A-Z Wednesday: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author: J K Rowling
ISBN-10: 0747591059
ISBN-13: 978-0747591054
Publisher: Bloomsbury; Children's edition (21 Jul 2007)
Hardcover: 608 pages

I have not watched the movie, but I thought I would repost this review here. I had read the book as soon as it was released. 

In this last part of the series, Harry, Ron and Hermione are on the look out for Horcruxes. While in the lookout, there are subtle changes between their relationships. All three try hard to cope with that in their own ways. This book is also about growing up, friendship and acceptance of that. I have deliberately left out the wizardry, the evil, the magic and what have yous. Enough has been said about that. I am not even going to tell the story in a nutshell. I had guessed about the relationship between Dumbledore and Snape.

The Deathly Hallows are characterized by an equilateral triangle with a circle inscribed within it. A straight line bisects both the triangle and the circle. The circle represents the Stone of Resurrection, the triangle represents the Cloak of Invisibility, and the line represents the Elder Wand. In fact, this symbol fascinated me more than anything else did.

There are too many internal dialogues. Voldemart and Harry are shown to be communicating most of the times. So do Dumbledore and Snape too, with Harry. Lose ends are tied up and that makes the book very flat. It cannot hold a candle against the very well crafted Goblet of Fire or The Prisoner of Azkaban.

A-Z Wednesday: The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegaard

The path home was overrun with weeds and hanging vines. Norman hiked through the mess as best as he could, slapping the mosquito against his neck as he tried to keep his fishing pole from tangling in the park's tall grass.

Title: The Suicide Collectors

Author: David Oppegaard

ISBN: 9780312381103

Publisher: St. Martin's Press/2008

Pages: 294

Rating: 5/5

The Suicide Collectors is another of my best reads of 2009. It is a book which is difficult to review. Or to put a genre to it. After a while, I simply gave in and went with the flow.

There is something like Despair which has plagued the Earth for some years now. This has resulted in mass suicides. And as soon as there is a suicide, a shadowy group arrives from nowhere to collect the bodies.

There are only a handful of people who wish to remain alive, not to give in no matter what. It is a lone fight for them. They are out numberded by the shadowy group of suicide collectors. Norman is one such person, who stands up against the Suicide Collectors. He does not allow them to take his wife's body. He even ends up marking one of the Collectors. Norman, along with his elderly neighbour Pops, leaves on journey across North America. They get to know that a scientist is trying to find out a cure against the Despair.

On their way, they meet a young girl, Zero, both whose parents committed suicide. As she has no one, they take her along. Norman tries to make the best of the situation. He knows that the girl has to go one living no matter what.

This novel somehow reminded me of The Road by Cormac McCarthy although there is not much common in here. It is terrifying, very stark, bleak and scary at places. In the sense that it can become a reality. Despair can hit us at any time and giving into it is going to be easy. To fight against it, is hard. This novel has surprises, twists, turns and is powerful. I would call it gloriously creepy. The prose is wonderfully flowing and very gripping. A book to read, to think about and revisit, if possible.

A-Z Wednesday: numbers go nutty while I watch

all those numbers run around

I catch them

put them in different slots

but they escape again

curious to know each other

I like the picture

logical numbers

going nuts over each other

squares and cubes

climb exponentially

trigonometry breaks

into geometry

they giggle like a kid

and suddenly embrace,

break away guiltily

precalculus is the silent one

it has too much in its pocket

number system spouts euclid's lemma

roots of quadratic are always paired

but you know, it is all statistics

each portion of math says this

If I should die, think only this of me-

how to resurrect those numbers again

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sharing a N poem of mine!

A-Z Wednesday: On Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

Title: On Human Bondage 
Author: W. Somerset Maugham 
ISBN: 055321392X 
Publisher: Bantam Classics/1915

Pages: 712

Philip Carey who is born club footed, is orphaned at the age of nine. His Uncle, a vicar brings him up. The couple are middle aged and do not have children. So they do not know how to deal with him. We see that Philip gets adjusted to his surroundings fast enough. Once he discovers reading, there is no stopping him. 

He is sent to a school, where he does not finish the final year and leaves for Heidelberg and then Paris where he wishes to be an artist. He comes back to London and gets enrolled into medicines to be a doctor like his late father. Here he meets Mildred, a shop girl and is enslaved to her. His love for her is obssessive, without any rhyme or reason. She is not worth any of the anguish he goes through for her. She is exploitive and manipulative. He despite knowing the facts cannot escape his deep desire and passion for her.

This novel is about sexual obssession, a journey into self awareness and self discovery. Philip does realise his own self worth and finds true love. He is club footed. In no way it deters us from loving him. We are exasperated by his obssession for Mildred. We wish for him to get over it. 

On Human Bondage is truly one of the greatest novel written in th 20th century, and is a work of genius. Any one who is in a self-discovery path can relate to this book instantly.

A-Z Wednesday: Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

Title: Crow Lake
Author: Mary Lawson
ISBN: 0385337639
Publisher: Delta Trade Paperbacks
Pages: 291
Genre: Fiction

The story begins with Kate Morrison. She is narrating it for us right from when she was six years old. She has two elder brothers, Luke who is nineteen and Matt who is seventeen. They have a baby sister Bo, who is eighteen months old. Right in the beginning, we see the children losing their parents in a car accident. Luke who had never cared much for his siblings gives up on his dream of becoming a teacher and brings up the younger kids with the help of his brother. Matt has always been interested to go to the University but due to some reason I need not elaborate here, he can’t. Kate follows Matt’s dream. She ends up becoming a zoologist.

This novel is set in the wild terrain of Ontario. Here heartbreak and hardship go hand in hand. The story of the Morrisons is tied up with the Pye family. The Pyes are a cursed lot where the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons. On the centre stage are the Morrisons undergoing tragedy but it is not brutal. In a way, it binds them together.

We see Kate saddened by the fact that Matt could not pursue his dreams. She shuts him from her world completely thinking it would only cause him pain to see her doing what he had coveted most. Kate has many misconceptions regarding her brother Matt, although he is one person she loved most in this world. No one could measure upto him. When she leaves for University, she shuts him out giving up the closeness they had shared while they were younger.

 The Morrison children are very close to each other. The bonding is palpable. They seldom show their love for each other, but are very caring. They do not want to lose each other by being apart from each other. That part appealed to me. I am very close to my siblings. I share a wonderful rapport with my brothers. May be that is why I liked the book. Family love...that is what is underlying in this novel. Finally, we see Kate coming into terms with herself and her family.

Mary Lawson can weave words very well. In no way this book is depressing. It has humour going for it even in the face of adversity. The love shines through despite the bubbling arguments.

A-Z Wednesday: Ka 'Ba by Imamu Amiri Baraka

A closed window looks down
on a dirty courtyard, and black people
call across or scream or walk across
defying physics in the stream of their will

Our world is full of sound
Our world is more lovely than anyone's
tho we suffer, and kill each other
and sometimes fail to walk the air

We are beautiful people
with african imaginations
full of masks and dances and swelling chants

with african eyes, and noses, and arms,
though we sprawl in grey chains in a place
full of winters, when what we want is sun.

We have been captured,
brothers. And we labor
to make our getaway, into
the ancient image, into a new

correspondence with ourselves
and our black family. We read magic
now we need the spells, to rise up
return, destroy, and create. What will be

the sacred words?

by Imamu Amiri Baraka
~~~~~~~~~~~
I found this poem surfing the net. I am reproducing it here as I think it needs to be read by all of us. You can find more about the poet by clicking on:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/imamu_amiri_baraka/biography

A-Z Wednesday: In Harm's Way by Irene Hannon

Title: In Harm's Way
Author: Irene Hannon
ISBN: 978-0800733124
Publisher: Revell/2010
Pages: 326

When Rachel Sutton comes in contact with a Raggedy Ann doll, she has an unexplained feeling of terror. When it happens more than once, she thinks there is something, which needs to be found out. She goes to the FBI office, fully well-knowing no one is going to believe her story. Nick Bradley, a special agent of the FBI, is skeptical as expected.

But somehow the Raggedy Ann doll is connected with a kidnapped child, even though no one can understand how. Rebecca and her husband colin have given up hope of finding their child. The Raggedy Doll in a way helps the strange connection between Rachel and Rebecca, and also leads to the kidnapper. But by this time, Rachel's life is in danger, and Nick has to save her and also find the abducted toddler.

The horror of having a child kidnapped is well brought out. Rachel's relationship to the child can feel a force/pull which leads to the kidnapper. We also winess a romance between Nick and Rachel and a bonding between Rachel and Rebecca. As a child was involved, I couldn't put down the book until I finished it. However, the subject might not gel with readers who have young children. 

A-Z Wednesday: the clouds roll away by Sibella Giorello

Title: the clouds roll away
Author: Sibella Giorello
ISBN: 9781595545343
Publisher: Thomas Nelson/2010
Pages: 321

This is my second book by Giorello. I loved the rivers run dry. Sibella Giorello's writing is very different. Full of symbolism and wonderful imagery. That too in a suspense novel makes her writing very interesting to me. Taking a random example:

'His tuxedo shined at the seams, his red bow tie sitting cockeyed. And his hair was sparse white Caeser ring, almost as white as his tennis shoes."

The book is filled with unusual metaphors. For someone who wrotes poetry, reading these are sheer pleasure.

Our forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon, has just returned to Richmond, Virginia and her welcome is less than luke warm. Her first assignment after her return, is to investigate a cross burning at RPMs house, who is a celebrity of some sort in the music world. Investigations leads to dark secrets which deals with racism. Somehow the KKK seems to be still alive and Raleigh can't find who might be involved. More she gets into it, more confusing it gets for her. There are some who don't want her to help RPM, who they think is an outsider. When many bodies are found, all those being murders, no breakthrough comes to her. She goes back and forth, with virtually no support from her superior. When it does, what with her forensic investigations and her faith, the ending is a surprise..

Raleigh is a believable character and so is her mother, who seems to have flipped her mind but is endearing. There is a romantic element but yet does not stiffle the book in any way. The plot does not seem fictional. It feels as if it can happen at any time at any place. In a way, we are still having hate crimes, against religion, against people of different colours. Has anything changed?

Never Wave Goodbye by Doug Magee

Title: Never Wave Goodbye

Author: Doug Magee

ISBN: 978-1-4391-5398-7

Publisher: Touchstone/2010

Pages: 289

When Dr. Lena Trainor puts her nine-year-old daughter, Sarah, in van to take her to a sleep over camp, for two weeks, she doesn't anticipate a parent's worst nightmare come true. Her daughter has been kidnapped by someone impersonating from that camp, along with three other kids.

During the search and investigations by the police and the FBI, it seems that any of the parents could have planned the whole thing. Each one them is a suspect in the police/FBI's eyes along with each others.

The children do not suspect they have been kidnapped until much later. The kidnapper takes them to such a place, which in the deep woods and completely unidentifiable. But when they do know, they protest in their own ways. And then a turn comes.. Now the children have no one but themselves and their instinct to get them out of the woods. We also see a strange connection between Sarah and Lena, which might just get out the children from the deep woods.

With the parents turning against each other, Lena and David trying to save their fragile relationship, the children trying to save themselves, Never Wave Goodbye is a novel which keeps the suspense alive till the end.

A-Z Wednesday: The Wolf of Tebron by C S Lakin

Title: The Wolf of Tebron

Author: C S Lakin

ISBN: 9780899578880

Publisher: AMG Publishers

Pages: 272

Book Blurb

A young blacksmith must undertake a perilous journey to the four ends of the world to rescue his wife, who is held captive by the Moon. Along the way, he befriends a powerful wolf who encourages, protects, and ultimately sacrifices his life to save his human friend. A stirring allegory of Gods love in classic fairy tale tradition.

My views:

Currently I am reading it and surprisingly, liking it too. Will post my review soon.

A-Z Wednesday: Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Caroll

Title: Alice in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
ISBN: 0710501447
Published: Priory books/November 1993

This is another of my re-reads of children’s fiction. This time I enjoyed it even more. The story begins with Alice being bored and suddenly observes a talking white rabbit. Curiosity aroused, she follows the rabbit down a rabbit hole into a world full of eccentric creatures, weird happenings, and baffling pastries.

Alice is a great heroine. Throughout all of her backwards and upside-down adventures, she remains level-headed and logical, always trying to reason her way out of the most unreasonable situations. Other characters include- the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, the Cheshire Cat, Bill the Lizard, the Caterpillar, the Duchess and her peppery cook, the Queen of Hearts, the Mock Turtle, the Gryphon, the Red and White Queens, the talking flowers, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Sheep, Humpty Dumpty, and the Red and White Knights. Carroll also created many fascinating new creatures in his stories, including bread-and-butterflies, rocking-horseflies, slithy toves, mome raths and many more.

My favourite part of this book is when Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat. He is very witty and his grin is unparalleled. When Alice first speaks with the cat, and asks him which way she should go, his typical response is-

'In that direction,' the Cat said, waving its right paw round, ‘lives a Hatter: and in that direction,’ waving the other paw, ‘lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad.’
'But I don't want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat, ’we're all mad here. I am mad. You're mad.’

I also love the whole tea party setup, in which the Mad Hatter and March Hare keep moving from seat to seat round a large table, drinking tea and eating bread and butter. The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle are similarly hilarious, as well as the Queen of Hearts, who orders everyone's head to be chopped off at her whim.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was the first book written for children. It is entirely void of moral, and instead written exclusively for pure entertainment. Before this, children were stuck with stories that preached goodliness and virtue. Even Carroll pokes fun of those stories during the course of this story. His stories were an unexpected breath of fresh air amongst Victorian society, and that is what made this book immensely popular with both adults and children.

What I find most captivating as an adult reader is, Carroll's brilliant use of wordplay and symbolism throughout the stories. Almost everything has some sort of double meaning. There are veiled messages and understated witticisms on every page. Carroll also takes in quite a few lampoons of famous songs and rhymes in England in those times. A must read for all ages. It has that timeless quality of fantasy.

The Memorist by M J Rose/Wondrous Words Wednesday

Title: The Memorist
Author: M J Rose
ISBN: 978-0778325840
Publisher: Mira Books/2008
Pages: 464

The Memorist is a novel which amalgates mystery, time and music so beautifully and intricately that nothing feels out of place. Set in Vienna, both the present and the nineteenth century, we get to know the world of Beethovan and the music he created. It is not only the music but also memories that transcend time.

Meer is a woman in her early thirties, She is tormented by her memories from her past life since she was a child. She keeps hearing certain piece of music. Her father tries to help but somehow fails. She herself does not believe that she is hearing something from her past life. However, on her father's behest she arrives in Vienna to look into a music box which she has only seen in her memories and drawn pictures of it.

But people who are involved with the box are attacked and killed. It seems that there are many people who are interested in the box and its mystical powers. The box has something which conjures up memories of past lives.

The there is this Journalist David Yalom, who has lost his family to terrorism is tormented by his memories. He has a diabolic plan to make the world notice his losses. Yet he somehow feels some kind of afinity for Meer, whom he had never met. How both are connected is very intriguing part. Each of the characters around Meer has some sort of past connection with her. That also includes a FBI agent.

Going back on forth from past and present, The Memorist is journey beteween centuries, countries and cultures. What appealed to me most is how it travelled to India and Hinduism. The flute is so symbolic. With a touch of mystery, suspense, mysticism, spirituality, it is very good read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by Kathy of BermudaOnion

I take the following words from The Memorist:

1) Potentate (page 34): Seated in club chair as if he were a potentate and it was his throne, with thousands of leather bound books behind him.....

n.

1. One who has the power and position to rule over others; a monarch.
2. One who dominates or leads a group or an endeavor: industrial potentates.

2) Reliquary (Page 35): In a church , an object this precious would be in a gold-tooled reliquary but the memorists's relic had no power and promised no magic...

n., pl., -ies.
A receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred relics.

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by Kathy of BermudaOnion

It has been a while I played this. Here I take this word from Last Last Chance by Fiona Maazel.

1) Proboscis (page 7): It was impressive, this huge proboscis of huge affront to the landscape.

pro·bos·cis (pr-bss)
n. pl. pro·bos·cis·es or pro·bos·ci·des (-bs-dz)

1. A long flexible snout or trunk, as of an elephant.

2. The slender, tubular feeding and sucking organ of certain invertebrates, such as insects, worms, and mollusks.

3. A human nose, especially a prominent one.

A-Z Wednesday: What the Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy

Title: What the Bayou Saw
Author: Patti Lacy
ISBN: 978-0825429378
Publisher: Kregel Publications/2009
Pages: 336

Back Cover:

Since leaving Louisiana, Sally Stevens has held her childhood secrets at bay, smothering them in a sunny disposition and sugar-coated lies. No one, not even her husband Sam, has heard the truth about what happened when she was almost twelve years old.

Now a teacher in Illinois, Sally has nearly forgotten the past. But when one of her students is violently attacked, Sally's memories of segregation, a chain link fence, and a blood oath bubble to the surface like a dead body in a bayou. Lies continue to tumble from Sally's lips as she scrambles to gloss over harsh reality. Finally cornered by her deceit and nudged by the Holy Spirit, she resolves to face the truth, whatever the consequences.

My views:

Sally has all but forgotten her past. It all comes back when one of her student's is brutally raped. Now that student is a coloured one. Sally finds racial prejudices all around her in the investigations. No one wishes for a white man to be involved in the crime. Sally has her misgivings and does not how to handle it.

Her memories come to surface. She remembers her childhood friendship with a coloured girl, Ella Ward. And also the secret they both shared. No one was aware of their umlikeliest friendship. Sally had let down her friend by keeping her mouth shut, which had affected Ella's family.

Now this incident makes Sally question herself. And she knows, she has to stop her lies to get to the bottom of it irrespective of the consequences. And she has to redeem herself in her friend Ella's eyes.

The novel raises the age old issue of race. Sally and Ella become friends. Ella can go to any length for Sally but Sally doesn't. Ella had hoped that Sally would come out with the truth but Sally doesn't. Sally's silence destroys their friendship.

Here we see Sally continue to lie at the drop of a hat. And it catches with her. When skeletons tumble out, she knows she has to tell the truth. It is pegged as a Christian fiction. That does not bother me as I feel that choosing rightous path is mandatory for everyone, irrespective of religion.

What is hidden in the Bayou is what we have to find out here.

A-Z Wednesday: The Sounds of Poetry by Robert Pinsky

Title: The Sounds of Poetry
Author: Robert Pinsky
ISBN-13: 9780374526176
Publisher: Farrar, Straux and Giroux/1998
Pages: 117

Robert Pinsky is an American poet, who teaches graduate writing programme at Boston University. Here in this book, he takes up poetry in the vocal form. He wants that we should know how to read out poetry loud, where should we pause and where to stop. He gives stress on diction, syntax, accent, verse form..ie..rhymed poetry, metric poetry, free verse and blank verse.

He takes up numerous examples of poems by great poets, breaking the lines for us, teaching us the right intonations for each word, line and whole poem. He believes that poetry has to be vocal and should be peformed in order to comprehend it fully.

I am not saying that I understood it all at one go. This book is to be read very slowly, savoured in the way and should be followed the way he wants us to. He expects us to read aloud all kinds of poetry to understand those better. He says,"Poetry is a vocal, which is to say a bodily, art." This book can be read by those who are seriously into poetry and also those who are amateurs. To say, I liked it, is an understatement. This book is for keeps!

A-Z Wednesday: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Title: Purple Hibiscus
Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
ISBN: 1400076943
Publisher: Anchor Books/2003
Pages: 307

When I read Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I was kind of hooked to her words. I decided then and there, I will read all her books. Purple Hibiscus is just as engrossing. It speaks out to us at many levels. It is based in Nigeria in 1990s, in the midst of political unrest.

Kambili is a fifteen-year old girl, living with her parents and a seventeen-year old brother, Jaja. Her father is a well known figure who is a politically active and is a very generous person for his community. However, he is very oppressive and fanatically religious for his own family. At any kind of lapse, he punishes them severely, almost damaging them in the process. His love for his children and wife comes much below duty and love for God. He even abandons his own father who follows the old faith.

His sister Ifeoma, an university professer, takes in the children when there is a military coup in Nigeria. There they find a life which they had not envisaged at their home. Despite not having the best of financial resources, their cousins are always laughing and generally happy. Kambili and Jaja had not known of such free display of happiness or laughter. Slowly the children emerge out of their shells. Initially wary, both set of cousins slowly reach out for each other.

Kambili goes through the painful process of becoming an adult from a child. However, at what cost? What appealed to me the most, was the closeness between Kambili, Jaja and their mother, who suffers silently.

The title is so apt. Purple Hibiscus here are genetically made up. They show as a glimpse of how we can control our own lives if we so desire. How somewhat different attitude can change our lives. The parallels of a country and a family turmoil has been well brought out. Adichie's prose is superb. It holds us to the end. The conflict between old Gods and new ones is not so much as we make it out to be. If only we understood that.

A-Z Wednesday: Open Country by Kaki Warner

"You heard he was rich, is that it?" he accused, still pacing. "And now that he's hurt, you're just bidding your time until he dies so you can get your hands on his money. Jesus, what kind of woman are you?"
~Page 38

Title: Open Country
Author: Kaki Warner
ISBN: 978-0425234303
Publisher: Berkley Trade/2010
Pages: 448

Second of the Blood Rose trilogy, Open Country is as good as Pieces of Sky. This is about the second Wilkins brother, Hank. Set in the old New Mexico city, this is a fine piece of historical fiction. Hank is seriously injured in a train accident. Molly McFarlane is desperate to provide for her late sister's children. She has to save them from their step father. She marries Hank assuming he would be dead soon and she would get his insurance settlement. However, Hank survives and obviously does not remember either the train accident or marrying her. Still he takes her to his ranch. The Wilkins family accept her and her wards soon enough and Hank to falls in love with her and those kids.

And then Hank remembers everything. What with Molly's past looming large and the children too hiding something, Hank seems to get more than his fair share of troubles. Yet he knows he has to protect them all. Open Country stands alone and one gets involved with the Wilkins family soon. It is a fairly easy read and finishes fast. It is well wortyh it for all those who like to read about family sagas.

Thanks to Kaki, for this Uncorrected Proof of the novel.

A-Z Wednesday: Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Title: Notes from a Small Island

Author: Bill Bryson

ISBN: 0552996609

Publisher: Black Swan

Pages: 352

This is an account of a journey that Bryson makes round Great Britain some time in the early 90's after deciding that he will leave UK and go back to the United States. Before he leaves, he feels the need to see the country, which he has called home for the past two decades. He starts with a recollection of his first arrival in Dover good 20 years before and then repeats the Calais-Dover journey and continues the tour (mostly by public transport) that takes in - amongst others - London's Wapping; Dorset Coastal Path, Salisbury, Lincoln, Bradford, Port Sunlight, Inverness and Wick.

He begins his journey, entering by sea from France as he first arrived, on the south coast of England and aims to travel all around in just a few weeks. This time limit seems like so little once he actually begins. Everything is of interest to him and he cannot quite find the time to fit it all.

It is full of rich conversations, humorous sketches and amusing exchanges with the natives who often astonish him with their observations and attitudes. A good-natured work of art through the country's eccentricities as well as its charms, this is an affable companion for any trip to the isle.

This book is not just a catalogue of Bryson jokes, there are idiosyncratic description and some chapters are gems of light travel writing. He seems particularly better at describing cities and town than countrysides.

Overall, 'Notes from the Small Island' presents an informative, personal and mostly warm portrait of this island and its inhabitants.

Reading this, one should not expect beautiful prose or deep insights. However, it makes us laugh over and over again.

A-Z Wednesday: My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Title: My Name is Red

Author: Orhan Pamuk

ISBN: 0375706852

Publisher: Vintage International/2001

Pages: 413

This novel has many layers to it. A murder mystery, a love story and also speaks out about Islamic society. One can feel the tensions throughout for the rise and fall of various empires which is told by the way of miniature art. At some point in the book, we do not care who the murder is but get involved in the treachery of politics, the love affair and want to know more about the Islamic society. Being an Indian, and knowing a bit about Islam did help me.

There is clash between cultures. Between spirituality and materialism. Between getting fame at whatever cost and bowing to art. Between God's will and man's doing. How does one define sin? Can one justify it? Does it merge somewhere? Is there really a fine line? These are few of the questions one asks while reading. A few get answered, a few don't. That does not take away anything from the book. We can see the eternal conflict between the old and new, and tradition and change i.e., that of East and West. Then there are those artists who only depend on copying, others who want to take in the western influence to show other perceptions.

This book has been narrated in many voices, mostly human. However, a few include a horse, a dog, a tree and a coin. Also we see voice of death. One tends to get different perception in this way of speaking. The novel begins with the voice of a dead person, the recently killed Elegant Effendi. His murderer is a recurring character, telling his story both anonymously and also as a character not identified by the others as being the killer, until the end.

The setting of the book is the late 16th century, in Istanbul. Elegant Effendi and his murderer are both artists: miniaturists and illustrators. Other important characters are Enishte Effendi, a master artist, his nephew, called Black, who too is a miniaturist, and his daughter Shekure. Black had fallen in love with Shekure, but it was not possible for them to marry. Black left Istanbul and returned after twelve years. Meanwhile, Shekure got married three years after he left, and has two sons. However her husband disappeared years ago and is presumed to be dead. Now her husband's brother Hasan, wants to marry her as does Black.

Pamuk's descriptions and evocations are like the miniatures he describes. Very detailed, very pictursque and paying attention to finer nuances which can be used to for different effects, at different times. It is a fascinating read, although it is very slow in the beginning.

A-Z Wednesday: Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Title: Kafka on the Shore
Author: Haruki Murakami
ISBN-10: 1-400-7927-6
Publisher: Vintage International/2005
Pages: 467
Rating: 5/5

One can call this novel a metaphysical fantasy fiction, with dream and logic going hand in hand. Where dreams starts or logic ends or vice versa do not have clear-cut demarcations. Where the inner us meets with the outer us are not separate either.

Kafka Tamura runs away from home on his fifteenth birthday to look out for his long lost mother and sister. Moreover, to escape an oedipal curse by his father. Another parallel story about Nakata, an old man of sixty plus years, a simpleton who had lost his ability to read and write due to some war affliction follows the main one. Most people take him to be dumb. He has been abandoned by his family and lives on Govt subsidy.

On this journey, Kafka meets many interesting characters like Sakura, Oshima and Miss Saeki. Similarly, Nakata too meets Hoshino, a truck driver who is drawn to this simpleton and quits his job to be with him. Nakata has strange compulsions he does not understand. He knows that his path is taking him somewhere towards a boy he has never met. In this metaphorical tale, cats can talk to Nakata, fishes and leeches rain on his whim. Spirits can travel beyond time and space to make love or kill.

Kafka is a self-sufficient boy. He can survive under any circumstances. He adapts easily. However, he has to find himself. How does he do it? What is his relationship with Miss Saeki? How does Oshima affect him? What does he finally find? Why is he lured towards a painting of boy in a beach? What is the entrance stone referred to in the lyrics, Kafka on the Shore?

Oshima, Miss Saeki and Nakata are all different from the normal and just as fascinating. Hoshino is a normal young man. Still he is drawn to Nakata and sticks to him. Thus, he discovers himself on the way. This novel asks many questions, takes us into different directions. In a way, it tells us to find the answers in the all the signs, symbols and metaphors. We learn about world philosophy, great writers and beautiful quotations. A must read.