Turing's Delirium - Edmundo Paz Soldán

New age literature is breaking free from the same old narrative style and the subjects. The technological advancement and the usage of these medium have started appearing in the mainstream literature in the new century. Blog entries, e-mails and web and internet have started appearing often, albeit in the younger lot of writers. Soldan's Turing's Delirium also employs these effectively. What he does well is mixing up the old age style to the newer methodology pretty well. There are technical errors at a few places but that can be overlooked. His the sci-fi, virtual world thriller set in Bolivia, is interesting for this reason apart from his brilliance as a writer.

Cryptography is the theme and its the tussle of the old age tradition carried from the dates of Egyptian rulers , through the modern world, looking for evidences in the writing of Victorian elitists, in Shakespeare, in Bacon following it through the period when the cryptanalysis have taken the main stream of military intelligence especially during the first two world wars. This later enhanced in scope and technology during the cold war era and was used by various rulers around the world for quelling rebellion against their own regime.

Miguel Saenz, nicknamed 'Turing' ( after the legendary code breaker) is the center of the action. An old established 'code-breaker' worked for the dictatorship of President Montenegro during his peak, in the secret establishment called "Black Chamber", established by a mysterious American Albert. Black Chamber as the name suggest is the center of all the dubious information. Now the dictatorship is overthrown, and after a couple of democratic experiments, President Montenegro is back in power as a democratically elected leader. The absence of work and the change of leadership ( Albert is decaying in his apartment , abandoned and hallucinating, awaiting death ), moved Miguel's position to a mere record keeper. The new leadership believe in the newer ways of breaking codes using sophisticated softwares and the fresher recruits with new engineering and software skills.

However, the new challenge that posed to the regime is the constant attack on its websites, and that of leading multinational firms, especially the company that distribute power to the neighborhood. The company ( an Italian-American joint venture) had increased the rate recently after the Electricity was privatised by the government, resulting in widespread protest and agitation. The opposition is now active and there are skirmishes and police action to curb the agitation. It is during this time, there is the new form of cyber attack on the government and the leading companies. The so called cyber terrorism is supposedly lead by the underground hacker community of adolescent students, and is lead by one Kadinsky. Its now the responsibility of the 'Black Chamber' to nab the terrorists and bring them to justice. As expected, the hackers are always a step ahead of the authorities and with their clandestine activities, not easy to track. The only way to get to the thick of the action is to have someone from their own community. It is the teenage daughter and 'nerd' Flavia, daughter of Miguel who was identified as a capable candidate to help them in this mission.

This is the story at the fore front. Soldan uses the multi narrative technique to tell a fast paced gripping story. The cyber world of "Play Ground" where most of the counter Government and the anti - transnational activities are groomed and coordinated by people ( called the Resistance) with secret identities and unknown background joining for the cause. On the real time world of Miguel is copin with his troubled family life, Flavia being a computer genius and a hacker seldom come out of her room, Ruth developing distaste on his activities and his direct/indirect involvement in the atrocities of the regime during dictatorship. His affair with the drug addicted prostitute, whom he is being the guardian and provide for. He is also fighting his own trauma resulted from the guilt of his actions as the truths are now uncovered of his earlier success. Albert on his death bed having visions of the time of World War II, and the stories of successful code-breaking effort, helping the allied forces giving an edge over the Germans.

There is much more serious affairs running at the back ground. It is the revenge of the atrocities of the earlier dictatorship. As in the case of every dictatorship, there are stories of torture and killing of innocents and those who stood for justice. Two individuals are in pursuit of bringing this out. Ruth, the history professor at the University, wife of Miguel, has her research concluded on the involvement of Black Chamber ( that includes her husband) in the killings during the regime. Justice. Cardona, a former minister in the Montenegro government is planning his revenge of the death of his first love Martha. There are murders , cyber crimes , games and twist and turns in the narrative to keep the interest of the readers with some decent finish.

The book is of multi narration. The story is told by various participants, giving us a peep view of their character and their thinking. Hence the language and style vary dramatically from one narration to the other. Rightly so, and voice appropriate to the character. This , on the other hand, suffers from being brilliant writing in one chapter to mediocre in the next. ( I shall give the benefit of doubt to the original, as this might have suffered during translation - so, I hear from my friends from that part of the world). The book, also takes critical look at the globalisation and privatisation of national resources in a very subtle way. Under the pretext of a cyber thriller, Soldan covers these two serious topics of dictatorship ( Montenegro is modelled around Hugo Banzer Suárez, dictator from 1971 to 1978 and an elected president from 1997) and the repercussions of the globalisations in Latin America very well.

A good , fast paced , new age cyber - political thriller with parts of brilliant writing.
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Turing's Delirium ( 2003)

Edmundo Paz Soldan ( translated from Spanish by Lisa Carter 2006 )

Mariner Books

291 Pages
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Other reviews : Complete Review , Mostly Fiction

Encounter : Essays - Milan Kundera

"the sense that we have come to the era of post-art, in a world where art is dying because the need for art, the sensitivity and the love for it, is dying."

My initial enthusiasm of this writer ( during the 80s and early nineties) after reading "Life is Elsewhere", "Unbearable lightness of being" , "The joke" etc were taken a beating towards the end of the century. I did not particularly like Slowness, Ignorance or Identity. It is during this time that his non-fiction books started attracting my attention. All of them from the Art of the Novel to the Curtain were brilliant, explaining the aesthetics of art he is an expert. His new release, "Encounter" also treads the same path of his earlier non-fiction works. A collection of essays written and published over a period of last 20 years.

It is interesting to learn about one writer's understanding and views about other novels of the same era and genre, and especially by some one like Kundera. In his earlier essays, he was looking at some of the classics, and trend setting novels prior to 20th century. In this, he had given us the glimpses of some of the major 20th century novels albeit in very short essays. Its one single theme, or an observation or a paragraph that he writes about. Like, " I was reading One hundred years of Solitude when a strange idea occurred to me; most protagonists of great novels do not have children" or the observation of sexualities in the work of Philip Roth and and the second half of 20th century in general, post D H Lawrence era. He also examines the works of Juan Goytisolo, Luis Ferdinant Celine and Dostoevsky.

The homage to Anatole France based on the "The Gods are Thirsty" is an outstanding piece. A writer whom "people managed to keep the name on the blacklist" has a new life here. Explaining why the Gods are Thirsty is understood outside France than within it, Kundera's hypothesis can be applied to any historical fiction in general.

This explains why historical novels have always been better understood outside its own country than within it. For such is the fate of any novel whose action is too tightly bound to a narrow historical period: fellow citizens automatically look for a document of what they themselves experienced or passionately debated; they look to see if the novel's image of history matches their own; they try to work out the author's political stances, impatient to judge them. The surest way to spoil a novel."

In a letter to Carlos Fuentes, he observed the constellation off great writers in the eastern Europe , who changed the landscape of novel during the early decades of 20th century. He cites the names of Kafka, Musil, Broch, Gombrowicz . Similarly, in the sixties and seventies another great constellation of writers from Latin America " continued transforming the aesthetic of the novel; Jaun Rulfo, Carpentier, Sabato, Marquez and others. The modern avant Garde writers, he says, "

proclaim their own modernism for the novel, they did it in a purely negative way; a novel with no characters, no plot, no story, if possible no punctuation: a novel that came to be called the anti-novel." But he prefer to call " not as an anti-novel but an arch-novel. The arch novel would, primo, focus on what only the novel can say; and secundo, would revive all the neglected and forgotten possibilities the art had accumulated over the four centuries of its history."

In another billiant homage to the Martiniquan poet Cesaire, he discusses the possibilities of using multi lingual or bilingual use of language. Mixing Creole with French, the way Brazilian writer's liberty with Portuguese or Spanish American writers with Spanish. Another essay looks at the now forgotten writer Curzio Malaparte, of Italy and his novel the "Skin". I haven't read any of these, hence can only judge from his take on these books.

Other important essays includes few on the music of Leo Janacek, Xenakis and Schoenberg. He also dedicate one chapter on the lives of exile in " Elsewhere", and started the book with an essay on Francis Bacon, with a discussion on his induced deformity on the paintings he created. Inspite of the weak initial pages, this book is another profound study from one of this brilliant writer and intellect of the current era. I said weak because the essays are short ( often 3 to 4 pages) and have the potential to develop into a full fledged essays on their own. Being a random collection of essays ( unlike 'the curtain' or 'art of the novel'), there is no continuity or progression from one chapter to other. But his intelligence, analysis and insights are a treasure to the reader.

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Encounter : Essays ( 2009)

Milan kundera ( translated by Linda Asher 2010)

Faber & Faber

178 Pages
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Other Reviews : NY Times, Guardian

Leela: A Patch Work Life - Leela Naidu

I am not familiar with the actress Leela Naidu. Do not remember seeing an of her movies. She is not from our era of actors that I am familiar with. However, the person who gave the book to me is from that time. It is only later did I learn about Leela Naidu, the erstwhile Miss India, the cover girl of Vogue as the one of the most beautiful woman in the world, wife of poet Dom Moraes.

This is not a typical biography. It is a collection of her random incidents, not arranged in any chronological order, nor in any level of importance. interestingly, it does not have much about her on personal life, her child hood, her education or any details of her initial failed marriage with to the Oberoi clan. She also manages to skip all those unpleasant memories of her life from being discussed. Leela Naidu, writes the book with a disclaimer "This is the Leela I know. She had an eventful life by her own understanding of it and she thinks you might like to hear about it"

She brings out names after names from every where. The book starts with an anecdote, of Price Yusupov, the alleged murderer of infamous Rasputin, appear naked at the door of her Grandma, escaped from asylum , where he was taken in and fed upon. She also writes about one 'Bennito Mussolini' who used to work for her grand father at his factory, to be expelled from job for thrashing a co-worker's hand with a red hot metal rod..

Leela Naidu, has very good style of writing, of course supported by Jerry Pinto. She has a keen observation, and an acute sense of humour and srong convictions. Though she write about the major incidents in her life, and do get the attention of the reader; the attention is to the character and is not necessarily associated with Leela. Her acting classes with Jean Renoir, the help and guidance from Ingmar Bergman for a complication post child birth, the meeting of Salvadore Dali, who wanted to use her as a model for Madonna, the accidental chance to pose for vogue , each are intriguing in its own way.

On her personal attribute, we could see a strong person in support of the weaker section of the society. Be it the villagers of UP in their fight against the land mafia, the right to use the road during the religious ceremony, the one man( woman) fight against the plight of extras in the film shooting sets, the support for better food for the animals ( elephants ) during the shooting of a film were enough proof for her conviction and willingness to go to any extend to get things done towards what she believe. In the earlier chapters, she tells us the racial slurs and difficulties she had to face during her student years, and she slams India as one of the most racist countries in the world, with our age old caste systems and the way the lower classes treated by the rich.

Born to a celebrated scientist, Ramaiah Naidu, who worked with Marie Curie, later head their research and a French woman,an Indologist, she had a very European upbringing with Indian roots. As she puts it elsewhere in the book, "Daddy is Cafe, Maman is milk and I'm 'cafe au lait''. Widely read, learned music and dance, multi lingual ,with sharp brains added with her beauty and was set to take her into greater heights.

Her career in movies did not go as well as expected. After rejecting an offer from Raj Kapoor to sign in for four movies, she did manage to get few roles in the Hindi movies, to be directed by none other than Hrishikesh Mukherjee about which she says, "I do not remember my first day of shooting perhaps because I did not suffer from stage fright. According to me, stage fright is about waffling. It happens when an actor will not stay in the moment".

Her professionalism, her demand for script before signing, the perceived intellectual air around her, possibly would have come in as hindrance to her career. Though, each of the eight movies that she acted, where noticed. First movie with Hrishkesh Mukherjee, followed with the first production of James - Ivory, "The house Holder" , Trikaal with Shyam Benegal were critically acclaimed. Comparing the style she says : "What Renoir gave me was a basic understanding of the way in which a text was only a frame work and how each interpretation brought something new to that framework. What working with James Ivory did was to throw me back to my own resources because he said almost nothing."

She is not regretting her lost opportunities. After refusing to sign for Raj Kapoor, she seems to have missed many more including that of the lead role in David Lean's Dr.Zhivago. "You saw me posting the that letter ? It was to Geraldine Chaplin. She was my second choice for the role". Her observation on Arundhati Roy, with whom she worked in one film ( Electric moon) is noteworthy. "I must say I admire the way Arundhati has turned her status as celebrity author into a catalyst for the causes she cares about, but there was very little of the caring Ms Roy on the set of Electric Moon."

Leela was married twice, both ended in separation. The first, in her teens, were to the Oberoi family, with whom she had twins even before turning twenty, The bitter law suit of separation and the lost battle for possession of the daughters must have devastated her, and it is until late she got into her second marriage with poet and childhood acquaint Dom Moraes. This marriage which lasted longer was also not discussed in the book. however the second part of the book was more on her life post her film career and her travel around the world working for Dom, in his various literary pursuit, often working as his translator cum secretary .

Jerry Pinto , in his foreword explains that 'everyone who met her has a Leela Naidu story. This is her version.' This is not a life story, it is a parts ( patchwork as she say) of her life, as chosen , rather carefully, and told. I believe, apart from some of the curious incidents, there is no significance of this book in any genre of writing. There are no personal life insight, there is no multicultural imbalance and truggle, there is no heart breaking experiences. She was clear that the "book would have nothing to do with my life... It's only about the funny anecdotes and the sad historic ones I came across". And, that's all is there to this book.

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Leela - A Patchwork Life ( 2010)

Leela Naidu with Jerry Pinto

Penguin Viking

180 Pages

Rs 450
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Other reviews : Outlook , DNA India

Enmakaje - Ambikasuthan Mangad

For the last couple of decades, people of the northern district of Kerala are fighting the authorities(on one side) and the business magnates (the other), trying to protect the land and the their living, against a deadly chemical. Enmakaje, a small village in Kasargod, become a symbol of the resistance ( and being its all enduring sufferer) of the movement against Endo Sulphan. The reports from various NGOs and Global agencies, project the gruesome effects of this chemical causes to the environment and the living creatures. The insects, the cattle , the reptiles , the birds one after other, either disappear or migrate to cleaner areas. Those who continued to live in the area suffered the most. Kids born with deformities, people die of mysterious deceases, increase in the number of people with mental illness... the counts are numerous. But for the authorities, these aren't enough to act. They demand concrete evidences, facts and results of analysis. The sponsored 'fact finding missions' of Governmental agencies returns with reports showing lack of evidence. Most of these people never set foot in the troubled zone. It is this issue that forms the background to this good novel by Ambikasuthan Mangad.

Ambikasuthan's Enmakaje is a place of hills, not one or two but in thousands.  Enmakaje is also a place of languages, not one or two but near a dozen. Apart from 'Tulu', Malayalam, Kannada, Konkani, there are Marathi settlers ( Naiks) , Arab speaking people and Byari prominent in Enmakaje. However, this multi linguistic nature does not prevent people from communicating, as people can converse in at least 5 different tongues. Enmakaje is also a place of truth. There are numerous "steps of truth" around that place. Once you are on those steps, you have to tell the truth and only truth. The believe is that you will not be able come down from these steps if you are a liar. Enmakaje is ( or was) also a place of water , with its umpteen streams making it land fertile. There are no wells in the village as the water is abundant for every house in the village..

Now all these are history, as the government controlled and run "Plantation Corporation" has converted a substantial part of the natural flora into Cashew Plantation. The trouble started when the corporation started spraying the pesticide known as "Endo Sulfan" under various marketing names. According to multiple reports and studies, the ecological balance of the village is damaged for ever. As mentioned before, people started dying of mysterious deceases. Kids were born with damaged limbs or other physical ailments. The number of mental patients have up beyond the normal rates of other places. Number of suicides increased. This was not a story of Enmakaje alone, but that of the other areas where the use of Endo Sulfan is prevalent spread across 7-8 villages in Kerala and a few in Karnataka.

There are protests and agitations, and typical in such cases through out the history and across the globe, these were crushed by the use of power. There were multiple committees and study groups sponsored by the government ( and hence by the Pesticide Lobby) which always returned with report giving 'Endo Sulfan' a clean chit. Even recently, a Central Minister came to the support of the Pesticide company in Public. However, every independent study shows the use of Endo Sulfan as the reason for these unnatural phenomenon in these villages. The water bodies are contaminated, the levels of Endo Sulfan in the blood samples are alarmingly high among residence. Even 'breast milk' samples, which is considered to be the purest food, was found poisonous. The impacts are also huge on the flora of the area. There are no insects any more. Birds aren't seen. The common crow is a rarity. The hills once had a large number of animals are now vanished and bare. The resistive movements are active with many NGO organisations, but never been able to make any headway over the years. These workers are threatened by the mighty and was haunted by the authorities.

It is to this place is where Neelakantan and Devayani comes looking for peace escaping from every human contacts they ever had. After an eventful life at the Capital city of Kerala, disillusioned with life. His open house, with no door or windows, was a shelter for every one who is in need at Thiruvananthapuram. From lepers, to old people, injured to prostitutes .. every one found his house their home. Devayani, reached his place on one of such escapade  form the cruel animals of the society and stayed on. By destroying every evidence of their life, the two started of from South of Kerala to the northern part of the state. It is in one of the abandoned hill that they make their home. To the poor villagers, he is the silent saint, who never speak to anyone, not even to Devayani.  He seldom leave home. Devayani has an occasional travel outside, to the weekly market, buying essential. Their need is minimal. Eat the roots and fruits,or a rare rice soups.

Their encounter with the reality was accidental. The kid came into their life after Devayani found his parents hanging from the ceiling and the abandoned kids silent cry made her to bring him home. Neelakantan was angry, he did not want anyone else in their life, he reacted violently, ran out of home to the hill and jungle. The kid was silent, it made some sounds when in pain and hungry. The wounds on his body did not dry up. It is the tribal chief and doctor 'Panchi' who explained the cases to them. He is not a kid, but did not grow. There are many kids similar , some with missing limbs since birth, some with tongue hanging outside unable to put them in, some crippled and many with mental illness.

To them , it is the curse of the hill ( or nature in a broader sense). The 'jaDAdhAri hills' had a curse on the people and they are suffering this for their ancestors misdeeds. They have resigned to the fate and the occasional medical help they seek. A chance meeting with the Doctor, give him insights to the issues of Endo Sulfan. Hurt and sad, and his inability to cure and save the boy, drags him into the action scene from his self inflicted isolation from the society. Protesting in front of the Plantation corporation with the body of the dead child, and attacking and disrupting the helicopter which came in to spray the next round of pesticides, Neelakantan and the group started the resistance in a small way. Typical to such team, they too were soon branded as 'naxalites' and was arrested and tortured along with another activist.

There are characters typical to a cinema story. The minister, who has no time for the people, the local leader who has all the power and fan fare, the good fellow medical practitioner, the freelance press reporter, the group of silent victims ; each playing their parts in their own way.

Main stream literature that themed on environmental issues aren't many. Juan Rulfo's master piece Pedro Paramo is the work that came into my mind as I read this book. The village of Comala, with its wandering souls awaiting 'moksha'.  Unlike 'Comala', Enmakaje is real. Comala is haunted by its ghostly souls, but in Enmakaje, the souls are real, who suffers the fate resulted from human greed in front of us all. They also have no escape, until one day death release them from this. What is haunting us is these images, we have seen over the years, in news papers and other media.

Despite the propaganda nature of the novel, Ambikasuthan Mangad has done a good job with his narration. Except for the initial drag of getting into the groove and its documentary style of detailing , the language is in line with the tale. The beautiful mixture of myths , legends and folklore into the story did help to take this into a different level. He use the change of languages and tone effectively.  On the other side, none of the characters are deep or strong, and are very predictable. However, the book end fabulously.

We need more of such books, widely read and discussed.

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Enmakaje  ( 2009 )

Ambikasuthan Mangad

D C Books

200 Pages

Rs 120/-
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All Souls - Javier Marias

Javier Marias is one of those writers I have never managed to read, all these years, despite many recommendations. This book might not be the best place to start, but it is all that I could get my hands on. Marias have spent two years during the 80s teaching Spanish at Oxford as a visiting professor. This book is a result of his experience and life there. Oxford is a typical boring academic town with its pretentious life with eccentric, and lethargic, uninteresting people. Protagonist of this novel ( if one can call it so), is also a Spaniard teaching at Oxford on a two year assignment and the book is based on his interactions with some of the entertaining characters in the academic circle and around.

This is not a story per se. Its a loosely collated details about various interesting, colorful and being at a place like Oxford, slightly off beat individuals that the protagonist had acquainted. In that count, this is not a full length novel with a definite story line with any moments of twists or turns, nor does it have any subtle undercurrents of sustained emotions.

One of the ongoing thread of this book is an illicit affair the protagonist has with one of the academic of Oxford , whom he met during a "high table" dinner. Also, his wandering around the small time second hand book shops in search of the books of few obscure English writers. However the novel is more threads through a collection of individual portraits some of the characters. This include a couple of homo sexual professors, economist specialized in 18th century tax structure, professor of literature who writes horror novels, another academic and Russian expert who is suspected to be a spy, second hand book sellers, plump chicks of neighboring towns at the pub, members of some exotic writer society, among others.

The writing is brilliant ; crisp and satirical . Episodic progression through one character to the other with a detached clarity and observation keeping the interests of the reader alive through out the reading. Dry humor, touch of pathos ( there are no happy or positive lives around barring the narrator), and sensitive and touchy characters and encounters.

Unlike a regular novel, there are no build up or development of characters or theme. However, he handles the subject and the characters very delicately. I don't think there will be consensus among the reading community about this novel. But on the whole I liked the novel for the shear sensitivity of the writing.

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All Souls ( 1989 )

Javier Marias ( Translated by Margeret Jull Costs yr.1992)

Vintage

210 Pages
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llustrado - Miguel Syjuco

This book had a distinction of winning the man Asian Literary award , even before it was published. I understand the book was in its manuscript form when it was conferred the one of the biggest Asian Literary Awards for writing in English. That probably a reason for me to look for this book, adding to the motive of not having read anything of a Philippines based writer ( Miguel Syjuco, is based out of the Montreal, though).

Crispin Salvador, a leading literary figure of Philippines, was found dead floating in Hudson river in New York. Though the authorities dismissed this as another case of suicide, one of his protege , the narrator of this book, who is named after the author himself, did not believe so, for reasons justified enough. Salvador, is reportedly, writing a novel, which is expected to cause major disturbances to the literary , political and social life of Philippines on its publication. Salvador, son of a rich sugar plantation owner, had his education done at the best of European schools , later known for his hard hitting political reportage and his wayward way of living ( often with communist guerrillas, with various women). A writer of various genre of literary works, spanning children's books, political reportage, cheap romance novels, action packed thrillers , novels of high literary value which won him couple of awards, short stories and a 'tell all' memoir, which alienated him from his erstwhile family and said to be the reason of his living exile in US.

Miguel Syjuco's curiosity picked up after he learned about the missing manuscripts of his 'work in progress' novel , the Bridge Ablaze (TBA) which is expected to threaten the social fabric of Philippines. Unable to accept the suicide theory, he chooses to investigate the truth by himself, bringing him to the islands of Philippines. His intention of meeting Salvador's friends and family members, his comrades and critics, and most importantly, his daughter living aloof. The story thus takes us through the fragments of the life of the rich and the political and social history of Philippines spanning over a century. Ilustrados are the educated rich class of people during the colonial period under the Spaniards. The current lots are the descendants of the those rich during the colonial period, who continue to control the government and hold influential positions in the state.

Syjuco's expectation about the reaction of the death of the writer wasn't shared by anyone he met at Philippines. "...nobody's going to the States to murder someone nobody remembers, who's writing a book nobody has seen." was the typical reaction. There wasn't any enthusiasm in the social circle about the obscure writer whose yet to be published book. Even the dead writer himself isn't very open about his book.

I truly wish I could tell you more about TBA ( the bridge ablaze) . I can't. Not yet. I can tell you only this. It is a necessary work. Because it will implicate them all. All those people who said hope was hopeless, and so instead took to begging with their eyes a portion of the booty.... now I'm bargaining, begging, for just one last chance to bequeath a book about all the lessons I've learned painfully over the course of my life. .. I once thought The Bridge Ablaze would be that masterpiece. I'm not so sure it matters much anymore

.The book also is critical about the current state of writing in Philippines.

What is Filipino writing ? Living on the margins, a bygone era,loss, exile, poor me angst, post colonial identity theft. Tagalog words intermittently scattered around for local color, exotically italicised. Run on sentences and facsimiles of magical realism, hiding behind the disclaimer that we Pinoys were doing it years before the South Americans

Mixing up the historical period and the social structure , Miguel Syjuco writes the tale from the current , corrupt , greedy, scandalous politics of Philippines ( naming the rulers and leaders ), to the period of US occupation and the period of Spanish colonial period, giving us glimpses of the history of the family of Salvador, Miguel Syjuco ( the narrator) and the current state of affairs. Interestingly, the resemblance of Miguel's life with that of Salvador's is very evident ( with his relationship with the family, the mostly exiled life, unhappy love life) and the tale is often interlaced and mixed.

The book itself id written with the new medium of communicating and experimenting with various styles. Part of the book is the narration by the protagonist, part is the writings of Salvador from his various works, the interviews published at Paris Review, few diary entry by the protagonist, e-mails, blog entries and the follow on comments and a few third person commentary on Miguel Syjuco ( the protagonist).there are also a parallel thread of funny anecdotes about a character who has nothing to do with the main story whatsoever ( some of the jokes are good for cracking at a party gathering though). All these are interesting, but does not add anything to the theme by itself and often diluted the seriousness of the theme. He has a good style of writing and the book itself is an easy read. But it does not classify to be a masterpiece.

If I may borrow the exact words from this book, it is a work of a writer who,

...sit at home in your Greenwich Village Penthouse, living off the family inheritance, writing in English about the Philippines for the entertainment of foreigners..."

I have the similar opinion about most of the Indian Writing in English.

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Ilustrado ( 2010)

Miguel Syjuco

Picador

308 Pages
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Other Reviews : Guardian , Washington Post , Complete Review, NY Times

Super Crunchers - Ian Ayres

Data based decision making is not new.  It had been there for ages. Why has it come to prominence again under various names like Number crunching,  data crunching or as the title here says super crunching.  The only difference is now the ability to do this in a jiffy, in split seconds and perform action ( many automatically) based on the results. With the advancement of IT and super computing, it has become more widely used not only by researchers, but by business as well.  So much is the importance, that some of the largest IT Services companies offering services around the business of analytics.

However, this book revolve around what is known to us already. Looking at statistical regression and related examples from various field and some of the front runners, who relied on the data based decision making, in place of the common wisdom and intuition.  Typical to many of them,  Ian Ayres too, starts with the wine industry ( why is the wine industry so popular with number crunching ? The book titles Quants, was also begun on similar lines, if I remember correctly) and the typical exchange of words by the traditionalists and the 'super crunchers', He then goes through various segments of industry such as  medicine, legal ( predicting the judgement based on previous results and data), movies( the box office collection even before the first frame is shot) , and social ( government projects, dating and marriage services, the individuals characteristics and preferences), explaining the merits over and over again.

One of the key ingredient of regression analysis, is the data itself. However, we could use the same methodology in arriving at business decision by selective experiments and data collection using randomization trials and or with control group experiments.  With the advancement in technology and the availability of large data set, helps us run the experiments with multiple variables with various controls as is needed.

The book is an easy fiction like read, with innumerable case studies or examples, each driving us to the same conclusion that the data cant lie. Having said that, it traces the obvious and to me there are no new insights making it a pretty ordinary read.

He conclude the book with a line, which captures this book in a nutshell: Super Crunching is not substitute for intuition, but a compliment. Our intuition, our experiences, and,yes,statistics should work together to produce better choices.

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Super Crunchers : How anything can be predicted ( 2007)

Ian Ayres

John Murray ( Publishers)

260 Pages
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Further read: Emerging Trends

The Masque of Africa : Glimpses of African Belief - V S Naipaul

At the age of 76 ( he is now 78), Nobel Laureate V S Naipaul packs his bags again to Africa. A continent he visited 40 odd years ago, giving us a couple of thought provoking ( though controversial) books. This time, he says, his theme is around "African Belief", and will not be politics or religion.

My theme is belief, not political or economical life; and yet at the bottom of the continent the political realities are so overwhelming that they have to be taken into account."

Starting his journey from Uganda moving on to Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast , Gabon before concluding at South Africa. At the outset, it looks and reads like a westerners prejudiced view of the continent and he hasn't been able to free himself from the it,. Most of his preparation was based on the 19th century European travellers and often he was trying to identify the present day Africa to that of 19th century descriptions.

Africa, to many outsiders are still a mystery. While the new world religions are prominent , the traditional religion or way of living is gaining huge momentum. This phenomenon is seen across sub Saharan Africa. Arabs came for trade and brought Islam to the land centuries ago. While they were less forceful, compared to Christianity, the Saharan and north eastern countries embraced it. However, Christianity came in with the European slave traders.

"The colonial masters came here for business. Slave trade was a business. May be bad, but it was purely business. They took, but they gave us the church. That was a death knell to traditional religion. In the traditional religion, every king had his chief priest and elders to consult. It was a democratic system. It promoted sanity. People did not cross boundaries. The church came and overturned this. They brought in Jesus." and "They took away our land, religion, customs and social structure. Our king, our everything"

To a culture, where spirits and ancestors hold the key, the new religions came in with a different opening.

"Both Christianity and Islam would have been attractive to Africans for a simple reason. They both offered an afterlife; gave people a vision of themselves living on after death. African religion on the other hand was more airy, offering only a world of spirits, and the ancestors.

During these time , end of 18th century and most part of the 19th century , saw the spread of these religion in Africa, at least to the outer world, while the practice of traditional religion and rituals continue to thrive under various clan leaders. 

We were brought up in the faith, and that dictates that African religion as paganism. We were trained to despise it.... Now that I have grown up and had exposure, I see it was a tool to control our African mind. It is how the imperialists worked.

Culture does not die - today it is called witch craft."

Not surprisingly, most of the research or fact finding in the journey revolved around these practitioners. Meeting various clan leaders or priests ( of African belief), Naipaul build his story around the practices of which craft, sorcerer, sooth sayers, healers and black magicians. Obviously, people who claims to have control or ability to initiate the spirits of ancestors hold the key in the life of common man. There is no difference between Country, City, small town, village or the forest in these believes.

Relying largely on the conversations with his guides, sponsors and few of the people of control, he bring about their thoughts and idea of the African belief; at times referring to his previous visits to the continent. And that , I believe, is one of the short fall of the book. There are no insights, often contradicting views with no clarification by the author makes it pretty ordinary read for most part. There is also kind of contempt in his language which does not go well with a sympathizer. At one place, he even experiment with one of these men asking him to find out about the marriage of his girl ( he does not have children). "Will my daughter get married ?"... "The girl is not going to get married. You have many enemies. To break their spells we will have to do many rituals. This will cost money, but the girl will get married.

Across the continent, there is a revival of traditional beliefs, while continue to practice the religion of their birth. This contradiction, which is seen in every aspect of African life, makes the story interesting. More and more writers rely on their own language, more and more governments encouraging the local culture and religion, people of high profile openly coming out in support of the believes and defending them in public. As an outsider the new century Africa will be an interesting place to watch and admire. 

"I want to tell you about language, how important it is. There is a spiritual quality to the language, to words. If you use language as tool to suppress people it will loose all its spirituality.... Our mother tongue historical elements, and words were important."

The blurb proclaim, "The best living writer of English Prose". This book was far from it. Most of the initial writings were very ordinary. It does not reflect the language and insights of a Nobel Laureate. The section about Gabon could be an exception, where I found the language and content beautifully woven. That one chapter made all the difference to reading this book. In general the language and style improved towards the end. Writing on Gabon and that of South Africa were beautifully written. However, I am not excited about this book.

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The Masque of Africa ( 2010)

V S Naipaul

Picador India

325 Pages

Rs 595
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More : Guardian , Telegraph

Mumbai Jaalakam - Jyothirmayi Sankaran

Kerala depends on its expats for most of the moral , financial and literary growth. The flow of people out of Kerala has started long ago, primarily for seeking jobs. Over the decades, the flavour of location kept changing from Mumbai, Delhi to Chennai , the Gulf countries and Bangalore ( of late the U.S) . In the early migration, Mumbai stood as one of the most preferred destination. Unlike Delhi, where most of the expats were on the PSU jobs or central govt service, Mumbai was common man's paradise. Ultil the early 70s Mumbai continued to attract many Keralites. It was the trouble that erupted with the rise of Shiv Sena, this flow of Keralites reduced to Mumbai. Chennai , was the preferred destination for many a lower section of the crowd, setting up tea and vegitable shops and around late 70s the desert dream and Gulf mania gripped Kerala. The Y2K lead opportunities and the need for Software engineers, made Bangalore the most preferred destination in the recent past.

It is thus, important to understand that every Keralites, carry a part of Kerala within him when he migrates, living off the nostalgic memories of the distant land. The last half of 20th century gave us enormous literary classics, in Malayalam, produced from these parts of the country. Some of the big names in Malayalam Literature ( there are quite a few names), have spent a large part of their life in Mumbai or Delhi. On the other side, every family in Kerala can boast of some one of their close relative, residing in most of these metros, hence making these names like Bandra, Andheri, Chembur, Goregaon , familiar to them as if they are some part of Trissur or Palakkad.

Smt Jyothirmayi Shankaran, brings out the daily snippets of the life in Mumbai, in this recently published book Mumbai Jaalakam. There are no dearth of books that cover the Mumbai story at varied topics and influence. Mumbai had been part of the literary read for most of the 'reading' Keralites through the works of Anand and others. There had been stories and legends passed over friends get together and other informal meetings. But seldom, had there been an attempt to get them told in a basic form of narration, meant for general read.

Jyothirmayi Shankaran, does not deploy the high brow language, and there is no pretensions of any intellectual debates. These are the observations and readings of the common man. This are the impressions of some one living this life, and not that of a traveller. Like every common man/woman, she takes up issues with the way authorities are handling various functions, the fear of safety, the tussle with the auto/taxi drivers, the rise and fall stock market, the Bollywood, the separate world of the sub-urban train, the effect of terrorism, the local importance places and their significance, the festivities and the Gods. These are not the notes on Mumbai alone, its the tale of every large metro in india. Mumbai had the advantage or disadvantage of going through them ahead of the rest, often leading them in many a progress.

These are written over the period of Dec 2007 to March 2010, and, I understand, was published in the online magazine Kanikkonna under the same name. It was now compiled into a book and was published, by the same group. Easy and quick read, and barring  few places, she shows a lot of command over the use of language and style.

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Mumbai Jaalakam ( 2010 )

Jyothirmayi Sankaran

Kanikkonna Publications

176 Pages

Rs 100/-
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Amulet - Roberto Bolaño

"This is going to be a horror story. A story of murder, detection and horror. But it won't appear to be, for the simple reason that I am the teller. Told by me, it won't seem like that. Although, in fact, it's the story of a terrible crime." starts the book. The book indeed is that of horror and murder. Based on the real incident of massacre of students and the curb of the demonstration by the Mexican authorities. Bolano, does not refer to the murder directly, but the theme hover around this, coming back to the fate again and again, through the experience of Auxilio Lacouture, a Uruguan expat in Mexico city, self proclaimed " mother of all Mexican poets".

During the eventful days of students uprising, locked herself , in the "cubicle of the ladies "lavatory on the fourth floor of the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma in Mexico City (UNAM), where she has been trapped by an army occupation of the campus", thus demonstrating a solitary protest ( according to her),she become part of the resistance by her own way. It is this eventful 12-15 days( which she does not remember exactly), that takes her through the life, half in delirium due to the solitary confinement and the tiredness due to lack of food, get us through the fable of her time during those years and that of the socio-political life in Mexico City.

Auxilio, came to Mexico city, from Montevideo, few years before 1968. It could be 1967 or 65 or as early as 63, she does not remember. All she know was the poets Leon Felipe and Pedro Garfias were alive ( both of them died in 1968) and she was working at their home doing odd jobs and other errands for them. It is this acquaintance with the great poets made her stake the claim of mother of all Mexican Poets. She did not have a proper job. Apart from spending her time in the taverns and coffee bars with young and wanna be poets, she works at the university, at her own will on mostly free or for occassional wages given on temporary work at various functions at the University.

It is also important to know the events that happened in 1968 at Tlateloco in Mexico City. There were general unrest and agitation for larger freedom and democracy against the ruling PRI ( single party rule at that time in Mexico). On the Octover 2, 1968 students from the above mentioned university along with the rest of the liberal politicians and intellects gathered at Plaza de Tlateloco, Mexico City for a meeting. The Army surrounded the place and opened indiscriminatory fire against the agitators. More that 300 killed and many more seriously injured. There were many arrested, imprisoned and tortured , leaving behind one of the darkest days in 20th century Mexico's history. You can read more of that here.

Auxilio, on her note confirms that she was at the University and did not witness the murder.

I was at the university on the eighteenth of September when the army occupied the campus and went around arresting and killing indiscriminately. No. Not that many people were killed at the university. That was in Tlateloco. May that name live forever in our memory ! But I was at the university when the army and the riot police came in and rounded everyone up.

But on her part she still feels the pain of the sorrow, and her repeated recollections of her days at the lavatory , even after many years as late as 1974 in some of her stories. She continue to be tormented and continue to suffer from night dreams and hallucinatory visions. The last few pages, where the 'ghost-children' of Tlateloco, march in unison singing and falling off the abyss to the depth of history. She says, "And although the song that I heard was about war, about the heroic deeds of a whole generation of young Latin Americans led to sacrifice, I knew that above and beyond all, it was about courage and mirrors, desire and pleasure."

This is not an isolated Mexico story. Its the story of the Latin America in general, almost all of the countries going through troubled times in the 60s and early 70s. His alter ego, Aurtirito Belano, a young poet from Chile came to Mexico to live, During the times of Allende, he goes back to his native country, returning back to Mexico after he was de-throwned in a coup. Like many of his countrymen he too did not do anything apart from being a silent witness. Auxillio says "everyone was somehow expecting him to open his mouth and give us the latest news from the Horror Zone, but he said nothing, as if what other people expected had become incomprehensible to him or he simply didn't give a shit."

Bolano, also indicates that the only thing that survive beyond generations are the literary works. He predicts, the resurrection of various writers from the past having readers in the 21st and 22nd centuries while he himself was not sure of the outcome in the near future. Auxilio in her days of confinement says,

The vanity of writing, the vanity of destruction. I thought, Because I wrote, I endured. I thought, Because I destroyed what I had written, they will find me, they will hit me, they will rape me, they will kill me. I thought, The two things are connected, writing and destroying, hiding and being found.

There are many intellectuals and political figures appear in her narrative. Apart from many known Mexican Poets, she seems to have acquainted and the Italian and French artists and painters, Ernesto de Che Guevara also appears in Mexico.

Extremely powerful and haunting book. It is not an easy read and for majority of the pages it goes through the hallucinatory world of scattered events, people, time often jumbled and troubled as the narrator herself experience. Its very demanding read and Bolano does not explain the real motive or drive behind the fiction, making it more and more obscure. However, a strong narration and the absorbing language in line with the overall direction makes this a compelling and powerful book. Outstanding.

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Amulet ( 1999)

Roberto Bolaño ( translated by Chris Andrew 2006)

Picador

184 Pages
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More read : Guardian , Complete Review , Wiki



Silk - Alessandro Baricco

"The year was 1861, Flaubert was writing Salammbo. electric light remain hypothetical, and Abraham Lincoln, beyond the ocean, was fighting a war which he was not to see finish"

Hervé Joncour, is a 32 year old silk breeder from small town of Lavilledieu in Southern France, When the epidemic stuck the plants in Europe, he had to rely on supplies from Syria and other Arab countries. While the young Scientist Louis Pastuer, continued his effort to identify the cause and find remedy, Hervé Joncour continued to engage in his thriving business of importing the silk worms from these part of the world, on advise of his mentor Baldabiou. The trip usually involves 3 months of voyage through the sea and the rest on horse back across the Arab countries, returning with Silk worms tracing the path back to reach to the gates of Lavilledieu on the first Sunday of April.

It is during one of his discussion with Baldabiou, the discussion of Japan came in. According to Baldabiou, Japan is a country in isolation with rest of the world and every attempt to engage with them in trade was always rejected and dealt with cruelly. Japan is one of the largest producer of silk and some of the islands are rich with Silk. Thus started his adventure to travel around the world to Japan in search of the hidden treasure. He starts his journey through Austria, Germany through Eastern Europe to Ukraine, crossing Urals, through Siberia, along the borders of China to the eastern most tip of the continent. Seeking the support of Dutch smugglers, he lands in one of the remote island of Japan. It here, he meets the local henchman Hara Kei,  "the most elusive man in Japan, master of all that the world contrived to carry off the island." More than HaraKei, its the girl who rests her head on his lap, the girl whose "eyes did not have an Oriental slant", that get his attention. Apart from the intense stare, there was no contact , whatsoever with this girl. But is to her was attracted, an attraction he is not able to explain, the rejuvenation of his love, his romantic self . They do not talk, never be in physical contact, but the image of the girl with 'no oriental slant" eyes, takes him back to the islands over and over again despite the trouble and the danger of ongoing civil war in Japan. He rediscovers the romantic in himself, even though he realise that the girl is beyond his reach ( I guess in his fourth trip), which bring about changes in his personal and family life. It is at this time, he gets a letter written in beautiful Japanese Characters, posted in Belgium, that changes his life fore ever.

Baricco uses the repetition of phrases and paragraphs, interestingly in this book. The one above is one such example. The other interesting thing is the way he describes the journey.  Over his five trips to Japan, the landscape takes a slight changes over the years. The Central Europe remain the same, but the changes starts from the eastern part of Europe, the Siberian paths, the bordering China and the wait for the pirate ship to take him to Japan. On each journey, Lake Baikal is different ( assumes different names from sea to demon). His journey changes being on foot, to horse and at the last on train. However, the arrival date remain same as first Sunday of April. There is also notable changes in his behavior to his wife and the surroundings. We understand that the couple does not have children and do not have the best of relationships. However, after each journey, there is changes in their relationship, to the last pages even after the 'beans are spilled'.

The blurb, says it as a erotic tour de force, and I am not sure why. Except for his attraction to the non-interactive lady of the Japanese Henchman, which pulls him back to the place often, and the so called in-comprehensive letter with Japanese Character which the old lady of the brothel translates ( which the vulgar more than being erotic or sensual), there isn't anything to call this as an erotic. Yes, there is an under current of slight sensuality, very subtle.

From the angle of a minimalist literature, this book is interesting. Beautifully written and cleverly deployed plots. More than what is written,  what is left makes it a better reading. The curiosity is maintained through out and finished pretty well. The book was having rave reviews and I can understand why. It indeed was a good read ( and a short one at 91 pages), but is not extra ordinary.

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Silk ( 1996)

Alessandro Baricco ( translated from Italian by Guido Waldman 1997)

Vintage International

94 Pages

Rs 234
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More : Wiki

Bastard Out of Carolina - Dorothy Allison

I came to know about this book in one of the discussion on the Southern Literature. It was during that time, this book caught my eye in one of the used book sale stall. It was otherwise difficult to get these books in India. Southern Literature, from the the states  of Texas to Carolinas. These states have many things in common, from civil war , the fight against slavery and the reconstruction of the union.

An semi-autobiographical novel written by Dorothy Allison, takes us through the early childhood life of  Anne Ruth ( called as 'Bone'). Book opens with the details of her birth. Her fifteen year old mother gave birth to the daughter after a serious car accident. She was named after her eldest aunt Ruth and was nicknamed 'Bone' on some comment made by one of her cousins. Her mother's attempt to get her birth certificate made was turned out to be a failure after she could not prove her marital status. As a result, the certificate declares the girl "illegitimate". She continued her effort with the authorities for the next two years, but the result was same, apart from some ridiculing talks by her co-workers. At the age of 17, she marries another man and produces another child with him. But he too did not last long, succumbs to a vehicle accident.  She again falls in love with Glen Waddel, the youngest son of a rich Dairy trader, and after two years courtship, marries him at an age of 21.

Glen, initially take to the liking of the kids, soon taking liberties on them. Bone, was at the receiving end of his physical and sexual abuses. After Anney delivered a still baby, unable to conceive any more, the attacks become regular. The fate turns against them as Glen looses his job, unable to control his behaviour. His anger against himself and his failures in getting a decent job,  makes him turns against the girl. The atrocities of the step father did not go unnoticed, as the closed-knit family of Bone comes to know this and Glen was physically handled by her uncles. Anney stay out of Glen with her kids for some time, but the family reconcile soon. The atrocities continue and for the second time Anney moves out with her kids but an angry Glen break into the house of her aunt and rapes Bone, blaming her for the break up and her mother's anger towards him. Anney comes to fetch the girl witnessing the scene and leave the place after taking the girl to the doctor, She leave the town forever, after meeting the girl one last time, handing her a genuine birth certificate, which does not have the 'illegitimate' stamp.

The Boatwright family clan is very entertaining , men with their drinking, fighting and womanizing and the women with their loose life and stubbornness. In spite of their differences, there is a strong relationship within the clan, often jump into the support of the fellow member. The reaction and responses are often extreme, and they are thus known for their notoriety. It is the same members come to the rescue of the young girl and take revenge.

On her part the mother is one who endures all. The need for love and support on one side, but her own love to her daughter on the other side, makes her to loose both in the end. The girl is impassive on her own suffering, but is more concerned about the mothers plight. She even advise the mother to go back to her father, because she needs it, but refuses to join them.

It is difficult to write from the child's point of view and the language. In many of the novel's I've read, the voice is inconsistent and the writer sneak in with his voice. But in this book, it was consistently brilliant and appropriate. While I do not think this is a great work of fiction, it indeed had some beautiful paragraphs and literary brilliance. Dorothy Allison, personal history is almost similar to the protagonist of this story. A fifteen year old mother, abusive step father and the like, hence the intensity of writing is very high through out. Sensitive, moving and intensive book. Good work of fiction.

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Bastard Out of Carolina ( 1992)

Dorothy Allison

Plume Books

309 Pages

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More : Wiki entry

The Opium Clerk - Kunal Basu

Opium trade in Asia was one of the major business controlled by Britishers. The famous Anglo- Chinese Opium War as a result of Chinese control over the British Opium Trade practices. Though Chinese lost the war, the trade continue to suffer both financial and diplomatic cooperation between the two nations. The Britishers continue to import opium from Indian soil, through various traders.

Hiren , born in the year of Indian Mutiny, lost his father before he turned 1, killed in an accident run-over by horses in the park. His mother came back to her family in Calcutta from Patna. Young Hiren, now under the direct influence from his progressive uncle. It is here he developed his special ability of reading palms. His modern education and ability to adapt landed him at a job of Clerk at an auction house run by the mysterious Britisher Jonathan Crabbe. The company involved in dubious trade of Opium to other parts of the world. Soon, Hiren was invited to the house of Crabbe, for teaching him Sanskrit. Asked to help in adopting a child for the opium addicted wife of Crabbe, Hiren and his friend goes through the slums of Calcutta. Little did he knew that this is going to change his life forever.

The second part takes him on a long voyage to China to assist his employers in setting up their base withthe help of local viceroy. hiren find himslef being witness to the cruel massacre of the resistance forces by the British supported local ruler. The third and last part makes a forward leap to the adopted son in the remote Indonesian island, as an official of customs at its ports.

The writing is fascinating and Kunal is able to take us through the life of Hiren from the orthodox Brahmin family to the complex and notorious trade of narcotics, from the shores of Calcutta to Hongkong and South China. Often put in the middle of the conflicts, Hiren, introduced an Indian Prince was requested to get in the dangerous game of getting the rebels and the rulers in the path of surrender. The fate made him the silent spectator of the mass murder of many under the British and Chinese rulers.

The language is very vivid and descriptive and the subject is interesting. This is my second book of Kunal Basu. He is a good writer, with flowing language and very visual style of writing. Each topic developed from the historical events and expanded within its logical extensions. However, this book does not appear to me in completeness. Especially the continuity. The third part somehow did not connect with the narrative. And I am disappointed again with this one. Though this book is more popular, I think The miniaturist was a better book.

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The Opium Clerk ( 2008 )

Kunal Basu

Harper Collins, India

309 Pages

Rs 295
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More Read : McGill Reporter

Abraham's Promise - Philip Jeyaretnam

Taking the phrase from the biblical tale, Philip Jeyaretnam brings out a good novel about a man's struggle in the independent Singapore.

Abraham Isaac, a Singaporean Tamil with his ancestral roots to Jaffna in Sri Lanka, lives through the transformation of the country after its struggle with the Britishers and Japanese. Like most of his contemporaries, he too was active in the country's journey to an independent nation, writing articles on self rule, pouring out his ideas and aspirations of a new nation. However, to his dismay, and to many of the others, he realises that the direction of the power and the rulers aren't aligned to their hopes. Though he was part of the political system and his party rose the the power of the country, he continued his efforts in the nation building with his article in the Strait Times. One of such article, wasn't accepted well with his own party bosses, resulting in removal of his license to teach ( for being a bad influence on pupil) and loosing the job. Now, left to earn his living only through private tuition, he looses his close friend and his wife to the friend. The novel begins with Old Abraham, managing to find a lone student for Latin, boy of a rich new world family.

The book starts of very ordinary, even till the midway through I was wondering why was this called such a good book. A typical old man's reminiscence of his life and the typical contempt for all that new and modern. The usual complaints of the new generation and the system, his inabilities to be in sync with the new world, and all that. However, as I progressed through the pages, the images that came out in front is very different. On a relatively plain and simple narratives, a profound work of literature is hidden, revealing subtly to the keen readers.

His sour taste of all that he had endured is evident in his perceived contempt to the new time, new ways of living and new ways of learning.

"I don't understand all these new restaurants, all these new tastes. No wonder young people are so confused today. They don't grow up on a steady diet . . . so they lack a clear reference point -- Jaffna cooking, Cantonese, whatever. It's just a jumble . . . Thai, French, hamburgers. No wonder everyone is so confused."

Victor smiles: an amused, tolerant and patronising smile. No one takes an old man seriously

Singapore as a society is multi cultural and multi ethnic. The influence of British Rule continue to linger in the society even after being a free . The citizen's of the new state is politically free, but how much of that is experienced by the cross section. As Abraham puts it , "I am not nor will ever be truly free. Why is it that I still feel this is a battle I might have won, when surely it was lost centuries ago?" It is this dilemma, the personal and political experience that Jeyaretnam brings out beautifully in this book.

Abraham Isaac, is always been on the wrong side of luck. Loosing his girlfriend to a Britisher in his young days, later loosing his job for his political views, his childhood friend, his wife and later his son ( or his love) , he endures them all not as a strong man, but one common man amongst us.

The style is very standard, the language is plain, the structure is not unusual though he deploys the multi period story intermixed effectively, and the story is straight. Inspite all this the book leaves a good impression with you for the strong underlying emotion. Even when everything goes wrong for his, Abraham is able to maintain his sanity and his self esteem. Philip Jeyaretnam, on his part get Abraham the character, the language, the sly humor and the voice aligned perfectly well. A very haunting novel, effectively written.

PS : This edition comes with a very bad front cover. The cover should do justice to the book.

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Abraham's Promise ( 1995)

Philip Jeyaretnam

Marshal Cavendish

162 Pages
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More Read : Post Colonial Web , USQ

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip Pullman

...But this is the tragedy; without the story, there will be no church, and without the church, Jesus will be forgotten... Oh, Martha, I don't know what I should do.'

' You should eat your supper', said Martha.

Part of the myth series published by Canongate, this book by Philip Pullman is already making some news. Looking at the most retold story of Jesus Christ, in a different angle, Pullman offers his version of the story. The back cover insists that "this is a story".

" I've always been fascinated by the two parts of the name of Jesus Christ, and by the difference between them. Another thing that's interested me for a long time is the way in which the Christian church began to formulate its beliefs and establish a canon of scripture: there were many more gospels than four, but why were those four chosen and others left out? When did Paul begin to write his epistles? Was what he said different from what the gospels say? Do the gospels even agree with one another? Was there a difference between Jesus and Christ? My version of the Jesus story doesn't attempt to solve these questions, but I hope readers will find it interesting " - from his website

Mary, young girl married off to an old carpenter Joseph. Joseph left the young Mary at home and was often away with his job. It was during this time a messenger came to her and told her about the divine life that is going to take shape in her womb. She was worried about the controversy, being pregnant while Joseph is away. As we all know, when the time arrived, fearing the rulers anger, Joseph takes his wife on a journey to Egypt and the give birth to Jesus in a make shift shed amongst the animals . Here is the twist to the story. Mary gave birth to twins, one was Jesus and the other Christ. The angels and the other omen pointed out Christ as the saviour of mankind. Jesus grew typical to any young boy, strong ,often naughty and hardly showing any signs of intelligence. Christ on the other hand was thin and frail, showing early signs of maturity and intellect. During the adolescent days Jesus runs away from home, and it was Christ who manages to bring him back with reasoning. The early stages of miracles were demonstrated by Christ.

However, towards baptism by John, there were changes in Jesus. He left home and spent time in the forest praying and identifying himself. As the rest of the story goes, Jesus now have a followers of himself. It was Christ who advises him on the importance of performing miracles, the need of healing the ills, the need to preach. During this time an angel in the form of stranger make an appearance to Christ and ask him to document all that is done by Jesus. Christ, follows Jesus without his knowledge and writes down all that is spoken and performed. At place where he cant reach, one of the disciple help him by recounting the events.

The rest is known to all. The growing popularity of Jesus is not welcomed by the authorities. To their dismay, Christ defeats the arguments of the Law makers at multiple times. His followers belongs to every walk of life, from whores to taxmen to the people of meagre means. Unlike the biblical story, it was Christ who betray Jesus here, Of course under the instruction form the angel. The crucification and the resurrections are then described in very realistic terms , may not be to the agreement of the believers. It was Christ , who appears in front of Mary of Magdela and to the disciples. It was his version that then discussed and spread amongst the believers.

While I am not a great fan of such novels. It leaves a lot for debates and discussions and the freedom of the writer to deviate from the known story. This book too suffers from the influence of the original. The necessity to abide by the flow of incidents that is of importance, but the need to include in his version of narration, it looses some of the initial steam in middle. However, he finishes this brilliantly. I found the passages of Jesus contemplating his actions and their results, and his doubts on the God and the role he has to play, written beautifully.

Fast read, large size print ( lesser strain to your eyes) and short chapters make it easy to finish. Very average book, except a few brilliant passage and two twist to the tale ( the twins and the concet of Christ betraying Jesus). If you are interested in these kind of books, I would recommend Nobel Laureate, Jose Saramago's Gospel According to Jesus Christ to this one.

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The Good Man Jesus and The scoundrel Christ ( 2010 )

Philip Pullman

Penguin Viking

245 Pages

Rs 499
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Other Revirews: Wiki , Guardian ,

Poory Made in China - Paul Midler

Known as the world's factory, China is the epicentre of every manufacturing activities of the universe. China's undisputed growth to the leader of the manufacturing had been carefully and methodicaly orchastrated over the past 30 years. There are many economic and financial studies available on this exponential growth, most of them written by academics. However, there aren't many that gives us the inside story of the phenomenon. Paul Midler, who spent a large part of his early career in South China - the hub of the manufacturing activities- tells us a story of the typical manufacturing business and their relationship with the western world.

Off shore manufacturing is now inevitable for every business, if they want to remain in business and be profitable. Midler, stationed at Guangzhou, working for various US and European corporates as their consultant, takes us through the interesting journey of his experiences with some of the manufacturing companies and their clients.

One of the initial question which pops up the mind of the readers is why China. ? Many of the other south Asian economies are equally competitive if not cheaper.

"One of the questions many were asking was: Why China? Why weren't importers looking to other markets ? The answer most often given was the low cost of labor, but that was only part of it; factory labor in other economies was actually cheaper. Speed and convenience were two other important areas where China performed particularly well."

He also says ( with a soft 'below the belt' remark on India ) the difference between Chinese approach to the business and interaction with foreigners to that of some of the other economies..

"China was exotic, but it was not bizarre. Chinese did not dress in native costumes, they wore no headdresses or long robes, they did not go around in sandals. They did not have the habit of sitting on the floor. Chinese did not bow or require that visitor make unfamiliar hand gestures, and the people were pleasantly irreligious...The Chinese were traditional, but not fanatical. They did not paint their faces or tattoo or pierce their bodies. Such colorful native traditions made for interesting tourism, but people or business were not vacationers."

Getting into the thick of the action, he explains some of the methods used by Chinese Manufacturers to win business. As one of his client wondered, how are they manage to produce them so cheap. Its only later he realise the terrain he is getting into. To win business, the enterpreuners are willing to go to any extend. However, once the manufacturing contract is signed, the ball is now on the importers court. The original specification is often tampered with , without any consultation and confirmation from the client. It starts with the packaging, the quality of the bottles used, the measure and quality deviations, etc. Quality cost then passed on to the importer. The importer is now in a fix. Sitting on a larger order from the retail chain in the US, he is now forced to concede. Any changes to the original plan is to be paid by the importer. By now, the manufacturer has already know the 'product specification' and can be reproduced on his own. He could eve by pass the importer and deal with the retail chains directly. The game of one up-manship continues until the importer concedes and often goes out of business.

Some of the smarter ones gets into a joint venture agreement with their Chinese counter parts. This is often turns out to be a bigger mess. Invariably loosing money in the JV, while the local manufacturer continue to build newer factories at the expense of is global JV partner, it usually ends in bitter separation.The local authorities and the law aren't very supportive, hence most of the fooled ones wind up their operations and return.

There are issues of counterfeit, the perennial issue of quality, the arrogant attitude once the business is secured, managing the books of accounts, the fear of bypassing the importer; issues are many. "Chinese manufacturing had serious issues, and these were not very well understood while looking at them from a great distance."

But, why is that the world is still going to China for manufacturing. Mostly because, there is no alternative. Moreover, it is now globally accepted that goods made in China is the cheapest. As he mentions..

If an item was quoted at 65c and made in the USA, the buyer figured it could be purchased somewhere cheaper. When the same product was quoted 65c and was said to have been made in China, the buyer figured it could not be found for any less.

The extra focus and development in the manufacturing leaves lot of the other areas a lot to be desired.

At one time, China had a reputation for innovation, having invented paper, gunpowder and the compass; but in more recent centuries, that spark of discovery was replaced by an instinct for copying - not just technologies, but also entire business model"..

He says this model is not sustainable. "No economy could ever win a race by merely catching the wind off another's sail.."

Having said all this, where are they headed. Midler says, over the years it will be difficult to sustain the same level of growth. Domestic consumption is heralded as one of the alternate growth story. There are other political and economical issues and related tensions between states. But there is no change expected in the near future. On a long run, Milder says it could be "The rise and fall of China ?"..."More like the rise and stall of China"

Very very interesting read, very curious for me as an Indian. Fast paced, funny and and easy read.

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Poorly Made in China ( 2010 )

Paul Midler

John Wiley & Sons

242 Pages

Rs 395
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Other read : INSEAD , Danwei