The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri (Book).

Book: 14/52
The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri.
My Rating: 5/5.

This is my second book from her after the much-loved and admired "The Namesake", which went on to become a superhit novel and almost equally good movie, to say the least. I read it long back and still remember it as a terrific immigrant story which revolves around Kolkata and Boston, in the same way as the story of The Lowland goes around. Unfortunately, I have visited Kolkata only once, and that too very briefly, for one night, but the way she has captured the essence of the city in her stories is simply unbelievable. I was glad that her characters find the city exactly how I found it back in the late 90s, as smog-covered, quite polluting, with stunning visuals and a typical Bengali lifestyle, which I loved. Let's not even talk about the Music, books, and plethora of Cinema that the city offers to an outsider who is in love with those art forms. I missed driving through the Hawda bridge, but I will fulfil that wish pretty soon in my next long drive, taking me to the North East via Kolkata this year or next, maybe. Lowland covers the life of two siblings born a little before India's independence, while the country and city in question go through so much tumult of their own. They are superb companions and almost do everything together, and I assumed this will be another terrific story of two siblings fighting the world together, but to my shock and surprise, the way their lives take a turn because of the then politics, one moves out of India to pursue a better future, whereas the other gets involved the burning situation of his city. The younger one gets married much to his parents annoyment, leaves a pregnant while when he gets shot dead for the revolution that he becomes a part of (how and why, you need to read the book for) and as it happened in all of our 70's movies and life-times, the other brother's life takes a solid turn to face the life ahead for himself, his parents and his brother's young pregnant widowed wife. 

Mesmerising is the way she has captured the life near the lowland, which is across from their ancestral house, on the border of Tollygunge club, where the brothers once jumped the boundary to see for themselves, right next to a Mosque, there is so much going on in every page of the book that the very chapter kept me hooked to the narrative. It again took me back in time to my own life back in the day in the sleepy town of Bhopal, where life wasn't much different growing up in the 80's. Incredible is the way she captures so many emotions through her characters, the mother who wants her kids to be together, and she doesn't like the way either of them gets married. The way a widow was handled back in the day was heart-touching. The way elder brother's life changes after he goes to the USA, gets into a relationship too reluctantly, and it was so beautiful to read the detailing, but how unfortunately he gets married, and the way his wife takes him for a ride was something I could never predict. My heart and mind kept on asking so many whys without getting any answers till it all ended. I will say that in the most intriguing 400 pages that I have read in the past few years totally kept me hooked to it, but the way it ended was so amazingly convincing and fulfilling in a way. The way she touches the delicate topics of the Vietnam War and gets into the great detailing of the Naxalite movement or the political scenario back home was incredible. Also, the way she has captured the life of NRIs who return briefly to their motherland was totally a believable experience that our relatives go through even now, as when they return, I will say nothing much changes in our part of the world, but the geography may be a little bit different. This was an emotional fest from all angles, but the best was done by or through her younger brother's wife's point of view, as how she gets on with her life and takes drastic steps after a decade living in the USA with her husband and daughter was mind-blowing. 

Now, after reading this, I am too keen on getting her story collection "Interpreter of Maladies", which was not only her debut book but also got her a Pulitzer in fiction. Unfortunately, she has written only three novels, including The Lowland. I am looking forward to her other works big time, provided we have them in our library, and maybe I will read The Namesake yet again and follow it with the superb movie. Do let me know if you have read this one and loved or which one is your favourite Jhumpa Lahiri book? 

The Illicit Happiness of Other People - Manu Joseph (Book).

Book: 13/52
The Illicit Happiness of Other People - Manu Joseph
My Rating: 4/5

Author and his book’s title attracted me this time :), I have read a few reviews of his other books and actually wanted to try one of them myself. I expected a pretty easy going book with tongue in cheek humour typical Indian kind or call it South Indian but how wrong it turned out to be. Although it starts on a lighter note but the way story develops and ends, blew up my mind totally especially the last 100 pages. A typical Malayali Christian family stuck in Madras in the early 90s with two kids Unni Chako and his younger brother Thoma Chako  followed by their mother Mariamma who happens to be an economics post graduate but serving as a house-wife and her anarchist husband Ousep Chako who is good for nothing but somehow ploughs along in his Journalist job. One fine day something leads Unni to take his own life by jumping from their third floor terrace, and the intriguing story starts when Ousep leaves everything aside to find why his 17 year old son did what he did. Gradually he covers a few clues in the form of Unni’s comics that he was writing, he hides them from his wife so he could uncover the truth behind his son’s death. In the quest of uncovering the truth he becomes enemy number one of all the kids he wanted to grill or parents of those who happened to be his son’s best friends. How he uncovers and what was the final reason is disclosed on the very last page of the book much to my shock, surprise and heart-break too. 

There are subplots in the story too in the form of Mariamma’s flash back from her childhood who she unfortunately narrates to her son before his death and he vows to take a revenge on her behalf. Her suffering is next level because of her drunkard good for nothing husband who threatens of committing a suicide and how she handles it with her younger son in toe was totally amazing. There is so much going on in the initial 250 pages and Author captures the then life in the Madras neighbourhood so beautifully that he actually took me back in time to my own younger self back in the day and I could draw so many parallels from my own life with my parents and siblings. Unni and Thoma’s story terrifically sounds so genuine and doesn’t read like a fiction at all. Especially the love and sensual angle in it, couldn’t believe that someone could write it so beautifully as what a teenager goes through in real life. You’ve got to read the book to know more as I cannot tell you anymore without disclosing too much. On top of all that it reads like a proper thriller or I can say at least most of it, till the point where the story takes a psychological turn and that’s when it faltered at least for me with so much science thrown in the last 100 odd pages and with that unpredictable yet a simple ending from my point of view. I expected a bomb blast in the end which never comes but having said that I will maintain that it takes nothing away from the story as it still was a 350+ paged book that I had to finish in flat four sittings as I just couldn’t keep myself in the suspense. 

On a side note, this became another book from my recent reads which talks a lot about meaningless life and its futility or man’s search for a purpose or deeper meaning of life. Unfortunately I am not picking these books to understand the meaning of life or any deeper theory as such but somehow they all touch that topic one way or another, some in a very shallow way but this one takes it to a totally new level, if you have read it, I am sure you will agree with me as the kind of enlightenment that Unni Chako gets finally was something which made me actually think and take a note of. I was like WHOA, I didn’t expect this from the book or the Author or the story at least that he was telling. 

Do let me know if you have read this one or any other from Manu Joseph which you would like to recommend. I am definitely looking forward to a few more from him in very near future.  

 

Sarvshreshtha Kahaniyan (Hindi) - Jai Shankar Prasad (Book).

Book: 12/52
Sarvshreshtha Kahaniyan (Hindi) - Jai Shankar Prasad
My Rating: 4/5

Last month, I received an Amazon Gift card worth 1000/- from my credit card bank, and guess what I did with that :). Bought a pack of 4 Hindi books from the iconic literati of Jai Shankar Prasad, Tagore, Sharat Chandra and my personal favourite Premchand. I believe my Hindi has gone way too weak, or shall I say below standard, when it comes to reading (let's not even talk about my writing skills), hence I have decided to at least read 30% of my yearly quota in Hindi to keep up with the language. And on top of that, I vow to impress my parents by sending them the same books once I am done reading them, and give them another reason to be happy that I haven’t forgotten my roots yet ;) If you know what I mean. This was a terrific read from Jai Shankar Prasad, which took me back in time as most of the stories are from the mid-19th century, some as long as 30 pages long, while some were as short as one page (back to back though). But I must say a lot of them will remain in my memory for a long time to come. One of them was a young widow who hosts a warrior in her humble abode as he somehow gets lost from his own men. She feeds him and lets him rest one night in her hut. Cut to 47 years, his associate comes looking for the hut and realizing that the lady had passed long ago, makes an eight-sided temple in her memory (as ordered by the warrior), but couldn’t name it after her as he had no clue what she was called. Now, guess the warrior she hosted that night? None other than Humayu. And many more such gems he has penned in this collection of stories. 

One thing common to all his stories is the beautiful flora and fauna from across India. It took me quite a while to understand the city and state that he was capturing through his character's stories so beautifully, yet not at all easy to read for me, the fragile Hindi reader with almost nil vocabulary. This will surely qualify as the first book in my reading history that actually made me Google some chaste Hindi words so I could get to know them better and draw the relevance in the story. No doubt he made my vocabulary stronger with each story, and I was surprised to read so many old school names that stood for so cool references that I could never imagine. There is another memorable story that I will never forget, which was based on the last few days of Shah Jahan when his son took over the kingdom and put him under house arrest. How his own daughter Jahanara takes care of him till his last breath and how he pleads with his own son to spare him, but in response, he reminds him of their own history when it comes to taking over the empire was totally heart-touching. But I wonder, even after the story taking place in Agra, that too very near the Yamuna river, he deprives the reader of any mention of the great Taj Mahal, I can’t say for what reason. And a top third favourite will another terrrific story of a Nomad woman who falls for a married man just because the man who she asks to read his letter to her mentions that that the guy was in love with him whereas the letter says otherwise. How the matter gets resolved as the man in question visits the letter reader with his family and what happens to the woman, you need to read the book and find the story :). 

Do let me know if you have read this one or any other works of Jai Shankar Prasad. Although I am not much into poetry, otherwise I would have given his Epic Poetry collection - Kamayani, a try for sure. 

 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera (Book).

Book: 11/52
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
My Rating: 4/5

Sometimes I surprise myself with my own naivete :) As it happened, when I picked up this book thinking it was from another Indian writer (welcoming brickbats for not knowing anything about Mr Kundera till yesterday). The first page introduction opened my eyes to the fact that he happened to be a Czech writer who had lived in France since 1975 (precisely when I was born). I should have read his name more like the Italian city I love big time, I guess. His books are translated into English by various elite people, as it goes, and they still make it any easier for mango people like me. And guess what, this book was banned for quite a few years after its publication, as Milan is not only very straightforward when it comes to writing from the heart, I can debate that he never wrote this one, at least from his head. His own theory of meaningless life is told through four of his protagonists, who go through so much in their lives in the mid 20th century, while the world goes through so many tumults. Especially the Russian invasion of a nearby country, one of which happens to be my favourite character, a surgeon whose life’s mission was to go through as many affairs in life as possible. On his last count, he had as many as 200 women in his life, other than ofcourse his wife, who herself wasn’t as faithful as you might think. Why? There is no reason why he does what he feels like, just like the author himself, who believes in questioning everything and doing what your heart tells you to do without any regrets. Ofcourse there is so much more going on in his love and life story that kept me surprised with each chapter. After Russion invasion, they simply forbade him from practising medicine as a punishment for something he wrote against the regime, and he went on to wash windows for a living around Prague and Vienna for a change.

What I loved about this book (merely 300+ pages) which was too short for the subject it covers and Milan’s theories. Almost all four of his main characters are unfaithful to their partners at one point in time or another. One of the author’s theories, which I will never forget, is when he makes his characters debate God’s existence. He says if there was a God (he says Jesus precisely), he must have a mouth, so he for sure will have intestines and certainly will eat and poop too, right? Now, can we beat that in any way? And let me not get into details anymore, as you get the drift and can read it in great detail in the book for yourself. I personally don’t believe in God and feel I am more of a science guy, so I totally agreed with his theory, dunno how my parents will read this one, and it will be very interesting to know the names they are going to call this guy :) If I send them this book. But no doubt I totally loved his theory of meaningless life, where we actually get no feedback, as there is no coming back from the dead to know if we lived it well. Or as if life is going to give us another chance to relive and do it any better this time, as one life passes into an unknown abyss. He justifies the title in a simply amazing way through his character’s stories so well that I was totally sold on the unbearable being myself, but is there alternate to it? Need to pick up a few of his other works to know if he offers any solutions in any of them.

Do let me know if you have read The Unbearable Lightness of Being or any other Milan Kundera book. I would love to give it a try.
 

The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh (Book).

Book: 10/52
The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh
My Rating: 5/5

I am in love with Mr Ghosh’s writing after reading his Sea of Poppies last year, although I must say his books are not easy to read, but as much as I could grasp from them, they are turning out to be beautiful reads. This one was no exception as it gives a terrific account of life in Burma (now Myanmar) from 1880 till the late 90’s and in between 20 years from our own town of Ratnagiri too. Unbelievably detailed account of an Indian expat Rajkumar’s life in the then Burma, where he falls in love with a teenage maid Dolly of the then queen who he meets only once. The most important character of the story is the Glass Palace itself, where the royal family resides. How this young guy's life takes a turn from working on a ship which lands him in Rangoon in late 19th century, after doing odd jobs how he becomes a man of substance and ends up finding his love after all is the rest of the story. The way Mr Ghosh has shown the life of the King and Queen who get ousted by the British Empire in search of Teak wood and how they end up living their life in Ratnagiri under house arrest, also what happens to the princesses, was totally heart-touching. Another important character gets involved while they are under house arrest in Ratnagiri: the collector and his wife. It's not only the rags-to-riches and back to rags story of Rajkumar, but also of the three generations of his own family, parallel to the royal family too. Fortunately, I had spent a few weeks in Ratnagiri a decade ago, and this book took me back to that town with its beautiful visuals, especially the jetty mentioned in the story, as a lot of the story takes place around the rivers and sea too. One of my close friends great grand father was the then Governor of Ratnagiri. I kept looking for a known reference in this fictional story, too. Mingblowing is the way he has captured the politics of war, imperialism and the British invasion of so many countries, the plight of the people affected by the same and the politics of ever-changing loyalty of the Indian army was shocking. And he does all that with half a dozen characters only from all walks of life, an expat Rajkumar from India, Saya John a local from Burma who comes to his rescue, Burma’s last King and Queen with their two daughters and third on the way, an Indian Civil Servant taking care of King and Queen in India and last but not the least his Wife followed by three generations of all of them, while so much goes in the world around. 

What I loved most about his storytelling is the way he refuses to give a clear timeline of the story but lets you capture it through his love of cars back in the day :). I consider myself a very passionate car guy, but after reading this book and the way he showed the beautiful cars from our own history, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t heard a majority of their names, let alone the details he shares of V6S or V8’s, trucks and the much important Daytona too. Post India’s independence, he started giving the years. The entire story is spread between Burma, Ratnagiri and the Malay region with terrific detailed accounts of what locals wear, eat, their houses, work culture, dialects, and so much more. No doubt Mr Ghosh is a genius, as the way he has woven this story with so much going on in India back in the day, but he never makes it so political that it loses steam and goes away from his characters. I was totally engrossed in both the central characters as they and their generations go through so much with the tumultuous times. Ofcourse it all was spread over 550+ pages and it took me a good 15+ days to finish it, but loved it to no end. I am definitely looking forward to reading so much more from him now and will come back to his latest outing the Ghost Eye, by year's end, I guess. 

Do let me know if you have read the Ghost Eye and loved it too. Also, let me know if you have a favourite Amitav Ghosh book too. I would love to read it at the earliest.