Bhilwara Book Clubest. 2018

For the next meet, we are trying something new. Instead of picking one book, we are choosing different books by the same author. So, BBC’s next read is ANYTHING by Stephen King.

The books we have selected are - 1 - The Stand 2 - The Green Mile 3 - The Misery 4 - The Shining

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari had trouble leading up to it s hype and recommendation.

In order to tackle the history of humankind, which he terms as sapiens, he also explains the history of agriculture, happiness, money, colonization, animal cruelty, social systems, religions, language, and so much more.

This superfluous book with so much information had it s bright moments but many times slowed the reader down.

There was also an argument that his theories and conclusions were baseless. A work of nonfiction cannot be so oversimplified that the facts are just brushed upon.

For some this simplified tale or story telling of humans from the start to now was a delight. The pieces tied in together and reasoning gave way to clear moments.

And then there were three…

The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld is disturbing.

After 10 year old Jas’ brother dies, the 3 siblings along with their father and mother go through such tremendous grief as a family at a Dutch dairy farm. Tragedy can bring a family together or break them - in this case it broke them slowly and miserably.

Jas goes through sexual experiments, animal violence and even self torture - any lengths to just feel a glimpse of happiness or love from her parents.

The author dumps us right in the muck of it all with all her graphic descriptions of each and every observation by a girl entering puberty and very deep in grief.

It is definitely not an easy read and for some the ending left us with relief and for others even more worry.

How does such an uneasy read make it to the International Booker Prize ?

Perhaps the unique experience a reader goes through by the power of words determines the deserving award.

Definitely not a book to recommend to just anybody, this book manages to creep under your skin yet leave you in awe with it s rawness .

Marieke Lucas still works on a dairy farm and her first attempt at writing a novel clearly shows that there are still so many stories to be told and so many stories to be heard in this world.

Perhaps the deliberate attempt to stay in the present throughout the whole book served as a loophole for the other characters. Were the parents always so distant ? Did the siblings always use sexual and animal violence to resort to play ?

Rishabh, Shruti and I enjoyed our chat especially after a long time. Would like to hear others’ views on this book even if only a few pages were read.

The Silent Patient has met the ‘hype’ it has reiceved for a debut novel. Most of us enjoyed the psychological thrill but some of us cynics found Alex Michaelides very typical of the Hollywood screenwriter that he is.

Being a fiction, Alex took many liberties of exaggerating the relationship between a therapist and a patient. Was it because he had a ‘silent’ main character and didnt know how to move the story forward ? Or he just wanted it to hit high on the Times Best Seller List ?

We delved into the psyches of both Alicia and Theo. Multiple timelines were revealed later. Twists and turns made us want to race with the pace and get to the end. Reference to an old Greek tragedy made us sit-up and look-up. Curiousity made this book a fast read. Once in a while to enjoy a story for what it is, is fun !

Not an amazing piece of literature but a well produced project. The author s background in English literature, Psychotherapy, Greek ethnicity and Hollywood screenwriting was displayed in this carefully thought-out story. Perhaps appealing to some.

Silence is used in many ways by women. As a defence mechanism, as a message, shock response, guilt, revenge and sometimes to organize thoughts and feelings that leads to a calm conclusion.

Soon to be a Hollywood movie produced by and perhaps starring Brad Pitt. Cant wait to see if it will live up to the ‘hype’ of the book.

Oh, what an evening discussing My Cousin Rachel by Daphne de Maurier ! All of us wanted answers. Did Rachel murder Ambrose ? Did Rachel love Ambrose ? Did Philip murder Rachel ? Was Rachel plotting all this time ? Going around and around in circles… but we LOVED it. Ha ! Just when you thought women were predictable.

A page turner and such mystery and enigma around Rachel made this book stay with us long after we ‘ve read it….for some of us, it s still a mystery after 40 years ! Daphne de Maurier s style is so very cool and kept us all hooked.

Murder, mystery, romance, drama, tragedy….no wonder so many film and tv adaptations have been made. But none do justice to this masterpiece of literature.

All those questions in our minds is precisely what Daphne de Maurier wanted us to experience. ‘Oh Daphne, our torment’

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa really got the BBC going today !

A kind and patient housekeeper; a genius and warm professor; a curious and caring boy. Add 3 of them together, multiply with plenty of math formulas, divided by limitations of space (mostly in the cottage) and time (80 minute memory), minus the Japanese reflection is what this story is ! 😃

Some of us liked the book perhaps for it s sweet message via mathematics. For others it just didn’t seem to have a purpose. Few of us delved into the philosophy between the numbers whereas few others questioned mathematics in itself.

Ogawa s translated book seems like a math puzzle to be solved. Perhaps after many attempts, it will bring some sort of satisfaction.

Math lovers - relish the prose. Math critics - wallow in the confusion.

Only a smart bunch like us can make even the shortest and simplest reads into a 2 hour long discussion! 😄

Not ‘Wow’ book but definitely not a ‘Not Wow’ conversation ! 😃

Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple was BBC s first tryst with nonfiction. 9 folktales about extreme religious/spiritual practises of ordinary people from around India (one based in Pakistan). All interesting, eye-opening (for those who never knew) and purposeful stories that shed light on the non-touristy corners of the country by a travel historian/journalist/curator. All of them shared a common theme of belief and determination in their faith as the only way of life. Dalrymple chose to lay down all the cards on the table for us and provided us with the facts of his interaction/interview with each one. For some this method seemed a smart move, for others it drove them away from it all.

Should the author have put in his insights and feelings for us to also feel for these 9 people ? What we took away from this book - the concept of self-interpretation of any relgion, spiritual path or faith - is not newfound knowledge. Perhaps that s why this book didn’t receive as much appreciation as it could have…from us.

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff received an almost unanimous reaction from all of us - lack of depth in all the 3 characters. Eventhough the book is a fast read, page turner, many-stars-reviewed and has an enticing title, it couldn’t fool us (If i may say). Historical fiction that was a bit too far fetched and therefore didn’t do any justice to the true women spies of WWII. They perhaps deserve a better story teller.

Although brought down to a quick train-journey read, this book did shine light on these heroic and brave women. More adventure and less romance would have substantiated their existence more. Sometimes we need a mediocre piece of literature to appreciate the best ones. This is the price this book has had to pay.

Elif Shafak s ‘The Forty Rules of Love’ had parallel stories running at different time and place. Rumi - Shams and Ella - Aziz. But did they both truly mirror each other ?

Rumi, Shams and a bunch of other interesting characters from the 13th century had so much depth and were so well written about. Back to the modern world, Ella, Aziz and all other people in her life weren’t given so much details and here lay the flaw.

Some of us empathized with Ella but others didn’t feel like her reason was strong enough to define her actions.

A unique style of novel within a novel, deeply spiritual and short chapters made this a good read. Many of her forty rules of love resonated with us. Although we started on a journey with Ella but ended up having fond memories of Rumi and Shams.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is a beauty in it s style, slow rhythm and the gorgeous cover. Danny and Maeve made us all reflect our own sibling love. So many characters with simple relationships but all very deep, layered and fragile.

Motherhood, fatherhood, sisterhood, brotherhood; all roles come with responsibilities and scrutiny under the microscope. Should choices be made for love for others or oneself ?

We discussed all and perhaps still have thoughts in our minds as we left the meet. Well done Ann Patchett ! 😊

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie s book ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ is a story from Nigeria during the Biafran war. Just as a war is confusing, complex, many-things- going-on, detailed, never- ending and above all not required… So are some of the tough-to-remember-named characters, various plot details and the length of this book.

More impressed were we by the author and her ideas as a voice for Nigeria. We listened to her Ted Talk ‘The Danger of a Single Story’. Perhaps that s what she tried to do through this book. But at some point it was ‘lost in translation’.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng was liked but not necessarily loved by all. Multiple characters ranging from 4 different mothers varying in background and personilites to 5 teenagers doing what ‘normal’ teenagers do including teenage angst. The twists and turns in the story explored themes of identity, following rules, racism and relationships. The thoughts and ideas we shared was filled with personal emotions and experiences from our own past. The beauty of a book club ! 😄

Munshi Premchand s Bade Ghar Ki Bahu was to the point, easy to read and reflected the times. Even today many families expect their daughter-in-laws to hold the family together just like Anandi.

Neeche Ke Kapde was appreciated by all for Amrita Pritam s nuance, style, technique and the story itself. Was it fair for the mother to have told the truth to Veenu after all this time ? What does Veenu do now with all this information ?

Jarein by Ismat Chugtai was a difficult read but a beautiful one. Politics and religion played big roles in all relationships during the partition.

Meenu’s innovative twist, was a read aloud of a very short story, Wants by Grace Paley. The title is deceptive, and the discussion that followed brought forth interesting viewpoints.

The Telltale heart had made our hearts thump. The story moved forward fast through the author’s unorthodox punctuation or lack of it. Was the whole incident of the murder a hallucination? Was there really an old man? Did policemen actually come? Think.

The night driver, in contrast, we found slow paced. While the story was intriguing, it wasn’t easy to read. The mind wandered too much amidst the long sentences and breathless paragraphs. The usage of Y, Z,A and B was interesting. More on this when R puts forth his ideas.

The Laugher brought forward the hidden pathos of Man’s life whereas The use of force demonstrated the strong and savage desire to overpower and ‘win’, even when the battle of wills is against a child. Does the end justify the usage of force?

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith was so loved by Anjani Auntie that she translated it in Marathi for her mother and mother in law. A ‘Labor of Love’ in a literal sense and we all felt the beauty and charm it s simplicity when we read it too. This book resonates with all regardless of time and place.

Reality of poverty; realist vs. Idealist parenting; keeping education on a high pedestal; perseverance through hardship - especially the women made of invisible steel; following the American Dream; Tree of Heaven - the apt metaphor. Many such themes discussed.

What a happy discussion filled with laughter ! And one would think that a book narrated by Death during Nazi occupation would result in plenty of macabre and sombre talks. 😊

It was a beautiful (-ly written) book where themes like the power of words (compared to the power of silence in The Chosen - each equally sound), the kindness and cruelty of humans, the dualities of Nazi - era Germany and the survivor s guilt put together a truly amazing read. Tell and not so much show is Markus’ style. Perhaps Death is a ‘she’ who is vulnerable, not all evil and can carry all the burden of mortality with her. Plan to drop a postcard to Mr. Zusak on behalf of BBC to find out.

Although we were few , many thoughts, ideas and feelings were shared about The Chosen. The theme was really liked but perhaps a bit bogged down by the history and Judaism details.

A different read with father son relationship, bonding of friendship, the power of silence and a peak into a different community of people.

On a personal note, this book still means so much to me today as it did many years ago. 💙

We all agreed to have really liked the book. In fact we started liking it even more as we discussed it. We talked about it s many themes including the irrationality of racism, the power of female community, the parallel to bees, and the importance of storytelling. Forgiveness and motherhood came up many times as well. Truly a good read with so much to take away by Sue Monk Kidd.

Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. So much to say for a story that wasn’t new to anyone of us ! We kept comparing the Ramayan with this Sitayan - couldn’t help it since most of us have been brought up with this epic. Sita s views, thoughts and feelings definitely came across well in this book but certain parts felt rushed. Enjoyed the lively conversations. For those of you who missed it, feel free to share your thoughts on the group regarding the FoE.

Yes as usual it was a good meet. Although a good book we had many urges to compare it to the previous one. It seemed very organic since we did decide to read the next one in the trilogy based on our liking of the first. As for the third in the series, to each on their own. Pick it up as per your interest.

1. Skeleton (https://www.startshining.com/the-skeleton/)
2. Giribala (http://www.tagoreweb.in/Render/ShowContent.aspx?ct=Stories&bi=4A57AB73-A4A0-40D5-551D-9502E9CD11FD&ti=4A57AB73-A4A0-4FB5-051D-9502E9CD11FD)
3. The Postmaster (http://www.online-literature.com/tagore-rabindranath/stories-from-tagore/7/)
4. The Castaway (http://www.online-literature.com/tagore-rabindranath/stories-from-tagore/8/)
5. The Cabuliwallah (http://www.online-literature.com/tagore-rabindranath/stories-from-tagore/1/)
6. Subha (http://www.online-literature.com/tagore-rabindranath/stories-from-tagore/6/)
7. The Son of Rashmani (http://www.online-literature.com/tagore-rabindranath/stories-from-tagore/9/)

A book that brought out the ‘devils’ in us! For some it grew on them (after a second round) and for a few, it seemed like a struggle to keep our interest. We really questioned the author and the booker-prize-givers! 😃 not exactly a favorite but a decent read.