Book Review 4: Black Beauty

Well, I was going through the What to expect series for the toddlers. For the seventeenth, eighteenth months, it was prescribed by the author to teach the toddlers on kindness towards animals. And it so happened in the weekend, I chanced to see the movie "Black Beauty". So, I decided to revisit Black Beauty-the book. It is first of its sorts-a written propaganda against cruelty towards animals. The book appeals because of its simplicity and short episodes of stories interweaven by a common theme of kindness and the character of Black Beauty.
There is a kind of fatalism running throughout as the horse passes hands through and its happiness, health and life depends on the kindness of each owner or the lack of it. The novel, as it progresses, becomes a bit redundant at some point. But the condition of the horses used at war really moves you and the post war life of such war horses is really pitiable.
What is really inspiring is the condition under which the author had to write this children's masterpiece. Confined to the condition of lifetime invalidity, she chose to write about the thing she loved most-horses. Female victorian novelists or pre victorian had very limited exposure to outdoor experiences and did not have "rooms of their own".
Georgette Heyer, whose novel i am currently reading wrote her first novel to amuse her sick brother. Sudha Narayanmurthy, who gave up her career for Narayanamurthy is authoring several books. For some women, creativity is born out of suffering, like afro american women writers or out of sheer boredom. Instead of accepting life as it is or grudging men their freedom or power, these women step forward and create masterpieces.
Worth a revisit!

Book Review 3: Memoirs of a Geisha

At first, it looked to me very much as a chick lit in chinese setting. The war scenes and other unpleasant realities started evolving this into a greater type of fiction. Of all the characters, Pumpkin's character was a surprise, but still the book ended very much in a chick lit fashion only. The book is surely a page turner and the 4 rating is because of the narrative strength. More research on this book has been an eye opener-controversy (which seems to best way to garner publicity nowadays) with the real geisha feeling "used" and betrayed and suing the author, the factual innaccuracies pointed out by many japanese readers, and the striking resemblance of geisha tp their indian counterparts "Devadasis".
A few similarities, I could find:
Devadasis and Geisha enjoyed high social status in the pre-colonial days.
While geisha performed at tea houses, devadasis performed at temples. Both can be seen primarily as entertainers, trained from a very young age on various art forms. Devadasi literally means "servant of God" and they were dedicated to temple dancing and were married to the "deity" of the temple they danced in. Geisha were sold out to okiya's and had to learn shamisen, dancing, singing, and tea ceremony. They were merely entertainers and had no spiritual obligations. To both, marriage would mean end of profession. As and when a devadasi or a geisha becomes old, they adopt younger girls, train and then manage the daily affairs of the younger ones. Most often, geisha or devadasis are sold out young girls, or they are dedicated to temples as offerings, or they are the natural daughters of the older ones. The older geisha/devadasis adopt younger ones in the hope that they will be taken care of in their old age. Both of them have exclusive patrons (in geisha terms, a danna) and these patrons are usually the ones who begin with the deflowering ceremony
( in geisha terms "mizu age") and then enjoy sexual relationship with them through out their patronage. Rivalry  between themselves is very common in both the communities. The one between sayuri and hatsumomo is striking and carries the book till a point.
Colonialism ended both the systems and their misinterpretations marked the end of the respect and the revival of these systems post colonial era. Temple dancing was banned by British and okiyas by the American as both the systems were mistaken for prostitution. We carry on with the misinterpreted mindset.
History has much to be rewritten about.
On the whole, it can be seen as a good read, and a foriegner's interpretations of east asian culture. For an accurate insight into Geish'a world, other books like Geisha in Gion and The Pleasure Quarters can be taken. This should simply be taken as yet another good story told well.

Book Review 2 - Govind Lahari

Govind Lahari revolves around the life of the protagonist Govind Rao-an academic scholar and his love life. The story begins with Govind in his older years as a widower. A brief account of his ancestral past and his own past is given and there is a sudden shift towards his present where the other main protagonist Gowri enters. When the novel begins, Gowri is seen as struggling with an unconsummated marriage and perennial loneliness. Govind is one of the few visitors to her home, headed by Chandramouli, her father-in-law. She falls in love with Govind and asks him out openly for a boon-the nectar of motherhood. Govind is initially flabbergasted at such a controversial request and reasons with Gowri that it is impossible to accede to her request. Gowri wins him over, not by eliciting his pity or by seducing him, but through logical reasoning. Therefore, at the onset itself, the reader sees a different portrayal of a female character set apart from a stereotypical representation of a woman.

What happens after the boon is granted, whether Govind and Gowri manage to get married with the consent of Govind’s children, his father figure-Subba Rao and Gowri’s husband Satyam, and the impact of their decisions on other relationships and on themselves makes up the rest of the story.

What is common to almost all the characters in this book is a troubled past, their struggle to put their past behind, and make a new beginning. Govind has to deal with his past which had a failed love only to be followed by a bad marriage. Gowri has a traumatized childhood thanks to her stepmother and a failing marriage to overcome. Even the dubious but misunderstood Satyam has a past that justifies his frequent absence and sexual abstinence in his present marriage. All the main characters have a tragic romance as a part of their past, except for Prakash, Suha, and Cathy who have to move on from a difficult childhood. Subba Rao’s romantic past comes as a complete surprise, while his ancestral past becomes an important part in the latter part of the novel. In fact, an instance of meta fiction is seen there as a novel is authored and published within the main novel. The story inside the main story is used to depict Subba Rao’s ancestral past, though he is unwilling to own and publicize the facts and events related to his ancestry and publishes his book under a pen name. Yet again, one sees a character’s struggle to accept his past-ancestral or romantic and failure to move on. I would say this considering the fact that he did not let go of his romantic past and search for a better person to live with. Instead he chooses celibacy for the rest of his life. Publishing his autobiography as a fictional work under a pen name can be seen as a reluctance to own up his past and identity.

What ultimately makes you turn the page over is Gowri’s immense characterization. In spite of being a forced drop-out she is a good learner and a reader. The way she interprets and reacts to every new situation in her life and her good reasoning behind her actions is a strong point in this novel. Though Govind starts out as the central character, Gowri emerges stronger as the story grows and leaves a lasting impact on the reader. Though it is only natural to mistake Gowri’s intentions in the first episode, it seems to be the right course of action she takes and her positive influence over Govind, his children, and even Catherine overshadows the initial impression one has over Gowri.

The other strong point in this novel is its Indianess and its influence over every character-be it the parenting style, behavioural etiquettes, or the rich Indian heritage discussed in the form of old literary texts or classical music, and the ultimate decision of the US NRI Praksah and US citizen Catherine to stay back in India. Though the Indianisms lend a regional flavour to the happenings at Duvale, the transliterated Telugu or Tamil dialogues tends to slow down the pace of the novel and one tends to just look at the English translations explained in the parentheses and move on with the story. While using words such as the title of respect-Garu or describing the south Indian dishes can be seen as positive and curt instances of Indianess, long winding transliterations are a bit trying for even a Tamil or Telugu reader. Regardless of the authorial intentions, majority of the readers read a piece of fiction to see what happens rather than what is described.

Lastly, the novel’s main theme is search and mainly searching for the right person to live the life with. People do often make wrong choices and the repercussion of a wrong choice is inevitable. Yet the choices lies within each person to either hold on to his or her wronged past and mess up with the present or o derive a learning from the past and letting go of the past only to move forward with the search for the right choice. In that way, the novel leaves a positive impact through Gowri and Govind’s decisions and actions at each stage in their life.

Book Review 1 - To Kill a mockingbird

The novel is about two children, Jem and Scout Finch, living in a fictional southern U.S town, Maycomb, trying to understand the world, through their principled father Atticus Finch and the events that affect them and their neighborhood. The town is steeped in racial and other prejudices. Atticus is a lawyer while most of the neighborhood is made of farmers. All is well till Atticus takes up a case to defend an innocent, black man –Tom Robinson, who has been falsely accused of raping a white girl. Much to the children’s surprise and shock, they along with their father, are forced to face sudden hostility from their neighbors and friends as their father solely tries to defend a black man. Whether their father wins or loses the case, regains the good opinion of the town, and what the children learn (or more importantly, unlearn and relearn) from the events and the repercussions form the rest of the story.

The book is set in the 1930’s, the Great Depression period, affecting southern America. Most of the characters are poor and uneducated farmers. Atticus and his children are comparatively well off and well educated.

The novel is narrated in first person from the point of view of Scout Finch as she recalls the events that happen when she is six years old and three years from there on. But the events are narrated plainly from the eyes of a six year old instead of being clouded with an imposing adult’s interpretations on these events. This makes the book subtly warm and endearing to the reader.

This book personally appealed to me mainly with subtle humour, brought in by the gap between the child’s understanding of what happens and what actually happens. As Jostein Gaarder comments in his book, Sophie’s World, as we grow up, we start losing an amazing faculty bestowed to us as children – the ability to wonder, which is predominant in childhood. Scout Finch is one such child trying to understand and grapple with the events, the experiences and the prejudices (mainly, on Arthur “Boo” Radley- a recluse misunderstood as a deranged murderer and Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white girl) that are associated with such events. But her questions on the same do more than just reflect her wonder. It makes us question our own set of beliefs and prejudices we carry in our minds and rethink and reflect on them. Just as we get used to the world as grown ups we also lose our ability to empathize with other’s ordeals and problems. This is quite evident, when Jem Finch, still a child, cries at the injustice being done to Tom Robinson (in stark difference to the callousness of the adult neighborhood,) who is pronounced guilty by the court in spite of his proven innocence. As Atticus remarks: “they (the jury)‘ve done it again, and they did it tonight, and they ‘ll do it again and when they do it – seems that only children weep..”