Luxor: Book of Past Lives by Julie Bettendorf – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up: 

‘Set against the rich tapestry of ancient Egypt, Luxor: Book of Past Lives is the story of Nebamun and Iramen, two brothers who are embalmers in Egypt during the era of the boy king, Tutankhamun. It is their duty to prepare the many bodies of the dead who land on their embalming table a journey into the afterlife. Paralleling this ancient tale is the story of two different brothers, Abdul and Karim, who make their living by robbing the ancient tombs of Egypt in the late 1800’s, when the theft and sale of artifacts was at its peak. Woven throughout the novel are the mysterious intersections of the brothers’ lives, though separated by thousands of years.’

Luxor: Book of Past Lives is a story that moves across two timelines – one covering a group of priests embalming dead bodies in ancient Egypt and the other being two brothers, Karim and Abdul robbing the tombs in the 19^th century embalmed by these priests centuries ago.

The story constantly fluctuates between the two timelines, in one chapter; it’d start with the high priest Nebamun carrying out an embalming with his renegade brother Iramen and junior priest, Padi. The highlight of this timeline is that, it is the only book that I’ve read till date on ancient Egypt which covers the life of an Egyptian commoner rather than the royalty. Moreover, we all knew about the fact that the ancient Egyptians used the process of ‘mummification’ to preserve their dead but this book brought out the process very well and also brought out the life in the Egyptian society way back in their glory days, be it the domination of the royals or the authority of the bureaucracy in the rural areas.

The next chapter would immediately move to the 19^th century, where the brothers are busy robbing tombs, Karim being the aggressive one whereas Abdul is scared of authority and is always worried about curses that’d affect them owing to their trade. They sell their loot to an enterprising antique seller named Rahmad who has reasonable knowledge on ancient Egypt and makes a lot of money by overcharging British tourists. Yet again, akin to the earlier timeline, here also, the lives of the poor in the Egyptian society of the 19^th century and how over time, nobody in the society is really bothered about their history except for making monetary gains out of it.

On the whole, this was quite an enjoyable read, for a history enthusiast such as myself; with the process of embalming and the politics of ancient Egypt covered in such depth. The 19^th century Egypt was equally enjoyable, bringing out the interests of foreign tourists in Egypt and the life that grave robbers led during those times (not as luxurious as what has been perceived, for sure). The writing was also quite simple, making it easy for anybody to read and not just linguistic enthusiasts. However, the only thing I’d say I was a little disappointed with, was that it being termed as ‘fiction’, the story during both the timelines didn’t have much role and it was in fact, a non-fiction book narrated through a story but then, I guess this is an effective way to reach out to all sorts of readers and I’m in no way suggesting that the story was boring.

To conclude, I’d say that I learnt a lot from this book and it was a good reading experience and I’m looking forward to more from the author on the subject, maybe on Hittites or the Sumerians or Babylonians. I’d give the book a rating of seven based on whatever I’ve stated so far. 

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Chanakya’s Chant – A plunge into a Legend

In a twisted tale of history and modern fiction, Ashwin Sanghi meshes the intricacies of a past event with the deranged effect it may hold in a future happenstance. Starting with the life of a legend many of us have read about or at least heard about, the author manages to engage the reader with a situation, resultant from the past exploits of the legend, leading to a milestone in the fabric of Indian Politics. As disclaimed by the author, if you are looking for historical accuracy with the life of Chanakya, the fabled genius who gave birth to the rebellion against ancient invaders, the likes of Alexander III of Macedonia, you are not in luck here. The story mixes fiction with facts to create something that a writer can be proud of.

The story begins in a world not many can imagine with such picturesque accuracy. The world in description is Ancient India. A divided world, India is described as a war ground where disunity strays rampant, leaving the doors of the ancient world open to invasion. Amongst this chaos, a little child is shown to possess intelligence that is not to be taken lightly by any means. This child is none but the fabled Chankya. Stories have been told of the unison of Chanakya’s brains with the brawn of another figure in history, the first emperor of a kingdom which spans much of today’s India. The kingdom, Magadha, is known as one of the first kingdoms to have united the subcontinent. With the might to rival the armies of divinity, this kingdom boasts of one of the best remembered reigns belonging to the times in question. This is where the author stakes his claim on the history. The famed king of the Maurya Dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya, is depicted as the son of the commander-in-chief of Magadha’s army and not the child of the wandering Maurya Clan. History is used by the author to describe the point of story till which Chanakya loosens his tuft of hair, and vows not to tie it back till the Nanda Empire falls and from its ashes, raises the platform for a united Bharat. Then on, it’s a play on words to enrapture the already enraptured minds.

As the point in chronology shifts, the sights are set upon a modern India. A adolescent boy is shown, discovering  an ancient plate, etched upon it, the chant of Chanakya. At this point of the story, it is not shown where the chant originates from. The sad story of the incantation’s roots in a curse is revealed much later. This boy, Gangasagar Mishra, is then shown to become a political kingmaker, akin to Chanakya’s ability in the past .Though note realising that his actions are resultant from the events of the past, the man goes on to weave his destiny in the modern day politics. Where political leverage is key to success, the man decides at the beginning of his life, the course of his life. He selects a girl, one who has a humble beginning, and moves her life in his desired direction. Though the girl believes that her life is her own, little does she realise that it is one that is plotted by Gangasagar till such a point that he succumbs to death, and beyond. Her simple upbringing is chastised into a sophisticated outlook, still maintaining her core values. He gives her dreams of power and position, and ensures he fulfills them.

The society’s greed and unquenched thirst for power is shown as the problems of ancient India. The same is counteracted by the desire of position, religious divides and corruption of modern India. In the fashion that Chanakya manipulates vanity and greed of the mighty, yet fallible kings of the past, Gangasagar exploits the disunity of a modern India to create political unity to serve his needs.

However, the darker sides of the characters are also in play here. Chanakya’s alter ego is shown to be the benefactor for assailants and mercenaries and also poison maidens. With elaborate plans, and a future insight, Chanakya utilises the personality of men and the predictability in their behavior, to scheme his plots and execute them to perfection. He and his aides carry out the various courses of decided actions with textbook perfection. Chanakya anticipates every possible outcome with precision. Had he played a game of chess, it would have been checkmate with the minimum possible moves. Or rather, in this case, it would be moves after moves to deplete the opponent’s pieces with nothing put pawns and a one higher piece, rendering the opponent useless at every stage of the match. On the modern side, Gangasagar schemes things with nothing lesser. He carries out killings, decides what course a person’s life takes, how it moves, what debt a person should owe to whom, and at what time, moves pieces of his chessboard to and against his designated king at his will, and what not. Both times end with the desired results of the gentlemen behind the scenes. Chandragupta reaches his pinnacle and the girl reaches the top of the upper echelons of the nation. Both the conspirators end up losing their personalities and values all in the name of the greater good. Their lose their loved ones, one resulting in the curse/chant that incites the other into the raising of the girl to supreme power, losing his life and the end of the road.

The writing is profound and keeps a reader in an anticipatory and a receptive state till the author concludes his diction. Individually, the plots are known to the readers beforehand as both the stories are repeated in the history of politics. Where this book creates a difference is the connection between the two stories. How one story is connected to the other by a plate and a chant inscribed on the plate, is truly intriguing and infatuating to read. The obvious reference to the highly regarded political drama, “Yes Minister”, is welcome and tingles those fantastic memories one has of the series. The author pays proper and an untainted homage to the series. If there is a snag in the execution, it is the use of the quotes in the series as intermittent fillers. When one disregards the lines copied from the erstwhile “Yes Minister”, one can still enjoy this good read.

Final Rating – 3.7/5

Gorgeous Georgians by Terry Deary – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Want to know:

v    If you would make a good bodysnatcher?

v  What the Georgians did with squashed fish eyes?

v  Who wore false eyebrows made from mouse skin?

Discover all the foul facts about the Gorgeous Georgians – all the gore and more!’

Well, I picked up this book solely because I wanted to know something about an interesting race from the Caucasus Ranges but then, little did I expect that this book was going to be about Britain during the era of Hanover monarchs (before William IV and Victoria). However, with that said, I wasn’t disappointed with this book.

The uniqueness about horrible histories always is that, the author runs the reader through the selected era in a way in which that the reader is never bored, does not have to remember the dates and still gets a picture of how the society was, during the time.  The Georgian addiction towards make-up, the high demand for corpses for the purpose of research, the Luddite wars, and their love for gory sports was all portrayed well, through the usual witty caricatures which are used across all the books of this series. Although, this era didn’t have many interesting battles to cover, following the fall of Napoleon, the author still managed to keep the book interesting, in my opinion.

Like any other Horrible Histories book, this too, I believe, has maintained the standard and would be good for light reading while travelling or even when you’re looking for a break after having done some real heavy reading.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Sultana’s Dream by Begum Rokheya Sakhawat Hossain – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘Sultana’s Dream first appeared in 1905, ten years before the American feminist and novelist, Charlotte P. Gilman, published her feminist utopia Herland. Sultana’s Dream is an appealing story of reversed purdah – the secularism of women – in Ladyland, where peace-loving women overpower aggressive men through the power of their brains.’

Sultana’s Dream is a sci-fi pro feminism novella written during the early years of the previous century by the Bengali feminist writer Begum Rokheya. This review is solely based on the edition with illustrations from Durga Bai; and I don’t even know whether this edition is the full story or it has been abridged.

The story is straightforward, a woman by the name Sultana is led by another woman whom she presumes to be her friend Sara, takes her to a faraway land, which is far more advanced than what she has seen in India – with solar powered kitchens, devices up in the air which stops rainfall and in turn provides endless supply of water, irrigation fully carried out using electricity, etc. This is a land completely ruled by women and where men are confined inside the houses, the converse of what used to happen in early 20^th century India.

I really loved the imagination of the author in this book; to think of solar powered kitchens back in 1905, flying machines three decades before it was invented and for putting forth feminist thoughts at a time when subjugation was considered normal and that too, hailing from one of the most conservative regions of the country (which it till date is); is something commendable. I also liked the illustrations of Durga Bai in traditional Bengali art, especially, that of the solar powered kitchen (as shown above) and I guess that makes the book adorable across all age groups. Also, the book didn’t drag on pointlessly and ended when it had to, making it the perfect novella.

However, what I totally loathed was that the author is such a militant feminist, she is not a feminist who is fighting for the equality of women in the society, but represents that extreme brand of feminism (I don’t even consider that as feminism, would prefer using the term that is circulated in the internet – feminazism) which merely promotes hatred towards more than anything else. All that this book tries to portray is that men are absolutely good for nothing, in their seven hours of working life; they work for an hour and spend the rest of the time smoking, and several other absolutely preposterous remarks. Had a man written a novel, merely portraying the society as it was in those days, would’ve been condemned as a chauvinist but it is rather unfortunate that media houses and several other feminazis support these kind of women. Personally, I consider myself a feminist who supports equality and stops at equality. 

Leaving my personal opinions apart, purely seeing it as a story, I feel it is a decent work and could be a really good read to keep yourself occupied during a short travel. While I might have given this book a rating of seven, I can’t ignore her rather radical opinions and hence, I award this book a rating of six.

Rating – 6/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Hatufim (חטופים) (Prisoners of War) by Gideon Zaff – Season 2 – Review

Synopsis:

‘Gideon Raff's critically-acclaimed series returns. Nimrod and Uri find clues suggesting their fellow soldier and POW Amiel may have survived their 17 years in captivity.’

This is the continuation of the Israeli TV Series, Hatufim. This is effectively the same story split across two seasons and picks up where it exactly left off, in the first season. Hence, in case you’ve not watched the first season, do not proceed with reading this review – you may read the review of the first season by clicking here.

The plot is simple – Amiel Ben-Horin is still alive, just that he has switched sides, having converted to Islam, living as Yussuf, with a Syrian wife – the daughter of the spiritual head of Sons of Jihad, the organisation which held the three soldiers captive. Their captor, Jamal has passed away, and the organisation is now led by Amiel and Abdallah, a terrorist released by Israel as part of the exchange. Meanwhile, Nimrod has separated from Talia; Uri now lives with Nurit and is keen on bringing Amiel back to Israel. The crux of the second season is finding out who really is Amiel / Yussuf and this time, Haim Cohen is on the same side as Uri and Nimrod.

The good thing about the second season was, it was action packed, and it concentrated more on the investigation and I liked the way in which the perspectives kept changing – how on one scene, they’d be brainstorming the investigation in Israel and on the other end, you have Amiel and Abdallah plotting against Israel. I also liked the twists and turns that were there throughout the course of the second season, and some of them, if I may say so, was totally unexpected. Another thing I liked was that some of the irritating characters of the first season like Nimrod’s daughter, Dana, had a much improved role in the second season and her positive influence was unexpected and good. Moreover, in the Uri was also a little less cynical, was determined, which added to the pace that the story required, which was slightly lacking in the first season. But more than anything else, I felt the other side was portrayed very well – all the meetings of Sons of Jihad, the personal life of Amiel and his dilemma, how he carried out his responsibilities was brought out well.

However, I also felt that, this time, the concentration on the personal lives of Nimrod and Uri was boring, seemed a mere digression from the main plot, which was the investigation into what is the cover-up going on behind Amiel’s death. Also, I felt that yet again, the soldiers recalling their captivity was repetitive and one of the reasons why I was done with the series faster than I was supposed to have was because I could forward those scenes and not lose track of anything.

With all that said, I felt that the end was good, may not exactly be fitting, considering a lot of red herrings – whether they were to be considered red herrings or loose ends is up to the viewer’s interpretation. However, I feel it is better than any standard thriller and considering the longevity of its English remake, I may consider watching Homeland in future. I felt that this was slightly better than the first season, in terms of focus and the pace and hence, I’m awarding it a slightly better rating.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Hatufim (חטופים) (Prisoners of War) by Gideon Zaff – Season 1 – Review

(failed to find a good picture of it in Hebrew)

Synopsis:

‘The negotiations for the release of the Israeli soldiers, has ended successfully. Nimrod Klien, Uri Zach and Amiel ben horin are coming home. The first two are alive, Amiel was killed while being a prisoner of war. The soldiers reunite with their loved ones. Nimrod meets Talia, who waited for him for all those years, and conducted the campaign for his release.’

Hatufim is an Israeli TV drama known as Prisoners of War in the English speaking world. I came to know about this through a friend who suggested me to watch Homeland and when I visited the Wikipedia page of the same, I realised that it was inspired by an Israeli TV show and hence, I wanted to watch the original. Whatever I’ve said in my erstwhile reviews of TV shows hold good for this one too, that I see this purely as a story and I’m not going to comment on acting, screenplay, background music or any other aspects of a TV show, for I’m not competent enough to comment on them.

The story starts with a mediator striking a deal in Germany for the return of three Israeli POWs – Nimrod Klein, Uri Zach and Amiel Ben-Horin who had been held by terrorists for seventeen years. While Nimrod and Uri returned safe, Amiel returned in a casket. The focus of the first season is on two things: one, the reintegration of Nimrod and Uri into the mainstream society and into their own family, considering a lot has happened over the years - Nimrod now has a son whom he had never even met and also, sees himself as a burden considering he is not competent to carry out any tasks in the modern world whereas Uri’s fiancé has eventually married his brother; two, IDF psychologist Haim Cohen is under the impression after preliminary investigations that the two of them are hiding something and the same needs to unravelled.

What I liked about this was the setting and the very concept – while it involves the often touched upon subjects of POWs and the effects of torture post release, it also has an element of investigation and mystery in it. Moreover, the writer didn’t rush into the plot and instead, took it step by step – starting with their struggles to reintegrate with their family, into this new world, also the trauma faced by the sister of the deceased; and then moving on to the investigation by Haim Cohen and finally, on to the investigation personally undertaken by Uri and Nimrod, with them knowing that there is a lot more surrounding their captivity than what they know. By gradually stepping things up, the interest of the viewer never went down and it was gripping, to say the least. On the whole, I felt that the balance was right, between all aspects of the story – one, the personal life of the soldiers and the other being the matters surrounding their captivity.

The only thing that disappointed me about the first season was the repeated recalling of the past, which is very often repetitive and also, for someone like me whose one of the many reasons for preferring the written word over visuals is that I can’t bear to watch gory scenes and scenes of torture.

The first season has laid a solid foundation for the series to continue and I feel it is a gift for all those who enjoy thrillers and are also knowledgeable on the Arab-Israeli conflict (though, the knowledge on the latter isn’t mandatory, just helps you enjoy it better) and yes, I’m looking forward to the second season.

Rating – 7/10

Have a nice day,

Andy

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Sir Salman Rusdhie – Book Review

Publisher’s write-up:

‘In a sad city, the saddest of cities, a city so ruinously sad that it has forgotten its name, a professional storyteller named Rashid lives with his son Haroun.

Rashid is the Shah of Blah, with oceans of notions and the Gift of the Gab. Ask the Shah of Blah for a story and you won’t get any old story. Nor will you get just one. You’ll get many stories, hundreds of stories, funny and sad stories, all of them juggled at once, complete with bits of sorcery and bits of love, princesses, wicket uncles and fat aunts, moustachioed gangsters in yellow checked pants and galf a dozen catchy tunes.

But one day things – many things – go terribly wrong. Rashid is left by his wife. Then, when Rashid opens his mouth, no story comes out: only a horrid barking sound. The Shah of Blah has lost his Gift of the Gab because, unknown to him, something very bad has occurred: somewhere, somehow, the wellspring of all stories is slowly being contaminated. Khattam-Shud – the Prince of Silence and the Foe of Speech – has secretly set out to pollute the very Sea of Stories itself.’

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a Rushdie novel meant for younger readers and is dedicated to his elder son, Zafar (whose middle name happens to be Haroun). I read the Midnight’s Children and I wanted to read a lighter work of Rushdie after that and this seemed an obvious choice.

The story starts at a city, the saddest of all cities, where lives one happy family, of the storyteller Rashid Khalifa with his singing wife and son Haroun. However, there comes a day, when, his wife leaves him and Rashid loses his ability to tell stories, and eventually is forced to leave the city on to the valley of K to support the campaigns of a cynical politician named Buttoo. Haroun, determined to bring back the ability of his father, happens to meet a Water Genie from the world of stories, steals his magic wrench and tricks the genie to take him to the world of stories, called Kahani so that he can bring back his father’s abilities and the story is about Haroun’s adventures in this world.

To start with, I felt I got what I wanted – a novel for light reading, written by Rushdie and I guess there couldn’t have been a better choice than this. It was short, simple, but at the same time, wasn’t free from his exquisite imagination and imagery. I really loved his imagination and the way he described the world of stories – Kahani and the characteristics of the protectors of stories and the opponents of the same. It was very much an ordinary princess rescuing story (often told bed time stories) however, what made this special was the element of magic realism and the same happening in this new world (the unseen moon of earth, according to the story) – Kahani. I liked the way how Rushdie brought about the organisational structure of the army in Kahani – split into chapters served by pages (soldiers) and how, in spite of including a romantic sub-plot between Haroun and the page Blabbermouth, it didn’t affect the flow of the story in anyway and there was absolutely no digression. I also liked the names that Rushdie had chosen for the characters in the book but as I’m someone who can speak Hindustani (Hindi / Urdu), there was no element of surprise and the last page of the novel was unnecessary but for someone who doesn’t, it would’ve certainly been a good element in the novel.  Of course, like any other bed time story meant for younger readers, it has a happy ending.

The only two problems I had with this book was – some pointless imagery, especially inside the boat at the Valley of K and I felt Rushdie didn’t give enough room for the reader to interpret, either. Also, I felt the publisher gave away too many details in the write-up and also claimed this novel to be ageless which I’d disagree, for I certainly couldn’t appreciate this book as much as Midnight’s Children and I also believe that I would’ve appreciated this book a lot more had I been ten years younger.

I felt this is a very good book for anybody start their foray into books and reading considering the quality of writing you’re exposed to at a young age; and I believe, had I stumbled upon this earlier, I would’ve got into this much earlier than I did, which happened to be at the age of thirteen. If any young reader asks me a suggestion for a book to read, this would certainly make it to the top of the list that I’d be suggesting. Kudos to Rusdhie and I shall soon be reading Luka and the Land of Fire (I already have it in my shelf).

Rating 7 / 10 (I’m deducting one, probably because I’ve read it ten years too late).

Have a nice day,

Andy