to complete all these books, before 2009.

This is an interesting book about a serial killer (? - very filmish it sound) in the 18th Centuray France. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille , abandoned by his mother in garbage, rescued and taken into an orphanage, is born with out a personal odor. But he develops ( or has it naturally ) a very acute sense of odor, may be due to the lack of his own smell. Grenouille finds a job with a perfumer with dwindling market share and fame, helping him to bring back his days of glory with his amazing combinations of perfume. After he has learned the methods and practices of mixing oils and herbs , he leaves him on his way to explore places. The building collapses mysteriously and the perfumer and his family dies on the same night. He spent his next seven years in a self imposed exile on a mountainl, away from all the living creatures and away from all the disturbing odors.

He returns to the world and gets himself a job of a perfumer again and here comes the twist. He develop a perfume which allows him to mingle with the crowd and people without them noticing his presence. By now he is obsessed with the development of one exotic perfume which was never made. The series of killing of virgin, with a specific age and characteristics begin with this quest. The story is now turns into suspense, horror and curiosity before he accomplishes his task of developing the scent never made after committing gruesome murder of 25 virgins. He was caught, prosecuted and found guilty. The execution time is on and he does the magic with his newly developed perfume. The same changes the atmosphere, it brings out all the suppressed passion of people into open and the place turn into an orgy and he is saved.

I find this novel as one which is written for movie adaptation. Easy reading and narration and a very different subject. Apart from that , I do not find anything interesting which calls for a second read.

You can read more about this at wiki ...

Perfume : Story of a murderer
Written By : Patrick Suskind
265 Pages

Nalu Pennungal - Adoor Gopalakrishnan

Adoor Gopalakrishnan's new movie is a collection of 4 small movies about women. As the name suggests, the movie is about women from different facts of life. Adapted from different short stories by the famous Malayalam writer, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, set in the '20s , this films looks at the life and the incidents of four women dispassionately.

"Vesya" ( the prostitute ) is arrested by the police for adultery and is being questioned in the court. She and her new husband could not prove to the court that they are married, as there is no evidence. They have no house , sleep in the veranda of the shops, they have no family , they do not know who their parents are.. The only thing they can tell the authorities that they are married and are husband and wife.

"Kanyaka" ( the virgin ) is the story of a girl married to the neighbouring village, only to be left back in her house by the broom after the initial phases of the marriage and the "welcome feast" by the relatives.

"Chinnuamma" ( the housewife) is about a middle aged lady without any children and the attempt by her erstwhile friend or classmate to lure her into a relationship with him. It ends with a definitive stand by her asking him to leave.

"Nityakanyaka" ( the spinster ) is about the elder sister of the house, unable to get married and her coming to terms with that. All the people who come home to see her, are demanding her sisters and she remain a spinster despite the effort of her family.

While this movie is not a full length feature film ( a collection of 4 independent movies) , all the movies are connected by a single theme. They are all talk about the women in the social structure and their effort to come out of the domination by taking a definite stand on issues pertaining to them. Very strong and subtle in emotions , but very convincing in the end. Apart from a few places ( where I find it too mechanical ) all the actors have performed brilliantly , to the scope of the movie , against their commercial stardom.

Though this is not his best movie so far, Sri Adoor Gopalakrishnan maintained his high standards of film making by some good visuals and background score.

Autobiography of An Actor - Sivaji Ganesan

A seven year old boy fascinated by the street play called "Kambalathaar Koothu" which has the story of Kattabomman, ran away from home to join the drama troupe , later immortalised the same character on Drama as well as on Cinema winning awards and accolades for the same "Kattabomman". Here is a story of one of the outstanding actors of Modern India , an actor most of the contemporaries envy and the subsequent actors tried to emulate.

Reading this book, brings back those nostalgic memories of my 5 years of Pondicherry life. Accompanying my ex-boss Sri Aravamudhan to those second show movies of yesteryear actors in the now extinct 'Naveena' and 'Kandan' theatres watching those Black&White movies. Watching those movies were like attending a class. He was so much informed of the stories and other background information of actors, movies, scenes etc. That was my entry into the grand world of Tamil Movies. Reading this was a similar experience. Stories, anecdotes, incidents and history all mixed and told from none other than the thespian of Tamil movies.

From a stricter sense, this is not an auto biography. It is in the form of question and answers. The biographer Sri T S Narayanaswamy asks questions to Sri Sivaji Ganesan and the replies are given. So, technically, it is more of dialogue and he justifies in one of the question as " the best way to clear an issue is through question and answer: thus this book is in such a format". The limitation of this style is that the thought process is not free flowing. It is not what Sri Sivaji Ganesan wants to tell us, it is what Sri TSN wants us to know. The direction and the control here is not with the ACTOR but he merely replies as directed by someone else. Having said that Sri TSN has done a commendable job in terms of covering all aspects of the life of the actor and controls the flow of thought and the chronological details. The acting, political and family aspect of his life was adequately covered in these discussion. Undoubtedly, hard work and research has gone into making this book.

The story starts from his childhood and with clarity sri Sivaji recollects the incidents of his birth, his father's arrest ("this child is born to send his father to jail") and the struggle of his mother to bring up the children. His fascination towards the street plays and the desire to act in plays , which leads to his running away from home at the age of 7 and joining the drama troupe. His rigorous training from the able drama artists and stalwarts in shaping up the actor in him and his gradual progress in the ranks as an established actor.

Here is the story of him adorned with the title of Sivaji in his own words.
"Sivaji Kanda Hindu Rajyam" a play written by Anna , for the Dravida Kazhakams Seventh Conference in 1946, was the reason for the title "Sivaji" ... It was MGR who was originally supposed to play the lead role. MGR refused for some reason and it had fallen on Ganesan to take the lead role. E V Ramaswami Naikar ( thanthai periyar ) who after watching the electrifying performance declared " Today onwards you will be called Sivaji".

Sivaji like all other actors from the Drama / theatre experience are known for their classical style of acting. They are so self confident , their body language the movements of limbs their hand eye coordination are all exact. I consider their style as the classical style of acting and it has the influence of drama all over them. It might not be admired by the current generation ( as over-acting ) , but he definitely opened a path for the later generation to follow. By the way , according to Sivaji this is justified as he puts it " Acting is exaggeration of emotions".

To me ( who is not fromTamilnadu) , Sri Sivaji is known for his amazing screen persona and his ability to be the centre of attraction on any character he portray. How many mythical and historical characters have he brought back to the mind of people. It is the way he mesmerised the audience with those long sentences written by Sri Karunanidhi and made them live evergreen in the mind of people. He claims to have the Guinness world record for the longest sentence spoken in a movie, shot in single shot for approximately 9 minutes.

He has clear understanding about thin line between the character and actor in a performance. This is one topic hugely misunderstood and continue to be debated. He says:
"Actors should not remark that they have morphed to become the characters, which is not correct. Only mis informed people would say so. If he gets emotional, his vision clouds and he wouldn't know where the heroin stands, where the mike is and where the camera placed. The marking of a good actor stands out only when he is able to slip in and out of his character without actually being touched by it. This is why I implore actors not to be emotionally attached to their characters."

When coming to lip-sync I cant see any other actor who comes closure. He is perfect and create an impression with his lip , face and the vocal chord changes that it is performed by him. "Moving one's lips for a song and singing a song are two different things. While I listened ( the song to be shot) , I would enquire about the number of shots that had been allocated to me, rehearse a few times. While shooting, I would absorb the song and hum the tune, this is to get the rhythm of the song and to create an illusion that I was singing. "

What comes out strongly through this conversation is his passion for this medium and his strive to excel in each performance, be it on the stage during a drama or on scene for a movie. His pride and confidence about his stature as the best actor is evident in these words and rightly so. There was not an actor like him and there wont be one.

On the other hand, we also see a not so successful public person. His multiple attempts in the political arena have failed miserably time and again. His closeness to Anna, Kamaraj and other political icons have not won him great strides in the political systems. Of course he blame ( without naming) vested interests working against him continuously. His repeated errors have an answer from him, but are too feeble to be convincing to the reader ( that is me !!).

He is a nationalist and his love towards the country ( which many times goes beyond the local boundaries of Tamil Nadu) and its leaders are absolutely strong. Apart from the PadmaSri and Padmabhushan awards ( which are no less in terms of value attached) , I'm not sure if we ( the country) have recognised him for his acting. He has not won any national award ( though his movies have won many awards at the national level) and it has to be the Afro-Asian Film Festival to recognise him and award him with the best actor.

The discussions also touches his personal life ( to a much shorter extend) and we see his relationship with his mother, wife, siblings and his children. He is also comes out as a friendly person with his co-stars and his directors ( whom he says respect the most in the sets to one of the question) and shows his admiration to his contemporaries in cine field.

We also see a smart person in here. There are only good things to talk about. Except his political setbacks ( which is dealt in multiple places), he doesn't discuss much of his struggle as an actor ( except when he was introduced to film field during Parashakthi ). May be he was an established actor prior to his joining the films and was always delivered numerous hits to discuss the low phases of his career ( The list of Silver Jubilee and hundred days films are astonishing to note) . Also, this book is noncontroversial. He has not rubbed anyone at the wrong place. Even while discussing his political disasters , he refuses to name people but merely passes them as "vested interest". He also clarifies in the negative about his rumored tiff with the other big actor of his time , MGR. He gives enough and more of evidences to prove that he and MGR enjoyed a very friendly and close relationship.

Smt Sabita Radhakrishna has done the translation from Tamil to English. One could understand the difficulty in translating the colloquial Tamil into English, and it is evident in the early pages. The translation was much better later on as she seems to have moved out of word by word translation. The book also has a huge collection of photographs from his life as well as from the films.

This is an invaluable book. It gives you the fascinating story of cinema in general and Tamil Cinema in particular in the second half of the 20th Century with the inseparable political spectrum( inseparable as far as Tamil Nadu is concerned) though the life and times of a man who lead this from front. Though he is no more ( the book is released on his 75th birthday -post his death), he will remain in memory of millions and millions of film goers, from critics to common man and aspiring young artists continue to practice the lengthy dialogs from his movies to impress the listeners.

This Is Your Brain on Music - Daniel J Levitin

I haven't learnt music. These days I am deeply attracted to Carnatic music and with my limited exposure, I'm amused at my ability to identify a mohanam , a kharaharapriya or a thodi. I have always thought, of how am I able to do this. Unlike people who have learnt music where they can construct - de-construct the lines to swaras and associate the arohana-avarohana pattern to the appropriate ragam, I can not do that. But I can identify most of the ragams, and how is it possible. It is possible only by referring to my earlier listening and successful comparison to a similar krithi / song stored somewhere within me....

Here is a book that can help you to find some answers to these. It had given me direction on some of the stupid ( not really ) doubts I had..

Daniel Levitin, a neuro-scientist, talks about the way our mind understand music and how the brain processes or participate in processing these information. This book is not entirely on music. It is more on the science of music ( neuro science to be precise). Levitin, before becoming a scientist, was a musician, a sound engineer and a record producer.

The book starts with the basic music theory and explanation of the key concepts and words in the music arena. What is Tone, Scale, Rhythm, Timber , pitch , tempo etc. I found this very useful and informative as a layman on timber. I had always wondered on how does different instrument sound differently, even though they play the same NOTEs and have tuned to the same pitch. I knew that it had to be something to do with the harmonics. It is only now that I found a proper answer that satisfies my doubts. According to him, timbre itself has 3 dimension .. the Attack phase ( when the energy is introduced to the instrument - by bowing, plucking or striking) , the steady state and the flux. If the attack phase is editted out of the instrument ( or the music) , most of the instrument sound similar..!! This also explains to me the principle of "Synthesizers", or the artificially ( electronically) produced sound.

The next chapter is on the Rhythm. Again, the key words are tempo , meter , beats and one can draw parallel to our on "thaLa" systems in carnatic music. The corresponding pictures and charts are as complex as some of the charts given in the concert reviews by my friend Ram.

Interesting observation is on the loudness. Loudness is a psychological phenomenon, or loudness doesn't exist in the world, it exists only in the mind. By increasing the volume of your stereo systems, you are increasing the amplitude of vibration of the molecules, which in turn interpreted as loudness by brain. Why do people like loud music , most of the rock shows are played loud to the thrill and excitement of the crowd. Part of the reason, he says, could be that loud music saturates the auditory systems, causing neurons to fire at maximum rate.

To sum it up, there are 7 major elements into music, which are understood and acted upon by the brain. Pitch, Timber, Key , Harmony , Loudness , rhythm, meter and tempo. The subsequent chapters discussed how does each of these are processed within brain. I don't intend to get into the technical aspect of neurons firing upon listening to the music and which part of brain understand what aspect of music. These are very technical and I haven't studied neuro-science to decipher this fully. However, let me tell you some interesting observation and questions out of these reading..

a) Our brain has powers in processing these information and store them. Brain form predictive opinion about what is expected to come next, and any surprise to this will make us to distinguish the music from others ( and appreciate).. The preconceived idea of what is coming next could be genetics, early listening, similarity with what is already heard ( familiarity , exposure to the style etc). When you go for a rock concert you know what to expect vis a vis a carnatic classical concert. These information are already stored within us and are re-produced at will. Which is why some of the music is ever lasting and one wants to hear them again and again ( they never cease to surprise this part of the brain ?).

b) The concept of pitch , rhythm and scales are alive in every human being. Even if you can't sing with correct pitch and scale you are able to remember the song ( humming to yourself) with absolute clarity on these aspect. Try singing "Happy birthday to you" to inside and see..!!

c) Brain identifies the tonal quality of different instruments and people , if experienced already. Which is why you are able to identify the person on the other side of the phone ( without seeing them), even when he/she is suffering by a bad throat.

d) Brain also stores the associated events in memory along with the music. This is why we can recollect certain events of our life while listening to your favorite music. Same song, repeatedly brings those memories back to you.

e) Though not proven convincingly ( to me at least), there are certain elements of genetics in your music ability. Apart from the ambience , culture and exposure, this is also a reason on why some people are better musically , and other ( like me) are not. Child prodigies are partly natural , hard work notwithstanding..

f) As discussed, different aspect of music triggers different parts of the brain. Unlike the perception, music appeals to both left and right brains similarly. ( I used to joke as other musicians appeal to the right half of the brain and TNS appeals to the left !! ) .

In his chapter "What makes a Musician" he examines how do people become expert musicians ? Musical expertise hasd always been defined as technical achievements - mastery of instruments / vocal. How does this explain the word "talent" ? Is the high levels of musical achievement are based on innate brain structures ( is this talent ?) or are they the result of training and practice ? It is evident that 'talented' person acquire skills faster than a normal person. Different people have different 'talents' or different brain structure. Some people have a biological predisposition towards particular instruments, or towards singing. He says, there may be a cluster of genes that work together to create the component skills that one must have to become a successful musician.

Also, why are some musicians are superior to others when it comes to emotional ( versus technical) dimension of music ? no one knows for sure. So called "bhava" in music being discussed elsewhere is coming to my mind. Stevie Wonder says, he gets himself into the same frame of mind when he wrote the song; he tries to capture the same feeling and sentiment.

Why is that some singing are very likable ? In spite of their technical and other errors, why do people prefer to listen to certain singers ? Why is that whenever, M S Subbalakshmi , KVN , Yesudas ( and many others) have always an attraction ? Notwithstanding their ability and technical knowledge , they also have sweet voice. It is true even on conversation. Some people have voices which are very "phonogenic" ( as Levitin calls it).

Physical gestures: Studies are also shown that non-musician listeners are exquisitely sensitive to the physical gestures of the musicians. By watching musical performance with the sound turned off, and attending to things like the musicians arm, shoulder and torso movements, ordinary listeners can detect a great deal of expressive intent of the musician. See , now you understand the gestures of T M Krishna and Sanjay ( as though they are driving an old Leyland truck through Western Ghats) during their concerts.

The aspect of chunking is also an interesting point. Chunking is the process of tying together units of information into groups and remembering the group instead of the individual pieces. for example STD codes. Musicians also use chunking in several ways ? Does the 'karvais' at the end of the swara singing in carnatic, can be classified under this ?

The book is full of results experiments and the analysis to support the topics discussed. Being brain, we have very little information on how does it behave and all the scientist are able to do is to observe the changes of various parts of brains with the measurements using EEG. This added to the experiments can lead us to a better understanding of the functions of brain musically.

An extremely interesting books for people who wants to know about the aspects of music , both scientific and conceptual. Though this book is more on the scientific in nature, it has written in a manner ( with case studies, anecdotes, history , examples) that even layman can understand.

Few questions remain.. Scientifically, how have we evolved musically ? Leave alone the technical innovations and invention of newer musical instruments, does the human brain understand and appreciate music better over generations ?

This Is Your Brain on Music - The Science of a Human Obsession
Written by Daniel J Levitin
Dutton
313 Pages
$24.95

Added on 05-Feb-08

Guru has read the book and have his thoughts here.

Added on 08-Feb 08

BERNARD HOLLAND Writes in NYTimes about the mannerisms of the musicians on stage..

It’s another reason classical music is not reaching more young people: not because of how it sounds, but because of how it looks. Even worse, lugubrious gymnastics like these advertise the feelings of performers, not of Beethoven or Schumann. Music is asked to stand in line and wait its turn.

Read the article here