Rajat Narula's Blog, page 5

Our Lady of Alice Bhatti: Mohammed Hanif

A major disappointment from the author of ‘The case of exploding mangoes’. The book starts out quite well when the major characters are introduced, interviewing Alice Bhatti. Laugh out loud funny, and then suddenly it stops working. Sometimes you get the impression of Hanif trying too hard to be funny. He succeeds in parts, but the parts don’t add up. Razor-thin plot, illogical actions of some of the characters, and poor editing are some of the main issues. Gone is the delicious multi-layered intrigue of Mangoes!

The Finkler Question: Howard Jacobson

A beautifully written book on the people of Jewish faith today – caught between the horror of yesterday and the shame of today. The human story takes center stage though –through the three central characters – two Jewish and one wannabe. The humor is superb. Treslove’s character, is particularly well etched. He is the protagonist –a weak guy, full of self pity – yet Jacobson manages to get the readers on Treslove’s side – by gently poking fun at him.

My All-time Top Ten Books: Part I

It started with a recent book club discussion. Seemed an impossible task – but then I went down the list and thought about the books that were most impactful – whether it was the subject, the writing or the imagery. Would any of these figure in your top ten?

At #10, it is ‘Unbroken’ by Laura Hillenbrand.

Once in a long, long time, comes an amazing life story that writes itself. From a wild childhood to an Olympics runner to a man marooned at sea for the longest time to POW in Japan suffering unbearable cruelty to post-war ruin to a final resurgence, Louise Zamperrini lived many lives in just one lifetime. Laura Hillenbrand does his life full justice combining sensitive narration and hard statistics, generating unforgettable scenes.

At #9 is George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four.

The iconic first line: “It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.” Written in 1949, it is amazing that the book continues to be relevant in 2020. The tension, the hopelessness of a totalitarian regime and the tools deployed by it – the thought police, new speak, big brother – memorable indeed. A scathing, lively satire.

#8 on my list is Emma Donoghue’s Room. A shocking account of a forced confinement of a woman and her son told from the POV of the 5-year old. Stark brutality of the situation balanced with a child’s innocence. A brilliant concept, executed flawlessly.

#7 on my top ten is ‘Middlesex’ by Jeffrey Eugenides. Besides being the unusual story of a one mutant gene that forces Calliope to become Cal, Middlesex is a quintessential immigrant story. Of three generations of a Greek family in the U.S. Eugenides tells the tale with love and joy.

#6 on my list is another immigrant story, ‘The Namesake’, the story of Gogol Ganguli, the all-American son of Indian parents. Jhumpa’s USP lies in her ability to evoke deep emotions in her readers without resorting to melodrama. If there is one writer I who I wish I could write like, it would be her

Noon: Aatish Taseer

Two almost-unrelated novellas join to make ‘Noon’. However, it is not clear at all why the book is titled Noon. The only thing common between the two stories is the flight of the protagonist. The 2nd part of the book that explores brother-brother and father-son relationship had potential, but didn’t quite meet it. The writing is excellent though: elegant and polished. The visuals, specially of modern-day Delhi are excellent. A writer to watch though. He would be great, if he really had a story to tell.

Winter in the neighborhood

Here are a few snapshots from the winter in our neighborhood

My favorite winter-time tree. It’s leaves dry up but don’t fall and make lovely music in the breeze.

A few leaves still soldering on.

A flower in our front garden – perhaps the only one in the neighborhood currently that is somehow surviving the January cold.

Two snapshots from the last snowfall.

Why Impeach?

I don’t quite understand the clamor for impeachment. The people of the United States have spoken already and shown him the door. That is the most crucial test in democracies – elections. And in his case, he has been stripped of the mandate to govern.

If anything, an impeachment would give his supporters ammunition (hopefully not literally :)) to protest against what could easily be seen as vindictive. Won’t that make the U.S look like a banana republic where the incumbent leaders go after the deposed regime drunk on power.

Why not leave him just where he is. Inglorious in Defeat.

End of a Sordid Era?

11 days to go before Trump’s presidency comes to an end – the events at the Capitol Hill earlier this week notwithstanding.

Does this signal the end of an era of cult politicians whose followers blindly believed all the lies they spouted and politicians who had no qualms in lying brazenly because they knew their followers would believe them. The lies ranged from innocuous and irrelevant (I had the biggest inauguration crowd ever) to potentially threatening to democracy (I won the elections by a lot).

Would the end of Trump presidency generate a Republican leadership that would return to mainstream politics or is his legacy going to leave a deeper imprint? Ivanka or not, will we continue to see politicians continuing to appeal the people’s basest instincts? Would the country continue to be divided hopelessly?

Time will tell how the politics would shape and Biden’s success (or failure) would certainly have an impact on the immediate future. However, let’s savor this moment of triumph. The American electorate did reject Trump’s politics and voted him out. Let’s hope it is the end of a sordid chapter in American history.

Receiving Birthday gifts

On my birthday, my daughter gifted a monthly subscription to chocolates sourced from all over the world. The first edition arrived today – one each from Italy, Switzerland, France and the U.S.

We all remember the excitement of birthdays of our childhood vividly. For me, it was about waking up to find my birthday gifts around my pillow, taking candies to school for distribution in the class and then the birthday party in the evening where I was star of the show.

The sheen of the birthdays obviously starts to wear off as you grow older – sometimes getting to a point where the number starts to stare in your face.

But one part of the birthday continues to be exciting for me and that is receiving gifts. Of course, it’s just the family now – and I understand that my daughters are using my own money to buy me gifts :), and yet, I still enjoy receiving the gifts on birthdays. Things that I do not need but are nice to have.

Maybe that’s the bit of child that has stayed in me even in my middle age. But don’t we all need aa bit of that child to continue to live within us?

Fostering a cat

Tomorrow, my daughter and I will get our first foster pet. After trying for about a month, we were told yesterday that a cat is available for fostering. My daughter has won this privilege after a hard-fought battle with her mom, who is clearly not overly enthused with the idea.

A shopping list has been drawn of the things we would need: from food and drink bowls to cat food to litter box to scratch post to toys. Her room has been cleaned up to make space for everything including a play pen with balls of yarn in it. Green and Red zones have been identified for cat’s movement. However, since it is our first pet (I had a dog over thirty years ago – so not sure it counts), we keep on coming up with questions that range from basic to wildly hypothetical to seemingly ridiculous :).

While we are both very excited at the prospect of having a pet at home, we are also hoping we will be able to manage between the two of us.

Any tips?

The Lake House: Kate Morton

A Whodunit that spans multiple generations and cases. Detective Sadie, under fire for going public about a missing mom, goes on a vacation and becomes deeply involved with another one. The characters are well-etched, multi-dimensional and distinctive. However, for a whodunit, the pace is a little slack, some conjectures not believable and the twists rather predictable. The building of suspense works for most of the time through repetitive thoughts of characters can sometimes slow things down.

Don’t bother.