Category: Fiction

  • 1984

    George Orwell

    Winston Smith thinks it is 1984, but it could be 2050, for all you know, for all you know is controlled by Big Brother. For as the book constantly reminds us “He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.” An amazing dystopian novel that explores how an oligarchical society can completely control the minds and actions of large masses of humanity over a seemingly endless period of time.

    Winston Smith, the protagonist, is a bureaucrat working in the ‘Ministry of Truth’ in London, chief city of Airstrip One, a province of Oceania. Winston’s bob in the Records Department is to revise historical records to match the Party’s current stance on people, events etc. As he edits the past to match the present, he also maintains a secret diary in which he records his dissent against the party and its policies. This, according to the party is ThoughtCrime, and if he’s caught by the Thought Police, he would be executed. As he himself notes, ‘ThoughtCrime IS death.’. In a world where telescreens watch every movement and children are trained to spy on everyone, including their parents, to detect ThoughtCrime, Winston lives dangerously.

    Winston’s life changes when he falls in love with Julia, they carry on a clandestine love affair (that’s a crime too) in their love nest in a ‘prole’ (proletarian) neighbourhood, where they believe telescreens are not watching them. They then come into contact with an inner party official, who they believe belongs to The Brotherhood, which works against Big Brother.

    The novel is dystopian, and there’s no happy ending. It works on at least two levels levels – the obvious dangers of totalitarian societies, and the working of the human mind and its perception of reality.

    An amazing book, and well deserving of its classic status.

  • The Time Traveler’s Wife

    Audrey Niffenegger

    It is easy to treat this book as a simple love story, with the added twist of time travel, but it goes much beyond that, and in that lies the magic. The love story of Henry DeTamble and Clare, who meet when when she is six and he is thirty six, though he’s only elder to her by eight years. They get married when she’s twenty two and he’s thirty.

    That doesn’t even begin to describe the story of a man, whose genetic disorder causes him to time travel unpredictably. So, without warning, he finds himself disappearing from his present and appearing in some time in the past or the future, stark naked. It is only his love for Clare that keeps him going as they try to lead a normal life.

    If it had continued this way, it would just be a good story, what actually makes it a wonderful read is the wonderful way the climax has been developed. Sadness, hope and an appreciation for things that really matter. (the last matches my perspective)

    I wouldn’t consider science fiction and romance a natural pairing, and so, the author must be credited for blending it superbly. While these two are definitely the themes, the sheer lack of control in two lives which so desperately want to be together, makes one ask deeper questions on the nature of life and human existence.

  • Paperback Raita

    William Rhode

    Joshua King’s father dies of a viagra overdose and in his will, states that his son would inherit a fortune if he wrote a bestseller. Josh is of course, busy bumming around in India, clueless about what to do with his life, and doesn’t particularly like being forced to have a purpose. But the money is tempting, and so Josh sets out on the job.

    This premise ensures that the entire book/ parts of it can be seen in meta – though Josh is writing it in the first person, it might as well be completely his imagination at work. As Josh himself states, quite a few times, the book has it all – “drugs, diamonds, exotic locations, sexy girl, the plan that goes horribly wrong”. Add to this some deceit, a few doses of how media makes stories and a sprinkling of philosophy, and you have a reasonably good read in your hands.

    I’d say that Josh is tripping on life in general, and India in particular. In addition to the familiar stereotypes, there are also thinly veiled inspirations – Faizad Gerstad, the drug peddling film director, Dowdy Ibrahim – the mafia warlord, to name a few.

    A roller coaster ride – from Bombay’s party and ‘Boom Shankar’ circuit to its grimy street life and then a roadtrip to the deserts of Rajasthan, its definitely fantastical, and though you can easily guess the end, it keeps your attention.

  • Jet City Woman

    Ankush Saikia

    The name of the book, inspired by the Queensryche song, would suggest a female protagonist. In a sense there is one, but the narrator is a young student from Shillong, who arrives in Delhi in the second half of the 90s. While the story revolves around the eternal theme of love and longing, the uniqueness that’s brought in through the ethnicity of the narrator and the inherent simplicity in which the tale is told, makes it an interesting read.

    Delhi almost seems like a character in the book, and the influence of Shillong on the life and attitudes of the narrator and his friends is also evident. The timeframe the story is set in, allows the dot com boom and bust, and the beginning of the BPO era to serve as backdrops. The subtle way in which the author points out the diversity among people in the North East, and their perspective on the way the rest of the nation deals with them, is also praiseworthy.

    While the story primarily deals with the narrator’s relationship with Naina – a girl with a mysterious past, it also portrays two diverse personalities. The narrator is a small town boy, trying to make sense of life in a large city, and amidst the parties and the night drives, is grappling with the larger questions of his life ahead, still anchored to his hometown and the way of life there. The girl he is strangely attracted to – Naina, who refuses to divulge details of her past, wants to cut away from it, and moves ahead with a speed that leaves people close to her perplexed and lost.

    Like I mentioned, the book has a simplicity that appeals immensely, the joys and apprehensions of the narrator is something that is easy to relate to. Laced with occasional humour and Floyd lyrics, this book is worth a read.

  • First Proof 2: The Penguin Book of New Writing

    The second edition of Penguin’s annual anthology, this one has poetry in addition to fiction and non-fiction.
    There are 11 works of non fiction, though some of them, I thought, would have made more sense in the fiction set!! My favourite would have to be Arunava Sinha’s “Apna Desh, Apna Blog”, the evolution of a blog and the blogger, more so because I could easily identify with it. His wit is evident not just from the piece, but also in the ‘Notes on contributors’. Dilip D’Souza’s “Night in the city”, ‘an ordinary Bombay story’ is also a good read, that reflects not just contemporary society, but also its sense of law and justice.

    “Roy’s quest”, by Samrat Choudhury is a cute read about a schoolboy’s crush. “Family”, by Salman Haidar and “Delhi’s last conquerors”, by Ranjana Sengupta give us great glimpses of history.

    A dozen works of fiction, and picking a favourite in this section is more difficult. So we’ll go in the order of appearance. “Karim”, by Anushka Ravishankar is an excellent take on organised religion, and its effects on daily lives, as seen from a child’s perspective. “An Indian Porn director’s speech to his hesitant leading lady”, by Altaf Tyrewala is bizarrely hilarious. “Luck” by Dhruba Hazarika is also an interesting read about a pigeon called Luck and the changes it brings about in its owner’s life. “Stupid”, by Sonia Faleiro is another good read with a neat pragmatic/cynical/sad ending.

    If I had to choose a favourite, it would be C.Sriram’s “A matter of faith”, which deals with the mystery of existence, and how we adapt it in accordance with our own needs. “Mrs. Anand”, by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar is a touching piece that captures the different roles that a woman plays in a family and society, the losses she quietly accepts, and the brief moments of understanding from another person that allows her to give in to her grief and shed a few tears. The last work of fiction is from Kanishk Tharoor (yep, not a very common surname 🙂 ), its interesting in a unique way.

    You’ll have to look elsewhere for the poetry review, because that’s something I’ve never been able to relate to.