The Gathering by Anne Enright, Jonathan Cape

Anne Enright’s The Gathering is not an easy read. At least that is the way I felt .I had to struggle with the book. The language is fine for a non-native reader. It is the way the thoughts are presented and the manner in which the story progresses if at all you can call it a story .It is more of a narrative. Why did I choose to read it any way? Simply because I wanted to find out more about the book which pipped “Mister Pip” to win the Booker in 2007.Well I frankly did not understand why it did .The only reason could be the book is more complex and written somewhat in a stream of consciousness style . The book will appeal to a more sophisticated reader.

The story is set in Ireland and tells the story of the Hegarty clan. The father a staunch Catholic does not adopt birth control measures and sires many offsprings .The mother goes through several miscarriages and finally nine children survive .The story revolves round Eliza and her grief at the death of her beloved bohemian brother Liam. Liam’s tragedy is traced back to his abuse at the hands of a sick old man during his visit to his grandparents’ house as a small boy. Their grandfather Charlie lost his house to this man who was his friend and who lusted after his wife, in a bout of gambling.Charlie was a habitual gambler and always in love with his wife. Exploited psychologically and physically Liam grows up with a fractured mind and eventually commits suicide by drowning himself in the sea.

It is a family epic, a tale about the life and times of almost four generations in a family .Eliza tells the story of her grandmother Ada and her husband, her parents, her own life and Liam’s life and briefly touches the lives of her children Rebecca and Emily. The strength and depth of the brother sister bonding comes forcefully across. All other relationships seem momentary and based on sexual transactions with no real meaning or understanding between two individuals. Life is seen and interpreted through the experiences and perceptions of the central character in the novel. At times trying to piece the different elements of the story together becomes a bit confusing.

I enjoyed moments like these. Liam tells his father you are a f…..ing baboon . “ A drinker does not exist .Whatever they say , it is just the drink talking." “We pity our mothers what they had to put up with ,in bed or in the kitchen and we hate them or worship them but we always cry for them….” .“ Or once , I remember some afternoon when he sat at the end of the bed in the white curtains’ light, and he looked like someone I knew from the beginning , whenever the beginning might have been. "

Ref:


http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/0802170390/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0&isremote=0

Mister Pip by Llyod Jones

I  first heard about the book from a Scottish trainer who was then working as a consultant for the local government . I had forgotten about it though I knew it was available in the library. However when a senior professor of English left the book  on my desk with a recommendation  last week ,I took it home with me that very day. I loved the story . Mister Pip is a magical story full of romance, mystery, suspense, surprises and above all a story of love,faith and hope. Written in simple language it is a powerful story with lot of subtle nuances.

The story of Mister Pip is set in Bougainville an island in Papua New Guinea during the period when the island was rocked by civil wars . Mr Watts the only white man left in that village decides to educate the island’s small children who are left with nothing. Mr Watts or Pop Eye has a black wife Grace whom he carries around in a trolley . Nobody knows anything about him .Yet Mr Watts becomes a teacher who lovingly teaches the children to imagine a life beyond their humble surroundings . He uses the story of Pip in Dickens’ Great Expectations in his own style and inspires the kids to think and dream . The book tells the story of Matilda  who grows up to  become a scholar and an expert on Dickens. When Mr Watts is murdered and Matilda’s mother is raped and gives up her life to protect her daughter from being raped  by the rebels, Matilda  loses the will to live. It is Pip’s story that indirectly saves her and revives her faith in life .Eventually Matilda moves to Australia and is reunited with her father . She traces bits of Pop Eye’s past life which had  been kept as a secret from the islanders . ‘Mister Pip’ celebrates the wonderful emotion of love in so many ways -Pop Eye’s love for the black woman uproots him from his known white  surroundings and forces him to live a life in  exile , Matilda’s mother gives up her life to save her daughter’s honour and life , Matilda’s father plans to celebrate her birthdays with cakes for each year that he has lived away from her . The book narrates the  extreme poverty of an isolated  community in the throes of war , the savagery of rebels who can hack and chop human beings at will and the helplessness of human beings in the face of terror. ‘Mister Pip’ is a beautiful commentary on how a sincere teacher can inspire and become instrumental in transforming society and lives of its inhabitants .‘Mister Pip’ also celebrates the power of storytelling and the creative genius of a novelist like Charles Dickens.

The book figured in Man Booker’s 2007 shortlist. It won the Commonwealth Prize . Llyod Jones is a writer from New Zealand. Read the story if you can . 

Ref:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mister-Pip-Lloyd-Jones/dp/0719564565

Three cups of tea , by Greg Mortenson . Viking .

The recent controversy surrounding Greg Mortenson’s book was unknown to me when I started reading it. A professionally qualified nurse, a mountaineer, a dreamer, champion of women’s education and a philanthropist the writer had all the right combination to motivate me to read his story. The story is about an American mountaineer who loses track in an attempt to scale Mount K2 and finds himself in a god forsaken land in Pakistan. The inhabitants of this remote region extend their warm hospitality to this strange American, nurse him for days and bring him back to life from the brink of death.  The American is overwhelmed by this experience and promises to build a school for the hapless inhabitants. The story then moves on to Greg’s fascinating journey through the interiors of Pakistan and Afghanistan, his dogged efforts to gather funds from rich American donors, his numerous encounters with local customs and traditions till he finally completes his mission by building not one but several schools and vocational centres  in the remotest parts of Pakistan.

The Baltis are mountain people who populate the least hospitable high altitude valleys in Northern Pakistan. They had originally migrated from Tibet six hundred years ago and their Buddhism was replaced by Shiite Islam. They retained their language an antique form of Tibetan. The book beautifully captures details of the Balti way of life . The people are extremely poor but warm and hospitable. Over the years Haji Ali the village headman becomes almost like a father to Mortenson.  Mortenson writes  ‘If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways. The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die. Doctor Greg, you must take time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated but we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time.’ That day, Haji Ali taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever learned in my life. We Americans think you have to accomplish everything quickly…Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.”

Mortenson was in Pakistan during the the attack on twin towers. He ignored repeated government warnings issued to American nationals in Pakistan to move out of the troubled country and  continued with his travel and  work in the remotest corners of Pakistan .The atmosphere was all charged up yet the manner in which ordinary villagers welcomed him and women prayed for the well being of Americans terror struck in a “village called New York” by placing eggs on his palm touches your heart. For Mortenson these people were family .The words of the religious head, ashamed of such an un-Islamic act committed by the Talibans, addressed to the masses of tearful villagers, expressing his gratitude towards Mortenson and his fellow Americans ,can only reiterate one’s faith in the inherent goodness of the human soul. That true religion never preaches violence is reinforced once again through the simple gestures of these poor villagers and their wise leader.

Greg has been accused of falsifying facts, telling lies and misusing funds. However all that came much later .The story is about Greg’s initial days of struggle and the hardships he faced in chasing a dream and his final triumph over all adversities. Even if there is lot of fiction in what he wrote the story can be enjoyed just for the sake of the engrossing human narrative. The descriptions of the Karakoram ranges are haunting .No wonder it became such a bestseller and sold millions of copies. Read the book if you are interested in mountain life and believe in every woman’s right to education. A person like Greg Mortenson will always be my hero

Ref: Image above from

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Cups-Tea-Greg-Mortenson/dp/0141034262

To the end of the Earth: The race to solve Polar exploration’s greatest mystery/ Tom Avery, Atlantic Books

For a change I picked up this book on Polar expedition. Normally I am not too fascinated by sports writing and adventure sport is something far far removed from the staid and boring life I am used to. However not a bad choice given the atmosphere outside which at the moment resembles a raging furnace. Kolkata is boiling and at least in imagination for a while I was being transported to the land of ice and snow whenever I was travelling with Avery in the Polar terrain. Almost over hundred years ago after a daring explorer Robert Peary had announced his conquest of the North Pole and was widely disbelieved, Tom Avery a British explorer decides to make a bid for the North Pole following Peary’s route and methods. Avery being a Peary fan wanted to vindicate the great man’s position which to date is shrouded in mystery. He betters Peary’s record and returns convinced about Peary’s achievements. The tale is engrossing.

The first hand narrative captures in great detail – the “awe inspiring scenery “,”the deafening silence” ,”the raw beauty of Mother Nature” , the” wickedly cruel ,breathtakingly beautiful  wilderness” ,the numerous pressure ridges to negotiate, the extremely arduous nature of the trip, the extraordinary strength of the dog teams who pulled the wooden sleds , the spirit of teamwork and the bonding between man and animal , the occasional frictions amongst team members ,the resilience of the human body and its capacity to withstand extreme climatic conditions , the use of snow bath to cleanse the body and the use of a pee bottle by men  , the sudden encounter with dogs who run away with the toilet roll but lick up the man to clean him up in exchange and many  such captivating incidents fill up the book of  just over 300 pages. Equally fascinating is the story about Peary’s determination to be known as the conqueror of North Pole and the numerous spats between Peary and his adversary and fellow explorer Dr Frederick Cook, who tried to upstage and defame him on several occasions.

Why do some people undertake such hazardous missions in life? For people like Avery it is simple – he enjoys doing it. For people like Peary it was sheer ambition to become a trail blazer. North Pole is now promoted by tour agents who fly tourists to the spot for a fortune. At the summit Avery and his team were greeted by champagne swilling Portuguese tourists who had been flown in from the Ice Station Barneo. The eco-system that existed during Peary’s time no longer exists and the Arctic ice is fast disappearing due to increasing global warming. Avery raises his concern against this impending catastrophe faced by human civilization.

The book is a good read for people who want to know more about the North Pole and also for those who want to know more about adventure sports and about how such expeditions are planned and  organised. A literary writer can only do justice to the romantic beauty of the place.

Two books by J M Coetzee ,Vintage

Youth 

Youth is a story about a young man who leaves his home in South Africa and comes to England to study .The protagonist dreams of becoming an artist but gets entangled into living a solid life – regular  job , assignments , home .Solidity is his Achilles Heels. He initially joins IBM. But IBM he can swear, is killing him, turning him into a zombie. He is in the world of business and in the world of business one does not need to be polite. He quits  IBM . Works for another computer company which allows some scope for creativity and innovation .He discovers something outside American culture which was their staple food in South Africa. I was pleasantly surprised to discover references to India and Indian culture . He watches and experiences the magic of  Ray’s Apu  trilogy  – the music grips him. He explores further and is enchanted by Ustad Vilayat khan’s music.

He makes Indian friends. He dines with a South Indian couple .Meets Ganapathy the computer wizard who is too lazy to cook and eats bananas to survive .

There is lot of confusion about love ,sex ,life .The young man finds no real passion for any woman and gets involved in casual relationships  which frustrate him. “ If he is a mystery to himself how can he be anything but a mystery to others. “

Youth is part autobiographical and recounts the author's early days in England.

Life and times of Michael K 

Set in South Africa torn  by civil war  this  is the  story of Michael K a man born with a hare lip who is an object of pity and ridicule. Michael tries to take his ailing mother away from the city to the countryside where she was born . She dies on the way and Michael is left all alone in the world. She was the only person he loved in this world and the narrative captures beautiful moments of his many valiant efforts to make his mother happy. For example he slogs hard to make a cart which  he uses to take his sick mother around and to travel  from one place to another. After his mother’s death Michael is on his own and wants nothing from anyone but society will not allow him to do so. He is arrested several times and placed in camps , confinements but escapes to live life on his own terms. No papers, no  money, no family , no friends, no sense of who you are- the obscurest of the obscure – so obscure as to be a prodigy-that is what he is. Yet  he survives the war and lives in a world of his own . He is a simpleton but fiercely defends his independence . “People like Michaels are in touch with things you and I don’t understand”

The book won the Booker Prize in 1983.

Coetzee tries to explore the inner world of man in both the works. The language is simple and lucid .He won the Nobel Prize in 2003 and the Booker twice .

Ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee

Man who invented history: Travels with Herodotus /Justin Marozzi .John Murray

“The poetry of history does not consist of imagination roaming at large , but of imagination pursuing the fact and fastening upon it……The dead were and are not.Their place knows them no more, and is ours today.Yet they were once real as we , and we shall tomorrow be shadows like them…” G M Trevelyan ,Autobiography and Other Essays.

You are greeted by the words above as you open the book .

Justin Marozzi started reading history when there was nothing else left for him to study. Years later when he picked up the “Histories”, curious to read a man whose name had a forbidden ring to it ……he was instantly hooked. The author writes about his travels through Egypt, Turkey. Iraq ,Greece in an attempt to follow the Herodotean trail. The introductory chapter is about the Histories and more about the author’s fascination with Herodotus the man ,the travel writer the anthropologist, political theorist, foreign correspondent and historian. Herodotus invented the West which was conceived at Marathon and saw the light of the day with the Persian defeat in the battle of Platae. Marozzi describes him as the literary midwife .

The author begins his voyage with Bodrum the hometown of Herodotus. Modern Bodrum a modern resort town is more European than Greek. In Bodrum the author visits the famous site of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus .The British archaeologist Charles Newton was instrumental in discovering the remains of the remarkable building and then transporting back the treasures to British Museum. The author comments “The British have form when it comes to digging up ruins all over the world and then taking the best pieces back to Britain”.

Marozzi moves between the past and present while writing about his travels through the different cities. He writes about the various contemporary political and social conflicts existing amongst these nations and countries like America and other neighbouring states . The grim situation in War torn Iraq, the centrality of the orthodox Church in Greek life, the illegal homosexual practices in Siwa, the frequent hymen repair jobs done in Egypt - the book is replete with engaging stories and descriptions that keep the readers interests alive throughout the book.

I personally enjoyed his descriptions of the past and his references to the Histories. Read this for example on “a morbid custom at plutocratic Egyptian dinners . When the rich give a party and the meal is finished a man carries round amongst the guests a wooden image of a corpse in a coffin ,…. he shows it to each guest in turn and says look upon this body as you drink and enjoy yourself for you will be just like it when you are dead”
An enjoyable read.

ref:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Man-Who-Invented-History/dp/0719567114

Sankhini by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay

Meeting a favourite writer can be exhilarating. I met two young leading Bengali writers within a week. Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay is one of the most talented original writers to  have emerged in the Bengali literary scene in recent times.  Her personal life is as romantic as her stories. Sangeeta lost her parents at a tender age and was brought up by her maternal uncle. Her first prose writing and her first novel “Sankhini” was written in self-imposed exile. She lived a solitary life in Santiniketan for a year doing nothing but writing and her first novel took shape in the form of Sankhini. Those who have read Sankhini will know how powerful, frank and open her writing is. It had created a huge stir when it was being published as a serialised novel in the Bengali magazine Desh .

There are autobiographical traces in Sankhini. The leading protagonist is a hugely exploited and betrayed woman who is at the same time a victim of her own sexual passions. The double life of men in her life who she thinks love her completely only to discover that they have their own parallel lives and never really belong to her wholly, tears her apart. It is a poignant tale and very much a woman’s tale. How many times have women been victim of such circumstances, every woman probably has a similar story to narrate. Cheated by husbands, lovers, and partners – women are duped again and again. Sankhini brings out the pain of the betrayed woman. It also explores boldly the theme of sexuality from the female perspective. Rarely do we come across women handling such themes so freely. I asked the writer whether the theme evolved spontaneously or was it a deliberately thought out narrative. She said it was a conscious decision. I felt the sexual theme is only one of the vehicles to explore the deep down pain which engulfs a woman’s soul eternally.

Sangeeta’s writings are being translated and hopefully her writings will touch many more lives.

http://www.mediafire.com/?47q3poox3bp4fu9