Indian Readers discussion

Vimal wrote: "*Feels all the more giddy seeing comment #99. As if David Mitchell isn't enough to make one giddy*"

ROFL!!!

@Vimal,who has decided next week?Anyone I know?

Vimal wrote: "I'm done. Phew...

@Girish, Quite a start on the bookers this year! What's the next one? I think I'll have to read something light for the next 2 weeks to steady myself before picking up anything ..."

Yay.. Hi-five! Actually quite literally too since both of us have given it 5 star rating :D and from the looks of it, Sri too might :P

I have the following books lined up. But I suggest we pause for a week before picking the next :D See if you can get your hands on Julian Barnes Arthur & George

Srividya wrote: "Ahhhh Zachary's story was just amazing! And what a connection to the title and this story! Simply beautiful!

Vimal - Reading 5 stories in a day is because I am reading it real slow. :P

This time ..."

It's like Bolt participating in marathon at Cavendish's old age home! I think it is only fair you give us a head start :D

Vimal wrote: "Srividya wrote: "And Papa Song reminds me of KFC! :P..."

There were several points in this story that made me wonder if am already living in Neo so copros :D"

LOL! So true. We live in the time of delivery boys touted to be replaced with androids. So, sure :D

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "@Vimal,who has decided next week?Anyone I know?"

Isn't life all about getting to know yourself better? Congrats Syl! You have been drafted to read CA of your own free will and post your reviews here :P

whoosh... I will,

..........but........

at my own pace :-P

I am speechless after that Sonmi chapter. Oh man! The philosophies propounded in that one, the twists and turns - of which some were predictable especially (view spoiler)[Xultation was just used for killing the fabricants was something that I had already felt in the first part, so it was predictable. However, the whole Sonmi was an act was something that came as a surprise.

Incidentally, I felt this narrative had a lot of Buddhist as well as Hindu philosophy in it. Buddhist was obvious where they mention pagodas and Siddhartha. I felt many things quoted or borrowed from the Hindu stand of Kali Yuga. The whole concept of machines rule the world and bliss is in automation, the powerful rule while the powerless are subdued, these things are all prevalent in most dystopian stories but somehow the way it was mentioned here smacked a lot of Vishnu Purana. Of course, I haven't read Vishnu Purana completely to comment accurately but I felt this from what I have heard being said in the Vishnu Purana by my parents and grandparents and other older relatives

I liked how the story ended by linking it to the next one. Can't wait to get back to Timothy's ghastly story! (hide spoiler)]

I agree that this one smacks a lot like Ayn Rand's philosophy!

Finished the Ghastly ordeal of Timothy Cavendish. This was such an action packed part in the book. Reminded me a lot of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Another thing that struck me (view spoiler)[As a freelance writer, I had designed a few website content for old age homes in the US. They always came with such beautiful photographs and such idyllic descriptions that used to make me think that the old really had it good in those countries because visiting some of ours used to make me very sad. However, this book and a few others like it make me feel very bad about the way we treat the older generation. It is almost as if, when the use for a person is over, you can discard them, almost as if they were things in your life and not humans who can feel! Really sad times! I did love the way they escaped. I was cheering them on all the time. (hide spoiler)]

Srividya wrote: "I am speechless after that Sonmi chapter. Oh man! The philosophies propounded in that one, the twists and turns - of which some were predictable especially Xultation was just used for killing the f..."

Till now I've been a silent stalker of this discussion :D
I didn't like the book so I didn't want to say anything but I've read all your comments in order to see if I could catch something new and interesting.

I think that with your spoiler you explain why I didn't like it. Here in the West people, above all some authors, make a mix of the many things we find in Hinduism and Buddhism. They take only small pills from these two philosophies and give them to the reader/audience because this is what they want. It would be too difficult to read every book about Hinduism and have a deep look into it, it's too much for many lazy Western and so they are happy with only small pills they find in some books. I find this somehow superficial because I like Hinduism and I want to know in depth the philosophy. It's because of this that I read a lot about it and when I find some Western authors that put in a book only some references, the most important that everyone knows also here, I get angry. I feel as if they exploit a philosophy only to make money because they know they are giving to the Western reader what he is looking for.
At least this is the feeling I have, but maybe I'm wrong.
In addition to this I also didn't like it because I was waiting for connections and I wasn't able to find them or they are very very weak.

Finished Luisa Rey mystery and I felt it was lacking in something. It was a good thriller but the ultimate end although fitting (in the action packed scene, I mean) felt a little movie -ish!

Anyway, onto Robert Frobisher for now! :D

Dely - I totally understand your stance, which is why I don't read Paulo Coelho, who according to me skims the surface of philosophy and then goes onto ruin it with the same old chaff instead of something new.

However, with this book I will disagree that that is the case. Hindu philosophy is vast, so huge that we have several original texts, several translations, several interpretations, not to mention several original ways of thinking, depending on whether you conform to the Shaiva, Vaishnava, Madhava or some other sect in Hinduism. Their own stand in terms of religion, philosophy and spirituality is so different while also being similar in some ways that it is impossible for most Indians themselves to understand it or form an opinion that they can call correct or perfect, simply because perfection of thought does not exist. In fact, I believe that Hindu philosophy is perhaps the only philosophy (and I can be corrected, if I am wrong) which opens itself to several interpretations and is a combination of all these interpretations. Given this unique situation, I don't think the authors are at fault at all times. Of course, the situation that you have talked about does exist in most books, which again is inevitable. However, with this current book, the author does not proclaim to philosophize any religion or even spirituality as such. These are the hidden messages that I felt was there in the prose. Under such circumstances, where one is not writing a philosophical treatise, it is impossible to do anything other than to skim the surface.

The trick however, is to do it in the right way - and I guess this is where we disagree - you didn't like it while I loved it! :) This is again totally subjective, so I do accept and respect your views while disagreeing with it! :D

As for the connections - I thought that they were obvious in a way that one story links with the other in a kind of linear format but which I feel is not really linear. I know I sound confusing but what I mean is that there is a link which is mentioned, which might not be a great way to link, in some cases it does feel contrived and artificial but it still is there.... Could the author have done it in a better way? Oh yes it could have been in a better way but nevertheless it isn't something that bad either! :)

Oh and Dely - Opposing views are more fun as they lead to better discussions. So you shouldn't silently stalk this thread but should put forth your views so that we can also understand the lacks in this story! :D

Dely, i see what you mean when you talk about exploiting the 'essence' of religion with a western understanding. I kind of don't mind it so much since the understandings happen to be only interpretations. I definitely didn't see that link!

@Sri: The Cavendish story on how each generation treats their old could have been made into a sad tragic story. The point that Mitchell showcased it as a dark humour was a superb move in my opinion from the reader point of view. You can feel sad for fiction, but you only can laugh at something close to reality to be palatable.

Couple of observations on the connections. I felt that the connects were more literary than storyline based.

In Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveller there is a quote that reads "..literary tradition of Orient : he will break off the translation at the moment of greatest suspense and will start translating another novel, inserting it into the first through some rudimentary expedient"

Now the twist in CA is the backward reference to the previous chapter through a rudimentary expedient. So, it has been a clever gimmick.

The open and close of chapters in that sequence resembles the matryoshka dolls and the author quite subtly made reference to it in one of the chapters. So as the literary device, I think he intended it to be that way.

One last clue was the narrative devices - journal entries, letters, interviews, book, movie and monologue : The sextet of mediums of narration that could tell a story.

So if you considered the author a show off , he is the rich kid who comes in a swanky ferrari to the local market. But who cares, as long as it is the sight of the ferrari that gives you the happiness :D

I got the same feeling of the matryoshka dolls, right from the beginning and the author also uses it to explain something in the book! :D

Girish wrote: "Dely, i see what you mean when you talk about exploiting the 'essence' of religion with a western understanding. I kind of don't mind it so much since the understandings happen to be only interpret..."

I agree with you, the dark humour definitely made it more palatable. Although it didn't take away the seriousness of the situation in real life.

Again, I do agree that the different ways of writing each part is the key ingredient to the success of the book because not many authors can pull it off so well as Mitchell does. The shifts are quite seamless and after a point you are eager to know what comes next, at least in the first half because it's all new. I am also liking each ending or so-called ending, it leaves a lot to the reader's imagination and at the same time links it with the next story in a way that doesn't jar or make you feel that it is contrived. Even the hidden philosophical meanings of each part is beautifully portrayed and left to the reader's individual interpretation, which makes it exciting as it calls for a wonderful discussion.

Srividya wrote: "Oh and Dely - Opposing views are more fun as they lead to better discussions. "

I agree but I also know that it's not nice when you love a book and someone else pops in saying how he disliked it.

I also agree with this The trick however, is to do it in the right way - and I guess this is where we disagree - you didn't like it while I loved it! :). This happens with a lot of books. Now, for example, I'm reading Les Miserables as a group read in another group and someone is saying that she doesn't like Hugo's prose and wordiness while in my opinion it is something wonderful. Very often, what works for one doesn't work for someone else.

I agree with a lot of things you have said, also the fact that Hinduism is so vaste that it's nearly impossible to know everything about it.

I finished!!!! And I am totally in awe right now. Splendid book indeed!

Girish wrote: "Vimal wrote: "I'm done. Phew...

@Girish, Quite a start on the bookers this year! What's the next one? I think I'll have to read something light for the next 2 weeks to steady myself before pickin..."

Lol, True. Literal Hi-Five it is!

Couldn't lay my hands on Arthur and George, I will have to give it a pass since I've resolved not to buy anything this year before biting into a considerable chunk of my existing pile - a resolution formed after the misery of losing an unread pile to the Chennai floods last year :(

Reposting my list from the other thread. Once you're done with A & G, we will continue with something from this, if you could lay your hands on any of these, starting with shortlists.

1. Transatlantic -Colum McCann(I just read half the blurb and fell for it couple of years back :P)
2. We need new names - Noviolet Bulawayo
3. Parrot and Olivier in America - Peter Carey
4. The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry
5. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
6. The Stranger's Child - Alan Hollinghurst
7. The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters
8. Family Matters - Rohinton Mistry
9. What was she thinking - Zoe Heller
10. On Chesil Beach - Ian Mcewan
11. Possession - A.S. Byatt
12. The children's book - A.S. Byatt
13. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Fowler
14. Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith
15. A spool of blue thread - Anne Tyler
16. Jonathan strange and Mr Norrel - sussana clarke
17. Never let me go - Kazuo Ishiguro
18. Room - Emma Donoghue
19. What was lost - Catherine O'Flynn

Have read 8, 13 and 18.
if you choose any of the rest, shall try and join.

Sad to know of the damage. How many books did you lose?

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "Have read 8, 13 and 18.
if you choose any of the rest, shall try and join."

Awesome

Around 20 unread and a dozen read ones. The major chunk that was lost was magazines. I'm a compulsive magazine storer, and was dejected to lose some magazines which I'd stored for over a decade. Impossible to recover those. I doubt if even those publishers still have them.

Oh, I have no words to console you. :-(

If you decide to read Room, I will join you.

Vimal: It's very sad that you lost so many books to flood.:(

How many unread books you still have?

Vimal wrote: "Girish wrote: "Vimal wrote: "I'm done. Phew...

@Girish, Quite a start on the bookers this year! What's the next one? I think I'll have to read something light for the next 2 weeks to steady mysel..."

Ok then we will read A & G and then pick one from the list.

And sorry about the books lost.. I can imagine the pain. Especially the unread ones can be hard to digest!

Mine had to undergo a lot of drying with salt et all after the flood, but didn't lose any. My car is still at the workshop and I am glad my books are ok :)

started Cloud Atlas. Finding it funny, a good kind of funny. Also adding new words to my armoire.

nice of you to join in Syl. Hope you like it.
*silently slips armoire to one's word cloud*

Doing parallel research on Chatham islands and Moriori tribe. Never knew these existed!

Manju wrote: "If you decide to read Room, I will join you."

Awesome Manju.Lets see wat Girish gets.

Manju wrote: "Vimal: It's very sad that you lost so many books to flood.:(

How many unread books you still have?"

Yeah, fate. If fate so decides even digital books aren't safe. One of my friends had his entire kindle library wiped out by amazon for apparently no reason. Gave me the shudder to think about the way digital ownership works.

I have hundreds of unreads, mostly the books picked up from Chennai Book fair over several years, and a truck load of digital titles. Have decided that its high time I get to them.

Vimal wrote: "Manju wrote: "Vimal: It's very sad that you lost so many books to flood.:(

How many unread books you still have?"

Yeah, fate. If fate so decides even digital books aren't safe. One of my friends ..."

same here, hundreds and truckloads... that's why I always long to be a vampire/ghost/zombie/whatever post demise... not to scare others, but to read in comfort.

Girish wrote: "Vimal wrote: "Girish wrote: "Vimal wrote: "I'm done. Phew...

@Girish, Quite a start on the bookers this year! What's the next one? I think I'll have to read something light for the next 2 weeks t..."

Ah, car-fixing is a nightmare. Were the insurance guys co-operative?

Sure Girish.Let me know in advance as to which book in the list, so I'll make sure I hv it ready.

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "started Cloud Atlas. Finding it funny, a good kind of funny. Also adding new words to my armoire."

There you are Syl, there you are :D
Pull Manju in too, she's the only one remaining :)

Vimal wrote: "Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "started Cloud Atlas. Finding it funny, a good kind of funny. Also adding new words to my armoire."

There you are Syl, there you are :D
Pull Manju in too, she's the only one rem..."

Ha, ha... shall try. But I don't think it's her sort of book, though one can never tell.

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "Doing parallel research on Chatham islands and Moriori tribe. Never knew these existed!"

I read about the Maori in Guns germs and steel, but never knew about the moriori. Then read Wikipedia.

Manju, Vimal will try for Room if i can get it.
can get The Children's book by AS Byatt towards end feb thanks to a local guardian angel that goes by the name of Rommel.
He dreams of setting a library for good books and i might pool in my books as well soon!

Vimal wrote: "Girish wrote: "Vimal wrote: "Girish wrote: "Vimal wrote: "I'm done. Phew...

@Girish, Quite a start on the bookers this year! What's the next one? I think I'll have to read something light for the..."

Not Really cooperative and all. But it has been lying there for more than a month,

So sad to hear about your books, Vimal! I can well imagine your pain!

Not sure if I would be able to participate in the next Booker book or not for I have read a series of serious books and want to read something light for a change! :P

Of that list mentioned above, I have read 13, 16, 17, 18. I think I have also read 8 but am not sure. :)

Girish wrote: "Manju, Vimal will try for Room if i can get it.
can get The Children's book by AS Byatt towards end feb thanks to a local guardian angel that goes by the name of Rommel.
He dreams of setting a li..."

Cool.Seems to be the way to go with the sorry state of affairs of the state govt's library funding.

Srividya wrote: "So sad to hear about your books, Vimal! I can well imagine your pain!

Not sure if I would be able to participate in the next Booker book or not for I have read a series of serious books and want t..."

:(

Haha, true that nothing associated with the booker can be a light read.But we r confident of roping you in by the time we start, which seems to be Feb end.

Hello Girish, hows it going? Started with A & G? I've been toying with the idea of starting Wolf Hall all week but the tedious work week got the better of it :( I've ended postponing it to April or later.

Hi Vimal. Not yet. I seem to have entered that phase where work eats into my reading time. Plus I am reading 2 books!

The Angel's game and Myth=Mytra somehow seem very appropriate to be clubbed together.. Lot of recurring themes between the fiction and mythology..

Will read A&G later I guess.

I am still reading Cloud Atlas. No progress as a couple of group reads intervened. Hoping to resume tomorrow.

Vimal - If you can postpone your reading of Wolf's Hall to April or even end of March, I will join you. I have a few books that I need to finish before I can even think of picking that confusing book. If not, it's okay, I will read it later some time! :)

Girish wrote: "Hi Vimal. Not yet. I seem to have entered that phase where work eats into my reading time. Plus I am reading 2 books!

The Angel's game and Myth=Mytra somehow seem very appropriate to be clubbed t..."

Yeah I'm in the same phase too.
Nice title. Have been wanting to read D Pattnaik for long. Got 2 of the 7 secrets long back. Must get to them sometime.

Syl ʃʃ^.^ʃʃ wrote: "I am still reading Cloud Atlas. No progress as a couple of group reads intervened. Hoping to resume tomorrow."

Cool.And I have developed plans to read his first book sometime in the near future.

Srividya wrote: "Vimal - If you can postpone your reading of Wolf's Hall to April or even end of March, I will join you. I have a few books that I need to finish before I can even think of picking that confusing bo..."

Sure thing. April should be good, we'll read it then. For a long time I've been wanting to acquaint myself with the British history of that period through Wikipedia before entering into that book, but somehow it hasn't happened. Hope I'll do so before April:)