Waiting at the Mountain Pass - Harmandeep Kaur Gill

Non-Fiction

Verdict: Read it.

Tibet and the Tibetan diaspora are rather politically charged topics. While the author wasn't being intentionally political, there were, of course, political topics that were touched upon.

Every culture has its ideas on death. As most Tibetans and displaced Tibetans are Buddhists, Buddhist philosophy informs their views on death. This book examines the philosophies that Tibetans have as they reach the end of their lives and die. The author does a very clinical and research-disciplined discussion on the topics, even while including stories from the Tibetan Diaspora itself. 

Tibet and displaced Tibetans aren't a population that is naturally accessible to me, so this was interesting to read. I enjoy reading different cultural interpretations of life evens as well. The author uses a few different diaspora locations, 2 of which I have been to during my time in India - Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and Bylakuppe in Karnataka. The author does wander into the reasons for the diaspora and why it deeply affects displaced people. It is a diversion, but one I feel should be discussed more, so I won't nitpick on that.

The author also examines why this process can be a lonely and isolating one for many people, though I believe that's true for many people, not so many stay with family anymore. It's not the most feel-good topic, but it is a universal one. I feel it's a good read if you've read the Tibetan Book of the Dead, or as a pre-amble to that.

I won't comment on my own pre- or post-death philosophy, but there is something uniting about contemplating something everyone must pass through, but no one knows what's on the other side.

~Becky~

The City of Good Death - Priyanka Champaneri

Fiction

Verdict: Read It (4/5)

Overview:

Another Bookworm find this novel is the first one I've read from Priyanka Champaneri.

The book opens with a family that has chosen to run a death hostel in Banares. As we come to understand what that means exactly, a long-lost cousin turns up dead, a ghost inhabits the hostel, and the guy who runs the hostel is forced to confront his past. The family he leaves behind, the girl his family told him to marry, and the love he had for his cousin are beautifully woven into the main plot.

What I Enjoyed:

Indians have a penchant for excellent storytelling, and this was indeed an excellent story. The story slowly unwinds, all the way until the end, leaving you contemplating many things along the way. Death rituals fascinate me (I'm an atheist) and the idea of a "Good Death" also was a new one for me. The author effortlessly captures what it looks like for an Indian who doesn't necessarily have the same beliefs but must cater to those beliefs no matter how silly it may seem. The slowly revealed flashbacks are an interesting insight and make the reader wonder how the protagonist appears so....normal. His background is nothing short of traumatic and his brother's death brings that to the forefront, as new trauma is known to do. It also highlighted the distinctly unique phenomenon of family lies that have long-standing consequences that come back out and haunt people. The characters do not seem well-developed at first, but the author has taken the time to unravel them by giving clues about family background as the novel goes on. Indians view trauma and its reappearing effects with a much more natural view than the Western world. It was refreshing to see trauma appear in a book in a non-forced, non fake way.

What I Disliked:

The supernatural element of a ghost rattling pots to make a point was something that was never explained. I'm not usually fond of the supernatural explanation when a simple one might do, but this episode did serve a purpose in the plot, so I'm inclined to excuse it. There were a few spots that dragged a bit, but in light of the entire work, I'm willing to excuse that as well.

Summary:

This was a contemplative read, as is anything that deals with existential matters. Even so, it's an extremely enjoyable read. It's not a tiny book. It will take a while, especially if you take the time to absorb the details and consider some of the non-obvious things the author is trying to say. Read it!

 

~Becky~

 

Happy Go Lucky - David Sedaris

NonFiction

Verdict: Read It!

David Sedaris has long been a favorite author of mine. I find his humor divine and just a touch too real without denegrating anyone. It's glorious. 

I didn't find much work by him at my local library, but I did find this one and I'm so glad I did. If you are familiar with Sedaris's work, you expect humor. This book was indeed humorous, but in a gentler, more observational way. The central theme of the book is the end of his father's life. A father who for sure was an unrepentant asshole his whole life....until he wasn't at the end. Sedaris has multiple siblings and walks the reader through a variety of reactions to the end of a life of someone close to him and his siblings. His partner is a central theme and a redeeming grace for the reader - someone supports David, even if it is in an odd and off beat way. 

I'm not at all disappointed, but I did find myself quietly contemplating what he had written more than perhaps I would have with other works. The underlying theme is that familial relationships and death are fucking hard. With a Grandfather well into his 90's and slowly declining, I could relate a little too well. I'll never advocate skipping any Sedaris work you can get your hands on and this is no exception.

Read it!

~Becky~

The Tibetan Book of Death - W.Y. Egans - Wentz

Non-Fiction

Read it

I find learning about culture exhilerating, especially those that seem super exotic from my own. I've been meaning to read this for quite some time. I knew the title wouldn't exactly be similar to what's in the book, but a book about Book of the Dead is pretty interesting to contemplate. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't what it was. That being said, it was a fascinating and well worth the time read.

When I first started it, the initial chapter/introduction are intimidating. Like Advanced Level college intimidating. I wasn't sure I would be able to get through it. I decided to stick it out and I'm glad I did. The book walks through a ritual that Tibetans follow upon and after death. What cultures think happens after death is usually interesting, this was no exception. It was compiled with the help of Tibetans for translation.

Tibetan Buddhism is a pretty esoteric religion. I've been through the college level intro into what is Buddhism, but like anything else, the more you dig the more you find. The author and translator have helpfully added many many footnotes that I relied upon to help my understanding. The idea of  "Bardo" or the plane one finds oneself after death was especially interesting to contemplate, as were the different things that can happen according to Buddhism and how strong the person's belief was. 

I'll definitely say this was not something everyone might enjoy reading. But if you would like to Geek out and understand what Tibetan Buddhists think of what happens after death, this will definitely be a good one for you.

Read it.

~Becky~

Slum Child - Bina Shah

Fiction

Read It

I can't quite remember if I read this book previously or not. Usually I do remember. It was vaguely familiar but not so much that I could say for certain. Even if I did, I'm glad I read this a second time because I gathered so much more than I would have the first time.

Bina Shah has brought together a plethora of interesting things in this book. So many so that I found myself  fascinated. The main character, Laila, is a young Christian girl (1) who lives with her mother, sister, step father (2), and 3 younger step brothers. The family lives in Karachi Pakistan in a slum. Her step father is a Muslim (3). The story follows Laila as she wanders through a seemingly happy childhood with her family. Things take a darker turn when her sister develops tuberculousis and the family doesn't have enough money to have her treated and she passes away. Laila develops an unlikely friend with a drug addict (4) who later goes to rehab and gets his life together. After her sister's death, her mother sinks into a childlike, confused state (5) and stays there. As her mother was the sole bread winner, Laila is dismayed when she hears her father concede to sell her for money. She runs away (6) and finds an unlikely alliance in her drug addict friend and his bus driving cousin (7). She goes to her mother's old employer and begs for work. She is taken in and works as an ayah/househelp for a while. She discovers that she has lost her faith (8) and that she just cannot leave her helpless mother behind. She becomes close to the spoiled, rich children who she cared for (9) and they end up helping her when she is attacked by her father's friend when she goes home to get her mother. They kill him (10) and put her mother in a home. (11)

As you can see, there's a LOT going on there. The story of Punjabi Christians in a Muslim dominated country is a startling one. The author does justice to make sure the reader understands the suspicion and hatred that pops up between communities. She also addresses losses of faith, the heartless demeaning condition of slums, and how resentments are sometimes raised between financial classes even though there is no animosity. It's not a difficult book to read in terms of comprehension, but you will chew over the concepts for a while. Shah's main character is accessible - she's a little girl. The fights and responsibilities she is forced to take on age her, but as heartbreaking as they are, they are the fight of millions of young impoverished women.  Take the time to read this. It's an interesting look at a minority community.

~Becky~

Moving On - Shashi Deshpande

Fiction

Read it

Shashi Deshpande is a new authoress for me, though not at all a new author for many Kannadigas, and I'm glad I tried her novel out. It's always a joy to find amazing authors.

Deshpande's novel centers around a family who's legacy is death. She slowly unwinds each death through the course of the novel, drawing the reader in to each scenario. It's not necessarily a sad novel, though the characters grieve in their own ways, but it is a reflective one. What gripped me most while reading this is that the main character is in a constant state of analysis when her father dies. He has left a conspicuous journal that leads her to understand him (and her mother and sister) better than she ever had when they were alive. 

A widow with nearly grown children, she wanders into a sexual affair and then a romance after years of denying herself contact with others. The marriage she had treasured, we come to find out through the book, was not as healthy nor functional as we thought in the beginning. Her husband also gave in to suicide for the vaguest of reasons.  Her romance at the end of the book doesn't feel like one and goes through some difficulties, though the reader ends up feeling that it may go in a positive direction.

While all of this unwinding is happening, the character is tasked with helping her daughter decide what to do with her father's house - as he has left it to his grand daughter. She deals with people breaking in, trying to strong arm her into selling it a certain way, and all the difficulties a property owner faces - not to mention a woman alone. In the end, they decide to keep the house and the guilty parties are caught. One twist is that her sexual affair ends up to be the very person who is trying to get her out of the house. 

Deshpande does a masterful job of bringing us through some of the more abstract questions and scenarios that follow death, but are far more common than we think. How well do we actually know our parents? How functional were our relationships and how much of that was just gloss that we applied because we wanted them a certain way? The author doesn't really give us answers, but she does show how the main character makes peace with her own discoveries. She also does a terrific job of portraying a woman who has incredible strength and won't be made to fall in line with what others want. 

I highly recommend this book. There are only a few things that people outside of India would struggle to understand, and the questions that Deshpande brings up are ones that we all face and can relate to. 

~Becky~

The Far Field - Madhuri Vijay

Fiction

Read it!

I initially picked up this book because the art work on the cover is beautiful, and I am very glad I did.  Madhuri Vijay has created something very special with this novel. This is my first exposure to her as an author, and I can't wait to see what else she has written/will write.

This novel is about Shalini. She is from Bangalore who has a very ordinary, yet troubled childhood. Her mother's mental issues are never spelled out, but it's clear she has something wrong. The mother is amused by a wandering Kashmiri clothing seller who comes many times to visit her in her home.  As a child, Shalini can feel that something is wrong, but can't quite put her finger on it. After her mother commits suicide, Shalini decides to find the carpet seller and get her questions answered. Only she doesn't really have a solid location for him, just an old story that he told that helps her in a starting direction. She stays with his extended family for a while and then his son when they agree to help her find him. She exists in a vacuum and passes her time there, wondering if she should stay permanently. Stumbling into a falsely peaceful looking area, she affects the lives of everyone she stays with trying to get her questions answered. Ultimately, her family finds her and a colonel brings her back, then sleeps with her. Her report on the events that she saw in Kashmir are misconstrued to assist the army and the Kashmiri's son is arrested. Shalini is left to live with the fact that inspite of her neutral intentions, her decisions have left a permanent, horrifying mark on people she grew to care about. 

The author unwinds and untangles one thread at a time for us as she goes on an epic trip to uncover some unresolved questions from Shalini's childhood. I know it sounds like a huge trope, but it's very well done. Vijay addresses mental health, infidelity, Kashmir, and how sometimes our actions have unintended, irreversible consequences. It's not a difficult read (though like most of the novels I read, it's quite long), but it does leave you feeling desperately like you wish there was a different outcome. It disturbed me for a few days after I read it.

This isn't my first exposure to the atrocities that continue to happen in Kashmir, but I was very much hoping that the ending would have been at least neutral. It definitely wasn't. I also very much enjoyed (in the literary sense, not seeing a character suffer) how the author focused not only on mental illness and how it can be difficult for an individual, but the long, ongoing consequences that the rest of the family may face. I felt a distinct concern for Shalini the entire novel as it is so obvious that she is wandering lost and trying to make sense of things that were never even spoke of, not to mention explained.

Take your time and wander through this. Its a hell of a book.

~Becky~

Maps for Lost Lovers - Nadeem Aslam

Fiction

Read it

I wandered past this book in Just Books, unable to stop myself from trying out such an interestingly titled book. I'm glad I did. I've had extensive exposure to Indian authors - much to my delight - but not many (if any at all) Pakistani ones. It was definitely a textured difference to explore.

The novel centers around a Muslim Pakistani family that has settled into life in a "South Asianized" section of an English town. The two main characters are a middle aged man and wife. They have 3 children who are grown and visit far too occasionally.

The main character's brother has moved in with a divorced Pakistani woman, much to the community's dismay. The two are murdered and the book dances around who has done it until the very end. Indeed it's almost like a mystery where the strings come together at the end, but not really. In fact, while the whole novel dances around the murder, the novel itself really has very less to do with the murder (or finding the culprit) rather than focusing in excruciating depth about the cultural factors and attitudes that lead to the events themselves. The small attitudes, justifications, and rationalizations prevalent in that community that persist even though the community itself is far from the land that spawned such thoughts in the first place.

I found it very curious that the author chose to portray the wife as the move vehement believer than the husband. Indeed, he strikes one as a milquetoast character who just wants to get through his life comfortably and his morality is flexible as to what suits him. The wife is not concerned with anything but what is proper. The children, as can be expected, have vastly different outlooks and standards than their parents. 

Another interesting thing I noticed in this novel is the persistent mentions of plants, flowers, and insects. It made me wonder if it was a leftover from Urdu poetry references. 

The plot line definitely wanders and there aren't any huge surprises in this novel. Weirdly, I didn't find myself minding too much. While I try to be open to different cultures and ideas, I have to admit that this book made it difficult for me to remain indifferent to some of the cultural aspects of both Islam and Pakistan that I object to. But I did appreciate the honest look - and it was quite honest I feel. I could identify with the displaced population, desperately clinging to tradition and identity, and always feeling outside and persecuted. Overall, it has whetted my appetite to explore further into Pakistani literature. 

It's not an easy read, especially if you truly think about the attitudes behind the scenes and accept that this is their tradition. But it IS different than the standard Indian fare. It will seem shocking for those who don't understand the cultural underpinnings that have created these attitudes, but life is good when you learn about others.

Read it!

~Becky~

Two Lives - Vikram Seth

 Non Fiction

Verdict: Read it

I picked up this book because I had fought my way all through A Suitable Boy (happily I might add, but it's a huge book) and An Equal Music and wanted to read more from him. I wasn't quite prepared for a non-fiction biography type of (also long!) adventure, but that is what I ended up with.

Seth takes people into the lives of his Uncle and Aunt, whom he spent time with as a young man. Both people had extraordinary lives and Seth does an excellent job examining them, both from an independent perspective as well as a family one. After reading A Suitable Boy, Two Lives was illuminating about Seth as an author, and the family that spawned the ideas for A Suitable Boy. 

I enjoy family sagas in general, and there were old photos - also + points for me. Seth wanders into so many topics that it's quite the mindful to consider. It's quite something how people's lives twist and turn and wander in the most random of directions. Seth's uncle went to dental school in Germany. He happened to be living with his future wife's family as a boarder right before WW2. He leaves and goes to England to begin his career. He has his own stint in the military which results in him losing a part of one arm. His wife, a Jewish German is given the opportunity to leave Germany when things start to get difficult for Jewish people. She takes it and survives, unlike most of her family. The two wander into mid life, and eventually settle into a companionable marriage that doesn't produce any children. 

Seth does a brilliant job of exploring many different themes through the book. Not the least of which is how WW2, views of Jewish people in Germany at the time, and how it affected his aunt's entire life. He also gets into how we may not know people we love when they are alive, and only get a small window is we happen to run into letters or memories from others into other sides of people after they pass. He explores cultural ideas of families, an interracial marriage at a time when it was not common.

Vikram Seth's life paralleled his Uncle's in many strange and wonderful ways. It's quite interesting to watch this as it unfolds. One cannot avoid the thoughts that patterns within families determine many things.  

The most interesting thing for me, was the author's dismay at the end of the book over how his uncle had changed into someone he didn't know due to age and mental decline. How someone walked into their lives and took the property from under their noses. The property itself was less hurful than comments that were made about life long loving relationships - both due to age related confusion and unmet expectations. I found this fascinating because it's not a subject often discussed in such brutal honesty. We don't like to think that others may change because they are old and uncomfortable, or slightly confused. We don't like to talk about that people respond bitterly when they feel their expectations aren't met. 

As I mentioned, Seth is a prolific writer and his books are not short. But they are well worth the investement. Read it.

~Becky~

Delhi Noir - Omair Ahmad et Al

Fiction

Short Stories

As I mentioned, I have been very into short stories as of late. I have to be honest, the introduction to this collection sold me before I even started on the stories. The stories did not disappoint either. 

These stories feature the grittiness of life in Delhi. After visiting a few times, Delhi is not a place I'd ever want to visit again, for many of the reasons that come to the forefront of these stories. They are not happy ones, nor ones that give you any hope for humanity. Yet people move along with their lives because that's just how Delhi is. 

The authors and stories chosen gel very well together and do an excellent job of portraying the city in a realistic way that is often missing from the sanitized, glamorous life that the rich and famous live. 

Hangwoman - K.R. Meera

Fiction
Verdict: A must read

This book was given to me by my daughter - she had bought it but it was too difficult for her to read. Since I'm game for anything, I read it.

I'm very rarely left stunned by Indian authors anymore. This book was a powerhouse. As the title suggests, the protagonist is a young, Bengali woman. I am not usually a fan of Bengali settings. Our protagonist is the daughter of a notorious hangman. In fact, she comes from a long line of hangmen and women. Much is made of how the son of the family (who lives and dies a very sad way due to the family business) will not be able to carry on the tradition. 

The main character's father plays a very big part in the story. He's a drunk, angry man and is used very often to contrast against her. Most of the time, it seems he is out to make a little money any way he can. This is how she ends up being a hangwoman - the father leverages her gender to get her a job and make some money. He even sells their story to the press and tries to sell her to a journalist who shows interest in her for his own selfish reasons. He's no hero, but he is a dominating influence on the story line.

You can feel the tension going up through the book as the execution date comes closer. This is masterfully done. The main character weaves family history and narratives through the story as she moves inevitably towards her fate. 

Far from being a wilting flower herself, she begins to take control of her own destiny as the story progresses. The romance with the journalist becomes clear to her as one where he is using her and she ends up making him dance to her tune. She also begins to slowly uncurl her father's domineering control of her life and make her own decisions. 

The setting is different in that the family is poor. The author neither glorifies this nor bombards us with examples - it just is. Death is an atmosphere for the family. They are hangmen and live nearby a burning ghat.

It's not at all clear through the story if the main character will be able to fulfill her destiny and step into her father's shoes. In the end she does, but it's a counter climactic moment. The story wanders a bit after that as if all the characters are at a loss of what to do next. 

It's not an easy read - especially for those who have no context into Indian authors, history, and culture. But for those who do, it's an amazing read. Try it.

Becky

This is getting old : Zen thoughts on aging with humor and dignity - Susan Moore

Not sure why I picked up a book on aging or Zen, but that's how the cards went. I didn't care for this book, but that is just my opinion. Aging is a complicated subject. It's both the same and intensely individual at the same time.

Verdict - not my style, but if you have an interest in Buddhism, this may be interesting for you.