Music - as per my preference (2020)

 Finally, I've managed to listen and list out to my preference, from all the music albums of 2020, that I opted to listen to. Usually the top 20 is what I consider to be, the year's best music, but this year, I felt it is only fair to extend it to the top25, or even 26,27, because there was such a good collection of music. For each of the albums, their ranking is based on rating system that took into consideration each track, how consistent it is as an album, what is the likelihood of my returning to the album ( a very important factor, as I see music) and also a rating of 1-5 stars.

It was an interesting year. Pearl Jam, to came out with possibly their best album in years, a real grower in you, if you're patient enough to listen to it 4-5 times ( which I did). Only Fiona Apple appears in the top 5, besides Pearl Jam, from my usual firm favourites.

While Joan Osborne is in the top 10, while Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and the Pet Shop Boys appear in the top 20 - that's as far as my traditional favorites go. Although Smashing Pumpkins haven't been one of my favourite bands in their "the world is a vampire days", Billy's singing is much better these days, and I've taken a liking to them at least since Oceania. Other usual appearances in top 20 include Stephen Malkmus, while Roisin Murphey has her second appearance in recent years - her first inside the top 10.

Two excellent Jazz records by way of Pat Methany and Shabaka and the Ancestors, the former in top 5, and the latter inside the top 20, are highlights I feel.

Of those who missed the top 20, I liked the Green Day, Ossy Osbourne and AC/DC albums in particular. Weller starts sounding well to be inside the top 20, but loses steam half way through. Albums by Puscifier and Nada Surf can divulge more, on even more listens ( I've listened to each about 5-6 times - no less ), but their kind of music with its wit ( Nada surf) and thoughts, could take even more time ( time I don't have).

Some of my favourite artistes who missed out, this year - Bruce Hornsby and Sufjan Stevens - who both fail to come inside the top 40. I think I've listened to a total of 50 albums or more, the ones not listed here being the albums by The Weeknd, John Frusciante ( an interesting album, but very experimental - and honestly, beyond me ), Lucinda Williams, Mandy Moore, and the Flaming Lips, which didn't keep my interest throughout the year.

  1 Gigaton -  Pearl Jam ****1/2
  2 Island Owen Pallet ****1/2
  3 song for our daughter - Laura Marling ****1/2
  4 Fetch the Bolt Cutters - Fiona Apple ****1/2
  5 From this place -Pat Methany ****1/2
  6 Dark Sea -Man of Moon ****1/2
  7 ohms - deftones ****
  8 Roisin Machine - Roisin Murphey ****1/2
  9 The New Abnormal -The Strokes ****
10 trouble and strife -Joan Osborne ****1/2
11 Set my heart on fire immediately - Perfume Genius ****
12 cyr -Smashing Pumpkins****
13 Whole new mess -Angel Olsen ****
14 traditional techniques - Stephen Malkmus ****
15 perdida -Stone Temple Pilots ****
16 Hotspot -Pet Shop Boys ****
17 The Universal Want -Doves ****
18 letter to you -Bruce Springsteen ****
19 Rough and Rowdy ways -Bob Dylan ****
20 We are sent here by history - Shabaka and the Ancestors ****
21 The Slow Rush - Tame Impala ****
22 On Sunset -Paul Weller ****
23 Father of all MFs -Green day ****
24 never not together -Nada Surf ****
25 Hate for Sale -Pretenders ****
26 Existential Reckoning -Puscifer ****
27 Shore -Fleet Foxes ****
28 Reunion - Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit ****
29 Ordinary Man Ozzy Osbourne ****
30 Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was -Bright Eyes ****
31 power up -AC/DC ****
32 microphones in 2020 -microphones ****
33 Song Machine Season One: Strange Timez - Gorillaz ***1/2
34 McCartney III -Paul McCartney ***1/2
35 by the fire -Thurston Moore ****
36 Pick me up off the floor - Norah Jones ***1/2
37 Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers ***1/2
38 making a door less open -car seat head rest ***1/2
39 Imploding the Image -The Killers ***1/2
40 Whoosh! - Deep Purple ***1/2
41 10 songs -Travis ***
42 getting into knives- The Mountain Goats ***
43 Non-Secure Connection -  Bruce Hornsby ***
44 The Ascension - 
Sufjan Stevens ***
45 all visible objects Moby ***

My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell

  “I’m going to ruin you.”

Vanessa Wye. Why her ? Was she too strong, and yet too vulnerable at 15 ? Was Strane just a helpless man, who acted out a few of his own scripts and got lucky, more than just a couple of times ? Is there a category of men, who can manipulate vulnerable, lonely girls in to their sordid plans ? Was the mixture of lack of attention, loneliness, girlish adventurism and innocent pride in her yet blooming early womanhood all combine to corner her in to a most undesirable situation ? Could her mother have made a difference ? Or, is it that, in these matters, the dishonourable initiative of the adult, towards the minor, the guiding principle in deciding the guilt - the first attempt at manipulation - as Taylor's precise (safe?) allegation suggest ? Is  the stance,

“He worshipped me. I was lucky.”

, a self-deception caught in an opportune time, to help her through the mires ?

I was making little progress with another three books, when I started this in audiobook format. I must admit that I am glad that I chose to listen to this - instead of reading  in the proper sense - because Grace Gummer does such an amazing job, for even the quiver of  Vanessa's helplessness is felt in her perfect narration.

For all Strane's  monstrosity, I cannot get over the fact that Vanessa's own traits didn't help her, in leaving that stage of her life.

“I can’t lose the thing I’ve held onto for so long, you know?” ... “I just really need it to be a love story, you know? I really, really need it to be that.”

What I like about this book most is, the numerous questions that it asks the reader. What if this ? And, what if that ?  The suggestion, that, yes, that first inappropriate initiative is wholly wrong, but there are so many other factors that lines up to feed on that initiative, possibly making the victim feel that he or she was hungry for that initiative, and making  them play along, before they realise that the are so deeply trapped in the labyrinth of immature emotions, that it can destroy them.

I liked the ending too - the fact that Jolene would never know Strane - the trigger that Vanessa required to make a new start. Reading this book, about half a dozen years after the account of one very philosophical Humbert Humbert - now, a tale that it be could be compared with, told from the perspective of a victim in denial. It was, no doubt a most disturbing read - but I guess, the intensity of that feeling is tantamount to admission of the author's success. The author and the narrator's, in my case.

Rating - ****
Genre - Novel (2020 )

රිදුම් පිරි පිරිමැදුම් - අනුරාධා නිල්මිණි

 2019 වසරේ ප්‍රකාශිත කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන් දහයක් කියවීමට තෝරා ගත්ත ද, 2020 අවසන් වද්දී ද මා කියවා තිබුනේ ඉන් පහක් පමණි ( මෙය පස්වැන්නයි). ඉතිරි පහ,  2021 දී කියවීමට හැකි වේ දෝ යන්න සැක, පැරණි කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන් කිහිපයක් කියවීමට ද සිතා ඉන්නා නිසා ය. 2020 ප්‍රකාශ වූ සංග්‍රහයන් ද තව ටික දොහකින් මේ ගොන්නට එකතු වනු ඇත. මේ සියල්ල අඟවන්නේ, 2019 ප්‍රකාශ වූ කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන් කියවීමට තෝරා ගත්තා වැඩිය කියා ය. 2020 කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන් තෝරා ගනිද්දි ඒ ගැන අවධානය යොමු කල යුතුව ඇතත්, කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන් පිළිබඳ නිසි ඇගයීමක් අප රට නොවෙනා හෙයින්, පාඨකයකු තෝරා බේරා කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන් කියවන්නේ කෙසේ ද යන්න ම ගැටළුවකි - ඒ සීමිත කාලයක් තුල, සහ අන් විවිධ වර්ගයේ පොත් අතර කවි පොත් වලට කොපමණ ඉඩක් යොමු කල යුතු ද යන කාරණාවේ දිගුවකි. වෙසෙසින් පොතක් කියවා අවසානයේ, ඉන් රසයක් නොලබන්නේ නම්, එම කාල ආයෝජනය පිළිබඳ පාඨකයකුට පහන් සිතක් ඇති නොවේ. පෙර කී, මා කියවූ පොත් 5 අතර අවම වශයෙන් එවන් පහන් සිතුවිලි ඇති නොකල, සම්මාන නිර්දේශ ලත් එක් පොතක්  වෙයි. එහෙත් අනුරාධා නිලිමිණි ගේ මේ සංග්‍රහය කියවීමට තෝරගැනීම ගැන නම් මා මහත් සතුට ට පත් වෙමි. එය යම් සම්මානයක් දිනූ බව මතක මුත්, එය කුමක් දැයි මතකයට නොනැඟේ.

ඉදින් එම සංග්‍රහය කෙසේ ද ? නිදසුන් කිහිපයකින් සහ, සමස්ත අදහස් කිහිපයකින් ඒ ගැන මෙසේ අදහස් දක්වමි;

 තරමක ගුප්ත, එහෙත් යම් හුරුකමක් ද ඉඟිකරන ස්ථානයක් ගැන කවි පංතියකි, "එය කුඩා වන පෙතකි".

"මේ වනපෙතට පිවිසුම

යතුර හා රහස් අංකය

ඇතත්, හැම හදක ම

අනබිරහස් මංජුසා තුළ

ඒ, දෙස බලා නිහඬ ව

හිත හදාගනු මිස"

අප සැම ගේ සිත් වල ම ඇති වඩාත් ගැඹුරු තැනක් ගැන, එහි ඇති පසුතැවීම් හේතුවෙන් ම බොහෝ කෙනෙකු එය සැමදා වසා තබා ගැනීමට කැමති තැනක් ලෙස කිවිඳිය කියා පායි. කිමද, එහි ගිය අයෙක් කෙසේද යත්:

 "කලාතුරකින්වත් හමුනොවෙයි

සංචරණයට යන කෙනෙකු

එහි,

සතුටු මුහුණින්

කිසි දින"

තරමක කෙටි කවක් වුව, ඒ තුල බොහෝ දේ කියවෙන අපූරු කවියකි, "හුදකලාවත් හොඳ ම, මිතුරෙක් තමයි කෙනෙකුට"

"ජීවිතේ දුක අහන, මතුපිට
 කතා නැතුවට
 හුදෙකලාවත්, හොඳම මිතුරෙක්
 තමයි කෙනෙකුට"

අප රට තවමත් අයෙක් ගේ ජීවිකාව අනුව, ඔහු ට හෝ ඇයට හෝ කෙරෙන සැලකිල්ල තීරණය වේ. දැන් දැන් එළිපිට එය එතරම් නොපෙන්වුව ද, ඔවුන් කොන් කරන තීරුව හිත් කොන් වල ඇත.

"තණකොළ කපන
තණකොළ වගේ පොඩිවෙන 

අති බිම හෙළන

ළිඳ, වසුරු වළ ඉහදෙන

ගස් ඇද නමන
කම්බි නූලෙන් බැඳ දෙන

අය කොන් කරන

තීරුව තිබුණෙ හිත්වල"

තමන් නොලබන, අන් කෙනෙක් ලබන අසම්මත පෙමක රසයක් පීළිබඳ ඉවකින්, හිත කීරි ගැසීමක් කියැවෙන කවියකි, "නා මෙණෙවියක් වෙසෙයි හද තුළ"

"කන්තෝරු අහවර ව

එ'ගෙහිමි එන්නට

අඩහෝරාවකට පෙර

'හෙට වෙනකම් පාළුයි පැටියෝ' යි

මුමුණන

ඇගේ උන්මාද ස්වරය

කන්බෙරය කීතු කොට

හදවට ඇතුළු වන විට"

 කාන්තාවක් බොහෝ විට වට පිට සංඥ්ඥා මගින් බොහෝ දේ කියවයි. ඊට ප්‍රතිචාර දැක්වන්නේ තෝරා බේරා, ඉඳහිට වුවද, එම සංඥ්ඥා සමූහය අප වන් සංස්කෘතික පරිසරයක එය සැම දා අත්දකින විචිත්‍ර වූ  අත්දැකීම් ගොන්නක් විය යුතු යැයි සිතමි. සංඥ්ඥාවන් දීමේ පාර්ශවයේ අයෙක් ලෙස, විටෙක කාන්තාවක් තරම් සංඥ්ඥාවන් ගැන ඉවක් අපට නැති වීමට ද පුළුවන් බව,  මේ කෙටි කව මට  සිහිපත් කලේ ය.

"වැහුණු දොරවල් ඇරගෙන

කැඩුණු බස්වල හොටගෙන

මුහුණු මත ඇවිත් ලි්‍වෙන

හැඟීම් තිබේ, සමහර

ගැහැනු විතරක් ම කියවන!"

ගජමන් නෝනා හා ඩොයිලි අතර වූ තරඟයට කවි ලිවීමක් විෂය කොට ගෙන නිමැවුණු "ඩොයිලිට හිතෙනවා" රසවත් කවියක් වන්නේ, දයානන්ද ගුණවර්ධනගේ "ගජමන් පුවතේ" සමහර ජවනිකා සිහියට නංවමිනි.

 "ඩොයිලි: පිරුවට හොඳයි, කහටක් නැති අඟනුන්ට                  
                   කොරතොට හොඳයි, තව සිංහල උගනින්ට
                   උඩරට මාල බෝගම්බර ගිල්වන්ට

                   ඩොයිලිට හිතෙනවා, පාත ම ඉඹගන්ට

 ගජමන්: ලැබිණි මෙ' ලියමන යළි ලියමි, නොලියමි

                 ඔබින කතා දැයි සුද්දෙකුට නොඅසමි

                 රකින ඒජන්තකම්, මෙහව් කවි බැඳි

                 ඉඹින තැන පසුව මා ලියා දන්වමී."

මෙවන් රස ගුලාවන් වන් කවි සංකල්පයන් ට අමතරව සම කාලීන සමාජ දේශපාලන කාරණා නිමිති කල ගත් කවි  රැසක් ද මෙහි අපට හමු වේ. පාස්කු ප්‍රහාරය පසුව ඇති වූ උග්‍ර "සිංහල" කම ( "පපුවෙන් සිංහල ගලනව"), ගල්කිස්සේ රැඳවුම් මධ්‍යස්ථානයක සිටි රොහින්ග්‍යා සරණාගතයින් පිරිසකට එරෙහිව 2017 දී ඇති වූ  ප්‍රහාරය ("ඉතින්, සමා ඉල්ලමි"), අප රට ජ්‍යේෂ්ඨ ගායකයකු තරුණ කාන්තාවක් විවා පත් කොට ගත් විට ඔහුගේ පුතුන්ගේ ප්‍රතිචාරය  ("ඉනාව ම එක හිනාවකි පුත") පීලීබඳ එම ගායකයාගේ දෘෂ්ඨිකෝණය, ලක්ෂ්මි අගාර්වාල් මුල් කොට ගෙන ලියැවුණු "අග්නි දෙවඟන", දකුණින් යන අය උතුරේ දකින්නට බලාපොරොත්තු වන්නේ කුමක් ද යන ප්‍රශ්ණය මතු කෙරෙන "නන්දිකඩාල් පසු කොට" කවි පංතියත් මීට නිදසුන් ය. මේ සෑම මාතෘකාවක් ම කවි සිතක් තුලින් දකින ආරෙකින්, තෙතමනයකින් ලියැවී ඇත්තේ පාඨකයාට එම කාරණා පිළිබඳ සියළු පැති වෙත බලන මෙන් කෙරෙන නිහඬ බලකිරීමක් සමගය.

පෙර කී පරිදි 2019 ප්‍රකාශ වූ කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන්  5ක් කියවා ඇත ( ඉම තව දුරය, ක්වොන්ටම් භෞතික සංකාරා, මොන තරම් අවුලක්ද , හම්බාවා, අනෙක්වා ය). ( සන්තාන ගීතිකා, පිපී අනවැති නුරා මල් තරු පෙති, රන්වන් පත්, සරමිණි සුමුගුව සහ එහෙම වරදක් කරලා නෑ මම,  කියවීමට ඉතුරුව ඇත ). මෙය කියවීමට පෙර මොන තරම් අවුලක් ද සහ හම්බාවා, මා වඩාත් රස විඳි සංග්‍රහයන් විය.  එනුමුදු, මෙහි කවීත්වය, මැයන් හි විවිධත්වය, වරෙක මතුවන ස්ත්‍රීත්වය 2019 ප්‍රකාශ වූ කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයන්ගෙන් ම මෙතෙක් වඩාත් රස විඳි සංග්‍රහය මෙය බව පැවසීමට පුළුවන.  ඒ අනුව, 2019 ප්‍රකාශ වූ විශිෂ්ඨතම කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහයක් බව කීමට කරුණු කාරණා දැනට යෙදී ඇත.


ශ්‍රේණි ගත කිරීම - ****1/2
කාව්‍ය
සන්ථව ප්‍රකාශනයකි (2019)

The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg

 I have never read a self help or personal development book. No, that's not quite correct. I've read most of "How to read a book" and "How to read a poem" completely, although they mainly try to help one read literature better, than help one develop oneself in general.

So what made me consider a personal development book, at this point ? Because, I am fortunate to live in an era when one can live life to the maximum, as long as one remains relevant, and keeps oneself updated. Professionally too, I am involved in a field that reinvents itself every few years. It was around 4-5 years back, I learned the fundamentals of Software defined Storage, after making a name for myself as a Storage Specialist, in the traditional sense in the computing world. Now it is time to master code as infrastructure - and it posing more challenging than ever, more so because I've never been a pure coder. Besides I found that with my daily commitments towards family, my habits of indulging in reading and listening to music for pleasure, as well as times just chilling, ate up whatever time I need to spend on reinventing myself ( professionally ). I felt that if I can overcome certain habits, and stick to the endless time tables I draw for myself, that it should facilitate myself, in efficient usage of limited time. It is with this intent I started reading this book. ( I wrote the above since I had to sideline certain advice from some of my friends who said that "self help books need to be avoided like the plague" - a notion that I too had agreement towards till now. But I need to address certain issues.

So does this book help ? Well, yes, in a way that it stresses on the message that there is no "one model fit all" for habit breaking or rearranging, but that with enough passion, commitment and careful observing that it can be done. It is also true, that what the author states here could possibly said in clear indication in a 30 page document. But then, the author doesn't restrict himself to writing a "how to?" kind of book. He attempts to explain psychology behind habits, and the psychology that you must comprehend to overcome those habits. He doesn't restrict himself to elaborating in fighting undesirable habits at a personal level - he extends it to corporate habits and how to break them, examples of exploitation of habits by the corporate of the gullible millions thanks to the new gold - information, and how the brain behaves with respect to habits such that sleep walkers can commit murder and are pardoned by the law understanding the basic traits behind it and, how gamblers too come near a similar definition. 

Certain important concepts are covered in some detail, during the journey of  this book. Keystone Habit is one such, where one pattern had to addressed, in order to reprogram the other routines in life, as well. This can be addressed at corporate level too, as the example of Alcoa shown here explains.At an individual level it helped Michael Phelps become an Olympic champion, as his coach Bowman firmly believed that he needed to target a series of behaviours, for Phelps to become a champion, since he was a born swimmer. In academic literature, Keystone habits are referred to as "small wins".

The basic premise of habits is this:

"Habits are powerful, but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness, or can be deliberately designed. They often occur without our permission, but can be reshaped by fiddling with their parts."

In terms of "fiddling" with them, there are some good historical records  of how it succeeds. Pepsodent toothpaste is one such which changed the dental habits of the whole nation, where a certain craving in the  brain feeds a habit loop.

Tony Dungy, who became the first Afro-American coach to win a Super Bowl, used the strength of habits in his coaching. He had identified that the behaviour of the habit could be changed as long as the cue and the reward stayed the same. Alcoholics Anonymous has many success stories, since they follow a similar strategy, as it helps alcoholics use the same cues and get same rewards, but tries to shift the routine.

The importance of willpower is stressed, over a high IQ, and the importance of making it a habit is discussed, with a few real examples, none of which is more convincing than that of Starbucks. 

 

There is sizable portion of this book which discuss how institutional habits make a difference.

"There are no organizations without institutional habits." 

These habits offer a basic promise.

"If you follow the established patterns and abide by the truce, then rivalries won't destroy the company, the profits will roll in, and, eventually, eventually everyone will get rich."

Although, I started reading this book with the aim of tweaking my personal habits, the section on corporate habits and how tweaking them when necessary leads to major positive changes, was an interesting read. Especially the example on top 40 music was of special  personal interest to me.

"People  listen to Top 40 music because the want to hear their favorite songs or songs that sound just like their favorite songs. When something different comes on, they're offended. They don't want anything unfamiliar.",

John Garabedian who hosted the syndicated top 40 stated, since "Hey Ya" by OutKast which was predicted by "Hit Song science", an analytical program, to do more than just well, had failed. For it sounded a little different with its fusion of funk, rock, hip hop and Big band swing. Despite this prediction by the program, those n the industry soon realised that most hated the song. This was while bands like 3 doors down, bands which were so featureless, critics and listeners created a new category, "bath rock" to describe their tepid sound. I found this very interesting, for most o fthose who claim to "love music" simply don't put the necessary effort to discover new music. Rather they consider new music to be what is served among the pool of the top 40 songs. Here this:

"When Celine Dion releases a new song- and it sounds like every other song she's sung, as well as most of the other songs on the radio - our brains unconsciously crave its recognizability and the song becomes sticky."

It was this - the unfamiliarity of "Hey ya" was turning listeners off from the song, although Hit Song science predicted it to be a hit.

"Radio listeners didn't make a conscious decision each time they were presented with a new song. Instead, they wanted to to follow a habit. Much of the time, we don't actually choose if we like or dislike a song. It would take too much mental effort."

 

"Hey Ya" had to sandwiched between already popular songs, so that it became part of an established listening habit.

It is here I like to digress a bit. Although I am well aware of music fans who listen to a wider array of music that I do ( for I give hip-hop, genre wide miss) , I too usually end up listening to about 40-45 new music albums per year, listening to each 4-5 time at least to see whether they have potential to end up classics. I even compile an year end top 20 each year ( am in the process of compiling it these days). I am not knowledgeable about the finer details of music, but I know that upon 4-5 listens, most music prove to be either to my liking, or of no special interest - sometimes 1-2 listens is all it takes to embrace an album, or delete it from my files for good. This effort I put, almost daily as I try out new music, since I have come to realise that to familarise myself with new music, which doesn't sound like all other music, an effort is needed. Honestly, I wouldn't even consider listening to new music as enjoyment in the everyday sense, for it involves a workman like effort, till it starts make sense to you - either liking it or not liking it ( am listening to the new "Doves" album, to make me realise whether I like it enough to land it in the top 20, or whether it might miss it. )

Other interesting anecdotes included here, is one on Rosa Parks (1955) which led to the subsequent abrogation of  bus seating segregation according to colour. The power of weak ties is explained as the fundamental behind the Rosa Parks episode. It feeds a sense of obligation, leading to peer pressure.

The last chapter of the book discusses the neurology of  free will, where a sleep walker who "accidentally" kills his wife, and a habitual gambler, who had been fed on by a gambling house are taken as examples.

"...in the eyes of the law Bachman is responsible for her habits, and Thomas isn't. Is it right that Bachman, a gambler, is guiltier than Thomas, a murderer? What does that tell us about the ethics of habit and choice?"

The book concludes with a useful APPENDIX on how to use these ideas. It proposes a framework:
- Identify the Routine
- Experiment with Rewards
- Isolate the cue
- Have plan

An important observation on cues mentioned here is,

"reason why it is so hard to identify the cues that trigger our habits is because there is too much information bombarding us as our behaviors unfold."

All in all it was a useful read, and it has given me enough  pointers to work on my initial interest. Probably for the better,  that it has no very clear indications ( although it sure does come close in the Appendix ), on how exactly any habit tweaking can be done, although what is said enough for one hungry enough to work on them. Maybe in a few months, or a year or so on from now, there will be an added note to this write up to report, if it is a success. A failure might even see me not returning to the post.

My Rating - ****
Genre - Self Development / Psychology

 

 

 

The Progress of Love - Alice Munro

 December is my usual date with that sweet old lady from Ontario, Canada, Ms. Alice Munro. Since am on a sequential reading of her works, I read "The Progress of Love" (1986), in December 2020, as one of the last books of the year.

The collection gets underway with the title short story, and it is a vivid illustration of the changing face of Canada, as how the average person lived it. The differences in how one views religion, relationships, even money over a period of 40-50 years has changed. The protagonist of this story, who is the narrator, is quite the modern woman of the time, employed, a divorcee, and now seeing other men as she sees fit. Yet, she hangs on to a memory of how her father protected her mother against a ridicule from her sister, over a certain decision that was quite insane, in today's terms - maybe in terms back then too. Hardships, even those that were half brought upon by one's self, were things to admire. The silent assent, or maybe a respect for her mother's decision by her father, lives on within her as a landmark of love - maybe something that she her self has never quite found. On the surface it is a very ordinary story, but when looked upon from the viewpoint our protagonist, it is a deeply meaningful, and a very personal anecdote, presented with enough nuances to keep the reader fully in the story. Vintage, Munro!

To come to the rest of the short stories.

I think, the title "Progress of love" was chosen as it could represent each of the eleven stories, with their quirks. Progress here could represent the changing face of modern Canada, across the 1930s ( I venture to suggest, for the early days are not quite clear ), till the time of the moon landing, and then to the 1970s. How does Love and Relationships change in this climate, of modernity ? Is Progress, difficult to understand, or is it different from stability of a relationship ? In these stories we find that instead of the option less stability of earlier relationships, the latter day individuals tend to open up about their emotions, and perhaps more genuine and concerned about them. Marriages last, just as long as it makes sense for them to last. Couples break up and find new partners as their children enter their teenage years. This is in contrast to the times of their parents, or grand parents, when life was living through the rote of daily toil - hard life in farms, more often than not.

In "Lichen", the relationship between David and his ex-wife stellar is so deep, that he confides in her about his subsequent advances on other women, and seeks advice too.

In "Monsieur les Deux Chapeaux", Ross, Colin's rather unpredictable brother finds some solace through his brother's wife, in a wholly  platonic relationship. Colin found out rather early in life that minding his brother, is a life long unmentioned responsibility of his, and is glad in an undeclared way, that Glenna, his wife understands this.

"Miles City, Montana" is rather a disturbing story. An incident of a drowning of a small boy when our protagonist was a young girl, has etched such an image in her mind, that it haunts her throughout life - and rises just adequately  in caution, when her own child faces a similar danger.

"'What I can't get over' said Andrew, 'is how you got the signal. It's got to be some kind of extra sense that mothers have."

Partly I wanted to believe that, to bask in my extra sense. Partly I wanted to warn him - to warn everybody - never count on it."

A wife discovers when running an errand that her neighbours had committed suicide overnight. But the news hits the town, after she goes to Police, before her own household hears of it - a tactful omission on her part, as her husband later discovers to spare the gory details. ("Fits")

Love is a strange thing, if am to state the well trodden upon, obvious. Two cousins, roughly of same age, had come to town attend business school, from the country - which was about ten miles away. In "The Moon in the Orange Street Skating Rink", it tells us how one of the cousin's decides to abruptly end his plans at better prospects and, settle on a girl with some peculiarities in her physique - for life, as the story proves, after a casual affair that both the boys have with her.

In "Jesse and Meribeth", we come across a pair of adolescent girls, who has nothing to hide from each other, having their first exposure in sensuality.  Jesse's exposure comes under abuse of a minor, and the offender and offence ( although Jesse found him offensive for painting her solely of the guilt, instead of  it being an advance from him, which she would've welcomed ) reminds me of "My Dark Vanessa", albeit separated by 50 years, possibly.

Mary Jo - who had left the rough country life to become a nurse - has an affair with his employer, doctor, who takes care of all her needs. In a crowded plane to a holiday destination, she finds that all around her people are in various types of relationships - an "Eskimo girl, who hints that she needs protection from her man, young parents learning their responsibility, Indian parents possibly recent immigrants - and our protagonist mulls her position in life.

"A Queer Streak", is possibly the most complex short story in this collection, and possibly the longest. It suggests the difficult journey that youngsters from rural Canada had to endure towards systematic independence. The battle that females fought, and as a result how subsequent generations could talk of female liberty, from a time when the concepts were non-existent is presented in a captivating way. From another angle, the sacrifice that the elder sister makes, losing an opportunity of a suitable match -  a would be minister of a church -  to take care of her less secure and vulnerable  sisters, gives a blow to the pretensions of religion, when a real need arises.

Mother and daughter relationships won't not always be easy - especially when the daughter is an adolescent. In Circle of Prayer, an accidental death of a fellow school girl is focused upon to explore the complexity of  a relationship that a daughter has, with her mother, who has her own demons to fight.

What happens when a couple knows each so well, inside out that it is void of all sparks ?

"They had found out so much about each other that everything had got cancelled out by something else. That was why the sex between them could seem shamefaced, merely and drearily lustful, like sex between siblings"

The result ? Isabel, the wife, looks for a spark, which she couldn't deny herself, after long years of marriage to a self obsessed man. ( White Dump )

I find that this is the seventh collection of short stories that I've read of Alice Munro, and not one of them was I disappointed in. I hope to follow my practice of completing each year by reading some fantastic stories by that gentle lady from Ontario, Canada, in years to come.

Originally Published - 1986
My Rating *****
Genre - Short Stories

 

Parasite - ( d) Bong Joon Ho (2019)

 "Well I woke up this morning
On the wrong side of the bed
And how I got to thinkin'
About all those things you said
About ordinary people
And how they make you sick
And if callin' names kicks back on you
Then I hope this does the trick
'Cause I'm sick of your complainin'
About how many bills
And I'm sick of all your bitchin'
'Bout your poodles and your pills
And I just can't see no humor
About your way of life
And I think I can do more for you
With this here fork and knife
Eat the rich
There's only one thing that they are good for
Eat the rich
Take one bite now - come back for more
Eat the rich
I gotta get this off my chest
Eat the rich"

                        ( Eat the rich - Aerosmith, from "Get a Grip")          

After watching the movie, The Parasite, twice, I read a few reviews as is my wont. One thing that surprised me was a few  review hits from Indian sources - ( i.e. Times of India, Hindustani Times,  besides the usual "Guardian", "NY Times" etc. ) then, I gathered it makes sense . The drastic difference between the levels of the super rich and the extreme poor, would have an effect of this movie in India too ( that is not to say, that the differences are less in most other countries ). But it was a sentence from the NY Times review, that hit me like a thunderbolt, soon after what the movie delivered, a near enough one. (To quote):

Yet they’re not gullible, as Ki-taek believes, but are instead defined by cultivated helplessness, the near-infantilization that money affords. In outsourcing their lives, all the cooking and cleaning and caring for their children, the Parks are as parasitical as their humorously opportunistic interlopers.

The word that took my attention was, "near-infantilization", a cultured helplessness. It is here Bong Joon-ho, suggests to look all sides to note The Parasite.

If am to have a modest effort at deconstruction, I may even venture to suggest that the script is extra critical of Mrs. Park, Yeon-kyo. It suggests that she's not much different to one of the pet poodles, that she keeps. Overall events, suggest that she's hardly a woman in control of her house. Yet, it is not as if she's never traveled "the subway".

While, the Parks are usually nice people - even their servants agree - even while the opportunists live off the gullible, to cross the line is unacceptable. This is what Ki-taek feels the most, and in a moment of sudden fury gets the better of him to take the vengeance off his boss, forgetting his enemy till then. The "smell of the people who travel the subway", as the Parks like to term it, is the final death blow, as it were.

The perfect sound track, the pace of each stage, the montage which show the replacement of Gook Moon-gwang ( the former house keeper), by Chung-sook, the beautiful camera work all combine  to make an almost perfect movie, and one that will work inside the viewer's conscience for a long time to come. The importance of empathy, and the choice of being selectively oblivious being one of bad taste, wouldn't go away for sometime, after this movie. Maybe it shouldn't. No, it shouldn't. Jane Fonda presenting the Oscar for the best movie, terms the nominees as the films which made the most impact. This was sure did.

Rating: *****