Winner Take Nothing - Ernest Hemingway

 Hemingway published three Short story Collections, and this is the third one. In previous years I've read the first two ( In our Time, and Men Without Women), and my aim is to read "The Complete short Stories of Ernest Hemingway", which is a collection of 70 stories. This book has two sections - the first forty nine stories ( which has his 3 short story collections, plus a six more), plus those published in books and magazines subsequent to this 49, along with seven unpublished ones.

After the Storm: In a way, our narrator, the looter of wrecked cruise ships is a winner, since he's the first to discover the wreck, and he guesses that many are the treasures for the taking, if only he can get into the ship, which has been sunk and stuck in the quick sand. He risks his life a couple of times to gain access, but fails. When he returns, better equipped, he finds that someone after him has taken all there is to take. He may have been a winner in discovering the recent wreck, but he gets nothing for his troubles and risks. Life is that way, the author seems to suggest.

A Clean Well-Lighted Place is just that, in how it paints a picture in the reader's mind. A waiter, who understands that for some, there is no better place, than a well lighted clean place to slowly drink away the night; while those who do not wish it have someone waiting at home for them. A classical Hemingway story, where the bare feel of the environment, a lonely old man who says just a few words, but who's better represented across the dialogue between the two waiters, creates a sense of compassion for those who needs a clean well-lighted place, away from the darkness, for  whom it is synonymous with loneliness.

The Light of the World : This story is considered a Nick Adams story, with the narrator thought of as Nick. Nick is with his friend Tommy, and they while away their time, first at a bar, and then at a station. While they are not welcome at the bar, a person who is hinted as being with a certain sexual tendency shows some interest in the young boys. The station also finds some prostitutes who speak of a now dead boxer - with two of them arguing as to who actually knew him, among the two of them. The overall tone of the story is one of recalling better times ( the prostitutes - they are clearly obese now), or trying to win a favour ( the gay cook), while the two boys while away their time in an aimless way.

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen: Here, two doctors discuss a strange case, and the bungling of at least one of them, in the company of our narrator, Horace. The doctors dialogue is an interesting one, as it touches incompetence, subtle antisemitism, as well as misgivings of a youth burdened with the idea of sin. Although Hemingway's iceberg theory is practiced here as elsewhere in this book, the dialogues shed more light than in other instances.

The Sea Change: Adopting his "iceberg" stance in his little tales, we find Hemingway telling us a little story about a breakup, with the girl having been unfaithful with another girl. The boy, so close to forgiving her and making up, talks to himself, instills a stance of a discipline artificially, and lets the girl go.

A Way You'll Never Be: In this Nick Adams, shell-shocked and traumatized, visits his friend, the Italian Captain Paravicini's encampment. Nick is troubled by certain images, and has a tendency to rant, and talk at length on unrelated subjects. While his friend Paravicini is both sympathetic and concerned about what his walking about could trigger, we the readers feel for Nick, the free spirited boy whom we first met as a teenager (if that), two collections ago. By now the war has made a mess of him!
 
The Mother of a Queen: One thing that needs to be noted when reading fiction which is almost 90 years old ( some of these stories must be over a 100), is how people then looked at "the other" who is different to you. In this story, the queen is a gay bullfighter, who doesn't keep his end of the bargain with money. The narrator who appears to be his manager concludes the story disparagingly.

"There's a queen for you. You can't touch them. Nothing, nothing can touch them. They spend money on themselves or for vanity, but they never pay.... What kind of blood is it that makes a man like that ?

One Reader Writes is a letter to a doctor, seeking advice on whether it'll be safe for her to return to her husband, who is undergoing medication for a STD upon returning from war. The woman clearly is lost between her father's pressure to leave him, and her love for her husband. The woman is hinted as being marginally ignorant, and the letter carries a genuine concerned tone, and hence its attraction.

Homage to Switzerland is a fantastic story in three episodes, all taking place inside a station cafe. Its attraction lies in the warmth of the cafe which comes across the pages, as well as the attitudes of three guests, two of whom try who try lead on the waitress, while one is going through a painful separation himself. The third character discovers  a life long fan of the National Geographical magazine, and a cozy conversation takes place. As the title suggest, the three scenes suggest the cosy comfort of the station cafe, the hospitality, the cold outside contrasted. While the story doesn't ever attempt to say it, it is clear with the use of his tip of the iceberg way of writing, that it is a lovely place to be, and he cherishes his memories there.

A Day's Wait, is a story of innocence as a young boy works himself to a state thinking that his death is imminent, all through mixing up of two scales used for measuring temperature. 

A Natural History of the Dead: This short story begins by presenting the view points of the Scottish traveler Mungo Park, as well of Bishop Stanley that no branch of Natural history could be studied without an increasing of faith, hope, and love. Well, Hemingway mockingly, but maintaining  a stoic like stance, detail us some war related deaths which leave us with some heavy dents on whatever faith we had, and quite hopeless of this world being anything wonderful.

Wine of Wyoming attempts to do a comparison of life as seen by a traditional French couple, now in Wyoming, and the American way of life. The very Catholic French couple are abundant in hospitality and they find it hard embrace the more liberal ways of the Americans, the whiskey consuming, the drinking by the girls etc. A large part of the dialogue take place in French, and the fact that I was using the kindle helped me look up the translations.

The Gambler, the nun, and the Radio is story based in a hospital, in which a Mexican is being treated for a shooting accident, and Frazer ( a writer), convalesces. The nun in question is so excitable, that it is clear that she does her utmost to conceal her womanliness in prayer. The radio is all that the convalescing writer has to resort to. The story which stretches on at the pace of slow days in a hospital takes on a philosophical bent, when the gambler raises that the point that the opium can be different things for different people.

Revolution, Mr. Frazer thought, is no opium. Revolution is a catharsis; an ecstasy which can only be prolonged by tyranny. The opiums are for before and for after. He was thinking well, a little too well.

Nick Adams is now 38 years old. I was glad to note that he's made a good recovery from the time we found him in "A Way you'll never be". Nick drives with his son by his side, reminisces about what he loved about his dad, and what he didn't. He recalls the times he spent with his native Indian friends, the hunting and fishing days. It is easily one of the best stories in this collection, as it illuminates a great deal about the relationships between Fathers and Sons.

All in all this collection too carries the short story characteristics of Hemingway, its little said - much implied tone, plenty of war time/ war related stories, and the charm that it brings to the reader. Not to be missed by a lover of short stories, for sure.

Rating: ****1/2

Chats with the Dead - Shehan Karunatilaka

 After reading Chinaman, there was no way that I'd pass Chats with the dead. However it took longer than it should've for me to start on it.

I will write this in two parts. Part one will be a review of the book, and can safely be read by those who consider reading this.

Part two, primarily will be a personal note (although now published), on how I feel about the happenings disclosed in this book, on how it could be related to public figures of yesteryear, and how it sit besides other reports that am aware of. It is best that this part is not read by those who aim to read this book.

Part 1: Review

"At Borella junction, a woman in white walks the edge of your periphery and disappears when you focus; a demon toddler squats in a corner and hisses at the young girls waiting for buses; a cloven-hoofed ghoul stands at the headlights looking for a motorcyclist to impale. It appears that too many in Colombo have died unwillingly and too few are ready to leave"

    Shehan Karunatilaka (SK) has opted for a loose styled  narration, broadly enclosed in eight sections - one each for seven moons, and then one for "The Light". These seven moons could be thought of as the duration of the  immediate seven days upon the passing of a person, for the protagonist is dead ( and the chats are his, with other persons that he meets, "there" ), and he spends these days in the in-between; in limbo; undecided. It is clear that SK has put local Buddhist beliefs to very good use, to come with this fiction, with the whole host of mythical after life beings beings parading within the  story ( pretas, ghouls, undecided spirits, those who find their time has elapsed etc.). I am not aware of any book that has used these rich mythical stand points to such literary use even in the vernacular (although I could be mistaken on this regard), and this is a good area for new vernacular fiction.

 SK's writing is colorful, enriched with generous use of vernacular expletives to give the book a natural setting, although an international reader would need some assistance here, to glean the most from this book. Its flow is with darting off like tendency to digress, but returns to its origin soon. Its amazing wit will keep you entertained - this is the main characteristic of SK no doubt, as he used so successfully in Chinaman. Here's an excerpt:

"'I'll talk to the big boss,' says Kottu.'Can't break the laws when doing murders, no?'"

                                        The sad part is, the above quote is more inclined towards truth in our corrupt society, than towards sounding oxymoronic. All dialogues carry the everyday Sri Lankan English dialect, which too attract it to the local readers, for one can even picture the highest society carrying on with  such use of the language.

At over 400 pages, an editor could've made it an ever better book, with 30-50 pages less (I run the risk of being pedantic, by suggesting so).

For those who are aware of the dark gory 80s, it is clear that the protagonist is a remodeling of a much loved media personality, an activist who transcended the language barrier between the vernacular, and the much awed English speaking society. Some of the other characters could be imagined from their real life roles, as enough snippets have been dropped. All these make it a good political revelation of sorts, although the author has fictionalized it to such a degree, that any attempts at concrete pronouncements would be imprudent.

All in all, this is not a book that English fiction readers from Sri Lanka should miss out on. It takes swipes at our collective faults, almost emanates the stench of the political hell hole which we still suffer from more than 30 years later to the times referred in this book ( and collectively pay a heavy price at present), and wit that makes us laugh as well as take a closer cynical look at ourselves. I just hope that at some point it carries references for it be more accessible to an international readership (maybe that's already underway if the title of his next announced book is anything to go by.)  Plus, it is interspersed with enough philosophical garnish, which end up being more than just that. The beauty is that it doesn't influence the taste of the overall "dish" too much. I have very little to complain about this book, although a comparison with Chinaman may see this a few steps behind, more so due to the political weight that this carries ( I feel).

Rating: ****

Part II: A Personal Stitch to see things better ( includes spoilers - so keep away, future readers of this book)

It is clear who SK had in mind when he created the fictitious character, Malinda Albert Almeida Kabalana, with one more professional capacity added than "he had". That professional role gives SK, the space to give birth to a plot, in which our character has served many masters. Besides this, this fictional character gambles, and is gay, a point ooked down upon more so then, than now (even world famous music stars were reluctant to come out in the 80s). The matter that most troubled me was that the murder of "Maali" is instigated by political might ( as we all believed), but for personal reasons. In this fictional work, his sexual relations are decisive for his death. In the real life equal of this death,  the only close reasoning that could be thought of as aligning to this, is that this death was one of the last deaths of prominent persons by the then active government death squads. There is even a line of thought that the then president, used this death to call for a halt for the killings. There is a police officer called Ranchagoda, in this book, and we see a police officer with the same name as one of the main men mentioned, even serving a brief term in prision, in real life.  SK's overall stance appears to have been to portray that in spite of the many political camps, and the warring fractions that were active then, each was corrupt in its own way, each was guilty of grave crimes, and that the public at large too were unconcerned - or more accurately, could not afford to be concerned, as things stood. For, protests as we see it today, were unimaginable back then ( and today too, only because the whole world hears of it in a matter of seconds - even then we saw what happened on May 9th). The fact that disclosing photographs, Maali's life's work, for which he took many a risk, with which he thought many would be exposed, fell through, suggested exactly this).

What of the characters I think I can recognize ? Rajini Thiranagama, Ranjan Wijeratne, ASP Ranchagoda, and Daya Pathirana, definitely. Stanley is someone I couldn't, and I don't think there is a real life character, that could be compared with him.

Am in two minds whether to read Rajiva Wijesinghe's book, or the book edited by Prabath Chinthaka Meegodage. However I will read again the last known essay that he wrote, that was published in the Sunday Island one week prior his death. In it, his argues for a secular nation, arguing against some of the claims by Reggie Siriwardena, as well as the stances of Gunadasa Amarasekara, and Nalin de Silva; and he  finds the actions of Anagarika Dharmapala to have been heavily influenced by the Victorian Culture that he was confronting - he calls the Anagarika a great rationalist, and a great humbug.

In summary, I think the main character lived his life, as he thought best he should, committed to a cause, and taking pleasure as it served him. In that sense, it is a life that needs celebrating than those who live for three score years and more, with nothing to show, and being hypocrites to themselves.

ත්‍රිවේණි සංගමම් - ධනුෂ්කා නිෂාදි කුලරත්න

 කිවිඳිය ගේ දෙවෙනි කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහය ලෙස සඳහන් වෙතත්, මා ඇයගේ කිය වූ පළමු සංග්‍රහයයි. පළමු සංග්‍රහද සම්මා ඇගයීමට ලක් ව ඇති අතර, උක්ත කෘතිය ද සම්මාන කිහිපයකට නිර්දේශ වූවා මතකය ( ඉන් එකක හෝ ජයග්‍රහණයක් ලැබුවා ද විය හැක).

කෘතිය ඇරඹෙන්නේ ත්‍රිවේණි සංගමම් නම් කිමැයි යන්න පිළිබඳ අතිශය කාව්‍යාත්මක හැඳින්වීමකිනි. සංග්‍රහයේ කවිවර ගන්නා ව්‍රතයන් තිස් හතරකි. එම ව්‍රත සියල්ලේම පාහේ භාවිත කවි බස මනරම් ය. භාවිත වදන් බුහුටිය, සැකෙවිය, සරල බස හා වඩා ව්‍යක්ත බස අතර අන්ත්ර්ගමනයක යෙදෙන්නේ කියවන්නියට අමුත්තක් නොවෙනාකාරයටය.

"ශුෂ්ක වූ ප්‍රේමයක පාමුල
තිත් පොළොං දළ වැදී තිබුණා
එදා නුඹ බින වැටී හුන් තැන
දූට ගත් හැඩ අකුරු තිබුණා"
                                    ( ශුෂ්ක ව්‍රතය)      

"නැගෙයි මළ බෙර
දැවෙයි, සැලෙයි, සිල
සෝකයම දල්වමින් සියොලඟ
මිටිකොට එ'දිවි අතැඹුල
ගුම්ගනියි නිහඬතාවෙත් හඬ
යටගිය දවස
මහතෙකු  ලියා මතුකළ
පිරිපහදු පුම සිතක බණවර"
                                   ( විරාග ව්‍රතය)
                 

 කතුන් දෙදෙනුකුගේ ප්‍රේමයන්  පිළිගැනීමට මැලි වූ අරවින්ද චරිතය ආභාෂ කොට ගෙන, එවන් චරිතයක් දැකීමට සිත් සදා ගනිමින්, "රොස් දූලි අතැර - පෙර පුරුදු ආදරයෙන්", හේ ඇමතීම ඇත්තෙන්ම අපූරු කාව්‍යමය සිතුවිල්ලකි.
 

කිවිඳියගේ සිය කවි මනස යොමු කරන ඉසවු පරාසය පුළුල්ය. විටෙක ඈ කථක රුව හෙම්ලොක් පානයකට ආවේශ කරන්නේ, එම පානය සචේතනික වූයේ නම් සොක්‍රටිස් ගේ වියොව ගැන කෙසේ දුක් වන්නේ ද යන්න පිළිඹිබුවටය.

"තුරුණු මන විකල කළ බවට අපවාද ලද
නැණ මගේ පරතෙරට නම ලියැවු මහරු මිණ
සුණු විසුණු කළ මැනව මරණයේ කෙසඟ බව
නොඉක්මන් නොවෙමි එමි යුහුව ඔබ වෙත මැතිඳ"
                                                ( හෙම්ලොක් ව්‍රතය)    

තැනෙක සුලභ යැයි ගිණිය හැකි මැයක් ( කල් ඇරී ගිය පෙමක් ) ගැන කවි පංතියක් වෙතත්, එහි දී ද කිවිඳිය ගේ සැකෙවි බුහුටු බස, කවියේ සමස්ත අගය දෙගුණ කරන්නේ, එම බස නිසා ම මැවෙන දම් පැහැ අඳුරකින් මැකී යන මතක ගොන්නක් කියවන්නියගේ සිත මවමිනි.
 

"උල්දිය වෙසින් පාදම තෙරපා මතුව
උල්පත කියයි ඇති මහ සවි ඈ සතුව
කල්ගිය හිමිකමකි අන් අතකට නතුව
කල් දැන පුපුරවයි ඉඟි දී කල් ඇතුව"
                                     ( මතක ව්‍රතය)

 මෙහි එන තරමක් දිගු රසවත් කවි පංතියකි කොල්ලුපිටියේ සිට වේයන්ගොඩ දක්වා දුම්‍රිය මාර්ගයේ හමුවන  දුම්‍රියපොළ වැණීමකි, ගමන් ව්‍රතය.

"මීරි කැවිලි පෙන්නා සාගින්න පෙලූ
බේකරියකි තුන් තිස් පැය සුවඳ ගැලූ
ගමන අතරමග ගිමනට පලස එලු
නුවර මෙයයි පවත් කියමි ගණිහිමුලූ"

වනවාසල, හුණුපිටිය, එඬේරමුල්ල, රාගම, බටුවත්ත,ගම්පහ හාරහා වේයන්ගොඩට සේන්දු වන තෙක් මෙම ගමන් විස්තරය ඇදෙයි. ඒ ඒ ඉස්ටේසමේ තතු කෙතෙරම් සාර්ථක ද යන්න කීමට තරම මා වගතුග නොදනිතත්, අලුත් කාව්‍ය අත්දැකීමක් කියවන්නියට ලබා දීම ගැන ඈ තුති පූරක වනු ඇතැයි සිතිය හැක.

හසිත ව්‍රතය, නගර ව්‍රතය, කෞතුක ව්‍රතය, ජවන ව්‍රතය ( මෙය කොල්ලුපිටිය ගැන යැයි සිතමි), ආදි රසවත් කවි පංති මෙන්ම භාරතයේ අත්දැකීම් කවියට නගා ඇතැයි සිතිය හැකි අවස්තාද රස වින්දෙමි ( ගෝපි ව්‍රතය, මිත්‍ර ව්‍රතය, කුමර ව්‍රතය).

කිවිඳියගේ කවිකමේ මහරු පෙන්වන පරිපූර්ණ ම කවියක් ලෙස යැදුම් ව්‍රතය දකිමි:

"අරුණු අහසක ඇඳෙන සිතුවම වැසූ තිරපට තුරුණු මිහිදුම
සමග රහසිව පෙමක පැටලී මහරු පැහැකම් මතුකරන මෙන්

දිනෙක අවසන ඉසිඹු අයදින ගෙයක දොරකඩ පහන් දල්වන
ගෙහිමි මැතිණිය සිනා පොබකර අගිල් සුවඳක එතී එන මෙන්"

සමස්ත ලෙස සැලකුවහොත්, කිවිඳිය උක්තකරගන්නා මාතෘකා වලට වඩා, ම සිත් ගත් ඈ එම මැයන් තම බසට නම්මවා ගෙන ඊට ලබා දෙන කාව්‍යමය ජවය, හෝ ලයාන්විත බව, හෝ වර්ණවත් බව හෝ ය. සමහර කවි පංති පූර්ණ ලෙස වටහා නොගත් අවස්තා ද තිබුණු බව නොවලහා පවසමි - එය මගේ ම දොසක් බව සැක නැත. යශෝධා සම්මානි, කල්පනා ඇම්බ්‍රෝස්, අනුරාධා නිල්මිණි ආදි පසුගිය වසර දෙක තුන තුල, මට කියවන්නට ලැබුණු,  දක්ෂ, මෑත පරම්පරාවේ කිවිඳියන් හා එක පෙළ සිටීමින්, අපට සාර්ථක කවි නිර්මාණ ලබා දෙන්නියක් ලෙස ධනුස්කා නිෂාදී ද නම් කල හැකි බව පැහැදිලිය.

ශ්‍රේණිය: ****
පළමු මුද්‍රණය: 2020 (සයුර ප්‍රකාශකයෝ)

 

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

 The Goldfinch, is in every possible way, a novel based on contemporary American Life, although it is integrated with Arts  of the Dutch Golden Era. The Goldfinch referred to, is Carel Fabritius' last work before his untimely death.  Following is a review with "hardly any damage" to those who aim to read it.


The Contemporary: As stated above, the  modern American life style is presented here quite beautifully. When Theo Dexter's mother dies from a bomb blast in the middle of New York,  the world no longer appear to be surprised -nor we as readers  feels that it is unlikely. The modern era is such that losing relations due to bombs is not unnatural. The novel  progresses depicting trying circumstances for our main character, Theo Dexter - his broken family, his mother's death, a period of relative calm at his friend Andy Barbour's ( a rich kid, with a strong mum and a nervy, over-worked father ) and  meeting of Hoby, the return of Theo's own father, his introduction to drugs, pill popping, life in Vegas on the border of the desert,  the strange life together with his friend Boris, his return to New York and to Hoby, College life, meeting Barbours again, so on and so forth.  Theo's use of drugs and pills is presented, as if its' part of the culture and life style of at least a section of the American populace. (I  recall the Alice in chains' song "Junkhead" in which  Layne Staley almost boasts that drugs work for him. His end came  almost ten to twelve years later - the harrowing part was the last two years of his life - living totally for his addiction, wasted, - but I digress). There is also the partly arranged marriage of convenience with Andy's sister - in which the level of  infidelity tolerated ( and it is not zero) is discussed before marriage.  It is one of the modern novels which paints a fabric with many of contemporary America's traits - the rich, posh, expensive life style, broken homes, drug culture, multi-ethnic nature of contemporary New York, and written with such finesse that the weight of the social commentary doesn't bog down the novel - in fact it is almost weightless.

The theme:  The novel  at a macroscopic level is the absurdity of modern life. The authoress begins chapter one by quoting Camus, thus "The Absurd does not liberate; it binds". Although there is no parody detectable, the questions of Existentialism, and Absurdism  that the novel presents, would('ve)  make/made people like Kundera and Camus, proud,  I felt. I don't know how much this book was a topic of discussion in the U.S., but it warrants a serious discussion, I suspect.

The Arts: The book is flooded with it. Hence we see Dostoevsky's,  St. Exupery's work making impacts on the lives of the characters ; we see Radiohead, Velvet Underground, The Beatles as everyday music of these people (something which thrilled me ), the furniture which is both a craft and an art, Museums, even our own Coomaraswamy is mentioned in passing. And of course there is the Goldfinch - ever present, at least believed to be so  throughout the book. There is a beautiful passage, I copy below:

"Because - what if that particular Goldfinch had never been captured or born into captivity, displayed in some household where the painter Fabritius was able to see it ? It can never have understood why it was forced to live in such misery... yet even a child can see it's dignity, thimble of bravery,, all fluff and little born. Not timid, not even hopeless, but steady and  holding it's place. Refusing to pull back from the world".

Is Tartt stating that the life of the contemporary man is no different from that of this bird ?

Towards the end of the book, Theo Dexter, mostly unscathed from all that life has thrown him, says this: 

"Because I don't care what anyone says or how often they say or winningly they say it: no one will ever be able to persuade me that life is some awesome, rewarding treat. Because here is the truth: Life is catastrophe."

  yep, the philosophy of Albert Camus is present here in large portions. But the work is absolutely modern, necessary , timely and quite brilliant - although at 770+ plus pages it is a long read (on my Kindle the percentage counter moved at a snail's pace ).

( This essay was originally written in 6th February, 2015)

The Secret History - Donna Tartt

“It's a very Greek idea, and a very profound one. Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it. And what could be more terrifying and beautiful, to souls like the Greeks or our own, than to lose control completely? To throw off the chains of being for an instant, to shatter the accident of our mortal selves? Euripides speaks of the Maenads: head thrown I back, throat to the stars, "more like deer than human being." To be absolutely free! One is quite capable, of course, of working out these destructive passions in more vulgar and less efficient ways. But how glorious to release them in a single burst!"

I have returned to Donna Tartt after a period of seven years (plus a few months.) The fact that the title of her first book kept coming up in reading groups, and reviews, plus the fact that parts of the Gold Finch has etched itself in my memory, convinced me that I had to read "The Secret History" - many said that The Secret History was a better book than her Pulitzer award winner. And upon completing it, I think I agree.

The book begins in what could usually be considered a glimpse of the climax of the book - a reference to the killing of a youth, by his closest friends. It is then the narration of Richard Papen, of how it came to be that the death of their friend came necessary - or so they believed at the point - or so they were convinced by one or more (?)  of their friends - and the heavy price that they all paid - not in terms of a punishment by the law of the land, but the close bonding they had, comes apart at the seams with their lives changing forever. Youth, in their twenties, self absorbed, mostly rich, who had never considered working a day in their lives, for whom the classics - Greek, in particular was an indulgence as they enjoyed each other's company - until they literally couldn't ! Until it was dangerous to each other, despite them loving each other!  Despite the tragedy that the reader becomes aware of at the start, it cannot be helped if the reader feels an envy for the lives that these youths led. At least two thirds  of that group were with a high intellectual bent, enjoying the finer arts, and drinking like fish. Carefree, under a University professor, who brought out the best of them - made them shine, made them live through the classics - until one day they realised that there their hero wore a facade, and only when it was too late. Most, if not all, loved their teacher more than their own parents. The subject of parents is once again a topic bound in controversy ( read "The Goldfinch"). Here too, Richard's parents aren't exactly keen about their only child. Edmond's mother is clearly a pretentious sort, and in no uncertain is it said that all of their children were let off  to society to scrounge from it. Francis' mother has been under influence of drink and substance most of her life, and leads a playful life with her much younger second husband. In essence the friends are everything to each other, and their was a good chance that the six of them may have lived in a closed knit lot, most of their adult life; until things fell apart on one fateful night, when they wanted to first hand experience the Dionesian aspects as told in the Greek myths. Without causing a spoiler ( meaning that the remaining sentences of this paragraph  will only make sense to those who have read the book, and a somewhat hazy one to those who are yet to read it), the reader can take that incident in one of two ways. One could take it literally, or that  they have self intoxicated  themselves, through various means,  to such a degree that they felt they lived through  - a temporary madness as it were. I think either approach will work equally well for the overall book. 

The characters here are nurtured so well, that the reader can't help but feel that they know them as they were her own friends. Henry's intellectual, part selfish, part genius, part mad-hat character is so well detailed, even after he is pulled down from the high pedestal, the undeniable regard for him doesn't quite go away. Camilla stays a Greek goddess, despite her excesses, her hard character, for her beauty speaks to the reader across the pages - mainly through the thoughts of  Richard. And Richard - our narrator - a habitual liar ( at least at the start) , who gets accepted by the other five, and Julian, despite the differences in their social background, the fact that he is literally dirt poor, and even when, at least Julian, Henry, and Edmond realises the fabricated nature of Richard purported background. The one liner that Julian throws at Richard made me chuckle:

"Dear me, you are being truthful today,"

Am sure that this book will leave a deep etched impression in me, just as Gold Finch did - even though Gold Finch is clearly a lesser book than this, given its somewhat distributed nature of the plot, and the more diverse experiences that Theo Dexter lives through ( I will add the note I wrote about The Gold Finch back in 2015, to these pages soon.) Donna Tartt has written just three novels over a period of 30 years ( I would like to think, that a new book by her is expected soon, given its been around nine years since her last). Some critics find a Dickensian influence in her writing - mostly in The Gold Finch than here - but I would venture to say the Dickensian aspect is present here too. The diversity of social classes, as well as the elegant snobbery of  Henry, Julian, which is presented without a sense of sarcasm - meaning that they lived it, believing in it, earnestly- could be looked upon as modern day Dickensian.

In conclusion, I feel that the brief period that they lived together as a bunch of friends, among the academia, the heady days, the intoxicated carefree days, was probably a good bargain against a dull fifty-sixty years. I am wont think that this brief period, and its overall intoxication represents the Dionysian concept of being free, and losing control. Henry am sure would see it that way; I venture to guess so would Bunny.

“The idea of living there, of not having to go back ever again to asphalt and shopping malls and modular furniture; of living there with Charles and Camilla and Henry and Francis and maybe even Bunny; of no one marrying or going home or getting a job in a town a thousand miles away or doing any of the traitorous things friends do after college; of everything remaining exactly as it was, that instant – the idea was so truly heavenly that I’m not sure I thought, even then, it could ever really happen, but I like to believe I did.”

A one of a kind book of maddening brilliance.

Rating: ****1/2
(photo credits: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a28954524/donna-tartt-secret-history-movie/ )

Land of Big Numbers - Te-Ping Chen

This collection was rated as one of the best short stories of 2021 (i.e.  Barrack Obama/ The Washington Post / New York times / Asian Review of Books) , plus the fact that the title hinted that it may carry some insight into China, made me want to read the book. Along with Afterparties, which I read prior to this, the two books really justify the praise that the two collections have been receiving. Here's a brief insight to the ten short stories which make up this collection.

Lulu: The smart twin sister of our narrator phases out of the promise she held has a brilliant math student, to a life dedicated to exposing the excesses of the government of her country. The way that it is made apparent that, once on the path of seeking justice, it operates like a cancer within you, for which you try to find a remedy, only for the disease to affect you in an even bigger way. Lulu, in essence cannot help her actions, and possibly it is only her lover who understood her best, loving her as long as he could - until he could no longer do so. The unattached, unemotional, almost mechanical tone that the the author has adopted is well suited to the story. By the end, the not so smart twin brother, has a relatively more successful life, doing what he always did - which didn't require him to fight real enemies, but only virtual ones - while the promise that Lulu held becomes a distant memory. The subtlety with which the difficulties that Lulu faced while imprisoned, hints of a narration which is non-exaggerating, and a well oiled mechanism of governance which carries our precise punishments to curtail rising opposition from the general public. 

Hotline Girl:

"Master of puppets, I'm pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams
Blinded by me, you can't see a thing"
                              ( Master of Puppets - Metallica)

A creation that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, a sense of hopelessness. Neither is Bayi's controlled freedom the life she wanted, nor does future hold much for the rejected Keju.

"Doesn't it matter that you are one of a billion plus ? an announcer was saying, and advertisement of some kind. It doesn't matter - you are one of us"

As an ominous cloud, a totalitarian state's strings on all billion plus of its citizenry remind me of the album cover of Metallica's metal masterpiece, "Master of puppets".

New Fruit: Te-Ping crosses the border of realism, with such subtlety that it takes a moment to wonder if her premises could be possible. Then when one tries to see her tale in the context of a government which decides most things for their people, a feeling of a limited freedom, of a script that the others have to adhere to, with scope for modifications when things fail ( again carried out by the self same government ),  hint of the bigger picture she had been talking of. Here, the magical fruit qiguo, a hybrid, is introduced by the state, and it affects the mood of the people. If the mood that it brings on is bad, all you have to do is be patient, until the government fixes things for you. Mind you, am writing this from a country where successive governments have mismanaged the economy, and the current lot made sure that bankruptcy is inevitable - yet we have scope for voicing of opinions still, amidst some police brutality - likely to be somewhat backed by the State. I think, that suffering is still bearable to some degree, when you know that the people can still call shots, however far they may be.

Field Notes on a Marriage: This must be the most disturbing short story in this collection. We find, Gao, of Chinese origin, now in the US, trying to get over an incident, in which he has made a considerable contribution to a poor student's downfall, early in life. We find his wife, trying to understand the calamity of Gao's life - in order to understand what she's got herself into, by visiting his parents in China, and her first hand experience of  the cultural distance as well as a detectable stance of unforgiving that Gao's mother carries with her.

Flying Machine: Here we come across, old Li, who calls himself an Inventor and Grassroots Engineer, trying to win favour with the party secretary of his village, through his various primitive inventions.  Li, wants to leave his farmer background and re-invent himself as an inventor as his nation, in its new path development needs. From another angle, one can see a blind veneration to the political authority which over rules everything about their lives.

On the street where you live: Not everyone who makes it to the land of the free from China has a success story to say. Our protagonist of this story finds himself in prison, for a murder that he's entangled in, in a freakish manner. Our protagonist, an educated man, who has worked in several countries, faces this sad situation due to a woman he was involved with, and mainly due to her ex-lover, who he encounters.

Shanghai Murmur: Competition to succeed in China, most of all in Shanghai, is very high. Sometimes, girls in particular find an easy way out for success. Xiaolei, thinks that she may have found a short cut of that sort, but it goes awfully wrong as her battle of sorts with the man's wife take an unexpected turn.

Land of Big Numbers: Zhu feng influenced by his rich friend Li, takes risks and invests in the stock market, where after an initial success, he makes losses, which makes him unable recover his debts. Zhu, all of a sudden finds himself friendless, and no one to turn to. In parallel he finds that his father, whom he has always seen as one who had taken meekly his lot in life, to have been a political activist, who had faced a life changing event.

Beautiful Country:

"But his parents are the kind of sixty-year-olds who plan hikes on Machu Picchu with other energetic retirees, and dance the rumba at their friends' vow-renewal ceremonies. Mine are the kind who worked in the fields the first thirty years of their lives, and then in a semiconductor factory, fitting tiny parts inside of other tiny parts, until their fingers and backs were crooked. If it weren't for my uncle, who worked for the government, I never would've had the chance to study abroad"

One of the most rewarding aspects of this book is little side stories within the main story, which reveal the political and social reality of the "land of big numbers". In this story, our protagonist of Chinese origin tries to make things work with her handsome boy friend, hoping that their relationship in marriage, soon. It is clear that the man is of a controlling nature, but she sure hopes that things will work out in this beautiful country. We are revealed the nature of the relationship, over a trip that the couple take to Grand Canyon.

Gubeikou Spirit: This is possibly the most political of the stories here. It is presented in a mini-dystopian world - a rail station as it were, where the people stuck in the station are expected to adhere to the dictates of the authorities. The rule of the railway is that a passenger who had entered a certain station can't leave the same station - so if there is a train delay - even extending to months - the people are expected to abide to the rules. Across the months long delay, we are shown how the people adopt to the new life, how they are provided for, and they settle to the new life. Finally when the train arrives too, most are quite content to let it go, for there is no solid enough to leave the life of the "station".

I have no hesitation in recommending this book, to lovers of  modern literature, those who dig short stories, as well as those who fancy literature with strong political overtones. Although this is Te-Peng's debut collection of stories, she shows a finesse, telling just enough, uses no exaggeration anywhere in her political accounts, and not once inflicts damage on to her tales by political tangents. She is a Wall Street Journal correspondent in Philadelphia who was previously based in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Rating: ****1/2

Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre (translated from the French by Robert Baldick)

 

Right at the beginning, it needs to be told that this is not an easy book to read nor is it a quick read. The main reason for me to read it, is the continuation of a long journey of mine in reading Existentialist literature, and more recently, as a per-requisite to read Mahesh Hapugoda's Existentialism and Post-War Literature ( I read /watched Beckett's "waiting for Godot", late last year, and I still have to read Sartre's short story collection, "The Wall"). However reading Sartre is much more challenging than reading, say, Camus - for, there is no plot, the whole narration comprises of diary entries in which, the main character, Antoine Roquentin, explains the nature of his relationship with a few people, (chief of which is, with his ex-wife Anny), and his explorations into existentialism, and its meaning, or its lack of. While it is clear that he still loves Anny, and would take any chance to get back with her, he is troubled by the true nature of the phenomenon of existence. It is to the study of this area that the majority of the book is focused, by way of the meditations, and ideas of Roquentin. The Nausea, which is of import to our protagonist in a negative sense, arises from a sense of nausea that results through his inability to interpret himself outside of objects and situations. It is these meditations on the nature of existence - its superfluity, the transient nature which results in an intangibility of existence - that make this book rewarding. 

 “My thought is me: that's why I can't stop. I exist because I think… and I can't stop myself from thinking. At this very moment - it's frightful - if I exist, it is because I am horrified at existing. I am the one who pulls myself from the nothingness to which I aspire.”

However, these gems needs to be filtered out from a flow, which overall although not noise, is still a dense flow of words, not all of which could resonate with the reader. Examples of these gems are:

        "This is what I have been thinking: for the most commonplace event to become an adventure, you must - and this is all that is necessary - start recounting it. This is what fools people: a man is always a teller of tales, he lives surrounded by his stories and the stories of others, he sees everything that happens to him though them; and he tries to live his life as if he were recounting it."

Stories, acts, pretension, going through motions are some of the things which Antoine identifies in his observing of daily life in Bouville. Many are the little incidents that Antoine notices, and retells, as they comply with his theories.

"How I should like to tell him that he's being duped, that he's playing into the hands of self-important people.  Professionals in experience?  They have dragged out their lives in stupor and somnolence, they have married in a hurry, out of impatience, and they have made children at random.   They have met other men in cafés, at weddings, at funerals.  Now and then, caught in a current, they have struggled without understanding what was happening to them.  Everything that has happened around them has begun and ended out of their sight; long obscure shapes, events from afar, have brushed rapidly past them, and when they have tried to look at them, everything was already over.  And then, about forty, they baptize their stubborn little ideas and a few proverbs with the name of Experience, they begin to imitate slot machines; put a coin in the slot on the left and out come anecdotes wrapped in silver paper; put a coin in the slot on the right and you get precious pieces of advice which stick to your teeth like soft caramels."

The superfluity of life, is a comfortable, albeit a safe ignorant place to be - and is just a few steps from the age old saying - "ignorance is bliss".

 The novel has no plot whatsoever, but it still ends in a positive note. Antoine imagines that a man in New York, stifled with his daily lot, troubled by none less than any other, still took time to pen down a song which is being enjoyed in a town in France. He imagines that maybe the man wanted no more than $50 for his work, but along with his singer, has brought upon the world something which the world is grateful for. 

"She sings.  That makes two people who are saved: the Jew and the Negress.  Saved.  Perhaps they thought they were lost right until the very end, drowned in existence.  Yet nobody could think about me as I think about them, with this gentle feeling.  Nobody, not even Anny.  For me they are a little like dead people, a little like heroes of novels; they have cleansed themselves of the sin of existing.  Not completely, of course - but as much as any man can.  This idea suddenly bowels me over, because I didn't even hope for that anymore.  I feel something timidly brushing against me and I dare not move because I am afraid it might go away.  Something I didn't know anymore: a sort of joy."

It is indeed a beautiful, and convincing way to conclude a novel, which brooded on the weight of existence. Yes, the duty, the work, that one does, never knowing whether it is going to be enough, whether it going to make an impact - but still tirelessly trying - which makes their existence justified, for their is no one our random existence could otherwise make meaning. It's not far from here to Sisyphus, may I dare to suggest ?

In conclusion - this is not a book for everybody. The reader would need a resolve to see through this book, and it is guaranteed to give its little pockets of pleasure in its revelations, amidst her toil. I do suspect that if she is a student of the ideas as discussed in this book, that she may return to it, as she comes across related subjects in her journey as a reader.

Rating: ****