The Summer Book - Tove Jansson (Book).

Book: 21/52

The Summer Book - Tove Jansson 

My Rating: 5/5

As I mentioned earlier in my posts, I have started forcing my friends and relatives from foreign lands to get me books, only that too from the local writers of the country they are coming from. And this one turns out to be a lovely book that my nephew returning from Helsinki, got me last year. I only got to read it now, as my mom hijacked it in the first place, and I practically had to blackmail her to give it to me after she finished it. It’s a heart-touching story written by a granddaughter, dedicated to her Grand Ma. I felt like I was reading my own adventures with my lovely Grandmother. Her histrionics were no different than the one captured in this story by Tove Jansson. Totally missed my Grandma with every anecdote and every story that I read in this one. Jansson is best known as the creator of the Moomin stories, pretty famous not only in Finland / Sweden but in the entire Nordic region. Her stories have been published in multiple languages. The Summerbook was one of the ten novels that she wrote for adults, and it is regarded as a modern classic, and now I know why. This was about an elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter during the summers together on a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland. Both of them learn to adjust to each other’s whims, fancies, stories and even superstitions :). It is full of humorous stories and their adventures. On top of that, Tove Jansson accepts that this is more of her own experience and spirit in the book, which she has captured as her niece’s point of view and a lot of her grandmother’s character she has picked up from her mother, which makes it even better and gives us an amazing insight into the author. On top of that, this 50th edition includes an afterword by Tove’s niece, Sophia Jansson, which was incredible to read once I finished the novel, and it has a Foreword too by Esther Freud (As you can guess by the name, she is Sigmund Freud great grand daughter). Can it get any better?

This book sent me back in time when I was six or seven years old. I would follow my grandmother everywhere she went. Our house was the last in the lane back in the day, and beyond that, there were acres of farm land, followed by deep dark wood, which ended on the slopes of a huge hill that had a temple on top. Sometimes my grandma will go to the middle of the woods to look for some tree’s bark to make a medicinal brew for my grandpa, and in the process of going so far from home, she will take a few bidis and will smoke while no one follows us. Of course, my dad and his brothers knew of her smoking habit, but no one questioned her, as she was very tough to handle. As time passed and I grew and got into a job, I used to visit her once a year, and she would ask me with her expressions if I got her a pack of cigarettes and trust me, she used to share one with me on the rooftop every time I visited her and promised that she smoked only with me. After her death, I found out that the same promise was made to all my cousins and my own elder brothers too :). Now, Sophia’s Grandma used to smoke, but usually she won’t smoke in front of her son, and she will pick up a few flowers, roots and whatnot to make a brew too, just like my Grandma. She would walk with a stick but was tough like a rock when it comes to sailing her boat to other parts of the island or even crossing into other territories, she even onces goes and breaks into a house across the shore which she doesn’t like much as it was destroying the beauty of the island and you’ve got to read the book to know what happens when the owner of that house catches them red-handed breaking into his house. 

I must tell you this, too, that the book has a beautiful cover, as I am sure you can make out by the picture I have posted. It isn’t a hardback, but the thick sheet that makes up the cover is folded inside and on the last page of the book detailing the writer and story, both on the front and back respectively. It was so amazing to hold it and so soothing on the eyes because of the beautiful island picture on top. As I started reading this, my nephew actually cycled to the island captured in this one and sent me a picture in real time, and I must say, nothing much has changed on the island in the last 50+ years of this book's writing, as it still looks the same as in the book cover. 

Now that I have read the Summer Book and loved it, I am super keen on getting her “Winter Book” too and reading it ASAP. I may blackmail my nephew now to send me a copy soon from Finland as he ain’t coming back before Christmas. On top of that, this one has been adapted into a beautiful movie too, which I need to find and watch at the earliest. Do let me know if you have read this one or anything else from Tove Jansson. 

 

Favourite Stories - Premchand (Book).

Book: 20/52

Favourite Stories - Premchand

My Rating: 5/5

Just finished my 4th Hindi book of the year, and that too from one of my all-time favourite writers - Premchand. I’ve read almost all his books and stories back in school and college time, as my mother had most of them. All his stories and novels are based on the early 20th century and show us the true face of typical Indian society back in those days. Heart-touching true-to-life stories always reminded me of so many movies based on similar subjects and stories by my favourite movie director, Satyajit Ray. On your face, the straight truth is always on the right mark. This book too had a collection of 17 short stories, which sent me back in time when I actually used to play the game of Gulli-Danda with my friends and cousins. After reading the heart-touching story of two friends who meet again after decades of separation, where one has grown to be a big shot, and his friend remains the small-town guy with almost no life to claim any fame for. How they end up playing one last game and who wins is the story to read. This one made me actually call my cousin to understand how we played the game and what the penalty was for the loser :), Do you remember playing a game like that in the past? Then comes another terrific story of an untouchable woman, who wants to get inside a temple to pray for his dying son and to my shock and amazement, the then society won’t allow her to enter the temple, let alone touch the statue. How his son’s life ends without her prayers brought tears to my eyes. Thank God that this isn’t done anymore in today’s time, and we have come a long way on that prospect at least. But from all these stories, my favourite was the one called “Dhokha” where a prince goes in search of his would-be life partner without anyone’s knowledge, just to see who he was supposed to marry. Fortunately, without her knowledge, he leaves a very deep mark on her with his mythological singing, which he performs for her. Later, they do marry, but since she doesn’t know who she married, she keeps looking for that unknown singer. How the story ends was totally amazing. 

And then there are so many stories touching the typical Indian subjects with such ease that I can call his words magical; reading them in Hindi actually makes it special. Of course, after reading four back-to-back Hindi books from Jai Shankar Prasad, Sarat Chandra and even Tagore, I will say Premchand’s Hindi is the best and simplest. I actually didn't have to Google any words that made no sense to me this time. Most of his stories are either based on the women’s plight, untouchability or about those who were too poor to fight for their own rights one way or another. One of the stories reminded me of my own grandmother, who used to tell me about a very old superstitious story (not for her, though) about a girl who had three brothers. They used to call her “Tainter” (in Hindi), and she usually brought trouble to one of the brothers by just being born in the family. Can you believe that? Unfortunately, in our neighbourhood, one of the kids actually died in an accident, and since they too were three brothers and one sister, they blamed the girl for it, and since then, she was called a Tainter in our little town for the rest of her life (till we lived there). 

After reading these gems from the master storyteller, which I felt were too short with hardly 200 pages, I am looking forward to reading a few of his novels again. Do let me know if you have read anything from Premchand in recent times or if you have a personal favourite. I have so many that I don’t want to list them, but rather get them soon and read at the earliest. 

 

All's Well That Ends Well - Shakespeare (Book).

Book: 19/52

All's Well That Ends Well - Shakespeare

My Rating: 2/5

A few weeks back, I was wondering why I hadn’t read anything from Shakespeare after college. Even after loving a few adaptations of his acclaimed plays (read: tragedies), I never actually picked up anything because, first of all, reading a play is a cumbersome act anyway, and so I thought. Till last week, when I finally downloaded a legal copy of All’s Well That Ends Well from him, which was supposedly a comedy. Unfortunately, this one didn’t even make me smile, let alone laugh out loud like I always do with a PGW, my favourite comedy writer. This one was totally unreadable, and might just have become the first DNF for the year, but since it was a Shakespeare, I had to give it some respect, and it's due to this, hence I ploughed along and finished it in 3-4 days, much to my dismay. If you haven’t read it already, let me tell you it's a very simple story of one fine man who doesn’t want to get married, is forced into marriage by his own mother, empowered by the then-king, King who he works for. How they tricked him into doing something totally untoward with a woman, whom he was supposed to marry without his knowledge and in the end, he had to marry he,r much to his annoyance, just like the way I had to read this one and finish it too. Now imagine all that done some 450+ years ago, and the language, by God, it seriously was tough to read, and I had to read certain parts again for it to make any sense to me. Having said that, I have never judged an author by just one book, so I will be reading another serious one this time, followed by my personal favourite, Macbeth, for sure. If those too do not work, I will call it quits for Shakespeare and bid my adieu to him forever. 

Do let me know if you have read Shakespeare in recent times and how it fared for you? I am totally surprised by the outcome, though. 

 

21 Sarvashreshtha Kahaniyaan - Ravindranath Tagore (Book).

Book: 18/52

21 Sarvashreshtha Kahaniyaan - Ravindranath Tagore

My Rating: 5/5

The third book back-to-back in Hindi amongst the last five that I have read in March / April so far. What surprised me big time is that they are all from the Authors of the same era, Jai Shankar Prasad, Sarat Chandra and Rabindranath Tagore, but the language is the same or even identical, with so many common words used by all three of them. Or this might be the case of a common translator, unfortunately, none of the books mentions the translator’s name,e as I am sure Sarat Chandra and Tagore must have written their Stories in Bangla originally. Still, they all turn out to be heart-touching stories depicting late 19th to early 20th century life with the then women as the central core. Here also, marriage is a big subject for girls as young as 12 or a little more; someone turning 19 and unmarried will be treated as a bad mark. That made me think what has changed in the last 150-odd years after these stories were written. Last month we attended one of my cousins' marriages back home, and my daughter,r who turned 20 this year, was the apple of everyone's eye in that marriage, and I did hear so much hush-hush talking of her coming of age and that we might start looking for a good match for her :). Practically nothing has changed in our part of the world, for sure. Among the 21 stories covered in this book, my favourite will always be the “Kabuliwallah”. Little Mini is playing around with the man from Kabul who comes to her city to sell his dry fruits. His own back story as to why he never charges her father for anything that she takes or eats from his bag is totally super emotional. On top of that, when he gets arrested on the charges of murder, making sure he will never go back to his country, and his own little daughter will know nothing of him. How he keeps her memory with himself actually made not only my eyes go wet, but this time, actual tears rolled down my face. Imagine the impact of these emotional words on my fragile heart. This must be the nth time that I must have read this story and have seen a few adaptations too, but never had this impact earlier. 

The second story that touched me deep inside was “Aparichita”. Where a girl’s father breaks the shackles by agreeing to dowry, but when the moment comes and they get publicly embarrassed by the groom’s family (one particular maternal uncle), he still entertains them and serves them food, etc., but refuses to marry his daughter to the man. What happens next is predictable, but the way it ends is totally unbelievable. One has to read the story to know the outcome, as it actually shocked me by the ending and kept me quite in suspense. There are so many other short stories with open endings too, which kept me thinking for a long time, and some with such shocking and abrupt endings where the author plainly refuses to go any further. Just like the way Jai Shankar Prasad and Sarat Chandra did earlier with me in their stories. This is almost my first ever book from Tagore in a long, long time, but now I will have to look out for some or all of his works that I should read at the earliest. Do let me know if you have read anything from Tagore in recent times, and also, if you have a personal favourite that you would like to recommend. 

 

The Rosie Result - Graeme Simsion (Book).

Book: 17/52

The Rosie Result - Graeme Simsion 

My Rating: 4/5

Finally finished the Rosie Trilogy from Graeme Simsion, as I have read the earlier two parts, “The Rosie Project” and “The Rosie Effect” earlier, this one too was a quick read, just like its earlier counterparts. In the first one, Don Tilman, the Geneticist with Autism (Asperger’s), falls in love and ends up getting her in the end. Followed by the second one, where his wife Rosie, another PhD, impacts his life, and they move to the USA. This one follows the additional story of their Son Hudson, who again is autistic, and they try to make him adjust to the world around him after they move back to Australia. I believe the best of the series was the first one, because of its unique premise, but post that second one still read like a good story again, with so many twists and turns in Don and Rosie’s life once they moved to the USA. This one on the other end provides a perfect closure to the story once they move back and settle in Aussyland with Hudson, who is a replica of his Dad and equally intelligent, thoughtful and hilarious at times. Enjoyed reading his histrionics from high school days, where almost every kid goes through the same rut, and I could draw so many parallels from my own life back in the day. But I must say that the way Graeme has not only touched the Autism subject but also provides the fantastic details and deep insight into their lives, was totally terrific, and I am glad to find that it even worked with the Autism community globally, as they approve of it. I was touched by the way he has portrayed an eleven-year-old kid’s life and struggles. Of course, I end up falling in love with Hudson, the kid who is so smart and so human to the people around him. Not only his own age kids but also people double his age or older, the way he not only supports Don once he takes a break from his Career (or rather forced to) and ends up opening a Bar, it was rocking to read what the kid does for their venture and how it all turns out beautifully in the end. Graeme Simsion has definitely come very close to my favourite current author, Fredrik Backman, in heart-touching storytelling. I love Don almost as much as I loved Backman’s Ove. You’ve got to read the books to know more about the characters and stories.

Do let me know if you have read any of these from Simsion or any other works. I guess he wrote two more independent novels other than this Trilogy. And yes, he has sold the rights to his books to Sony Pictures, and very shortly, we might have the first adaptation on screen in the form of The Rosie Project movie. I will be super keen to watch it.