Feline Musings

The book is a wonderful parody on state-run monopoly, and manipulation, foolishly covered and relayed by the media, and the modern man’s quest for fun and entertainment at the expense of other people’s pain and folly. It is the ultimate reflection of a material world where lack of knowledge and pursuit of entertainment leads to subservience to the vile and the irrational. Like Huxley’s Brave New World, Ray Bradbury has imagined a world were gratification reigns supreme and human beings live in self-assured indulgence.

Books by bloggers are becoming a cultural phenomenon and a trend, and so is populist writing. Any blogger with a blog that will entertain and amuse the public has a chance to get a book deal. The appeal of a blogger’s personality and the passion for a subject becomes an attractive force for publishing houses looking for long-term commitments and sustained zeal. Aspiring authors are even coming out with e-books that can be downloaded from their websites and blogs. (I am reminded of Paulo Coelho’s web-based marketing wherein he releases some chapters of his forthcoming publications on his website, and regularly contributes small pieces of writing on the online newsletter – Warrior of the Light.) Today, such marketing concepts are being well-utilized by the tech-savvy, young and ambitious Indian writers!

Anita Nair has a knack for crisp and complete characterization and is also an accomplished prose writer with liberal rendering of the scenic and daily life of a small (and fictional) village in Kerala. She has touched on many controversial and sensitive subjects, but all with extreme grace and subtlety. She talks about untouchability, casteism, cultural and religious bias, adultery, exploitation and disregard of women, dominance of power and money, bureaucratic red tapism, and even homosexuality.

Infact, more than Qara Koz, who is supposed to be the central theme, or Enchantress, it is the wonderful characterization of Akbar that dominates and drives the story. Akbar, who enchants the reader in this tale with all his human follies, and royal grandeur, is ultimately enchanted by the power of a woman, even if imaginary.

While a discrete reader may find more comparisons between the two works, what is more evident is that the books are two extreme ends of a futuristic world. The reality presented in dystopian literature is a backlash against some modern trends and contemporary tendencies in politics. George Orwell portrays the dangers of totalitarian regimes which show no respect for people’s individuality and freedom. Aldous Huxley satirizes consumerism and presents concerns about overuse of scientific research.

The book begins on the premise of constant fear and a nagging desire to rebel against a political system based largely on absolute power, control, and falsehood. The protagonist Winston Smith, is shown to live in the year 1984 where a political party, Ingsoc, lead by a figure called Big Brother, is controlling the lives, actions and even thoughts of the masses. Basic human faculties of free thought, debate, discussion, self-improvement, professional growth, and social upliftment is suppressed through mental conditioning by a political power that demands unconditional “love” and allegiance to Big Brother.

The book, which is a cult-fiction of sorts is not only prophetic but also invokes deep feelings of fear. 1984 is a novel in three parts, and my interpretation of these three parts can be summarized as follows:

Part I: Rebellion in thought against a prevailing system
Part II: Rebellion in action
Part III: Subjugation of the rebellion displaying the vulnerabilities of man in the face of a larger than life system of control and brainwash

Well, there are two reasons to read this book – Firstly, for the humor in the writing, and secondly, for a sense of empathy for those who are single, and of sympathy from those who were once upon a time single.

I have been tagged by Snigs to share five quotes from the books that I have read, and though I confess that I can fill pages and pages with “food for thought” from books, but I restrain myself to five (okay, six!)

As a firm believer in extraterrestrial life and that we will have visitors from another world, I didn’t like the “negative character” of the “Beings” in “The Taking” by Dean Koontz. The picture of the apocalypse was discomfiting. And yet it was thought provoking – the psychological angle pertaining to our fears and trysts was [...]

Poignant in its expression of the father-daughter relationship; spine-chilling in the unveiling of the mysterious tale of the supernatural; breathtaking in its scenic description, and scholastic in the portrayal of history, customs, politics and the academic fraternity across global boundaries.

Had Sonali Mehta not found a publisher, the series of essays encompassing the myriad trials and tribulations of the “damsel-turned-dame” (rather, “dome” with reference to the ever-increasing girth of the married Indian woman), she could have very well created an absolutely hilarious blog.

The bulky book is divided into five parts – the first two parts being the best of the four. There is a lot of laughter and fun in these two parts, courtesy the magic of characterization. Prabhaker, with his “solar smile” provides an amazing and often hilarious description of the Mumbai way of life, and introduces the author to a world of the Mumbai slum, and many friends, that he cherishes forever.

It’s also interesting how my parents kept a keen watch on what I was reading. I remember this incident when my mother kept “Shobha De’s Snapshots” under lock and key in her almirah. I was perturbed and even angry with her for hiding a book from me, but years later when I finally read the book, I realized the need for guardianship at an impressionable age.

The end was brutal and maybe a little too fast – Martel did not waste many pages and words in describing the “real” course of events. I am still fascinated by the episode of the carnivorous island. Sometimes, you are so near salvation, so near the ultimate truth and peace and strength engulfs you, and then suddenly you catch the signs of distress and disaster that complacent living offers you.

Her writing style is lively, witty and informative and the book follows a smooth pace – a wonderful mesh of distinct topics that clearly contain a pattern. From Mahatma Gandhi’s funeral to the National Emergency, from the rag pickers in Delhi to the sati in Rajasthan, from Congress demonstrators to the street booksellers – this book is a collage of India seen from various angles.Her insight is supported by facts about an India that we can vaguely remember but have been a part of.