Jan 2010 - Book 2 - Someone at a distance

Someone at a distance , by Dorothy Whipple         

     

     Last year , a dear friend of mine sent me 2 persephone books from UK and I started on both sporadically but kept them back for a more leisurly state of mind.

I picked 'Someone at a distance' again this weekend and could not put it back. As mentioned here and here , no one knows why but you cannot put the book down.. Its not a thriller or anything like that..rather a very ordinary story , extra-ordinarily written..

    Ellen is a post-war housewife of a puplisher husband and is very happy managing her house, children , husband and garden. Avery loves his family, his daughter the most and his job too. Ellen would rather be mucking in the garden , than making herself pretty for her husband and in her naive trustfulness she doesnt realises how her husband is being snared by the French au pair - Louise, her mother in law hired to keep her company. It doesnt even happens right away, Avery is first affronted, then irritated and then taken in by her , all the time thinking that he has control of the affair. When it comes to forth though , he runs away with her instead of facing his family and putting things to right , even when he wants to but his pride stops him from eating the humble pie for rest of his life.

Ellen meanwhile has to take care of her innocent and heart-broken daughter and she refuses alimony (very un-characteristic of a 20th century housewife who hasnt earned a penny of her own in her lifetime) . Her feelings are not elaborated more after this or maybe she is just so busy taking care of everything else..

    Louise's story also is an interesting look into a small-town girl with un-defined ambitions, who is thwarted in love by the rich kid from the village and how that translates into the disruption of Ellen and Avery's solid married life..

 

Rating -   7.5 /10

 

" Wear the old coat and buy the new book " —  Austin Phelps 

Jan 2010 - Book 1 - Ours, a Russian family album

Ours , a Russian family album , by Sergei Dovlatov    

     

      My first book in 2010 is this book of short stories by Russian emigre Sergei Dovlatov. I first heard one of the stories - 'Colonel says I Love you' on the New Yorker podcast and loved it..I am not a big short story reader and however much I may claim to dislike audio books I have come to know some great short story writers through these podcasts..I dont think the story wouldve touched  me as much as when I read it..but listening to it gave it lot of depth and nuance and I didnt feel its brevity .. which I think is my main problem with short stories - they are short.

Neway, so I checked out this work from library and found it a quick and interesting read. Here, Sergei takes different family members and forms a story around each and its told in a very engaging narrative and one by one his life is un-raveled to us , not sequentially but in a way we can connect all the dots.. I still found his above story the best and his grandfather's the next best..

Overall a good fun read ..

 

Rating -  6/10

 

" Wear the old coat and buy the new book " —  Austin Phelps 

Women Unbound Challenge

For the start of the new year , I want to post this list of books that I want to read for the Women Unbound Challenge ..

Im thinking of going all the way i.e the Suffragette level which means reading 8 feminist/women oriented books, 3 of which should be non-fiction :

 

My fiction projected list , which might change as needed:

1. Maggie, a girl of the streets , by Stephen Crane
2. The hundreth woman , by Kate Green
3. The help, by Kathryn Sockett
4. Trudy's promise, by Marcia Preston
5. The darkest child, by Delores Phillips
6. Push , by Sapphire
7. Portrait in Sepia, by Isabel Allende

Non-fiction:

1. When everything changed , by Gail Collins (womens history)
2. Indira, Katherine Frank (bio)
3. The story of a soul, by St Therese of Lisieux (auto-bio)

Will be updating the blog as I progress through it, the deadline is November 2010 - so 1 book a month should be a good target ..

Happy Reading!

Dec 2009 - Book 7 - Salt and Saffron

Salt and Saffron , by  Kamila Shamsie 

     Another story based in pakistan, another young pakistani lady - though coming back instead of going to US..and she is very interested in her family story..and what a family..the 'Dard-e-dil' (which sounds very filmy) khandaan has its roots in royalty and all the intrigue , treachery, loyalty attached to it..She expounds on many relationships , some in detail - some fleetingly..sometimes too much..

But she is very much enamored with the theory of not-quite-twins and the curse they bring upon the family..or so it's believed..and one day she learns that she is also a not-quite-twin to Mariam Apa - one whose going has left a big hole in her heart and her life..with whom she had some sort of mystic connection and who by going away made her understand so much more about herself..examine her thoughts, prejudices, social stigma..but she wont let her be obscured from the family history..and maybe she will follow the same path..understanding that that is all that matters in the end..

 

Rating -  6 /10

 

" No  one who can read, ever look at a book, even unopened on shelf, like one who cannot " — Charles Dickens

Dec 2009 - Book 6 - An American Brat

An American Brat , by Bapsi Sidhwa

    Story of Feroza, a pakistani teen who is being unduly influenced by the political tension in the country..or so her mother thinks..and she is sent off to America to her 'Uncle' , who is actually only about 6 years older - as it goes in Indian/pakistani families.. so she comes to America for 3 months and stays back encouraged by her uncle..gets into school and experiences the student life with all its ups and downs..

Whereas her Uncle goes back home and marries a girl from Parsi community as expected, Feroza falls in love with a 'non' which brings her mom and all her melodrama to America...

Its a good, somewhat formulaic and dramatised but realistic account of Parsi pakistani family ..

 

Rating - 5/10

 

" No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance " — Confucius

Dec 2009 - Book 5 - Daddyji

Daddyji , by  Ved Mehta 

Ved Mehta writes about his father and by extension, biography of his family thru older generations..how the family starting from a very humble beginning go on to achieve great success ..how filial duty is respected and withheld..

It started very interestingly but fizzled out later because it just became account of events and people..there is no in-depth character building even of Daddyji, the protagonist of the book..his activities are provided in detail..but not his thoughts..I was intrigued by his expectations of his wife and the non-realization but that is not given the space it should've..

 I am interested in Ved Mehta's writing because of his interesting personal story..as excerpted from this article .. 

    By any standard, Ved Mehta is a literary phenomenon of our times. He lost his vision when he was four years old. He did his schooling in institutions for the blind. He had as full a life as anyone of his age. He was an active member of the RSS during his years in Lahore. He went on to Oxford, then to Harvard and finally on the staff of the New Yorker for 33 years. He is the author of 24 books. Among the many awards he won is the Guggenheims and the MacArthur Fellowship.  

 

Rating - 5/10

 

"Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness." —  Hellen Keller 

Dec 2009 - Book 4 - The White Queen

The White Queen, by Phillippa Gregory

Philipa Gregory writes about Elizabeth Woodville and her rise and fall from the throne of England..Royalty is where we think grace is, honor is..but the picture presented here is anything but that..Elizabeth gets married to the King Edward in secret ceremony but manages to hold on to the promise and ascends to the Queendom of the kingdom...Narrated by Elizabeth herself this is a very coarse language and lot of suspicion, battles, fights and murders everyday which I sortof skipped over..she conveniently ignores all her husbands wrong-doings against her and people in general and keeps on working on advancing her family members and friends..the highest form of favoritism works here..some intriguing angle is added by the mysticism/witchi-cism inherited from the water goddess Melusina (Little mermaid reference) .. Overall a fast paced but inelegant read..

I caught up on the history after her time and its interesting..start of the Tudor kingdom and end of Yorkists..

 

Rating - 5/10

 

"The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can't." — Mark Twain

Dec 2009 - Book 3 - The Bride

The Bride, by Bapsi Sidhwa

Bapsi Sidhwa writes about a city girl given to marriage into a tribe with their tribal ways and rituals , pride and honor .. she runs away from them and is hunted by the tribe to be punished/killed for her transgression..there are several bylines in the story and the partition of India is mentioned along with the displacement of people and the resulting dissonance of belonging and not belonging to a place..

There is another byline about this american "nobody" who marries a pakistani rich guy and her experience assimilating with him and his family and the society in Pakistan..

 

Rating - 6/10

 

"The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can't." — Mark Twain

Dec 2009 - Book 2 - The parasites

The parasites , by Daphne Du Maurier

The Delaneys - people whom no-one would like to be stranded with..Maria , Celia , Niall - children of charismatic dancer and singer duo . They live an enchanted life, following their parents all over the world , before a tragedy shakes them apart...some bonds remain as strong as ever..Maria and Niall , Celia and her father ..Maria and Niall have this deep relationship bordering on incest but never explicit..Celia uses the pretext to take care of her father to not really think what she wants out of her life..Maria marries someone just to be 'Mrs Wyndaham' but of course she has none of the wifely demeanor to play that role and neither does she knows to raise her children..Celia does..and thus they have all these inter-mingled and parasitic lives where they live off each other..but Charles breaks off and asks for a divorce..which leads them to think back on what went wrong..and when ..and why..

The narrative is in 2nd person but we never know who actually is narrating it and I think its different in each chapter..it adds to the intrigue ..

 

Rating - 7.5/10

 

"Wear the old coat and buy the new book." — Austin Phelps

Dec 2009 - Book 1 - The Girls

The Girls, by Frederick Busch

 

A couple dealing with loss of their child...Franny trying to understand what happened and why and growing distance with her husband , Jack who loves his wife very much and hurting for the baby too...tries to find some validation by becoming involved in a teenage murder investigation..

I liked the character of the pyshiatrist who tries to help them , almost like a guardian angel or a watchful mother..

 

Prose style is very sparse but all characters are etched out very deeply

 

Rating - 7/10

 

"I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." — Jorge Luis Borges

A woman's life, by Guy De Maupassant

A woman's life , by Guy De Maupassant -

It is the story of Jeanne, an exuberant and imaginative girl of noble birth ,who has all the dreams and aspiration of youth - finding love and living the dream life.

She is the only child of her parents and never seen any of her wishes thwarted, cosseted and protected that she is from all the harsh realities of life.

She falls in love quickly and gets married thereafter thinking all the joy will follow as is expected. Slowly the fog lifts, she becomes aware of the person her husband is

In her heart she felt resentful towards Julien for not understanding as much, for lacking this finer sense of modesty, this instinctive delicacy of feeling; and she felt as though there was a veil between them, a barrier, and realized for the first time that two people are never completely one in their heart of hearts, in their deepest thoughts, that they walk side by side, entwined sometimes but never completely united, and that in our moral being we each of us remain forever alone throughout our lives.

Her husband gradually takes over the estate and all its doings and her parents placid acceptance of his misdoings turn her into a passive and apathetic being. She stops caring about the open dalliances of her husband and turns to her child and religion for emotional support.The church, in its rigidity demands a too steep price from her and the child ,in his immature ways ultimately betrays her too.

She turns totally inward and looks upon life as something which has treated her un-fair..

The journey of her life from an optimistic wide-eyed girl to a fatalistic and wounded grandmother is so vivid that you have a feeling of having lived a lifetime in the span of the book...and a sad life that is..with no hope of redemption or any hint of happy ending..what is the point of that story it seems..

So, I thought I would try to find out something more about the writer and the writing style :

Guy De Maupassant seems to be the greatest French short story writer of 19th century, influenced by Gustav Flaubert .

This novel is written in the naturalist style i.e portraying things as they are which might be harsh and stark sometimes i.e poverty, indifference, sexuality, prostitution etc .

Naturalism goes beyond realism in the attribution of human behavior to their social environment and heredity .. something akin to the evolution theory that a human being's character is shaped by its surrounding and circumstances and determinism i.e. belief in a will, but not a free will, rather an enslaved will on account of various factors.

Coincidentally, I saw a marathi movie yesterday - 'Shevri' whose protagonist Vidya is a similar charater..being swayed by the wind of life..by what happens to her...and not something that she makes happen...It is a very sad but also a frustrating story because you expect the character to take charge of their life somehow, sometime..but they never do............

Note to self:

Check out the classic American Naturalist work - Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets , Stephen Crane

Serena , not so Serene..

Its a saying somewhere that 'A woman is behind every battle and every war' ... Take Ramayana , Mahabharata ... they've all proven that

'Heaven hath no rage like a love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned' ..

 

and then meet Serena Pemberton , the heroine of the book with same name , by Ron Rash..

She is ambitious - dreaming of logging in the un-chartered jungles of Brazil,

fearless - she tamed an eagle and it kills snakes @ her bidding ,

equal to any man - back in 1920s she is wearing trousers, riding horse astride and greeting each man with a strong handshake, also

power-thirsty - anyone who comes in her way is 'taken care of' and not with much discretion since she is the overlord,

overbearing - though her husband is a huge man and has done a lot before she came into his life, he is diminished when she is around ,

evil - she sends her 'stub' to track down and kill her husband's illegitimate son because she cannot have her own ,

autocrat - she has her own sense of right and wrong, moral and otherwise and infinite power to exercise

 

She is the heroine of this expansive and intriguing story , a contemporary portrayal of Macbeth and the levels to which hunger for power can take you..

READ it !

Library loot

Todays library loot includes :

 

• The English patient , Michael Ondaatje - I have been meaning to read this since long and I finally ordered it from the lib...Ive read Ondaatje's Divisidaro and though a very unstructured novel, I quite liked the feel of it..and 'The English patient' is his most famous one I think...hope I enjoy it..
• Fear and Trembling , Amelie Nothomb - I dont remember where I picked this reference from..maybe one of the blogs I wander about or some book news site..Its described as "Alternately disturbing and hilarious, unbelievable and shatteringly convincing"  - looks like a good riveting read !
• Purple Hibiscus , Chimamanda Ngozi - I have a distinct feeling Ive read this one already but Im unsure...does that happens to anyone else ?? Sometimes I read reviews, excerpts too many times and start believing that I have read the book too ...In any case, I liked her 'Half of a yellow sun' and thought I will check this one out..If it turns Ive read it, out it goes...
• Evening is the whole day, Preeta Samarasan - I cannot resist a Desi(being an Indian ex-pat) novel..some chick-lits are intelligently written and some not...lets see what this turns out to be..

 

Happy Reading !!

Friday Movie watch - Gran Torino (*****)

Yes...thats 5 stars...out of 5 and I would happily dole out more !! 

Clint Eastwood is a great great director , he has created an endearing movie with endearing characters - Walt, Wally , Mr Kowalski whatever you call him...and Sue and Toad and Yum Yum :)

This man is pure genius I think ! He is 79 years old and he still surprises us with the strength of his performance..just awesome..and Im so surprised he didn't notch the oscars...all awards are a lot of hooey !!!

Im sure all those adjectives are not going to give any idea on what that movie is about (if you dont already know) , but everyone should just go and watch it...bossy...ain't I ;)

What Im going to do here though is list out all the Clint Eastwood movies, mark the ones that I've seen and rush off to get those which I havn't , so here goes (Boy, there are a lot many, but Im gonna try...and update as I do ) :

Actor credits :

• Gran Torino (2008)
  Walt Kowalski
• Pierre Rissient: Man of Cinema (2008)
• Trying to Get Good: The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon (2008)
  Himself
• Million Dollar Baby (2004)
  Frankie Dunn
• Words In Progress (2004)
  Himself
• A Decade Under the Influence (2003)
• Blood Work (2002)
  Terry McCaleb
• Kurosawa (2001)
  Himself
• Space Cowboys (2000)
  Frank Corvin
• Forever Hollywood (1999)
  Himself
• True Crime (1999)
  Steve Ev Everett
• Absolute Power (1997)
  Luther Whitney
• Wild Bill, Hollywood Maverick: The Life and Times of William A. Wellman (1996)
  Himself
• A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1996)
  Himself
• The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
  Robert Kinkaid
• Don't Pave Main Street: Carmel's Heritage (1994)
• Shooting 'In the Line of Fire' (1994)
  Himself
• In the Line of Fire (1993)
  Frank Horrigan
• A Perfect World (1993)
  Red Garnett
• Unforgiven (1992)
  Bill Munny
• White Hunter, Black Heart (1990)
  John Wilson
• The Rookie (1990)
  Nick Pulovski
• Pink Cadillac (1989)
  Tommy Noak
• The Dead Pool (1988)
  Inspector Harry Callahan
• Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
  Sergeant Thomas Highway
• Pale Rider (1985)
  Preacher
• City Heat (1984)
  Lieutenant Speer
• Tightrope (1984)
  Wes Block
• Sudden Impact (1983)
  Inspector Harry Callahan
• Firefox (1982)
  Mitchell Gant
• Honkytonk Man (1982)
  Red Stovall
• Any Which Way You Can (1980)
  Philo Beddoe
• Bronco Billy (1980)
  Bronco Billy McCoy
• Escape From Alcatraz (1979)
  Frank Morris
• Every Which Way But Loose (1978)
  Philo Beddoe
• The Gauntlet (1977)
  Ben Shockley
• The Enforcer (1976)
  Inspector Harry Callahan
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
  Josey Wales
• The Eiger Sanction (1975)
  Jonathan Hemlock
• Thunderbolt And Lightfoot (1974)
  Thunderbolt
• High Plains Drifter (1973)
  Stranger
• Magnum Force (1973)
  Inspector Harry Callahan
• Joe Kidd (1972)
  Joe Kidd
• Dirty Harry (1971)
  Inspector Harry Callahan
• Play Misty for Me (1971)
  Dave
• The Beguiled (1971)
  John McBurney
• Kelly's Heroes (1970)
  Kelly
• Two Mules For Sister Sara (1970)
  Hogan
• Paint Your Wagon (1969)
  Pardner
• The Witches (1969)
  Husband
• Coogan's Bluff (1968)
  Deputy Sheriff Walt Coogan
• Hang 'Em High (1968)
  Jed Cooper
• Where Eagles Dare (1968)
  Lieutenant Morris Schaffer
• The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1968)
  Blondie
• For a Few Dollars More (1967)
  Man With No Name
• A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
  Man With No Name
• Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958)
  Keith Williams
• Hell Bent For Glory (1958)
  George Moseley
• Escapade in Japan (1957)
• Never Say Goodbye (1956)
  Will
• Star in the Dust (1956)
• The First Traveling Saleslady (1956)
  Jack Rice
• Francis in the Navy (1955)
• Lady Godiva (1955)
  1st Saxon
• Revenge of the Creature (1955)
  Lab Technician
• Tarantula (1955)
  1st Pilot
  
  
  
  

Director Credits

• The Invictus (2009)
  Director
• Changeling (2008)
  Director
• Gran Torino (2008)
  Director
• Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
  Director
• Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
  Director
• Million Dollar Baby (2004)
  Director
• Piano Blues (2004)
  Director
• Mystic River (2003)
  Director
• Blood Work (2002)
  Director
• Space Cowboys (2000)
  Director
• True Crime (1999)
  Director
• Absolute Power (1997)
  Director
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
  Director
• The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
  Director
• A Perfect World (1993)
  Director
• Unforgiven (1992)
  Director
• White Hunter, Black Heart (1990)
  Director
• The Rookie (1990)
  Director
• Bird (1988)
  Director
• Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
  Director
• Pale Rider (1985)
  Director
• Sudden Impact (1983)
  Director
• Firefox (1982)
  Director
• Honkytonk Man (1982)
  Director
• Bronco Billy (1980)
  Director
• The Gauntlet (1977)
  Director
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
  Director
• The Eiger Sanction (1975)
  Director
• Breezy (1973)
  Director
• High Plains Drifter (1973)
  Director
• Play Misty for Me (1971)
  Director