Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 287
June 24, 2020
Introducing Marx – Sort of
I had seen a copy of ‘Introducing Marx’ lying on the bed of a friend over a year ago. Somebody gave it to her as a birthday gift.
“Was Marx himself a ‘Marxist’? Was his visionary promise of socialism betrayed by Marxist dictatorship? Is Marxism inevitably totalitarian? What did Marx really say?” read the blurb of the book.
It’s an illustrated book that introduces readers to Karl Marx and his thoughts on communism, socialism and modernism. Just like the title suggests, it’s for people who do NOT know much about the 19th century German Philosopher.
If you consider yourself a ‘noob’ when it comes to Karl Marx, this book is for you. Even thought it is a small book, it took me about three days to finish it, which isn’t bad at all. It was an eyeopener to learn how disillusioned Marx was with the communist ideology.
The book succinctly explains how Marxist ideas were twisted by certain leaders and philosophers to their own cause. Loved a panel in the book that showed how Marx once famously said “if they are Marxist, then I am not Marxist”. Another enjoyable quote from the book is about how he called religion “the opium of the masses”.
However, throughout the book, it felt like most of his ideas were fleetingly covered and I would have probably preferred more insights as a reader. But like I said, if you don’t know much about the man, this book could be a good start. It’s a three on five from me.
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P.S – On a completely unrelated note – I published my second book – ‘Love, Loss, Lockdown’. It’s a collection of short stories, so check it out if you are looking to read something new.
First Reviews Out
Why is it so hard for new writers to establish themselves in the general fiction genre?
We will discuss that some other time I guess. A few people seem to have already finished reading my debut fiction book. So the first review for ‘Love, Loss, Lockdown’ is out on Amazon. A five on five. A little too generous perhaps? Good for me! (Blurred out some spoilers.)
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A very close friend of mine on the other hand, who also finished reading the book in two days, couldn’t put up a review on Amazon. So she put one up on GoodReads and gave it a four on five. Haven’t put her entire review out here because it has some minor spoilers.
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If you are looking to read something new, I am obviously going to urge you to read my new book. So please grab a copy of “Love, Loss, Lockdown” and help support an independent author. Following are some country specific links –
If I’ve missed your country, look for it on Amazon or on your kindle store.
June 23, 2020
Dear Dad…
Bollywood enthusiasts would know Arvind Swami from Mani Ratnam’s ‘Bombay’ and ‘Roja’. But very few are aware that the actor starred in the 2016 film ‘Dear Dad’, a LGBT themed film; a fact that is conspicuously missing from the movie’s wikipedia page.
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Here’s what the film is really about – A couple decides to get divorced after the husband Nitin (played by Arvind Swamy) comes out of the closet and embraces his homosexuality. He then goes on a road trip with his teen son to let him know about the divorce and his sexual orientation. But will he be able to pick up the courage? And how will his son take the news? That forms rest of the story.
The film completely falls on the shoulder of Arvind Swamy, who carries it with grace. Actor Himanshu Sharma who plays his teen Shivam comes across as your average irritating teenager. The rest of the cast doesn’t get much screen space and are passable in whatever little role they have.
Director Tanuj Bhramar delicately handles this issue and does not succumb to the temptation of too much drama. However, the film does suffer from a slow pace. For example, during the long drive, the camera constantly pans to show a bobble-head figure of Sheldon Cooper, a character from the popular American series ‘Big Bang Theory’. For most Indian viewers the symbolism might be lost – that the actor who plays Sheldon Cooper is gay in real life.
It’s important to note that this film was made before India’s Supreme Court decriminalized gay sex (yes, it used to be illegal). So it was a bold attempt by the makers to tackle the issue. The movie has some really emotional and touching moments that express how stifling being in the closet can be.
While it’s been some time since I saw this film, it came back to my mind after a gay friend on Instagram asked for some LGBT Indian film recommendations. Most LGBT films in India are dark, depressing or too cliched. In comparison, Dear Dad, despite floundering in parts, is a commendable effort that deserves to be watched.
And since it’s still Pride Month, if you are open to watching a Bollywood film, go check this one out. It has a believable and sweet climax.
Why choose to self-publish?
One fine day I woke up to a message from a dear friend of mine.
“Hey! I was just thinking yesterday and wanted to ask you that why did you and want to self-publish your writings. I’ll tell you why I am asking because if you write something for just your friends and family then maybe It’s the right choice, but if you want to put it out there, a publisher will give you a better platform and feedback on your work, which are both great things.”
This was a month before I self-published my second book, which is also my first fictional endeavor – ‘Love, Loss, Lockdown’, a collection of short stories loosely set against the Covid19 pandemic.
I will be honest, at one point, I was very confused if I should submit the manuscript to traditional publishers or just self-publish. It’s true that if the book was accepted by an established publishing house, the book would get a LOT more exposure than me doing it by myself.
But here is the problem – every publisher says they are going to take at-least three months time to evaluate just your sample chapters. The bigger ones like Penguin take six months. Did I want to wait for so long to just know if my book which is based on the pandemic would be approved by one of them?
There were two options for me – send a book proposal to a bunch of publishing houses and wait for minimum three months to hear for them. Or self-publish and use those three months to promote the book in whatever little ways possible just by myself.
My decision to self-publish was sealed when I read about an author publishing a long-form novel set against the pandemic. That book came out in May.
“An author has already published a book based on the pandemic. If I decide to wait for publishers for the next three months, the market will be flooded by more books based on the pandemic and my book will just be lost in the pile,” I explained my friends and family.
I believe that my book will not become irrelevant once the current pandemic becomes ‘stuff that’s only mentioned in history books’. However, the sheer fact that I’ve been able to put out a book set against the lockdown, while most places in the world are still in a state of lockdown, makes it a lot more relevant for the current times.
Let me clear about one thing though – the pandemic is just a very minor theme in the book. Kind of like the novel ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’, the book is about love, cholera is just happenstance.
Also, I am extremely impatient, it’s not a virtue and might cost me a lot in the long run, but I just don’t have it in me to wait for so long to hear from a publisher. I will probably fall into those category of writers that live impoverished all their lives and become famous only after their death. Maybe.
If you are still with me, please grab a copy of “Love, Loss, Lockdown” and help support an independent author. Following are some country specific links –
If I’ve missed your country, look for it on Amazon or on your kindle store.
June 22, 2020
Love, Death & Robots
‘Love, Death + Robots’ is an adult animated series spanning 18 episodes and each one of them is a stand-alone story by itself. It’s more like an anthology of short stories by different makers. And here’s fair warning – don’t judge it by the first one.
I think the first episode of this series was its weakest link. It’s about a cup of yogurt trying to take over the world. Whimsical, weird, but on the boring side. Despite being just 5-6 minutes long.
Things get a LOT better from the second story onward. My favorite one was about three robots exploring a museum that showed how the world was when Humans still existed. It was very witty and humorous. What can be nicer than a world without us?
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The makers tried to include every fictional kink that comic and animation enthusiasts are into. You have dystopian futures, shape-shifters, space-drifters, sexy robots, Chinese folklore and death-matches. The episode called “Good Hunting” is a stunning blend of Chinese myth meets cyberpunk. It’s brutally beautiful.
Out of the 18 shorts, I just didn’t like two. There is one episode called “Alternate Histories” that was even shittier than the Yogurt one. While the concept is really interesting – a virtual reality platform let’s you see how things would have turned out if something was changed in the past. For example – how the world would have fared if Hitler died early. While the concept is intriguing, the story and execution was crap. Even the animation wasn’t impressive.
A lot of the other shorts have surreal animation work and are a treat to look at. Two-three of them have endings that are open to interpretation. I like such endings. The overall tone of the series is pretty dark and some of them are deeply philosophical, with not too subtle existential messages. Especially the one called “Zima Blue”.
If you are into animated shorts, stream this one. It made my food/tea breaks fun. And I need to thank fellow blogger Arvind Rao for suggesting me this one. I am looking forward to Season Two. Netflix has already approved it.
P.S – On a completely unrelated note – I published my second book – ‘Love, Loss, Lockdown’. It’s a fictional collection of short stories, so check it out if you are looking to read something new.
Writing Vs Promoting
It’s been two days since my first fiction book ‘Love, Loss, Lockdown’ came out. And I know I should have focused my energy on promoting it in the last 48 hours, but instead, ended up posting two non-book reviews.
I have been so invested in the book for the last three months, and now that it’s out, there is just a massive sense of relief. It’s a short stories collection set against the Covid19 lockdown. And the initial response has been positive.
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The only little problem is – I wish I didn’t have to do any promotions. And that the book could somehow magically take care of itself. But those new to the publishing game learn this soon enough – writing the book is actually the easy part.
And while you think that after the first book, dealing with the first book would be easier, the truth is nowhere close to it. Funnily, despite poetry being a niche, at least it was easier to know who to target. With general fiction, things just get crazy difficult. There are both too many books and too many readers.
Any way, until I find myself a manager or something, gotta do the self-promotion thing. So if you are still with me, please grab a copy of “Love, Loss, Lockdown” and help support an independent author. Following are some country specific links –
If I’ve missed your country, look for it on Amazon or on your kindle store.
June 21, 2020
Love, Victor – Review
What happens when you watch a trailer on YouTube assuming it’s a film and like it, only to realize it is a series? You watch it anyway.
So I finished watching all ten episodes of the new series ‘Love, Victor’, which is a spin-off of the film ‘Love, Simon’. And it’s super cute. Too cute for comfort.
The adorable Michael Cimino plays Victor, a teen who has shifted to a new city with his family. He is hoping to start a new life and come out of the closet to embrace his sexuality. But instead, he decides it’s safe to go out with the sweetest girl on the campus – Mia.
I don’t understand why we are still making movies/series with the same damn plot – closeted gay guy tries to date a girl, claims he really loves her, only to realize his dick doesn’t agree. Sorry for the crass term. But I cannot think of a better way to write that!
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Despite the cliched, stale plot, ‘Love, Victor’, thanks to a charming cast, manages to keep the viewer hooked and interested in its story. Everything is justified neatly and believably. It’s a pretty breezy series, with none of the usual high-school excesses that other teen-themed productions usually succumb to. The bullying is very mild and the ‘drama’ is in acceptable degrees. The background score is very upbeat, catchy and in sync with the plot.
Every character has something redeemable about them. However, some of them are not fleshed out well. Like Victor’s gay crush Benji, played by George Sear. He doesn’t have a lot of screen-time and we are just given small cues to believe that he is a hottie with a golden heart. I loved the fact that there is no villain in this story. The only antagonists you will ever see on screen are the characters’ own insecurities.
Creators Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger manage to keep most things real but also play a little too safe. Which makes ‘Love, Victor’ a total fun family series. They end it with a BIG cliffhanger, so they better be a season two.
Axone – A New Whiff
Axone, pronounced ‘A-khoo-nay’, is a fermented soy dish that is consumed by North-East Indians. And Pork-Axone is apparently a very popular dish and a staple for special occasions.
This dish is the hero of a movie titled after it. Directed by Nicholas Kharkongor, the comic-drama focuses on a bunch of friends struggling to cook Pork-Axone for a wedding in their Delhi locality. Their problem is that most landlords are not fine with them cooking the dish as it releases a very pungent odor.
The movie is a breath of fresh air, with believable characters who are facing issues that are almost never addressed in mainstream Bollywood films – the racism & alienation north-east Indians face when they settle out of their home-states in the country.
Sayani Gupta plays Upasana, the lead actor, who is sweet, docile and does all she can to cook her best-friend’s favorite dish for her special day. I have seen Gupta in other films, and she really nails her role in this one. She immediately makes you feel compassion for her sweet character. Lin Laishram as her confident, supportive friend is pretty good too.
The supporting cast is endearing and I think some of them could have done really well with more screen space. This is not to say that the film is too short. It could have actually been a little shorter and the pacing was on the slower side. The director made it a bit of a drag by squeezing a sub-plot about a musician who had a dark past.
Axone has some really fun moments and gives us a glimpse into the every-day struggle of being a someone who is made to feel like an outsider in their own country. But more importantly, it’s a film celebrating friendships. You can stream this one on Netflix.
June 20, 2020
Love, Loss, Lockdown
‘What do smitten lovers, over-worked doctors, stubborn septuagenarians and gallant soldiers have in common? Probably not much. Except that shit can waltz into their lives any minute.’
This is how the blurb of my new book ‘Love, Loss, Lockdown’, a collection of ten short stories set in India, each offering a different slice of life. The only thread binding these tales is that, all of them unfold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I started writing the book this March, just a little before the nationwide lockdown was announced in my country. Managed to finish it in three months thanks to Kartik Sudershan’s constant feedback. And Ashley Suvarna who helped edit it. Since I also happen to be an amateur artist, I illustrated the cover too.
Please grab a copy and help support an independent author. Following are some country specific links –
If I’ve missed your country, please just look for it on Amazon or on your kindle store.
June 19, 2020
Death & Darker Realms #13
“There is some comfort in the woods
Midst the trees that sway softly
In the eerie silence of the dark
broken oft by buzzing bugs
where such pleasures be now?”
First few lines from poem number thirteen in ‘Death & Darker Realms’. It’s about the sweet pleasures of walking through the wild as against the stifling nature of the concrete buildings we live in.
This poem makes me miss trips to my grandmother’s village. Makes me miss all the trips and treks we would go on before the pandemic shut us down. Makes me miss sitting out at pristine beaches, watching the stars, till the sun took over.
When was the last time you spent a night in the woods?
Also, if you are interested in discovering new poetry, please grab a copy of ‘Death & Darker Realms’ on Amazon. It’s a collection of 40 poems exploring death, depression & dysfunctional relationships.
Following are the links –
Please check your country’s Amazon if I haven’t listed it or just on your kindle/kindle app.
P.S. You can find me on Facebook, GoodReads and Instagram
