Skip to main content

Posts

Endings, Beginnings

 The aftereffects of war are dire. I once saw a CBS 60-Minutes episode that gave a rundown on possible explorations of psychedelic-assisted therapies to manage PTSD in war veterans and soldiers. It discussed the possibilities of intense research and funding based on a handful of positive results. Our world grossly underestimates the damage a combat zone can inflict. This novel replayed those scenes through its sombre portrayal of the unspoken pain gnawing at a survivor who found his way home to Wigton from Burma. Life will never be the same for him or his family. An irreparable ripple effect disperses in his community. Even the nature in his native land, with its pristine waters and pastoral plains, couldn't find a cure for him. He's driven to escape again and runs towards an unknown territory with hopes of new beginnings. "The Soldier's Return" is a poetic dedication to numerous war heroes who rejected death but struggled to live. Once reaching a point of no retu...
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

THE UNPRECEDENTED UNKNOWN

  Philosophy & Science aren't tightly entwined enough that we have collectively missed a key perspective- the big picture that appears at the fullest zoom out. "Unlocking the universe" was an eye-opener that helped me fathom how physicalities, logics and energies intricately control the Universe. How many of us understand the important distinction between anthropocentrism and cosmocentrism? Loads of reminiscence, reflection and epiphanies arrived along the way. I was glad to see pieces of evidence that corroborated how biology was controlled by physics. The microscopic truths applying to a macroscopic world were indeed an astounding revelation. This pushed me to compare and contrast the characteristics of humans with those of stars. Strokes of lightning, Veins of leaves and Nerves on our hands. We do see an undeniable pattern here, don't we? The contents of this mini cosmic encyclopaedia are deftly structured in a coherent chronological order, which undoubtedly is...
Post a Comment
Read more

WRITTEN IN RED INK

  Crosssword drew me in during my quest for this book. Once Ms Banu Musthaq was all over the press, the world woke up to her tremendous literary contribution. I urgently wanted to get my hands on "Heart Lamp". Our newspapers have perpetually been carrying heart-wrenching accounts of women's plight in India. Irrespective of our background, walk of life, education and financial status, patriarchy spares none. When such a social system is coupled with religious dictations, especially in a minority community, a woman's every living moment becomes a fight for survival. Existence shapeshifts into a thankless job filled with self-soothing compromises and delusions.  "Heart Lamp" had short stories, but left long-lasting impressions, I wasn't prepared to bear. I had to take breaks between each one for the sake of my own sanity. These cautionary tales required a period of recovery. Mind you, none of them felt fictitious. They can't be. You need to brace yourse...
Post a Comment
Read more

MANOR MYSTERY

  "The Queen of suspense"- What an apt title to honour the talent that is Mary Higgins Clark. Women can write such underrated, nail-biting, gripping thrillers that can effortlessly move their readers to the edge of their seats. "Moonlight becomes you" stands out as a poetic ode to crime and murder, which keeps us entangled and hooked into the web of human imperfections. Ms Clark possesses a magnetic prowess that makes a murder mystery both subtle and savage at the same time. The lead character, Maggie Holloway's short NDEs at her stepmother Finnuala's house are filled with endless twists and turns, leaving the readers grasping at straws for a small clue. Only near the end of the book, all pieces of this mysterious puzzle fall into place. The whole time, my brain cells were desperately active, constantly searching for hints that might point towards the killer. What I saw here was peak storytelling. It's my first time reading an engaging whodunnit garnishe...
Post a Comment
Read more

OCEAN DROPS

  Smells can be powerful, provocative triggers for memories, whether good or bad. The title of this book reveals this fact, but I wasn't prepared for the gut-wrenching tragedy of it all. We meet countless individuals in our lives, yet little do we know that each person is a central character in this world. It's difficult to imagine how everyone can be the centre of this universe, enduring tiresome days just to face the uncertainty of tomorrow. Amal and Hammoudi lead similar lives, separated by the veracity of their struggles amid a bloody revolution to overthrow an inhumane regime built upon a peace-fostering religion.            Author Olga sprinkles her narrative with dark humour and sarcasm, eliciting a painful smile as we read certain parts of this book. What is the purpose of all this? Why do we still aspire to live and persevere despite the pain and suffering that fate inflicts upon us from time to time? 'City of Jasmine' is a bold recounting of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

ALL FOR NOTHING

  A text's verbosity reaches unfathomable grandiosity when poetry meets prose. Michael Ondaatje is gifted enough to weave a tale that's tragic in parts but wholly serene. At its core, "In the Skin of a Lion" treads the rugged path that courses a life chart making the journey somewhat worthwhile. Patrick Lewis is wildly swayed by the situational currents while what he truly yearns for is an ounce of regulated love. Love that is messy, uncompromising and effusively profound enough to make him feel things. At the fag end of his life, Patrick understands the universe's twisted sense of humour. In Patrick's case, timing plays a cursed role. Expectations are detached to deadlines. Everything has to run its course.  Alignments don't care about our whims and fancies. "Trust the process", we've been told.  But here's the neat part. By the time the pieces fall into place, everything ceases to makes sense; all dwindled down to a bunch of baloney. Al...
Post a Comment
Read more

SOCIALIST REALISM

"MOTHER" is Maxim Gorky's fiery magnum opus. Nilovna like many long-suffering yet indomitable women, shows hope and remains a sign of courage to her kind who have lost their inspiration to lead and live in a patriarchal society. Revolution for the greater good is built upon bloodshed and polemical beliefs. The young blood in pre-revolutionary Soviet search for the truth and fight for their rights. For them, words' power supersedes swords' skills; sticks stones and guns even. While czarist censorship was rampant all over the city and suburbs, gendarmes mercilessly confiscated any piece of literature that could threaten the government importantly books and essays might provoke people to think or get ideas. Only intellectual freedom can ultimately free the workers of this world from the capitalistic clutches. If only it were easy to earn those rights. Mother's story is a precursor to the Russian revolutionary period which sparks ideas and thoughts that can cleans...
Post a Comment
Read more

CYNEFIN!

  Peter Ho Davies opens this tale with a small word origin for "Welsh". It means failing to fulfil one's promise. Much like the minimal doses of caffeine on a Monday morning, the plot's initial pages gradually intoxicate the readers. This slow pleasure prepares us for what is later revealed as a rocky path. Esther is a beautiful name for a woman who is as lost as any woman in this world, irrespective of her time, place or circumstances. For reasons, well-known, the protagonist is tormented by her tumultuous state of mind. When we see/hear the word "war', an image constructed with bleak and dreary details naturally comes to light. Human sufferings are archived in each pixel of that image remaining unnoticeable and microscopic given the scale of damage. Yet, they constitute the bigger picture.  "The Welsh Girl" zooms in on one such pixel, the life of Esther - the daughter of an old shepherd in North Wales set in the 1950s as it's showdown for Worl...
Post a Comment
Read more

ECHOES OF A LION'S ROAR!

  "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" was the first book of Gabo that I'd read. It happened in haste, unplanned. Our school librarian was doing end-of-the-year stock verification and we were returning all borrowed books. Something with that book's cover caught my attention and convinced my inner voice to read the story. I promised my kind librarian I'd finish the book in one night and return it promptly. And it happened so. I was transported to an unknown world where longing and craving controlled every basic instinct. Gabo has the magical power to enthral his readers by sucking them into a tranced nuanced vortex. You can get into any anu world he has built and see it through the eyes of the protagonist. Reading Anna Magdalena's life built a strange commotion inside my brain.  Is her story my forgotten past? Or a forewarning into my future? August is a special month. I was born and reborn in it. Although the foreword from Gabo's sons warns us about a possibly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

AN INDISPUTABLE REALITY CHECK!

  Translated into numerous languages and formatted into different versions, "Sapiens" is a book that needs no introduction. From Carl Sagan's, "Cosmos" to David Attenborough's "Planet Earth", we've all tried to grasp the magnificent monstrosity of our world and construct meaning from that learning. Prof. Harari has taken a huge risk by recording humankind's history in a single book. Surprisingly he has done a splendid job. Discounting the endorsements from big shots and great thinkers, this book gets true appreciation from the intensive research behind it. It takes work to pack billion-year-old events in a single paperback and say, "This is us!".  The Universe is ~14 billion years old, earth is ~4 billion years old and we are ~200,000 - 300,000 years old.  Precision and accuracy are debatable when it comes to documenting history. The author beautifully lays out facts, figures and interpretations. Both sides of the coin are clearly...
Post a Comment
Read more