Never Judge A Book By Its Genre!

So I was asked to review Swimming Through Clouds by Freeze-Dried; and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s been years since I’ve read YA fiction and I had some misgivings about whether I’d really appreciate and enjoy the content and style. To my everlasting surprise, I found it quite “un-put-down-able”!

So what makes this unassuming novel such a page turner? Many reasons not least of which is the lovely story that unfolds. We have the boy-meets-girl scenario all set up, but instead of descending into a morass of clichés and annoyingly unessential angst-y plotlines, we begin to take one step at a time, from a dark world, up, into the light. And slowly, beauty shines through the ashes and there is hope in the bleakness.

The readers are taken on the same journey from despair to surprised delight as the troubled young protagonist Talia. And that kept me glued! I found myself rooting for her, hoping with her, worrying and fearful, alternately teetering between joy and fear. It’s been a while since I’ve empathised with a character to such a degree!

The only issue I had was towards the end when I felt there wasn’t enough closure. I’d gotten so involved in Talia’s quest for freedom and life that I wanted to know, in detail, how things panned out! Especially the story arcs about her father and brother, I would have loved if they’d been resolved in some way. Not happily ever after! Please! But just to show the repercussions of Talia’s actions. Personally, I could have done without the Epilogue because it left me slightly confused. I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or reality and even in reality, what it actually meant!

YET! Despite this, I’d still recommend the book, especially to those of us who think we’re past the age of reading YA fiction! It’s a beautifully written tale of heartbreak and love and finding joy in the midst of pain.

Two thumbs up, Rajdeep Paulus!

Can’t Quite Put My Finger On It!

I've read three P. D. James’ novels so far and I still haven’t been able to make up my mind about whether I like her lead investigator – Adam Dalgliesh – or not. There are times when he is an absolutely unlikeable character. Not unlikeable in the charming-devil-may-care-cocky-ne'er-do-well sort of way, but rather in the annoyingly intense, introverted way; the kind who dislike others just for being around! He isn't an action hero – rough round the edges with a heart of gold – but rather a well-read, gentleman detective, who writes poetry in his spare time! He’s intelligent and witty, apart from being aloof and sarcastic. Yet there is some elusive quality that renders him indefinably ambiguous.

James’ style is interesting; the descriptions, detailed. They evoke the atmosphere so perfectly that one actually feels, emotively, a sense of place, person and event. The characters are etched carefully, no detail is too tiny; most have no redeeming qualities. There is a sense of pessimism that pervades. No character is good or bad; each is a blend. There is a very realistic edge to her style; quite chilling in its ordinariness.

The books have no action-packed scenes, car chases, fistfights and so on, but rather, are filled with intelligent dialogues that are littered with cunningly masked clues. The novels themselves are lengthy, so don’t pick one up unless you’re planning to spend at least three days with it!

Though I can’t quite put my finger on it, I’ll still pick up a P. D. James novel when I see one!

Tragedy, Martyrdom And An In-Depth Look At Upper-Caste Life In Pre-Independence India

During my research on South Asian Women Writers, I thought, why not ‘start at the very beginning...a very good place to start’! So I found a copy of Kamala and got down to it. Kamala: The Story of a Hindu Child-Wife* has the distinction of being written by the first Indian woman author to ever fictionalize in English. Also being one of the first works of Indian fiction in English (with a female protagonist), it had a lot riding on its shoulders.

And, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised! Once I got into the book, I found it hard to put down. At one point I even found myself tearing up, and that has to make it one exceptional book! As a rule, I cannot cry. But truly, for this one, I did!

Anyway, moving on from my soggy reverie, Kamala is well written and fast paced, and given that it was written in the late 1880s, that makes it positively speedy! However, there are portions where Krupabai Satthianadhan, inserts descriptive observations, which slow down the plot but serve to paint a brilliantly detailed panorama. One gets the sense that the author writes from intimate knowledge of upper-caste traditions and given that she was born in a Brahmin family and her own mother was a child-bride, it makes the story all the more real.

Though Satthianadhan’s parents later converted to Christianity and her own life was very different from Kamala’s, there is a sense of objectivity that weaves through the story, and though every ritual and tradition is lovingly described, the author constantly seems to step back and allows her characters to voice various points of view. There is never any sense of condemnation, but rather a deep empathy for the very real plight of women in those times.

Interestingly, all the “villains” are female. There is no “hero” who rides in to save the day, nor are any of the male characters very strong. The entire plot is driven by the female characters and their blind perpetration of cultural and generational traditions. In fact, it is the women who make the life of the heroine miserable and bearable (in turns)!

Kamala as a character is flawed. When the reader first meets her, she is a child roaming on the hillside. As a wife, mother and widow, her innocence and goodness seem to increase her sense of martyrdom! (Which, honestly, I found annoying!) There are glimpses of independence, but she immediately squashes them with selflessness. There is one point in the story, where she turns on her husband’s mistress and physically pushes her out of the house, after yelling at her to get out. Then she shouts at her husband for abusing her. I was SO pleased! I almost whooped and had a big, silly grin on my face! Of course, to my everlasting sorrow, this beautifully sensible course of action did not last for very long.

Satthianadhan was a feminist and her views are voiced through various characters in the novel. However, in keeping with the highly realistic portrayal of the status of upper-caste women in pre-independence India, the protagonist doesn’t break with tradition, but rather, within the confines of the restrictions imposed, lives as best she can. The novel ends on a sombre note and though I would have loved to see Kamala finally find some genuine happiness for herself, that was not to be.

All in all, in spite of the martyrdom, I found it a satisfying read!

*The book was originally titled Kamala: A Story of Hindu Life. It was first printed in 1894 and later translated into Tamil in 1896.

Challenges!

This year seems to be shaping up to be quite interesting! Apart from multiple projects that I’m supposed to be working on, I’ve allowed myself to jump into yet another exciting one called the South Asian Women Writers Challenge! Just doing a bit of research (cause I’ve been woefully ignorant of this section), has proved more than ordinarily problematic. Firstly, most women authors (whatever genre) from this region have little or no online presence. At least, what I mean by that is, one has to really dig to find women writers! While we have western authors jumping thrown in our faces willy nilly, these not so much!

So here’s to more digging, finding, unearthing and reading SAWW this year!

Also, if you’re interested, do clamber on!

On Simplicity...

I was introduced to C. S. Lewis the usual way – through Narnia. It was only later that I discovered he had written several books on various subjects ranging from theology and apologetics to poetry and science fiction. This little book C. S. Lewis – Readings for Meditation and Reflection is an excellent introduction to his theological and apologetical work, with short excerpts drawn from his various books.

Lewis’ unique style of profound simplicity provides honest answers to searching questions. I love his no-nonsense attitude of saying it as it is. There’s no flummery or pseudo-philosophical twaddle. He cuts straight through all the platitudes to the heart of the matter and strikes home!

Lewis expounds “…the simplicity that is in Christ.”* Reading his work has made me sit up and think about… well, about what I think! More often than not, I’ve found myself complicating my life through my attitudes and my thought process; but the truth has been so simple all along! It’s liberating!

This slim volume has been an eye-opener in many ways. Earlier, while attempting to read his complete works, I felt that a page or two each day was the most my brain could take to completely appreciate his writing. This book however, is perfect in that sense, as the excerpts are about a couple pages long at the most! But it has also revealed a whole new Lewis – the variety and array of subjects and ideas that he has written about, makes me want to read more. It’s like a foretaste of the real thing. I think I will appreciate his complete works better this time around!

Though most of his work was written in the first half of the 20^th century, it still holds true today. Given below are some gems from his treasury of wisdom! I couldn’t resist!

“Pride is essentially competitive…It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest…Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.”

-          Mere Christianity

“The man can neither make nor retain one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift; he might as well regard the sun and moon as his chattels.”

-          The Screwtape Letters

“God…is not proud, He stoops to conquer, He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him and come to Him now because there is ‘nothing better’ to be had.”

-          The Problem of Pain

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

-          Fern-seed and Elephants

“If you simply try to tell the truth (without caring tuppence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

-          Mere Christianity

“When we want to be something other than the thing God wants us to be, we must be wanting what, in fact, will not make us happy…Whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little.”

- The Problem of Pain

Highly recommend this book!

* II Corinthians 11:3

On Faith…

When I picked up The Old Man And The Sea, I knew that it had won a Pulitzer Prize and was lauded as one of the finest short stories ever to be written. So as I began to read, I realised I had two choices – either read every line, studying it and finding sub-textual messages, or just read it simply as a story. I chose the latter.

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of short stories on the whole. Yet, I enjoyed this one cause it’s quite a long short story! [Watch out! Spoilers ahead!]

So the story is about an old man, a little boy and a giant fish. Interlaced is the old man’s love-hate relationship with the sea. It is his livelihood – for he is a fisherman – but it is also his constant challenge. To me, the story was all about faith – unwavering, undying, unchanging. The old man’s faith in his skill and ability to bring home a really big catch; his faith that he would be the victor; the little boy’s faith in the old man, despite evidence to the contrary, are peppered throughout the pages.

I also particularly liked how the old man’s feelings for the fish underwent a subtle change as the story progressed. Initially the fish is just a trophy of his achievement, but through the course of their epic battle, the old man soon acknowledges that it is a worthy adversary and begins to respect it, eventually even becoming comrades!

Hemingway’s words have painted a beautiful vista - of an ordinary fisherman who had an extraordinary experience. And like a work of art, it remains with you even after time has gone by. 

On Boredom…

So Scandal At School makes a perfect case against picking up books by unknown authors at old book stores! Once again, my weakness for books that look (and smell!) old, has been my undoing. Perhaps it was just my misfortune that I picked up the runt of the lot (G. D. H. & M. Cole did produce quite a number between them)! Anyway, I found Scandal At School to be rather non-scandalous frankly. Perhaps this tale of fraud, murder, children with blackmailing tendencies, teachers with self-esteem issues and a highly ineffectual detective may have raised eyebrows in 1935, but by today’s standards – this was tame fare!

At one point, one of the characters says to the protagonist – “You aren’t really a sleuth, and you know it. You’re only a born sniffer; you never want to catch anyone.” Which describes this book in a nutshell! The reader is led up and down meandering pathways crowded with red herrings and eccentric characters. One gets the idea that the detective doesn’t really want to find a murderer, in so much as meet interesting (read bizarre) people! Not the most fast-paced of murder mysteries, with the character development being its only saving grace. The story reads more like a montage of life, society, attitudes and conversations in 1930s Britain. (Which I would enjoy on any other day, just not under the caption of “murder mystery”!)

Now, I love mysteries. I grew up on a staple diet of Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, Georgette Heyer, Alistair MacLean and Mary Higgins Clark. I also thoroughly enjoy period mysteries – Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series is a current favourite. And, I’ve also stumbled across authors I haven’t read before and enjoyed their work – Patricia Wentworth is a case in point.

Unfortunately, Scandal At School was boring. After meandering for about three-quarters of the book, the pace finally picked up and the mystery was solved in the space of ten pages! And even then, the solving wasn’t done by our friend, the inept detective!

If I ever find any other books by this author, I might read it just in the hope that this book was the one that fell off the wagon! Otherwise, definitely not a keeper!