War Crimes - Peter Carey

I picked up this short story collection, with some expectations, given the author's high credentials. Previously, short stories by renowned novelists have not failed me. This dragged on for over three months for its completion, as I gave it only the scantiest of reading slots, given that after  a promising start, most of the stories adopt a mixture of the Dystopian and the absurd - and reads as if the true interpretation is hidden under those layers. I for one am doubtful if the labours in any deciphering such meaning is worthy of my time, in a book of this nature.

Let's take a peak at few of the short stories ( It has a total of 13 - which too is a problem as I felt it was too long a collection ).

The Journey of a Lifetime : Is a short story I felt a lot. Mr. Moon, absorbed in his own hobbies looks forward to his one chance in his life time for a much cherished first class train journey. However he finds in the middle of his journey that his sacrifice has been in vain. The story is rich with nuances on how the rich are meted special treatment, and how for those who aspire that treatment at much personal cost, don't always receive the just rewards. Money may buy one special treatment, but still one is not immune from deception.

"Do you love me?" : Is a short story with a dystopian background. As the title of the story suggest, temporary power may not be able to protect one in times of crisis, as we find characters in this story begging for love to protect themselves, and how at times loving someone is difficult irrespective of how much one wants to. Other than the message that the story carries, the reader may feel that short story may fall of its literary expectations.

The Uses of Williamson Wood :

"People do not love those whose eyes show that they are somewhere else. Her mother had not liked it. Her mother's lovers, in varying degrees, had been enraged or irritated by her withdrawals. She had learned not to hear their words or feel their blows."

The protagonist in this story lives withdrawn in her own fantasy, as a ploy to save herself from the suffering. Clearly she is a little simple minded such that she cannot get away using the windfall that comes her way, but rather resorts to a meaningless petty revenge which brings upon everyone's downfall. Enjoyed reading this story.

A Schoolboy Prank :

Although one of the better short stories I've so far come to find in this collection, three former students meet their former teacher - who back then coached them of firmness as men, and the controlling of emotions. But soon the students and the teacher resort to subtle insults, each of their homosexual tendencies - the students in their adolescence, but for the teacher clearly a life long closeted one. The former students, now all in respectable positions aren't ready to reminded of their early teen affections, while the teacher, now old,is a lonely beaten man, who secretly isn't able overcome the loss of his dog.

He Found her in Late Summer : 

This story is a rare non-Dystopian short story, and reads close to a realistic one. A girl who appears to have been the victim of her life style, is found by a hermit like man living in full appreciation of the river and natural life surrounding it. The story has its charm in the slow turn as Dermott shows immense patience, in waiting for the girl to make her own decision on how she wants to continue her life. Here too an ancient volume on draculas bring the book an element of shadow to its relative realism.

Most of the remaining eight  short stories are steeped in Dystopian worlds and didn't quite capture my fancy. They felt like rather whimsical efforts toward how power affects people - those who are holding it and those who are under it, and reads like written with that intent, at the cost of whatever literary pleasure that the better stories in this collection - which are not quite a handful  - deliver. 

Clearly, this collection didn't deliver whatever literary pleasure that I had expected, given the author's credentials, despite one or two good short stories. But "Journey of a Lifetime" clearly can stand neck to neck with other good short stories.

Rating: **1/2

 

In the Skin of a Lion - Michael Ondaatje

 Besides his memoir, "Running in the Family", with "In the Skin of Lion", I've now read four of Ondaatje's novels - ( am set to reread "The English Patient" next year, given its more than fifteen years since I read that book, and then followed up by watching the movie, plus it is kind of a sequel to this.) - and with each novel, am more and more impressed with the poetic scenes he paints with his words. In "In the Skin of a Lion", Ondaatje writes about Toronto, about the people who build it - largely the unnamed, and taken for granted immigrant community, who gave their best years, and at times their lives, to see the materializing of the dreams of those who dreamed grand plans for the city of Toronto. Ondaatje, from his research mentions not only millionaires like Ambrose Small ( and fictionalizes his post disappearance life), but  Rowland Harris, the Architect of the City and The Comissioner of Works for Toronto for 33 years,  a  character present across the decades presented in book, as well as  in the climax of the fiction. But it is not only the likes of Small and Harris that Ondaatje gives room to in his novel, but also others - from Harris' hired photographer Arthur Gross to Nicholas Temelcoff - a fictionalized character, although records confirm of a Macedonian immigrant of that name. The part of the narration where the protagonist (yes, we do have a protagonist in Patrick Lewis - who to me was the thread that wove through the story of  Toronto, and was hence a useful tool ) befriends the Macedonians through his involvement with the Leftist Artiste/Actress Alice has an attraction, that makes one glad.

"They approved of his Finnish suit. Po modata eleganten! which meant stylish! stylish! He was handed a Macedonian cake. And suddenly Patrick, surrounded by friendship, concern, was smiling, feeling the tears on his face falling towards his stern Macedonian-style moustache. Elena, the great Elena who had sold him vetch for over a year, unpinned the white scarf around her neck and passed it to him. He looked up and saw the men and women who could not know why he wept now among these strangers who in the past had seemed to him like dark blinds on his street, their street, for he was their alien.

Suddenly formal, beginning with Elena. The women shook his hand, the men embraced and kissed him, and each time he said Patrick. Patrick. Patrick. Knowing he must now remember every single person. And now, because it was noon, the King Street Russian Mission Brass Band fifty yards down the road, they invited him to lunch which was set up on tables beside the stalls and crates. He was guest of honour. Elena on one side of him, Emil on the other, and a table of new friends."

Through this focus of the Macedonian community, who had largely passed as Turks, Greeks, Bulgarians, or Serbians, Ondaatje turns the narration from the dreams of the likes Harris, the love struggles of our Protagonist to the grievances of the labour immigrant community, where the focus is, on the latter part of the narration.

On the Left, Rowland Harris - Photo taken by Arthur Gross

Bookmark Plaque for the book

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, it takes considerable skill to make part of the narration that detail just sufficiently the structural engineering sensible to a lay reader. But there is more than that here clearly. It is in a sense a tribute to those unnamed thankless immigrant labour community, without ever sounding propagandist. It reads like cinematic experience as the author doesn't bother to bridge all gaps, as he jumps from scene to scene - for example we do not whether Clara Dickens finally stays with Patrick or not - in fact the 'novel happens' by way of a narration to Hana, whom we will meet again in The English Patient.

The other novels I've read of Ondaatje are, 'Coming Through Slaughter', 'Warlight', and of course 'The English Patient'. There's no weak novel among these, and truly leaves me glad that I still have "Anil's Ghost", "Divisadero", and "Cat's Table" for me to read.

Rating: ****

( All photographs, other than of the book covers, by courtesy of the Internet)

The Little Matter of the Next Read After a Masterpiece

 

Although my reading throughput this year has been average, I had the good fortune of reading some masterpieces. Namely, "Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro, "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara, "The Netanyahus" by Joshua Cohen, with possibly "Brotherless Night" by V.V. Ganeshanathan as a close contender. The problem with reading an excellent book that leaves you in so much awe, is the subsequent need for inspiration while reading - and then upon completion, the need to dig deep to find the merits with good books which may not quite reach the upper echelons of the great ones. For example, Booker winner "The Orbital" is clearly a huge effort but is a slow buildup with little happening, which the author recognized for what it was, by limiting it to its 150 or so pages (compared to what Andy Weir did with "Project Hail Mary", another very good book I read this year, the literary fiction of Ms. Harvey took an effort to read) . Another former Booker winner, "The Gathering" is about fighting demons left behind in her adolescence and coming to terms, with the narration being messy just as the mind of our troubled protagonist. The book I read most recently, this year's Booker short-listed "Audition" has an awe inspiring form, that sits so naturally with our actress narrator, but leaves the reader wanting to post-analyze. Yet, for all their positives, this second batch - good books, which to me weren't as good as those excellent ones mentioned above, leave a wanting to taste the proved masterpieces which we find any "best books" list. I am wondering what is "the ingredient" which converts a good book to a masterpiece, for me? Anyone who has read "Remains of the Day" knows that for all his self-satisfaction at the initial phases of the book, when our narrator realises that he has in fact missed out on life - and how and when he accepts that stark truth, we're not far from the tears that he sheds. When Jude compares himself to a mathematical identity as he has a near fatal fall down the stairs in the hands of his lover, it takes a strong person to control their emotions (in "A Little Life"). Does it all boil down to the clarity of narration, where the reader is fully immersed in the novel, and doesn't need to share her time trying to tackle the tricks of the form - admittedly an important trait for development of the novel ? If that is the case is this post masterpiece condition, something that is felt more, or possibly wholly by the reader who reads purely for pleasure as against an academic ? I suspect it is.

Audition - Katie Kitamura

 Audition is the fourth of the six books I read, of the Booker Short List. It is to date, the most experimental in terms of form of the lot, even exceeding the minimalist approach taken by 'Flesh', this year's winner. So much so, it is a difficult task to talk about this book without spoilers - but try, I will.

The book, as narrated by the unnamed actress has two unmistakable characteristics, which is a testament to the world of the novel, and hence the naturalness brought upon to the novel. As appropriate of a narration by an actress, she reads each event as it happens in close deep detail, just like a good actress would read, or even imagine the tension any scene she casts would bring. In contrast, she is gives relative lesser importance to whole events that have happened - for example her former affairs, which she refers to only when she is almost forced to as part of the narration - episodes of regret that are best covered with deep involvement in her current life. In contrast she reads events as they happen -  the impact that Xavior makes on his entry to the play rehearsal, or to a restaurant, in some detail.

Certain references in part one of the novel, allow coming into terms of part two somewhat easy.

“People always talked about having children as an event, as a thing that took place, they forgot that not having children was also something that took place, that is to say it wasn’t a question of absence, a question of lack, it had its own presence in the world, it was its own event.”

 On the strength of this, we can measure the opposite of this through our narrator's reaction when two women have close relations with Xavier, who supposedly "gave good son" - Anne and Hannah - reading from the narrator's perspective we are not shown of her own jealousy, but that of the other party, and at times "bitchiness" from the other party.

There is also the 'joke' that Xavier tells in chapter six, in which he says  his father pretended to love his mother and his children as per the therapist's advice (at a time when he had grown tired of his family), and subsequently it worked out well. This episode can be  taken as a cue to part two. 

In essence one could say part two is an act in agreement, and mutual arrangement - even to the level of imagining the adolescence of Xavier as narrated by our protagonist. 

"We had been playing parts, and for a period- for as long as we understood our roles, for as long as we participated in the careful collusion that is a story, that is a family, told by one person to another - the mechanism had held". But the deeper the complicity, and the longer it is sustained, the less give there is, the more binding and unforgiving the contract, and in the end it took very little for the whole thing to collapse."

It would be a lie to say that this I liked this novel with all my heart - but that's just a personal leaning. However, respect for what the author has done with this book of less than 200 pages is uncontested, and awe inspiring. The author has used the narration of a natural actress, and then brought the act to the forefront. Thus, for originality, and pure literary tact the book scores high marks.

Rating: ***1/2

The Land in Winter - Andrew Miller

Princetown, Dartmoor, 1963

 The Big Freeze! Winter of 1962/1963. Britain's most brutal, intensive, and lengthy winter since the 19th century! That's the setting for this novel. The four main characters form two couples, both wives pregnant, and neither couple convinced about their respective partners, on whether love will see it through. Rita, with a somewhat coloured past for the 1960s, is not ideal as a farmer's wife, when her husband is hardly a farmer - more, a young man rebelling his father, and of a past that he is not fully aware of. The GP, Eric, is probably the least likable character here, and is clearly horrid to his wife, even on a normal day. It is in this background that the four people try to fight their inner demons, attempt to make their lives work, and try to see through a most difficult winter. How do the two couples come out of the winter? This novel is a like a close examination of the cross-currents of the four characters. All four characters face danger due to the indecisiveness which lead them there. It could be an attempt at a reconciliation of their families, where  Bill finds his sibling an alcoholic, and possibly still closeted since it was the early 60s. It could be that Rita has a longing for the bright lights and long nights, a far cry from the solitude of the farm. She has a difficult time to keep the demons from the past away. It takes her on a trip with dangerous consequences. The GP discovers the hard way that secrets are difficult to be kept is rural Western Britain, and although the damages to his  car could be fixed, his character in those parts are ruined - so much so we find him contemplating a getaway to become a hero. Probably Irene is the most everyday character we find here, and maybe her cosmopolitan back ground makes her decisions somewhat measured - until the weather makes measurement a farce. 

Britain is still recovering from WWII, and those with deep scars are still fighting their battles (i.e. Rita's father, Bill's father, and even the inexperienced Eric). It is in this background that the author has selected a close examination of the four lives who are the core characters in this book. The book moves at a pace in synchronicity with that of the long winter. The longing in the hearts of those who find  very little to do, who are out of place, who are struggling amateurs, and in hot water due to their own designs are examined in just sufficient detail to portray the restless mix - but usually with an open ended flow, which gives the impression that just like the helicopter that carries our four characters from the snow covered farm at the end, we too are taken away from the novel with an idea about their possible futures, which could be still undecided.

So far this year I've read four books from the Booker long list, with three inside the short list. Personally if I had my way, I'd include Sea Scraper over this in the short list.

Rating: ***1/2

Photo credits: Princetown, Dartmoor, 1963 ( Daily Herald Archives)

Sam the Cat and Other Stories - Mathew Klam

Modern short story is one of the genres that I like to read, especially during the short respites I get for reading during phases of more engagements than usual, in my life - which amount to almost half of the year. This book too was listed as one of the better recent short story collections, although some of the reviewers had mixed feelings about it. Anyway I took up this book to read on my kindle, and here's how I found the stories to be;

Sam the Cat - Sam appears to be an unsettled kind of man, undecided on what he needs, but with no shortage of women. He appears to be bored with life, when he sees a man who appears to be taking care of himself, and somewhat disciplined. Sam becomes further confused with what he wants in life, as he makes a point to impress the man. The reader is left wondering what exactly Sam wants, as Sam himself isn't being honest with himself. A fast paced short story, written in a direct style, giving a good view of Sam's confused state of mind.

Not This - The Protagonist Vincent needs some time away from his girl, Kiffany, and visits his brother and S-i-L over the Labor day weekend. The short story then focuses on the luxurious life that his brother leads, and what he does, and with whom he works with to get so much money. It also dwells on certain problems that the couple is having as they want to start a family. While all this, Vincent is undecided on his future, and is repeatedly insulted by his brother for being a loser. To say that the brothers are poles apart, is putting it mildly. Its a very readable short story, although it finished open-ended. 

The Royal Palms - It appears that most, if not all of, these short stories are related to the issues in relationships, irrespective of the stage they are in. In this short story, we come across a couple in which the woman, Diane, feels insecure about how attractive she is. Maybe she feels that her husband tolerates a dip in her looks out of sympathy ? Does it take an attention from a third party to rebuild her confidence ? And is that ok for the husband ? It is clear that these aren't the kind of things that, leave alone couples, even an individual is honest enough to admit to oneself. Hence a reader outside of the pages, do the deconstruction of what may have taken place.

Linda's Daddy's Loaded - Mike finds out he has married rich, and through his wife Linda's father's money, they soon begin to have a life their incomes would otherwise will not permit. But it comes at the occasional tolerance of the old man's unbearable visits, and his whims. But Mike soon finds out that maybe he really can ill afford to not tolerate his father-in-law, however much the daughter feels otherwise.

There Should Be a Name For It - A very young couple in the intense of early passion, try to understand if what they feel for each other is love - is there another name for it ? There should be a name for it.

Issues I Dealt With In Therapy - Is an enjoyable short story where a couple joins the wedding celebration in a resort island, of a close friend of the guy, who has really moved up the ladder of influential people. While the incidents therein make it a fun story, the fact that the father of the bride is one Mr. Niyangoda suggested that Matthew had picked up a Sri Lankan family in the U.S. to inspire the story. The therapy in question is the getaway for Phylida, a surgeon, and her guy, our narrator, who manage to  patch up issues that had accumulated over a time due to their busy schedules.

European Wedding* - Rich and Gynnie, both Americans, are supposed to get married in France, upon Gynnie's mother's insistence, citing their German and French roots. As with most of the stories in this collection, there is the doubt on the minds of both parties, an infidelity or two, and usually busy occupied lives.

As suggested above, all seven short stories are relationship related, and that of the young couples - young in today's terms for marriageable ages, I reckon - and the challenges, doubts, distractions that they have to live through. There is only short story, in which the story has a married couple as the center point.

A decent short story collection that I enjoyed, especially since I didn't spend my core reading time on this.

Rating: ***1/2



*A personal note about this 75 minute short story - I read this in the wee hours as I was returning on the night mail from Badulla upon completing stage 16 of Pekoe trail, somewhat drunk, and amidst the discouragement of my fellow trekkers.

Cultural Divisions, The Willingness To Embrace, and Rock Music

Black Crowes have been my one of my favourite rock bands for over thirty years, and of the American bands, the only Southern Rock band that I am an ardent fan of.

However, the reason this post comes about is due to a PodCast that I stumbled upon, which talk about the Black Crowes song 'Remedy', while also focusing on their other songs.


See Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_Gl9WXf_Z0&list=PLFCSXNEPM7tft2CQcLB0bwcWhxXGfljZd

Given that I have been a fan of their music for ages, I will not dwell on the superiority of their song ( or their music), as the PodCast dwell on (especially on the latter half.)

I was more interested in the cultural signifiers that Diallo Riddle in particular highlight here. He says, with Back Crowes, he "almost made my peace with Southern-Rock", because when Lynard Skynard visited Atlanta, with the Confederate Flag in their concerts etc., he found it unsettling. Both Diallo and Luxxury then go on to describe the 'authentic' black singers as used by the Black Crowes for the video etc., plus the various influences ascribed to the Black Crowes.

On top of this, I was listening to the song 'cypress hill' from their Lions album, and I felt that it could be a reference to lynching. I felt that too could possibly compliment the arguments by Diallo about how the Black Crowes were the response within a music sub-genre, which has traditionally discouraged a segment of the population from embracing. 

All in all, inclusivity and a sense of belonging in a broad sense is everything, and I felt Diallo was almost eager to embrace the Black Crowes, for he loved some of the Southern Rock, and the band gave him an opportunity to embrace the music, as they rejected the cultural signifiers which would've otherwise discouraged that genre of music for a man Diallo's origin. Rock music at least from the 90s onward have been rebelling against racial prejudice ( my favourite example - Pearl Jam's WMA -"Police stopped my brother again", but they are a Grunge band), and this recognition of such equality in a Southern Rock band is significant. It is also a welcoming trait that one party is all eager to embrace the other, only if the other party makes an effort. This is clearly noticeable to the extent that Diallo goes to embrace The Black Crowes (although I don't know if he has enough grounds to talk down The Black Keys, which can sound 'racist' if pronounced in a certain manner - maybe he was stretching it there - but he could be better informed.)

Maybe 35 years ago people didn't speak of these sensitive topics as today, or simply today obviously there are more ways to be heard. In a time when U.S. politics has made a revolutionary choice, I couldn't help noticing these tendencies of cultural signifiers, and the will to look out for them - either to embrace or reject - as the PodCast clearly signify. Was glad to see that the Robinson Brothers and co. have come out winners on that count.

Flesh - David Szalay

 Read the 2025 Booker short listed novel, 'Flesh' by David Szalay.

 It was... okay.    

    
 Well, it was much more than okay. You'll get the joke on 'okay' when you read the book.

The main character in 'Flesh' is, István, a taciturn youth whom we first meet at the age of fifteen. Initially he finds that he's unable to attract the opposite sex due to his taciturn nature. But  we the readers soon find out that a sort of "primitive form of masculinity" that he has, attracts women, especially experienced ones, several of whom he has intimate relations with for the rest of his life. Upon completion of the book, I skimmed through several reviews and The Guardian's review says that István is a "Camus’ Meursault meets Forrest Gump" kind of character with an existential wayfarer about him.

The novel, by nature is sketchy with fewer dialogues where the  parties explain their emotions in details. A fine portrayal of this is when István  cannot help himself from crying upon seeing Labrador pups ( he intended to buy one for his son, Jacob, at one point) , and we the readers are left to figure it our selves, through the action of the crowds all looking at him. István  himself doesn't realise that he's crying till sometime. The mere fact of crowds looking at him suggest that István just didn't have a few tears falling from his eyes, but rather, outright loud crying or howling which makes people turn around to look. István is however never cruel. He is given a chance to salvage himself from a precarious situation in life, but he opts to save someone at subsequent high personal damage to him. This, even after his mother suggests that the death of the person whom he saves, is the one fact that can give him a chance in life.

The skill of the author, is maintaining the minimalist narration, which synchronizes perfectly with the lead character István's journey in life. His travails, his successes, and then his subsequent losses are accepted with a placidity which the modern world finds difficult to align to a man of sensitivity. True, there are  certain personal losses he cannot come to terms with - but then those are of the most painful type, and is certain to make an impact unless one has an issue with his or her mental faculties.

It is the subsequent mulling over of the nature of the novel, and the skills that the author has put to good use,  upon its completion (in contrast to midway of reading, comparatively), which makes one realise that the books has ingredients of a subtle masterpiece as the novel ages.

Rating: ****

Reading of Booker 2025 Short-listed novels - 2

The Rest of Our Lives - Ben Markovits

 

Read, 2025 Booker short listed novel, 'The Rest of Our Lives' by Ben Markovits. It was a thought provoking read as a fifty five year old man battles internally on the questions related to his life, at that juncture - whether he should save  his marriage, his new redundancy as a professional in a fast changing world - where, leave alone his views, even the mere association with parties with now unpopular, or even unacceptable views, is sufficient to make him so, and the "engine alert" on his health he ignores - until he cannot any more. In summary a series of simultaneous worries, that nags at his heart, while he remains undecided. As the narration happens in the first person, we realise that our narrator Tom, is actually only guilty of one case of inaction - his attempt to continue in life from his youth, non-committed, and as a drifter. We find that his profession as a legal academic was not his first choice, but what he settled for. That he was lucky to land a beautiful spouse, but that too more out of chance, more than either party falling 'head over heels' in love, as could be expected of a youth. As we listen to our narrator, the reader questions, if Amy, Tom's wife too felt restless upon realising that she had settled for less than she could - whether she missed the prize catches that passed her by in life, with whom she had relationships before settling for Tom. 'Settling' is the key word here. Can settling for one thing,  at one stage in life in an attempt for temporary piece of mind, come back to haunt you as you see things in a different perspective later in life ?

    "When he broke up with Amy, it was her first experience of being dumped by a guy who realized she wasn't ambitious enough for him. Or at least, who decided she wasn't part of his ambitions. This is something she was in the process of internalizing when we started going out. Who wants to do that ? But it's also part of what attracted me to her, or made me sympathetic; at that time, I was in drop-out mode myself. First I wanted to be a professor, then I wanted to be a writer, but I ended up going to law school because ... I thought, just live a nice life, where you pay for nice things, which I wanted to do partly because of Amy. She gave me a sense for the first time of how nice a life you can buy, if you have the right tastes and know the right people.
    This is more or less the life we lived.
    At the same time, though, I wondered what she saw in me. I wasn't Jewish, I wasn't at Harvard. I was just some guy... working on a dead end PhD, who spent his long weekends making money as a check-in agent at Logan. In other words, basically adrift, at the one period of her life where she was drifting, too."

The word regret is not mentioned much in this book - only four times ( I checked -  the advantage of an electronic read as it were), and the most apt use of it, in terms of the point in discussion unfolds in the following dialogue:

"I used to tell my kids, you don't have to do anything you'll regret. most of the time you know beforehand, so you don't have to do it. So this ... just seems like an example of that."

"Okay," she said.

"It's just something I used to tell them. I have a feeling like, I want to get through unscathed. Does that make sense?"

"Get through what?"

"I don't know. The next twenty years, the next two months, whatever it is."

"That sounds like a dumb way to live," she said.

This dialogue is between Tom, and one of his early girl friends whom he visits, during his road trip, after dropping his daughter at the University - his daughter leaving,  which brings upon a stage in life where he tries to come to terms with his new life, with both his kids away from home. Maybe its what he didn't do that he regrets most, and maybe now in a stage of life where all those regrets stack up in front of him, the man finds it is beyond his immediate assessment - but maybe he doesn't have time to do so either ?

The Rest of Our Lives, doesn't necessarily mean the remaining days of Tom and Amy, in their 50s. It also means the rest of their lives, as they made a decision of a union, at a time when they were adrift, and was looking for something, and someone to settle with, maybe due to whatever disappointments, and indecision,  they found themselves to be. I found it a thought provoking, somewhat pertinent read as I too start on my middle age, with less things to look forward to, and often in a mode of critical assessment of my decisions - mostly unfairly so - but natural at this stage of life. Earlier this year, I read "Remains of the Day", and I found that as a necessary ingredient in looking at one's remaining time in this life. This book may compliment it, although the lesson to carry in mind is from Ishiguro.  In essence, the existential nature holistically of the book, the only mentioned in passing act of 'forgiving' - forgiving yourself mostly, your loved ones if necessary - that is implicit, in a book that lacks any specific plot, makes a fantastic novel. One of the best read of the year for me, clearly.

Rating: ****1/2

(photo credits: Faber Books)

කැමෙලියා - විරාජිනී තෙන්නකෝන්

 2023 වසරේ, රාජ්‍ය සාහිත්‍ය, විද්‍යෝදය, සහ ස්වර්ණ පුස්තක යන සම්මාන තුන ම ජයග්‍රහණය කරලීමට සමත් වූ, විරාජිණි තෙන්නකෝන් ගේ 'කැමෙලියා' නවකතාව කියවීමි. විරාජිනි මෑතක ම ප්‍රකාශ කල කෙටි කතා සංග්‍රහය, 'අන්ධයා සහ සුරුට්ටුව' කෙටි කතා එකතුවයි. ඇය එහි දී ඇගේ මීට පෙර සාහිත්‍ය නිර්මාණ වලට වඩා වෙනස් නිර්මාණ පසුබිමක් භාවිත කලා. හැකි තරම් කාලය-දීපය-දේශයෙන් විනිර්මුක්ත, තරමක අඳුරු, වැස්සක පෙර නිමිති රගැත් සවසක් පාඨකයාට සිහි ගන්වන පරිසරයක් එහි පසුබිම වූවා. කතුවරිය 'කැමෙලියා' හි දි, එම නිර්මාණ පසුබිම නවකතාවක ට වඩාත් සුදුසු අයුරින් සකසා ඇති සෙයකි. තව ද මෙම කෘතියට යම් අයුරක මායා යථාර්තවාදී රීතියක් පමණක් නොව, ඉසබෙල් ඉයන්ඩෙ - ගා

බ්‍රියෙල් ගාසියා මාකේස් වැනි ලේඛකයන්ගේ ඍජු ආභාෂයත්, එය ලිවිමේ ශෛලියට බල පෑ ඇති අයුරුත් පැහැදිලිය. නවකතාවේ ප්‍රධානත ම තේමාවක් වන්නේ ඉන්දීය සම්භවයක් ඇති ජනයා කම්කරුවන් වශයෙන් තේ වගාව ට තම ජීවිත වලින් ගෙවූ මිලයි. තවමත් ගෙවමින් ඉන්නා මිලයි. මේ මුඛ්‍ය කාරණාවත්, ජෙෆ්‍රි වැනි අකාරුණික වතු හිමි හාම්පුතුන් ද සිංහල සාහිත්‍ය ට එතරම් ඇස නොගැටුණු දිශානතින් ය.  

මීට අමතරව, මෙම නවකතාවේ කිහිප තැනක, නවකතාවට ඍජු සම්බන්ධයක් නැති සිද්ධීන් මගින් සමාජයේ සමහර ප්‍රවනතා සඳහන් වේ. පුංචි මම්මා ගේ එක් සැමියෙකු, අයෙකු මියගිය විට වැන්දඹුවගේ ඉල්ලීම මත කෙරුනු  රෝමාන්තික ඡායාරූප ගැනීම එවන් පරිධියේ කතවකි. 

විරාජිනී මහත් පරීශ්‍රමයක් දරා, ඓතිහාසික කාරණා, යටත් විජිත සමයේ දේශපාලනය සුදුසු මට්ටමින් ගලපා, අත්භූත කමක් ද මුසු කර සිය නිර්මාණ ජීවිතයේ මෙතෙක් බිහි කර ඇති වඩාත් අභියෝගාත්මක කලා නිර්මාණය බිහි කිරීමට උත්සාහ දරා ඇති බව පැහැදිලි අතර, ඊට හිස නම ගෞරව කරමි.   නවකතාවෙන් විරාජිනි බලාපොරොත්තු වූයේ කිනම් කාරණා මතුකරලීමට ද යන්න පැහැදිලි ය.  ඒ පිළිබඳ සිංහල පාඨකයා නොදැන නොසිටි නමුත්, සාහිත්‍ය කෘතියක් ඔස්සේ එම සංවේදී කාරණා මතුකරලීම අනාගතයේ හෝ අප රට විදේශ විනිමය ගෙන ඒමට විශේෂ දායකත්වාක් එම ජන කොටස කෙරෙහි වඩා සංවේදී වීමට හේතු වනු ඇත.  මෙම නවකතාව මා  දුටුවේ කතුවරියගේ සමාජ දේශපාලන පණිවුඩයට යාත්‍රාවක් බිහිකරනු වස් ඉදිකෙරුනු රචනාවක් බවයි. බොහෝ රචනා සියුම් ලෙස යම් සමාජ දේශපාලන කාරණාවක් මතු කරලීමට ලියූ ඒවා මුත්, නිර්මාණ සාහිත්‍යයේ සාර්ථකත්වය මනිනු හැක්කේ, එම නිර්මාණය සමෝධානයේ සාර්ථකත්වය මතය. මෙම සමෝධානය සාර්ථක කරනු වස් ය, කතුවරිය ගුප්ත සිදුවීම, කෲර සිදුවීම්, එම කම්කරු ජනතාව ට නින්ද නොයෑම, සිනා සීමේ නොදත්කම ආදිය මතු කර ඇත්තේ.   එම සියළු තැත් පාඨක අවදානයට ලක් වුව ද, අවසන් විග්‍රහයෙදී, නවකතාවක් ලෙස සමස්තය සැලකීමේදි මට නම් හැඟුණේ මෙය තරමක් ආයාසකාරී, පරීශ්‍රමයක් දරා ලියවුන්නක් ලෙසටය. නවකතාව පුරාවටම මෙය 'පිටු පෙරළවන සුළු' (page-turner) තත්වයකට පත් නොවේ. සමහර දීර්ඝ කොටස් නවකතාවට වෙසෙසින් යමක් එක්කාසු නොකරයි. පිටු 222 ක් වන් කෙටි නවකතාවක් වුව, මට මෙය කියවීමේ උනන්දුවක් අවසන තෙක්ම වගා කරහත නොහැකි විය.  අවසන සාපේක්ෂ වශයෙන් තිබුනාට යම් සතුටුදායක තැනක් එම කම්කරු ප්‍රජාව ට ලැබීමත්, ඊට ඇනීටා ගේ සම්මාදමත් නවකතාවට අවසන් පිටු කිහිපයේදී එතෙක් නොතිබූ රසවත් බවක් ගෙන ආ බවය, අපගේ හැඟිම.  මෙය බහුතර පාඨක ප්‍රජාවගේ ආස්ථානය නොවූ නිසා, එය පුද්ගලානුබද්ධ රසය පිළිබඳ ගැටළුවක් ද විය හැක. 

2023 වර්ශයේ නවකතා මෙතෙක් මා කියවා ඇත්තේ හතරක් පමණි ( තිවංක කතාව, ද්‍රෝහි, සිල්වර් ටිප්ස් අනෙක්වා ය). මේ සිව් නවකතාවන් කෙරෙහි මගේ එතරම් කැමැත්තක් නැති මුත්, සාපේක්ෂව කැමෙලියා ඉදිරියෙන් සිටී ( තව නවකතා 8ක් පමණ කියවීම ඉතිරිව ඇත).  එහෙත් මා බලාපොරොත්තු වූයේ සම්මාන තුනක් දිනූ නවකතාවක් කෙරෙහි මීට වඩා ප්‍රසාදයක් මා කෙරෙහි උපදිනු ඇති බවටය.

ශ්‍රේණිය: ***1/2

Seascraper - Benjamin Wood

I selected Seascraper as the first of the nominees from this year's list of nominees to read, as I liked the marine sound of the title. Later I found out it was more inclined towards novella length, and in fact double checked to see if the audio book version I listened to ended half way. No, no trouble there, but it was the ending which was rather open ended.

This was a quiet read, with solitude mainly that of our protagonist, Thomas Flett, a "shanker" who makes ends meet for his rather young mother, and himself, being the main companion of the reader. At just 20, Thomas, has already given up on finding a more meaningful life for him, and clearly lacks the courage to confront his rather selfish and complaining mum about dreams of his life. Then as chance should have it, a film producer visits the desolated beach side, and finds the scene ideal for a movie he has in mind to produce, where he meets Thomas. The novella then moves on to elaborate on the difficulty one finds in materialising one's dreams - be that of Flett's dream of being a folk singer, or Edgar Acheson's dreams of producing a movie out of a book he has read. We find the demons that Edgar has fought all his life, and how in possibly his last attempt at success he may have inspired a boy just sufficiently to chase his dreams, irrespective of the odds.

The novella is thin in plot, but oozes of the environment that it is fixed in. The cold sea breeze, the stench that Tom so wants to rid, the sand - but is his fate, the bleakness that the whole setting brings, makes the reader feel that she is isolated in a rather barren place, where life hardly moves, and when it moves, only through the cyclic pattern which offers no hope for a change. The success of this novel is in how Benjamin has managed to encapsulate this bleakness, cocooned in a short trip that will stay in the readers mind for quite some time. 

Rating: ****
Long Listed for the Booker - 2025 ( with the short list yet to be announced)

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution - R.F. Kuang

The name of R.F. Kuang has been floating  in whatever small literature circles that I happen to find myself in. So much so, I found that I have purchased a copy of 'Yellow Face', more out of influence, and as buying books that 'you may find yourself wanting to read one day' is one of the pitfalls a reader is expected to thrive in. Next thing I know, I get a chance to indulge in an audio book of Babel, and I go 'why not?', as the new music coming through in 2025, so far has been quite boring, and I like to not waste my driving time. OK, enough beating about...


In no time I found myself loving "Babel". But the first symptom of there being more than obvious to one's eye (other than the death of Robin's mother, of course - which one may concede to  many reasons), is the way the beating that Robin receives from Prof. Lovell is described.

"He seemed simply, with every hard and deliberate blow, to be attempting to inflict maximum pain with the minimum risk of permanent injury. ... he only dealt bruises that could be easily hidden and that, in time, would heal completely."

 And before long, with the advent of the Hermes society, and their visit to Canton later, it became evident  to me, that the book was both interesting to read - and at the same time, troubling. Why troubling ? Initially I needed time to quietly interpret what was troubling me. In fact I shared my mind frame with the reader who read this book at the same time. Then it came to me. It portrayed the racist side of colonialism in a way that would have the readership of this book, divided. I am in no way claiming that there was no inherent racism in the act of colonialism. Hell - just 20-30 years back there was more racism than now in communities within the same country, and the country that I live in is no exception. But this book portrays racism in such a manner, I found myself feeling uncomfortable, and in a manner that divides the world, east vs. west, colonizer vs. conquered - it is this troubling feeling that kept me from writing a review of this book for almost a month. Today, having some time on my hands, I wanted to see what the rest of the world said about this book. And I found that that the division that I felt would be apparent - is, well, apparent! No need to look far. Just read the reviews of good reads, among the native speakers of English, and those who aren't. Although the book has a rating of 4.2 on average, majority of the native English speakers find the book troubling, and at least one has used the term 'trauma porn' to identify the trauma that is caused to those who share the identity. I tend to share the same sentiments. Letty or Leticia is a case point. The gap in understanding between Letty and the other three main characters is portrayed in such a manner that no bridge can ever join them. Yet, Letty was supposedly in love with Rami.

I have no explanation or solution to the troubling stance that this book left me in. I don't even claim that the author has exaggerated the nature of the divide, especially given the times in consideration. But I do think that there is at least an iota of contempt for from where this major work of fiction originated. So while granting, that this is indeed a very good work fantasized fiction, with much home truths, it leaves me troubled. The optimist in me  who everyday dreams of things becoming better for all in this world felt rather uncomfortable as the book delivers a wedge, if one dwells upon can only fester.

Rating: ****

Sign o' the Times - Prince (the concert movie)

Watched the IMAX revival of Prince's concert movie "Sign o' the Times", thanks to a book worm friend ( who is also a movie aficionado) tipping me off.
Absolutely Amazing ! Amazing, high energy live performances by Prince and a host of truly talented musicians who make us appreciate the wonder of their craft.




But then Prince was always amazing. After watching Purple Rain several decades ago, this was most welcome, as some of us still have a hard time accepting that he is no more.

The live performances of the title track - Sign o' the Times, It's gonna be a beautiful night, Hot thing, I could never take the place of your man, If I was your girlfriend, and The Cross, I felt did justice by giving more variety to the studio versions, and possibly bettering the studio versions. Yes, the concert was mostly - almost totally songs from the Sign o' the times album (except a brief piano driven version of 'little red corvette, and a stellar performance of Charlie Parker's 'Now's the Time" in which Sheila E. shows her amazing and almost super human efforts with the drum kit.)  Later on, Prince and Sheila E. switch roles in "It's gonna be a beautiful night", in which Sheila E. does the rap vocals while Prince takes over the drums. To me, this version of  is better to the CD version - which too is a live recording. The version captured of  "U got the look" is simply the music video for the song mainly.

It is said that on studio, Prince performed most of the instruments himself for this double album ( the album back cover says "Produced, Arranged, Composed, and Performed by Prince.) However, on the concert he has a wonderful set of artistes playing live, almost deputed by Sheila E. Dr. Fink is at the key boards, Eric Leeds on saxophone, Atlanta Bliss on Trumpet - the two musicians on the horns add so much color to this show.

It was 1987, and a musical concert could possibly still be played this way. For example, in 'Hot Thing', Prince rips off Cat Glover's  (who sings, gyrates, and acts throughout the show) in a lecherous way, that may not have  gone well with the current woke era. Girl/Woman as a sex symbol in dominant in the show. But then again, we're talking about a man who showed his vulnerable side when he sang "If I was your girlfriend", so that he could pick her clothes, watch her undress, and a lot more, which he details in the studio recording (which is edited out in the radio edit), and is not sung about in this live version, instead of settling for a choreography of making out.

So who is this show for (if you get the chance to watch it again on cinema) ? No Brainer - All Prince fans. All connoisseurs of good live music performances, for the sheer energy and brilliance of these performances. Ideally, one should be familiar with the album, 'Sign o' the Times', (anyway Prince = the album Purple Rain, is such an ignorant place to be, if you call yourself a fan of great pop music), to appreciate this show, as one can pick up the variations off the studio versions.   

වාලම්පූරි (අධ්‍යක්ෂණය - ලක්මාල් ධර්මරත්න )

 ඊයේ හවස, මා බිරිඳ උපේක්ෂා සමඟ ගොස් 'වාලම්පූරි' නැරඹුවෙමි. ඔවු, එය නැරඹීම මට මෙතෙක් මගැරිනි.



මේ වන චිත්‍රපටිය ගැන බොහෝ දේ කිය වී ඇති නිසා, සහ චිත්‍රපටි විචාරයට තරම් ඒ පිළිබඳ දැනුමක් මා සතු නොවෙන නිසාත්, එක් කාරණයක් ගැන පමණක් යමක් කියා නවතිමි. ඒ මහත්තයලා සහ 'ගම් කබරයන්' ( පොලිසි නිලධාරී, සමන් ගේ හැඳින්වීම) අතර පරතරයයි. චිත්‍රපටියේ සැම පාත්‍රවර්ගයාම තමනට අයිති නැති දෙයකින් සල්ලි සොයාගැනීමට වෙහෙසෙන මුත්, ඒ අතර ද චරිත දෙකක් සුවිශේෂි ය. අයෙක් ප්‍රියංකරය - ඒ ඔහු තම නාට්‍ය කණ්ඩායමට මහත්තයෙකු වුවද, ඔහු හා එම කණ්ඩායම අතර වෙනස අවප්‍රමාණ කරලීමට ඔහු දරණ උත්සාහයයි. දෙවැන්නා සිඩ්නී ය. සැබැවින් ම අන් අය රවටා, අන්දවා මුදල් හම්බකරන ගමේ මිනිසෙකු වුව ඔහු හා නිමලසිරි, චින්තක, සහ ඇන්ජෙලෝ අතර වෙනසක් තිබීමයි. ඒ තම වටපිටාව කියවීම,  තමනට හුරු පරිසරයෙන් ඈත් කෙරුණු විට ද තම නැණ පමණින් උපරිමය කරලීම යන ගුණාංග අතිනි.  කිමද, සමන් නම් වූ පොලිස් නිලධාරියා සමාජෙට මහත්තයෙකු වුව ද, පෙර කී කපටිකමින් මුදල් සෙවීමට දඟලන ගැමියන් ට වඩා දරුණු මිනිසෙකි. ඒ ඔහු ට මුදලේ රස සිඩ්නිලා ට වඩා දැනී ඇති බැවිනි. ඔහුගේ බලය ද අහිමි වීමට ආසන්න නිසාය.  සිඩ්නි නිමලේ මාමා සහ අන් අය වාගේ බීගෙන පිහිණුම් තටාකයේ නටන්නේ නැත. සමන්, සිඩ්නිගේ පැලැන්තියට ගම් කබරයන් යැයි කීවද සිඩ්නි එතන සියයට සියයක් නැත. ප්‍රියංකර සමන් ට මහත්මයෙකු වුවද, ඇත්තෙන්ම වැඩිම මූල්‍යමය අලාභය අත්කරගත්ත ද, ඔහු සමන්ගේ පැලැන්තියේ ආත්මීයව නැත. සියල්ල අහිමි වූ විට ඔහුට අන් අය සමඟ ජහුටා නැටීමට ද පුළුවන. මෙම චරිත දෙක ඔස්සේ චිත්‍රපටියේ යටිපෙළක් කියවෙන බවකි අපගේ අදහස.

ශ්‍රේණිය: *****

Roma (directed by Alfonso Cuarón )

 Movies which have minimum a plot, but is more a cinema verite has its own beauty to appreciate. Roma is one such. We enter the story at one point, with Antonio about to leave the family, and we leave the story at another point, as the wife and the children get ready to continue life without their father. In the meantime, Cleo, the family's live-in maid of an indigenous origin, has her own personal troubles, while at one point saving two of the children from drowning. It is upon saving the two children that Cleo has a confession to make, and possibly that motivated her to save the two children with no care for her own life. In the background, lots happen as the story is set in early 1970s in Mexico City - including the Mexican Dirty War.

 The hustle and bustle of the city, the beautiful chaos that children bring to their home - and Cleo, who is more a parent to the kids, then their own, as their real parents try sort their own affairs, all make a beautiful, and an enjoyable cinematic experience.  At the time this movie tied in number for the most number of  Oscar nominations for a non-English movie (with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)

Rating: *****
Oscar Award Winner, 2019 for:
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Director (Cuarón  for Roma )
Best Cinematography 

The Gathering - Anne Enright

The novel starts with  Veronica, our narrator claiming that she has something to say about something that happened, or she thought happened, back at her grand mother's place when she was eight or nine. The narration happens in the aftermath of her brother Liam's death, by suicide. It makes her reflect back on her early life with her family - her grand parents, her parents, her siblings - and particularly everything which was wrong with them. The narrator is unsure of her self, although she almost never contradicts herself. Things which happened a long time back, which she believes may have had an impact to the life of Liam, her brother, whom she loved the most among her siblings - and also possibly the most troubled, is the essence of what troubles her. Our narrator also fights her own demons, testing her husband Tom, with inconsistent behaviour upon Liam's death. Tom, who to all appearances as revealed in the book,  is a patient man, a workaholic who appears to be highly dependent on his wife for sex, irrespective of the nature or the pleasure derived by his wife. It suggests a crisis in her life, as she suggests a couple of times that she may have had sex with Tom for the last time, but the book ends with a suggestion that she looks for a reparation on their relationship. For, although bitter, neither of them have taken any drastic actions, which prevent restoring of  their marriage. The narration takes on a matter of six months or so, immediate to the death of Liam. Veronica tries to recollect what took place when she 8 or 9, and at one point even uncovers which may have happened, realising where a family friend of her grand parents, was really no friend. 

But the whole narration is presented from the troubled mind of Veronica, and as such is interspersed with her love-hate relationship with her husband, anger against her grand mother, dissatisfaction with her siblings, and even a scorn for the relative success of her own family which she seems to have caught from her deceased brother. This mix, when presented to the reader doesn't add up to an enjoyable read, or even an engaging one. The book, although concise in length at a mere 261 pages, takes the effort of a much longer one given the style of writing. True, the style of writing which suggests the mind of a frustrated, troubled woman, trying to get back to her life with her husband and her two daughters, is possibly what convinced the judges of a convincing narration to give this book the Booker award. Yet, this conviction of the authors mayn't necessarily mean an enjoyable read for an average reader like me. This I suspect is the matter with this book. There have been more harrowing books which have been page turners, narrated by multiple characters, or even by an omniscient narrator. But a direct narration by the troubled mind itself, may sound like this - and that is a learning for the reader, I guess. For example, Humbert Humbert, although a villain to the core is so sure of what he wants, and convinced of a concocted righteousness of his ill formed desire, the resulting narration is pure pleasure for the reader, irrespective of the subject matter. But narration from a troubled mind is possibly, like this. However, given that I set myself the task of reviewing the book as a reader, I can do no more than rate the book as I have done, while also citing the possible conditions which may have influenced the Booker Award panel.

Booker Award - 2007
Rating: ***1/2

විජ්ජු - අනුරාධ මහසිංහ

අපූරූ ආඛ්‍යාන කාව්‍යයක් කියවුවෙමි. මීට පෙර මගේ ආඛ්‍යාන කාව්‍ය කියවීම, පරාක්‍රම කොඩිතුවක්කු ගේ 'දිවමන් ගජමන්', රත්න ශ්‍රී වික්‍රම ගේ 'තරු ලකුණ', මහගම සේකර ගේ 'නොමියෙමි' සහ 'ප්‍රබුද්ධ', සහ ගුණදාස අමරසේකර ගේ 'ගුරුළු වත'  වන් කාව්‍ය කෘති කිහිපයක ට සීමා වී ඇත. (කුමාර හෙට්ටිආරච්චි, දර්ශන රත්නායක වන් කවීන්ගේ ද ආඛ්‍යාන කවි පොත් කීපයක් කියවිමේ තැතක් ගෙන ඇතත්, විවිධ හේතූන් මත ඒවා මග නැවතිනි). එහෙත් මේ එකදු කෘතියකින් ලත් ආශ්වාදයක් අභිබවා යන ආශ්වාදයක් මහසිංහයන් ගේ 'විජ්ජු' කියවීමෙන් ලදිමි. මේ කෘතිය අනාගතයේ දිනෙක සිංහල කාව්‍ය සාහිත්‍යයේ විශිෂ්ඨතම කෘතියක් ලෙස පිළිගැනෙනු ඇත. ප්‍රකාශ ව වසර දෙකක් පමණ ගත වී ඇතත් තවම එය කාගෙත් නිසි අවදානයට ලක් ව නැති සේය. මහසිංහයන් ගේ 'බැමිණිතිකාලය' නම් වූ කෙටි නවකතාව මහත් සේ රස විඳි අප, නොපැකිලව 'විජ්ජු', ප්‍රකාශ වූ කල ම මිලට ගත්තෙමි.  පොත් මිලට ගන්නා වේගයෙන් කියවීමට අසමත් මා, හෙට දිනයේ (ජුලි 30 දා) මේ කෘතිය ගැන කෙරෙන පිළිසඳරකට පෙර කියවීමට සිතා ගත්තේ, මේ කෘතිය ගැන සාකච්ඡාව හර බර වෙවි යන බලාපොරොත්තුවෙනි. 

කාව්‍ය කෘතියක් හෙයින් 'spoiler' යන තර්කය එතෙරම් තදින් අදාළ නොවන යන සීමාවේ සිට මෙතැන් පටන් ලියමි. එම ස්ථාවරය පිළිනොගන්නහු, කෘතිය කියවන තෙක් මින් ඉදිරියට මෙම රචනය නොයවත්වා!

කෘතිය ඇරඹෙන්න මාර පරාජයෙන් පසු, තණ්හා, රතී, රාගා, යන දියණියන් සමඟ ඉන්පසු කුමක් කරන්නේ ද යන්න ගැන සිතමින් සිටිනා අවස්ථාවකය. ඇරඹුම ම ආකර්ශනීය ය.

"පැරැද ආ දා පටන් බෝධිමූලයෙහි දී
නො නැවතී මුණගැසෙන්නට යති,
සවුවන්ට කුමක් වෙත්දැයි සොයති,
දොම්නස් ව නැවත එති,"

කවියා එතැනින් සිට තම කාව්‍යමය කතා ගෙත්තම උදෙසා සූත්‍ර කොටස් ගලපා ගනිති. මාරයාගෙන් ගිලිහෙන වීණාව (ගෝධික සූත්‍රය), පංචසිඛට අතට පත් වන එම වීණාව (බෝධීවංශය), ඔහු වයන්නේ (සක්කපඤ්හ සූත්‍රයෙහි වැණෙන පරිදි),

"වෙණ හඬ ගී හඬ නො ඉක්මවා ලු.
ගී හඬත් වෙණ හඬ නො ඉක්මවා ලු
වෙණ හඬත් ගී හඬත් සැසඳේ ලු.
ගී හඬත් වෙණ හඬත් සැසඳේ ලු!"

මාර, මෙම 'සැසඳීම', පෘතග්ජන මිනිසාගේ රළු තත්වයට ගෝචර නොවන බව වටහා ගන්නේ,

"දුබල වූ ගඳඹ දෑතින් වැයෙන මා (පංචසිඛගේ) වෙණ
චණ්ඩ ඉඳුරන් සහිත
මිනිසා ව රසින් මත් නොකර යි...",

             තම දියණියන් හට අවරදෙස මිනිසාගේ බාහු බලය, අනලස් බව, සහ සටන්කාමී බව පෙන්වා, අතීතයේ ස්වයන්ජාත ඇල් සහලෙන් පෝෂිත ව සිටිනා කල මිනිසා ගේ ඇති වූ අතෘප්තකර සිතුවිල්ලකට තමන් අරක් ගත් බවත් එතැන් පටන් සහස්‍රයන් ඔස්සේ මිනිස් මනස ට කල බලපෑම්, ඒ ඔස්සේ මිනිසා කල නිර්මාණයන්, ඔහු මුහුණ දුන් හැලහැප්පීම්, රසවත් කවි බසින් අප ඉදිරියට ගෙන එයි. ඒ සියල්ල මෙහි විස්තර කිරීම මෙම පොත ට අවැඩක් කරනා හෙයින් ඉන් වැලකෙමි. එහෙත් මාර ගේ ක්‍රියාදාමයන් මට මතක් කලේ සුප්‍රසිද්ධ මෙටැලිකා (Metallica) රොක් සංගීත කණ්ඩායමේ sad but true ගීතයයි.

"I'm your dream, make you real
I'm your eyes when you must steal
I'm your pain when you can't feel
Sad but true
I'm your dream, mind astray
I'm your eyes while you're away
I'm your pain while you repay
You know it's sad but true"

එකම වෙනස මෙහි අප ට මාර තුල පසුතැවිල්ලක ඡායාවක් හෝ නොපෙනීමයි. මාර තුල ඇත්තේ ජයග්‍රාහී ලීලාවකි,

මහාදේවයා රවටා ප්‍රොමිතියස් මනුෂ්‍යයාට අග්නි ධාතුව ලබා දීම - ක්ෂණයක් පමණක් පෙනී අතුරුදන් වන විජ්ජු ධාතුව මිනිස් භාවිතයට ගන්නා ආකාරයට වර්ධනය - විදුලිය මිනිසා ට පාලනය කල හැකි දෙයක් වී ටික කලකින් ගිටාරය ද 'ඉලෙක්ට්‍රික්' වී, සංගීතය පෙර නොවූ ආකාරයකට  මිනිසා ගේ ස්වභාවික හැඟීම් තීව්‍ර කරනා දෙයක් වීම ඔස්සේ ය කාව්‍ය කෘතිය ඇදී යන්නේ.  බීට්ල්ස්, ජෝන් ලෙනන්, මයිකල් ජැක්සන් වැනි පසුගිය වසර පණහක හැටක කාලය වෙනස් කල පොප් සංගීතය ද කවි විස්තරයට ඇතුලත් ය. මේ වන විට මාර ගේ අභිලාෂය මුදුන්පත් වී ඇත. පංචසිඛ ගේ 'වෙණ හඬ නො ඉක්මවා ලු ගී හඬ - ගී හඬ නො ඉක්මවා ලු වෙණ හඬ' වෙනුවට මිනිස් ආශාවන් තීව්‍ර කරනා, සතුට ම අරමුණ කරගත් සංගීතයක් බිහි ව ඇත.

කෘතියේ මා ඉතා ම කැමති කොටසක් වන්නේ තුසිතය, නිර්මාණරතිය, පරිනිම්මිතිය, සහ ඊට ත් ඉහලින් මාර වැජඹෙන අයුරු කවියෙන් විස්තර වන ආකාරය ය.  ස්වයංජාත ඇල් සහලින් නොසෑහී අලුත් අලුත් දෑ ම සොයමින්, කරමින්, විඳිමින්, තමන් සතු ව ම ඇති අනේක වර්ගයේ බිය පරාජය කරමින්  මිනිසා ඉදිරියටම ඇදී ගිය මුත්,  ඒ සියල්ල ඔස්සේ 'මාර' තම අරමුණු ක්ෂාත් ක්ෂත් කර ගන්නා බවකි අපට පෙන්වා දෙන්නේ.  මාර වරෙක ලෙනන් ගේ මිනිමරුවා ය. වරෙක ජැක්සන් දරුවන් දැඩි පීඩනයට ලක් කල ඔවුන්ගේ පියා වූ ජෝ ය. එය ප්‍රගතශීලි ධාරාවේ යන කල්හි ගෙවන්න සිදු වන මිලකි.

කාව්‍ය සංග්‍රහය අවසන් වන්නේ, අලුත් ධාතුවක උවමනාවක, පිපාසයක, ගැන ඉඟියෙනි.

කාව්‍ය කෘතියේ අවසන වද්දී පාඨකයා ඇත්තෙන්ම ලෝක ශිෂ්ඨාචාර වර්ධනයේ කෙටි ගමනක් ඇවිත් ය. එය මාර පරාජය කොට බුදුන් සොයා ගත් මග නොවේ. බුදුන් ට 'මාර' පරාජය වුව ද, ඔහු පසු නොබා පෘතග්ජන මිනිසා හරහා සමස්ත යුද්ධය ජය ගෙන ඇත. කවියා වචනින් නොකීව ද මාර ගේ ක්‍රියාව ගැන සියුම් ගෞරවයක් පොත ඔස්සේ පාඨකයා ට ගලා එයි. 

පෙර කීවාක් මෙන් මෙය අපූරු ම ආඛ්‍යාන කාව්‍යයකි.  එක් අතකින් තේමාත්මක ව මෙය පැරඩයිස් ලොස්ට් ( Paradise Lost) වලට සමාන ද විය හැක (එම සමානකම හෝ එසේ නොවීම ගැන විස්තර කීමට, මම පැරඩයිස් ලොස්ට් කියවා නැත). 

කාලයත් සමඟ මෙය සිංහල සාහිත්‍යයේ අඛ්‍යාන කාව්‍ය අතර වැදගත් ස්ථානයක් දිනා ගනු ඇතැයි අපේ අදහසයි. බොහෝ ආශ්‍රේය පසු කතා (මෙහි එවන් කෙටි උපුටන කිහිපයක් ඇත්තේ, කවියේ පසුකතාව ගැන පාඨකයා දැනුවත් කරලීමටය)  එතරම් ප්‍රකට නොවූ ඒවා, සහ සමහර ආශ්‍රේය කාරණා සිංහල පාඨකයා ට ඇස ගැටීමට ඇති අවස්ථා මද නිසා, කෘතිය පාඨකයන් අතර ජනප්‍රිය වීමට තරමක් කල් ගත වීමට ඇත.  කතුවරයා නැවත මුද්‍රණයකට යන්නේ නම්, ඝන පිටකවරයක් සමඟ ඉහළ නිමාවකින් සහ, ආශ්‍රේය ලිපි වල ඇවැසි සංශෝධනයන් ද සමඟ එම මුද්‍රණය එළි දැක්වීම වටින්නේ, කෙනෙකු මේ කෘතිය නැවත නැවත කියවීමට යොමු විය හැකි නිසාය.

ශ්‍රේණිය: *****

 

 

 

 

චමින්දයට හෙණගහල නෙමේ, චමින්දයම තමා හෙණේ - තරිඳු ශ්‍රී ලොකුගමගේ

 තරිඳුගේ ප්‍රබන්ධ ලේඛනයේ එක් සුවිශේෂී ලක්ෂණයක් වන්නේ ඔහු භාවිත කරනා භාෂාවයි. මීට පෙර ඔහුගේ 'ජීවිතයේ ඔයිල් පැල්ලම්' නම් නවකතාවට බෙහෙවින් බැඳිණි. මේ උක්ත කෙටිකතා පොත මෑතක නිකුත් වුවද, කියවීම ඉක්මන් වුවේ පොත කියවූවන්ගෙන් ලැබුනු නිර්දේශයන් හේතුවෙනි. ඇරත් මෑතක සිංහල පොත් කියවීම තරමක් මග ඇරී තිබූ නිසා,  'ඔයිල් පැල්ලමෙන්' පස්සේ තරිඳු ගේ  පොතක් කියවීමට රුකුල් දෙන්නක් ම බව ඇති විශ්වාසය මත පොත අතට ගත්තේය. 

ඉතින් කෙටි කතා අට කෙසේ ද ?

අපි වැහි කාලවල් කීයක් දරා ගත්තු මිනිස්සු ද ? පෙර කි භාෂා භාවිතය, සහ කොළඹට ආසන්න නාගරික ප්‍රදේශ වලට සුවිශේෂි යැයි කිවහැකි ජීවන රටාවල් අලලා ලියූ කෙටි කතාවකි. මට නම් මෙම කෙටිකතාවේ සුවිශේෂි බව ඇත්තේ එම පසුබිමත්, තරිඳු එම මුසුව භාවිතා කරනා අපූරත්වයේත් ය. කතාන්දරයේ එතරම් විශේෂත්වයක් නොවූවද, කෙටිකතාවක කතාවේ විශේෂත්වයක් තිබීම අත්‍යාවශ්‍ය කාරණාවක් නොවේ යැයි මා මුලින් ම අඳුනාගත් හෙමිංවේ ගේ කෙටිකතා මතක් කරවීය.

'අඳුරේ දිලී අඳුරේ ගිලුණු තරුවක් - The Untold Story of Mathew Mendis' - මට නම් ඇත්තටම හිතෙන්නේ මේ කෙටිකතාවට පසු බිම් වුණු, ඇත්තටම ජනප්‍රිය ගායකයෙක් ද සම්බන්ධ, සත්‍යකතාවක් ද ඇතිය කියාය. තරිඳු මේ කෙටිකතා ආඛ්‍යායනය භාවිත කරන්නේ මෙහි එන 'මැතිව් මෙන්ඩිස්' නම් ජනප්‍රිය ගායකයාගේ සත්‍ය ජීවිතයේ අවලස්සන සහ අසාධාරණය පෙන්නුම් කරලීමට සහ, වෙසෙසින් තමන්ගේ සම බේරාගැනීමට හිරිකිතයක් නැතිව, පරම්පරා ගණනක් විඳනවන්නට ඉඩ ඇති ජාතිවාදය ඇවිස්සීමේ අපේ සමහරක් ගේ 'වැඩ කිඩ' පෙන්වීමටය. සාර්ථක නිර්මාණයක් යැයි සිතිණි.

හොල්මන්ද පොල්කොළ - තුන්වෙනි කෙටිකතාව වෙද්දි 'මුතුවෙරළ ස්කීම්' එකට සැම කෙටිකතාවක් ම වචනෙකින් හෝ සම්බන්ධ වෙන බව පෙනී යයි. ඒත් මේ වෙනතෙක් කෙටිකතා තුන එකින් එක සම්පූර්ණ වෙනස් - සමානකම් තියෙන්නේ, භාෂාව (සහ මුතුවෙරළ ස්කීම් එක ) විතරයි. තුන්වෙනි කෙටි කතාව මනංකල්පිත චරිත හා බැඳී නැවුම් ගෙත්තමක්. නිර්මාණාත්මක ලෙස මේ අත්භූත චරිත මවලා තියෙනවා. කතාව අග වෙද්දී ඒ චරිත මැවුවේ ඇයි කියලා තේරුම් ගනිද්දී 'හප්පා' ව මතක් වෙනවා.

කල්පගේ, ඕවර් ද විකට් - මෙම කෙටිකතා ව කුඩාවෙකුගේ දෘෂ්ඨිකෝණයෙන් ලියැවුණු රසවත් කෙටිකතාවකි. වයස 9-15 පමණ වන තෙක් ක්‍රීඩාව යනු කොළුවකුගේ ජීවිතයේ ප්‍රධානතම, වැදගත් ම අංගයකි. එහි රසවිඳි තැන් මතක් කරනා තැන් මෙන්ම, මධ්‍යම පාංතික දරුවෙකුගේ ආශාවන් සහ, ඒවා සම්පූර්ණ වන තැන් මෙන්ම එසේ නොවෙනා තැන් උපේක්ෂාවෙන් විඳ දරා ගන්නා ආකාරයද විදහා දැක්වෙන ආකාරය අපූරුවට ගෙත්තම් කොට ඇති කෙටිකතාවකි.

"මට එකපාරටම ලොකු දුකක් හිතට ආවා.

සමහර විට ඒ මැච් එකේ කල්පගේ බෝල් කරන එකක් නෑ. ගොඩක් වෙලාවට ධර්මසේන බෝල් කරන එකකුත් නෑ.

ටීම් දෙකේම ගොඩක් අය එතන ඉන්න එකක් නෑ. එතකොට ඒක ඔස්ට්‍රේලියාවයි ශ්‍රී ලංකාවයි අතර මැච් එකක් වෙන එකක් නෑ. ඒක නිකං පන්ති දෙකක ළමයි කීප දෙනෙක් අතර මැච් එකක් වෙයි." (86 පිටුව) 

චමින්දයට හෙණගහල නෙමේ, චමින්දයම තමා හෙණේ - චමින්ද නම් අතිශය සාමාන්‍ය, එහෙත් සුවිශේෂි චරිතයත්, ඔහු මුඛ්‍ය ඔහු වටා සමාජය ආශ්‍රයෙන් කියවෙන කෙටිකතවකි. සුමිත් ගේ චරිතයත්, ඔහු හා චමින්ද අතර ඇති අපූරු සබැඳියාවත් කියවන්නියට තේරුම් ගන්නට ඉඩහැර, දැන් වෙනකොට තරිඳුගේ සුපුරුදු වාග්මාලාවෙන් කියවෙන මහත් රසවිඳි කෙටිකතාවකි. ආ, තවෙකක්.... මේ කෙටිකතා පොතට, අර මංජුල ඔහුගේ කෙටිකතා පොතකට 'රත්මලානේ කතා' යන නම යෙදුවාක් මෙන්, 'මුතු වෙරළ ස්කීම් එකේ කතා' යන නම යන වඩා ඔබිනවා.

පර්ල් බීච් අපාර්ට්මන්ට් සිද්ධිය - මෙහි එන අනාගතයේ තරමක අසුබ නිස්සාර ලෝකයක සිදු වූ සිද්ධිමාලාවක් ආශ්‍රයෙන් නිමවුණු කෙටිකතාවකි. හොඳ ප්‍රයත්නයක් ලෙස නම් කල හැක.

රෙබල් විතවුට් අ කෝස් - මෙහි එන දීර්ඝතම කෙටිකතාවයි. සමරිසි යැයි ඇඟවෙන තරුණයෙක්, ඔහුගේ එතෙක් ඛේදවාචකයක් ව තිබූ ජීවිතයත්, දේශපාලනයට සැබැඳි අසංවේදී පියෙකුත්, ජේම්ස් ඩීන් ගේ කෙටි එහෙත් අති ශුර නළු කම, කඩවසම්කම,  සහ ඔහුගේ අවාසනාවන්ත මරණයත්, ආදී මාතෘකා රැසක් ඔස්සෙ ඇදී යන කෙටිකතාවකි. එක් තැනක තරුණයා ගේ ධනවත් පියා ඔහු ට රෝස වර්ණ මාච් රථයක් ත්‍යාගයක් ලෙස දීමට තර්ජනය කරයි. මට මතකය ට නැගුනේ බ්‍රොන්ස්කි බීට් ( Bronski Beat ) ගායක කණ්ඩායමේ Small Town Boy නම් මා ඉතා ප්‍රිය කරන ගීතය, සහ එහි විඩියෝවයි. එහි තම සම රිසි පුතුට යම් මුදලක් දී නිවසෙන් පිට කරන පියා, ඔහු ට අතට අත දිම ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරයි. ඒ එංගලන්තය තමන් එතෙක් කල් සිතූ පටු ආකාරය වෙනස් කල යුගයකි. Bronski Beat හී එම ගීතය රැගත් ඇල්බමය ම නම් කර තිබුනේ The Age of Consent යනුවෙනි.

ඇත්තටම ඇයි උඹලට බැරි කාක්කො මැරෙන එක නවත්තන්න ? - සිංහල මනසට ආමන්ත්‍රණය කරන කෙටිකතාවකි. සැම දෙනාම තම තමන්ගේ පටු මානසිකත්වයෙන් බලනා ප්‍රශ්ණයක් තුල සැඟවී ඇති මහා ඛේදජනක ඉතිහාසය පෙන්නුම් කරනා අපූරු ගෙත්තමකි. මට නම් මෙය විශිෂ්ඨ කෙටිකතාවකි.

අයෙකුට තරිඳු සාමාන්‍යයෙන් cliche ( වර්තමානයේ නිතර කතාවෙන මාතෘකා යන අර්ථයෙන් ) මාතෘකා රැසක් තම නිර්මාණ වලට පාදා කොට ඇතැයි කිව හැක. එහි යම් සත්‍යයක් ඇත. එහෙත් එම මාතෘකා සුලභ, ජනප්‍රිය, හෝ විවාදසම්පන්න වූවාට, ඔහු එම මාතෘකා වලට තම නිර්මාණය තුල කරන සාධාරණය ම, මා මෙහි අගය කරන්නේය. 

මෙහි එන කෙටිකතා අටෙන් අතක් ම රස වින්දෙමි. සමහරක් ව සුවිශේෂිය. පර්ල් බීච් අපාර්ට්මන්ට් සිද්ධිය කියවීම අනෙක් හත තරම් ම උද්‍යෝගයෙන් නොකලද, ලේඛකයකු වශයෙන් තරිඳු එතැන වෙනස් දෙයක් කිරීමට ගත් උත්සාහය පසසමි. 

කෙටිකතා කියවන්නන් පමණක් නොව, සිංහල ප්‍රබන්ධ රසිකයින ට ඉහළින් ම නිර්දේශ කරමි.

ශ්‍රේණිය: ****1/2

The Irishman (directed by Martin Scorsese)

 

 

Watching the movie a second time around, it cannot be stressed enough what skill de Nero Possess in stressing so much  through his facial expressions. Upon being burdened with the task of dealing with Hoffa, the agony he went through in keeping to the task, and that it is expressed only through his facial expressions, especially while having breakfast with Rus has gotta be one of the main parts of the movie for me.

Another episode that I really enjoyed was Frank's chat with his other daughter, Dolores  (Marlin Ireland) upon repeated failures in talking to his eldest daughter, Peggy. The look of "oh, give me a break dad", given by Dolores, to me was excellent acting, and should've totally destroyed Frank.

Frank's remorse is best captured in his statement, "how can a man make a phone call like that?", during his attempt to absolve him of his sins, with a priest.

The only relative weak part for me was de Nero as a young man in his 20s in the army, or as a truck driver. I read somewhere that Scorsese was aware of this shortcoming. In a way I guess he was confident of the strength of the overall composition making the viewers disregard this minor point.

A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara

"I've used hammers made out of wood
I have played games with pieces and rules
I've deciphered tricks at the bar
But now you're gone
I haven't figured out why,
I've come up with riddles
And jokes about war
I've figured out numbers and what they're for
I've understood feelings
And I've understood words
But how could you be taken away

And wherever you've gone
And wherever we might go
It don't seem fair
Today just disappeared
Your lights reflected now
Reflected from a far
We were but stones
Your light made us stars"
                   ( from "Light Years" - Pearl Jam )

“'I know my life's meaningful because' - and here he stopped, and looked shy, and was silent for a moment before he continued - 'because I'm a good friend. I love my friends, and I care about them, and I think I make them happy.'”

The lyrics from the song by Pearl Jam, which aches for the loss of a much loved dear one, and the above quote, in which such a "dear one" shyly, but confidently reads his own purpose in life, resonates for me loudly across these 700 odd pages of this book. And this book has everything - harrowing despair, scenes so hard to read without your fingers going into your mouth unknowingly to stop a gasp, actually tearing up helplessly - Plus, how a friend can heal one's deepest wounds when one was convinced that one didn't deserve happiness, love, comfort, a sense of belonging. There is a part in this book called "The Happy Years" which, while doesn't come in the first youth of the protagonist, surely come.  There were happy years, and a person was able to stand tall above all the unspeakable filth that had almost destroyed and left that person, because of an unconditional love, stemming from that friendship. The above for me is the summary of this book, what is amazing about this book. All the harrowing details suggested above measure up against this power of having 'a little life', against all odds.

But this book is much much more, as it spans across 700 odd pages. I don't recall a single paragraph which weighted me down with boredom - weighted me, almost drowned me with sorrow, it clearly did. Besides that heavy weight, there is unmistakable culture as the book spans across near forty years in the lives of four friends. Their ups, their downs, their world wide recognition, their journey from rags to riches, and at times their subsequent falls. The book is rich with phrases that can be cited as excellent quotes - and the subject matter is so wide it spans from Pure Mathematics, to Sculpture, to Architecture, to Law, to Painting, to Music - hell, what was not there in this gem ? It is difficult to speak too much of this book without revealing its  game - hence I will resort to say this: "Remains of the Day", "The Secret History", "The Overstory", I believe are the best books that I have read, published, this side of the late 1980s. A Little Life is joins that elite few, and is in a tussle to become my favourite modern novel.

This write up has to include at least a few quotes (which has zero spoilers), to illustrate the richness that it carries in these pages. Although I have thick hard cover copy, I depended almost solely on my kindle device, and where appropriate, maybe less than 5% on the Kindle application on my phone to read this book. But this is the kind of book that a book lover has to have in physical format, to love, to cherish, and maybe many years from now to open into (who knows the then electronic device may not be operable to my then fading mind  - that is if I could afford it - we have but a little life).

“It is also then that I wish I believed in some sort of life after life, that in another universe, maybe on a small red planet where we have not legs but tails, where we paddle through the atmosphere like seals, where the air itself is sustenance, composed of trillions of molecules of protein and sugar and all one has to do is open one's mouth and inhale in order to remain alive and healthy, maybe you two are there together, floating through the climate. Or maybe he is closer still: maybe he is that gray cat that has begun to sit outside our neighbor's house, purring when I reach out my hand to it; maybe he is that new puppy I see tugging at the end of my other neighbor's leash; maybe he is that toddler I saw running through the square a few months ago, shrieking with joy, his parents huffing after him; maybe he is that flower that suddenly bloomed on the rhododendron bush I thought had died long ago; maybe he is that cloud, that wave, that rain, that mist. It isn't only that he died, or how he died; it is what he died believing. And so I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him.”

                    *                                  *                           *

“If I were a different kind of person, I might say that this whole incident is a metaphor for life in general: things get broken, and sometimes they get repaired, and in most cases, you realize that no matter what gets damaged, life rearranges itself to compensate for your loss, sometimes wonderfully.”

                            *                                    *                        * 

“Everyone thought they would be friends for decades, forever. But for most people, of course, that hadn't happened. As you got older, you realized that the qualities you valued in the people you slept with or dated weren't necessarily the ones you wanted to live with, or be with, or plod through your days with. If you were smart, and if you were lucky, you learned this and accepted this. You figured out what was most important to you and you looked for it, and you learned to be realistic.”

                                 *                                     *                           * 

A Little Life - MAGNIFICENT !!! What Pity, to the eyes of readers who read books of this genre, but who still skip this masterpiece !

Rating - ***** 

Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

 (Originally written for the facebook group 'Sri Lankan Readers'/ 'පොත් කියවන අය', back in 8th July, 2013)

 

 

Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

=============================

****

Frankly I know not what I’ve to say, what to conclude, what the author ultimately wanted to say or even whether he wanted to convey any message at all ( which I feel is most likely), through his novel, known as “Kafka on the beach” in English. What was evident to me was that the volume I read, that of 489 pages of dense text was never imposing and it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. That it had left the shores of reality by the sixth chapter, never to tread foot on that shore in the balance 44 chapters, makes uttering the obvious. I would venture to say that Murakami has scant want for his artistic creation to remain within the realms of reality.

Yet, Murakami does give an inclination that he has some emphasis on the statement, that one can run, but never hide – and as it were it is better to face the music and come up with the best solution to one’s obstacles as one’s options offer. Speaking of music, Murakami appears to be a huge Prince and Radiohead fan, and am glad that I’ve found a fellow fan of that music amongst world renowned authors.

Murakami appears to be telling us, in a subtle kind of way that we should hold on to judging people and incidents, as we are not qualified enough to judge. The numerous sexual encounters etc. appears to hint at this.

The roles that memories play in our lives possibly could be the main focus of Murakami. Some of us, for all practical reasons have lived our lives to it'sfullest and our present existence is just a course of going through the motions, dwelling in those memories which we cherish our every living moment. If not for those memories their lives are meaningless. The life of Miss Saeki and her message after her death to Kafka signify this.

All these things made this book a wonderful read, and make me lookout for other books by Murakami (for this was his first read by me.)