Book Review: 1Q84 – Book One by Haruki Murakami

Title: 1Q84: Book One
Author: Haruki Murakami
Translators: Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 978-0345802934
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: (Book One): 387
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5/5

I think reviewing a Murakami novel is sometimes far more difficult than reading one. I have just finished the first part of 1Q84 – a three-book volume by Murakami and I have to admit that the guy will never fade or let go of his writing prowess. I have been an ardent fan of all his books and devoured all of them. So somewhere down the line, I was expecting the writing technique and the plot and sub-plots to consist of the regular elements: Parallel universes, Jazz, Classical Music, Strange creatures and situations, estranged lives, loss of love and a deep identity crisis.

My love-affair (so to say) with Murakami started with Sputnik Sweetheart in 2001 and it has been eleven years now and it is still going strong. 1Q84 (as the title goes) is a play on 1984 by George Orwell. 9 sounds like Q in Japanese, hence the replacement. Murakami always keeps the reader behind a veil – never giving away too much, keeping the reader wanting more and hanging in the balance. May be that is why 1Q84 was first published as three volumes, each installment at a time, making readers wait.

I intended to read it in that manner. Hence this review of the first volume only. The plot is about two people living in Tokyo, 1984. Aomame is a powerful, liberated woman who delivers justice in her own vigilante style. Tengo is a reticent genius who is involved in a controversial behind the closed doors deal to ghost-write a novel. The plots seem totally unrelated, but over the course of the year 1984, Tengo’s and Aomame’s paths cross, and may be not just for the first time. Their paths cross due to a secret cult and Aomame’s need to find out it’s leader who supposedly has a penchant for young girls (brutal description) and something to do with Little People (who are also featured in the book Tengo is ghost-writing).

This is coupled with the fact that Aomame suddenly finds herself in a world much like the one she was a part of in 1984, only that certain things are different (cops’ uniforms and guns they carried and the presence of two moons in the sky) and she wants to know what has happened. Hence till then she names this world: 1Q84. (Q also stands for Question mark in her case)

In the first book, we are introduced to the main characters (or so it seems) – Fuka-Eri, the original writer of the book Tengo is working on, Professor Ebisuno, who is more or less Fuka-Eri’s guardian, the dowager who commissions Aomame to carry out “justice” on selected people, Tamaru, the gay bodyguard of the dowager, Tengo’s absent father, Aomame’s over-zealous and religious parents who are waiting for the world to end, and then there is a cult which plays a major secondary character in all of this.

Like I had mentioned earlier, reviewing a Murakami is probably far more difficult than reading it and that’s true. The plots are inter-connected and the reader at one point finds it difficult to keep pace with what is going on (though it is not that difficult). Murakami’s writing is simple and yet very effective. Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel as his translators for years now are masters of their craft. They know exactly what words to use to capture the emotion and the scene as I am sure must have played out in the original.

Murakami’s characters are as complex as he pleases them to be. Aomame and Tengo as the protagonists are forever struggling to get their questions answered while the others play their parts and blend in fantastically to the story.

1Q84: Book one ends on an open-ended scene, but of course to pave the way for the second installment. The novel is dense and this I am talking of just volume 1. There is beauty. There are all kinds of social commentary. The book is a complete feat I am sure. Murakami does it only the way he knows how to: Stupendously.

Affiliate Link:

Buy 1q84: 3 Volume Boxed Set from Flipkart.com

Book Review: Are You My Mother? : A Comic Drama by Alison Bechdel

Title: Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama
Author: Alison Bechdel
Publisher: Jonathan Cape, Random House UK
ISBN: 978-0-224-09352-1
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 289
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

When Alison Bechdel wrote, “Fun Home”, a graphic novel about her closeted gay father and her relationship with him, it was received with great aplomb. Critics loved it and so did the regular readers. I read it last month and was in absolute love with it. At the end of the book, I wondered, “What about Alison’s mother? What about her point of view and her life?” and the wonder was put to rest when I read her new book, “Are You My Mother?”

Are You My Mother speaks of the relationship Alison shared/s with her mother. Alison’s mother was everything rolled into one – an actor, musician, lover of books and also a woman unhappily married to a gay man. Alison’s childhood simmered under all of this – her father’s constant battle and her mother’s constant shirking away from her, so much so that she stopped touching or kissing her daughter good night ever since she was seven. There was this constant tension between her parents, which led to Alison’s history of obsessive compulsive disorders which she shares in the book.

The book in itself is funny and at so many places only heartbreaking. There are moments when Alison’s relationship with her mother are for all to see – how she did not get the attention she craved for, or the relationship defined by the complete and absolute lack of intimacy. At some places she provides answers and reasons and at the others she leaves it for the reader to figure it on his/her own.

Are you my Mother contains a lot of dream analysis as well – Freud has to jump in, when it is the bigger picture and through these dreams one can also understand how detail-oriented Bechdel is with reference to her life and relationships.

As a graphic novel, I loved the drawings as much as I did in Fun Home. The lines are clear and the colour is just what this book should have – in shades of grey and tinges of red. Alison’s book is not just about her mother – it is also about introspection of her life and the way she led it before writing Fun Home.

I loved the way this book was written. More so because I am biased to graphic novels. They speak a different language of words and pictures, which also conveys a lot, like a novel would. The past and present are beautifully juxtaposed and the good thing is that there is also a sense of empathy while reading the book. There is no pity or sympathy; however it is something one can relate to, without experiencing it at some level.

“Are you My Mother?” for me was a wonderful read this month. Family relationships are beautifully portrayed in this one and that too being a graphic novel, it manages to convey a lot. Bechdel’s mother remains an enigma in most places, but that doesn’t deter the book from being what it is – brilliant. Relationships are like a prism sometimes with way too many angles and perspectives. This is one of them – from a daughter to her mother.

Affiliate Link:

Buy Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama from Flipkart.com

Book Review: The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen

Title: The Land of Decoration
Author: Grace McCleen
Publisher: Chatto and Windus
ISBN: 978-0-701-18682-1
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 291
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

The Land of Decoration starts off as a strange book. About a girl, her father and their staunch religious beliefs. At the core of it, it is a battle of good and evil at times, about the choices we make and how we can pretty much differentiate, and the times when everything clouds over and we aren’t able to make the right decisions.

Judith McPherson is a 10-year old girl raised by her widowed father to believe they are living the end of days. They go out canvassing neighbourhoods, passing out religious pamphlets, wanting to educate people about the coming Apocalypse. They read the Bible every night and ponder over it. Judith’s father has no time for her besides these set activities. They visit Church and that is that. Judith is lost in her own land of questions and answers. She builds things from garbage and scraps, almost a whole new town she calls, “The Land of Decoration” in her room, as there is no access to TV or books, as laid out by her father. The entire made-up town represents where she lives and people she meets. The only solace she finds from school bullies and a life without her mother is in this land.

One day, due to the scare of a school bully Neil Williams, Judith prays and hopes it snows in the middle of October. She prays against all hope and creates snow through paper and glue on her made-up land. She wakes up to snow next morning and school is cancelled. She continues this for another day and believes God is speaking to her. Is God really speaking to her? Or is it just her faith? Things take a severe turn for her at school and at home Judith exacts revenge (or teaches Neil a lesson). Neil and his friends’ tyranny reach Judith’s home. Judith’s father has problems at work that involve Neil’s father Doug.

Judith has choices to make: Should she listen to so-called God that speaks with her or give up her so-called magical powers to set things right?

The constant struggle of faith and doubt is the crux of this book. Judith’s beliefs or not form the structure. It is interesting how Grace McCleen takes us in the head of a 10-year old and makes us explore her thoughts and emotions. Questions like, What about faith? What does it mean to you?, and more enter the reader’s mind.

I could not believe it was Grace McCleen’s first novel. The writing is descriptive and sets the tone of the book in almost every chapter. The novel is delightfully inventive and unusual. Judith’s voice sometimes is sad but honest. The book more or less reminded me of “Room” by Emma Donoghue which also had a child as the narrator and was set in unusual circumstances as well.

The Land of Decoration is a fresh and original debut, which definitely will keep you wondering about certain elements of faith and religion. An interesting read for sure.

Here’s my favourite part in the book:

“Miracles don’t have to be big, and they can happen in the unlikeliest places. Sometimes they are so small people don’t notice. Sometimes miracles are shy. They brush against your sleeve, they settle on your eyelashes. They wait for you to notice, then melt away. Lots of things start by being small. It’s a good way to begin, because no one takes any notice of you. You’re just a little thing beetling along, minding your own business. Then you grow.”

Affiliate Link:

Buy The Land of Decoration from Flipkart.com

Book Review: The House that Groaned by Karrie Fransman

Title: The House that Groaned
Author: Karrie Fransman
Publisher: Square Peg, Random House UK
ISBN: 978-0-224-08681-3
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 208
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

The thing about a graphic novel, actually the thing about a good graphic novel is that you can go back to it again and again. The House that Groaned by Karrie Fransman is one such graphic novel. It would have to be one of its kind –a literary graphic novel (If I can say so), that may be will find it difficult to find an audience for itself but eventually it will and people will enjoy what they will read.

The House that Groaned is about the lives of six people living in a nondescript, old Victorian house on a place called Rottin Road (presumably in England). One is a cosmetic saleswoman who has just moved in, one is a man who loves women who are diseased or disfigured, one is a hedonist, one is a diet consultant, one is a homebody, and the last one is someone who touches up photos of models.

Barbara moves in to 141 Rottin Road, and meets the other residents (well some of them) and there begins this story of the residents’ lives and its living in Rottin Road.

This is the so-called motley bunch of characters in this book. Karrie Fransman’s story is of odd-ball characters trying to live day by day and making sense of the madness that surrounds them and within them sometimes. Karrie also tells the reader something about the past of these characters and how they came to be in such a situation and what led to their oddities.

Fransman gives the characters doll-like faces and yet is able to tell her story with precise emotions and grounded realities. Fransman’s drawings set the story apart from the very beginning. She is clever with the artwork, the layering and ensuring how the scenes play themselves out originally and without giving away too much.

The book is challenging as well to read, considering the flashback aspects sometimes. The cover of the book is brilliant with the front page opening like nine windows to the apartments, giving the reader a sneak peek into every apartment before the story is told. Karrie has written a unique graphic novel and I would recommend it to all lovers of graphic fiction. It is interestingly told and catches your attention from the first page on.

Affiliate Link:

Buy The House that Groaned from Flipkart.com

Here is a Promo of the book:

Book Review: The Red House by Mark Haddon

Title: The Red House
Author: Mark Haddon
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
ISBN: 978-0224096409
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 272
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

When Mark Haddon writes, you sit up and take notice. There are no two ways to that thought – at least not for me. I remember reading, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” in 2003 and being taken in by the spectacular writing style and the first person narration. In the same way, I enjoyed reading, “A Spot of Bother” – very different from the first one and equally breath-taking.

I was then mailed an Advanced Reader’s Copy of, “The Red House” and my joy knew no bounds. The book is about middle-class angst and it works on so many levels, in terms of being able to relate to it. A great deal does not happen in the book. Do not expect twists and turns. Having said that, the book is a great read.

An adult brother and sister take their respective families on a holiday together in a cottage in Wales, following their mother’s death. The book is about the eight main characters’ thoughts, interactions with each other, and individual experiences. In my experience, when narratives shift in almost every chapter, the novel becomes boring and confusing to the reader. This does not happen with this book. Each character has a distinct voice (one of the clear talents of a good writer) and knows what to say and when.

The characters are: Angela, the sister and a working mom, on the verge of a breakdown, Dominic – Angela’s unemployed husband, their teenage son Alex, their religious daughter Daisy, their young son Benjy – living in his fantasy world, Richard – Angela’s estranged brother, Louisa – his wife and Melissa, his manipulative daughter.

Through these characters Haddon plays a week in the book, moving between each character – almost as swiftly as paragraph to the next. The book gave me the ever-changing, fascinating and the feeling that I was looking through a looking glass. The eight of them have their own secrets, longings and resentments which only make them as human as you and I. The writing zips in montages and sometimes it becomes difficult to figure who is carrying the baton, though once you get used to the writing, it isn’t difficult to figure.

The language and symbolism is weaved very well for a story of a dysfunctional family. In some parts, it almost reminded me of Faulkner’s, “The Sound and the Fury”, however those parts were rare. As a reader, you are left with many questions of the families’ future at the end of the book, but I guess that’s a great job done for the writer, if his/her readers are still thinking about the characters, way after the book has been devoured.

The Red House by Mark Haddon is a rollercoaster of emotions and all it works surprisingly well and all adds up at the end of the book. I would definitely and most certainly recommend this read for the long summer weekend that comes up.

Affiliate Link:

Buy The Red House from Flipkart.com

Book Review: Phantom by Jo Nesbo

Title: Phantom
Author: Jo Nesbo
Publisher: Harvill Secker, Random House UK
ISBN: 978-1846555220
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages: 400
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

Everyone who was a Swedish crime writer came to front after Stieg Larsson. Stieg’s entry in the popular crime fiction stream through the highly popular Millennium Trilogy paved way for all of them. One of the writers being Jo Nesbo, for which I am glad and thankful.

I have read all the Harry Hole (Nesbo’s protagonist and major detective) novels and been thoroughly entertained by all of them. When I got the opportunity to review Nesbo’s latest Harry Hole novel, “Phantom”, I was ecstatic. Phantom is a riveting read (like most of his earlier books), tightly plotted and fast-paced. The proverbial, never a dull moment is most appropriate to this book.

Harry Hole returns to his home city. Oslo has changed. The drug task force has been successful in erasing the heroin problem from the city. A new drug menace has risen and it’s been delivered by a completely faceless and ruthless gang. The Eastern Europeans are there to stay and aren’t taking no for an answer. Oslo has also had a facelift in its structure. The dirt exists, only needs to be dug deep.

Harry is back and is not wanted or needed anymore. His former girlfriend Rakael’s son Oleg is in trouble. Arrested for murder of his friend Gusto (barely a young boy) and involved with the new drug gang. Harry but of course has taken it on him to save Oleg and find out the real murderer. At the same time, the new gang and the old one do not want Harry alive. It is where the action starts.

The threads are well-connected throughout the book. The book is not cluttered by the over-complication that existed in the earlier books. More so Don Bartlett has provided a brilliant translation keeping in mind Harry’s jokes and the underbelly of Oslo and its description as Nesbo would have originally written.

Phantom’s strength is that it can be a standalone book and readers do not have to refer to the previous Harry Hole books to make sense of what is happening. It is however great to start reading about this detective and what he does right from the beginning to get more perspective. Nesbo’s writing as usual hits the sweet spot of crime and mystery. Phantom is somewhat bleak and realistic portrayal of the drug culture and its impact. The book has clever twists and does not get sentimental, which could have been the danger. It is a captivating read for sure. Top-Drawer.

Affiliate Link:

Buy Phantom from Flipkart.com

Book Review Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Title Fifty Shades of Grey
Author: E.L. James
Publisher: Arrow Books, Random House UK
ISBN: 978-0-09-957993-9
Pages: 514
Genre: Fiction, Erotic Fiction
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3.5/5

BDSM stories are not my cup of tea – somehow the entire concept doesn’t appeal to me (quite traditional in that matter). However I really enjoyed E.L. James’, “Fifty Shades of Grey”. I came across the book through the people at Random House India and somehow it turned out to be a racy and an entertaining read.

The book is much talked about and has created quite a stir; and this is my view on it. Fifty Shades of Grey is about Anastasia Steele, who is a few weeks away from earning her degree at Washington State University. When her roommate Kate gets sick with the flu, Ana volunteers to take her place to do an interview with the illustrious Seattle CEO Christian Grey (but obviously that’s where the title comes from). When Ana meets Grey she senses a spark, so much so that she has to keep her cool around him. When Christian shows up a couple of days later Ana feels that he might also share the same attraction and then wards the idea.

Christian on the other hand is a private and suave man, keeping pretty much to himself. He has no qualms going after what he wants and all he wants is Ana. He has a dark secretive need to dominate. A contract is signed up and she knows about his need. The game begins. The relationship between the Dom and the Sub starts, leading to a very surprising conclusion.

So the premise is interesting. I liked most parts of the book. The sexual awakening is captured in a believable manner. The attraction between the two is raging and intense and that’s the idea of the book, otherwise how else would the BDSM angle be so intense. It is a dark and addictive story (with the usual and quite predictable parts) and character driven, which works best for this kind of a book.

Now to what I did not like about the book: Like I said some parts were predictable, which I read in other books and that was that. The sex scenes are sometimes more laughable than erotic. Having said that, the book is racy and mpoakes you turn the pages as quick as possible. The writing is okay. E.L. James has created quite a series (I am sure the next two would be as quick) considering it is her first attempt at writing fiction. I would say one can read this book and one should however may be borrow it before owning it. I would read the other parts – Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed just to know how it all ends though.

Affiliate Link:

Buy Fifty Shades of Grey (Book – 1) from Flipkart.com

Book Review: Coltrane by Paolo Parisi

Title: Coltrane
Author: Paolo Parisi
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
ISBN: 978-0224094108
Genre: Graphic Novels, Biography
Pages: 128
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4/5

John Coltrane is probably one of the best saxophone players who ever lived and performed and yet when music enthusiasts speak of Jazz they conveniently forget him. I had almost forgotten how much I loved his music till I started reading the very-well capsulated and drawn graphic novel of his life by Paolo Parisi.

I believe that if you are setting to capture an artist’s life through a graphic novel, it isn’t enough sometimes. You need more than graphics to do justice to the artist and his or her life. However, while reading Coltrane, I did not feel that way at all. Paolo Parisi has done a great job of telling the story of one of the greatest Jazz musicians beautifully – from his humble beginnings of a deprived childhood in North Carolina to his journey and stumbles along the way in form of drugs, a broken marriage and a successful second one to his solo recordings and his name high up there with the legends such as Miles Davis (who he started working with coincidentally). The book but obviously ends with his death due to liver cancer.

All of this in the book is layered with quotes from interviews and articles with Coltrane, Malcolm X (in whose movement Coltrane was highly involved), to the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church by the Klu Klux Clan (to whose victims Coltrane then dedicated a song).

The book worked for me as I wanted to know more about Coltrane’s life. About the artist who constantly broke boundaries in his music and was not afraid to experiment. Parisi through his writing bows to that musical genius by converting his life to a graphic novel. Or maybe at some level it is easier and more accessible for people who don’t have the patience to read biographies anymore. The book interestingly is also divided into four parts that mirror Love Supreme’s four parts: Acknowledgment, Resolution, Pursuance and Psalm.

At the end of it all, Parisi provides a simple and yet emotional insight to one of the greatest artists’ who ever lived. Read this one while listening to Coltrane’s music. It has quite a mesmerizing effect. Here is Love Supreme for you:

Affiliate Link:

Buy Coltrane from Flipkart.com

Book Review: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Norrmal? by Jeanette Winterson

Title: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
Author: Jeanette Winterson
Publisher: Jonathan Cape, Random House UK
ISBN: 978-0-224-09345-3
Genre: Autobiography, Non-Fiction
Pages: 230
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

We think we know life and what it has in store for us. We like to predict. We feel safe in its outcome. We pattern it for ourselves and intend to stick to the pattern. And then there are some for who life doesn’t quite work out that way and they then chronicle stories we read and want more. Jeanette Winterson is one such writer, who I admire a lot and she has grown to be my favourite writer ever since I can remember. I vividly recall the first time I read, “Written on the Body” and re-read it several times, because I wanted to feel alive and it helped me feel that way. It is one of those books I will never ever forget. It had an impact and continues to.

“Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?” was a question posed by Jeanette Winterson’s adoptive mother, when at sixteen Jeanette decided to leave home and study, and more so to be with her girlfriend, that her adoptive mother disapproved of. The title of her autobiography is the same.

I started reading this book two days ago and I have been taken on a rollercoaster ride with it. From Jeanette’s adoptive process to the conditions in which she was brought up – yearning for love, deprived of books (and reading them on the sly), left outside on the porch for doing or saying something inappropriate and not been given a chance to live to the freedom she snatched with both hands on leaving home, this book makes you wonder. A lot actually. About what home means and the sense of longing that prevails throughout life if you haven’t felt at home. The book towards the last few chapters also talks about Jeanette’s search of her real parents and the emotional ride through it all.

The fact that Mrs. Winterson (the foster mother), a woman of alarming eccentricity and neglectful cruelty believes that Jeanette was a child to whose crib Mrs. Winterson was led by the Devil and not God is enough to give the reader an inkling of the author’s growing years. Mrs. Winterson dreamed of the Apocalypse and the Second Coming, which Jeanette used as material for her first book, “Oranges are not the Only Fruit” beautifully. And then there were small joys – of the beach holiday she took with her parents, the kindness of the local librarian and of her English teacher Mrs. Ratlow, who took her in when she was left out, make you think about life and its adversities and the power of words that can make everything alright.

I could connect to this book on so many levels – from the time Ms. Winterson talks about books to love (about wanting to be love and not knowing how to love) to the confusion in her head to the clarity, I was enthralled by this book. It made me laugh. It made me cry. I will definitely go back to it again. Sink in its words. That’s the only way to love a book. Read it again. Read it the first time.

Affiliate Link:

Buy Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? from Flipkart.com

Book Review: The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes

Title: The Death-Ray
Author: Daniel Clowes
Publisher: Jonathan Cape, Random House UK
ISBN: 978-0224094115
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 48
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

Daniel Clowes never ceases to amaze me with his graphic novels. He is brilliant and while I say that for most authors who I read, Mr. Clowes is truly the master of graphic storytelling. I remember reading, ‘Ghost Girl’ with such fascination when I first laid my hands on it and then I was marveled by, ‘Wilson’, only to be enthralled by his latest book, ‘The Death-Ray’.

‘The Death-Ray’ focuses on Andy, a lonely boy growing up in the 70s who has one friend and is being raised by his grandfather who is likely to develop Alzheimer’s. One day while smoking a cigarette by chance, Andy discovers that nicotine activates his super-powers where he gains super strength. Coupled with that is his father’s legacy – a handheld, “death ray” that can eliminate people. This turns Andy from being an awkward teen to having the power of life and death in his hand.

The book follows the story of Andy and his friend Louie as they try to find their place in the world. They go through their phases – of picking on bullies, on people who do wrong and people who according to them deserve the death-ray experience. The plot is simple, but things get complex and more difficult to understand when Andy grows up. There was a point in time when I felt bad for Andy and his way of life, however then I realized that some people are just made for this – to go through life, pass by and experience it.

There are no spoilers in the review as the book needs to be experienced by readers. The writing is strong and Daniel Clowes as always touches upon the themes of loneliness and angst in a surreal manner. The Death-Ray is one of the best Graphic novels I have read this year. Read it!

Affiliate Link:

Buy The Death Ray from Flipkart.com