Almost Done

The year is ending and in terms of productivity, this is has been the worst so far - both in reading and updating the blog. During a conversation with a pal, I realized I had not read much and in a panic, set out to comb my library borrowing history, books that are piled up on the shelf, my faulty memory, and came up with a barely decent number of 12 books for the year.

I cannot go back and write a review for all of them because I don't remember them as clearly as I should for a proper comment but I shall leave a one-liner or two about the overall impression of the book I am left with.

A Spool of Blue Thread – Anne Tyler

A wonderful, erratic paced novel (slow at some places and unbelievably smooth and fast paced at others) about a family and their eccentric members (‘Whitshanks’- Abby and Red, and their four children). This is one of those books where you cannot really state the story in a line because the there isn’t much of a linear story tbh – it is the individual stories of these characters and how they impact each other’s lives that makes it worth the read.
A pal had gifted this for my birthday and being a fan of contemporary fiction genre, I must say it did not disappoint me at all. I have always favoured character-driven novels rather than plot driven (that said, a great novel - I read somewhere - is about how characters weave and drive a solid plot)

The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

Told from mainly the husband’s perspective, this novel talks about a mysterious genetic/neurological issue a man faces that forces him to often travel back and forth between past, present and even the future. Amidst all this, he encounters a girl, who ends up becoming his wife. The book delves into wife’s dilemmas, worries and problems where she has to cope up with this problem and her husband’s frequent absences.
In many parts, the book is quite enjoyable, but it is difficult to suspend your disbelief all the time – somewhere the implausibility of this phenomenon bothered me. At the back of my mind I knew that it had to end badly – for the protagonist. The amount of time one invests in going through the whole book, one feels a bit short-changed that the ending wasn’t really satisfactory.
This was a difficult read – I didn’t much care for the constantly changing timelines (the hero has no control on when and where he time travels – so I am reading about his experiences when he was 14 and then it suddenly jumps to age 26 and then 31 and 18 and so on, and it becomes tedious after a point). Apparently, this has been made to a movie and I shudder to think how they managed to adapt this story to the film format.
This book was borrowed from the library. (I probably could have avoided this fatty.)

A Full Night’s Thievery – Mitra Phukan

A collection of short stories by the Assamese writer, this was a very interesting read. Many contemporary and some folklore-ish, the stories help us get a glimpse of Assamese rural/urban lives.
I am partial towards short story collections and anthologies as they allow me to read from anywhere, at any point of time, within a book. It provides a higher degree of freedom in terms of topics, the narrative styles, emotions etc. (simple – many stories under one roof; buy one get many free!)
This book was borrowed from the library.

Blackberry Wine – Joanne Harris

I had read ‘Chocolat’, Joanne Harris’ most popular book, a long ago and had chanced upon this in the library list. Since I didn’t remember much of Chocolat, I was eager to read her other works. According to the pundits of internet, her works can be classified as parts fantasy, part magical realism, and a bit of historical fiction. Blackberry Wine also falls into a similar category of magical realism.
The story follows a struggling writer who is trying to recreate a past success and feels suffocated in his current situation (erratic/uninspired writing bouts, failing relationship, dwindling bank balance). A chance encounter with some special wines (!) in his cellar (which were brewed by an eccentric neighbour from his childhood) and the subsequent consumption of the wine inspires him to follow his hunch and move to France and change his future for the better.
I generally enjoy magical realism and this book does have some interesting characters, however, the story somehow fails to keep the interest alive in the second half. The end felt forced and there was this feeling of being let-down by time I reached the end. An okay-ish book.
This book was borrowed from the library.

A Thousand Country Roads – Robert James Waller

A forgettable book that I should have avoided, definitely. After the success of The Bridges of Madison County, Robert James Waller wrote this as a follow-up and it felt dreary and boring. I am sorry, I cannot even remember anything enough to criticize it.
A wasted opportunity to borrow a better book from the library.

Six more to go.
 

After the Quake - Haruki Murakami

Although Murakami isn’t my ‘favourite’ writer, I find him highly original and hence, respect. I usually enjoy his stories, with some exceptions of course; one thing is for sure, the stories are always bizarre. I have always been a fan of short stories and prefer reading a collection of short stories or anthologies over a novel. These collections give freedom to the reader to start and end wherever they want to.

One of the few quirks in my reading life is that I prefer to start reading newspapers or magazines from the middle or the last few pages. It somehow makes the whole process very enjoyable. I seldom use this approach to short stories though. I don’t know why. Probably that is why it is a quirk and nothing else.

Back to the book, ‘After the Quake’: I did flit from one story to another like I usually do in a magazine. I had a good time too. The six short stories in this collection involve the earthquake that shook Kobe, Japan, during the year 1995. Not the center in each of the story but always lurking in and around – never letting the reader forget about it either.

‘UFO in Kushiro’ – is a story of a woman leaving her husband and going back to live with her parents because she feels living with him is like living with air; no depth, no emotions. It is a baffling story – I wanted to know more about the woman and why she felt the way she felt about her husband. The story doesn’t really give much information on that.

‘Landscape with Flatiron’ – depicts two people, a man and a girl, who have left their respective homes and what bothers them in life. The girl is afraid she cannot feel anything anymore. The man is afraid of dying alone. This had an eerie atmosphere all through. The cold night and the bonfire on beach was the most arresting imagery that stayed much after the book was over.

‘Super Frog Saves Tokyo’ – a giant frog and a loan recovery agent get together to save Tokyo from a giant, evil worm. The whole story is surreal with an unreliable narrator (the recovery agent). I totally enjoyed the story.

‘All God’s Children can Dance’ – I was so bored with the story that I cannot even remember clearly what it was about.

‘Thailand’ – a woman goes to Thailand combining work and leisure together. Her chauffeur is a mysterious Japanese man who seems to have an answer to a problem that she doesn’t know she has. Loved it.

‘Honey Pie’ – more normal than the rest, this is a love story that had had a break and seem to find a closure. Again, I enjoyed the story mainly because it just made realise how the author tenderly paints a picture of the human emotions.

It is a strange book as most of his books are, but that does not take away the fun from the reading.

Midnight All Day - Hanif Kureishi

Midnight All Day - A short story collection from the noted UK based writer Hanif Kureishi. I had not read any books by him till now so I was eager.
He is damn good - so good that sometimes you wonder what is he saying. I am not being sarcastic here. Some of the stories were difficult, to say the least. I probably would make sense of them when I re-read them again. However, I remember a quote on poetry by someone known saying that it if it requires explanation then it is not good enough. Some times I wonder if this is applicable to the short stories also. Complexity is fine, but incomprehensibility?
Anyway, his stories, thankfully are not incomprehensible. They are complex, because they are about people. ANYthing to do with people is always difficult, isn't it? Especially if it is about how well or badly they handle relationships in life.

The running theme of the book is about difficult relationships - the presence of a third wheel, in particular. Extra marital affairs, affairs with older men, difficult women, dying relationships shadowed by the presence of a lover - he has explored many angles. It is quite an interesting book. Some of the stories bothered me at many levels - which is to say, they were really good in disturbing one's equilibrium. I generally do not mind open-ended stories, but some so abrupt, it felt as if the author lead me to a mysterious house, promising all sorts of goodies and then just when I was about to cross the threshold, banged the door right on my face.

I want to read other books and stories by Hanif Kureishi. Definitely worth the effort.