Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line | Deepa Anappara #WomensPrize

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line attracted my attention initially thanks to the cover. That big eye seemed to follow me around everywhere I went and after a season of blue/green covers, the bright yellow stood out a mile on the bookshop bookshelf. However I made an early assumption that it was nasty crime fiction, and therefore, not for me...until it was longlisted for the Women's Prize and I looked a little closer. There was a mysterious crime - disappearing child in the Indian slums - but it also had a child narrator to take the sting out of the nastiness. And this is why, in the end, love them or hate them, I appreciate literary awards - they make me pick up a book I may have otherwise ignored or pre-judged as not of interest to me. 

Discovering hidden gems is the best thing about a literary longlist. 

I tend to have fairly firm opinions about which books should make certain lists or not, so I will either be delighted or devastated when the lists are announced. Recently, I was so disappointed that The Yield did not win this year's Stella Prize, that I'm not sure I will be able to make myself read the chosen winner - ever. Even when The Yield finally got the nod for the 2020 NSW Premier's Award plus the People's Choice Award, the sting from the Stella still stayed with me. 

But then, a few years ago, one of the Stella shortlisted book was The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by little known Iranian/Australian author, Shokoofeh Azar. I may never have come across this stunning story, if not for the Stella, except that now it has also been shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize. It deserves all the attention it gets and if award nominations are what it takes to get it out there, then so be it. 

It doesn't have to win, but the nomination brings it to our attention. 

It may not be a high-minded, literary, five-star read, (although in both these cases they were five stars for me) but an amazing four-star reading experience is not to be sneezed at. Considering I only rate a handful of books five stars every year, four is still a damned good book! 

I really only star rate books to satisfy the goodreads criteria for reviewing. I find it a completely flawed system. The number of times I want to/need to adjust my star rating months later is ridiculous. A few times I realise a book is staying with me for far longer than I had anticipated. It keeps talking to me, whispering in my ear to reread it one day. Those books will get bumped up to five stars. But more often than not, my initial four star love wanes into a warm memory that drops down to a comfortable, middle-of-the-road three stars.

Both The Yield and Greengage got bumped up to five stars. Djinn Patrol is currently sitting very happily in the four zone. I may not be feeling the itch to reread it, but I am very keen to read anything else that Deepa Anappara might write in the future. She brought the sounds, smells and tastes of India to life. Living in a basti might seem unbearably grim and difficult to outsiders, but from our young narrators point of view, this is the only world he knows. This is where his family lives and works. Jai is cared for by neighbours and goes to school nearby. There are all sorts of underlying caste/class issues that play out on the streets and in the classroom, but that's all Jai knows. He accepts his life and his lot, yet hopes that one day, rather then becoming one of the kids picking through the rubbish heaps, they might be able to afford to live in the rich apartments overlooking their slum.

That is, until some of the local kids start to go missing, one at a time.

Jai and his two friends decide to solve the mystery. They start to question the world they live in and wonder why these awful things have to happen.

The anger at corrupt police, racial stereotyping and the constant fear of violence and poverty are seen through a child's eyes. Jai's humour and innocence softens the blows for the reader, until it comes too close to home for anyone's comfort. 

Anappara has written an engaging, tense and vivid story that will stay with me for a long time. Please don't dismiss this book. It's a beauty and well worth your time. 

Facts:

• Debut writer
• Longlisted for Women's Prize for Fiction 2020
• Winner of the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize 2018

Favourite or Forget:

• Unforgettable.

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay was a tremendous read. Fascinating, absorbing and eye-opening.

I say eye-opening, because even though I've read a lot of Indian literature over the years, I don't believe I've read many that cover the conflict in Kashmir. Vijay doesn't answer all the questions or provide all the answers, she doesn't even fill in all the blanks, yet somehow this seems like a much truer, more accurate rendering of this constantly shifting, long-ranging, complex conflict. How these things started, who is right or wrong, who did what to who, all get lost in the murky details of history.

The job of historical fiction is to create dialogue between the basic facts (dates, places, names) and interpretation and to give them both meaning and a human face. Historical fiction adds possibility - in the details, the moods, the conversations, the interactions, the daily routines - all that ordinary stuff of our regular lives that usually gets lost in the columns of historical facts.

Vijay has given us one such story, one such possibility, set in and around a small town in Kashmir.

Shalini is from Bangalore but when her mother dies suddenly, the grief she is left with feels like too heavy a burden. So she takes off to Kishtwar, in Kashmir, in an attempt to find the charming travelling salesman that used to visit their home regularly when she was a child.

Bashir Ahmed not only charmed Shalini, but also her mother. A long distance, long-term flirtation existed between them. Ahmed's back story is filled in gradually via snippets of memory and conversation as the southern Indian view of the the conflict in the north is challenged by their friendship with him.

During her time in Kashmir as a grieving adult, Shalini is confronted by a whole region in the grip of grieving. Although the backdrop is war and political unrest, the story is deeply personal.

Shalini is not the most likeable character I've ever read. She's rather spoilt, selfish and naive. However, the journey she goes on, both physical and emotional is compelling stuff, and I for one, could barely put this book down.

Epigraph Philosophy:

Something else is yet to happen, only where and what? 
Someone will head towards them, only when and who,
in how many shapes and with what intentions?
Given a choice,
maybe he will choose not to be the enemy and
leave them with some kind of life.

A poem by Wislawa Szymborska, "Some People"

I unearthed the entire poem and found two rather different translations that I discussed in this previous post. Given it was very easy to find both translations, I'm curious why Vijay (or her editors) chose the less satisfying (to me) and less grittier version of the poem?

Either way, it highlights the elusive, changing nature of conflict and historical truth.

Facts:

• Longlisted JCB Prize for Literature 2019
• Madhuri Vijay was born and raised in Bengaluru.
• She now lives in Hawaii where she is a teacher.

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey is exactly the type of cosy crime I enjoy reading on a cold, rainy wintery weekend.

Much like the UK series about Maisie Dobbs and the Australian series by Kerry Greenwood about Phryne Fisher, Massey has created the Indian version of these smart, pioneering 1920's women who have the ability to be in the right place at the right time to solve crimes.

Sujata was born in England to parents from India and Germany. She now lives in the US, which may explain why I often felt that the Indian nature of the story was technically correct and well researched, but didn't always feel authentic. I spent most of the book feeling like a tourist, on the outside looking in. I will be curious to hear how one of my fellow book clubbers felt about this though, as she actually grew up living on Malabar Hill in the 1960's.

At times, I had a few quibbles with the 'show don't tell' aspect of Massey's writing and I didn't always feel like I was in 1920's India. Sometimes the dialogue felt awkward and stilted as well. It may have been an accurate reflection of the self-conscious, uneasy tensions that exist when two different classes try to communicate but I'm not sure that's where the problem lay.

However, I cannot deny, that as an easy to read, cosy crime story, The Widows of Malabar Hill was a winner. It has a likeable protagonist in Perveen Mistry and an exotic setting. Being based on versions of a true story gives the book another tick in its favour.

Mistry's backstory was interesting, but at times felt contrived. Perhaps it was all the 'telling' going on rather than showing, revealing and letting the reader get there themselves. Certainly the reader doesn't have to do anything other than just read, Massey does all the work. Despite all the descriptions, I have no residual visual image of the characters or the place. The historical element also felt rather loose. I had to keep reminding myself it was meant to be the 1920's.

I obviously had some technical issues with the writing, but ultimately I enjoyed the story and will probably read the sequel The Satapur Moonstone at some point. You may be surprised to hear that, after all the issues I had with this book, but sometimes a book is just for reading. And sometimes a book leaves you with enough of a warm glow, to make a dreary wintery weekend a little brighter.

Favourite or Forget: I suspect this will fade from my memory fairly quickly.

Food:

My edition comes with a few recipes (of meals eaten throughout the book) at the back. I'm keen to try the Malabar Spinach and Eggs one day.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2 as breakfast or 4 as part of a dinner
Difficulty: Easy

Here’s a moderately spicy recipe that is a Parsi classic. Malabar spinach, also known as water spinach or poisaag, can be found at Asian grocers and farmer’s markets. Large leaf spinach or swiss chard is a good substitute. You’ll need a wide frying pan with a lid to prepare this dish.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons canola, safflower or sunflower oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 4 curry leaves (optional)
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 5 diced Roma tomatoes, or one large tomato
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 bunch of Malabar spinach, or substitute greens
• salt to taste
• 4 eggs

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wide, deep skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion and optional curry leaves and sauté until onion is translucent.
2. Add the ginger, garlic, tomatoes, coriander, turmeric, and chilli powder. After the tomatoes are broken down, about two minutes, add the spinach and a few tablespoons of water. Cover with lid and cook for 5 to 7 minutes over low heat, until the spinach is soft. Add salt to taste.
3. Use a large spoon to make 4 depressions in the soft cooked greens. Break an egg over each of these depressions.
4. Cover the pan again. If the lid has a curve on its underside, invert the lid and pour a couple of teaspoons of water into the curve. This addition of water heightens the steaming effect as the eggs poach under the lid. Remember to keep the temperature very low.
5. Peek at the eggs after 3 minutes, and if they are almost set, serve.

Two nights later:

I made an Aussie version of Malabar Spinach and Eggs using bok choy and broccolini. It was perfect for one of our 800 Fast day meals. It was also delicious and the spice mix was great for warming us up on a cold winter's evening.

Facts:

• Cornelia Sorabji was the real life inspiration for Perveen Mistry
• Winner of the Agatha Award
• Winner Mary Higgins Clark Award
• Winner Lefty Award for Best Historical Mystery
• Nominated for the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

17/20 Books of Summer Winter

Sydney 21℃

Dublin 20℃
Weekend Cooking with Beth Fish Reads

The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius

Sometimes the perfect book lands on your doorstep at exactly the right time.

This past month or so has been pretty ordinary. The loss of a much loved family member to cancer has left us all exhausted and numb. I'm sure many of you know the drill we've been through lately. The shock, followed by hope and a more positive outlook, then facing up to reality, one last hope - dashed, the waiting, the decline, the sadness and the final goodbye.

One of my solaces through all of this has been reading - I need to read - I just had to find the right book.

I needed something easy but engaging. I needed a riveting story with an abundance of heart and soul. I also needed some aesthetic pleasure.

My previous posts focused on all the books that didn't work for me during this period, but now let me share with you the delightful, charming story that did provide comfort and joy.

The Murderer's Ape by Swedish writer Jakob Wegelius gave me all of the above and more.

Wegelius has created a classically told story full of friendship, courage, kindness, determination and loyalty. Sally Jones is a gorilla - yes, a gorilla - who is smart, thoughtful and very talented, but she cannot speak. However Sally Jones can write a little and at the start of this story she learns to type on a 1908 Underwood No. 5 typewriter.

By the end of the first page I completely believed the premise of this tale and having a gorilla as the protagonist seemed perfectly natural. Sally Jones has a captivating voice and an amazing tale to tell.

The Murderer's Ape is an adventure wrapped up in a mystery with a quest that takes us around the world. From Lisbon to India and back again this story meanders along at a leisurely, thoughtful pace, gradually revealing little nuggets of insight and information.

Wegelius has drawn numerous pen and ink illustrations for each chapter. Seventeen full page character profiles also grace the beginning of the book.

See more of Wegelius' illustrations here.

In Sweden, he was awarded the August Prize for Best Children’s Book and the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize for The Murderer’s Ape. The Nordic Council had this to say,

The Murderer’s Ape injects a new lease of life into the classic adventure story. Along with a gorilla named Sally Jones, the reader visits the run-down docks of Lisbon, embarks on dizzying journeys across the seven seas, and calls on the Maharaja of Bhapur’s magnificent court – all in an attempt to clear the name of Sally’s best friend, the sailor Henry Koskela. Through his love of narrative and fine knack for portraying character, the author brings early-20th-century history to life, with a particularly keen and curious eye for the new-fangled technology of the day. Detailed portraits and vignettes, as well as maps that chart Sally’s adventures, make this a book that is as visual as it is literary.

Originally published in 2014 and now translated into English by Peter Graves, Wegelius has created an instant classic with this beautifully written, sumptuously produced and generously illustrated novel for thoughtful 12+ readers.

Due for publication in September with Pushkin Press and Allen & Unwin Australia. I seriously hope and pray that they also translate and publish Wegelius' earlier 2008 book called The Legend of Sally Jones, detailing Sally Jones' early life and adventures.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

Last week Mr Books and I went to the movies for the first time this year!

I know! How did that happen? How can our life be so busy that we don't make time to go the movies anymore? Surely having adult children living at home means less work and running round? And more to time to ourselves?

We will have to find a way to get better at this sharing a house with other (young) adults stuff.
And, of course, I shouldn't complain. One day they will leave home; one day rents and house prices in Sydney will become reasonable and do-able for the average person again and on that day we will miss them terribly.

But for now, let me get back to being excited about the movie we saw last week.

Viceroy's House stars the wonderful Hugh Bonneville as Lord Mountbatten and Gillian Anderson doing an amazing version of Lady Mountbatten. The story follows their time in India in 1947 in the transition of British India to independence and the eventual Partition of India and Pakistan.

It was a very thought provoking and timely story about the catastrophic and on-going problems that occur when one country meddles in the internal politics of another. Self-interest, the divisive nature of religion, the British policy of divide and conquer and the need for secure oil reserves all played a part in the unravelling of Colonial India. Britain (and India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) are still dealing with the after effects of this time to this day.

Last month I received an advance copy of Arundhati Roy's latest novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. It was 'highly confidential' and strictly embargoed. I resisted the urge to read it straight away, to avoid any temptation to tattle on social media!

After coming home from watching Viceroy's House seemed like the perfect time to begin. That would give me one week to read the book before the embargo lifted on Monday 29th May 9am (EST).

The first thing that struck me was the use of local lingo. I enjoy learning new words and phrases. Sometimes Roy gave us a context for these words and sometimes she didn't. For example:

'You mean I've made a khichdi of their story?' she asked.

I looked up khichdi to discover it is a rice and lentil dish common to South Asian countries. In India it is one of the first solid foods fed to babies.

'I'm a mehfil, I'm a gathering. Of everybody and nobody, of everything and nothing.'

Mehfil is a place where music and dance performances occur.

'Sach Khuda hai. Khuda hi Sach hai.' Truth is God. God is Truth.

After examining Aftab he said he was not, medically speaking , a Hijra - a female trapped in a male body - although for practical purposes that word could be used. 

There were also some lovely turns of phrase early on:

No matter how elaborate its charade, she recognised loneliness when she saw it....And she had learned from experience that Need was a warehouse that could accommodate a considerable amount of cruelty.

However, at page 29 I started to struggle. My initial enthusiasm waned. I began to feel manipulated, the situation felt contrived, then Salmon Rushdie's Midnight's Children jumped into my mind.

I loved and adored Midnight's Children with such intensity that any other simply pales in comparison.

So I put The Ministry of Utmost Happiness aside and quietly dubbed it instead #ministryofutmostdisappointment. The ABC TV Bookclub had announced they were reading it for their 6th of June show. I thought I would wait to see what they all had to say, before deciding to continue or not.

Most of them had something positive to say about the language, one of the characters and the structure, but when asked at the end, if they would recommend the book to anyone, most said not really. They enjoyed reading it, and were glad that they had read it, but found it uneven and as Marieke Hardy said 'I like other books better and I'd recommend them instead'.

To summarise - if you didn't like The God of Small Things then you may or may not like this book too. But if you loved The God of Small Things then you most likely will find this disappointing.

I for one have decided to abandon this book at pg 49.

I have too many other books I really want to read.

But I'm very keen to read your reviews.
Feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments below. You can hyperlink it by using the code <a href="URL">word</a>

The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore

The Home and the World is a classic of Indian literature published in 1916 by Rabindranath Tagore. It was translated into English in 1919 by his nephew Surendranath Tagore.

For a summary of the book, details about Tagore's life and fascinating personal insights about life in India now, please see Cirtnecce's fabulous wrap up post here.

Truth is the big theme that runs throughout The Home and the World.

Whose truth is truer? Can truth be manipulated? Is there a universal truth?  Does truth equal right?

Tagore explores all these themes via his characters beliefs and actions during the Swadeshi movement in the early 1900's in Bengal.

The Swadeshi movement was a direct result of Lord Curzon's division of Bengal in 1905 which was part of the British 'divide and rule' policy in India (and in other countries all around the world that all still suffer the consequences of this meddling to this day).

The Swadeshi movement involved a boycott of all British goods in favour of locally produced crafts and industry.

Tagore supported this movement until violence began to creep into it. As with many causes that start for good reasons, dubious leadership and people with their own agendas to run, quickly turned the movement into one of mass looting and burning (of foreign goods).

Those that suffered the most were the poor peasants and traders who had all their wares destroyed with no compensation forthcoming and who could then, not afford the more expensive, and usually shoddily made, locally produced goods.

The self-righteous truth of the wealthy Hindu landowners and intellectuals soon became a living nightmare for the poor Muslim families suddenly without livelihood, income, shelter or anyone to turn to for help.

And so the crushing wheel of history rolled on.

In The Home and the World Tagore brings these struggles into the lives of his three main characters.

Bimala's struggle with the truth is a struggle with her two sides (or between the two very different men in her life):

There must be two different persons inside men. One of these in me can understand that Sandip is trying to delude me; the other is content to be deluded.

Sandip is such an adept in setting music to his chant of praise that I cannot argue; I lose my power of seeing truth; my sight is clouded over like an opium-eater's eyes.

Nikhil's lessons in truth are hard won and based on observation:

I longed to find Bimala blossoming fully in all her truth and power. But the thing I forgot to calculate was, that one must give up all claims based on conventional rights, if one would find a person freely revealed in truth.

I have seen from our boyhood what a juggler with ideas is Sandip. He has no interest in discovering truth....But those who deal in delusion end by deluding themselves, and I fully believe that, each time Sandip creates a new fallacy, he persuades himself that he has found the truth, however contradictory his creations may be to one another. 

Sandip's truth is that of the manipulator out to serve his own needs:

The truth we must build up will require a great deal of untruth in the process. 

The primary difference and tension between Sandip and Nikhil is summed up with this conversation,

'I only seek the result,' said I (Sandip), 'which belongs to today.'

'The result I seek,' answered Nikhil.'belongs to all time.'

In many, many ways, The Home and the World is an example of the age old story of youth - full of vigour and arrogance that theirs is the new age, that right is one their side simply because they are young right here and now, versus the more circumspect, mature, experienced older man of the world who has had time to work through all the disillusions of youth and to realise that the world is a much bigger and far more nuanced place than any twenty two year old could possibly conceive or imagine. And that life is so much more and so much longer than what seems to burn so brightly at twenty two.

Sandip describes the arrogant, youthful view of history and life very clearly with these words:

We are men, we are kings, we must have our tribute. Ever since we have come upon the Earth we have been plundering her; and the more we claimed, the more she submitted. From primeval days have we men been plucking fruits, cutting down trees, digging up the soil, killing beast, bird and fish. From the bottom of the sea, from underneath the ground, from the very jaws of death, it has all been grabbing and grabbing and grabbing - no strong-box in Nature's storeroom has been respected of left unrifled.

The one delight of the Earth is to fulfill the claims of those who are men. She has been made fertile and beautiful and complete through her endless sacrifices to them. But for this, she would lost in the wilderness, not knowing herself, the doors of her heart shut, her diamonds and pearls never seeing the light.

Likewise, by sheer force of our claims, we men have opend up all the latent possibilities of women. In the process of surrendering themselves to us, they have gained their true greatness. Because they had to bring all the diamonds of their happiness and the pearls of their sorrow into our royal treasury, they have found their tru wealth. So for men to accept is truly to give: for women to give is truly to gain.

This level of arrogance and self-delusion is incapable of rational thought or logical debate. It is also incapable of seeing things from another's perspective. It is all about the self and justifying their own actions and getting what they want now.

In it one can also see the seeds of climate change denial and anti-feminist rhetoric.

Tagore is also of his time and by the end of the book he is clearly on the side of there being a higher form of universal truth imbued with a moral imperative that is a bit more right and true than anything else on offer. In other words, Nikhil's view of the world.

It's a view of the world that is more balanced and rational and thoughtful than Sandip's, but it still assumes that there is some kind of universal truth that oversees us all and that fits us all the same way.

However that is a more modern discussion that still has no clear solution in sight.

There is plenty more to say about this book, many more themes and ideas to explore, so please feel free to pose, provoke and question in the comments below or over at Cirtnecce @Mockingbirds, Looking Glasses and Prejudices, who hosted the readalong for this book.

19/20 books of summer (winter)

The Home and the World Read Along

I wasn't sure I was going to make it in time to join in this wonderful The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore readalong being hosted by Cirtnecce @ Mockingbirds, Looking Glasses and Prejudices during August.

I've been reading a couple of books this past week or so and I was determined to finish them before starting any more books. I was also keen to finish my 20 books of Summer (winter) challenge.

I finished the books last night. And today, I realised that my 20 books of summer challenge should work FOR me not against me. I'll just change one of the unread books on my list for this one and everyone will be happy!

Cirtnecce states in her sign up post,

In the year of 1916, exactly 100 years ago, 3 years since he became the first Non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, Rabindranath Tagore, one of the most prolific artistic geniuses to come from India, published his extremely controversial and then much contested The Home and The World. It was a book that broke the mould and brought out women from the “anter mahal” (the inner chambers where women led secluded lives in 18th-19th century Bengal, albeit with consequences) and put a spin on on the Indian National Movement by defining and defying at the same time what a true patriot is/was.

She has also taken the time to present a three part potted history of India here to help us understand the world and time in which this book takes place.

My edition is a 2005 Penguin Classics.

The translation is Surendranath Tagore's 1919 version.

Surendranath was Rabindranath's nephew and they worked together to produce this translation.

The original title was called Ghare Baire.

When Bimala's husband, Nikhil - a wealthy yet enlightened and charitable Bengali landowner - encourages her to emerge from the traditional female seclusion of purdah, he introduces her to his old friend, Sandip. Rutheless and charismatic, Sandip is a radical leader in the nationalist Swadeshi movement, and Bimbala is soon caught up by his revolutionary fervour and expereiences a profound political awakening. 

Torn between her duties as a wife and a passion for her cause, her attempts to resolve the conflict between home and world lead to violence and, ultimately, tragedy. Vividly depicting  the clash between old and new, realism and idealism, The Home and the World (1916) is a haunting allegory of India's political turmoil in the early twentieth century. 

This edition includes an introduction by Anita Desai, while William Radice's new preface examines its critical reception, Tagore's modernism and the relationship between Surendranath Tagore's translation and the Bengali text. 

It's never too late to jump on board a readalong! Especially when the book is only 200 pages long.

Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean edited by K Murray, P Dahr & A Roy

"In late 2012, Australia and India were rocked by violent crimes against young women. In Dehli, thousands protested against rape. In Melbourne, thousands stood vigil in memory of a young woamn raped and murdered walking home. The fate of all young women, what they should fear and what they could hope for were hot topics in the media around the world. Out of that storm rose the idea for this anthology."

Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean is a collection of short stories & graphic novels aimed at the teen/YA market, packaged within one of the best covers I've seen for a long time!

As often happens with such a wide-ranging group of authors & illustrators, some of the pieces work better than others, depending on the type of story you normally find yourself drawn to.

Swallow the Moon by Kate Constable & Priya Kuriyan is a graphic novel that follows a small group embarking on a female initiation ceremony. Set in a future world with glimpses of what happened to the old ways, the feminine spirit is ultimately celebrated by the whole tribe.

Justine Larbalestier's evocative story called Little Red Suit is about a futuristic fairy-tale Sydney, while Anita Roy tantalises us with a time-travelling Masterchef contest in Cooking Time.

Cast Out by Samhita Arni combines banishment, fear & suspicion with magic and a world that is, eventually, safe for all women to live in. Margo Lanagan's Cat Calls reminds us of the power of friendship (between girls and boys) to overcome prejudice and bullying.

And, finally, Nicki Greenberg in Back-Stage Pass reminds us at the end that all women have the power to write, or re-write their own stories.

Published by Allen and Unwin, February 2015.

The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee

Sometimes it's hard for a book to live up to your own high expectations.

The Lives of Others screamed 'love me' from the start.
I love Indian literature & history.
The purple cover with dragonflies was designed to appeal to me.
The first few pages are taken up with a family tree and map - & I love a family tree & map!
A huge, glorious, rich epic family saga was awaiting me!

The first chapter was gut-wrenching and heart-breaking and got us straight into the issues of family, poverty, inequality, despair & a particular time in Indian history & politics.

Three of my all-time favourite books are set in India - A Suitable Boy, Midnight's Children and The God of Small Things.
All three transported me to a country I have never been to - they made me feel like I was home. I could smell the smells, hear the sounds & feel the humidity. The colours and images and places lit up in my mind like a long lost friend.

Two of these books also won the Booker Prize, so I was secretly thinking I had picked the winner for this years Booker when I started The Lives of Others.

However as I went along I realised that I was not falling into India like I had with the other books. I was not engaging with the characters or place in the very visceral way I had experienced before.

Some of the characters were stronger & more completely realised than others - Chhaya, the malicious, jealous unmarried, dark-skinned sister, the mathematical child prodigy, Sona, and the suspicious, demanding sister-in-law Purnima quickly came to life.
With so many 'others' (& their numerous nicknames) though, it was not always easy to remember who you were reading about. That may have been a concentration issue on my behalf though, as I was often impressed by Mukherjee's ability to get inside the skin of all his characters (even if I didn't!)
As the story progressed, all the individual personalities gradually separated out from the family drama - the same event being examined from multiple perspectives in such a way to make you feel empathy for each.

Even though I knew quite a few of the local words and customs mentioned by Mukherjee, there were many unknowns as well. I was creating quite a list of look-up words, when I discovered the glossary in the back, which helped a lot, but made it hard to get a good reading flow going.

There were some incredible, poignant moments as Mukherjee dissected the cruelties & absurdities of family life. Family secrets, fears, hostilities, loyalties, betrayals and dreams are carefully revealed. I underlined lots of meaningful sections...

"Everyone knew what a big gap existed between what they said in public and what they did in public."

"We credit ourselves with far more agency than we actually possess. Things happen because they happen."

"Did one ever know the mind and soul and personality of one's child, even little segments of them?"

"Ordinary conversations felt like booby-trapped enclosures."

"The words, the tone, her expression, all pulled in different directions."

But ultimately, I felt far, far away from the heart & soul of this story.
I felt unconnected to the characters and disconnected from the place.

I wanted to love and adore this book.
Instead I got some insightful family dynamics wrapped up in a history lesson with some sparkling, some pedestrian use of language.

This was the only other book on the shortlist that I wanted to read from this year's Booker (I read the Australian winner, The Narrow Road to the Deep North last year also with mixed feelings.)
How did you all go with this year's Booker shortlist?

For now though, The Lives of Others helps me to complete 2 challenges - the Chunkster Challenge (514 pgs) and the Around the World reading challenge.

Vanilla Ice Cream by Bob Graham

Vanilla Ice Cream is Bob Graham doing what he does best.

Ordinary lives in microcosm - the similarities between very different communities - the simple pleasures of life, family, pets and the inter-connectedness of, well, everything!

This simple story begins in India with a sparrow looking for food.

Like all Graham's work, though, the bulk of the story occurs in the illustrations. We see children playing hopscotch outside a small food shack. A customer is sitting down to a plate of samosa's. The sparrow flits around, until it eventually spies an open rice bag on top of a truck full of rice bags...about to head off to the big city and the docks.

The rice is placed on board a cargo ship and sails across the ocean, with the sparrow on board too.

Eventually the ship arrives in a new city and the sparrow flies out over the land.

Walking through the Botanic Gardens are toddler Edie Irvine, her grandparents and their dog. They stop at the cafe for afternoon tea. Edie has her bottle and her grandparents sit down to enjoy an ice cream cone.

Along comes our cheeky little sparrow, looking for fresh food. It spies some crumbs on the table. The dog leaps after it, pulling grandad's arm, knocking over the vanilla ice cream and.........

Vanilla Ice Cream has been endorsed by Amnesty International UK "because it reminds us that we should all enjoy life, freedom and safety."

If you'd like to see more Bob Graham illustrations, then click here to see my post about his recent Retrospective in Canberra.

Midnight's Children by Salmon Rushdie

This week's Friday Flashback (hosted by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies) is one of my all-time favourite past Booker winners (1981).

It was my first attempt to read anything by Salmon Rushdie.

It was also one of those books that evoked a sense of place so strongly that I still feel myself back there simply by talking about it.
But by back there, I don't just mean India.

I mean Perth, Margaret River and Denmark in southern WA!

Midnight's Children was the book I took on my 2 week holiday to Perth in 1999. I was visiting a dear school friend and her family at the time. I was able to use her home as a base from which I went on a few day trips and extended excursions.

For me, Midnight's Children became this strange parallel universe that I travelled through in my mind even as my eyes took in the incredible sights and sounds of WA for the first time.

I remember certain B&B's, cafe's, bushwalks and even a boat trip in Denmark that have become intricately enmeshed with scenes and characters from the book.

I was enthralled, mesmerised even by Rushdie's writing. I loved the mix of historical fiction and fantasy. I adored his discussion on time, history, truth & memory.

“I fell victim to the temptation of every autobiographer, to the illusion that since the past exists only in one's memories and the words which strive vainly to encapsulate them, it is possible to create past events simply by saying they occurred.” 

I made notes, jotted down quotes and my travel journal became a weird mix of travelogue and book review.

“What's real and what's true aren't necessarily the same.” 

Midnight's Children began a personal phase of reading all things India that lasted quite a few years & included lots of memorable books like A Passage to India, The God of Small Things, A Suitable Boy, Interpreter of Maladies, Fasting, Feasting & Journey to Ithaca just to name a few!

“Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems - but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.” 

Midnight's Children was also the joint 1981 winner of the James Tate Black Memorial Award. 

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

The Literary Blog hop is hosted by The Blue Bookcase.

Each week a new question is posed - this week the question is....

What one literary work must you read before you die?

That's easy - for me it's Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy'.  

I loved this book from start to finish (which means that I loved this book for quite some time...it took about 2 months to complete!) and I wanted everyone else to read it and love it as much as I did!

It was full of drama, history, memorable characters, pathos, humour, love and grief. I was genuinely upset when I finally finished the book - I missed the characters like they were real friends and family members. I carried the book around with me and declared to my book group that I wished to be buried with it when I died!

This book popped into my hands during the middle of my Indian reading phase (obsession). I had already read The God of Small Things, several books by Anita Desai, A Passage to India by E.M. Forster & Midnight's Children by Salmon Rushdie. 


By the end of A Suitable Boy, I was dreaming about India. What seemed so exotic and alien early in my reading had become familiar and knowable.

I think that's why books like this are so important. 
We only ever get to live one lifetime each; through books we can experience hundreds. 

Anything, any book, any author, any character that allows you to  

"climb inside of his skin and walk around in it"

is important. 

For me, A Suitable Boy was one of those book. Just as Harper Lee opened up the deep South during my teen years, Seth - and India - captured my 30's.

I still find myself thinking about Lata and Amit to this day, wondering what they're up to, hoping they're okay.
So you can imagine my delight, when 2 years ago I learnt that Seth was writing a sequel called 'A Suitable Girl'.

I have high hopes it will be published next year so I can add it to my personal list of books that I must read before I die.

Happy Reading!



Later -

I'm such a dill !!
I didn't check the date on the above Blog Hop properly. Turns out the March dates were for 2011!!

But I had so much fun putting this together, I've decided to keep this here anyway. 
I will join in another (up-to-date!) Literary Blog Hop soon :-)

Much later -

I will also include this as a cheat's post for Armchair BEA 2014!