The King of the Fields - Isaac Bashevis Singer

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

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

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

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

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

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The King of the Fields ( 1988 )

Isaac Bashevis Singer ( translated from Yiddish by the author)

Plume Books

224 Pages
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Redrookreview , NY Times

Working IX to V - Vickie Leon

Things weren't too different in the early ages for a salaried employee. One had to go through the same rituals of appointment, the appraisals, reward for performance, the job cut and resulted firing and those hierarchical positions. One always complained about over work and some of the other perils of a daily job. There were varieties of job in the offing, few of them were the privilege of the 'Slaves'. Slaves, only because their country lost the war. The Prisoners of Wars were not tried or killed. They were immediately deployed on job. It did not take long for the fortune to reverse.

Vicki Leon, brings out a curious study ( a well researched one at that) about the kind of job people performed during the early days of Roman, Greek civilizations. Deriving her output of large number of references, from the drawings, those writings, epics, the architectural specialties this bundle of cute facts were both fun to read and are informative. With a catchy title to go along - Orgy planners, funeral clowns, and other prized professions of the ancient world - the book classified the various functions under ten chapters or groups.

While it is impossible to mention all those here, but few worth an honorable mention include, a boy hooker ( preference was for youth with big shoulders, tiny waist, good muscle tone, and protruding buttock. His nose should be straight, his lower lip Elvis-like, his hair a flowing mane and he had to have dainty genitals), War Elephant Commander( must have returned with Alexander after his famous war with Porous) , Mercenaries ( old form of quotation/ supari team), Tour Guide, Publishers and Book Sellers ( yes, those hand written ones), Armpit plucker , Super Models ( do you remember the Venus - but do you know the model posed for that ?) , funeral clowns ( a custom still exists in some part of our country), orgy planners and the underwear maker ( the loin cloth was mostly a wrap around, but women preferred something for their upper part of the body.. Roman men swore by decency, with complete body coverage except for hands and the head. Greek men were more enterprising and get my hurray, for they spend their days clad in a himation, or what amount to a bedsheet. Conservative fellows often wore nothing under it , reminds me of the hostel days clad in colorful 'Lungis').

The book is presented similar to a coffee table book , easy reading with few illustrations. The seriousness of the subject and the result of her hard work is camouflaged under fine humour. While some of the references are beyond me, over all it was a nice funny read, if one do not approach this as a serious work of non fiction.

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Working IX to V ( 2007 )

Vicki Leon

Walker & Company

312 Pages
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npr books

മലയാളത്തിന്റെ 100 കഥകള്‍(100 mini stories from Malayalam)

A collection of 100 mini stories by 100 different writers in Malayalam is an interesting read. The name include some of the big-wigs in the Malayalam Literary world, from VKN , Madhavikkutty, Kovilan, M Mukundan, Punathil Kunjabdulla etc etc to some of the 'new kids in the block'. While the majority of the stories were after the same old cliched subject of abuse, family values, expatriation, abandoned parents back home etc, there were a few different voices and attempt to improve within the constraints of a short fiction.

Like any compilations, this has 10+ good stories and a lot of average mediocre ones and the rest shear waste. I know one can not reach consensus with others in their liking. I picked around 8 stories for a second read and the person read this book immediately after me picked her 8. There were agreement only on 5 ( so much for good ).

I know it is not easy to write a story in few sentences or in less than a half a page length. It demands a different level of skill and talent. The impact has to sublime and lasting. The language has to be crisp while being fuild. The words to be poetic and the theme or plot to be short. That also calls for better editorial and compilation work. Considering all that, this is a brave attempt to get them published in one book trying to include most of the prominent writers of Malayalam. Arshad Batheri, who compiled the book ( which include on of his own creation) tells us that these are directly collected from the writers and have not been published elsewhere. Hence, unlike other anthologies , this does not have a history of readers feedback and their previous experience.

The stories stood out for their brilliance and their ability to handle the their theme differently are of Kovilan, Pattathuvila Karunakaran, Perumbatavam Sridharan, Vaishakhan, U K Kumaran, E Harikumar, Abraham Mathew , K Raghunathan and K V Anoop. These are my picks and I am sure you can come up with another after you read them. Death was the theme for Pattathuvila ( gorgeously named Guernica ) , Perumbatavan ( yathra ) and Vaishakhan ( marakkombil thoongiyirikkunna kuta), each taking it in a different way. Mixing the Picasso's Guernica ( created during Spanish Civil war after the Basque town with the same name was bombed by German and Italian Airplanes) to the present day bombing and murder in a small town, Karunakaran depicts a scary picture of the current day political murders. Vaishakhan's symbolism of death to the hanging umbrella on the tree after a gruesome road accident, Perumbatavam's journey to the other world, UK Kumaran's 'man' is unable to react or respond to the external world thus remain a nonbeing.

James Kelman's 'acid' and the one line story of Guatemalan writer Augusto Monterroso's 'The Dinosaur' ( for those who want to know the story goes like this : "When he woke up,the dinosaur was still there") comes to my mind. I remember being shocked by Acid. While these stories may not be as impressive as some of the better stories written elsewhere, this indeed is a significant attempt in the same direction.

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മലയാളത്തിന്റെ 100 കഥകള്‍ (100 stories from Malayalam)
100 Writers ( Compiled by Arshad Bathery )

Olive Books

150 Pages

Rs 90
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Lizard Tails - Juan Marsé

The suburbs of Barcelona, 40s of the turbulent Spain. Elsewhere in Europe, the World War II is affecting the people. Hiroshima is bombed. Its the civil war or the defeat of the civil organisations against the regime of Franco. David Batra's father, an alcoholic and works for the resistance organisations is a political fugitive and is on the run. There is no information about him for last 6 months. His mother, who used to work as a school teacher (lost her job during the war and for being the wife of a revolutionary), is pregnant with his younger brother and is in constant trouble both medically and physically. Young David, 14 yrs , is out of school and spends his time with friend Paulino, son of a barber who is molested both physically and sexually by his traffic policeman uncle, collecting lizard's tails, to be used as a medicinal cure for Paulino's piles and watching matinee movies of Hollywood Western.

Comes the Inspection Galvan , into the scene investigating the disappearance of his father. He keeps a close vigil of the mother hoping to get some clue on the whereabout of David's father. As Inspector continue keep trail of the lady, David, now in his adolescence takes up the responsibility of protecting his mother from the advancing policeman. The close surveillance move way to regular visits to their villa, as the widowed policeman, is infatuated with the read haired ,beautiful mother, resulting in stand off between the son and the suitor. The frequency of the visit increased so is the duration, not only helping the lady in distress, but also supplying the essential provision. He continue his investigation, camouflaged under the pretext of help, to the dismay of young David.

David, carry the images of his injured father escaping through the gully, with a slit buttock, leaving blood trails on his way. It is this image that stays with him through out the narrative, even as he converse with the man missing in his dreams. The narration of real and surreal events takes some interesting direction here. David continue to have hallucinations ( he complains of hearing various sounds in his ear , resulting in listening to various voices), and continue his conversations with his father ( who disappeared 6 months ago) , to the poster hero of his room ( a RAF fighter pilot who died in action), the dead dog , his elder brothre who died long ago and his younger brother ( still in foetus inside his mother).

The fight for one-upmanship continue between David and the Inspector, with the Inspector manages to get rid off the dog Crispi, that David fosters, on account of aging and ill-ness. David seek his revenge by stealing his 'Dupont' lighter and trying to malign his image with his mother. Inspector also manages to distance Paulino from David, putting him up in the Juvenile Home, for his alleged shooting of his uncle, who continue to abuse him. Mother delivering an underdeveloped baby, dies in the event, leaving David and his brother in the custody of her sister.

To me, the narrative style that makes this book different from others. Despite the constant change of voices from David, his mother and the inspector the whole lot of conversation that David develop within himself with various living and non-living people is fabulous. The fine line between realism and surrealism is very minute and crafted brilliantly. The story is fairly simple and straightforward of an adolescent growing up , but it is these devices that deployed within the schemes make it interesting. This keep one guessing on what is actually happened and what is developed by the boy in his own mind. Very lyrical, very engaging and often symbolic ( severing of lizards tails, the old dog as watch guard being killed, the speaking foetus) writing. Fascinating work.

This Catalan writer ( writes in Spanish), won the Cervantes Prize ( called Spanish Nobel) in 2008, is not as widely read in English. I couldn't find many references of this book in the web. Nick Castor, who translated this book says "Marsé was under-read in English. He was fashionable in the 70s when he was translated quite a bit … but then he fell out of favour in translation,"

PS : The only complaint I have is the font size. One need a magnifier to read these pages , printed in font size < 1.

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Lizard Tails ( 1988)

Juan Marse ( translated from Spanish by Nick Caistor 2003)

Vintage Books

231 Pages
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World Without Borders

The Secret History of Costaguana - Juan Gabriel Vasquez

Joseph Conrad is struggling to come up from his debts and his creative lull and need to write a book that bring him back to the literary scene. Its his 1903 book Nostrono, which he set in the fictional republic of Costaguana in the Latin America. However, the person supposed to have assisted Conrad in the writing with his novel ( Jose Altamirano, who visited London to answer few questions by Conrad, ending up telling his life story) is now feel cheated ( 'You've eliminated me from my own life. You, Joseph Conrad, have robbed me.') and wants to set things right to the " Jury of the Readers" by retelling the real story.

Under this pretext, starts the tale of a country that was in turmoil for over 60 years in the middle of the Americas. The tiny land strip of Panama Rapublic. Originally part of Columbia, this merely 100 km wide land connect between two continents was of strategic importance of the nations of the world. The trading of goods from the Europe and other part of the world to the West cost of the US, or the rich minerals and metals from Peru and Chile to Europe has to go through the southern Cape of South America, which was a great loss of time and resources. The Spaniards tried to find a way from the Atlantic Coast of the Isthmus to the Pacific Coast. the narrow strip wasn't an easy one to conquer. the early days of moving the good through these jungles and difficult terrain was met with lot of difficulties and loss of man power. The idea of building a rail line came from this experience. An American names Aspinwal won the deal and the rail road was constructed amidst great loss of people. The workers brought in from various parts of the world succumbed to the tropical deceases and the hard labour. Unable to withstand the hardship , people started commit suicide ( especially Chinese), the Irish workers abandoned and had to be moved to New York However, Aspinwal and Company succeeded in completing the 50+ mile "Panama Rail Road Company" after much delay and huge loss of human lives, amidst multiplied cost. Though this had improved the movements of goods with considerable ease, it stil had its own issues. The ships have to be unloaded and loaded to the rail road wagons and had to be reloaded again at the other end. It is at this time, the Frenchman de Lessip and his team successfully completed linking Mediterranean sea to the Red sea in the Middle East, thus reducing the time travel to the Far East, in the form of Seuz Canal. He was invited to study the feasibility of a similar Canal between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The Panama Canal , under the auspices of de Lessip and his French team has thus began. However, they had to face all those difficulties that the "Rail Road Company had to undergo. Losses mount, the progress next to none, the investors in the company is not satisfied, the political and civil unrest lead to the famous 1000 days of war etc hampered the canal, resulting in the abandonment of progress and the return of the French. Panama was still in unrest. Despite multiple set backs and hanging of their revolutionary leaders , they fought for their independence from the mainland Colombia. At this opportune moment, US steps in and supported the break away republic, only after securing the rights to build the canal, which eventually completed a decade later.

Juan Vasquez, build his story around this history of Panama from the 1850s to the first decade of 20th Century ( until 1905), through his characters. José Altamirano, a bastard son born in Bogota, learns about his father as he was turning twenty and come to Panama in search of him. He meets his father in Panama, who is unaware of the existence of his son.The rest of the book is about his relationship with his journalist father Miguel, who in continuation with his support to the Rail Road company and the Canal Project writes article in the leading news papers and his wife ( a French widow who looses her child and her Engineer Husband to the tropial Yellow Fever) and daughter. His personal history in connection with the history of the republic is intermixed as both goes through the same level of turmoil.

Juan Vasquez walks the fine line of fiction and history with some clever writing. A little knowledge of the history of the Rail Road Company, the Panama Canal Project and the Independence of Panama will be essential if you want to get into this book. I had to discontinue my reading and get back after I did some parallel reading on the above. While he is a brilliant writer, and this book is a product of meticulous research and planning the heavy historical content that overshadow the fictional element make this a non-fiction read at many a times. The initial pages however was brilliant writing.

Jose Altamirano is a great protagonist. While he claims to set the facts right, most of the narrative is not about him, but about the birth of the republic whose fortunes were interlinked with his own. Its a country risen from great losses of individuals, including that of his own. Thus it is also a a confessional narration, apologetic to his daughter,Eloisa. Vasquez has combined many a things in his narration. Colombia, having to loose control over one of the most important area of world commerce, having suffered the humiliation by the mighty powers, The Panama, having to suffer the fate only because of its strategic geographical position, whose ill fortune did not end after the independence ( its trouble continued years after its secession from Columbia , as late as 1989 when the US Marines invaded the country to arrest the ruler). The book is multi-layered. There is a Columbian view as the protagonist and his father are from Columbia, there is world view of its importance of the Rail Road and Canal, the Conrad angle, the subtle love of a husband and father forced to go through personal losses resulting from political upheaval.

The modern day literary revenge ( he not only takes on Conrad, but the general literary tendencies ) set in the midst of historical turmoil, intelligently and cleverly written by one of the new voices form Latin American Literature. Very good book.

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The Secret History of Costaguana ( 2007 )
Juan Gabriel Vasquez ( translaed from Spanish by Anne McLean -2010)

Bloomsbury

309 Pages
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NY Times, Guardian , Independent

A Little History of the World - E H Gombrich

Originally written in German, this book was translated into manhy many languages. Yet, it took more than 70 years to have the English translation available. History is interesting and bit confusing with all the dates and names. History over the millennia is created and recorded by the conquerors hence what is told is only one side of the story. However, what we have is derived out of the coherence of various form of data inputs, facts retained (through legends, tales epics), preserved ( by nature in various visible forms) and progressed ( languages, tools, methods and living style) over centuries. Personally to me, it is a very interesting and often contradicting subject.

It is difficult to have a grasp of the history without remembering dates and names of people and places. There are various names of historical figures known to us, but seldom do we get the connections right. Hence for a common reader, it is important to know these connections established by chronologically and by civilisations to appreciate reading historical works. This book has done that part tremendously. Without getting too sophisticated ( often too simplified for a serious history enthusiast), getting history to be an interesting read to the adolescent as well as the grown up, he managed to cover the vast history of human civilisation in a few concise chapters. Starting from the stone age days he covers most of the important landmarks of human development until the end of WW I ( remember , the book was originally written in 1935). The Englsih Version has a last chapter, which looks at the events post 1930s including the rise of Hitler and the Atom bomb with his view of the modern world.

In forty short chapters, he take us through the journey of human, covering every aspect of the modern day making. As I said before, most of the chapters describe the rise and the eventual fall of the civilisations/ dynasty or the colonial power. Largely centered around the Mediterranean region, which saw some of the largest and most powerful kingdom flourished through conquest and force, surviving centuries before another one takes over. The Roman, the Macedonian, the Greek, Phoenicians , the mighty Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians of the present day Iran, the Germanic tribes and the Austrian Empire, we get the glimpse of all these powers in their making and breaking. Some names like Alexander the Great, Julias Ceaser, Hammurani, Gengis Khan, places like Carthage, Jerusalem, various Greek and Italian Cities, you name it, appear in their chronological importance. He also minutely touch upon the rise and spread of various religion during these times, the Jews, Christians and the Muslims each found their grooming ground in these areas.

While there are passing remarks about the other part of the world , like Buddhism in China, the Chinese emperor who build the Great Wall, King Porous of India who fought gallantly against the world conqueror Alexander, the Spanish conquistadors in Latin America, the book largely centered around the European region. There are no mention about the Incas, the Mayans and various other societies who existed around the world, may be for lack of references. Despite all that, this is a commendable book and highly recommended to every enthusiast and students. The language is simple and easy and the read is fast. Except in the final chapter, he largely stay away from making judgmental remarks on the events. There are no glorification nor denouncement of any of the event.

This brought the memories of reading 'A Brief History of Nearly every thing' by Bill Bryson. Somehow, I would recommend this to the young readers over the former. Now, I shall look forward to reading "The story of Art".

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A Little History of the World ( 1935)

E M Gombrich ( translated from German by Caroline Mustill in 2005)

Yale University Press

284 Pages
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Guardian, Wiki Entry

ചുംബനശബ്‌ദതാരാവലി ( Chumbana Shabda Tharavali) - Indu Menon

Another disappointing read in Malayalam. I did not have any great expectations in the first place, but was hoping to hear a different voice and see some class which stands out in the new generation story tellers. However, this too moved through the usual cliched style of narrative and subject. Barring one, rest of the stories were bland and lacked any character. She had a theme and title brilliantly chosen, and invariably woman were the central characters in all these stories. There was this strong voice of rebel, the voice of angry reporter on crime and atrocities against woman.The self made liberator who goes after the so called attackers with a vengeance. But it stays just thee. To me, this failed to create any literary ripples in me as a reader despite having some great control on her language.

The book starts with a petty dedication ( to her husband and daughter) and the descriptive "dictionary of Kisses". The 'dictionary of kisses' itself was a bit odd. Might be intended to create a tickle in the adolescent mind, but for serious readers, this had no real meat. I remember reading a similar attempt by A L Kennedy in her short story collection "Now that You are back", where she experimented with the form of story telling in " 'Mouseboks Family Dictionary", which was pretty interesting.

The next two stories made me think differently . " Chaklian" was a good story, attempting to rebuild a fathers woes in bringing up a girl child. Unable to suffer the humiliation , all he did was what is expected of a father. The next, 'raktakalee, raktakalee' is the best of the compilation. Innovative mixing of myths, fantasy and the contemporary theme, she created a good story of revenge. Suffered from what is called as a dual personality disorder after the death of her sister, Kamala has been having dreams of the mighty goddess kali. She metamorphosed herself into the reincarnation of kali, sowing and spreading the 'small-pox' ( as the myth goes) and 'chicken pox' seeds. Her vengeance is complete only after the death of her sisters murderer and rapist, years later. The rest of the stories are mediocre. "Pithavum Kanyakayum talks about a father seducing his daughters friend to his bed, while on the other hand, she being the only virgin in her class was eager to join the rest of the class , which include his daughter. 'Oru Extra Nadiyude Aathmakatha' ( and you can guess the story), athmarahasyam, chumbana shabda tharavali ( yes, another story with the same name) and the rest are all in the same league.

Now that, I am citing references to A L Kennedy, I cant resist in comparing the observations of the writing. It says, AL Kennedy in her writing "exposing and exploring the sinuous undercurrents of violence, anguish and love". Indu Menon on the other hand, focusses her energy on the women and the general atrocities of the society against women in general. Her attempt to portray her characters as a victim of various forms of aggression and in most of this stories, they seems to be taking decisive action by themselves. Dr.Mini Prasad , in her afterword( a short study) claims that Indu Menon's characters are build on the 'male centric social set up where the woman are are treated as mere consumable. The writer here, fights against this perceived world order through her characters, says the review. however, to me, that is a generalisation. A story has to be appealing to the reader, irrespective of the ideology or the thought process it attempt to convey. Sadly, these stories does not go beyond the often chewed cliches and thus fails to create any favourable impression in general, barring a couple of good stories.

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ചുംബനശബ്‌ദതാരാവലി ( Chumbana Shabda Tharavali- 2011)
Indu Menon

D C Books

120 Pages
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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

The Prague Cemetary - Umberto Eco

Umberto Eco's latest novel, the most discussed releases last year along with 1Q84 ( in English), is the build up of the early 20th century document , The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which reveals the plots by Jewish people to dominate the world. This document, which confirmed later to be fake, supposed to have had a great influence on Hitler, apart from causing widespread political and religious repercussions across Europe. Umberto Eco, takes cue from this to build a case for his new novel, with reasonable success.

Using an unnamed narrator , a voice to be precise, who works through the notes and diaries of his protagonist, Simone Simonini a half-Italian half-French now in Paris. Chronologically going through his life from child hood till the last years of 19th Century, he builds from the various conspiracy theories and historical, political and literary events of Europe.

Simonini grew up in Piedmond, the kingdom in Italy bordering the French borders, under the guidance of his grand father, who blamed Jews for every bad things that happened on earth. He was taught by Priests who saw the bad influence of Jews on the Society every where. Growing up among the people obsessive about the growing influence of Jews in the world, he was mentally tuned to their way of thinking since early days. After graduating in law, he set up to work with a reputed lawyer, known for forgery and hideous practices. Developing his skills as an apprentice and applying them on his own superior, Simonini, arrived at the world as a master in forging documents and signatures.

Now working for the authorities, he was asked to accompany the ship carrying Alexander Dumas , on its way to Sicily, for a meeting with Garibaldi. Entrusted to do espionage and use his skills to the advantage of his superiors, spreading false rumours, eventually ensuring Garibaldi's advancement is halted from conquering Italy. After various activities of sabotage and attempts in Italy, he escaped to Paris, fearing for his life. It is at Paris, he grew into a full-time conspirator, working with various governments, living through the days of revolution as creator of fake evidences and documents leading to the famous document of Jewish conspiracy. Majority of the notes and diaries are about his adventures in these lines and his various assignments and his associations with people across the continent.

19th century Europe, from the rise and the eventual fall of Napoleon to the beheading of Luis XIV, the French Revolution, the Paris Commune, the Garibaldi, Communist Manifesto,was a century of great upheaval. Eco, build his tale through these historical events cleverly integrating and using them as the ingredient in his well researched book. The rise of anti-Semitism, was routed deep in the psyche of the people since early ages. 19th century saw it at its pinnacle, resulting in the creation of the so called fake Protocol, culminating with various wars. The subject is tricky the discussion and narration borders around the venomous terrain of hatred. Culture, literature, politics and religion are involved in the deep rooted conspiracy and every one from rulers to writers to artist were involved at various stages in building and nurturing these to their personal favour at various times. Building on the conspiracy theory, his protagonist see a hand of Jews in every thing that happened around the Christendom. The rise of Napoleon, the French revolution, Communism, raise of various sects in Christianity ( including freemasons) are thought and alleged to be the handiwork of the Jews. It was so much that under every act of sabotage, a mysterious hand of Jews were suspected. History, religion, politics and military intermix each playing their part in the overall flux and complexity in the geo-political structure of Europe.

The fine line of fiction versus reality is blur at many places. Most of the incidents are taken from the history and is colored with his insight and fictional skills. Umberto Eco, in one of hie interview says

The Prague Cemetery is a story in which all the characters except one—the main character—really existed. Even the hero’s grandfather, the author of a mysterious actual letter that triggered modern anti- Semitism, is historical.

The book is full of sumptuous description of foods at various Parisian restaurants. " I gave Simonini food instead of sex. And I gave it in enormous quantities. The names of the dishes are so beautiful, even from a linguistic point of view, that a lot of people fell in love with those foods." says Eco in this Interview. The book in general is full of crime and treachery as he moves from one to the other collaborating once and getting rid of them in the next moment. Umberto Eco also treats us to an interesting end with multiple possibilities, which I found pretty fascinating.

This might be one of the easiest novel of Umberto Eco to read. Despite the repetitive plot after plot of forgery, deceit and crime this is an engaging read. Despite the chronological narrative, he deploys few good structural complexities, with an introduction of his alter ego. The book is a fast gripping read with lot of actions all over. However, I wouldn't consider this to be better than Foucaults Pendulam, Name of the Rose or Islands of the Day before. Interesting and informative nonetheless.

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The Prague Cemetery ( 2010)

Umberto Eco ( translated from Italian by Richard Dixon 2011)

Harvill Secker

437 Pages
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Wiki Entry, Guardian, NY Times, Telegraph, Paris Review ( Interview) , Washington Post, Tablemag Interview, Open Letter Monthly

Distant Star -Roberto Bolaño

Bolano, in his preface refer to the final chapters of 'Nazi Literature in America' as one of the reasons of this book. ;The story of Lietenant Ramirez Hoffman of the Chilean Air Force. I haven't read that book, hence I could not connect. However, Bolano and his Chilean friend Arturo B , got together to wrie a full version of it.

"So we took the final chapter and shut ourselves up for a month and half in my house in Blanes, where, guided by his dreams and nightmares, we composed the present novel."

Alberto Ruiz-Tagle, a timid young wanna be poet of the young Chilean generation influenced by Neruda, was first encounterd by the narrator during the early 70s at a poetry workshop in southern city of Conception. The early memories of Tagle was not very impressive, being friendly to the woman folks and maintaining a courteous distance with his own gender . However there were a few who believed he is going to be the new distinct voice of Chilean poetry, despite having no success with his art form. The days were Allende's government were short lived and the military coup took over the country under Pinochet. The university was ransacked and the news of arrest, murder and disappearances of 'people of words' were on the rise. Our narrator himself was arrested and was detained in an open prison.

Appearing now as a flight officer under the Pinochet's regime, Tagle, soon came to the limelight with his acrobatics in the sky, where he writes verses with some clever and dare devil maneuvers with his plane of World War II fame to the witnessing crowds at various city scapes.While the poets in ground failed to create any impact and were muted, Tagle, under the new name of Carlos Wieder, writing nationalist slogans in the air to the delights of the authorities.

Bolano's narrator, now released from prison, unable to come to terms with the new regime, exit Chile doing odd jobs in Europe. Now settled in Paris, he tries to reconnect with his old contacts trying to follow their fortune through various forms of correspondence and information that is available. Asked by a Chilean private detective, seeking his help to track Wieder down, he gets into the task of reconstruct his tales of adventure, his cruelty and survival through those troublesome years of oppression. It is through these searches, Bolano ( through his narrator) gives us the tale of missing people, gruesome murder, detention, torture and exile of the large number of poets and other writers from Chile. Before exiling himself from chile Wieder plans and sxhibition of his photographs, where he displays some of the gruesome pictures of torture and murder during the regime. Now out of Chile, living under disguise, Weider or his resemblance seems to have appeared at various places around the world at different times, writing and publishing in many neo-fascist journals. The task of identifying the 'hand behind' these writings as Weider is what is entrusted upon the narrator, helping to track down the fugitive.The investigative thriller now takes over to a typical finish.

Mixing politics and poetry together, Bolano weaves a story together. Rich, filled with sub-plots and mere descriptive journalistic writing, he creates an impressive tale. Short novel , in the size of 'One night in Chile', comes out in his impeccable style, used to a regular Bolano reader. Despite multiple diversion and a rather soft plot, this was an interesting and engaging read.

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Distant Star ( 1996)

Roberto Bolaño ( translated from Spanish by Chris Andrews 2004)

Vintage Books

149 Pages
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Other Reviews : Guardian, Complete Review , Telegraph, Biblioklept

മറുപിറവി (Marupiravi) - Sethu

Story of the port city of Muziris, is known to most of the school students in kerala. Once a thriving center of trade between Kerala and the rest of the world, the natural port of Muziris lead the way over other towns as the centre of attraction. The pride and popularity of the place is available to us through the 'Sangham Literature'. Partly due to the great flood of of river Periyar in 1341, Muziris was more or less wiped out of the map and newer towns and port cities emerged , Kochazhi ( Kochi) taking prominence.

Even before the celebrated and recorded arrival of Vasco De Gama in 1498, India was engaged in business relationship with the Europeans. However, due to the various political and religious trouble in the Arab world, this path was cut out for the Portuguese , Spanish and Roman kingdom, which resulted in the new route, round the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, thus nullifying the need of Arab support to reach India. However, we later saw the traders turning into colonists and trying to control the continent for their greed. The trade partners turned to be the colonial poweres controlling the assets of this part of the world.

Sethu's celebrated new book on Muziris, looks at the place and surroundings area through the time known to us. From the glory years 2000 odd years before Christ to the 20th century, through the various people and stories of the town. inspired from a recent excavation of the place where the reminds of some of the evidences of the life under influence by the erstwhile Greeko- roman empire, Sethu's protagonist, arrives in his home town from Mumbai to spend his new found free time after retirement. The letter from the professor of Archeology from Tanjavur was indeed an added inspiration. Reaching his hometown from the chaos of the Metro, it did not take long for Aravindan to switch back to the old school boy/college student frame of his homeland. Knitting information and stories from relatives, friends, well wishers and the scientists, it turned out to be natural for Aravindan to pen them down in a piece of paper to keep them for reference. Little did he realise that those tales and stories varied from style , substance and time be the ingredients for a book. The destiny, and the inspiring feedback from those who read his initial pages, got Aravindan to complete what he had begun in Chendamangalam.

Sethu does this mixing of current day protagonists with the everlasting nostalgia of an expatriate for his home to the invented and created possibilities of the tale, to a great effect. As the narration switches between Aravindan and his story which goes from the 'yavana' traders, to the floods to the Paliyam Agitation of 20th century, mixing of myths and recorded history, Sethu crafted a good work of fiction. The parts which is the 'novel within a novel' is more interesting and give justice to the prowess of Sethu as a writer. On the whole, rebuilding history of his town through characters taken from the history and characters invented and crafted on basis of the available information, this is a great attempt.

The style, as discussed, is of double narrative. As Sethu handles his protagonist 'Aravindan' , it is Aravindan who carry the burden of taking the story to the next level. Interesting mix of languages as appropriate to the time and place of narration, the various element of social and religious structure during different time of the era, the subtle undercurrent of the changing social and cultural aspect of Kerala ; Sethu has done the homework well. Despite a few dragging and irrelevant narrative, the book is beautifully crafted and delivered.

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മറുപിറവി ( marupiravi - reincarnation)

Sethu

D C Books

374 Pages

Rs 200
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Reviews : Deccan Chronicle, The Hindu , Interview with Sethu

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Luigi Pirandello ( translated from Italian by Mark Musa 1995)

Penguin Books

206 Pages
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One Day of Life - Manlio Argueta

I have an affinity for political novels, especially if they are of the nature of struggle and fight against oppression and authoritarian violence. I haven't known this writer earlier, and this seems to be the only novel written by him.

One day of Life, takes through the events that happens in a day to the family of Lupe ( Guadelupe Guardado) , a 45 year old grand mother, living in a provincial village in the interiors of El Salvador. The voice of the novel is of Lupe, with occasional notes and memories of others involved. The early day begin with her husband Jose, returning to the nearby forest , to avoid being interrogated , arrested and tortured by the police. She had lost her son recently, having brutally murdered , presumably after a prolonged torture. She was called to identify the body, which was beyond recognition. The day begun with the police team of two arriving at her door step, enquiring about her grand daughter Adolfino, with whom they wanted to have a word or two. An activist in her, is strong and is ready to face the consequences, however, the grand mother in her would not like to get the girl in trouble. The girl, who lives with her parents far away, had come to her grand mother for spending a week or two. It is known that the girls father had been taken by the authorities, and is "disappeared" since then. The girl herself was involved in an agitation of occupying the nearby church organised by the farmers demanding an end to police atrocities. The siege, is considered a great success, with the government agreed to their demands. However, the brutalities continued and the girl was asked to move to the grand mother for a few weeks. As the events unfold through the day, we were given account of the background of the farmers agitation and the aftermath.

This is the beginning of the trouble in El Salvador. The rich land owners and the government on one side and the farmers with some support from the church and the intellects on the other. For the authorities, the rebelling farmers and farm workers are influenced by the "Communists" and they had to be crushed. The initial support from the church and the priest were crushed with the murder of the young priest. The men are arrested and brutally tortured and the rest deserted their house and escaped to the hills. The authorities, set up a "special force" with the support of the CIA ( with an American Instructor and a Japanese Martial Art specialist) preparing them to combat the agitators with no mercy, as 'communists' should never e allowed to spread. The Church itself, after being the initial part of the creation and sustainability of the 'Christian Farmers Organisation' had been through the dilemma of taking stands, slowly distancing themselves from the movement. Jose, husband of Lupe is the leader of the organisation in their locale, hence being on constant danger of being captured and murdered.The villagers, stuck in between were paying the price with their lives. Their living condition continue to be in bad shape, all the works are controlled by the land owners, and are paid very low. Children are forced to work from the tender age of seven to support the families.

The language is brilliant and poetic. It is spoken through the words of Lupe, hence non -sophisticated and clear. The words and thinking are that of the old lady, and it is the village wisdom that comes out. But underneath is the profound tale of resistance, of awareness and of courage. All these brutality did not shake the determination of the people. At every setback, including loss of lives of their beloved, people show their resilience. Lupe goes through all that can be suffered by some one of her age. Loss of her son, missing of her son- in- law, the trouble that befallen her grand daughter, Adolgino at the young age of fourteen, shows a lot of intelligence and maturity. Even at the end of the day, when they were asked to identify the mis-shapen carcass of a human body ( well, almost, the eyes were open and was still blinking), she did not loose her courage. While Adolfino, could not and did not identify the body, Old Lupe had no trouble to realise, but refuses to succumb, refusing to reveal the identity of the person. It is these tales of survival that fuel the courage of the generations that follow to continue their resolve to fight for justice. It is from these blood that shed, grew newer sprouts of hope. And what this book leaves you with, despite the horrid tale of struggle, is this hope for a better future.

Beautifully told story of the political violence and uprising in El Salvador, through the words of a 45 year of 'grand mother'. As the title says, the events happen in one day , with narration intermixed with re-telling or recounting of the connected stories of gruesome act of atrocities by the authorities. This book was banned on publication , in El Salvador and the writer was living in exile ever since (he was deported at least 4 times from his country). Very good.

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One Day of Life ( 1980 )

Manlio Argueta ( Translated from Spanish by Bill Brow 1983)

Aventura - Vintage

215 Pages
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Mimilooc, Angelfire, Wiki Entry

A Hero's Daughter - Andrei Makine

Before reading this book, I had read 5 other books of Andrei Makine. This was the first published book of Andrei Makine, luckily not the first to get translated to English. Interestingly, when he submitted the manuscript to publishers, it was rejected, for being written in French. It was told that, he resubmitted the same as a translated work from Russian, for it to be accepted, and the rest is history.

Having said that, to me this book wasn't all that impressive. It does have the mark of Andrei Makine, its vivid description, the nostalgic feeling of the past, the exotic landscapes and all that. But on the whole it had a lot short comings despite attempting a theme of interest.

Andrei Makine presents two lives to us. One Ivan Demidov, who saves Moscow from falling into the control of the advancing Germans during the World War II, almost alone. He was awarded the "Gold Star" and was the official "Hero of the Soviet Union". 40 years thence, we see his daughter working for the KGB , working at the International Trade Center, as an interpreter for the visiting delegates and businessmen, sneaking out their documents to the waiting officials, by compromising her personal integrity.

The book started with the battle scene where the dead and injured soldiers were removed from the battlefield after an ambush, where Ivan was rescued by the military nurses. Observed as dead, Ivan was lucky to have the nurse Tatanya taking notice of him. Recuperated at the hospital , he leaves again to the front, leaving behind his love for Tanya. He return to the hospital looking for his love, despite the physical and medical issues Tanya had to suffer due to an explosion, he decided to marry her. The couple goes back to his village in the outskirts of Moscow. Olys Demidov was born to the couple who survived famine which took the life of their first son, and the death of Stalin.

Life is changed again in the eighties with the death of 3 leaders in a row. Breshnev, Chernenko and Andropv ( the dreaded ex-KGB chief). Gorbachev has sworn in with some internal political maneuvering. The new changes in the political and social structure. Peristroika and Glastnost aren't gone well with the old, who are now settled to a routine living. The disturbances are in the raise, Ivan looses his wife in one of the revolt by the frustrated youth. He take solace in drinking from grief. Once a hero of the Soviet Union is now a piece of ridicule to the public and to the authorities, selling every piece of his belongings, drinking all the way, Ivan'c contempt to the new ways were reached the peak after he witnessed his daughter, in her current job.

Andrei Makine attempts to bring the two poles together. Two generations one still cherish the memories of survival , of war and of survival from the iron fisted rule. The new generations do not have the same values and virtues. There seems to be a new hope of something changing. While the iron fist continue to govern, there are dreams of a better life. They dream about the western way of living. For them war is a learning through text books. Germany is not an enemy, but a world of glorious possibilities and freedom. The old heroes of war is replaced by the newer ones, fighting in Afganistan. It is this duality that Andrei Makine trying to attempt to capture in his first attempt. I wouldn't say he failed in it, but having read other books from this brilliant writer, I am a bit disappointed at the outcome.

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A Hero's Daughter ( 1990 )

Andrei Makine ( Translated from French by Geoffrey Strachan 2004)

Sceptre Paperback

163 Pages
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The Publishers Weekly

The Melancholy of Resistance - László Krasznahorkai

I remember the 'bus journey scene' in one of the Malayalam Art Movie, which lasted about 15 min. The camera focussing on the traveller and the 'beedi' that he smoked. The initial 50 odd pages of this book reminded me of thar scene , with Mrs Plauf taking a train journey from the village , returning to her home town, experiencing all the terror during the short journey.

The provincial town, in the interiors of Hungary is the typical laid back , uninteresting place. The tranquility and the easy nature of the town is derailed with the arrival of a touring circus company announcing the exhibition of the largest whale ever to be seen in the world. Along with the circus came all that was uninvited to the town. The rascals, the hooligans and other criminals from not only the neighboring villages and towns but from far away as well. With the authorities in inaction and the chaos and the trouble that erupted, it needed the the town committee to step up and take vigil, with the help of the country Militia.

At the outset, its a fairly simple and straight forward tale. But what this book is not about is this tale. With his complex yet interesting style of narrative , Krasznahorkai builds a story of terror, of anarchy of the psyche of people disoriented by the sudden change of events. The metaphoric story depicts the chaos, politics and greed and the fate of the common people. Told through the eyes of 5 people, each going through their daily monotonous life, linking up to the events that is taking place at the square indirectly affecting their own life. As the vandalism spread through the town, the newly emerged leaders, manipulating the populace for their own personal greed. The power equation of the town changes, the family relationships is in for permanent change the hidden characteristics of the individuals surface.

Reading is not easy. There are no paragraph breaks, and sentences are miles long. Reading demands utter concentration true to the nature of the subject., The build up is slow and deliberate. There is a constant under current of terror. What makes this book different is the voice which is not spoken. The structure, the often boring dry and long sentences that are loaded. Surrealistic, possibly connected to the velvet revolution that hit the country, depicting the fright and terror of people under the sleepy authorities when the so called 'mini revolution' create havoc in the town. Very subtle and parodical humour goes with the narrative.

Its the language ( George Szirtes , the translator, in this interview says, "for sheer density of text in prose", this book was his hardest translation job) , the structure and style makes this book very different from the rest. Its mesmerizing, often frustrating, intensity of the narration is hard to get used to , but once you overcome this obstacle, then you are in for a fabulous journey. We follow some of the memorable characters in their extreme slow motion with their fortunes of life. Mrf Plauff, with her initial train journey to the sad end during the turmoil, her estranged son, half-wit , mercurial post master Valsuka, his master the artist, painter, professor Mr.Ezster, his wife Mrs.Ezster, whom he threw out of their house, but now trying to sneak in and take control of the house, plotting and maneuvering the system to take control of the town, the drunkard police officer, lover of Mrs,Ezster, the various other small characters grow into you through their accounts in the story.

A brilliant novel from an outstanding writer. A book that demand a re-read and a writer whom I am most likely to read soon.

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The Melancholy of Resistance ( 1989)

László Krasznahorkai ( Translated from Hungarian by George Szirtes 1998)

New Direction Books

314 Pages
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Other Reviews : Cinema Parallel, Voice imitator, Danny Reviews, The Second Circle, Conversational Reading

The Ice Palace - Tarjei Vesaas

What a way to finish the year. A deceptively simple yet stunningly beautiful short novel by this Norwegian master. A adolescent story of friendship , told in a magical lyrical language. At the outset, there is nothing appears great in this book. Unn, comes to a small town in Norway, orphaned after the death of her mother. She is aloof and does not mingle with the rest of the class in her school, despite the efforts of her classmates. Siss, the de facto leader of the gang tries to befriend her in her own way with no success. However, it was Unn who came to her asking to meet up in the evening. Siss, is happy but confused. Unn invites her to her aunties house with whom she stays after moving to this town.

Siss and Unn got on so fast, taking refuge in Unns room. Two young girls soon get on to know each other. They develop a very mystical comradery in a short while, sharing intimate details about themselves. Unn wanted Siss to stay longer and wanted to talk to her about something very personal and important. But Siss is worried as it was getting late, and was slightly embarrassed with the sudden development. The words are unspoken and Siss is intrigued by the unsaid secret.

Unn on part was equally embarrassed and could not muster enough courage to face her new friend. She decides to skip the school, but typical to students, she leve home but does not go to school. She decides to wander about near the Ice palace ( the formation of frozen ice during winter) formed at the water fall. Mesmerized by the visual, she set about exploring the wonder, but get trapped inside unable to come out and die due to Hypothermia,

The news of Unn disappearance spread and the town is in pursuit of search. Siss, is the last person in contact with her and the only clue to the disappearance has to be from her.

"What did Unn tell you ?" they ask her.

"It was only something I said !"

"I don't think so. I can see you know something. What did Unn say ?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not ?"

"Because it wasn't like that, she didn't say it ! And she didn't say a word about hiding."

The search party slowly disintegrate after a couple of days and the town is resigned to the fact of her disappearance and things started to get back to normal. However, for Siss this has been a great shock. She is not able to comes to term with her closest friend ( despite being with her only for a couple of hours) and the indifference she find in others towards this. She make a promise to her missing friend not to forget her. Siss, now takes the place of Unn in the classroom, exactly trying to imbibe her lost friends behavior. She does not allow anyone come near her, and makes sure that the seat occupied by her friend is left open for her return. She stands in the same place and posture as her friend. All the efforts by her classmates , teachers and parents to get her back to the normal ways fails to yield any results. Even the plea of Unn's Aunt as she was preparing to leave the town haunted by Unn's memories, was not enough for Siss to change her resolve.

Siss, has build an Ice Palace of resistance with the image of Unn inside and refusing to come out. The time moved on and the winter paved way to spring and summer and the Ice Palace of the waterfall started breaking and cracking. The symbolic dissolve of Ice Palace has to happen in Siss mind as well.

Tarjei Vesaas build the palace of metaphor with some brilliantly constructed words. The entire book is written in simple language and easy. He cleverly uses the metaphoric symbolism to the tale with ease and naturality. Short and an easy read, but leave you with some everlasting memories. of the book. I find it difficult to writer from a child's view point and see the thinking of the elders appearing in most of the writings.

The book is about what is left unsaid, than what is said. Siss herself is tormented by the secret not spoken to her y her friend. Even in is writing, Vesaas is not verbose, he rely on the implied messages and understanding and gets his characters around that. Its about Siss, but the others tries to work around her in unison to bring her back to the normal life again. This is a tale of pre-adolescent friendship. There are others who see the subtle erotic, sensual connection of adolescence in it. Immediately after entering the room Unn and Siis decides to undress with the childish curiosity and giggle. They also share secrets and Siss is careful not to talk anything about it to the others.

An haunting story told beautifully, in a poetic language by Tarjei Vesaas. Truly brilliant.

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The Ice Palace ( 1963 )

Tarjei Vesaas ( translated from Norwegian by Elizabeth Rokkan 1966)

Peter Owen

176 Pages
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Wiki Entry, Complete Review , rjdent, Independent