Book Review: The Man Within My Head by Pico Iyer

Title: The Man Within My Head
Author: Pico Iyer
Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, Penguin India
ISBN: 978-0-670-08627-6
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 242
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

We all have our literary heroes. Sometimes in the form of characters, which we have loved reading about and idolizing while reading or sometimes in the form of writers themselves, who bring stories and characters to life. For me, there are so many writers who have changed my life and the way I see things and the world around me and then there are those who stay on irrespective of time.

Pico Iyer’s new book, “The Man within my Head” is homage to Graham Greene, and at the same time, it is a travelogue, a memoir and a literary biography of sorts. It is everything rolled into one, taking pieces from Graham’s books and his life and that is what makes the book an interesting read.

The book opens during a visit to La Paz, Bolivia and the imagery that Iyer leaves you with is fascinating. A lot but of course has to do with the fact that he can describe a regular scene with great intensity, and make it appear magical to the reader. I picture Iyer on his journeys, sinking in what he sees, settling in his hotel room and writing for his readers, writing about Graham Greene – his writing style, his books and his life. He does all of this and at the same time, gives us a sense of his (Iyer’s) life, juxtaposing the two, which makes for great reading.

Graham Greene was always an outsider and that sentiment was forever depicted through his characters – from the whiskey priest in The Power and the Glory to the adulterous wife in The End of the Affair to The Quiet American, Iyer takes the reader through a Greene journey, and pushes readers to visit Graham Greene.

Now to Iyer’s writing style – at times it is broken, fragmented, but then I love that kind of writing. I like writing that makes you think, that has layers and that is not given on a platter to ease the reading. The man inside Iyer’s head is Greene for most of his life, and later does he realize that there is another man who he has never known and lives within him – his father. Through this book, Iyer then learns how fathers and sons function – the relationship they share, what are they made of and what it takes to bind them.

Iyer’s writing is crisp and almost there – it made me stop and wonder about life at various points and if a book manages to do that, then for sure it has done something to you. We all have a man within us – someone different, someone similar, and someone who sometimes we want to be. As Iyer, eloquently puts it, “A man within your head whispers his secrets and fears to you, and it can go right to your core”. A must-read.

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Book Review: A Life in Words: Memoirs by Ismat Chughtai

Title: A Life in Words: Memoirs
Author: Ismat Chughtai
Translator: M. Asaduddin
Publisher: Penguin India, Penguin Classics India
ISBN: 978-0-670-08618-4
Genre: Memoirs, Autobiography, Non-Fiction
Pages: 282
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

It is sometimes sad to know that readers (most of them) only remember Ismat Chughtai for “Lihaaf” or “The Quilt”. She has written a lot more and the “more” is even more interesting than “Lihaaf”. I remember the first time I was introduced to her works. I had turned twenty-three and my friend had taken me to watch a play, “Manto Ismat Hazir Hain” produced by Motley, – which featured two short stories by Manto, a story by Chughtai and an essay by her as well with reference to the court trial that almost got both the writers imprisoned in the 1940s for so-called “obscenity” in their writing.

I was mesmerized after watching the play. The urge to know more of her and read more works by her was immense. I had read a bit of Manto earlier, however Chughtai took my attention and held it there. Prithvi theatre bookshop was the ideal place to find her books, though translated in Hindi (now I cannot read Urdu. I only wish I can someday). I remember reading almost all of her books, except her memoirs, “Kaghazi hai Pairahan” which I ultimately did. I did struggle a bit as I do not read so many books in Hindi (and am not proud of the fact). The beauty of the language was brilliant. The words used to describe her life from early childhood to being a mother and a wife and a famous writer before all of that resonated way after finishing the book.

I received the much-awaited English translation of “Kaghazi hai Pairahan” from Penguin Books India, aptly titled, “A Life in Words: Memoirs” and delightfully translated by M. Asaduddin. The minute I started reading this edition, memories of the Hindi edition came sweeping by. The same intensity with which Ismat Aapa (I cannot think of anything better to call her) wrote in the original (I am assuming) is captured vividly and precisely in this translation.

One cannot define Ismat Chughtai’s character as anything but colourful and introspective. May be to a large extent that passed down to her by her large and varied family. When you read the memoirs, it almost feels like you are reading a story. One gets the necessary information about her works as well – from short stories to novels to essays (as footnotes) which is needed while reading about a writer. What I loved the most about this book was Chughtai’s family and their antics. Ismat Aapa was born into a large family – she had nine siblings – so one can only imagine the life lead during the Indian Independence and seeing times through Partition, her schooling, her youth, her stubborn nature, her want to get educated and then subsequently the need to write and tell tales.

Chughtai’s tone is fictional and caustic throughout the book. There are a lot of diversions which are fun, despite the danger of losing track of semi-plots and characters, but I guess that can be overlooked when reading memoirs. It is quite natural that the tone will shift, which works well to hang on to the reader’s attention. There are pieces which I loved – for instance, “Aligarh” – which depicts the writer’s hostel life, “In the Name of Those Married Women” – the piece on the much talked about courtroom trial of Manto and Ismat, “Sujat” – revolving around politics and “Chewing on Iron” – depicting class differences.

For me, reading this in English was a treat, thanks to the wonderful translation by M. Asaduddin, who has translated Chughtai’s other works. The translation is subtle and he doesn’t shy from using the words as used in Urdu by the writer sometimes, owing to the fact that there is a glossary as well, which serves the purpose well.

“A Life in Words: Memoirs” by Ismat Chughtai is an honest and stark account of a writer’s life – from childhood to youth to old-age. The ideas in the book are numerous – from women’s liberation to class differences to the inner-life of a Muslim girl. Here is a book that is integral to its ideas, structure and words. I cannot recommend this one enough and while you are at it, please read more of Chughtai’s works. You will not be disappointed at all.

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Book Review: On Tagore: Reading the Poet Today by Amit Chaudhuri

Title: On Tagore: Reading the Poet Today
Author: Amit Chaudhuri
Publisher: Penguin Viking India
ISBN: 978-0-670-08621-4
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 178
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

When you write about Tagore, you take a risk. A major risk at that. It is not easy then to talk about the man and his works over years of writing – plays, prose and poetry and more so to lucidly make sense of what he meant and why. So when I received copy of “On Tagore” by Amit Chaudhuri from Penguin, I was a little skeptical to read it. Why? For the simple reason that I hold Tagore in high regard and didn’t want my semi-god stance to shatter to pieces.

Rabindranath Tagore was quite a radical thinker in his own ways. I would also go a step further and say that he was one of the first writers of the country whose heroines were liberated in their thinking and sometimes action and that said a lot about him as a person. Amit Chaudhuri’s five essays on the writer explore different facets of Tagore – his thoughts, his concerns with the movement, the modernist, the conventional and sometimes the revolutionary. Amit Chaudhuri paints a picture of Tagore like no other and to manage that in less than two hundred pages is something commendable.

Amit Chaudhuri also touches on the topic of what it is like to read Tagore today and what it actually means. He talks of the dichotomy in Tagore’s works and explains it as clearly as possible through Geetanjali, heavily through his prose, a few other poems and his songs. I liked how Mr. Chaudhuri covered almost every aspect of the writer and the relation to modernity and relation to contemporary society.

On Tagore can get to be a dull read for people who aren’t interested in Tagore’s writing or his style. I do not recommend this book to everyone, but definitely to those who are interested in knowing more about Indian Literature’s doyen and his works, should definitely not give this work a miss.

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Book Review: The Druggist of Auschwitz by Dieter Schlesak

Title: The Druggist of Auschwitz: A Documentary Novel
Author: Dieter Schlesak
Publisher: Picador USA
ISBN: 978-1250002372
Genre: Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

The Druggist of Auschwitz is the title of this book, and for most the title is enough to either want you to read this book or stay away from it. For me it was the former. I had to read it. I have been interested in the Holocaust since forever now and that is only to understand how human nature works. The violence it is capable of and sometimes what lengths it can go to.

The author Dieter Schlesak was only 10 years old when the Russians invaded his town of Sighisoara in German Transylvania (now Rumania) in August 1944, and since then he has been trying to understand the Holocaust and how it happened ever since. The Druggist of Auschwitz is an attempt at that – to create something monumental about the possible paralyzing horror that occurred – and in this book Schlesak does a brilliant job by providing both sides of the story, that of the victim and that of the perpetrator.

On one hand in the book, you have the Jew who is safe from the horrors, a collective narrator, called, “Adam Salmen” – who is the Sondercommando of the Jewish “Special Action Squad” under the German Rule. His job is to report on the deaths in the gas chambers and tally them against the list and the cremation ovens. In his spare time, he maintains a diary describing the horrors and his state of mind and emotions.

The other side of the story is of Viktor Capesius, formerly a pharmacist in Sighisoara, whom the author knew personally. He was in charge of the SS dispensary and had control over Zyklon B that was used in the gas chambers. He also participated in the selection process of spring of 1944 of choosing who was fit to work and who wasn’t, and would ultimately meet their death. Capesius did a lot in his role – from stealing money from the Jews and stripping them to their very last valuable to converting their gold teeth to gold for his personal benefit, this book says it all. It also tells the reader of how the pharmacist met his end.

The author uses the druggist as the central voice in the book for exploring the horrors of Auschwitz. There is only a thin fictional gloss to the entire book. Otherwise all of it is true and real and maybe that is what makes it what it is. The Druggist of Auschwitz uses a new way of chronicling the lives of individuals who participated in the world’s greatest horror. The victim’s nature and role and the torturer’s aspect are clearly laid out. The writing is not easy. There will be times when the reader will be tempted to shut the book and not read further. At the same time, the writing style is hypnotic and totally worth a read. The amazing combination of fact and fiction makes it up for everything that you have read earlier about the Holocaust. I would highly recommend this one.

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Book Review: Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books: Edited by Leah Price

Title: Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books
Edited by: Leah Price
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 978-0-300-17092-4
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 201
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5/5

Books can do many things – they can make you disappear in a world of their own, they can enchant the pants off you, they can make you forget what time it is, and at the same time make you realize the workings of the world. Books have that effect on most readers and also on authors. Keeping this in mind, Leah Price has edited a brilliant book for bibliophiles, titled, “Unpacking My Library: Writers and Their Books”. The title is self-explanatory and the book is a great watch.

The reason I say a great watch is because Leah Price and her team have managed to capture thirteen writers’ libraries, up close and personal and let me tell you it is a visual treat. The writers are not only in conversation with Leah but also have had no qualms in sharing what their libraries look like.

I loved the lineup of writers that contributed to this book: From Jonathan Lethem to Edmund White to Sophie Gee to Junot Diaz, the stories are well-shared. Each writer also shares with readers his/her Top 10 books.

As a book lover, it was a great feeling reading what writers think about the advent of e-books, when they first started buying books and what does reading mean to them. For instance, this is what Junot Diaz has to say about reading, quoting from Toni Morrison’s Beloved, “She is a friend of mine. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order”. This is one of the most beautiful ways in which I have read books being described.

Leah Price knows how to compile a book about books. The questions in the interview were perfect, ranging from how the writers shelve their books to how did they come about the list of top 10 recommendations to what will happen to their books when they die (a bit morbid though). I recommend this book to every bibliophile. It would be a great addition to their library and also a great reference to what should be read next.

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Book Review: The Average Indian Male by Cyrus Broacha

Title: The Average Indian Male
Author: Cyrus Broacha
Publisher: Random House India
ISBN: 9788184001600
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 244
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3/5

A book about Indian Men is not easy to write. We come with our own traits and mindsets and perceptions. Men in general are difficult to gauge (just like women) and more so are Indian Men, who are considered very unique. But obviously, have you met, “The Average Indian Male”? He is the apple of his mother’s eye, thinks no end of himself, wants to dominate the world and farts wherever convenient. I do not subscribe to these generalizations. The book does sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t.

I picked up the book fully aware of the fact that there would be parts I would not like and I was happy I did that. It happens all the time – my idea of funny is not equal to others’ idea of funny and fair enough. After all, we live in a democratic society and that is what is expected. The Average Indian Male is a regular critique of Indian Men and their habits, their surroundings and how they would react or think in given situations and the fact that it comes from another man is quite heartening. Cyrus Broacha is known as the funny man and he delivers what he promises – a funny book.

The book is not a mirror of all Indian Men. One must understand that before reading this book. Indian Men cook, help in the kitchen, do not urinate everywhere and anywhere and are empathetic – no matter what percentage of those Indian Men. That doesn’t count. “The Average Indian Male” is funny in parts and almost had me fall off my chair while reading it.

Cyrus Broacha is funny, though there were places I felt he was trying too hard, however those can be ignored by the reader. My favourite parts of the book were, “The Long and Short of Indian Pants”, “Girls Bar Bar” and “Powder Puff Boys”. The writing is clear and colloquial – so that is a major plus for the book and also for readers who want and expect a quick read. I would give it only 3 stars because there were times I did not agree with the book, nonetheless it is a good read.

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Book Review: The End: Hitler’s Germany: 1944-1945 by Ian Kershaw

Title: The End: Hitler’s Germany: 1944-1945
Author: Ian Kershaw
Publisher: Allen Lane, Penguin Books
ISBN: 978-0-713-99716-3
Genre: Non-Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

I had never read a single book by Ian Kershaw before “The End”. To be honest, none of his works ever fascinated me and even if they did sometimes, I could not get myself to read them because of my basic preconception: They would be highly pedantic, but I was proved wrong when I picked up The End and could not let go till I had finished reading it.

The End: Hitler’s Germany: 1944-1945 is a clear indication by the title as to what kind of a book this will be. It is about the End days of Hitler’s Germany and how his soldiers and army were still not willing to give up till the very end, despite being fully aware of how this was going to end for them.

A lot has been written on this topic. Almost every World War II historian has made it a point to document and publish the Nazi Regime, and yet something about this book is unique. The very thought and idea of how Hitler’s imagery and perception was so engrained in his regime that even though he was broken man, they fought on regardless, almost unwilling to believe that their demi-god had met his fate – that of ruin.

All this while, as his empire was falling, Hitler tried keeping things normal. From postal service to magazine publication to the day-to-day living – nothing changed. A mask had to be kept on. Ian Kershaw attempts to explore the idea of German people to go down with the regime. He touches upon the structure and mentality of the “charismatic rule” which I personally found very intriguing throughout the book.

Ian Kershaw is an authority on the Third Reich with all that he has written on the topic. Like I said I haven’t read a book by him earlier, however The End has been written with great depth and intensity. Sir Ian Kershaw also focuses on The End as seen through the eyes of commoners – the Germans who instilled all faith in Adolf.

The End closes with the surrender and defeat of Germany. Hitler as well know committed suicide and no one even knew for days on. Civilians suffered and so did soldiers. Everything came to a standstill and despite this earlier Germany continued to fight.

I will not forget this book for a long time because of the kind of impact it had on me. Hitler’s regime ended and the consequences prior and post that were paid by all – especially innocent people. The book did not seem dense or a heavy read to me all. In fact at one point I wished it would not end so soon. A must read for all History lovers.

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Book Review: Long Past Stopping: A Memoir by Oran Canfield

Title: Long Past Stopping: A Memoir
Author: Oran Canfield
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
ISBN: 978-0061450761
Genre: Non-Fiction
Pages: 321
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

Oran Canfield’s memoir is part Running With Scissors, part Mommie Dearest. It’s the antithesis of the trite feel good books by his father, Jack Canfield. The Chicken Soup books are supposed to make you feel good, but lack any real substance. Long Past Stopping, on the other hand, makes you feel terrible, but is filled with dense narrative.

Instead of a typically standard timeline, Canfield takes two tracks, simultaneously, and weaves one around the other. In the first, we witness a child slowly becoming a man. His strange journey through oddball alternative schools, summer camps and traveling circuses read like a fantasy gone wrong. It’s Fellini-as-life but the film won’t end. This serves as his colorful background to the second, equally important but certainly less light-hearted track.

The second reveals the man as he goes through an endless and depressing cycle of addiction/rehab/addiction. Creating his book without the first track would be wrist-slitting, leaving readers hopeless. Canfield is just that deeply addicted to nearly every thing he gets his hands on. He crushes our hopes for him ad nauseum. The chapters dealing with his unending, bottomless drug sprees are highly frustrating to read. But the fact that I had to continue on proved he trapped me. I liked him in spite of himself. When a writer can do that, it says something. And the device of two tracks serves as a balance rather than an annoyance.

The only thing I wasn’t sure about initially was the way the chapters were arranged. Each chapter alternates between adulthood and childhood. Initially I found this distracting and disruptive to the pacing of the book, but as I continued to read I found that he intentionally does this to interweave certain childhood experiences with more recent ones. He’ll plant seeds for you in stories of his childhood that you pick up on and become more relevant in a situation he has in his twenties. I later discovered that it makes the pacing genius, as he ends each chapter with a teeth grinding nail-biter that you are forced to wait for two chapters to find out the outcome.

The writing is strong in this very personal saga. You get a realistic, first-hand look at what life is like for someone hopelessly addicted to heroin. It’s not romantic or pretty and it’s heartbreaking. Canfield writes it in a way that keeps our interest levels high, even though the subject matter is downright horrible. Like the video from a crime scene security cam, each chapter is written in gritty detail and we can’t look away. A subtle sense of humor is sporadically injected to help give us a bit of relief. Even his short chapter descriptions are a sign that this is a man who sees the funny side of the crappiest existence possible during his horse latitudes.

While the book does cover a lot of bizarre and painful moments in Oran’s life, it is written well and it is written with an amazing amount of humor. I definitely laughed out loud as many times as I cried. Oran is a very good writer. He has a gift with words. He has definitely found his voice. He has a real talent for writing in a way that keeps you turning the pages–wanting to know what happens next.

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Book Review: Walking with the Comrades by Arundhati Roy

Title: Walking with the Comrades
Author: Arundhati Roy
Publisher: Penguin India
ISBN: 9780670085538
Genre: Non-Fiction
PP: 144 pages
Price: Rs. 150
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

Why does it happen that everytime there is talk of Arundhati Roy, only “The God of Small Things” is mentioned? I have no problem with that, trust me, I do not. It is just that for an activist ( I can safely call her that now) the need to make people aware and create that change is so important, that everything else seems small, which should also be the case.

I have a personal fascination with whatever Ms. Roy writes – and that is only because she has lived it. It comes from a place that no one else is able to reach, as they have not experienced the same. Walking with Comrades is one such book. What is the book about? It is about literally walking – Arundhati Roy visited the forbidding and forbidden precincts of Central India’s Dandakaranya Forests, home to a melange of tribespeople many of whom have taken up arms to protect their people against state-backed marauders and exploiters. She recorded in considerable detail the first face-to-face journalistic “encounter” with armed guerillas, their families and comrades, for which she combed the forests for weeks at personal risk.

The book will speak with you only if you allow it to. It is not a book for all. It is a brief and yet a taut and in most places in the book an emotional account of the lives of the so-called “guerillas” and what they are striving for. The writing is clear and sometimes filled with metaphors for all to see and relate to. The book will be an eye-opener or the reader in all probability will just read and forget about the issues at hand. For me, I am still thinking and not doing. Walking with Comrades must be read for the content and what it covers, it must be read for the writng and what Ms. Roy wishes to convey. A non-fiction book which I have loved this year.

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Book Review: Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde by Thomas Wright

Title: Built of Books: How Reading Defined the Life of Oscar Wilde
Author: Thomas Wright
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9246-2
Genre: Non-Fiction, Reading
PP: 384 pages
Price: $18.00
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

Back when I was studying Wilde, I remember coming across a statistic: that estimates point to over 2,000,000 books/articles having been written about Wilde. So is there anything left to say?

Wright’s book really does shed a new light on the author, though it is not only a case of presenting new facts; it is a seemingly new way of looking at writers from this period. In particular, I think it is fair to say that Wright has a very ‘imaginative’ way of using vague bibliographical or historical facts to illuminate the life of Wilde.

For example, Wright offers the speculation that ‘on Wilde’s shelves you probably would have found a book by Thomas Carlyle within speaking distance of a mawkish Victorian novel, and a dainty edition of Pater shaking with fear next to Melmoth the Wanderer’. At first, I became mildly annoyed when reading these sorts of statements from Wright as they appear to be based on no facts whatsoever. But as you work your way through this book, you see how Wright is doing something academically unconventional yet highly effective.

Of course there is a wealth of material which Wright looks at which has its provenance in contemporary sources (especially the auctioneer’s catalogue of Wilde’s books when all his possessions were sold as he headed off to jail in 1895). But almost every commentator of this period, in my experience, has stopped their socio-bibliographical analysis as soon as they run out of concrete material on which to base their research. By offering a constant flow of suggestive images of how Wilde lived as an author, it really does put Oscar in a novel light.

Through this ingenious method of analysis, the reader not only begins to understand Wilde’s writing, but also his personality (though of course the two are intertwined). Looking at his upbringing, from his father’s library to his school syllabus; his time spent at Oxford, both in the lecture theatre and on field trips with professors; and all the way up to his downfall, so to speak, Wright’s book does not leave a stone unturned. Finally, this book will be useful to those studying the period, but is also a remarkably easy-going read, even if you’re completely unfamiliar with Wilde.