വാസുദേവ കിണി - മാടമ്പ് കുഞ്ഞുകുട്ടൻ

An year and half back, if I remember right, when I met Sri Matampu Kunjukuttan at his place, among various things he spoke, a hint about a new novel came out. Story of an old Konkani Brahmin, put in the jail for over 70 years, was shot at, on the day of his release. An old vengeance, an old settlement of score, by a member of the Portuguese (converted )  family, was behind this. He said, the story has to begin from here and he hasn't thought beyond this. During the evening, a small 200 page notebook, was opened in fron of me, and in his impeccable, clear and classically styled  hand writing, the letters and words came out of these pages . "വാസുദേവ കിണി" with an underline, and the first chapter of the proposed novel , sprang up .  Thus, I can probably boast, of having witnessed the creation of this new novel, before anyone else had seen. On every visit, I made a point to enquire about the progress, and I came to know that the same is then given to a magazine, "Kesari", for publishing it , a chapter a month. Publication in a book for was imminent and it is now available for a larger audience ( I am not sure what is the circulation of Kesari and how many of its readers has taken notice of this novel).

From the initial dramatic set up, begins the new novel. 90 year old Vasudeva Kini, released from the jail after 70 years , 10 months and 1 day, was shot at exactly 30 mins of his freedom. Francis Dsouza, descendent of the family who served the Portuguese army on their days of power, had delivered the task entrusted in him by the generations. His father, waited for 50 years at the gate, and Francis took over the charge after his death. The task is clear, you have to shoot the man in 30 mins of his coming out in the open; one shot, not one less or more. The fate had another outcome in mind. The bullet, probably due to the weariness of the shooter, and lack of concentration there of., did not cause the intended damage. It managed only to caress the newly liberated man before giving up its plight. The curiousness of the reader is now ignited, as one expect the writer to get into the flashback of the DSouza - Kini affair and the rivalry resulting in the 70 year jail and the shoot out. However, the canvas which Matampu, is exploring is beyond the family feud , but the cruel and ethnic conflict suffered by the earlier generations at the arrival of the colonialism in the country. 

For many centuries, the shores of Kerala was known for its trade, mostly the spices, largely controlled by the Arabs, en route Istanbul and to Europe and by China in the east. Barring a few skirmish, these trades by and large had been peaceful and was within the spirit of trade ( give and take). The scenario changed with the arrival of Europeans, and as is their greed, they wanted to take control of the trade barring the rest, and going a step further, wanting to control the area and its resources. Now,  the tradesmen become owners and rulers of the land.  The first mission of the Portuguese ( Vasco Da Gama)  was with the intention of trade, but the next one led by Kabral, paved the seed of colonisation in the land of spice. Keki N Daruwalla's novel 'For Pepper and Christ" is an interesting account of these early days of Portuguese. The Portuguese control did not last long, as they were defeated by Zamorin and by Dutch  and were forced to leave Kerala, settling up north in Goa ( Gomantak, the original name, as Matampu refer in his book). A rule lasted more than 400 years, until 1961 when Indian Army marched into Goa to liberate it from Portuguese. The early days of their rule was marred with large scale conversion of the people into their belief ( the Bible, the Coin, the Gun: Holy trinity - Petal of Blood ,  Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o ). Forcing the people to eat cow-meat, a taboo for the cow-worshipping Indians, holding them by force and using all the means to stuff the meat inside their mouth. Once you are eaten the meat, you are outcasted from the society, by the rigid Indian Social norms. Having no other option, most of them had then converted themselves and followed the belief system of their masters. A few who resisted, escaped from Goa, and moved south towards Kerala and settled in and around the area of current Cochin and Trissur districts. A large settlement of konkani Brahmins, in Kerala, had a history of fleeing from  Goa.  on a similar case study, there is a sizable amount of Tulu Brahmins ( Embranthiri), from the South Canara District , ran away from their home land to escape forced conversion by the Mysore Sultan's Hyder Ali, and Tipu Sultan. The Tamil Brahmins, from Tanjavur area apparently came into Kerala , during the invasion of Malik Kafur. Interestingly, all the conversions are largely directed at the higher strata of the Social life, mostly the Brahmins. The lower caste, were usually left alone for they have no financial or social power.

Matampu's hero, represent this group of migrated Konkani Brahmins who settled in Karuvannur, a village in Trissur District near Arattupuzha temple. Apart from the attempted murderer Kini, had another person waiting for his release. 71 year old Sheetaladevi, widowed on the day of her wedding ( the last day of the wedding ceremony). Widowed but virgin, Sheetaladevi had a divine dream , in which she was to join Vasudeva Kini in the remaining of her life. Taking him along to her small house, she took the responsibility of rejuvenating the old man. 71 year of silence, made the old man to loose his words, but his thoughts are reconstructed from the grumble of his stomach by Sheetaladevi. The rest of his life, is to establish a kingdom which  is free from the clutches of all religion. Karuvannur, the middle of Kerala, the river, at the centre of the 44 rivers that divide the land of Kerala, has become the  symbolic center of transition : the old to the new, the history and reality, the cruelty and the compassion, the confinement and freedom, the thought and action. A new beginning has to happen at the middle and spread like a wave in the pond.

Vasudeva kini is the liberator. He has emerged from the dungeons of darkness ( self inflicted) to show the light to the world. A new world order has to begin from the ashes of the history.  The wise man has no words as the 71 year old silence is muted his voice. Its left to your intellect to listen to him, and understand him. The meaningless vengeance has to end with the firing of the gun. Neither the hunter nor the hunted knows the reasons behind the rivalry, and its the same with the readers, as the novelist does not indulge in the reasons of the rivalry. It is senseless, and what is needed is a world beyond the historical learning. The perpetrator is now dead at the feet of his victim after seeking pardon for the undoing of the generations of his ancestors. The new world, the new Karuvannur, is free from all those black pages of history. Its a new beginning.

Largely told through various flashbacks, Matampu develop his theme of colonisation and conversion, with historical perspective and social importance. A subject, which not many historians ( leave alone writers) attempted to put their hands on.  Matampu's gifted ability with the language, those 'old school' way of forming polished sentences, is the strength of the book. The structure is not flawless, the plot per se is not strong, but the context with which it has to be read is important.  His reading of these hidden pages of history might be subjective. It is his interpretation of those pages and as a fiction writer, he uses his freedom and flexibility, to the best of its effect. This might be controversial if one decides to look through the narrow angle, but this is worth the effort.

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വാസുദേവ കിണി ( 2013 )

മാടമ്പ് കുഞ്ഞുകുട്ടൻ

Green Books

216 Pages
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പുസ്തക വിചാരം

The Shadow of the Tiger and Other Plays - Chandrasekhar kambar

Kambar's plays have to be absorbed through the stage performances, they aren't the literary kind of plays, they are for performances, and the words and language have importance over the substance or the macro level content that one look for. Most of them aren't profound from the style and substance point of view but from the folkloric style of adaptation into the Indian context of  theater ( those familiar with Sanskrit playwrights of last millennium) while staying true to the roots of folklore and local myths with modern realities.

The collection of three plays, have these clever mix of selection. The first is an easy adaptation of the Persian classic, with the indigenous introduction and screen setting. It did not create any special interest in me as a reader, but I could visualise the original kannada version and the 'conversation' and the lyric used in the original creating an impact in the audience.  The drama, begin with a setting of Ganesha Festival with a boy stealing the 'laddoos' kept for the lord in the play to be enacted, and brilliantly easing his way to the Persian Alibaba and 40 thieves. Ganesha the God , who had hidden large number of laddoos under his 'cloak' is kidnapped by the leader of the thief and switching the plot from here shifts to Alibaba, and a clever closure with the reappearance of Ganesha in the end, mixing Indian myths to the Arabian tale.

The second, which carry the title of the book is an outstanding play. Playing along the thin line of 'truth and deception' he create an atmosphere of magically build up realism. This by far is the best play of the collection. The village chief, decides to go and capture the tiger that causes havoc in the lives of his village folks. Despite the warning of the stars, the anxiety of his wife who had a bad dream, the offer of his son to accompany and support him, against all bad omen, he set forth to lead the expedition ( . However, the failed attempt gets him lost in the wild separated from his supporters. However, he returns magically to the village, claiming to have killed the tiger whose carcass he supposed to have disposed off at an abandoned well in the forest. He ban his followers to go and look for it as ill fortune is sure to befall on them if anyone dared to go and peep inside.  Kambar, writes :

         Gowda returned after everyone else.
          He was tired.
          He had come carrying something on his back.
          The hunted tiger, we said, perhaps.
          Or perhaps not, we felt.
          For into the disused well outside the village
          He threw it and came.
          Not a call of a horn
          Nor band and music!
          It wasn't as if the tiger was hunted
          Nor as if it hadn't been.
          He's got in like a thief
          And we accepted him as such.

However, the situation in the village change drastically post the event. The idol of the village goddess is found split into half and other misfortune one after other befall on the villagers. An old lady , incarnation of the goddess herself possibly,  unveil the 'vision of the reality' to the son of the chief. The 'demon'ic influence in the life of the villagers is represented through the Chief himself, who is now under the influence of the devil ( the devil himself is come in the chief's body after killing and dumping him in the forest well). Chief's son, who is now entrusted to clear the air, is as confused as the rest  'Now everything appears to be split into two. I am seeing two of myself. How can I put both truths to test?...What is truth? Which is false?' . It is here the mastery of the writer comes out in open. Brilliantly traversing between illusion and reality, he creates an ambience with his magnificent wordplay, lifting the reading experience to a higher level. And in that context, this lift itself above the Kannada proximity to a larger global relevance.

Thukra's dream, takes us to the days of British Raj. Symbolically representing the nameless, wordless millions of India, all Thukra has in control is his dreams, but in reality he is forced to suffer and in the end face death. As the resources of the land is held under the control of the wealthy, and the authorities are hand-in glow with those with money and power, poor Thukra and the likes has one one way forward. To rebel, and use the identity of the rebellious folks elsewhere to their own. But before doing this, he tries to escape the land of his misdeeds, and tried to be par with the land lord, by travelling far and wide to Bangalore, attempting a few jobs and more thefts. But on return he realises that the hands of the mighty is stronger and his attempt to equal them is only short lived. In an interesting tragi-comic narrative, often bordering the silliness, it leaves a lasting impact in the end.

I write. In writing I build what I feel. My feelings are my experiences and I build with words, which are stories, pictures, pieces of tales, all off of which have been part of my experiences" says Kambar in his foreword to the  book. His plays are part of the same process of "relate to environment both in time and space,  through  stories, the fantasies, the images". Neither his characters not his plays are for the upper segment of the society. They seems to be aligning with the common man, the non pretentious , those in his words 'he celebrate'. To me, reading this in Kannada and seeing it in Kannada will have much more deeper impact on me. Having said that the efforts in translation is commendable, despite few unevenness one observe as we read on. Interestingly, each play is translated by different person(s), and probably that was one reason of the unevenness.

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The Shadow of the Tiger and Other Plays( 1980 / 984/ 1991)

Chandrasekhar Kambar ( translated from Kannada by Sandhya S, Padma Ramachandra Sharma ,O L Nagabhushana Swamy  in 1999)

Seagull Books

162 Pages
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C K Meena, Purushothama Billimale

Under the Frangipani - Mia Couto

Ermelindo Mucanga, is dead for last 200 years, and his physical body is cremated under the frangipani tree in old fort , where he died during the work of restoration of the old slave port. After many many years, with the independence of the country , he is now considered a national hero, and his mortal remains is now unearthed, to give a State Funeral. While he is happy that he is dead now and the current civil war post the independence will not affect him, he isn't happy with the new development of being the national hero,  "A spirit that reoccupies its former body risks mortal dangers". So he consult his pet ant-eater, the mammal lives with the dead.  "You, Ermelindo, you should relive your death"  came the suggestion, and it was the ant-eater who gave the way.

Thus, on advise from the ant-eater, the spirit entered the body of the Police Inspector, arriving at the fort island, to investigate the murder of the Director, of the Refugee Camp. He was also made aware that the detective will have a short life and will be killed in next six days.

Izidine Naita, the detective, Police inspector from the country capital, arrives at the fort island in a helicopter, to investigate the murder of Vastome Excellency, a mulato who was responsible for the old people's refuge at Sao Nicolau". The detective, the ghost, the writer and us follow the investigation in the next six days,  through the testimony of the inhabitants, where each of them claims to have killed the Director. An intersting piece of writing here, which covers many aspects of Mozambique's, rich oral tradition, its folklore and myths, the historical and political aspects with and without the European occupiers, and their own racial and regional issues.

While, the investigation per se, is not revealed the murder mystery, it opened up a lot more, probably the true intend of the investigation, by unearthing a huge treasure of arms, hidden by the Director, saved from the earlier war. Which opens up some of the crazy behaviour of the inhabitants towards him. It is the same danger, that fell upon the Director, awaits him.

This probably is not the best of Mia Couto. However, this gives the indication of the caliber of a writer he is. The fantastic ability to live the African way of story telling, the intermix of myths , history and fiction, the "magical realism" with an African touch, the brilliance in the formation of words and sentences. I am pretty sure that this book would have suffered from translation not suspecting the ability of the translator, but the very African usage of language and few idioms , probably would have lost the same impact on translation.

There is no great literary achievement and the plot, otherwise is pretty weak. The freshness is in the story telling, through rich poetic sentences, and building up the sequences of events. As a reader, I was never really interested in the outcome of the murder mystery, and could sense the deeper issues, which the inhabitants, all elderly people of varied ethnical background, trying to prevent.  There is also a deeper political essence, of both colonialism, and the post independent civil war ( in line with an ethnic conflict) , which emerged in almost all the African nations, who gained independence from their colonial rulers.

My first reading of Mia Couto, and I'm sure many more to come.

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Under the Frangipani( 1996)

Mia Couto ( translated from Portuguese by David Brookshaw in 2001)

Serpant's Tail

150 Pages
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Doe Eyed Critic, News Desk,

The Book of Satyabhama ( Krishnavatara V ) - K M Munshi

Moving on to the book five of the Krishnavatara series, with the story of Satyabhama. In the forward, Sri K M Munshi, admits the different versions of this tale, and there could be different regional and linguistic variations of the Syamantaka tale. He decided to go with more appropriate tale, in line with the characterisation of Krishna, that was built over the previous editions.

In essence, this is the story of Satyabhama, a young yadava maiden, carrying a hidden infatuation on Krishna.  Her father, Satrajit, one of the leaders of the Yadava clan, is not in terms with Krishna and the other Yadava rulers. He had always stayed away from the decisions of the elders, often causing embarrassment to the clan. He believe, Krishna is one of the causes, for their plight, and their constant life in danger. He and his few remaining associates, continued their resistance to the rest of the Yadava leaders. When Krishna requested the Yadava leaders to come forward and help Pandavas to build their empire, by donating half of their wealth including their arsenal, their gold, their battle ready horses, Satrajit and his friends, stayed away, giving additional burden on the others ( in order to keep the promises given by Krishna).

Satrajit's arrogance and his strength lies in the magical stone, 'Syamantaka', given to him by the God Surya ( sun) pleased with his dedication and devote. Syamantaka, is the origin of all the wealth that he accumulated over the years and continue to receive. When Krishna advised him to surrender the stone to the eldest , as it has to be the source of prosperity for the community, Satrajit, attacked Krishna and threatened with dire consequences. Taking up the challenge, Krishna assured him that before sunset the next day Syamantaka will be in the hands of Akrura, the Yadava elder, controlling the financial matters of the community.

It is now, the clever ploy by Satrajit comes into play. Sending his brother-in-law with the Magical Stone into the forest for safe keeping, he declared to the world that the Magic stone is stolen and he had seen Krishna stealing it under the cover of darkness. As the issue blew out of proportion, and became the talking point of the town, Krishna came forward and made a public oath that he will return with Syamantaka, failing which he will self immolate in front of all.  The search for Syamantaka is now on. Satyaki, his close friend along with Satyavati ( who had some clues to the whole disappearance) decided to do it by themselves.

As it turned out, the brother-in-law of Sathrajit, who was travelling with Syamantaka, on the directive of Sathrajit, was attacked and killed by a Lion, who was in turn killed by a bear. The same bear, kidnapped Satyaki with them, abandoned Satyavati in the scene. Krishna, comes to the rescue, and along with her ( already in cloud nine being with Krishna) , they reach the bear kingdom. With further exploits of Krishna, and yet another marriage ( to the daughter of Jambavan , the bear king) , the triumphant trio ( plus the newly wed bride) returns to the land of Yadavas, with the Magic Stone, clearing up the doubts and the ego of Satrajit.

K M Munshi, narrated the story in its own, without much changes. Unlike the previous books, I hardly found any insight, those analytical brilliance from the writer. While he did attempt to demystify the Syamantaka tale and the 'Jambavan's kingdom', it did not have those moments of high intellect, which was visible in the earlier ( especially book 2 and 3) books. and But the part of Satyabhama , is captured fabulously well. A good refresh of the tale , you grew up listening to, is all the book was worth.

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The Book of Satyabhama ( 1967)

K M Munshi

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

187 Pages
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The Blue Fox - Sjón

Many of the best books in my list (if I make one), are books that is around 100 odd pages  ( Closely observed trains, A Life's Music, The year of the hare, Too loud a solitude and this one to name a few) . You don't need a 600+ page volume to make an impact. The compactness of the text , tending towards poetic composition make these little gems some of the masterpieces in the literary world. Sjon's "The Blue Fox", after reading it , and re-reading it leaves you with such a lasting impression, not easy to get it off you head.  Sjon, himself in this interview says,  "You can take a melody and stretch it over five minutes, or compress it down to three seconds".

This little book, set in the late 19th century Iceland, at the outset tells of a story of a fox hunt and the aftermath. What it carry within itself is a profound philosophical and existential question about life in general. An Icelandic Priest  Baldur Skuggason, set forth for the hunt of a rare blue fox, who takes him all over the snow and icy whiteness of the landscape , through his magical and cunning ability. Fox tries to save his life, hiding amongst blue rocks,

"Blue foxes are so curiously like stones that it is a matter for wonder. When they lie beside them in winter there is no hope in telling them apart from the rocks themselves"

The hunt takes days over the whitish terrain, until the fox now caught and the pastor, fires his shot, resulting in a blizzard ( "When the peak replied to his shot") of a vast snow drift. The avalanche carries both down the terrain.

On a parallel thread, a naturalist, Fridrik B. Fridjónsson, living alone, is mourning the death of Hafdís, a young woman with down syndrome, whom he had rescued long ago from a ship wreck. A cleverly and beautifully converged threads, conclude the suspense in the last chapter, brilliantly.

Skugga-Baldur ( re-writing the name of the Priest) is the legendary demonic animal in the Icelandic folk lore, which also the title in the original, gives some glimpse to the concept of the book. The change of roles of man and animal, the indicative metamorphosis of the man into animal and vice versa. The animals even talk in human language discusses and debates about the electricity with the priest. On the other hand, the lady with down syndrome, build her own vocabulary and create a language of communication that is her own.

The early pages, poetic and musical ( not surprising as Sjon, collaborate with the singer Bjork, and started his literary career as a poet) had spell binding effect on me as a reader. Sjon, then shift the narrative cleverly, bringing out the pastor and the lady with down syndrome, coming back the the fox hunt, by now we have a general idea of the pastor, before solving the mystery in the end to some phenomenal effect. Very haunting, moving little tale, read like a poem. beautifully translated retaining all those magical beauty of the sentences into English.

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The Blue Fox ( 2004)

Sjón ( translated from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb in 2008)

Ferrar,Straus and Giroux

115 Pages
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Slate, The Daily Californian, Complete Review, Book Slut, The Independent

Blow-Up and Other Stories - Julio Cortázar

Hotchpotch was mesmerizing and will be read many times again. Ever since I was trying to read more of his writing. This collection of short stories, I understand, have varied reception. While few of my friends had very high opinion, there are many disappointed reactions. I too, went through the same upheaval while reading this book. Few of the stories were phenomenal and few did not make any ripples. This collection of stories, split into three parts, probably the time when they were written and in general the stories in the later part were more appealing than the earlier part.

"House taken over" from the first part was a brilliant story.  A brother and Sister living in their ancestral house, finds their house has been "taken over" by some one. The some one could be the authorities or forces that can not be confronted. The build up (of their daily routine, their interests knitting, the french literature etc)  and the irony of the old siblings ( the sure and gradual loosing of their hold on the place where they live, until forced out doors, locking the room and   The eery and scary atmosphere is build up by the sounds of encroachment  and noises they hear from adjoining rooms, in an otherwise silent house.  were captured with such a brilliance. I'm sure there would be a lot more interpretations of this story.

"The Pursuer" from the third part is another one that impressed me a lot. The story of a exceptionally talented and equally eccentric ( alcoholic, addicted) American Jazz musician, told through his biographer , a music critic is the longest story of the collection. This story is dedicated to Ch P ( Charles Parker ?),  Legendary musician, fighting his battle of personal issues, with the critic trying to support him rather ineffectively, and a silent witness in the form of his girlfriends. In the end, he not only bring himself down, he takes every one close to him through the downward spiral. "End of the Game" , "The Blow-up" apparently influenced the movie by the same name by Antonio Antonioni, and the first Axiotl were other interesting stories of this collection.

His style and the language here is very similar to Hotchpotch, easy and simple sentences grows into you.  He has a way of building the scene through his words. The human relations has an uneasy nature in almost every stories. They all are not necessarily ruled by the social norms. Even those stories, which did not make any great impression upon me, were carefully crafted. As a story teller, he is not behind any of his contemporaries. But this is no Hotchpotch, despite few  gems of stories.

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Blow-Up and Other Stories ( 1963/1967)

Julio Cortázar

Pantheon Books

278 Pages
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Wiki

Waiting for the Barbarians - J M Coetzee

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Waiting for the Barbarians ( 1980)

J M Coetzee

Vintage Books

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

Maidenhair - Mikhail Shishkin

I am not very well acquainted with the contemporary Russian Literature. Couple of read of Akunin did not really made me wanting to read more, from a country which ruled the world literature scene over 150 years ( probably the best after the Victorian era English). Mikhail Shishkin's name came up in few discussions with lavish praise by many, during last year and continued with the English translation of his Maidenhair. I was trying to get hold of this book for a while ( there are a few more in similar lights) and I would say, the experience was beyond what was expected.

It's been two weeks since I finished reading this and I realise it is not very easy to write about this book. A bit complex in structure, drifting narrative through out, often confusing the reality with fantasy, the political and social undercurrent within the historical perspective and the authors deliberation over the theme makes it a complex read, often demanding a re-read of few pages in the process. Its in this intensity lies the success of this book.

The book constructed around a Russian Interpreter working for one Peter at the Swiss Migration Service , also working on a biography of an aging Russian singer.  Translating and hearing the asylum seekers, as expected, of stories of their life what really happened, or stories that are created for the moment, the tales of despair of hunger, lust and of survival, gets to the pages as transcripts. Adding to this, the interpreter's own creation of stories, of his on deliberations ( to himself) often in the form of questions ( a single question lasting many pages) blurring the division of questions and answers in its form and content. On his part, he himself is trying to re-build his life through his own experiences , including his attempt to rescue his own troubled marriage , in the streets of Rome which he recounts in the form of letters to his son, "Nebuchadnezzasaurus". The stories of asylum seekers move from accounts of soldiers from Afghan, the rebels of Chechnya, people abandoned their own family, the references and recommendations, the images they carry within themselves, often find it difficult to explain without breaking down, the clever intelligent types who work their way through the story telling, often ending up with the same result of rejection.

On a parallel narrative, often mixing with the interpreted transcripts, is the biography under preparation from the diary of the Singer ( Isabella), which he is entrusted to write. The diary staring from the early years of 20th century, prior to the Russian revolution, reproduced in the exact form ( with missing pages, years) of a young teenage girls infatuations, to her growing up years as a singer ( loosing her voice and recovering), who survived revolution, famine, world war and the dissolution of Soviet Union to her own personal battles with voice, the separation of parents and her own multiple failed affairs which she reproduces with no self pity through out the diaries.

The main narrative, continue around the question and answer session at the "Gates of the Paradise" with Peter, the Swiss Official ,'the master of fate' whose job is to evaluate the applicants , trying to prevent those with dubious history from passing through. The existential question about the truth versus lie ( but since you can't clarify the truth, you at least need to clarify the lie) , of fact versus fiction ( Those speaking may be fictitious, but what they say is real. Truth lies only where it is concealed) , of life versus death ( Life is a string and death is the air. A string makes no sound without air). will be at the hands of Peter, or rather the interpreter. The stories are about memory ( most times of memory you wants to forget ) of those who ask questions and of those answer. Hence the questions interpreted, not necessarily by Peter, become reminiscence of the interpreter himself blurring the divide between himself and those at the opposite side.

It isn't an easy read. The structural complexities of the novel, the dreamy narrative drifting in abandon through the pages which leaves you in a state of intoxication at times, the shifting time and space through out the pages and his different voice make it a demanding read. There are many historical references, of Afghan and Chechen accounts of the soldiers, the references to Persian myths and the erstwhile soviet regime adds to the intensity of the overall impact of the book.

To me this is a work of a genius and despite the vigil and focus the book demands, it is highly rewarding at the end. Outstanding work of fiction , translated brilliantly by Marian Schwartz, a book you read as if you are going through a dream.

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Maidenhair ( 2005)

Mikhail Shishkin ( translated from Russian by Marian Schwartz 2012 )

Open Letter

506 Pages
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Other reviews : Dallas News, World Literature Today, Words without Borders, Bookslut,  Three percent

Jahanara - Lyane Guillaume

Mughal Emperors ruled northern part of India over 300 years, and their fall was along the time of the raise of British empire in India. Descendants of  Gengis Khan and Timur, came into India through the Khyber Pass, after conquering the Khandahar and the northern part of current Afghanistan, before moving south-eastern direction and setting up their regime in India.  Mughal rule is a significant development in the development of Modern India in many aspect. The spread of the Islam religion, the greying bifurcation of the Hindi heartland and the South, the consolidation of the geography under one administrative rule ( the earlier instance probably was at the heights of the Magadh) and the prevention of the European dominance in India during their time.

However, the handing over of the reign to the next in line wasn't smooth in most of the cases, especially towards the end. The cruel infighting amongst the siblings, resulting in death of all but the survivor, who ascends to the throne , the large scale massacre during the power transfer, the cleansing of the potential threats, even if they are your own family were the virtues of the Mughal Dynasty. Akbar, during his tenure made a rule, preventing the daughters of the ruler from marrying, in an attempt to eliminate one threat in the form of son-in-laws and their clan. 

Jahangir, Shah Jahan and later Aurangazeb ( who probably was the last true ruler of the dynasty) all had their own hand dirtied in the murky business of power. Putting their own father in jail, ruthlessly killing their siblings (also their sons in some cases Jahangir, Aurangazeb) destroying immediately those who assisted them to the power and later succumbing to the same fate that they delivered to their elders. Jahanara, the eldest daughter of Shah Jahan, educated, clever and intelligent, narrates the events of the two regimes she was to witness.

Despite being confined to the inner parts of the palaces, the daughters of the Mughal emperors shined in various arts and literature. Many were highly read and have contributed and assisted the rule with their intelligent intervention as needed. Nur Jahan, and Gulbadan Begum, the daughter of Babur ( who wrote  Humayun nama) and Jahanara were some of them. Their accounts, documented by them  would later become an important information about the dynasty, for the historians.

Based on the writings of Jahanara,  Lyane Guillaume presents the life of  the Mughal Princess reproduced in an its glory  Written in first person narrative, Jahanara documents the time of Jahangir, where the love stricken emperor, spends most of his time with his mistresses ( with Alcohol and Opium), and the rule was in the hands of his second wife Nur Jahan. The court room politics and the internal struggle for power sees Shah Jahan out of Agra, wandering in the plateau of Deccan as a nomad, gathering support and soldiers for marching towards Agra and capture power. The long eight years of weight and wander almost destroyed the family, before their triumph and  successful return to Agra.

It wasn't long before Shah Jahan lost his wife, and he took solace in the company of his daughter who reminded him of his wife ( the rumour about an incest relationship) . Restricted to the inner walls of the palace, Jahanara recounts her association with people, her many unsuccessful loves, and her tryst to bring harmony among the members of her family. Watching from close quarters, she was the first to recognize the growth of religious fundamentalism within the family and as a result to the empire. Aurangazeb with his hard core religious views threatened the fabric of the tolerance that was the basis of the social behaviour and drive observed by  the previous rulers. Her clever observation and articulation averted many disasters to the family, but she couldn't prevent the in-fight among the brothers. Dara, the eldest son of Shah Jahan, whom she loved dearly and whom she wanted to be the emperor of Hindustan, had to go loose out in the battle. She was such a huge presence in the life of Shah Jahan, Dara and later Aurangazeb ( they reconciled their difference, after Aurangazeb recognised her intelligence and her influence within the palace), supporting them morally and by taking care of the upbringing of the generations of sons and daughters.

One of the best documents of the time of Shah Jahan, the rise and rule of Aurangazeb, Jahanara with her keen power of observation ,intellect and her skill in writing gives the best possible view of the inner turmoil of the empire. Written when she was old, during the regime of aurangazeb, she writes with clear conscience, often critical to herself. She recounts the days of the death of her mother the legendary Mumtas Mahal, the construction of Taj Mahal ( the time of Shah Jahan considered the golden era for architecture ) with some meticulous planning, her and Dara's  connection with Sufism and various religious teachings, her many infatuations ( including the British Doctor who treated for burns) and her intimate relationship with a dancer who later died of burns and her closeness to Dara and her reservations and scare about the young brother Aurangazeb , all of which can be read as in a case of a thriller.

Lyane Guillaume, has done a commendable job in presenting the book, preserving the style and language inspired by the notes and documents of Jahanara written in Persian. The vivid imagery, the clarity of observation and the baroque style of the writing is true to the original. An easy reading, simple and elegant book, translated pretty well into English. Very interesting read, valuable for people with interest in the history and about the Mughal Dynasty.

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Jahanara ( 2003 )

 Lyane Guillaume ( tranalated from French by Uma Narayanan& Prema Seetharam 2003)

East West Books ( Madras) Pvt Ltd

299 Pages
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The Sunset Limited - Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy's play starts before the pages and his writing. A Professor ( identified as White here) is rescued by am ex-convict now on the path of God ( identified as Black), from jumping in front of a speeding train. White is brought to the apartment of Black and he attempt to dissuade him from committing the sin of suicide trying to win him over with his arguments.

White, a propagator of meaninglessness in the life. Margining towards the 'existentialist sympathies, he don't see any reason in living which leaves him in despair. Black on the other hand seems to have gone through this and rediscovered faith. An ex-convict, spent time in jail for murder, now spent his time on the ways of God ( a change from the hospital bed, at the verge of loosing his life). Black is convinced that it was that God who got him there and rescued the White from the mouth of death. He believes that its his duty to save White. He is trying to convince White on the power of God as much as White is trying to deny the existence of the same.

The book is a triumph of beautiful word play. Simple and short sentences , yet profound and intelligent. The poise and control over the flow and the artificially created tussle between two forces trying to convince one another with some clever writing. May be this artificiality plays against the book overpowering the creativity of the writer.

There are a lot of possible quotes like this one, mostly from the intellect of White, rather forced many a times.

"I yearn for the darkness. I pray for death. Real death. If I thought that in death I would meet the people I've known in life I don't know what I'd do. That would be the ultimate horror. The ultimate despair. If I had to meet my mother again and start all of that all over, only this time without the prospect of death to look forward to? Well. That would be the final nightmare"

At times they were mere words gets to you as very superficial and meaningless. Unless they are intended to covey the hollowness of the Professor. So, is the Christian spirituality from the mouth of Black. "Do you really think your Jesus is here in this room" , "No I don't think he is in this room" "You don't" " I know he is in this room" kind of writing, for example.

I am not sure if this can be considered a major play. Here more than the plot and the dramatical incidents, the dialog seems to be important. Its the words that control the progression. Hence from a traditional 'play' to be staged, this is different. The books says a novel in dramatic form. Even there, one can not draw comparison to "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" by Manuel Puig, where a similar attempt was done to a much better effect. But the other typical qualities of a play, the constant tense atmosphere, the attempt to provoke the reader at every point, the unusual responses we see in the absurdist plays, the minimalism, the silences are pretty good . What is also good about this book is the deliberation and dual between two forces. The duality of believes, of social and intelligent levels ( which often shifts places as the play progresses) and the indicative colors of Black and White, the use of accent and the words.

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The Sunset Limited ( 2006 )

Cormac McCarthy

Picador

143 Pages
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Wiki Entry, The Telegraph

The Hunger Angel - Herta Müller

" I know you will return"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Hunger Angel ( 2009 )

Herta Müller ( translated from German by Philip Boehm 2012 )

Portobello Books

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

The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

With the new adaptation of this masterpiece released, I should refresh my memories a bit, before watching the movie, which had very mixed reaction from the followers of literature. I am not too keen to know what is the version of the movie fans. I haven't seen it yet. However, reading the book was important, as I have highly prejudiced view about film adaptation of literary works. 

In the year1925, after his stint the world war I, he wrote his third and most recognised novel , which encompasses all that he has seen and observed in the social strata of the US. The "roaring twenties' as it was called later which saw unprecedented growth of US economy, largely as a result of the post war boom, as well as the rise of the Jazz generation. His hero, Jay Gatsby, is the representation of all that a US youth stood for during the 20's. Highly ambitious, constantly on the look out for the ways to get rich and famous by whatever means, the need to be visible and recognised, urge for flamboyance and glamour and new ways of leading highly 'exaggerated' living with lavish parties. Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire living in the West Egg area of rich Long Island neighborhood , known for his extravagant parties. Nick Carraway, a World War I veteran now working in a New York financial firm, stays at the adjacent house of the vast mansion of Gatsby. The acquaintance of neighbors grew over a period, with Nick's fascination for Gatsby. On return , Gatsby request the help of young Carraway, to get his cousin Daisy Buchanan, already married to Tom Buchanan. Nick on his own carry a romantic relationship with an upcoming golfer Jordan Baker, being introduced to him by Daisy and Tom Buchanan. It is through Jordan, Nick ( and we the readers) gets to know glimpses of the early life of Gatsby and a 5 year old love affair he had with Daisy.  A love affair started at Louisville where  Gatsby an officer, did not go well as the once poor Gatsby ( then James Gatz) had to confront the realities of the rich and poor divide. While Gatsby was serving the war in Europe, Daisy marries Tom Buchanan, a n extremely rich , but brutal man and moves to New York. The rest of his life was focused on the pursuit of wealth . The 'grey' five years of his life, riddled with the death of his mentor, his shot to fame and richness, his dubious friends in the business. Once rich, he returns to New York, cleverly choose the location of his mansion, across the bay from the house of Daisy, living in East Egg , throwing lavish parties, hoping to meet Daisy. As his reputation grows, the speculation of his previous life is strife in the air and his which is attributed to his involvement in 'boot-legging' and other similar activities, but none of which prevented the crowd ( invited and many uninvited) from attending his parties. Daisy did appear, with some help from Nick, and the newly re-triggered love was again on flourish. In a dramatic incident this was made public to Tom himself.  The parties and various love affairs,  Nick with Jordan, Tom with Myrtle( wife of a motor workshop owner) and Gatsby with Daisy nourished amidst this  back ground and this conspicuous surrounding. All that seems to be good has to have an end, which came through a motor accident, resulting in the death of Myrtle, causing a chain reaction of incidents.

What is impressive about the whole book is it simplicity. The freshness of language and narration is intact nearly after 90 years and the interest is rekindled in the reading world with many screen adaptations ( six already).  The vibrant life of the 20s through  the characterisation of Gatsby and the general life style of the elite is depicted visually.  Nick Carraway, likely with many elements of the writer himself, mostly form as the catalyst, the distant observer to the world he is living. Despite the high living, there is a moral shallowness in Gatsby, his own knowledge of his unworthiness despite the money he flaunt, the feel of abandonment and loneliness ( all that who throng his parties have no connect to him in any emotional way , including his own employees in the mansion) he feels within him. Nick, then become his only confidant, despite the reluctance of Nick to be in that circle, knowing his own limitations.  

Fitzgerald wanted to writer ""something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned." and that is what he has done. At the outset, it is a typical love and lost story with a tragic end. As a clever writer, Fitzgerald distances himself from the morality of the tale and at no point tries to win sympathy for his main character. Many characters is retained as 'superficial' as they appear to us with no attempt to get into their psyche. Even, the elusive Gatsby, despite the attempt from Nick Carraway, is not revealed in complete personality. For traditional readers, we find it difficult to accept a completely developed characterisation. To me, the brilliance of the writer is here, in not allowing you to grow your affection on his hero, and  keep a distance between the character , plot and the reader.  Even the narration- the first person narrative of Nick Carraway-  is fast paced. Little gem of a book.

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The Great Gatsby ( 1925 )

F Scott Fitzgerald

Heritage Publishers

173 Pages
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Wiki 

Mastery - Robert Greene

"Mastery is not a function of genius or talent. It is a function of time and intense focus applied to a particular field of knowledge."

For those who are familiar to Robert Greene's books, this will be an extention. I have liked reading the previous three books and that prompted me to take this up for read. What I like in his style of writing is the way they are organised. Unlike the typical management, business or self help kind of books which are too verbose to my comfort, Greene writes in a style which is more subtle and with examples from personalities which are well known in the fields of their own expertise. After a brief narration on the chosen one, he links the points of discussion effortlessly , giving possible 'reversal' angle as well.

This book, supposed to be the resulted from the previous three books. He noticed the similarities in the way the 'heroes' he studied and described went about in their life to be what they are known for. The path, method and progress can be constructed in to a structured model.  Continuing his work on this aspect of their life, Greene came about the theory on "Mastery".  From the life of some of the masters of yester years and by interviewing some of the celebrities of current ( living) generation, the books comes out with the steps that can be generalised in the path to mastery. 

the evolution of mastery begun with the primates. The human brain started developing, differentiating themselves from the animals in the early stone age. The improvement in techniques of hunting, the use of stones and woods , shaped to assist the hunt might be the earlier significant steps towards the 'evolution of Mastery". The social intelligence came in much later, thus making human a much more evolved species. We continued to develop and horn our skills to achieve greater levels of mastery over the generations.

There are three steps in the life of any work / task or learning. The first is the acquaintance phase, where one need to get acclimatized to the surroundings , the task and the people. The second phase is that of apprenticeship where you start learning the skill. It is during this phase of 'life' you strive towards mastery. It's often painstaking and laborious. It demand commitment and dedication and most importantly guidance. The post mastery phase is the phase of 'creative output' , which is the reflection of all that you are learned and practiced over many many hours or years.

Greene summarizes the path to mastery into 6 steps, detailed into different chapters.

Discover Your Calling: The Life’s Task

Submit To Reality: The Ideal Apprenticeship

Absorb The Master’s Power: The Mentor Dynamic

See People As They Are: Social Intelligence

Awaken The Dimensional Mind: The Creative-Active

Fuse The Intuitive With The Rational: Mastery

Citing examples from the lives of Mozart, Charles Darwin, Einstein, Goethe  and new age masters like V S Ramachandran ( neuro sciences), Daniel Everett ( Linguist) , Paul Graham, Yoki Matsuoka ( Artificial intelligence and robotics) ,Freddie Roach( Boxing) and many others, each chapter elaborate into the nuances of the respective aspect of mastery.

While there are questions raised on some of the practicality of the aspects, the overall suggestions are pretty interesting. Fairly easy read, and engaging through out. No jargons or 'registered' phrases. Dense, but not as rich as the the other books : there are no side notes nor any microprinted quotes. But, a good read nonetheless.

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Mastery ( 2012 )

Robert Greene

Profile Books

336 Pages
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Wiki, LA Times

Point Omega - Don DeLillo

Omega Point : describe a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving, says the description. A word coined by  French Jesuit, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin , says the universe is moving towards a point of supreme complexity and consciousness at all the time. Don DeLillo, reversing the words order, trying to tell us that there is no evidence of a super consciousness, but in the 'time, space and substance' triangle its the chaos that reign. “Consciousness is exhausted. Back now to inorganic matter. This is what we want. We want to be stones in a field.”

Richard Esler, a defence scholar and consultant, worked with the CIA in the days prior to the Iraq War, is now retired and living an isolated life in the deserts of California, in an attempt to find possibly the 'point omega', a spiritual life, in search of himself and the wisdom of self awareness. Jim Finley, a small time film maker, wants to direct a documentary film about Richard Esler, and to gain insights to the world of military intelligence and war. Tracking him down the desert, Jim attempt to get Esler talk, wanting to record his film in a natural free flowing monologue, as and when and how the reluctant  Esler like to do it.  In the pages that follows is the high level of intellectual setting, where two confront each other and lift themselves to the level of complexities regarding the various aspects of life and war. Esler, was to conceptualize the war as a haiku. "I wanted a war in three lines...".  Eslers, daughter joins them a few days later, adding to the overall setting in the isolated desert, being sent by her mother( estranged wife of Esler) in order to get her out of the influence of a possible stalker( lover?). The otherwise, slow sparse narrative takes a definite turn with the disappearance of the lady and the following search in the vast desert for possible clue.

The novel starts with an anonymous entry of a movie screening of the '24-hour psycho' where a man leaning against the wall is watching ( continuously for the 6 days, the exhibition was running) the various people coming and going in the hall. As he observe the slow 2 frame per second psycho unfold on the screen, we see various specimen of the society walk in and out , which supposedly include people that resembles Esler and Jim , Eslers daughter, who gives him her contact without revealing her name among others. There are different readings into the anonymity chapters, which can in a way initiate ( in the first) and solve the overall puzzle of the disappearance and there after.

Typical to DeLillo's writing, the words are sparse, the sentences are crisp and moulded in the high intellect and complexity. There isn't strong story line to say. The interpersonal conversations are generally tense and had uneasy space in between. The silences and omitted sentenced ( I dont know if that is the right way to put it) are often provide the connection. The language and the prose are very lyrical and attractive. But, the air of uncertainty, unclear nature continue to torment the readers, especially in the middle pages where every thing is vague, directionless, pretentious and very artificial.

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Point Omega ( 2010 )

Don DeLillo

Scribner

117 Pages
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Wiki , Shigekuni

പ്രണയത്തിന്റെ മൂന്നാംകണ്ണ് - K V Mohankumar

Dropping off his education, in search of 'nirvana', the ultimate truth , Rahulan starts his journey away from his dear and near. He need to find a Guru, who could guide him to the path of 'nirvana'. At home, in Muchiri, the preparation of his return, as 'graduate' is in full swing. His father was working for the biggest trader of the port. Upon his death, Rahulan and his mother was living under the protection and support by the Trader. Jabala, the daughter of the trader is pursuing her love for Rahulan and their wedding is on the cards, awaiting the triumphant return of the boy after his studies. He is expected to lead the team and the ship on its scheduled journey and Jabala, preparing to join him on his right side. However, the wait is of no positive consequences. Rahulan had different plans. He is now a wanderlust, in search of the path to 'Buddhahood', seeking direction in his path to nirvana and looking for someone who will lead him there. His journey ends at a 'black-smith' girl, who takes him through the spiritual journey of 'ultimate love and desire' interpreting this as the union of souls and bodies in the supreme coherence of power, through which you approach the divinity and 'nirvana'. In completion of her prescribed task of guiding him through this phase, she return to her folds, saying all that is to be learned in the 'paths of 'tantra' is now been imparted to him and hehas to fend for himself. Rahulan continues his travel through the world for the final salvation and the one-ness with the universe. In this phase of his life, he continue to meet people whom he was encounters in his pre-yogic days, including his mother ( who dies in his hand, savouring the last drops of water poured by him) and finally Jabala herself, Captaining the ship on his absence.

The book is inspired by 'tantric Buddhism', and an attempt to merge the mystical and spiritual world of Buddha to the world of  'Osho'. At one side, the quest for 'nirvana' and on the other the 'liberation of self through fulfilling the desire of the physical body through the five sensory organs'. The premise and the context of the book is interesting.

I would like to look at the book ( and his writing) in two parts. The Two parallel tracks he was trying to carry through the book, with a possible and predictable convergence. The parts of Muchiri, with ever waiting 'soul mate', his mother and the port and trade community in general was beautifully written. On the other part, the one with Rahulan's quest for 'nirvana' and the resulting spiritual 'endeavor' in general wasn't as free flowing. At many places it felt forced and superficial. The inner turmoil, the constant doubt on himself and the path he has chosen, the uncertainty regarding the 'Guru' and 'karma' ( in the real sense of work) oriented learning of the 'truth' instead of 'dhyana' oriented approach etc are written and accounted very well. How ever, the tight narrative, to me looses its sheen, when it comes to the 'sensory love', the one-ness of body and soul, the spiritual emancipation of the desires, living the physical and sensual life to the extreme under the guise of mystical reunion of  the plough and the land ( a metaphor appear through out the book ): while it looked good as a theme, it wasn't very appealing in the end.

K V Mohankumar , IAS Officer and presently the District Collector of Kozhikode. He is not new to literature, having published many books already. I haven't read any of his previous books. From what I seen in this book is that he is good at his work. Though the theme he choose to explore is a bit vague and in the end did not deliver to the promise it created at the beginning, the parts of Muchiri and parallel track were beautifully written.

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പ്രണയത്തിന്റെ മൂന്നാംകണ്ണ്  ( 2012 )

K V Mohan Kumar

D C Books

184 Pages
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The Hindu, Penmai

The Book of Bhima ( Krishnavatara IV ) - K M Munshi

The fourth book of the 'Krishnavatara' series, came into hand after a while. Surprisingly, it failed to impress me. Unlike the earlier ones ( especially the second), this was way too light and least insightful of those read thus far. It appeared as a plain and simple retelling of the story, with Bhima being the action man, as the name suggests.

Starting off from where the previous book was left, K M Munshi takes us through the intial days of the Pandava clan with Draupadi. Having to face the reality of five husbands, each a hero on their own right, Draupadi quickly had to device a system and method, to prevent the disintegration and infighting among the brothers. A method, did she device, in the form of time-share and had her way with Yudhishtira to get that accepted by the brothers.

Bhima stood out from the rest, not only by his physical strength and the gigantic size. He was the most innocent, most lively, full of pranks and notorious, despite his age. He has his way with the world, which goes beyond people of his stature. He managed to win over the man-eating  'Rakshasa tribe' ,married to Hidimbi , ruled them as King Vrikodara, single handedly rescued his family and protected them against all the forces. He believed that his role in the family is that of the protector and he takes pride in it, which often makes him upset with his elder brother for his decisions which he does not in agreement with. However, behind the facade of the giant structure and often ridiculous shows, remain a shrewd and highly intelligent mind. A mind constantly work towards the betterment of the family. It was his clever maneuvers that won half the a forces of his father-in-law , accompanying them on their march towards Hastinapura. It was his handy work, that saw Krishna and the Yadava leaders to join the journey. It was his ploy and work that saw Bhanumati's sister and brother from reaching early to Hastinapura.

The meticulous plan laid by Bhima seems to have worked well on the Pandava's arrival at Hastinapura. There was only one man, who could think beyond the measure of Bhima. Krishna, went a step ahead and made sure that the Kaurava King made announcement of Yudhishtira as the new King. He, in order to fulfill the promise he gave to Bhanumati, to retain Duryodhana as the king of Hastinapura, managed to rally the opinion around moving the new Capital to Khandavaprastha, not before securing the large number of resources towards this goal. The book ends with the new city of Khandavaprastha  being in force.

The book does have few interesting moments. What strikes me the most is the 'adolescent like' love affair between  Jalaandhara ( sister of Bhanumati) and Bhima ( Bhima with all the lovers traits) and the Krishna-Bhima rendezvous and the way he managed to persuade Bhima to return to his brothers. The writing in general was a continuation from the previous books. This did not have the same impact of the previous books.

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The Book of Bhima - Krishnavatara IV  ( 1967 )

K M Munshi

Bhavan's Book University

253 Pages
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Voices from Chernobyl - Ingrid Storholmen

I was fooled by the title. Never knew there are two books with the same title. The one I was keen to read was the one by Journalist Svetlana Alexievich, which is the accounts narrated by people affected by the disaster. The error was realised only later. I understand that the original title is "Chernobyl Stories", but the clever business tactics got the book released with the same title as the former one in India by Harper Perenniel ( I havent seen any reference to this book on the internet apart from India) But, the fear was unfounded. Ingrid Storholmen's book is intense and hard hitting.

The 1986 disaster at Chernobyl reactor, had far fetched repercussions. The effects of the disaster was felt  at countries 1000s of kilometers away from the site. Ingrid Storholmen, 10 years when the disaster occurred, herself was a victim of the radiation. Two of her sisters had to undergo Thyroid removal operations ( who carry the marks like a necklace, she mentions) as the wind carried the impacts to Central Norway, where she belonged to.

To bring back the memories of one of the worst nuclear catastrophes in the modern world, the book starts:

On Saturday, 26 April, 1986, at 01.23 am, something went terribly wrong with Reactor Four at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in the Ukraine. Due to an experiment to try to produce electricity from the residual energy in the steam generator, several safety precautions were out of operation. Uncontrollable heat was produced, which caused an explosion of steam in the core of the reactor. The explosion blew away the reactor’s roof and the graphite in the core caught fire. The blaze went on for several days, casting huge quantities of radioactivity a thousand metres up into the atmosphere. To quench the fire, five thousand tonnes of lead and stones were dropped from helicopters. It was a long time before the local people were given warnings and evacuated. Later a concrete sarcophagus was built around the reactor and a zone three miles in radius was established around it, within which nobody was allowed to stay.

Stroholmen's book is a work of fiction. I've seen the mention as a novel somewhere, which I am not too sure. She spend nearly two months at the site, resulting in the writing of this book. It is constructed in the forms of multiple voices, directly or indirectly affected by the disaster. Each voice, given the feel of authenticity, by the writer. The intensity, the inner anger, despair or sense of loss is maintained as though it is from the mouths of the sufferer.  There is no standard format, few are short paragraphs, few are detailed. The span is over 20 years. The images are powerful, the after effect of reading are profound and few of the pages are written fabulously.

The mother, who visits the rescue center office every day enquiring about her missing son ( knowing that he is dead, but the purpose of her existence is the waiting for the return of her dead son),  a father ( member of the ruling regime at the local level) , who escapes with his two daughters, leaving his wife and mother to the fate, only to protect the kids, the young scientist, locked in the single room, dying of cancer, but not before assembling his own version of Atom Bomb, and many more.

People are moved en-mass ( after many hours of the incident)as  the air and water are contaminated with high radiation. The crops are poisoned, the fodder is useless, every child in the womb is aborted, every cancerous organ has to be removed. People are "untouchables" to the rest of the world. Even after moving to safer zones, the rest of the world do not want to have anything with them for the fear of radiation. The effects of the radiation continue to torment many many years since the disaster.

The book is full of these varied narration, each has the same tale to tell. A rather loose collection of pages with no particular order. You can start anywhere and skip any, as they are all the same. Its all a single perspective and a single view or opinion. The disaster destroyed a 'town' of their homes, their land, their beloved, their own self. The memories, the love, the life, the human-ness , changed over night. The new realities, helplessness, sense of cheating ( to the authorities, to the world in general and to the God), heroics and sacrifices become part of the life, all of a sudden. Though it is repetitive at times and monotonous , the book is able to recreate the days of human disaster, after all these years.

As our country continue to debate the future of Koodankulam ( the opinion is divided in favor and against, where people oppose are branded as anti-government and anti-development ), it is important to read these books. The recent event at the Fukushima plant, about which there aren't many data available, is still fresh in mind. 

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Voices from Chernobyl ( 2009 )

Ingrid Storholmen ( translated from Norwegian by Marietta Taralrud Maddrell 2013)

Harper Perennial

175 Pages
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Excerpts at Pratilipi, Hindu, Business Standard