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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
After reading this book, I can say confidently that Murakami is my "soul-author", if there is such a term. While reading Murakami novels, I had tried imagining the personality of the author based on his protagonists. I had thought him to be this calm, slightly introvert, shy with display of emotions and one who has accepted the insignificance of human existence, ambitions, actions, etc in this wider sense of cosmos. After reading this book, which he says is as close it gets to an autobiography, I can say that most of my predictions were right. I feel happy reading an author whose beliefs are similar to mine. He is an author whose books I can go on reading without getting bored. This book also talks about running and his need for a physical pursuit. "An unhealthy soul requires a healthy body", he says, pointing out that a writer has to go through a lot of dark patches while writing and a healthy body gives him that stamina to endure it for a long time to come. This book is a beautifully written diary of sorts. It's a must read for all Murakami fans and running amateurs too.
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The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I didn't expect the ending as it is due to a lot of fanfare around this book. It was certainly ahead of it's time. It fit perfectly in my current reading phase i.e. dark, gloomy, slightly depressing subjects. The psychoanalysis of the protagonist seems very real but as we know about the author's life, it had to be surreal. Depression and mental illnesses are serious issues, which have been ignored since beginning. We only consider physical ailments as "respectable" and mental illnesses are "unholy" for us. This needs to change. This book depicts the world though eyes of a depressed person and I could see how tough and colourless it gets. Sometimes in narrative, I could almost feel what she must be feeling. That is the strength of the author and this book.
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Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits by Rahul Pandita
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Rare are those books which hold you and vigorously shake the apathy out of you! In this fast world of materialistic ambitions and pleasures, we try to ignore pain; pain, which is dancing naked in streets, homes, offices and our eyes. We develop philosophies and mind-tricks to help us tackle the drudgery of day to day existence. We convince ourselves that we're happy and everything is OK. But then, somehow, somewhere, something slips through the cracks created due to our inherent empathy. In those cracks, We see glimpses of the barbarity, gratuity, and just blind cruelty of humans. It may leave us hopelessness and gloomy depression but some rise and stand. They fight, many times unsuccessfully and the next one takes the baton. There are undying hope and optimism in humans which separates us from animals and it can be a boon as well as a bane. We try to imagine and strive towards a better tomorrow.
This book proves that fact is stranger than fiction. I paused reading many times to digest the gory and devastating incidences that are depicted graphically in this book. It will reveal to you the other side of the Kashmir conflict, the one which is often ignored and suppressed. It will make you be thankful for all the privileges you have had that you didn't find special. It will make you stop whining about flimsy problems in daily life. It will make you thankful for living in your home and being alive.
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The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read 'Shantaram' four years ago. It was an enlightening experience for me, in terms of literary beauty as well as philosophy. But four years is a long time in which your inclinations, beliefs, degrees of innocence change. With more than faint memories of 'Shantaram' I started this book and admired GDR's style of writing very much, but I got stuck and irritated at parts where he professes philosophy like it's the only right way of life and there could be no alternative theories. I agree that he has done a massive reading and research in the philosophical field, but I'm just not in that phase of accepting philosophies as the bible. So, due to that attitude, I couldn't fully enjoy the book.
But, that's just a small part. The whole book is written beautifully with very elegant prose. Sometimes, you have to reread a paragraph to fully understand it and sometimes you just have to accept that you won't be able to get it. Yes, it happens. There were more than one instances in the book when I wondered what this dude was smoking while writing this. It's maddeningly complex and beautiful. Some sentences are written in a very show-offy way but one could discount it as the author's harmless ego.
Overall, I'm glad I read this sequel and would recommend it to people who liked 'Shantaram'.
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On Hinduism by Wendy Doniger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reading this book was a task! but a task I wanted to complete. A good non-fiction always makes you work extra hard. It challenges your views, gives you new perspectives and makes you realize that how shallow are the trumpet-beating-pseudo-specialists who exist in the society. When Doniger throws proofs after proofs for each theory she states, it isn't to prove you wrong but to make you see that more than one ways could exist to interpret ancient history and culture. I have always been skeptical and critical about fundamentalists, whichever religion/political party/cult they might be from. Accepting an established norm just numbs your thinking power and blinds you with rage against whoever tries to dispel your views. In my opinion, one should check everything he/she holds with such belief.
This book must have been hard work. After more than 40 years of research of Indian mythology/history, Doniger presents this book like a boss. It was worth putting this much effort in this book.
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Wind/Pinball: Two Novels by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Faith in Murakami reaffirmed again! It's Murakami's first novel/s and he's already at the top of his game. I expected some awkward new writer things which get better with more writing but no, he had figured out his style and genre from the beginning.
I noticed some things this time. After reading a number of Murakami novels, I realised that his central character is the same all throughout his works. They have very similar qualities. It's a male, slightly introvert, unexpressive, easy, not speaking unless needed, containing emotions inside kind of guy. That character seems very cool to me. Another spectacular thing about this protagonist is they're all starkly unambitious, with no big dreams and particular agenda for life. His novels always have a slightly depressing, devoid of novelty in life, zen-like undertone, which make them so addictive.
In this set of novels, there are two central characters i.e. the protagonist and the Rat (Yes! real name not mentioned). Two novels are set three years apart describing incidents in their lives. There is no such plot or a defining twist and turn in the book which is rare in a Murakami book (but again, first work), still, it's very readable and addictive. I was hooked to it from start to finish. Looking forward to reading all of his remaining works.
All hail Haruki Murakami!
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Watchmen by Alan Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The mothership of graphic novels, the one which set a new trend a new genre even, Watchmen is one of the most talked about books (yes, not just a graphic novel, considering its length). It introduced the world to the dark side of the Superhero universe, a very dark side. It features heroes which are blood-thirsty killers, sexual fiends, highly intelligent sociopaths and what not. The graphic element is bold, vividly colored and gets to you in some scenes. Alan Moore has done a maddeningly brilliant job with the writing, some monologs and conversations so deep and depressingly profound that you have to reread them.
I have been hooked nowadays to gritty, realistic, depressing, pessimistic and beautifully ugly (if I can say so) stories nowadays. It may be a phase in reading life or it could be me, finding my genre; we'll see. These stories work for me, because in a daily life, we put on a mask on our face, which is politically correct, empathetic, optimistic and cheerful, which is not a bad thing, we need that mask to survive the ordeal that life can be sometimes. That being said, we also need a mirror to show us what things really are, what we really are, deep inside and what darkness we contain within us. It's not to screw with our head but to have an understanding, a realistic expectation from life and in my opinion, to survive sorrow and bleakness that life offers us frequently; To see darkness in the eye and have a wisdom to know that this is normal, this is ok, this is LIFE.
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