Book Review: Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

When I had read Rohinton Mistry for the first time, his novel ‘Such a Long Journey’ had made me feel like it is a long journey for the reader too. But his eye for the details was very impressive so I knew I would come back to him. ‘Family Matters’ is longer (500 pages novel) than my previous read but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it over a few days time.

Nariman Vakil is the ‘chief’ of a Parsi family living in Mumbai. When Nariman was young, he wanted to marry his girlfriend Lucy who did not belong to his community but it did not materialize with stiff opposition from his parents. He ends up marrying a widow chosen by his parents who already had two children, a son and a daughter (Jal and Coomy) from her first marriage. He becomes father to them too and then his daughter Roxana arrives into the family. Jal and Coony do not get married and lives with Nariman in a spacious flat with multiple rooms while Roxana gets married to Yezad, they have two sons, Jehangir and Murad and they live separately in another smaller flat.

While going for a walk, Nariman breaks his ankle and becomes bed-ridden. His old age and Parkinson disease makes things worse for him. Since their's is a middle-class family, Jal and Coomy struggle to make their ends meet along with the new medical expenses to be spent on their stepfather. More than the money, it is the physical effort to service the old man tires down Coomy. Moreover she did not have any nice feelings for the old man and she held his stepfather responsible for her mother’s misery and death. Exhausted by the needs to serve the ailing man, they arrange an ambulance to drop off Nariman at Roxana’s house. And the troubles get transferred to Roxana and Yezad’s family.

Yezad works in a sports goods selling shop owned by Mr. Kapoor who is disturbed by the reducing religious tolerance in the town of Mumbai. To overcome the financial pressures Yezad first attempts his hand in Matka (a form of speculation which is illegal), his beginner's luck does not last long. Then he develops a plot to gain benefit out of his employer. But coincidentally Mr. Kapoor gets killed by two members of a political outfit. That makes Yezad jobless.

In another parallel development, Coomy who had done everything to avoid the return of Nariman to her flat gets killed in a collapse in her flat while carrying out a repair. Saddened by the development, Jal (Coomy’s brother) invites Yezad’s family along with Nariman to live together in his flat. Yezad with the help of Jal sells his small flat and all family members relocate to the bigger flat.

The old man dies and the financial pressures on the family ease too but Yezad turns extremely religious. A sense of dissatisfaction remains in Roxana and Jahangir who thought they were happier when they lived in their small flat. 

Though family matters take center stage in this novel, sub plots touch many subjects from religion to politics to philosophy. Though this is a work of fiction, I guess the subject is heavily drawn from personal life of the author Rohinton Mistry who is represented in Jehangir’s character in this novel.

This novel was published in 2002. Like other two novels by the same author, this too was shortlisted for the Booker prize.

Book Review: ‘The Moon and Sixpence’ and ‘The Magician’ by Somerset Maugham

The Moon and Sixpence is about Charles Strickland, a genius and obsessive painter. For him painting is not just a form of expression but a way of life. Nothing else interests him. A boring person in his 40, living in London leaves behind his family to Paris to focus on painting. Very few understand his paintings or the person, but Strickland does not care as he is driven by the devil painter inside him to get out and the worldly matters such as money, praise do not seem to bother him. Going hungry is routine part of his life as he cannot stick to any job and his paintings do not sell and he is not interested in selling them either so does not put much efforts there. Painting is a compulsion for him, Emotionally he is ruthless. He breaks the family of a friend who helps him and walks away with no sign of remorse. He is a pilgrim on the move. He reaches Tahiti islands and there he accepts a younger wife who does not trouble him in his passion and does not ask him to earn, that is what he wanted from a woman. So he settles down but his solitary life continues, he goes on to create numerous paintings but the leprosy attack shortens his life. Yet he paints till he becomes blind and the death arrives. Fame comes after his death and his paintings fetch great money and become sought after when their creator is no more on this earth.

This story is said to be based on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin. This painting – Fruits and Lemons shown here does get a mention in the novel. That painter himself gives this painting to the doctor who attends him when he gets leprosy.

This novel was first published in 1919 and is said to be one of the best of  what Somerset Maugham had produced. It was also made into a movie with the same title.

Another painting by Paul Gauguin (Source: Wikipedia)

‘The Magician’ is about recreating the life of a real life magician through a novel. Arthur Burdon and Margaret Dauncey live in London and are about to get married. They make a trip to Paris to meet their friends. Arthur being a surgeon has another doctor friend and Margaret has her classmate living there. They get introduced to a magician named Oliver Haddo. An incident leads to rivalry between Arthur and Oliver and the magician plays his tricks to separate Margaret from Arthur and he marries her himself. He takes her away from Paris to multiple places. He then uses her for his experiment that finally leads to death of Margaret. Puzzled Arthur gets to the roots of the evil and in the ensuing fight Arthur manages to kill the magician and destroy his lab. Just five characters make this novel and the last quarter run of this novel is no less thrilling than any Hollywood movie with all its explanation of black magic. When you are done, mentioning the name of Oliver Haddo would scare you for your rest of life, such is the impact of the character author has created in this novel.

This novel was first published in 1908 when the author had developed interest on the subject of black magic. The character of Oliver Haddo was based on the life of Aleister Crowley who wrote an article (published in Vanity Fair) criticizing author of this novel of plagiarism after this novel came out (https://www.100thmonkeypress.com/biblio/acrowley/periodicals/write_a_novel/write_a_novel.htm). Somerset Mougham, author of this novel expresses his regret for not reading what was written by Aleister in the beginning of his novel.

William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was trained to be a doctor but the commercial success of his first novel published when he was a medical student helped him become a full time writer. He devoted lot of time to write plays which made him popular and earned him big money. But then he came back to short stories and novels too. He has more the 30 books to his credit. He was born and died in France but his time was spent considerably in London too so he is mostly known as British author. It gets reflected in his novels as well where in central characters shuttle in between in London and Paris.

Book Review: The Sunset Club by Khushwant Singh

Three people, all in their late eighties meet every day in Lodhi Gardens of Delhi at sunset and they occupy a bench called Boorha Binch (old men’s bench). They are the members of ‘Sunset Club’. They were introduced to each other in the same garden during their regular visits in the garden with occasional greetings slowly turning into lasting friendship.

They represent major religions of India. One of them is Pandit Sharma, second is Nawab Dehlavi and the third is Boota Singh. They have served in highest positions in their roles during their socially active life which has given them immense understanding of India.

This novel begins on January 26, 2009 (Republic Day of India) and ends on January 26, 2010. Each chapter in the novel covers one month of the year. And the thirteenth chapter concludes the novel. Apart from capturing the discussions of Sunset Club, each chapter records the transitions in the seasons and how Delhi reacts or adjusts to it.

All three members of this club are rich in their material possessions and rich in intellectual knowledge too. They discuss everything under the sun. Their personal lives, fantasies, sexual adventures, current affairs are all discussed. Religion and politics are often the central themes of their discussions. They disagreed on many subjects but they respected each other’s opinions, and longed to meet every evening to seek each other’s differing views on any subject, so the unity of Sunset Club remained unquestioned for 40 years.

They are bored with their routine lives. Sunset meetings are the major things in their daily life and they carry their discussions to their homes too to share with their family. They are in sunset years of their lives and know there is not much life left ahead for them. It is Nawab who bids goodbye to life first and the remaining two friends attend his funeral. They find it difficult to cope with the loss. And in few more days, Sharma too joins the dead friend. Sardar sahib (Boota Singh) alone returns to Boorha Binch of Lodhi Gardens.

Khushwant Singh wrote this novel at the age of 95. His objective was to record memories of his dead friends. Mixing facts with fantasy resulted into this novel ‘The Sunset Club’. He was not sure if he would be able to finish it. (But he went on to produce three more works after it). He was one author who brought life into every page of the book. The character of Sardar in this novel is partly reflection of himself. Reading this book may mentally prepare the readers toward their sunset years.

The Temple Dancer by John Speed

This is one more book I thoroughly enjoyed. It is set in 17^th century of India. Two women protagonists take the Centre stage and crossover their paths toward their destinies. Dasanas is a Portuguese trader family based in Goa, are interested in reviving their trade relations with the Sultans of Bijapur. To make it happen they have something to offer in return to grand vizier of Bijapur, Maya a fine dancer. Portuguese has family bought Maya paying a hefty price and have to send her off to Bijapur. The caravan to carry her is joined by Lucinda, heiress to Dasanas family and Geraldo, a cousin of Lucinda who has arrived in India. The travel is led by settlement man Da Gama, and Pathan to ensure safety of the caravan. Slipper, a eunuch is also part of the caravan, but he is more than company to women in the journey. He is after something (jewelry and a robe cladded with precious stones) which is his but in possession of Maya.

 Journey begins from Goa via the Western Ghats. They are attacked by bandits, many of the guards get killed, Pathan saves Lucinda from the verge of getting killed from bandits and Maya is saved by Da Gama. Their relationships are strengthened after the incident. They take rest at Chitra’s house in Belgaum. Maya is attracted to Geraldo, and would like to forge a relationship with him but Geraldo has higher ambitions. When Da Gama reaches Bijapur he meets up with Victorio, representative of Dasanas family in Bijapur. Victorio finds that there is one more suitor for Maya, Whisper, head of eunuchs, willing to a pay seven lakh Huns for the nautch girl. Eunuchs are willing to pay a fortune for Maya since the stones she has in possession are worth more than the price they are paying her. That secret is known to only Maya and the Eunuchs. But Maya passes it to Da Gama for safe custody. Da Gama takes the stone to a jeweler shop and gets a look alike, fake stone made for him. He keeps the original stone with him and gives the fake to Maya.

Victorio plays cards with both Wali Khan, chief minister of Bijapur and Whisper offering Maya to both parties. And he has a plan to get married to Lucinda, who is the heiress to Portuguese clan. When the caravan begins journey out of Belgaum towards Bijapur, Victorio gets killed by Geraldo and Lucinda is accused for this. If Lucinda is punished to death, Geraldo would become sole survivor in the Portuguese family, and can become rich in less time and no efforts. He is supported by Slipper, the eunuch who has set eyes on the stones is possession of Maya and he does not want Maya to go Wali Khan at any cost. Both Geraldo and Slipper become a team and begins their journey to Sultana (wife of Bijapur Sultan, who is ruling until her young son Adil grows up to be a king). The travel path has routes through Gokak falls, a tiny passage, which can be passed by one man at a time. Making use of this opportunity, Pathan saves Lucinda again by kidnapping her. Later they both get married.

Rest of the caravan, Maya, Da Gama, Geroldo and Slipper reach the courts of Sultana. Both Wali Khan and Whisper claim ownership of Maya. Sultana decides Maya should belong to Wali Khan. Later in the day at the edge of the river, Slipper tries to snatch the stones from Maya. Since the bridge they were standing on collapses, Slipper falls into the river along with the precious stone. But it was a fake stone he took it away. Everyone who were aware of the stone, think it got lost in the river.

Da Gama returns the original stone to Maya. But Maya gets again sold to Mughals by Wali Khan. When she is set leave Bijapur, she hosts a dinner party to Geraldo. Before Geraldo departs, Maya shows off the stone in her possession for which many fought and lost their lives. Once she wanted to belong to Geraldo but was rejected. Geraldo with all his plots and evil schemes thought he had become rich but now he gets to know the fortune he let it go.

Subject, strategy and language are surprisingly superb for an author who has produced his first novel. John Speed, author, began studying history of India while in his school. While working on his novel, Tiger Claws, the characters of this novel haunted him, so ‘The Temple Dancer’ came first setting the stage for his next novel.

For anyone interested in historical fiction, this novel is surely an enjoyable read.

Michael Lewis: Flash Boys, The Money Culture and The Pacific Rift

If you are/were an online trader in equity markets or know about it, then you would appreciate reading ‘Flash Boys’ which decodes High Frequency Trading for the common investors and traders. Few big firms made use of High Frequency and algorithm based trading to take advantage of the information available on the order books of the stock markets and make favorable moves to pocket quick money. It looks unethical to bend the whole system to get to know the information few micro seconds earlier than the broader market and to have customized ordering systems for them to make this kind of trading work but that is how the Wall Street works.

There are few who made killing in the market by mastering the subject or by manipulating the system. And those people are the subjects of interest for Michael Lewis. ‘The Money Culture’ is a collection of essays which show the changing perceptions of investment bankers towards money and other stories from the Wall Street. The last few chapters of this book and the whole book of ‘The Pacific Rift’ are about the trading and investment relations between Japan and USA. Do you know why Japanese products are cheaper outside Japan than in their homeland? Why Japanese pay more than market value for properties in the US? And how is Japan able to manage trade surplus for so long? Why US based or any other foreign firms are not able to make into Japan’s domestic market in a big way? Are they not trying hard enough or is it the system in Japan makes it impenetrable? How a big earthquake in Tokyo can cause a severe damage in US financial markets while Japan comes out of it quickly? Author finds out answers for these through his research, travels and interviews with those high stake holders and the connecting links.

Michael Lewis was an investment banker employed with Solomon Brothers during 1980s but gave up that job to become a full time writer. Now he is a columnist for Bloomberg News and a contributing writer to Vanity Fair. He is one of my favorite authors and I intend to read all of his works. I have read six of his books and others too would be a matter of time.

Book review: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami

Tsukuru Tazaki is one of the five friends group - three boys and two girls in their school days. After their school, only Tsukuru leaves the comfort of hometown to head to Tokyo for further studies. He is passionate about building railway stations that becomes his subject of study and the profession too. Whenever he is back in hometown Nagoya, he regularly meets his friends. During one of such visits, all of his friends refuse to meet Tsukuru or talk to him. He finds it strange and after repeated attempts, he learns that his friends have abandoned him, cut him-off from their group without an explanation. It pains Tsukuru a lot; he goes into depression for five months. From the verge of suicide, he recovers and learns to get on with his life. After that incident he finds it difficult to make friends and it takes two decades for him to find a promising girlfriend in Sara Kimoto. After they get to know each other better, Sara notices the emptiness in Tsukuru and feels that it has roots in what has happened to Tsukuru in his school days. She helps to track those friends and advises Tsukuru to meet them to fill up the void and eliminate the emotional baggage he is carrying for years.

Tsukuru goes on to meet his two boyfriends first, hears their version of stories and reasoning. One of the girl friends is already dead and she was the prime reason behind the friends maintaining distance with Tsukuru. But another girl friend is living in Finland far away from Japan. Tsukuru goes to Finland to meet up with her friend and many of the facts which were unknown to him open up and things start falling up in place. His friend suggests Tsukuru to hang on to Sara. Once he is back in Tokyo, Tsukuru proposes to Sara and waits for her response.

This has all the ingredients of Murakami’s novels. Loneliness, depression, death, wild dreams, music, liquor and sex. Using all of that into a good recipe, Murakami transports the readers into the story he tells. But he makes few observations which are not usually part of novels, such as science of building railway stations, skills needed to sell the cars, and the effort needed to be competitive in corporate world which he explains through the characters of this novel.

A million copies of this book were sold in the first week of its release. That shows Murakami’s acceptance and commercial success as an author.

Book Review: By the Sabarmati by Esther David

This book is a collection of twenty-short stories. These stories are real short and sad. A few minutes time is what you need to read each one of them but the emotions they invoke are deep. All of the stories are about the women who live around Sabarmati (in Gujarat). And these women live in poverty, and their daily lives revolve around making their ends meet, having food or cloth of their choice is a luxury for them. But they too are humans, failed love or death of near ones makes their lives unbearable along with the disappointments they need to face for being born as poor.

The first story ‘Father’ is about a daughter worrying about his father on the first day of her marriage. ‘Full Moon’ is a story of two friends, one of them getting killed for dowry and the other being haunted by the memory of her. ‘Zhunzhun’ is a lamb adopted by a poor family and the sisters getting drowned in an effort to save the lamb. ‘Tent of Bones’ is a story of a women and an aged bullock waiting for its death at the hands of a butcher. ‘The Charpoy’ is about a man living in the memory of his dead wife. ‘Homecoming’ is a story of a poor mother whose son grows to be a rich man but does not want to live with her mother. ‘Kurma Avatar’ is about the guests making the lives of their hosts a burden by adopting a tortoise as pet. All other stories are also taken from unique life experiences of those living an ordinary life. These are not the stories which are written for entertainment but to show the emotional side of those poor who had no better choices in leading their lives.

After reading this I realized that taking a walk in slums or where the poorer of poor live and getting to kow them better, one can come out with a bunch of stories like this Author had done. While putting them into words, author adds the ironies of life to them. These stories can make the reader sad but also opens them up to wider emotions making them temperamental at the end.

Esther David is a Jewish-Indian author, an artist and a sculptor. She lives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She has won Sahitya Akademi Award in 2010 for The Book of Rachel.

Book Review: 24 Akbar Road by Rasheed Kidwai

This is more than the biography of a bungalow, which was the center place of activities of Congress party for many decades. It provides biography of all its occupants and of the political party too. It has stood a mute witness to “Rise-Fall-Rise-Fall” of the historical party.

This bungalow situated at 24, Akbar Road of New Delhi, was turned into Party Office in 1978 by Indira Gandhi during her low and tough years after the emergency. The building was in the state of shambles, reflecting the situation of the party too. But the years ahead proved lucky for the building and its occupants.

Then book turns into historic events in making of Indira Gandhi and some details about her father too. When she was expelled from party, she had said “Nobody can throw me out of Congress. It is not a legal question but a question of the very fibre of one’s heart and being.”  That is because her house was not limited to her family but to many of the party workers and freedom fighters. She had witnessed her father and grandfather going to jail several times during British rule. She had confronted British at a tender age objecting their house hold goods being taken away by them as her father had not paid the fines imposed by British court. Though not an adult during freedom struggle of India, her Monkey Party had played the role of passing on critical messages to the freedom fighters. Indira’s role as a Congress party worker was indisputable. She came back to power and the bungalow at 24, Akbar filled with people and became a place where major decisions of the party are taken.

Indira was groomed by none other than her father. He had written lengthy letters to her shaping her personality in his absence as well. But Indira had a mind of her own. Along with wit and courage, she had weaknesses too. Her politically active son Sanjay was getting into many day to day functioning of the Govt. and that of party. Those who did not align with him quickly lost their influence and place. But the accident did not let Sanjay live longer and led to reluctant Rajiv’s arrival into politics. Subsequent killing of Indira and Rajiv too brought many changes into the functioning of party. After three generations of Nehru-Gandhi family holding the top post of Prime Minister, it was the turn of PVN Rao for the high post. In party matters too, Sitaram Kesri rose to chief post. The mismanagement and the mistakes of the party led to its fall and BJP assumed power under leadership of Vajpayee. But the political tide does not let anyone remain in top forever.

Congress was reelected in 2004. But Sonia opted to be a king maker by putting the learned man Dr. Man Mohan Singh on the throne. Activities resumed again at the bungalow of 24, Akbar Road. During this time, the building became tech savvy too, enabling better communication and coordination between party offices all over India. The book ends with an optimistic note on Rahul Gandhi, hoping that the prince will be crowned.

Author Rasheed Kidwai had written this book in a lucid style, keeps the reader engaged in this political thriller. He presents many interesting facts from the history of the party but he got it all wrong with Rahul. 2014 elections proved to be a disaster for Congress and Rahul. (This book was published in 2013). Like in 1978, the party seems to be in shambles again. Recently the ruling Govt. had issued a notice to Congress to vacate 24, Akbar Road. Is this the end of the historical party or a new beginning? At least it seems to be the end of 24, Akbar road in the history of Congress.

Book Review: Shattered Dreams - Ramayana-The Game of Life by Shubha Vilas

Most of us would have heard the story of Ramayana early in our lives from our grandmothers (even before we learn to read or went to school). Thanks to Ramanand Sagar, his TV serial filled the gaps in those homes where grandmas were absent. At schools, it was teachers who retold it. At dramas, our elders enacted the scenes from it. After one learns to read, it opens up the bigger world as there are numerous books on Ramayana written over many centuries. Each author had put forward his or her views though the central plot and the subject matter remained the same, it was the style and the focus on certain characters made them unique. So it became an epic as it had the strength to survive many generations and remain relevant.

I too had read many versions of it with different perspectives and kept wondering each time about the capability of the story to be retold but still holding readers interest. And I had my set of questions too. If the purpose of Rama’s birth was to kill Ravana and if it was all destiny, why Sita was made the ignorant victim as Rama would have found any other reason to kill Ravana? I always found Rama too ideal for a human being (is that the reason they term him God?) and wondered how such a person who did not lose his tranquil in many odd circumstances but lost his serene when one of his countrymen accused his wife. It was strange for me to see Lakshmana losing importance in the story after the war gets over and wondered why nobody thought of his wife. As a fellow human being, Lakshmana’s wife would also have craved for her husband’s love but she gets little attention than she had deserved and so on.

When I had received the book “Shattered Dreams - Ramayana-The Game of Life” from BlogAdda, I begin with an impression that I am reading another version of the great mythology but soon I realized that the footnotes are making it more than a novel like read. For fictional/novel readers, footnotes are a distraction as they break the flow and continuity. But in non-fiction books, they are a must to provide references and other notes from the author. This book is full of footnotes almost in every page which are sharp and full of wisdom which gave me a feeling of reading a case study and the take away from case study captured in the form of foot notes. As you read a page from the book, the footnotes below it offer an explanation and reasoning why the characters behaved that way. That helps us understand the characters in depth and dissect the situation.

If one reads this book like a novel, I suppose the objective of the author will not be met. It is the synthesis of Ramayana and how we can improve our lives reading it is the significance of this book. So this book appeals to me more of a personality development/leadership guide book, and a good one at it as it has the backing of the great epic. The story of it everyone knows but what we can learn from each character and the situation from Ramayana, this book shows it. So it cannot be read in one go but need to be used like a study guide and I feel it is worth the time invested. It helps to clarify one’s understanding of life, transform himself and elevate to next level of understanding and produce a tolerant leader out of the reader. It helps the readers understand the importance of character and integrity. 

I am sure to come back to this book again in time.

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Book Review: Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene

Henry Pulling is a retired banker. He is unmarried and content spending time growing flowers at his home garden. At his mother’s funeral, he meets up with Aunt Augusta, a younger sister of his mother who was not in touch for decades. Aunt Augusta too is unmarried and they take a walk together after the funeral and decide to meet up frequently. And his Aunt reveals a secret to Henry that he is his father’s son but the mother who was dead was a step mother and he was born to someone else as a result of wandering of Henry’s father. Henry surprised with this revelation, wants to know more as no one else knows about this as his father is long dead and his mother (or step mother) is too dead now. He visits her aunt’s house and as he gets to know her more, he is drawn into a world of adventure, romance, and he travels to the places he had not seen in his conventional, predictable life as a banker.

When his aunt asks him to accompany for a travel, Henry joins her but he is not aware that they are going far away from London where they lived. Henry had not traveled out of his home country till then. And he did not have a slightest suspicion that his aunt is taking out gold (smuggling!) with her to pay for the foreign exchange they need. When he finds that and asks if she is aware that it is illegal, she smiles back and tells she has not read the law so she does not know what is legal or not and it does not matter for her. Travel takes them to Paris, and then to Istanbul. Over a series of conversations Henry learns about the past of his aunt and her lovers. Though she was not married, she had moved from one lover to another during her prime of life. And this travel was to meet the people from past life again. Henry gets to meet those people from his aunt’s past and that this travel had many purposes to serve for his Aunt.

After they return, Henry wants to know how his father had died and where he was buried. Who else can take Henry to his father’s grave? So Aunt Augusta joins him and they find another mourner there at his father’s grave, who was a lover of Henry’s father and was present when Henry’s father breathed his last breath. Henry is curious to know more details about his father from her but he is surprised to see how irritated his Aunt Augusta is with this new woman in his father’s life.

Aunt Augusta leaves for another travel leaving Henry behind. After several months, he is asked to join her and that journey takes him to Argentina and Paraguay. That is where his aunt has found an ex-lover of her and plans to get married with him and settle. And Henry learns that his aunt is his real mother and her elder sister had marred his father to cover up the mistake. And that Aunt Augusta along with her marriage plans, has a found a match for Henry too there.

This plot involving two elderly people (Henry in the mid 50’s and Aunt Augusta in the 70’s) and their journeys into their past is a fascinating story. I read this book during my commute hours between office and home (which is 2 hours a day one-way!) and I was transported into a fictional world created by the author and was so involved with this novel that I wondered how quickly two hours passed. It took me five sittings to completely read this novel. I was impressed by this author but felt somehow the end of this novel doe not go with the flow of it. Aunt Augusta after her marriage allows killing of her another lover Wordsworth but that does not seem to fit her character in this novel and Henry agreeing to marry a teenage girl too. And both of these central characters deciding to marry at an old age is strange since they remain unmarried for most of their life and did not not have inclination towards marriage till then.

This book was first published in 1969. Author Graham Greene has more than 25 novels to his credit and is one of the most widely read British novelists of the 20th century.

Book Review: A Writer’s people by V S Naipaul

This is a writer’s journal. And naturally for a writer, the closest subject to his/her heart is other writers, from all generations and not just fellow writers.

In the first essay ‘The worm in the bud’, author during his upbringing and formative years in Trinidad, narrates the authors who fascinated him, how poetry did not interest him in the beginning but made sense as he found the poems which brought out their meaning in simple but enchanting way.

The second essay’ An English way of looking’ is a critic of various British authors who put emphasis on English ways of living in their books. He dislikes many of the authors as he fails to understand their point of view in their works, but likes a few, Tony Powell among them.

In the third essay ‘Looking and not seeing: the Indian way’ author after exploring few Indian authors comes to the subject of making of MK Gandhi. He points out that the culture shock Gandhi had to face in South Africa led to a revolt in a shy, introvert lawyer. Had Gandhi was well read and was aware of the culture before he arrived in South Africa, he would have become just another migrant from India. Similarly he observes that Nehru, only after participating in peasant movement learnt how the poor lived in India and the blind faith those poor kept in Nehru made his will stronger and made him a socialist later.

In the fourth chapter ‘Disparate ways’ author revisits some of the literary works, classics, history of Rome and Greece.

In the last chapter ‘India Again: the Mahatma and the after’, author puts out his opinions on Vinobha Bhave and Nirad Chaudhuri and his work ‘The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian’.

V S Naipaul is a unique author and deeply opinionated on many subjects. His observations are stunning and contrast at the same time. It appears he has more hatred (and less pride) in his Indian origins, so some of his opinions might leave distaste in Indian reader. But for those readers who are tolerant, he shows how to read in between lines and how to dissect a literary masterpiece.

Book Review: Journeys in the Night

This is a collection of life stories of those who are affected by AIDS. Sixteen of the best-known authors of India come together and create this anthology with a common goal of exploring the hidden world affected by the epidemic.

It starts with Nikita Lalwani meeting up with a doctor who is HIV positive but his positive attitude towards life has kept him alive. Kiran Desai goes to open fields of Godavari and opens up the world of highly paid sex workers who are in this profession from many generations and those poor ones who can barely earn a living out of this act. Jaspreet Singh telling ghost stories to the children affected by the epidemic in a HIV positive care home for children easily melts your heart. Salman Rushdie explores the world of Hijras and prefers to call them Ardhanarishwar, I too wonder why not. William Dalrymple meets up with the daughters of Yellamma to hear their stories and so on goes every author going to all corners of India and lending the deceased an ear and bringing us their life stories.

Icing on cake is, there is Introduction by Bill and Melinda Gates and Foreword by Amartya Sen.

This wonderful anthology is the result of Gates Foundation approaching Random House in creating a tradition of literary journalism for a social cause.

Book Review: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

I finished reading (rather lately though it was in my list for long) the biography of Steve Jobs. And what an experience it was to know the life of innovative and equally crazy person. An adopted child grows to mesmerize the world and brings change to the way people live in his own way. He was always honest and brutal many a times so most people found it difficult to work with him though they admired his thinking. When he was at school he was busy with pranks involving electronic gadgets than making friends. One of his childhood friends, Steve Wozniak, one more person obsessive with electronics, made a good friend of Steve Jobs and both went on to found the business of designing, making and selling computers which is called Apple.

Being abandoned by his biological parents hurt Steve Jobs a lot though the parents who adopted him poured all their love and care and spent their life savings to send him to college. Steve later in his life tracks his biological mother and learns that he has a sister, Monica Simpson, who becomes a confidant of Steve for the rest of his life. When Monica traces their biological father, Steve refuses to meet him.

While he mastered the subject of electronics, his personal life was not a conventional one. He goes to India to learn spirituality. He takes up arts as his subject of study for graduation and does not complete it as he thought it is a financial drain of his parent’s earnings. But incomplete academics were not a drag on his future and the artistic bent of mind of he developed had put him at the junction of technology and art and the products he designed and developed were on the hands of millions of people all over the world.

His personal life was erratic many a times. He makes his girlfriend pregnant and refuses to acknowledge that he is the father of the child for many years after the birth of child, only to take responsibility of her later in life. His attitude towards co-workers earns him a bad name and he is thrown out from running operations of Apple, the company he founded. He starts another company, brings out many creative products but none of them see big commercial success but establish him as an innovator in the industry and that experience also teaches him how to manage a company and not just design products. Apple, in Steve’s absence looses market share as it fails to bring out exciting products after the initial Macintosh product line. Steve is called back and the successful products begin to roll out again putting back both Apple and Steve at the helm. When the products of Apple were a competition to their own products, Steve had said “We need to cannibalize our own products, else someone will”.

This book was the #1 best-seller on Amazon in 2011. When you read this book, you will know why a perfectionist like Steve Jobs was insisting Walter Isaacson to write this biography. It is based on multiple interviews of the author with Steve Jobs and discussions with numerous other people. This book provides multiple perspectives about Steve Jobs, his life as seen by himself and others.

Book Review: Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by Kiran Desai

Sampath Chawla is unusual, different from others. On the day he was born, it rained after a long dry spell and missed monsoon causing drought. He always looked slow and rather dull while growing up making his father lose all hopes on him. But his grandmother was optimistic and used to say “Though it appears he is going downhill, he will come up out on the other side on top of the world. He is just taking the longer route”. But Sampath induced confidence in no one else. He loses the job he had as a post-office clerk. He does not seem to get the ways of this world.

One day he disappears from his house and reaches a guava orchard and settles himself in a guava tree. The family learns this later and makes all attempts to get him down but unsuccessfully. One doctor examines Sampath on the tree and gives up; another suggests arranging a marriage would help solve the issue. Sampath’s family finds a match for him, bring the bride to the tree but the girl falls off from the tree. When multiple attempts to bring Sampath down from the tree fail, his family begins to live in the orchard and make arraignments to supply food to Sampath using a rope and pulley.

A band of monkeys arrives at the tree Sampath is housed and they too approve his stay on tree top. They begin to protect Sampath from those trying to trouble him. The news spreads and attracts people from surrounding places. People begin to identify Samptah as ‘Baba’, and few start calling him ‘Moneky Baba’ too. Monkeys on the tree develop a taste for the alcohol which the visitors had left behind. They became a menace and to put an end to it, District Collector orders to catch all of the monkeys to leave them in a distant forest. When the staff arrives along with nets to catch monkeys and surround the tree, Sampath is to be seen nowhere. At the place he was sitting a guava with a mark resembling a birthmark of Sampath is found. Leader of the monkeys picks it up and the whole gang of monkeys moves away from the tree towards the hill top.

This was the first book of Kiran Desai. She surely has inherited writing talents of her mother, a well known author Anita Desai. One can see the making of a Booker winning author in her first work itself.

Book Review: The Famished Road by Ben Okri

Azoro, a young protagonist of this novel, was happy being a spirit. Though he is born several times, he quickly left the bodies he was trapped into, to return to the happy world of spirits causing pain to many mothers in the process. But now he is born again and wants to live longer as a human being but he is not cut-off from his connections to the world of spirits. He sees the spirits all over the place, every day. He does not reveal this to his parents and buries it within him as he is not interested in isolating from spirits either. He is a child who did not want to be born and does not to die soon.

Azoro is the only child to his poor parents living in Africa. His father looks for work on daily basis as a load carrier and his mother sells grocery in the local market to earn their living. There is a bar in the neighborhood run by Madame Koto. The entire neighborhood, except Azoro’s parents is scared of Madame Koto as they believe she is a witch. Madame Koto is kind towards Azoro and she thinks he brings good luck to her if he sits in her bar and can attract customers. While sitting in her bar, Azoro learns that majority of the customers visiting the bar are not human beings but the spirits and demons in their borrowed human bodies in the ugliest forms. All of those spirits are interested in taking Azoro back to their world and make many attempts to pack him up and carry. But the determined boy, escapes every time and finds way to back to his home.

Other characters, incidents and narrations like the rage of Azoro’s father, helplessness of his mother, the photographer, the elections, the creditors of his father fill up the pages to bring African life into this book but the main theme remains the young boy’s encounters with the spirits. The story does not conclude in this book as it continues in two more books making it a trilogy.

This is one of the unusual themes I have come across. It is creative and imagination running wild. The first five pages of this book convinced me that the life of spirits would be more joyous than life as human beings. But the later pages are filled with horror and descriptions of spirits and demon in their ugliest forms which are capable enough to give nightmares to the readers. I see that in India as well, there are many famished roads, thirsty for blood. But the difference is I do not get to see the spirits and demons. I am happy I am not Azoro.

This book won The Booker prize for its author Ben Okri in 1991. This book has all the ingredients to become a good graphical novel if no one has thought about it. And that way it can reach a different genre of readers who prefer it read it graphically than immerse into a 500+ page novel like this.

Book Review: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Watanabe is a Japanese youth studying at a University in Tokyo. He has two girlfriends Naoko and Midori. Both are unusual, suffering from depression, and need help to recover and Watanabe is the friend who they trust. He is worn out between these two, grows up from the experience, loses one and settles with the other.

Naoki is introduced to Watanabe by a childhood friend of hers who commits suicide in his youth. That puts Naoko into emotional trouble. And Naoki has this in her blood too as her younger sister also had committed suicide for psychological problems. She is put into an unusual hostel which serves as a home for those suffering from emotional issues and it helps bring together through many activities and teaches them to help themselves. Watanabe as a close friend of hers offers help and attempts to fill in the confidence in her to come out and face the external world. He finds that is he is deeply in love with Naoko. Reiko, another patient at the hostel, is a roommate of Naoko. She has an ear (and hands!) for the music and “Norwegian Wood” is one of the songs she plays on her guitar. Though herself a patient, she is another source of strength for Naoko in getting better. Three spend good time together when Watanbe visits the hostel. And there is hope that Naoko would get better and become normal.

Top Left: Haruki Murakami Right: Stills from movie adaptation of the novel

Midori is another student in Watanabe’s class. She is attracted to him for his unusual, serious and sincere behavior. She is going through difficult phase in her personal life as she had lost her mother recently and her father too is on the deathbed. Watanabe turns out to be a true friend for her understanding the situation she is into and supporting her while she gets through the difficult times. A bond develops between them and that turns into love.

Watanabe has to choose between Naoko and Midori and seeks guidance from Reiko on this matter. He learns from Reiko that Naoko could not get better and committed suicide. That news comes as a shock for Watanabe and he travels alone to unknown places to find peace with himself. Finally he recovers from it and connects with Midori.

What starts as a usual, predictable plot takes many twists and turns. It explores many strange human characters. The novel is more about those who are not normal but very sensitive and emotional and who can’t bear the pains which normal people would tolerate and get over it. This novel is also full of descriptions of the characters having drinks and casual sex and this theme recurs throughout the book and makes the novel more dramatic.

Though this novel has autobiographic tone, its author Haruki Murakami clarified that it is not his biography and his personal life is lot boring. It is believed that Norweign Wood is one Murakami book that “everyone” in Japan has read.

Book Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

The plot of this short novel begins with a young Pakistani, Changez, who heads to USA for his higher studies in a prestigious university. After his studies, he manages to get a job in an investment banking firm. His intelligence, hard work and commitment help him to get noticed and grow within the organization. He finds an American girl friend too. Before it turns out to be all is well story, terror strikes on the World Trade Center at New York bring down twin towers come to the earth. That incident changes the way white Americans looked at Muslims living in the country. The protagonist of the story too observes people around looking at him with suspicion. A colleague of him advised to shave off the beard. Checks at Airport turn embarrassing. Strangers attempt a physical assault on him when he is alone in the car park. His girlfriend falls sick and moves away from him. All these developments put Changez into introspection and he finally realizes he truly belongs to his home country Pakistan and that is where his destiny is. He resigns from the job, packs off his bags, heads back to his home country. He finds a job in a College but his passion turns him into a social activist.

The whole story is told in first person in autobiographic style, over a conversation with an American tourist visiting Pakistan talking to the author in a restaurant. Though it is supposed to be the dialogue between the two strangers, it is the uninterrupted monologue which runs through the entire novel. So the reader gets to hear only person throughout the novel, the narrator in first person. This style is unique and may be unsuitable for a work of fiction but the author make it work for this story.

This book was shortlisted for The Man Booker prize in 2007. Its author Mohsin Hamid is talented and a writer to watch out for.

Book Review: Imaginary Homelands by Salman Rushdie

This is a non-fiction work by Salman Rushdie. It is a collection of around 70 essays published during 1981-1991 in various periodicals put together in the form of a book. Most of them are critics on many subjects ranging from the subject of the books and their authors, movies, political leaders and situations, racism in Europe and so on.

The first essay “Imaginary Homelands” deals with the dilemma faced by those writers who left their homelands (emigrated from their home country) like Rushdie himself and cannot reclaim precisely what is lost but instead take the route of creating fictions of imaginary homelands. This theme and the related topic of emigrant writers in English not being considered on par with the native writers are present in many of the essays and critics of this book.

In one of the essays, Rushdie writes about Kipling that “There will always be plenty in Kipling that I will find difficult to forgive; but there is also enough truth in his stories to ignore”. I suppose the readers of Rushdie would form a similar opinion about him. Either you will love him or hate him but cannot ignore.

Though in most essays Rushdie appears to be complaining, taking digs at fellow writers, not praising anyone without ifs and buts, there are few exceptions too. In “The painter and the pest”, author points out how an Indian discovered a western painter and struggled to promote his work and helped him gain recognition and global acceptance. That is a delightful read, if the reader happens to be an Indian.

Regarding India, its religious integration, politics and the future, the author is deeply opinionated. But we can see that India did not run into troubles the author expected and wrote about two decades ago. It is jot just Rushdie who got it wrong. Many authors and political leaders in the 1980's believed India will disintegrate given the the outburst of communal violence. But I believe India has emerged out stronger and current generation does not see the issue in the same lens of their predecessors. 

This is a must read for those who like Salman Rushdie though the many of the essays on politics have lost relevance in current times (These essays were written 20 years ago). Writer’s intelligence, research skills are striking and admirable provided one can tolerate sarcasm and arrogance along with it.

Book Review: No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The colonel and his ailing wife are living in poverty and monotony after their only son is killed in a political repression. The Colonel has no income; his house is mortgaged and he is counting the last pennies left which need to be spent for the daily expenses. For the last fifteen years he has been waiting for the pension cheque, but the postmaster always has one thing to say “No one writes to the Colonel”. But the Colonel, the hardened optimist he is, does not want to give up; he changes his lawyer in anticipation of things getting better. But yet he does not get his long due pension, the postmaster says the only thing certain to come is death. The colonel makes a failed attempt to sell the rooster which his son had trained for cockfight. The colonel has two other things to sell, a clock not in working condition and a picture which have no buyers. The Colonel still hopes either the rooster will win the cockfight and fetch him good money or he receives his pension payment. His wife says neither the hope nor dignity can be eaten so she asks the way to keep them alive. It does not seem to affect optimism of the Colonel.

This is a quick read (69 pages long). It is one of the earlier works (published in 1961) of the celebrated author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Book Review: The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie

This novel is a fine blend of historical fiction and magical realism, the two genres which seem to be Rushdie’s favorite ways to present his work. Author brings the contemporary towns from the history of east and west together and the historical characters brought to life to tell this tale.

A yellow-haired traveler from Italy visits the court of the Mughal king Akbar and he has a secret to reveal to the king. He claims that he is a blood relative and the son of a sister of Babur (Akbar’s grandfather). While the ministers of Akbar ask the king to ignore the visitor, the king checks this matter with his mother who confirms that Babur  had a sister who was long forgotten and erased from family history for a reason. Akbar lets the visitor to tell the story for which he had come from far away land.

There begins the story of the enchantress, a younger sister of Babur, Qara Koz, the beautiful princess. King Babur had two sisters and the younger one was Qara Koz. Babur after losing a battle at Samarkhand to Shaibani Khan loses his sisters in exchange for his safe return. When Shaibani Khan loses the battle to the King of Persia, Babur’s sisters find a new shelter and thus become a subject of the war and prized possessions of the war's victor. When the King of Persia offers to release the sisters, elder one returns to Babur but Qara Koz remains with the Persian king. When Persian king is defeated by Ottoman Sultan in another war, she follows an Italian army major who was part of the winning side. Then she is led to the fascinating town of Florence. Qara Koz, the enchantress puts her occult skills to good use and mesmerizes the whole town and commands a respect from all the occupants of the town. But that too comes to an end. In a dream, she foresees that a descendant of Babur will become a king of great power the history has not seen yet. She knew she is destined to go back to her family. She ends her life, a symbolic death, only to come back alive after decades.

Image Illustration by Jacqui Oakley

While Akbar listens through the story, he puts his best painter in the kingdom to create the portraits of the forgotten princess and installs them in his palace. As the Italian visitor who has already become a confidant of Akbar (and is no more a visitor) reaches the end of this story, the enchantress comes alive to become a lover of Akbar.

Since this is a work of fiction, Salman Rushdie has created many characters in this novel out of his pen, few incidents may not be historically accurate but that is not the objective of this book anyway. It does not intend to capture the history and describe the persons and places but to see the historical characters as they lived their life, dilemma they went through and make it dramatic to entertain the readers.

I was not convinced with how the novel ends and disapprove the family incest of Akbar with Qara Koz. But the author justifies this saying family incest is common among Camels. That does not explain the matter satisfactorily. My belief is, Akbar was a stronger person than this novel describes, he did not suffer from Oedipus complex either and he would not have said “Until you are not” to Qara Koz like his character in the novel does.

While I am not sure if the enchantress of Florence existed but I find that author is an enchanter for sure. He does not need occult skills but the words he puts together are capable of binding the reader with his books and the story he tells them.