The Alchemy of Desire: Tarun Tejpal

Fiction

Verdict: Read it!

I enjoy Tarun Tejpal as an author. For whatever has happened in his personal life (and I won't comment on this) I enjoy him immensely as a writer. The combination of his skill weaving a story and his very unique plot lines make him a very interesting proposition every single book. The Alchemy of Desire was no different.  It actually took me a very long time to sit down and write this after I finished reading it because I needed a very long time to digest what had happened in the novel. 

The story line revolves around a couple who had a very passionate physical relationship that lasted for years and years. Then one day they hit a bump in the road and lost all desire for each other. The story mixes together the slow unravelling of their relationship (which you come to suspect was only about physical passion) with memories that the protagonist painfully indulges in on a regular basis. The story ends after she leaves and he is left to putter about in a house they built together with only his memories. It's a fantastically painful exercise to read. But I do think that was the point. For whatever reason when a couple finds themselves at a point of no return/repair, the ending will be painful. There will be maudlin reminiscing, there will be a painful actual separation point, and there will be shared dreams and goals that will wither away and only be reminders going forward of what was lost.

The difficult part of this novel is that most people in attached relationships secretly harbor at least a little fear of their partner/spouse becoming bored of them on some capacity. Of losing desire or simply finding themselves moving different directions in life. Tejpal does an excellent job of setting the stage in the beginning of the book on just how active and important their physcial connection together was that it's like watching a slow motion train wreck coming. You want to look away but you just cant because you want to witness the entire sequence.  After going through a divorce after a long term marriage, I could identify with many of the feelings and physical events that happened in the book, even if not exact replicas. I guess that made it even harder to read. Thinking about it in the context of my current relationship made it terrifying and suffocating all in one. 

It's a power house of a book, but not in the usual sense. It will leave you thoughtful and possibly depressed for a while. But going through the experience of reading it will be worth your time, that's guaranteed. 

Read it!

~Becky~ 

Woman at Point Zero : Nawal El Saadawi

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This book came to my attention through either a book list or the suggested reads in the newspaper - I can't quite remember now. Either which way, it was an interesting read. The author takes us through the story of a woman, Firdaus, in prison who has been there for a long time and is on her way to execution. A Psychiatrist goes to the prison to meet her and is met with silence. The woman refuses to speak. After a short while, she begins to share her story and the audience comes to understand that her story isn't a simple one. Sometimes women resort to the only recourse they can when they are abused, and are held accountable for it though the ethics of it are grey. 

The story is a bit slow sometimes, but I got the feeling that was intentional. It's almost like the woman is taking back the small amount of control that she can by controlling the story. You can see dignity there and power. She understands she is going to die and has accepted the verdict.  

The Middle East has a long and complicated history with women's equality. Iran has recently again become regressive, and the Taliban, inspite of numerous promises in Afghanistan has again steadily marched back towards the dark ages for women. This isn't a new story nor is it one that is rare. But the poignancy with which the story is displayed - with a woman in jail awaiting death - relays the helpless and futile situtaions women find themselves in clearly. Sometimes the only choice is to die, either by your oppressor's hand or by the governments if you defend yourself. It's a terrible place to be in. 

Read it.

~Becky~

Catalyst: Chandramouli Venkatesan

Non Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This book was given to me by a colleague I both enjoy working with and admire professionally. It's always heartening when people give me books because I very very much enjoy them. 

Catalyst I guess could fall into the self help or business advice catagory - the line is a bit grey. I'm not a huge fan of self help types, but that depends on how it's done. This book is a collection of advices on things that people should do to get ahead, and then twisting those decisions/actions slightly to get much more output for what is essentially the same idea. As with most self help/business books, it isn't rocket science. But books like this are valuable becaues they reiterate and re center ideas that you know you should be acting upon but don't for a variety of reasons. The hard part of these advices isn't reading them. You'll probably think yes, of course, that makes sense while reading. Actually implementing them and turning them into habitual behaviors is a lot harder and takes discipline.

For this reason, I'll be reading this book again. There are very few books that I read twice. But continually re-centering valuable ideas helps enact them and remind you about priorities. This book is valuable to anyone in the corporate world - or anyone in any sector looking to get their shit together and maximize the resources and opportunities in front of them. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Four Strokes of Luck: Perumal Murugan

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

As I've mentioned before, I thoroughly enjoy reading Perumal Murugan works. Four Strokes of Luck has been no different. It's a simple story about simple people, but the beauty in reading Murugan's work is the artwork he does of weaving language into a beautiful thing.  

Murugan has the ability to portray Tamil people and culture in a way that is easy to understand. You feel like you can relate to the characters, though most likely for me I actually can't. But I feel like I can. That, ladies and gentlemen, is story telling at it's finest. Not all simple stories have the ability to keep my interest and enjoyment, this one did. I won't go into the plot of the book because it's a short one and I most likely wouldn't do justice. But in this humble opinion, Perumal Murugan is well worth reading.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Swap - Shuma Raha

Fiction

Verdict: Uncertain

I came across this novel in my favorite book store, as has happened with so many before. It looked vaguely interesting so I thought to give it a try. Afterall, spouse swapping isn't a common (talked about in public) topic, and I was curious how the author would approach it. India has a strange way of hiding or appearing to hide many topics and then flagrantly parading them out in public as if it's normal in the name of modernity. It's a little dissonant sometimes.

Anyhow. The book opens to a well off couple (obviously) who have a friend who knows someone who throws spouse swapping parties. The wife is already having an affair with another friend. She has a lot of guilt and has hidden it well. The couple is talked into participating in a party and follows the normal trajectory of many people who choose to have open relationships - it's not easy. The husband ends up falling in love with the wife's lover's wife and they have an arrangement like that for a long time until finally it feels too weird for the wife and she calls a halt to it. It makes one wonder what was her motivation for that affair in the first place. There's a lot of blame and bitterness throughout the book about expecations and fidelity, and in the end, the couple ends up working it out, to my surprise.  There was also a weird side not about a street boy who was helped by the wife. 

To say it was a whirwind book with some unexpected attitudes is a little underrated. The author made swapping seem....so....normal. Open relationships - normal. I also felt that she could have gotten much further into the relationship between the main husband and wife. They were almost like cookie cutter stereotypes. I get that it's easy for multiple audiences to identify with such characters, but when you're dealing with the essence of marriage and an intimate relationship, such characters fall flat. 

I still think this book is worth reading because it challenges an Indian audience with sexuality, marriage expectations, and intimacy. As I mentioned previously, highly charged subjects that aren't always approached openly. An honest look at the fallout of such choices also helps people to be informed and not romanticize them - Always a good idea.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Book of Gold Leaves - Mirza Waheed

Fiction

Verdict: Read it

This isn't the first book or even the 5th that I've read on some of the travesties that have occured and are still occuring in Kashmir. It never gets easier to read or digest.

The novel itself is an easy read. It's an easily identifiable version of Romeo and Juliet or Laila Majnu. As with most other content about Kashmiris, I found myself almost holding my breath for the inevitable tragedy that occurs just after the author makes you feel you know the character or right before the story ends. This book held true to that pattern. I still think that these types of books are worth reading. Not for the Romeo and Juliet vibe, but because the entire of Kashmir is littered with tragedies and one can't just avoid it because it's uncomfortable. Novels like this also give some of the social and personal context that affects individuals, not just military/country/general population. I also feel individual stories give a great deal of perspective that's not offered by media or official channels; it's often seen dramatically different from an individual perspective.  Experiences also can be vastly different depending on one's family, religious community, job, and social or economic status. To put it simply, it's a very complicated problem that is best understood from as many angles as possible. 

I've been living in India now for 12 years. I too have been caught up in the romantic idea of Kashmir and its beautiful scenery, as well as trying to untangle the complicated web of how it evolved into what is the scenario today. Obviously it's deeply interesting to me in a way that it might not be to others. 

Read it!

~Becky~

Le Divorce - Diane Johnson

Fiction

Verdict: Read it if you have an interest in France

I picked up this novel at a thrift store when I was in the US becaue I was bored and needed a novel and I became a bit obsessed with other people's divorces. This book didn't really solve either problem. 

The novel is about a young lady who moves to France to help her pregnant and deserted sister. She doesn't have a strong connection to France, nor any particularly compelling reason to go, besides it seems expected she will. It's then the usual story of expat adjustments, loving and hating a new country, and then becoming strangely unwilling to leave. For anyone who reads books of this sort or who has lived a life of this sort, it's a pretty text book case. I found myself unable to stay interested because at times it seemed that the author was overly invested in explaining French culture to her readers. While this is not a bad goal for another type of book, it's a pretty poor one for a novel.  Fortunately, there was no happily ever after at the end - like the sister gettng back together with her useless husband nor the protagonist having some happily ever after with her May December affair. There were so many different directions the author could have pursued or deep dove into but kept it very surface level. I'm not against having mundane, every day events in a plot line, but they should be contributing something to the theme. I just didn't feel that for this book. 

To be fair, I know nothing about Diane Johnson, and I try not to uselessly criticize, but I just couldn't get into this book. Perhaps if the reader is into French culture/Paris then this would be enjoyable as a time pass afternoon book. 

Meh.

~Becky~