Book Review: The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick

Title: The Shawl
Author: Cynthia Ozick
Publisher: Vintage Books
ISBN: 978-0-679-72926-7
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 70
Source: Library
Rating: 5/5

The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick is one of those books that will not let go once you have read it. It is a collection of two inter-linked stories and the impact they will have on any reader is heart-wrenching and stupendous.

The Shawl consists of two stories, “The Shawl” and “Rosa”. The title story is of a woman named Rosa and the death of her child Magda in a concentration camp, at the hands of a guard, due to her niece Stella. The second story – shows the appearance of Rosa, thirty years later in a Miami Hotel as a madwoman and scavenger, remembering what she can of her child.

In both these stories, the shawl is a key element, binding them and reflecting on the times lived – before and after. The Shawl grabs your attention from page one and doesn’t let go. Ozick also beautifully represents the immigrant element through English as a Second Language medium in the second story. She also looks at the complexities of language, class and identity in the Jewish community through these stories.

What I found most amazing was the fact that so much could be said in a mere seventy page book. Sometimes one doesn’t need more words to express the emotion. Rosa is a bitter, psychologically fractured and a woman who doesn’t need anything from anyone. She just wants to be left alone to her madness and that doesn’t seem to happen.

Cynthia Ozick’s writing shines on every page. The book is not an easy read, considering the subject; however Ms. Ozick does not shy away from describing the period of horror, and its impact, even thirty years on. In essence, it is so true, that experiences never let go and Rosa is a befitting example of this.

The Shawl is not a read for the faint-hearted. Like I said Ozick doesn’t mince her words. She is direct. The book makes you wonder: Does the past really leave you or not? The book is just an exquisite tale of human suffering. A cautious read. I recommend it only to those who are interested in something like this.

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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.

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Book Review: The Sense of Sight by John Berger

Title: The Sense of Sight
Author: John Berger
Publisher: Vintage USA
ISBN: 978-0-679-73722-3
Genre: Non-Fiction, Art Criticism
Pages: 300
Source: Personal Copy
Rating: 5/5

When John Berger writes something and you read it, it is nothing but poetry in prose and sometimes even his non-fiction woks stand out even more so. I was introduced to John Berger by chance and thank god for that “by chance” moment or else I would have never known the beauty of his works and he would never have become an integral writer in my life.

“The Sense of Sight” is a collection of essays by him – on the visual aspects of our world. The way we see things, perceive them and ultimately judge what we see. John Berger traces what vision means to us and its importance to see things differently, from paintings to rivers to dreams being a vision and how that amalgamates with the world surrounding us.

With art criticism in tow, he speaks of other things as well – politics, love, food, class, travel and immigration, dreaming, passion, art as an activity, feasts, Van Gogh’s compulsion to bring his canvas and reality together to what two self-portraits of an unrivalled artist speak of art.

Berger writes with fervor and brilliance. Art in his words become something else altogether. There are stories hidden in these essays and the reader only has to look for them and that is good for a reader. This book bridges the gap between seeing and the spoken. The writing is intense and just there for the reader to assimilate. Berger has a neutral view to art and everything else under the sun, and that is why one can relate to what he writes. His range is vast and that helps in the book not getting monotonous or lame at any point of time.

The Sense of Sight may not be a book for everyone however if you are interested about art and life, then maybe you should pick it up.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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:

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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!

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Book Review: I Knew You’d Be Lovely: Stories by Alethea Black

Title: I Knew You’d Be Lovely: Stories
Author: Alethea Black
Publisher: Broadway Paperbacks, Random House
ISBN: 9780307886033
Genre: Fiction, Short Stories
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

I Knew You’d Be Lovely is a beautiful collection of 13 short stories, written in a magical manner by Alethea Black. The reason I call this collection magical is that it is written from the heart and one can relate to almost all stories. The stories centre on love, communication, longing, fathers, sons, families, loss and the need to not be alone. I Knew you’d Be Lovely is a wonderful collection of short stories that one can read over and over again.

When I started reading short stories, I was very young and over a period of time I have come to realize the importance of this craft. Alethea Black does it effortlessly. The stories get you in a real tight emotional spot at times and that like I said is their beauty.

The collection starts off with, “That of which we cannot Speak” which is centered on two people who meet at a party for the first time, only to realize how important communication is or isn’t. This story is followed by, “The Only Way Out is through” which delicately explores the relationship between a father and his teenage son. “Good in a Crisis” is about a young woman and her need to find love – the search which takes her to an unexpected place. There are ten other stories in the book which are equally wondrous and make the reader think a lot about the human condition.

My personal favourite is, “Mollusk makes a Comeback” which is about a day gone wrong in the already bad phase of Katie’s life and how she hopes and wishes for a better day. I felt I could relate most to the story and what Alethea Black was trying to communicate.

I Knew You’d Be Lovely is a brilliant collection of short stories. The kind that deserves your time and attention and emotions. The kind that you read with a mug of hot chocolate and long after you have finished it, think, think about it.

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I Knew You’d Be Lovely

Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Publisher: Harvill Secker, Random House UK
ISBN: 978-1846555244
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction
Pages: 400
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5/5

I am not the one who would willingly read novels from the fantasy genre. Somehow fantasy and I don’t go together. However, when I received a copy of The Night Circus, I knew this book was unlike any other fantasy book. In fact, I would say it charmed the pants off me. The Night Circus is a breath-taking book and I cannot help but gush and rant about it. It is that brilliant.

The story follows Marco and Celia, two young children pitted against each other by their older and clearly vaguely amoral guardians. A game is set up, a game to which the rules are unclear and the winner can take decades to determine.

These two young people are raised unconventionally, studying magic under their tutors’ philosophies, all the while knowing there will be a competition between the two of them some day. Enter impresario Chandresh Lefèvre, who has imagined something wondrous. He explains:

“More than a circus, really, like no circus anyone has ever seen. Not a single large tent but a multitude of tents, each with a particular exhibition. No elephants or clowns. No, something more refined than that. Nothing commonplace. This will be different, this will be an utterly unique experience, a feast for the senses. Theatrics sans theater, an immersive entertainment. We will destroy the presumptions and preconceived notions of what a circus is and make it something else entirely, something new.”

Their arena? But of course the Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams). But the plot focuses on more than just the battle between these two (which involves snow gardens, wishing trees and mazes) it looks at the dynamics of all the relationships that exist as a result of this game; and the effect the game has on the wellbeing of the characters.

Some characters flourish within the confines of the circus whilst others go decidedly downhill, struggling with the concept that their lives do not fully belong to them, that they are being manipulated in ways they could never have imaged. Poppet and Widget were by far my favourite characters, children of the Night Circus, they are gifted and not entirely what you would expect from normal children. I loved the way Bailey was fitted into the plot; it was subtle and very elegant.

The circus, it is said, “arrives without warning.” Not so this novel. There have been all kinds of pre-pub buzz and hype for this title. There’s a reason; this book is so special that almost all who read it take note. Ms. Morgenstern’s tale transcended the page and brought true enchantment to my oh-so-ordinary life. As it happens, one of the characters could be speaking for the author herself:

“I find I think of myself not as a writer so much as someone who provides a gateway, a tangential route for readers to reach the circus. To visit the circus again, if only in their minds, when they are unable to attend it physically. I relay it through printed words on crumpled newsprint, words they can read again and again, returning to the circus whenever they wish, regardless of time of day or physical location. Transporting them at will.”.

It’s amazing that this is Morgenstern’s first novel, the writing is haunting and fanciful; befitting of such an enigmatic circus. She handles the descriptions of the various circus tents and acts beautifully, it is never monotonous hearing about the circus, in fact, I wish she’d publish a whole separate book outlining each and every detail. She ties all the elements together with a grace that seems effortless.

Some have compared The Night Circus with Audrey Niffenegger and yes, I can see slight similarities given that both authors are visual artists. Others mention Alice Hoffman and yes, I can see some elements in common but Erin Morgenstern has created a unique world with the Cirque de Rêves and for those who are on the right wavelength she has provided a pathway to a singularly enchanting universe, one in which my inner child revelled. Highly recommended for all “reveurs”/dreamers.

Here is the gorgeous book trailer:

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