tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73017523332455584292024-03-18T21:23:14.330+01:00Astute"The acceptance that all that is solid has melted into the air, that reality and morality are not givens but imperfect human constructs, is the point from which fiction begins." - Sir Salman RushdieAnirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.comBlogger297125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-11670410197212516342024-03-18T21:22:00.002+01:002024-03-18T21:22:30.985+01:00Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq016jSUeo5df6CXlY192uG2mKgi6pLws4-wT9dgP7ONk9tTTaN0-EmMb1zk6Rd-eirdfaXv_M25vqbLaiPxKXDNiPiXN7kp0NRevxqknSBIW6vA5jB0bXQ63KOrChK7eSxu2FaLUyDg7NxVOMK9TRVpabd_L_GxJD6qRoL0Ll5d_3fNJW2oHpGnAY/s1870/Open%20Water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1870" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq016jSUeo5df6CXlY192uG2mKgi6pLws4-wT9dgP7ONk9tTTaN0-EmMb1zk6Rd-eirdfaXv_M25vqbLaiPxKXDNiPiXN7kp0NRevxqknSBIW6vA5jB0bXQ63KOrChK7eSxu2FaLUyDg7NxVOMK9TRVpabd_L_GxJD6qRoL0Ll5d_3fNJW2oHpGnAY/s320/Open%20Water.jpg" width="205" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">‘Two young people meet at a pub in
South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private
schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists -- he a
photographer, she a dancer -- trying to make their mark in a city that by turns
celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two
people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and
violence.</span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">At once an achingly
beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity, Open Water
asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black
body, to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength, to find safety
in love, only to lose it. With gorgeous, soulful intensity, Caleb Azumah Nelson
has written the most essential British debut of recent years.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Open Water is the first novel
written by Caleb Azumah Nelson, featuring a love story between two young black
man and woman in the UK, the former being a photographer and the latter being a
dancer. While the man is based in London, the woman is studying in Dublin and
only gets to meet the ‘narrator’ occasionally. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The narration is done in an
interesting manner – wherein, it is from the second person perspective and
every time the narrator (the man) is referred to as ‘you’, it helps the reader
to better put oneself in their shoes and imagine their perspectives. While we
could read about inherent prejudices against a dark-skinned person in the UK,
it was a different experience of oneself being that person, while reading this
book. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That said, I also understood that
the book is a tad autobiographical, given the author’s own British-Ghanian
ancestry, with the narrator being a British man of Ghanian heritage as well.
Moreover, the main character lives in Bellingham in South East London, similar
to the author himself. Hence, reading the ‘about the author’ before starting
the book can be a good idea. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There were also certain themes that
were analysed – the intimacy between the two main characters and the doubts
they had over the state of their relationship. Also, while there have been
several books written about ethnic minorities facing discrimination, here, both
the main characters were leading normal lives, while the author touched upon
the subtle aspects of struggles of a black person in the UK, including the narrator
having a traumatic episode which he does not wish to talk about. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The author adopted a poetic approach
and between the two main characters, several of the conversations were
interesting. Despite the small size of the novel, I would say this was still a
slow read given you had to take your time to absorb all the contents of the
book. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That said, this being a novella was
an issue as well, given the author superficially touched upon many aspects but
could never go deep. We know deeply about ‘you’, the narrator, but again, I
would have liked to explore more on what event led to his trauma. The other
character who had some level of mention was his partner, but we got to know
very little about her as well. Maybe this could have been a longer novel but
surely, this was a good start which encourages me to try other works of the author.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On that note, I award the book a
rating of seven on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating –
7/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a
nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-27560511439528202772024-03-06T23:47:00.001+01:002024-03-06T23:47:12.233+01:00Talking to my Daughter by Yanis Varoufakis – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH9sa79ulCpUKcRWgcIiE6EbjzoOEKH7KejCRusgnoveQjsKPkFprquGx2k-0nuMh1R8rQ-CfVnzWziXCTJp1LzlQSq_tz65V8Ab0WfXsFQKtIa4-isSllb-GoHSygoiOVe-wMV9tpkRIpfhvM6PHLfZM7T5HZ4w9UhwsMveHfSWag5TTYd35NalzW/s1000/Talking%20to%20my%20daughter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="603" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH9sa79ulCpUKcRWgcIiE6EbjzoOEKH7KejCRusgnoveQjsKPkFprquGx2k-0nuMh1R8rQ-CfVnzWziXCTJp1LzlQSq_tz65V8Ab0WfXsFQKtIa4-isSllb-GoHSygoiOVe-wMV9tpkRIpfhvM6PHLfZM7T5HZ4w9UhwsMveHfSWag5TTYd35NalzW/s320/Talking%20to%20my%20daughter.jpg" width="193" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><u>Publisher’s
write-up:</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>'Why is there so much inequality?' asked Xenia to her
father. Answering her questions in a series of accessible and tender letters,
Varoufakis educates her to what economics and capitalism is and why it is so
dangerous.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Taking from memories of her childhood and a variety of well-known tales -
from Oedipus and Faust to Frankenstein and The Matrix - Varoufakis turns
Talking To My Daughter into an enjoyable and engaging read, without ever shying
from the harder truths. Greece's former finance minister explains everything
you need to know to understand why economics is the most important drama of our
times.</i><br />
<br />
<i>In answering his daughter's deceptively simple questions, Varoufakis
disentangles our troubling world with remarkable clarity and child-like
honesty, as well as inspiring us to make it a better one.’<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Talking
to my Daughter is a brief history of capitalism written by the former finance
minister of Greece, Yanis Varoufakis. This is presented as him answering
question of his teenage daughter currently living in Australia, as to why there
is so much inequality in the world, and explains capitalism and economics in a
way in which she, and a lot of others without a background in economics could
understand. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The
author begins this like any other standard economics book talking about how the
early societies used barter, and the eventual invention of agriculture which
created a need for a medium of exchange and also laws related to land
ownership. The author tries to address several problems including social,
historical and economic problems, where he starts by answering why the
Australian aborigines did not go about colonising Europe. I would not evaluate
the anthropological merits of his argument, but he brings it down to the
economy, how Europe’s creation of surplus demanded a constant need for more
markets and more people to sell. He then goes on to explain several present-day
situations – such as debt, and also the question of unemployment. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I
must give the disclaimer that how one is going to receive the book is largely
going to depend on the political convictions of an individual and I would
disclose that Yanis Varoufakis is someone whom I agree with more than I
disagree. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To
me, I felt the book was structured well, which is something that most could
agree on regardless of one’s political alignment – given how it talked about
how society was initially structured, some of the most basic problems we face,
how the markets are formed, and also other crises like unemployment (and
challenging the very idea that some consider this to be a ‘myth’). There were
also several very well-known references to Greek mythology and also famous
films such as The Matrix. That said, given that this is an English translation,
and though the examples would be very evident to a Western audience, I think
the translator should have added footnotes to some of the references given
works in English are also read even outside the anglosphere. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Moreover,
I find personally as an economics graduate and finance professional, that some
of what he explains are the same problems that populists fall under – especially
his explanation of the central bank – that one tries to oversimplify an
actually complex concept (such as monetary easing for instance or banks
creating ‘value out of thin air’) and discredit the whole system altogether.
One could have a reasonable debate on the validity of such a system or whether
it needs a total overhaul as is suggested by the author but oversimplification
might not convey the message that is intended. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To
conclude, this book is a decent start to those who wish to learn more about the
economy and the evolution and criticism of capitalism. However, certain
concepts that are complex, need not have been touched upon rather than giving a
misleading and oversimplified version. On that note, I award the book a rating
of six on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 6/10<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day, <br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-69170851563571425172024-03-06T16:16:00.001+01:002024-03-06T16:16:11.608+01:00All is Silence by Manuel Rivas – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtK3L9CKNSs4XvjF7sFlk8QbqLl4YfQZPvjG8lGv0kkyOPl3E3-RzFW-g5nFffIWOkYGmix2NM0syijWKLkhrr3qn25nFdgDEvHO1FCW4pMwGC9PhZAoQ8um0_ROKgSAc6ZZeSRpT40bkTdPZ9xSK_1qFL696rzV_e3s41rZ6ZaVx9LSKZcwZHH_5G/s1000/Tout%20est%20silence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="661" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtK3L9CKNSs4XvjF7sFlk8QbqLl4YfQZPvjG8lGv0kkyOPl3E3-RzFW-g5nFffIWOkYGmix2NM0syijWKLkhrr3qn25nFdgDEvHO1FCW4pMwGC9PhZAoQ8um0_ROKgSAc6ZZeSRpT40bkTdPZ9xSK_1qFL696rzV_e3s41rZ6ZaVx9LSKZcwZHH_5G/s320/Tout%20est%20silence.jpg" width="212" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><u><span lang="EN-US">Publisher’s write-up:</span></u></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Fins and Brinco are best friends, and they both adore the wild and
beautiful Leda. The three young friends spend their days exploring the dunes
and picking through the treasures that the sea washes on to the shores of
Galicia. One day, as they are playing in the abandoned school on the edge of
the village, they come across treasure of another kind: a huge cache of whisky
hidden under a sheet. But before they can exploit their discovery a shot rings
out, and a man wearing an impeccable white suit and panama hat enters the room.
That day they learn the most important lesson of all, that the mouth is for
keeping quiet.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Note: The book is originally in Galician, I read its French
translation. <i><a href="https://lastute.blogspot.com/2024/03/tout-est-silence-de-manuel-rivas-avis.html" target="_blank">Cliquez ici pour lire mon avis en français</a><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">All is Silence is a Galician novel from the Spanish author Manuel
Rivas, who is known for promoting works of literature in Galician. In this
book, he tells the story of a small village in Galicia called Noitia, which is
under the control of the patriarch of the village – Mariscal; who controls the
village’s contraband economy. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">The story starts by recalling the friendship between three
youngsters – Fins, Leda and Brinco and follows their path of growing up. Leda
and Brinco follow the patron of the village Mariscal by entering the drug trade
whereas Fins becomes a police officer. The story focuses on the change in their
life and the change in the village and Galicia at large given the impact of
globalisation, including in the drug trade. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">The description of the Galician landscape by the author was
beautiful, <a name="_Int_jTn2rJQJ">and also</a> thanks to the cover of the
French edition that I had (attached in this review), I could visualise the
village of Noitia, the city of La Coruña, the mountains and the sea. The author
also used several allusions, from Latin, French, Greek and also some Galician
folktales adding a poetic aspect to the writing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite the good writing and my journey through Galicia through his
words, a novel needs a plot to save itself. It is not often that I read 295
pages and at the end of it, I did not quite understand the story that the
author wanted to tell through this book. Manuel Rivas started by describing the
village and the three teenagers, introduced several characters immediately
without giving me time to absorb or understand any of them. I must say that the
write-up by my French publisher was excellent which immediately made me curious
to read the book, given it was an interesting premise with three close friends
from childhood, choosing a radically different path in a changing world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">We are given to know that Fins is a police officer but throughout
the plot, we never saw him carry out any investigation or even ask questions;
just took a few photos which had no impact on the plot. I got the impression
that Fins, Leda and Brinco were the main characters but the book had the
overwhelming presence of Mariscal all over. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">In any novel, the author tries to create a world and bring the
reader into this world. However, I found that Manuel Rivas kept the door locked
and kept the keys to himself that I could never enter this world. I would have
liked to extend a benefit of doubt, as to how much was lost in translation,
however, it is difficult for me to justify such a benefit of doubt given I can
understand losing certain nuances but not the whole plot altogether. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, it was a cumbersome read, which was still a well
written novel, just without any story to tell. I award the book a rating of
four on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 4/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Andy</span><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-87973866075245683562024-02-18T21:06:00.002+01:002024-02-18T21:06:28.794+01:00Millennial Vegan by Casey T Taft – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4A4eEf8hpOUMvi2vl8XRqx2KjCwRyyL3Qv_NKCOAZBmJJCW1ZoVKPCAq2ifv2FkvEli0TpHiQMYU-BxdqsRNtQCuaq5Yel9LV0HnNtkyE3jti0maGLCRKB4LiGNu8BsdgzZwDUpLSRGcnel2EGT0xxzooxL2v9P-fShJ8fa9UNMxX4fBe_J3VIKS/s1000/Millennial%20Vegan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="648" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM4A4eEf8hpOUMvi2vl8XRqx2KjCwRyyL3Qv_NKCOAZBmJJCW1ZoVKPCAq2ifv2FkvEli0TpHiQMYU-BxdqsRNtQCuaq5Yel9LV0HnNtkyE3jti0maGLCRKB4LiGNu8BsdgzZwDUpLSRGcnel2EGT0xxzooxL2v9P-fShJ8fa9UNMxX4fBe_J3VIKS/s320/Millennial%20Vegan.jpg" width="207" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Millennials, people between the ages of 15 and 34, make up nearly half
of the current vegan population. Despite being dealt a bad deal by prior
generations, this generation is increasingly able to see past all the ways our
society indoctrinates us to use nonhuman animals. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Millennial Vegan offers support to this important group by providing
tips for advocacy, strategies for communicating with unsupportive peers, advice
on issues related to dating, and information on maintaining personal wellbeing.
The movement for nonhuman animals depends on the support of millennials, and
this guide will help this already aware group maximize their ability to be the
best vegan advocates they can be.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Millennial Vegan is a book on navigating everyday life as a young vegan written
by the clinical psychologist Casey T Taft. This book deals with various aspects
of life that a young person would go through while being a vegan – be it with
parents, at school, facing bullying, or choosing relationships. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This book is split into chapters that are easy to navigate </span><span lang="EN-GB">and also deals with some of the most common questions that vegans face
– such as ‘how people get their proteins’ (a myth that has been debunked
several times), and also the bullying one might face in school as a result of
that. He also talks about the anger that one could have, given that being a
vegan, one has already seen several atrocities on non-human animals, and also
how the system is quite rigged against millennials, when it comes to the cost
of living or the price of property. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite the book
being well presented, I wonder whom the author was targeting and if he was
merely preaching to the choir, if this book was meant to be read only by people
who are already vegan. Moreover, I felt that the author used millennial interchangeably
with ‘teenager’ and I feel the latter and their parents would have been the
most appropriate target audience for this book. This is considering how the
author did not talk about dynamics at the workplace, social events as to how to
politely decline a non-vegan snack offered, or even bullying faced from adults.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">As a vegan
myself, to me it was an easy read but again, I was uncomfortable with the
author’s assumption that the only reason why any person becomes vegan is over
compassion for animals – while that is true of many; to me the clinching
argument was the environment and for many others, there could be several other
reasons – or a combination of many as not all of them are mutually exclusive
either. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, I
had an enjoyable, quick read, mostly content that I already agreed with and
could relate to many of the situations that the author spoke about, but it
could have tried to reach a wider audience. On that note, I award the book a rating
of six on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 6/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-10280273744696443462024-02-07T15:52:00.001+01:002024-02-07T15:52:13.905+01:00This is Vegan Propaganda by Ed Winters – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvSnmGrMq6jC3c8_4WdGjrPiC4IyQRhLiGY2FPUXXvh5gyXS7-9Ltcn9PS-229qS8vM-Hapjv0a8xyTxTqLo0-1nN08bllfEQh-h7wvlkm4v03HeqiFdWDnOE5qaaQbNYb4KO_FExhho6zw9XBngOGjX6krf8aUUeiEgr7ra8hsJ0V3hVlfE_0hgI/s2333/Vegan%20Propaganda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2333" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitvSnmGrMq6jC3c8_4WdGjrPiC4IyQRhLiGY2FPUXXvh5gyXS7-9Ltcn9PS-229qS8vM-Hapjv0a8xyTxTqLo0-1nN08bllfEQh-h7wvlkm4v03HeqiFdWDnOE5qaaQbNYb4KO_FExhho6zw9XBngOGjX6krf8aUUeiEgr7ra8hsJ0V3hVlfE_0hgI/s320/Vegan%20Propaganda.jpg" width="192" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Our choices
can help alleviate the most pressing issues we face today: the climate crisis,
infectious and chronic diseases, human exploitation and, of course, non-human
exploitation. Undeniably, these issues can be uncomfortable to learn about but
the benefits of doing so cannot be overstated. It is quite literally a matter
of life and death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Through
exploring the major ways that our current system of animal farming affects the
world around us, as well as the cultural and psychological factors that drive
our behaviours, This Is Vegan Propaganda answers the pressing question, is
there a better way?<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Whether you
are a vegan already or curious to learn more, this book will show you the other
side of the story that has been hidden for far too long. Based on years of
research and conversations with slaughterhouse workers and farmers, to animal
rights philosophers, environmentalists and everyday consumers, vegan educator
and public speaker Ed Winters will give you the knowledge to understand the
true scale and enormity of the issues at stake.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is Vegan
Propaganda is a book on the propaganda done by meat industry and the dairy
industry over the years, and other common arguments against vegan lifestyle,
argued and compiled by the vegan activist Ed Winters. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">He starts
explaining the environment he grew up in and his transition to veganism. He
then goes on to talk about the practices of the meat and dairy industry and why
for both moral and scientific reasons, one needs to embrace veganism. He goes
on to mention more in graphic detail as to what goes on when it comes to
treatment of animals, be it in slaughterhouses or dairy farms. There is also a
segment of the book, where he debunks the frequent arguments used by the meat
industry and the society at large, including the famous question of ‘how do you
get your protein?’, and much as he touches upon the arguments in this book, I
understand that he has written a whole book titled <i>How to argue with a meat
eater. </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The book is very
well researched and provides ample statistics (properly referenced to back his
claims). One might feel that his statistics are highly UK-centric, but that is
natural given that the writer is from there. Moreover, the tendency in our globalised
world is similar across, barring a few minor gaps. So, this book tries to
please various sides, those who are convinced by statistics or those who are
convinced by morals. I found some of the information quite interesting, for
instance, on the amount of land occupied by farms of soybeans (a common
argument against vegans) and it would only increase if we were to all go vegan;
even though, as of today, 80% of the soybeans are for consumption by farm
animals who are slaughtered later for their meat. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The aspect I was
not sure was whom the author was addressing. Given that I am a vegan, I am not
shocked by what the author has written nor are my personal choices put on trial
over here. But if the intention is to reach beyond the base, I felt the language
used by the author was too strong, at times – there are different schools of
thought as to whether that is necessary but, in my opinion, making people
guilty of their present-day choices is not going to work. It was particularly
hard to read the chapters of the book where he described in detail how
different animals are tortured by the meat and dairy industry. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, this
book could certainly help those in transition and as I mentioned earlier, that
I am vegan, I am also organiser of a vegan group where I am based, and we read
this book for a ‘book club event’. One of the participants remarked that they
were already a vegetarian but having read this book, decided to turn fully
vegan, giving up on dairy and eggs. However, more testimonies, especially from
those who are consuming a meat-based diet as of today, could help me judge this
aspect better. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, I
found this book informative and as aforementioned, could help those in
transition. However, for those who cannot read detailed write-ups on torture of
animals in the ‘factory farms’, those sections could be avoided. Considering
that, I would award the book a rating of seven on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Rating – 7/10</span></b><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,</span></span></b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Andy</span><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-42814536843077092082024-02-03T21:03:00.001+01:002024-02-03T21:03:11.558+01:00Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4RwxCKt3rbOlJ59sRiEpc5YpY4NvjMz_W7qWqkmanoFFsdKT1GzKYa7hi4YYRtuhuoPK0cSVe_lY3-79QWL0hi36UEiV003tiFqD0vTl_szTly5BGW-nXcZ2ET5G6YRoU7BqTxb_QlhaRSbt9k6_EK_iNbgcQiMkXgENSvO-WOXcTlFWR3wufSpC/s1000/entangled%20life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="672" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4RwxCKt3rbOlJ59sRiEpc5YpY4NvjMz_W7qWqkmanoFFsdKT1GzKYa7hi4YYRtuhuoPK0cSVe_lY3-79QWL0hi36UEiV003tiFqD0vTl_szTly5BGW-nXcZ2ET5G6YRoU7BqTxb_QlhaRSbt9k6_EK_iNbgcQiMkXgENSvO-WOXcTlFWR3wufSpC/s320/entangled%20life.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘The more we
learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them. They can change our
minds, heal our bodies and even help us avoid environmental disaster; they are
metabolic masters, earth-makers and key players in most of nature's processes.
In Entangled Life, Merlin Sheldrake takes us on a mind-altering journey into
their spectacular world, and reveals how these extraordinary organisms
transform our understanding of our planet and life itself.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fungi are ever
present – be it in the mushrooms we eat or the moulds that we find in bread or
furniture. However, the argument made by the biologist Merlin Sheldrake in his
book <i>Entangled Life </i>as to how fungi make our worlds and could even shape
the future. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fungi are in a
unique position between the plant and animal kingdoms, and towards the end of
the book, the author even evokes the question as to whether it is reasonable to
categorise all fungi under one category, which could be inappropriate (akin to
how not all animals in the water are ‘fish’). The author starts with the
phenomenon of lichens, the symbiosis between an algae and a fungi and how they
have eventually helped in taking organisms from sea to the land. Equally, he
also talks about intelligence of certain fungi and the networks that they
create, which could be as complex as that of the map of the Tokyo underground
metro. He also talks about humans’ relationship with fungi, be it consuming
mushrooms, using yeast for fermentation or enjoying truffles. The book <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The first four
chapters were insightful as well as interesting – I learnt a lot of new things
about fungi, given there are several words that I saw in this book that I had
never used after middle school biology. The book was also well researched,
given how the citations and notes were almost as long as the content in itself.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Having said
that, I felt that was also a problem of this book, given how I felt that till
the fourth chapter, it targeted at a general audience but after that, the level
of technical language in this book was significantly elevated that I was no
longer able to connect. I was still able to get a broad idea of what the author
was trying to express, but could not go into details. Moreover, given that I
presume the author wrote it for a general audience than members of his own
community of biologists, I would have preferred some amount of writing on the
regular mushrooms that we consume en masse over and above the detailed
discussions on several fancy fungi that the author had discussed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, I would say that this is a book that could be enjoyed a lot
by people who have a background in the subject, to the rest, you can get a
broad idea of what the author is talking about, but name-dropping several
technical terms without much explanation or citing names of scientists without
much explanation on what those scientists had done – was difficult to follow
(often redirected to research papers in the notes). I came out knowing more
about our world having read this book and that could make a case to say that
this book was interesting, but at the same time, owing to the writer’s
presentation, it also made it boring and a difficult read. On that note, I
would award the book a rating of five on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 5/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-32200552745406081932024-01-18T00:24:00.003+01:002024-01-18T00:32:30.754+01:00Paris isn’t dead yet by Cole Stangler – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSH_K4eq4N-x14T1d0d3SE4EdnAJM67hNC9TLzkA5Lp2RJoGW2tL_N0pwR2U454sW2aQXA0Vwz2W2tIoE-i0vfnkCHrSOzSMNuFzGTsIXJ44s5fRv8yZjMXBbP5eInVA5vG-9ITUjQvX6Z3jR7vggAft26vRWXYjeVUrZuewV3nymTlZvtngNUFFNC/s1000/Paris%20isnt%20dead%20yet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="623" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSH_K4eq4N-x14T1d0d3SE4EdnAJM67hNC9TLzkA5Lp2RJoGW2tL_N0pwR2U454sW2aQXA0Vwz2W2tIoE-i0vfnkCHrSOzSMNuFzGTsIXJ44s5fRv8yZjMXBbP5eInVA5vG-9ITUjQvX6Z3jR7vggAft26vRWXYjeVUrZuewV3nymTlZvtngNUFFNC/s320/Paris%20isnt%20dead%20yet.jpg" width="199" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘The Paris of
popular imagination is lined with cobblestone streets and stylish cafés, a
beacon for fashionistas and well-heeled tourists. But French American
journalist Cole Stangler, celebrated for his reporting on Paris and French
politics, argues that the beating heart of the City of Light lies elsewhere –
in the striving, working-class districts, where residents are now being priced
out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Paris Isn't
Dead Yet explores the past, present and future of the city through the lens of
class conflict, highlighting the outsized role of immigrants in shaping the
city's progressive, cosmopolitan and open-minded character – at a time when
politics nationwide can feel like they're shifting in the opposite direction.
This is the Paris many tourists too often miss: immigrant-heavy districts such
as the 18th arrondissement, where crowded street markets still define everyday
life. Stangler brings this view of the city to life, combining gripping,
street-level reportage, stories of today's working-class Parisians, recent
history and a sweeping analysis of the larger forces shaping the city.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Paris is often romanticised
in the media as this beautiful city, with the picturesque cafés on its streets,
the monuments, the museums, ad a city with a rich history of supporting writers
and artists from all over the world, be it Picasso or Hemingway. However, the
author of this book – <i>Paris isn’t Dead Yet</i>, the journalist Cole Stangler
– talks about the rapid gentrification of the city, while there were always
elitist arrondissements of Paris like the 16<sup>th</sup>, the city is slowly
losing its working-class population and is being increasingly dominated by
white-collared elites all across. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The author
starts with the present day, explaining the most diverse Parisian
arrondissement – the 18<sup>th</sup> which has Montmartre, atop which you have
the iconic Basilica Sacré Coeur, along with some of the cafés most frequented
by the tourists; but at the same time, a ten minute walk down the hill to
Boulevard Ornano completely changes this picture – taking us towards Goutte d’Or
in the 18<sup>th</sup>, a neighbourhood predominantly inhabited by working
class consisting mostly of immigrants from West African nations in the Sahel.
However, the author goes on to describe the changing situation here, wherein,
they are being outpriced by the significant increases of rent in Paris, and
also other costs, being pushed to suburban towns like Saint-Denis and
Aubervilliers. A phrase that is often thrown around casually, is that <i>‘this
neighbourhood is not like in the past, it is good now’, </i>by which, what is
often meant is that it has been gentrified – something often said about places
like Belleville in Paris. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The author also talks
about the history of the city, wherein, it was not uncommon for the rich and
the working-class to share the same building, just that the size of their
houses would be significantly different within the same building but that is
hardly the case anymore. The author also explains how this is making the city
lose its essential character of being a melting pot attracting people from all
walks of life, and especially how freelance and independent artists can no
longer afford the city unlike the era Picasso, James Joyce or Hemingway. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are also
detailed interviews with individuals whom the author has interviewed, people
who had been living in a neighbourhood for decades eventually being priced out,
and social housing being unavailable: The author also has conducted interviews
with politicians within the city administration, and I found his conversations
with the city councillor for Communist Party of France (PCF) – Ian Brossat, to
be very interesting and insightful, especially on social housing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">That said, I
enjoyed the level of detail in this book. But it needs to be highlighted <i>I </i>enjoyed
it, and I could relate to it since I have been living in Paris for long enough,
and fully understand what he is talking about – including specific street names
that he brought up in the 18<sup>th</sup>. To be very precise, I myself am one
of the people who are causes of this gentrification, given I live in the 18<sup>th</sup>
arrondissement, the typical ‘white collar elite’ who is outpricing the original
residents of the neighbourhood. However, what I am unsure is to what extent
would people who are not familiar with the city would relate to it, given many
of the places the author talks about are ones that would never be visited by
tourists, be it Aubervilliers or Goutte d’Or. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">If it is to
highlight the situation in Paris and saving it from hypergentrification, I am
not sure who the target audience of this book is, given that this is a book in
English (I am not sure if a French translation is being planned), and for any
work of non-fiction, it is reasonable to ask who is the target audience and I
was unclear on that with this book. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">On the whole, I
had a great reading experience reading this book, sometimes was interesting to
see references to cafés I have visited myself being referenced in the book. This
was also insightful for me given I am living here and would like to have a say
on making sure that the city is still accessible to people from all walks of
life. On that note, I award the book a rating of seven on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 7/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-15898808008685590202024-01-08T12:31:00.003+01:002024-01-08T12:31:41.132+01:00On Photography by Susan Sontag – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNO4gQy-0jM8_RSGOttWcpSRY9fuJs2Rj-3X8ktCkzqRIQs1iO_rzliCJG9nQdAu1CZ7amc_1zrmTJdio0bc3WY74XQ5k6x7QVXWvhZL81laViDTTGieUsd0iVUWxAU41vgHiERinn0OTVHsWp-oMO3pn7ottAT9F3CxL_ce8cu1nmat3AwFkXKoN/s1000/On%20photography.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="614" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDNO4gQy-0jM8_RSGOttWcpSRY9fuJs2Rj-3X8ktCkzqRIQs1iO_rzliCJG9nQdAu1CZ7amc_1zrmTJdio0bc3WY74XQ5k6x7QVXWvhZL81laViDTTGieUsd0iVUWxAU41vgHiERinn0OTVHsWp-oMO3pn7ottAT9F3CxL_ce8cu1nmat3AwFkXKoN/s320/On%20photography.jpg" width="196" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Susan
Sontag's groundbreaking critique of photography asks forceful questions about
the moral and aesthetic issues surrounding this art form. Photographs are
everywhere, and the 'insatiability of the photographing eye' has profoundly
altered our relationship with the world. Photographs have the power to shock,
idealize or seduce, they create a sense of nostalgia and act as a memorial, and
they can be used as evidence against us or to identify us. In these six
incisive essays, Sontag examines the ways in which we use these omnipresent
images to manufacture a sense of reality and authority in our lives.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">On Photography
is a collection of essays by Susan Sontag. Most of these essays were published
in the New York Times between 1973 and 1977 – back when photography was still a
specialised field and not like in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, where everyone
virtually has a camera on their smartphone. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">The author
discussed the evolution of photography over the years in detail, and discussed
works of famous photographers such as Brassaï, Diane Arbus, etc. But the issue
I felt that was in these essays was the author’s assumption that the reader is
fully aware of the works of these photographers, which the average reader is
not. I know of these photographers mainly because I live in Paris, and those
who have worked on taking photos of Paris, such as Brassaï or Diane Arbus, I
could relate to their works and understand what the author was discussing. But
others, I was completely in the dark, and the publisher of the book could have
added the photos for us to relate to, than letting things to our imagination. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Moreover, the
author idealised photography as a unique art form where it is the only form of
art where anything done ‘today’ would be considered as ‘art’ in the future but
this is not exclusive to photography, but most forms of art – those which were
considered ordinary or the norm, becoming antiques and a form of art in the
future. In fact, several artists, such as Van Gogh, did not have the
recognition when they were alive. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude on
these essays, I did not enjoy this, as an average reader, and if I had been an
enthusiast on photography, and its history and I knew about the works of all
the famous photographers that she talked about, I might have had a different
opinion. Add to that, a lot of what she discussed in this book is outdated,
given photos could be taken by anyone almost instantly. On that note, I award
this book a rating of four on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span lang="EN-US">Rating – 4/10</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,</span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Andy</span><o:p></o:p></b></span></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-12972792712823834532024-01-03T23:03:00.003+01:002024-01-03T23:03:54.113+01:00You Don’t Belong Here by Elizabeth Becker – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqogN7SivkUQYYzfD5ixr0sp7j4mdRIF6yTt6PdoR2aTZ9zmh0MF5hu9NwCAz_YmGk-jERgWF6RdmsY2CLOvOGYMhXKh_U-NWuYFES9M3xd0plwDdiu-XZkoQr-YUZqNvqDw_MKjzVvy_8JhLoz7np1Wt_7ct_uN_Vz5RbsexzCFo-aW67122uYKh/s1000/you%20dont%20belong%20here.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="645" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqogN7SivkUQYYzfD5ixr0sp7j4mdRIF6yTt6PdoR2aTZ9zmh0MF5hu9NwCAz_YmGk-jERgWF6RdmsY2CLOvOGYMhXKh_U-NWuYFES9M3xd0plwDdiu-XZkoQr-YUZqNvqDw_MKjzVvy_8JhLoz7np1Wt_7ct_uN_Vz5RbsexzCFo-aW67122uYKh/s320/you%20dont%20belong%20here.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s write-up: <o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘The
long-buried story of three extraordinary female journalists who permanently
shattered the barriers to women covering war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kate Webb, an Australian iconoclast, Catherine Leroy, a French daredevil
photographer, and Frances FitzGerald, a blue-blood American intellectual,
arrived in Vietnam with starkly different life experiences but one shared
purpose: to report on the most consequential story of the decade. At a time
when women were considered unfit to be foreign reporters, Frankie, Catherine,
and Kate challenged the rules imposed on them by the military, ignored the
belittlement of their male peers, and ultimately altered the craft of war
reportage for generations. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">In You Don’t
Belong Here, Elizabeth Becker uses these women’s work and lives to illuminate
the Vietnam War from the 1965 American buildup, the expansion into Cambodia,
and the American defeat and its aftermath. Arriving herself in the last years
of the war, Becker writes as a historian and a witness of the times. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">What emerges
is an unforgettable story of three journalists forging their place in a land of
men, often at great personal sacrifice. Deeply reported and filled with
personal letters, interviews, and profound insight, You Don’t Belong Here fills
a void in the history of women and of war.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">You Don’t Belong
Here is a book written recalling the stories of three women – who were photo
journalists during the Vietnam war – the first to break the glass ceiling of
women being involved in wartime photography. The book is written by a woman war
photographer herself, Elizabeth Becker. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-GB">It starts with
the story of Catherine Leroy, </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">a
young woman from France who is not happy with her circumstances in a Parisian
suburb and is looking to move abroad – to London, but later takes a one way
ticket to Saigon (present day Ho Chi Minh city), to be a wartime photographer
and goes through her experiences – when it comes to how she was seen as a woman
and the constraints she had (such as, the fact that male journalists having
Vietnamese partners were not seen as an issue but the other way round was). The
next is on Frances Fitzgerald, daughter of US ambassador to Laos and is from
the elite circles of US political sphere – whose trip to Laos decided to make
her take this career. The last is on the Australian woman, Kate Webb, who also
comes to Vietnam as a photographer and ends up in captivity of the Viet Cong. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This book details the story very well and we learn a lot – on the
background of these women, their motivations and also the political situation
around the Vietnam war. The author takes a lot of effort to inform the reader
about the war, and the situation that was surrounding it, including touching upon
less known aspects such as the bombardment of Cambodia and its impact. The
struggles of Catherine was also well documented – but at the same time, the
author also pointed out the few allies they had in this journey who helped them
face these odds. Equally interesting was Kate Webb recalling her experiences,
where there was a point where she was declared ‘dead’ by the Australian media
and we are unaware to what extent hers was a case of Stockholm syndrome or a
case of gaining understanding the other perspective that changed her views. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was also interesting to know the steps that these women had to take
to break these adverse circumstances – such as Catherine had to show herself as
pro-war, pro-military action, more so than the average American conservative to
be accepted in the area. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Having said that, much as I would not want to comment on the life choices
of individuals and indeed, took a great step in opening up career avenues for women
in the west, I also could not help but see how here were western women, who
were bored of lives in their own countries and decided to make a career out of
the misery and suffering of people far away from where they were. I might have
viewed it differently had they been well informed of Vietnam, its politics, and
its history and hence were passionate about it; which made them make this
journey, but instead – they learnt all on the go. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Moreover, I understand that the book is about ‘women not belonging’ in photo
journalism during a war and these women defying the odds; however, the author went
a lot deeper than that, in explaining the war and the politics surrounding it
(very well, if I may say so). In that case, to negate the earlier criticism, I
would have like it if there was also the story of a Vietnamese or a Cambodian
journalist who was trying to bring to light images from this war. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The last, I understood during the epilogue that the author herself is a famous
photo journalist and if one of the few to have interviewed Pol Pot in Cambodia,
post which she witnessed a traumatic incident which resulted in the murder of
one of her colleagues in her hotel in Cambodia. So, adding her own story in
addition to these three women could have also been an interesting choice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On the whole, I would say that this was a very interesting book, and
there was a lot for me to learn – about these women and their struggles in this
field, the situation in Vietnam and its surroundings and the experience of
someone in captivity with the Viet Cong. On that note, I had a good reading experience
and I would award the book a rating of seven on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 7/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-37534236579259760902024-01-02T14:24:00.001+01:002024-01-02T14:24:21.375+01:00Home Coming by John Bradshaw – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQDkPqcvUyHExJCij8e9nnC6XkKRSGnKKyzeYXLy22Dzk-3b6o6UCqxJB9xmqa9fu7KQC9ilSvdpKAYiIfvUKfE_s-zK2nQPhMnC2-mxBGeQHZOXX_7iA7oQbELRBYnSftaVCPv0qDzlKn6GBrYtEzcsfiwNP-M3KQqKGakqkVdr6bqkE-UyXyvaR/s1000/Home%20Coming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="629" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQDkPqcvUyHExJCij8e9nnC6XkKRSGnKKyzeYXLy22Dzk-3b6o6UCqxJB9xmqa9fu7KQC9ilSvdpKAYiIfvUKfE_s-zK2nQPhMnC2-mxBGeQHZOXX_7iA7oQbELRBYnSftaVCPv0qDzlKn6GBrYtEzcsfiwNP-M3KQqKGakqkVdr6bqkE-UyXyvaR/s320/Home%20Coming.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><u>Publisher’s write-up: </u></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>‘Are you outwardly successful
but inwardly do you feel like a big kid? Do you aspire to be a loving parent
but all too often “lose it” in hurtful ways? Do you crave intimacy but
sometimes wonder if it’s worth the struggle? Or are you plagued by constant vague
feelings of anxiety or depression?</i><br />
<br />
<i>If any of this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing the hidden but
damaging effects of a painful childhood—carrying within you a “wounded inner
child” that is crying out for attention and healing.</i><br />
<br />
<i>In this powerful book, John Bradshaw shows how we can learn to nurture that
inner child, in essence offering ourselves the good parenting we needed and
longed for. Through a step-by-step process of exploring the unfinished business
of each developmental stage, we can break away from destructive family rules
and roles and free ourselves to live responsibly in the present. Then, says
Bradshaw, the healed inner child becomes a source of vitality, enabling us to
find new joy and energy in living.’<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Home Coming is a book on
psychology by motivational speaker John Bradshaw – known for his famous 12 step
programme, used by Alcoholics Anonymous. The book presents an interesting idea,
that how, to get through any process of healing, we need to heal our inner
child and the book talks about reclaiming this child at various stages, the
‘infant-self’, the ‘the toddler-self', etc. The author shares personal
anecdotes from a lot of people whom he knows, to present the problems they were
facing and how they could reclaim this ‘inner child’ in them. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I tried to read this with a very
open mind – given that in the first few pages, I realised that should this
author and I have a hypothetical conversation, we were going to disagree on
most things. To start with, I did not like his writing style – which was non
inclusive and even went on to say that when he writes ‘he’, he refers to
everyone regardless of how they identify themselves; even for brevity, there
are perfectly reasonable gender-neutral alternatives in English which the
author did not consider. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But that was the point less
contentious. I do not personally mind reading books from religious people or
even books on religion – so long as I feel that there could be some takeaways
for me even though I would disagree with a lot of their statements. The book
invoked god a lot, and full disclosure here – I am an atheist and hence,
reading with that open mind was important. Having said that, the author made a
lot of sweeping conclusions – such as children being natural believers and
religious. In his attempted inclusiveness, he wrote on several occasions (it
was not one isolated citation from the book, if that had been the case, it
would have been easy for me to overlook) - that regardless of the reader’s
current relationship with ‘god’, their inner child is a natural believer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This book hardly had any
citations or references and most of his conclusions were based on anecdotes he
shared. So, I would also share my personal anecdote that I was never religious
despite growing up in a religiously conservative household – and was never
convinced with the idea as early as I was five. While I went along with the
religious rituals as a child – that was more because of my unconditional trust
on my parents (as most children would, on their parents or caregivers), than an
inclination towards belief and by the time I was eight, I said to myself that I
could no longer do this and openly started identifying myself as an atheist.
And I am no exception here – many irreligious people I know have had similar
experiences as a child, and people whom I know who have grown up in households
where their parents / caregivers were irreligious, this was never a question
that crossed their mind. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, to go ahead with what the
author was suggesting, for me personally was not possible because of the
author’s inherent assumption of the reader’s child self being religious. There
were several other sweeping assumptions that the author made – such as the
author assuming their reader to be in their mid 30s or early 40s, married at
around 25, and with children. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I personally do not mind any
assumptions that a writer makes – so long as the target audience is clearly
specified, but here the author tries to sell it as a universal book which does
not work. Moreover, the author makes some dangerous statements in this book –
and if someone is trying to heal themselves from certain trauma – these are
certainly not the best of words to read: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘<i>God does not die on the day
we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives
cease to be illuminated by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the
source of which is beyond all reason.’<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Perhaps the author is oblivious
to the fact that there are people, several of whom are neither religious nor
spiritual and telling them that they are effectively ‘dead’ is not the best of
things to say. He is not the only person in this profession who has made such
statements though, I have had therapists who have made similar statements. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, I did not enjoy this
book and I felt the author was imposing his views on the reader than open up a
discussion. This maybe suited to people who have an upbringing in his specific
faith and continue to hold those beliefs, but for everyone else, it is not an
ideal book. I award this book a rating of three on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Rating – 3/10</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Have a nice day,</b><br />
</span><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Andy</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-4390072822037774162023-12-30T13:19:00.002+01:002023-12-30T13:20:01.325+01:00On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzhzEOOk5LkFuyyk1ILPHccZPRxX1Rk-yBV2KGU6EmnunRxJoi893L0SFju_AAtXZO1gvR8aU4xUy6xZvhCt9PxnLCM0OcG5iaGdL66dFHh9rCK0CxcSORy4rMeqMY_eKgVnQC6DcZQG3hqhQtTgZDO7Jsvd0M8xMDSZ25ogw3y_DRyCq0utm_tEM/s500/on%20earth%20we%20are%20briefly%20gorgeous.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzhzEOOk5LkFuyyk1ILPHccZPRxX1Rk-yBV2KGU6EmnunRxJoi893L0SFju_AAtXZO1gvR8aU4xUy6xZvhCt9PxnLCM0OcG5iaGdL66dFHh9rCK0CxcSORy4rMeqMY_eKgVnQC6DcZQG3hqhQtTgZDO7Jsvd0M8xMDSZ25ogw3y_DRyCq0utm_tEM/s320/on%20earth%20we%20are%20briefly%20gorgeous.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Publisher’s-write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who
cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the
letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born — a history
whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of
his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable
revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a
single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race,
class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment,
immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by
compassion and tenderness, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the
power of telling one's own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not
being heard.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is an attempted novel from Ocean Vuong.
The lead character is Little Dog, who is writing a letter to his illiterate
mother – about his troubles growing up with his mother and grandmother, the
abusive experiences he has had, both in the family and in the society at large,
being a second generation immigrant of Vietnamese origins and yes, the lack of
acceptance of his queer identity by his family. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The premise is interesting which was the reason why I wanted to like
this book and I tried hard to do so. The book I understand is also
autobiographical or what is increasingly happening – a type of autofiction,
fictionalising one’s own story. The writer certainly had a style – and had a
poetic writing style. I appreciate poetry, but I prefer to appreciate it while
reading a poem, not read a prose that has forcibly inserted aspects of poetry. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What I find increasingly with many authors is that, they are trying to
tick off a few boxes – given this character has issues with his mother, there
is the angle of racism, struggles of someone with an immigrant background,
struggles with his understanding of masculinity, the fact that he is gay in a
family that does not accept it, etc. and he tried to insert all of this into
his book. While I am someone who is sympathetic to all of these causes – and
was precisely the reason why I tried to like this book, the narration fell
flat. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If I had read the acknowledgements section a little earlier, maybe I
would have avoided this altogether, given that the person whom he thanked in
particular was Ben Lerner – the author of 10:04; a book that I read last year
which I did not enjoy, at all – which was another case of a vague attempt at
autofiction. If that was the target audience, it would have been evident to me
from the very beginning that I was not the person for this book. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To conclude, I found nothing in this book, I read this book for my local
book club discussion and like in many of these kinds of books, the discussion
was more interesting than the book itself. Definitely the worst book that I
read in 2023. On that note, I would award this book a rating of two on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Rating – 2/10<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-78531761290575133162023-12-27T01:40:00.003+01:002023-12-27T01:41:22.261+01:00Papillon by Henri Charrière – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-9g7LwzeiiIm6sAoqvAqC6433xKQzzC3MH66m5pVcyg2ke0gW9xtdo2aKnvAjdJG33e4f0OzeVIw68I6IPVKe42IHCuXjbQbSOM2uJ37t_zulK7aGv8YTrFWtfxjSzOAlAjayEgk9TDqKOb4VhggqtvQrsrs-DViCdwxvIJgO3gFwx55uADtIegO/s576/Papillon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="351" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb-9g7LwzeiiIm6sAoqvAqC6433xKQzzC3MH66m5pVcyg2ke0gW9xtdo2aKnvAjdJG33e4f0OzeVIw68I6IPVKe42IHCuXjbQbSOM2uJ37t_zulK7aGv8YTrFWtfxjSzOAlAjayEgk9TDqKOb4VhggqtvQrsrs-DViCdwxvIJgO3gFwx55uADtIegO/s320/Papillon.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘An immediate sensation upon its publication in 1969, Papillon is a
vivid memoir of brutal penal colonies, daring prison breaks and heroic
adventure on shark-infested seas.Condemned for a murder he did not commit,
Henri Charriere, nicknamed Papillon, was sent to the penal colony of French
Guiana. Forty-two days after his arrival he made his first break for freedom,
travelling a thousand gruelling miles in an open boat. He was recaptured and
put into solitary confinement but his spirit remained untamed: over thirteen
years he made nine incredible escapes, including from the notorious penal
colony on Devil’s Island.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Note:</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <i>I read this book
in French<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"><a href="https://lastute.blogspot.com/2023/12/papillon-dhenri-charriere-avis-de.html" target="_blank">Afin de lire mon avis en français, cliquez ici</a></span></i><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Papillon is an autobiographical book from Henri Charrière, who was
accused of a murder and was eventually sent to French Guiana, which was then a
penal colony. This book recounts his incredible story, where he took up the
name ‘Papillon’ (Butterfly in French) and tried to escape the colony, several
times and how he reconstructed his life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The story starts with his conviction in France during the inter-war
period. He was first sent to the prison in Caen, Normandy, before being sent to
French Guiana. He recounts the tough conditions under which he lived, the friendships
that he had made in the prison during these times, and the steps he took to get
reprieve from the miscarriage of justice. During this story, he did succeed initially
to escape the colony, set up a new life with the indigenous people in an island
in the Caribbean before deciding to go back to French Guiana to get his justice.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This was an incredible story that almost felt like reading a thriller
novel. I am using the word ‘novel’ deliberately over here as I am not sure if
the retelling by the author is entirely honest; which included me not being sure
on where he was exaggerating or simply making things up. However, it was still
interesting to know what was going on in French Guiana during this time and how
it was used as a prison which had harsh living conditions. The political aspect
was also interesting, given the French Guyanese administration backed the Vichy
regime and the impact that had on his potential acquittal was interesting. The
most interesting character in this whole book is for sure, that of Papillon,
maybe a tad too glorified, as someone who had solutions at any given situation.
The conversations he had with the priests at the church was very something I
enjoyed, given that Papillon was an atheist. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The only problem I found with this book is the character of Papillon
himself – even though he was unjustly condemned in France, the actions he took
while in the colony were hardly honourable, which included betraying his peers,
and even abandoning his wives from the indigenous islands after having impregnated
them. Thus, it was difficult for me to believe that he was someone completely
clean and was certainly capable of doing very bad things. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, whether we believe this book to be the whole truth or not,
I still found it to be an interesting read which gave a good insight into the
historic situation in French Guiana. On that note, I award the book a rating of
seven on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 7/10<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-39456637618571127922023-12-20T00:41:00.000+01:002023-12-20T00:41:02.031+01:00Strangers to Ourselves by Rachel Aviv – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4o_mj0gPQyZIaGguTEp5AlJQt3hex9Oe4Tl-X-VXGqOGo_vaeQIZ2j-Kd15FjZXGcWlkh-a8uqwNqnzZfMu-fZflt1euN3BAS00TPtO4S1Ji-d1yBdiFwYZFj9g_Ga-BMCQBUxXYZaQGrQ7bSBKqNGSxwl6rR442_KQXbpU6cGX9lDL_qVHQlXAig/s1000/Strangers%20to%20Ourselves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="654" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4o_mj0gPQyZIaGguTEp5AlJQt3hex9Oe4Tl-X-VXGqOGo_vaeQIZ2j-Kd15FjZXGcWlkh-a8uqwNqnzZfMu-fZflt1euN3BAS00TPtO4S1Ji-d1yBdiFwYZFj9g_Ga-BMCQBUxXYZaQGrQ7bSBKqNGSxwl6rR442_KQXbpU6cGX9lDL_qVHQlXAig/s320/Strangers%20to%20Ourselves.jpg" width="209" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s write-up: <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Strangers to Ourselves is a
compassionate, courageous and deeply researched look at the ways we talk about
and understand ourselves in periods of crisis and distress. Drawing on
conversations as well as unpublished journals and memoirs, it follows people
who have found that psychiatric language has limitations when it comes to
explaining who they are, or that a diagnosis, while giving their experience a
name, creates a sense of a future life they wish to question or resist.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Rachel Aviv is known for her
radical empathy: she excels at seeing the world through the eyes of her fellow
human beings. Writing first about her own experience of being institutionalized
at the age of six, she introduces, among others, a mother recovering from
psychosis and rebuilding her relationship with her children; a woman who lives
in healing temples in Kerala, where she is celebrated as a saint; and a young
woman who, after a decade of defining herself through her diagnosis, decides to
stop her medication because she doesn't know who she is without it.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Through startling connections,
intimate testimonies and diverse cultural perspectives, Aviv opens up fresh
ways of thinking about illness and the mind, in a book which is curious,
transformative, and above all, profoundly human.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Strangers to Ourselves is a book
written by writer and author Rachel Aviv. The book comprises accounts of five
individuals going through severe mental illnesses and there is also a personal
touch from the author herself, given she herself was diagnosed with anorexia at
a young age. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The book talks about the starts
the book with her own story and her struggles over the years and then moves on
to the story of Ray, a person who is unable to accept the failure of his
business which leads him to an identity crisis and eventually, ends up suing
his doctor and other mental health professionals. The next is the story of Bapu
– a woman from an affluent family in India who frequently abandons her family
to seek refuge in religious institutions, and has schizophrenic visions of
interacting with god and the divine. The next is the story of Naomi – a woman
of African descent in the US, and the impact the societal circumstances has on
her, and the people around her (including the youngest of her family). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I appreciate the author trying to
narrate these complex mental situations through stories of people in the real
world than citing multiple research papers (I am not demeaning the latter, but
it is difficult for someone to relate to them from outside the field). She also
spoke of multiple approaches that were used in these situations, including
taking into account cultural considerations when talking of treatment. However,
there were also some very far-reaching claims, such as on the Zoroastrian
community in India having ‘westernised’ too fast which led to impacts on their
mental health. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On the whole, while the stories
themselves were interesting, I was not sure what was the point that the author
was trying to drive home. If it was that there are different mental health
diagnoses which could have dire impacts on people and also their entourage, we
are already aware of that. I did like the approach of the author of discussing these
people as individuals than ‘medical cases’, especially the detailed interviews
with people around these patients, such as the children of Bapu, the ex-partner
of Naomi, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While I got to know some
interesting case studies, I was unsure of the title or the purpose of this book
and they often had very dire conclusions given their premise. On that note, I
would aware this book a rating of four on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-57776503924018846282023-12-10T00:51:00.001+01:002023-12-10T00:51:48.617+01:00The Dissident Club by Taha Siddiqui and Hubert Maury – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_1fBjN0ID4YtSocZ_KCHnVEoooqg2DLe61XYfldW7gleHouInANMhra3bFcCh0da3gEROHjTkypGw6ayQ3w0PRSP4MTkj_M5pdiQ2VLf4tDAsbyAPBdj25xG2Jh9KvL_Pjg0YmM4KQAIllzSElBw7D9JUKbaoQm8KHaqeQDh_PdOHVjEXTnMskOa/s817/Dissident%20Club.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="817" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_1fBjN0ID4YtSocZ_KCHnVEoooqg2DLe61XYfldW7gleHouInANMhra3bFcCh0da3gEROHjTkypGw6ayQ3w0PRSP4MTkj_M5pdiQ2VLf4tDAsbyAPBdj25xG2Jh9KvL_Pjg0YmM4KQAIllzSElBw7D9JUKbaoQm8KHaqeQDh_PdOHVjEXTnMskOa/s320/Dissident%20Club.jpeg" width="235" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><u><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s write-up (translated from
French by me):<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘In 2018, Pakistani investigative journalist
Taha Siddiqui is the victim of a kidnapping and an assassination attempt. He
managed to flee and take the first flight to France… What happened? What could
have driven the Pakistani government, if it is indeed the Pakistani government,
to do this?<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Accompanied by cartoonist and
scriptwriter Hubert Maury, 2014 Albert-London Prize winner Taha Siddiqui looks
back on his life, from his early childhood 35 years ago, which saw him evolve
from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan in a culture where comics were forbidden,
practicing fundamentalist Islam and raised by a radicalised father.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Taha dreams of studying art and
journalism, of independence in the midst of a rigorist family and a society of
prohibitions that young people do their best to circumvent. After the shock of
the September 11, 2001 attacks, and his admission to university, between Quranic
school and censorship, Taha sought to emancipate himself and, with courage and
determination, became an investigative journalist. But being a journalist also
makes him a target.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">A chronicle of childhood and
adolescence, Dissident Club traces, with liberating humor, the daily life of a
young man grappling with the most severe religious fundamentalisms. As
uplifting as it is edifying, this book offers an indiscreet vision of Pakistan
over the last thirty years, a reflection on the excesses of religious thought,
and above all, one man's fight for freedom.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB">Note:</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-GB"> The English version of the book has not been released yet – to be
available in 2024<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://lastute.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-dissident-club-de-taha-siddiqui-et.html" target="_blank">Afin de lire mon avis en français,cliquez ici</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Dissident Club is an autobiographical
graphic novel from the Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui, a winner of the Albert
Londres prize for journalism in 2014 (a Francophone equivalent of the
Pulitzer). The graphic novel has been designed by the cartoonist Hubert Maury
and in this story, there are several places around the world to showcase, such
as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and France. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Taha Siddiqui lives in exile today in France,
and this graphic novel starts with his kidnapping by the gangs allegedly
engaged by the Pakistani Army. From here, it goes back in time starting with
his childhood in Saudi Arabia, born to a family of Pakistani immigrants to the
gulf kingdom. He describes he challenges growing up in a highly conservative
society like that of Saudi Arabia and even his relationship family, where his
father practiced a fundamentalist version of Islam – where for example, the
children of the family were not even allowed to celebrate birthdays as it was
against Islam according to him. It is a story Taha growing up and through his
point of view, we also see the evolution of the situation in Pakistan, including
the hanging of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the successful nuclear tests
performed by the country in the 90s and eventual return to dictatorship after
the coup by Pervez Musharaff. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">To those who are not very familiar with the
situation in South Asia, but are still interested to know about it, this book
could be an ideal place start, as with the story of Taha, you also have a brief
summary of Pakistani politics from 80s to present, its relations with its
neighbours, etc. In the western world, we have a tendency to group countries
such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, etc. as ‘Muslim countries’ with a
homogeneous identity even though the situation in those countries are totally
different – like for example, how Taha felt a lot more independent in the book
upon his move to Pakistan, given at the end of the day, Pakistani society is
less conservative than that of Saudi Arabia. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">With that said, I enjoyed it further since
I grew in a neighbouring country and also someone, who has been interested in
politics since I was young. To start with, to understand the personal situation
of the author, one needs to understand that the Pakistani military
establishment is very powerful, and for a journalist or any individual to
question their actions is done at a great personal risk – like what was done by
the author of the book. One more aspect, which I learnt and was rather shocked
by, was the pervasive nature of radical terrorist organisation in the Pakistani
society like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (recognised as a terrorist organisation by the
governments of Pakistan, India, EU, US, etc.) even in privileged families like
that of the author. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Even though these different names like that
of Pakistani politicians and organisations are evident for someone like me
given I am from that region, I am not in a position to judge how easy it is to
grasp all of these for a reader who is not familiar with this region (if you
have read it, please leave your comment explaining how it was for you). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-GB">I also liked the part where the relationship
of the author with his family was explored – particularly his father and also
his </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">two brothers and mother. In
fact, I could not help but compare the similarities with another famous French
graphic novel – L’Arabe du futur by Riad Sattouf, who also grew up in Arab
countries with his two brothers and a radical extremist father – where in Sattouf’s
book, his father liked dictators such as Saddam Hussein and here, the authors
father admired dictators of Pakistan like General Zia Ul-Haq). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The penultimate part
of my review would focus on the artwork of Hubert Maury. I liked the different
colours he had used to distinguish the different countries where the story was
taking place – for Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and France. I also found the drawings
of Karachi and Islamabad very realistic and relatable. The only factor that
bothered me a little was that drawings of the younger women around Taha – there
were at least three important people and they looked quite similar that at
times, I had to struggle to distinguish between them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, I would
strongly recommend the graphic novel when it is released, which gives us an
interesting autobiographical account and at the same time, we could skim
through the politics of South Asia (Pakistan in particular). I award the graphic
novel a rating of eight on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 8/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span></span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-68674632256498128942023-09-13T13:05:00.003+02:002023-09-13T13:05:30.712+02:00The Pyre by Perumal Murugan – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLctUEz6iESmS7Th45M-ol5kJRsgpJ_lBZj2PzC7smaUKXwcIxNqa6xoKf4cI-hhpEDztxFo1spbwYbGtASoiFkQpPLIFqVYfxtOWv3HkeI9FcomjoCkOdfppJqe5UnDd1phMdC3m4nnELVEwMvXugXRSqtptyu2a-Yey3MViQ8-0hczCGhkTF8FF/s595/Le-Bucher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLctUEz6iESmS7Th45M-ol5kJRsgpJ_lBZj2PzC7smaUKXwcIxNqa6xoKf4cI-hhpEDztxFo1spbwYbGtASoiFkQpPLIFqVYfxtOWv3HkeI9FcomjoCkOdfppJqe5UnDd1phMdC3m4nnELVEwMvXugXRSqtptyu2a-Yey3MViQ8-0hczCGhkTF8FF/s320/Le-Bucher.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Saroja and Kumaresan are in love. After a hasty wedding, they arrive in
Kumaresan's village, harboring a dangerous secret: their marriage is an
inter-caste one, likely to upset the village elders should they get to know of
it. Kumaresan is naively confident that all will be well. But nothing is
further from the truth. Despite the strident denials of the young couple, the
villagers strongly suspect that Saroja must belong to a different caste. It is
only a matter of time before their suspicions harden into certainty and,
outraged, they set about exacting their revenge.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><u><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Note : </span></u></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I read the
novel in Tamil and its French translation<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Pyre is a novel of Perumal Murugan, known for is plots that are set
in rural Tamil Nadu, in India. He often talks about the difference between the
lifestyle in the cities as against the countryside, the social problems,
particularly ones related to caste discrimination. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In <i>The Pyre, </i>we have a young couple, Kumaresan and Saroja.
Kumaresan is from a village, working in a soda bottling factory in the city, and
while delivering these sodas, he saw Saroja and immediately falls in love with
her. After a few months, they elope and marry in a temple en route to Kumaresan’s
village. Ever since they settled down at the house of Kumaresan’s mother, they
face problems, the first being that Saroja being from a city, is not accustomed
to a village life but the latter and more important problem is that the two are
not from the same caste. Thus, nobody in Kumaresan’s family or the extended
family in the village accept Saroja as their daughter-in-law. That is the
principal theme of the novel – would Saroja get used to her new circumstances
and be accepted by Kumaresan’s family?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">There are elements of the Tamil countryside which was used well by the
author. For those who have been in the countryside in South Asia, it is easy to
visualize the descriptions given by the author. The conflicts between Saroja
and Kumaresan’s family was described in detail, including the friendship and
love between Kumaresan and Saroja, given that Kumaresan was the only source of
support for Saroja in the whole village. Even though the author never specified
when the story ws taking place, based n certain cultural references, it was evident
that it was in one of the last decades of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, that was what was missing for those who would read the translation
without being familiar with Tamil culture or customs, given that the translator
gave very minimal footnotes, for instance, a word like ‘<i>thali’, </i>it is
evident for someone like me from the Tamil culture that it is a wedding
jewellery, but for anyone else, it would be difficult. The author also introduced
several aspects to the story, such as the relationship <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>between Saroja and her brother, which the
character describes in detail, but this was never relevant to the plot and I
did not understand why the author chose to introduce it in the first place. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It also needs to be said that those who do not like the background melancholy
and the excessive suffering that the main characters – Saroja and Kumaresan go
through, it would be difficult to read the book. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, it is a well written novel where I felt very much immersed
in a Tamil village while reading the book. I award the book a rating of eight
on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 8/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-66797930698130276122023-09-07T10:37:00.001+02:002023-09-07T10:37:19.444+02:00King Kong Theory by Virginie Despentes – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZ5rYUy5W_CRK_BANuLvBajkBDrJmVKc9H4J--tC7M4KOMr0koF2-EGuNyAbQlpbbhSfbX3pZqm0Pc45lG7gfLY9NXhztAo5ErcdB5IFd2XUtb6q_3MPHxZcWB1htdkTRoo47N8eiOkvWKbbBJjiCfy88o9Sx9axtb-po6xmQIP4j3QA6FUjt3dNO/s971/King%20Kong%20Th%C3%A9orie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="971" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZ5rYUy5W_CRK_BANuLvBajkBDrJmVKc9H4J--tC7M4KOMr0koF2-EGuNyAbQlpbbhSfbX3pZqm0Pc45lG7gfLY9NXhztAo5ErcdB5IFd2XUtb6q_3MPHxZcWB1htdkTRoo47N8eiOkvWKbbBJjiCfy88o9Sx9axtb-po6xmQIP4j3QA6FUjt3dNO/s320/King%20Kong%20Th%C3%A9orie.jpeg" width="198" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Powerful, provocative and personal, King Kong Theory is a candid
account of how the author of Baise-moi came to be Virginie Despentes. Drawing
from personal experience, Despentes shatters received ideas about rape and
prostitution, and explodes common attitudes towards sex and gender. King Kong
Theory is a manifesto for a new punk feminism, reissued here in a brilliant new
translation by Frank Wynne.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Note:</span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> I read the
original of the book, in French. Translations are widely available. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">King Kong theory is a collection of essays written by the writer, film
director and feminist activist, Virginie Despentes. In this essay, she talks of
her personal experiences, when she suffered a rape aged 17, and also the
understanding of the current society on various issues of women, like rape, the
position of women in the household, the workplace, and how the current system
helps this patriarchy, which is detrimental to women and even several average
men. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">She presented her arguments very well in an easy to read format. The
examples that she provided were very relatable, regardless of the gender
identity of the reader. I liked her essays ‘Sleep with the enemy’ and ‘Witch
pornography’, where in the first, she narrates her own experiences working as a
sex worker in Paris and Lyon, and how she discovered that so long as the transaction
was consensual, it was both empowering and liberating, and here it was the
woman taking charge and gaining independence, owing to which the society does
not like this aspect. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The essays are mostly the author’s personal opinions surrounding the
rights of women. Thus, it is not an academic work nor a traditional
non-fiction, as there are not several citations that could support the
affirmations that she had made. Maybe, if she had added those, that would have
rendered these essays a lot more powerful. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Based on my experience, I strongly recommend this book and I award it a
rating of eight on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 8/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-64477638802623106662023-08-31T08:50:00.000+02:002023-08-31T08:50:40.858+02:00Me Grandad 'ad an Elephant by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU0KbdRSKpv72_6bBsWotqU8E9VeLYfsdT68BLVPeZAz7FTEsAcw_AIuwhQQLxvXsLy9gC__tsEGvldqBExVekzPQYGhldyTAgtje1PKaIbk8oVFBUd2MVrWml8yBk9MI1Oi6C92y0b_6xp5mmTMTTALUKHf1DSelP_p8HeOCZr6X9-b6rAscjBeJ/s1000/Mon%20grandp%C3%A8re%20avait%20un%20%C3%A9l%C3%A9phant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="607" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU0KbdRSKpv72_6bBsWotqU8E9VeLYfsdT68BLVPeZAz7FTEsAcw_AIuwhQQLxvXsLy9gC__tsEGvldqBExVekzPQYGhldyTAgtje1PKaIbk8oVFBUd2MVrWml8yBk9MI1Oi6C92y0b_6xp5mmTMTTALUKHf1DSelP_p8HeOCZr6X9-b6rAscjBeJ/s320/Mon%20grandp%C3%A8re%20avait%20un%20%C3%A9l%C3%A9phant.jpg" width="194" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘ME GRANDAD
'AD AN ELEPHANT is the translation of Ntuppuppakko- ranendarnnu. The original
Malayalam book made great impact in reading and has been translated into all
major languages of India. In this book Basheer has drawn here and there for
character on people he has known.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Note: </span></b><i><span lang="EN-GB">I read the French translation of the novel <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Me Grandad 'ad
an Elephant is one of the most well known novels of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer,
one of the most important figures of Malayalam literature and was also a
freedom fighter against British colonialism. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The plot takes
place in a village in Kerala, around a young Muslim girl named
Kounnioupattoumma. Even though her family is rich, her family are also very
conservative and they are illiterate. Her mother is already worried that
Kounnioupattoumma is notmarried yet and she is already in her twenties. She
herself is in the dark, when it comes to either knowledge, nor when it comes to
knowing people, even though she was a very curious woman and used the
principles of Islam to show compassion towards animals, to the point of
becoming vegetarian, much to the ire of her mother. Her love for animals
started when the only piece of information she ever had, was the fact that her
grandfather had an elephant, which was a great source of pride for her mother.
Their lives were going to change given their legal problems, and also, when
they had new neighbours, who were also Muslims but progressive and educated, a
great contrast compared to that of Kounnioupattoumma’s family. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-GB">The development
of the character of Kounnioupattoumma was done well, how little by little, she
starts to defy her domineering mother. The landscape and scenery of Kerala was
also well described, the name of the village or the district where they lived
was never specified but it </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">was
evident from the description of the places, the names of characters, the staple
food that they cooked and consumed that it was somewhere in Kerala. The author
also evoked the feeling of false pride, which kept the family and even the society
at large in ignorance. With the wealth of her family, Kounnioupattoumma could
have surely had better opportunities that she did. The relationship between Aïcha
and Kounnioupattoumma, the first friend whom she had ever made, was also described
well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I would have liked it though, if the author had written a little more on
the legal dispute that had changed the destiny of the family of
Kounnioupattoumma, and equally a little on the history of the family – we knew only
as much as Kounnioupattoumma, that her grandfather had an elephant, but not why
they became so conservative or the choice to not be literate. At times, I felt
there were issues with the translation, as when Kounnioupattoumma starts to learn
to read, she learns that the first letter of the alphabet is ‘ba’ like in
Arabic, but considering she was learning Malayalam, it should have been ‘a’ for
vowels or ‘ka’ for consonants, but certainly not ‘ba’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, the is a well written novel and it would interest those who
are interested in reading novels that take place in other parts of the world. I
award the book a rating of seven on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 7/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-1688514554088454282023-08-28T07:51:00.005+02:002023-08-28T07:51:56.318+02:00The Red-Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40qRqyEXx1kyItOB56XugIbhuj2xPZdhe1nRxGNiXpw00t0K4k0pAHQf51RsuN8SoQgmRUa1IQjgqw5xKbxtT8wXHiokddPIjn8iM1mfiqPCuN5-mZgvIdvYqNj9gP6nwOgONwrf659_BYBmFA2Zc2OCsAXAaGQuAnuqvYB_uRsr-P3JlU2tHqpHE/s1000/la%20femme%20aux%20cheveux%20roux.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="641" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40qRqyEXx1kyItOB56XugIbhuj2xPZdhe1nRxGNiXpw00t0K4k0pAHQf51RsuN8SoQgmRUa1IQjgqw5xKbxtT8wXHiokddPIjn8iM1mfiqPCuN5-mZgvIdvYqNj9gP6nwOgONwrf659_BYBmFA2Zc2OCsAXAaGQuAnuqvYB_uRsr-P3JlU2tHqpHE/s320/la%20femme%20aux%20cheveux%20roux.jpg" width="205" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up (from Goodreads):<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘On the outskirts of a town thirty miles from Istanbul, a master
well-digger and his young apprentice are hired to find water on a barren plain.
As they struggle in the summer heat, excavating without luck metre by metre,
the two will develop a filial bond neither has known before--not the poor
middle-aged bachelor nor the middle-class boy whose father disappeared after
being arrested for politically subversive activities. The pair will come to
depend on each other, and exchange stories reflecting disparate views of the
world. But in the nearby town, where they buy provisions and take their evening
break, the boy will find an irresistible diversion. The Red-Haired Woman, an
alluring member of a travelling theatre company, catches his eye and seems as
fascinated by him as he is by her. The young man's wildest dream will be
realized, but, when in his distraction a horrible accident befalls the
well-digger, the boy will flee, returning to Istanbul. Only years later will he
discover whether he was in fact responsible for his master's death and who the
red-headed enchantress was.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Note: </span></b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I read the French
translation of this book<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Red-Haired woman is a novel of the Turkish author, the Nobel laureate,
Orhan Pamuk. He is known for is literary works and plots that show the Turkish
culture to the world. This is not like his typical novels, and has only 330
pages (in my pocket edition from Gallimard), and was also written in simple
language and was thus easy to read. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The main character of the novel is Cem, a young boy in his teens from a
suburb of Istanbul. His family depends on his income as his father died and he
works as an apprentice to a well-digger – Mahmud, before his studies at the
university. It is during this apprenticeship that he sees the red-haired woman,
and he is immediately impressed by her and falls in love, despite the fact that
she was as old his own mother. After several years, Cem is a very successful
businessman in Istanbul in the present day, but his past was going to return to
haunt him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Orhan Pamuk used several allusions – and the two I enjoyed in particular
were, one from Greek mythology, the story of Oedipus, who killed his father and
the other, is from a Persian tale – the story of Rostam and Sohrab, here, a
case where the father kills his son. The relationship between Cem and his
master, Mahmud, was well described where even though Mahmud is very strict, he is
also very caring towards Cem. As always, Pamuk described his country well,
especially the poorer areas and suburbs. For a third of the novel, he kept the
mystery around the red-haired woman, to the extent that as a reader, I was
desperate to read her first dialogue. And it should also be noted that this was
a novel easy to read and I read almost the whole novel during my journey from
Paris to Brussels (which takes around 3 hours). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I did not have any major issues with the novel, maybe the narration of
the final third was a bit like that of a film, and I felt that the tone was very
different from the rest of the novel. Maybe, if he had written a longer novel as
is usually the case Pamuk, we could have had a better written ending. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, it was a very interesting novel, one of the best that I
have read this year. I read a lot of translated novels to understand other
cultures and here, my favourite was the reference to the Persian tale of Rostam
and Sohrab. On that note, I would award the novel a rating of eight on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 8/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-59682626967594903322023-08-10T22:15:00.002+02:002023-08-10T22:15:24.514+02:00Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HbZJf2-tFMMEc1176oufRSGqygcRUjxI0zYtL2xI5UhTxY5U8fL8VniGL_Fi4MUPZga0cVxe_xdaWk71i6a1wHEd0MoXQEXueM4hpN8srCaRdNQealAfFawU8aYOx5QDiKlWNJ3OUSXDQ6rSNtFmdE_l5OopXcmAxsiMrqWjZAtNWBncuDGd6Pln/s500/Tuesdays%20with%20Morrie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HbZJf2-tFMMEc1176oufRSGqygcRUjxI0zYtL2xI5UhTxY5U8fL8VniGL_Fi4MUPZga0cVxe_xdaWk71i6a1wHEd0MoXQEXueM4hpN8srCaRdNQealAfFawU8aYOx5QDiKlWNJ3OUSXDQ6rSNtFmdE_l5OopXcmAxsiMrqWjZAtNWBncuDGd6Pln/s320/Tuesdays%20with%20Morrie.jpg" width="204" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><u>Publisher’s write-up: </u></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Maybe it was a grandparent, a
teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you
when you were young and impassioned, helped you to see the world as a more
profound place and gave you sound advice to guide your way through it. For
Mitch, it was Morrie Schwartz, the college professor who had taught him nearly
twenty years before. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Perhaps, like Mitch, you lost
track of this mentor as the years passed, the insights faded and the world
seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, to ask the bigger
questions that still haunt you and receive wisdom for your busy life in the way
you once did when you were younger?’ <o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Tuesdays with Morrie is a
compilation of a series of exchanges between the author Mitch Albom and his
terminally ill professor, Morrie Schwartz, who had been diagnosed with ALS. The
author used to take Morrie’s classes when he was <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">a student every Tuesday and they continued the
same tradition, of meeting every Tuesday, and Mitch talking about various
aspects of life, such as family, emotions, death, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The journey as such is wonderful to read, and
the camaraderie between Morrie and Mitch was seen very well, wherein, both had
something to give to each other. Mitch was inspired by the positivity that
Morrie displayed, despite being diagnosed with a terrible illness and saw the
positivity in each situation, including the places where Morrie started enjoying
the dependencies he had to perform even the most basic activities. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The book was also very easy to read, which is
similar to the experience I had with the other Mitch Albom book that I have
read so far (The Five People you meet in Heaven). This follows the story of
Mitch very well and how he is able find himself again, after all these discussions
with Morrie. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While he was disappointed over being estranged
from his brother who was in Spain, and how the author explains that Morrie
replaced him – this aspect could have been explored more by the author. Added
to that, I also felt that the conversations Morrie had with Ted Koppel (the
broadcast journalist)could have been more chronological, wherein, the fact that
they were disconnected and often inserted between the different Tuesdays that
Mitch went to meet Morie, I often lost track of where the conversation was
previously left off. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On that note, this is a good book, and an easy
to read book, which helps you feel good and on that note, I award the book a
rating of seven on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating –
7/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a
nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-37040593346829781452023-08-05T13:41:00.005+02:002023-08-05T13:41:42.111+02:00The Architect’s Apprentice by Elif Shafak – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTS3IsmbuJyt1x5sLtVpTL5T2Zzo_pt0hVlZfJb7Z9v1wJw5Sk2rCoNQ_PHY35xQRDN4lK8jsMLfUz-F9Y1e54nDnbmxQN-laZbsSEtJ4K4M-kWmsQaXcukY4XDW3XLxZiQ8Z69uN1XHlfuFV4EGS124697DvTPMNg4zpezb6ZHSIpHAedumWU2YKS/s456/larchitecte%20du%20sultan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="289" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTS3IsmbuJyt1x5sLtVpTL5T2Zzo_pt0hVlZfJb7Z9v1wJw5Sk2rCoNQ_PHY35xQRDN4lK8jsMLfUz-F9Y1e54nDnbmxQN-laZbsSEtJ4K4M-kWmsQaXcukY4XDW3XLxZiQ8Z69uN1XHlfuFV4EGS124697DvTPMNg4zpezb6ZHSIpHAedumWU2YKS/s320/larchitecte%20du%20sultan.jpg" width="203" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘In her latest novel, Elif Shafak spins an epic tale spanning nearly a
century in the life of the Ottoman Empire. In 1540, twelve-year-old Jahan
arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan’s menagerie, he looks
after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the
sultan’s beautiful daughter, Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan
to Mimar Sinan, the empire’s chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as
they construct (with Chota’s help) some of the most magnificent buildings in
history. Yet even as they build Sinan’s triumphant masterpieces—the incredible
Suleymaniye and Selimiye mosques—dangerous undercurrents begin to emerge, with
jealousy erupting among Sinan’s four apprentices.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Note: </span></b><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I read the
French translation of the novel <o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a historical novel written by the Turkish writer Elif Shafak,
and the story takes place in 16<sup>th</sup> century Istanbul. The plot is
centred around the character of Jahan, a 12-year-old boy who has come to
Istanbul from afar with an elephant named ‘Chota’ to present to the Sultan. The
other main characters of the book are real historical figures fictionalised by
the author, such as Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, his daughter Mihrimah, and
the royal architect - Mimar Sinan. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The story takes us through the era of three different sultans, starting
from Suleiman till the reign of his grandson Murad III. The author also touches
upon the then Turkish society and the multicultural nature of it, where
Istanbul was a melting pot comprising several ethnicities such as the Turks,
Armenians, Serbians, Bosnians, Iranians, etc. Even the best friends of Jahan,
in the novel, are of different ethnicities. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The plot followed the development of Jahan’s character well, who was at
first a mahout and was well recognised by the Sultan for the performance of his
elephant during the Balkan conquest of the Ottoman Empire. There was also a
romantic sub-plot between the sultan’s daughter Mihrimah and Janhan, a forbidden
love considering the different social classes that the two are from. Then, he becomes
the apprentice of the royal architect Sinan, and the story then follows till Jahan’s
old age. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I liked how she had used the different aspects of the historic Ottoman society.
Those who are interested by historical fiction and the middle ages, would enjoy
these descriptions. I also could visualize Istanbul of the 16<sup>th</sup>
century very well based on her description. The relation between Sinan and Jahan,
and equally the secrets they had about their lives which was kept from us till
the very end, was done well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While I liked the historical aspect, and even learnt a lot on the
Ottoman Empire, I also found that plot is perhaps not the author’s strong
point. It is a very long novel without much of a movement even though there
were three sultans. The love between Mihrimah and Jahan started well but it was
evident to any reader since the beginning that this would not go very far. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, I would say that the novel was a tad too long but it was
still interesting to read a story taking place in the 16<sup>th</sup> century
Ottoman empire. On that note, I award the book a rating of six on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 6/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-29181028889737277742023-07-21T18:55:00.004+02:002023-07-21T18:55:37.835+02:00Glyph by Percival Everett – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszWD7pqD0QY22--QQxUXushgj7303STdnlon07ZIQoiUUcukebkL1Mazzw8h9pzGxTeO_n6-VDF-dx_fJUppI-RzPqXSsFi63YzxhtqLTNfBTPUH4me0hvg6rXnm9piPO1EElFmsso9I2xw1h1EhsrnFuqjRxC3S7YgVKlanw-XaT5xRPBs2Np5PR/s1000/Glyph%20Percival%20Everett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="633" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhszWD7pqD0QY22--QQxUXushgj7303STdnlon07ZIQoiUUcukebkL1Mazzw8h9pzGxTeO_n6-VDF-dx_fJUppI-RzPqXSsFi63YzxhtqLTNfBTPUH4me0hvg6rXnm9piPO1EElFmsso9I2xw1h1EhsrnFuqjRxC3S7YgVKlanw-XaT5xRPBs2Np5PR/s320/Glyph%20Percival%20Everett.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up:<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Baby Ralph has ways to pass the time in his crib―but they don't include
staring at a mobile. Aided by his mother, he reads voraciously: "All of
Swift, all of Sterne, Invisible Man, Baldwin, Joyce, Balzac, Auden,
Roethke," along with a generous helping of philosophy, semiotics, and
trashy thrillers. He's also fond of writing poems and stories (in crayon). But
Ralph has limits. He's mute by choice and can't drive, so in his own estimation
he's not a genius. Unfortunately for him, everyone else disagrees. His psychiatrist
kidnaps him for testing, and once his brilliance is quantified (IQ: 475), a
Pentagon officer also abducts him. Diabolically funny and lacerating in its
critique of poststructuralism, Glyph has the feverish plot of a thriller and
the philosophical depth of a text by Roland Barthes. If anyone can map the
wilds of literary theory, it's Ralph, one of Percival Everett's most enduring
creations.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Glyph is a novel written during the late 90s by the English professor, Percival
Everett. The story features a baby named Ralph as the main character, who is a
genius and reads books and writes poetry while on the crib. However, he does
not utter a word and expresses himself only by writing. His mother is worried
about him and takes him to a psychiatrist but when everyone starts taking note
of Ralph’s abilities, which leads to his kidnapping. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For novels like this, the start has to be convincing, considering it is an
absurd premise and the author had it written very well to draw the reader into
this world of his. There were lots of humorous elements throughout the novel,
starting from his antipathy towards his father, owing to his father’s own
insecurities as a struggling writer, that he finds it difficult to accept that
his baby is smarter than him. There were also several references, where Ralph
discusses well known literature, from Balzac to Baldwin, and also various philosophers
such as Nietzsche and Plato. I was not able to relate to all of the literary
references but here was a case of the writer playing to his strength, of being an
English professor. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While I enjoyed the premise and the humorous elements along the way, I
felt the novel was a tad too long. One instance of kidnapping was fine, but a
second kidnapping dragged the story too long. While I can buy into the world where
there is an infant who is a prodigy, him being able to drive is testing the
reader to the limits and that is where I felt the humour was getting lost. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Humour is not usually a genre that I read and those that I have, I did
not particularly enjoy. However, this book proved to be an exception and I
found it thoroughly amusing. Even though it was not the easiest of reads, and
could be appreciated better if we could understand all the literary and
philosophical references, I would still say that this book would satisfy the
average audience and on that note, I award the book a rating of six on ten.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 6/10<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-21114673564406145792023-07-18T14:20:00.001+02:002023-07-18T14:59:34.306+02:00Monsters: A fan’s dilemma by Claire Dederer – Book Review <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4P5MC_S1E_-i_dbz_FFu2xPi7Ez24P32OrebELuJJ-qjs0bIc11-TOVITiXZ11jl1ApMWiaJEYgC011ratzEsyzT59CFLJ334G5JMrZyymZaN9PEqdsJLFycI7O-RQcGKUtK5PEmrWiI2nioAJ9tZqD9C538S7115YO-VjyRXyCwkgy-Z-W5-MnA/s1000/Monsters%20book.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="652" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4P5MC_S1E_-i_dbz_FFu2xPi7Ez24P32OrebELuJJ-qjs0bIc11-TOVITiXZ11jl1ApMWiaJEYgC011ratzEsyzT59CFLJ334G5JMrZyymZaN9PEqdsJLFycI7O-RQcGKUtK5PEmrWiI2nioAJ9tZqD9C538S7115YO-VjyRXyCwkgy-Z-W5-MnA/s320/Monsters%20book.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW203496252 BCX8" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-GB" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text; white-space-collapse: preserve;" xml:lang="EN-GB"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW203496252 BCX8" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Publisher’s write-up:</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW203496252 BCX8" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>‘What do we do with the art of monstrous men? Can we love the work of Roman Polanski and Michael Jackson, Hemingway and Picasso? Should we love it? Does genius deserve special dispensation? Is history an excuse? What makes women artists monstrous? And what should we do with beauty, and with our unruly feelings about it?</i></div><i><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Claire Dederer explores these questions and our relationships with the artists whose behaviour disrupts our ability to apprehend the work on its own terms. She interrogates her own responses and her own behaviour, and she pushes the fan, and the reader, to do the same. Morally wise, deeply considered and sharply written, Monsters gets to the heart of one of our most pressing conversations.’</i></div></i><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We have ongoing conversation about whether artists could be separated from their works and if not, should we feel guilty of enjoying artistic excellence from ‘Monsters’? This includes topics like whether we could enjoy the works of Polanski – who has fled the criminal justice system in the US for raping a minor; or could still take pleasure from reading the books of JK Rowling, who uses her large platform to spread vitriol against the transgender people, one of the most vulnerable groups throughout history. These are some of the questions that the writer Claire Dederer tries to answer in this book.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She takes up the case of several well-known personalities such as Woody Allen, Pablo Picasso, JK Rowling, Doris Lessing, Roman Polanski, etc. and discusses her own dilemma around enjoying some of their works. An idea she discussed was interesting, describing this as conflicting biographies, where in the internet age, we know the biographies of all the famous personalities whom we follow but at the same time, if this conflicts with our own biographies (the ethics and values that we hold), then we start to question ourselves.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This would fall under the category of a book that I wanted to like, considering this is an interesting and contemporary topic, given the nonsensical culture wars initiated by the right-wing ecosystem lately. However, this book lacked structure and often missed the point. She starts talking about Rowling and then digresses immediately somewhere else without having relevance to what was being discussed earlier.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I would raise something I felt personally here, she was saying how to classify a famous woman as a ‘monster’ had much lower standards, which usually involved abandoning their children for the sake of their career and she cited the example of Doris Lessing. I understand that this is a topic close to her, but personally I do not see Doris Lessing discussed as much as she claimed and indeed, a separation where she willingly left the children in the custody of her partner, there is nothing morally wrong in her actions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I understand that she was giving her opinions – as is the purpose of this book but that is when I stopped understanding whether she was inviting a discussion into the subject or writing a diary on how she felt about these people during the various phases of her life. Considering this was like reading a diary, I hoped that she would eventually reveal how she personally chose to deal with the subject (while you or I may have our own views and approach) but she leaves that open ended as well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On that note, I would conclude saying that this was a disappointing book given the high level of expectations that I had. I rate the book a three on ten.</div><br /><b>Rating – 3/10 <br /><br />Have a nice day, <br />Andy </b></span>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-54415164753481745212023-07-15T16:09:00.007+02:002023-07-15T16:22:09.669+02:00Secession and State Creation by James Ker-Lindsay and Mikulas Fabry<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqM8PcGoHtPYc57roHhvGcQs27bnG3ZZ00g_SQKj-sw3UaYVfvuc52YK1Xl2Row6__mtv2gnrdW7uA4Jb8yW8XKQR6pca9kZnI3cExFlbbEhOZSlrUO1EWHfWQxmTy7mitYiphkgrO08K1_TqFEjn3QNczHF-fbSP6l7GPHzbW5NQQkGCEEbvjvOQr/s1000/61N5LBmPhaL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqM8PcGoHtPYc57roHhvGcQs27bnG3ZZ00g_SQKj-sw3UaYVfvuc52YK1Xl2Row6__mtv2gnrdW7uA4Jb8yW8XKQR6pca9kZnI3cExFlbbEhOZSlrUO1EWHfWQxmTy7mitYiphkgrO08K1_TqFEjn3QNczHF-fbSP6l7GPHzbW5NQQkGCEEbvjvOQr/s320/61N5LBmPhaL._AC_UF1000,1000_QL80_.jpg" width="213" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><u><span lang="EN-GB">Publisher’s write-up:</span></u></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="https://lastute.blogspot.com/2023/07/seccesion-et-creation-dun-etat-de-james.html" target="_blank">Cliquez ici afin de lire en français</a></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">‘What makes a
state? This question has attracted more and more attention in recent years with
Catalan’s illegal vote for independence from Spain and Palestine’s ongoing
search for international recognition. And while Scotland chose to remain with
the United Kingdom, discussion of independence have only continued as the
ramifications of the Brexit vote begin to set in. Kosovo, South Sudan, and the
situation in Ukraine – each in its way reveals the perils of creating a nation
separate from neighbours who have dominated it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">As James
Ker-Lindsay and Mikulas Fabry show in this new addition to the What Everyone
Needs to Know series, the road to statehood never did run smooth. Declaring
independence is only the first step; gaining both local and global acceptance
is necessary before a state can become truly independent, The prospect of
losing territory is usually not welcomed by the parent state, and any such threat
to an existing culture and its economy is often met with resistance – armed or
otherwise. Beyond this immediate conflict, the international community often
refuses to accept new states without proof of defined territory, a settled
population, and effective government, which frequently translates to a
democratic one with demonstrated respect for human rights. Covering the legal,
political, and practical issues of secession and state creation, Ker-Lindsay
and Fabry provide a sure-footed guide to a complex topic.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">What makes a
state? This question is even more pertinent today considering we are facing the
most tumultuous geopolitical situation in decades, with Russia’s unprovoked
invasion of Ukraine, civil war in Sudan, regime change in Afghanistan, Myanmar,
etc. As the author addressed early on in the book, some newly formed states
like South Sudan have gained international recognition without much hassle
whereas others such as Kosovo, notwithstanding their ability to operate as an
independent state, including achieving recognition from major global powers,
still is not recognised by over half the world and is not a UN member. These
are the questions that this book answers, as to what creates a state and what
are the valid causes for secession. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">To start with,
this book takes an academic perspective on the issue and is not a philosophical
book on nationhood or sense of belonging. It addresses the widely recognised
international conventions and also the UN charter and the various resolutions
when it comes to statehood and ideas such as self-determination. Even the
definitions of what constituted a state start from the late 18<sup>th</sup>
century (around the time of independence of the US) and does not explain how
states were recognised in different regions in the past (for example, in
Europe, the church for large parts of the Middle Ages). <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span lang="EN-GB">It is presented
in an easy-to-read manner – split into chapters and in a question-and-answer
format. The book was published in 2023 and thus, it is updated up until the unprovoked Russian
invasion of Ukraine. </span>For the
uninitiated and at the same time interested in geopolitics and the various
concepts of state recognition– this book provides an overview, explaining what
constitutes a state, what have been the accepted methods used in resolving
conflicts in the past, and also failed efforts and frozen conflicts. There were
several interesting facts that were presented, especially the norms that we
follow in the international community – which I have never thought of it that
way, that the countries have agreed that one sovereign state would have one
vote in the UNGA regardless of their size and population. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A disappointment that people could have is from incorrect expectations
as I already stated, as the book is academic and often uses terms which are not
in common parlance. However, to those who are even partially interested in the
topic, might be familiar with a third of the book, and thus, could proceed with
those sections fast (an example could be a detailed explanation of the
Montevideo Convention on the criteria for recognising a state). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On the whole, I would say that the book was an excellent read, and is
strongly recommended for those who are interested in geopolitics and how the
international system operates. On that note, I award the book a rating of eight
on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 8/10<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day, <br />
Andy</span></span></b>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-21512840339771783272023-04-27T22:23:00.000+02:002023-04-27T22:23:47.780+02:00The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald – Book Review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FQaQ7JEmy1CdMZLoJPaxXtumSRztceFQRLrq2FdIkHroNfDkZGYC_3VIMAFRFrXre4wXOScnIamCfcYj5pkQiKvt4OyqusGF9lsTcLmUH_MuIv3skSKMzDb8GmU2lNKhy96kGJDwROWK_j1Rn5Eso72yYMhRoIvqBX5NuJA4VBD1ShzGrG0JIw/s500/The%20Emigrants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="327" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FQaQ7JEmy1CdMZLoJPaxXtumSRztceFQRLrq2FdIkHroNfDkZGYC_3VIMAFRFrXre4wXOScnIamCfcYj5pkQiKvt4OyqusGF9lsTcLmUH_MuIv3skSKMzDb8GmU2lNKhy96kGJDwROWK_j1Rn5Eso72yYMhRoIvqBX5NuJA4VBD1ShzGrG0JIw/s320/The%20Emigrants.jpg" width="209" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -36pt;"><b><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s
write-up :<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">‘At first The Emigrants appears simply to document the
lives of four Jewish émigrés in the twentieth century. But gradually, as
Sebald's precise, almost dreamlike prose begins to draw their stories, the four
narrations merge into one overwhelming evocation of exile and loss.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Emigrants is a collection of four short stories written
by the writer and academic W.G. Sebald, who wrote the book originally in
German. As the title suggests, this narrates the story of four emigrants, all
of whom are jews who fled Germany to avoid prosecution and living in their adopted
countries. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The first story is about a doctor living in the English country
side, Dr. Henry Selwyn, the second is that of a teacher, Paul Bereyter who now
lives in Switzerland, the third is Amboros, who lives in the United States with
his rich relatives – with whom he travels to expensive places around the world,
and the last character is Max Ferber, who is a young painter in Manchester,
whom the author meets. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The story dealt with different aspects of life, particularly
that of emigrants, where there is always a yearning to belong to your new
place, along with the nostalgia for the place that you had left but you have your
reasons why it is implausible to move back to the previous place. This was best
shown in the story of Paul, who struggled to belong in his new place even though
he was well respected and always had a longing for the mountains in Bavaria. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The author had the setting described well in each of the stories,
be it the countryside in the story of Dr. Selwyn or the various towns of
Switzerland. The best use of a city was the description of Manchester in the
story of Max, where I felt the author had used the city well. The author also
has a unique style of adding pictures without any caption and this allowed me
to visualize a lot of these scenes described to me by the author. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The story I had liked the least was the one of Amboros,
where there were too many characters for one to get lost in the sea of information
and they keep travelling around the world, going from place to place. It felt more
like reading a travelogue than a novel. Unless these characters were completely
based on real people, I felt the stories were unnecessarily sad, even stories
that I felt which did not need such levels of sadness for it to move the reader
(such as the story of Paul), and after a point, it becomes predictable, I had
the shock while reading the story of Dr. Selwyn, but eventually, I started expecting
such events. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On the whole, I would say that it was a good read, not the
easiest of reads, but still has got some interesting stories. I award the book
a rating of six on ten, and I am certainly interested in trying the other works
of the writer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 6/10 <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7301752333245558429.post-59360343097365255892023-04-24T23:11:00.002+02:002023-04-24T23:11:24.666+02:00I’ll be strong for you by Nasim Marashi – book review<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCl4AzbubZMzB37zu8MvYwSnxPt9X9Mtk-I39ZVFSFw4uGceTyX_QTfcM6AiDTZ3zXzJVBqbGc4YmR1mKRrebUISNXL425OqbVRFYHtyVjGxOsQDfP3qPsxGO5Yx8sgp-V6NtxPJXEJEIN7-LtplP_eiVRIAZO3E8g6vpbEF7sXxMdwGzczqwkg/s599/L-automne-est-la-derniere-saison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHCl4AzbubZMzB37zu8MvYwSnxPt9X9Mtk-I39ZVFSFw4uGceTyX_QTfcM6AiDTZ3zXzJVBqbGc4YmR1mKRrebUISNXL425OqbVRFYHtyVjGxOsQDfP3qPsxGO5Yx8sgp-V6NtxPJXEJEIN7-LtplP_eiVRIAZO3E8g6vpbEF7sXxMdwGzczqwkg/s320/L-automne-est-la-derniere-saison.jpg" width="214" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="https://lastute.blogspot.com/2023/04/lautomne-est-la-derniere-saison-de.html" target="_blank">Afin de lire mon avis en français, cliquez ici</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Note:</b> I read the French translation of this book, so I would
be using the names of the characters as it was written in French</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-family: arial;">Publisher’s write-up (from goodreads): <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">‘Three recent college graduates in Tehran struggle to
find their footing in this award\-winning debut by Iranian journalist Nasim
Marashi. Roja, the most daring of the three, works in an architecture firm and
is determined to leave Tehran for graduate school in Toulouse. Shabaneh, who is
devoted to her disabled brother and works with Roja, is uncertain about
marrying a colleague as it would mean leaving her family behind. Leyla, who was
unable to follow her husband abroad because of her commitment to her career as
a journalist, is wracked with regret. Over the course of two seasons, summer
and fall, in bustling streets and cramped family apartments, the three women
weather setbacks and compromises, finding hope in the most unlikely places.
Even as their ambitions cause them to question the very fabric of their
personalities and threaten to tear their friendship apart, time and again Roja,
Shabaneh and Leyla return to the comfort of their longtime affection, deep
knowledge and unquestioning support of each other. Vividly capturing three very
distinct voices, Marashi\x27s deeply wrought narrative lovingly brings these
young women and their friendship to life in all their complexity.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ll be strong for you is the first novel of the writer
Nasim Marashi, written in Persian and published in 2014, which was highly
successful in Iran. It is a story of three young women who met at the university
in Tehran during their studies. The three have different family backgrounds,
with Leya having a privileged background, Shabaneh who is from a small town and
lived through her town being bombarded during the war (which war, is not
mentioned) and does not want to leave her brother with special needs alone with
her mother, the latter who does not have a particular liking towards him, and
Rodja, who has big dreams and wants to leave the country. The narration is done
in the first person though the narrator is different in each chapter (Leyla,
Shabaneh and Rodja respectively). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked the fact that
the novel was universal and addressed experiences faced by most people living
an urban life anywhere in the world. At times, I was interested in even going
for a coffee with Leyla, just to hear her out, with all the difficulties she is
facing with her mental health. I also appreciated the narration and the writing
style as well, and even though the narrator changed every chapter, the
chronology was maintained and the first person narrator of the previous chapter
is a character in the third person in the present chapter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Each of the character had to address a difficult situation,
faced my most people, that is, ‘whether to stay or leave’, be it the country, job
or a relationship and each of them had to measure the pros and cons of whatever
decision they were to take. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, universal nature of the novel was also its weakness,
as regardless of whether this novel had taken place in Tehran or New York or Paris
or Tokyo or Johannesburg would have caused little difference. I had a lot of
expectations considering the novel was translated to French in the year 2023,
with the context of the protests against the regime triggered by the murder of the
young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini by the state in 2022. However, the author never
touched upon sensitive topics, neither religion nor politics. The former I
understand as based on several articles I have read, Iran is quite a secular
society where religion is less important than its other neighbours in the
Middle East, despite their government. However, with politics, she had an
opportunity, as Iran is a multicultural country despite popular perception
(with Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Arabs, etc.) and I never saw any of these cultural
aspects come out. And given that these women either wanted to leave the country
(like Rodja) or create a positive impact (like Leyla), it was very much
possible to explore the political angle. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To conclude, I enjoyed the book, and though it did not meet
my expectations, if you enjoy reading about universal emotions such as love, friendship
and dilemma, it is still a good novel to read. Considering that, I would award
the novel a rating of six on ten. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Rating – 6/10 <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Have a nice day,<br />
Andy</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>Anirudh P (Andy)http://www.blogger.com/profile/14456610900095750941noreply@blogger.com0