HydRAW 2021 JuneReads

HydRAW
10 min readJul 11, 2021

List and write-ups of books we read in June

The monsoon not only lowers the temperature but also elevates the mood. The summer heat exhaustion dissipates. For some people, the pitter patter is a visceral experience like a lullaby. Apparently the sounds of the rain give the brain a tonic signal from white noise that decreases the need for sensory input, thus calming us down, enhancing our mood, and even giving us relief from anxiety. It is also said that that our sense of smell interacts with our memories. People who love rain associate it with beautiful memories. A sweet and subtle fragrance wafts the air before and after a rain and perhaps that takes us back to a time we were warm and safe.

All of which is indeed a good setting to surround yourself with books. So, the uptake in the number of books we read in June and their wide variety are all a positive effect of Mother Nature’s benign gift of the rains.

Write-ups

Muralidharan Parthasarathy (on Many Lives, Many Masters): Dr Brian Weiss who is Chief of psychiatry in a Medical school in Miami. Before going into the book, we must remember the use of transference and counter transference which in the field of psychiatry mean the impact or transfer of emotions from the patient to the psychiatrist and vice versa during a therapy. The entire book is on the doctor’s sessions with one Catherine who suffers nightmares and anxiety and approaches him in a chronic condition. Her status requires hypnotism and during the hypnotic sessions she reveals the details of her previous births. Through her the masters i.e souls of higher wisdom communicate with the doctor. The masters’ message tallies mostly with ‘punarapi maranam, punarapi jananam’ of the saivite sage Adi Sankara. The doctor is convinced that the sages’ preaching that we go through many lives or rebirths and our soul is immortal. The details of her previous birth revealed by Catherine are confirmed by a psychic astrologer as the author mentions at the end. There are probably hundreds of instances of individuals recalling their previous birth. As I read intently I looked for the mythological or religious basis for the messages that took place in transference between the doctor and Catherine because both are non Hindus. At one stage the doctor quotes the Kabbalah tradition in Judaism which carries references to many births. As an individual and as a reader, I never discard any superconscious stuff, because whatever is beyond my reasoning need not be false and rubbish. The doctor has authored about half a dozen books on this theme, and in this book, at the end he records he found more than 12 patients recalling some details of their death in the previous birth and one or two full details of their previous birth.

(on The Notes and Other Poems Salvaged) : This is a short collection of poems by the author in Italian translated into English. The poems are modern and very abstract. Each reading brings a different meaning and the poems are short and of very few words. The following poem is less abstract and very poetic among other poems:

* Hypnos*
Let sensuality reply
to the falling rain on my brow
on touching the depths of sound,
on giving into the zephyr
when I meet you

(on Otherwise engaged Volume 7 Summer 2021): The biannual magazine has 433 pages. Short stories, essays, poems and works of art and reviews, works of different genres from contributors all over the world are part of this rich collection. I liked the poem below for its power and sharpness in very few words.

* Lie and Truth *
I prefer lie to truth.
It comes in words,
Nice and warm.

Lie is fresh flowers,
Fading quickly.
Truth is a dry stem
Left from lie.

Truth is for poor,
Poor souls and bodies.
But my ankles are beautiful.
(Poet: Liliya Gazizova, translated by Olga Karasik)

Manohar Grandhi (on Crorepati Mindset) : I really liked this book very much. It is a collection of 11 stories of people who made it big. The common thing about these 11 people is none of them had a big support or backup system. They were normal people who made it big via their mindset.

The best story I felt was that of Shabnam who was a co-founder of travel company and had studied till 4th grade. The way she grew up to be such a big person has been beautifully depicted in this book. This is a good book for anyone to read and get inspiration.

Hari Arayammakul (on Chronicle of a Death Foretold) : The small novel / novella hooks the reader from the word go. Not written in an orthodox style of one with an exposition — raising action - climax - falling and resolution. As the title suggests, the climax is foretold. The gripping effect is achieved through elaborate portrayal & repetition of scenes & events.

A typical Marquezian novel with lot of characters and surrealistic scenes & happenings. The absurdist characters going through the motions, fail to stop the murder, even though it was foretold. The murderers Vicario brothers themselves want to be stopped from committing the crime. And the victim Santiago Nassar doesn’t make any conscious efforts to escape. Perhaps the funniest of all stuff is that no one is sure about the exact reason of the murder (although Angela hints at Santiago for stealing her honour but even she doesn’t reveals how it all happened).

Certainly a quality quick read.

Sanjay Churiwala (on The Psychology of Money): I found this to be a very nice book. Worth reading by anyone who is earning or spending.

Dhruv Nalla (on The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects) : This book is an experimental fiction which is filled with text and images and it’s about technology and how it influences people, how visual medium is powerful. It also explains how people over the years reacted to the new technologies.

(on The Chronicle of a Death Foretold) : It is about the murder of Santiago Nassar by the Vicario brothers in order to defend their sister’s honor. Almost everyone in the village knows that he is going to be murdered but no one was able to warn him at the right time. By the time Nassar knows about it, it’s too late.

(on Sea Prayer) : The book is written in the form of a letter from father to son; he explains how peaceful their city Homs, Syria was before the Syrian Civil War happened, and also about the danger they are about to face.

Isha Maheswari (on On the Face of It) : A One Act play that throws light on the inferiority complex and hardships faced by the physically challenged section of the society. The two characters, Mr. Lamb and Derry are both victims of it. Mr. Lamb is lame in one leg while Derry is a victim of acid attack. Mr. Lamb has succumbed to the negative comments of the society while Derry cannot sustain it. The manner in which Mr. Lamb brings Derry out of the complex world he has created for himself, owing to the lack of the society’s acceptance of his ugly burnt face, is all that the play is about. The arguments and counter arguments of the two characters brings forth before the reader, the difficulties the society and even the very near and dear ones create for the physically disabled people making their difficult lives all the more challenging for them.

Neena George Kunnath (on The Refund): The play is full of humor which deals with an extraordinarily ludicrous situation. It is the story of a former student Wasserkopf of a school. After an interval of eighteen years, Wasserkopf comes back to his school to get back his tuition fees because he feels that the education is in vain. Wasserkopfs eagerness to get back his money by hook or by crook conflicts with the determination of the principal and the Masters to foil his intention and outwit him. It is from this conflict that the complication arises. At the end of the sequence the Mathematics Master emerges as the mastermind behind the scheme to checkmate Wasserkopf. He is shown as a shrewd individual who at once understands the implications behind Wasserkopf’s demand and plains to the other masters the need to ensure that Wasserkopf does not fail the re-examination. He outlines the strategy they are to follow. They will ask simple questions, and work together to credit Wasserkopf with a pass certificate.

(on At Night All Blood is Black): In the blood stricken trenches of World War I, a soldier, Mademba Diop painfully ascends to death, while his more than brother friend, Alfa looks over helplessly. As a reader I felt that I was reading a prose rather than the story, mostly because of the lines which were repeated over and over for emphasis, which led me to a trance. The historical context is hardly mentioned, rather it focuses on the psychological journey of Alfa as he finds himself turning out to be a sorcerer of death, avenging his friend’s death. It is indeed filled with echoes and portents which is both heartbreaking and poetic.

Mridul Mrinal (on Purple Hibiscus) : A tale of self realisation and anguish. Purple Hibiscus was published in 2003 by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It depicts the socio political and economical climate of the Post colonial Nigeria. The story progresses through the eyes of Kambili Achike a girl who resides in a University town. The story has autobiographical elements as Adichie herself born and raised in the University town of Enugu, Where her father was a professor. Achike is living with her father, mother and Jaja, her brother. The father is fanatic who never misses his mass at the church. An abusive of his wife and children he believed physical torturing was a mode of purgation. Her mother murdered the father at the zenith of his abuse. Jaja claims the responsibility and went to jail. She and her mother leaves to her aunt where Achike realises the means of free living. The story has a thick description of religion which was deep rooted in the Igbo population of Nigeria. The old colonial standards are represented by the Catholic Church and the father.

Syed Shakeel Imdad (on Girl in White Cotton) : The book leaves you with a mixed feeling. On one hand it feels like being repeatedly stabbed by pangs of reality and on the other, it feels alien to the core. This tale of exploration of a mother-daughter relationship takes many twists and turns but if there’s one thing that’s consistent it is the self-indulgence of the narrator. At times it even feels patronising in the current state. Flashbacks form a key to the narrative and are mostly well placed with the detours being effortless. Episodes in the ashram feel the most novel-like and also underpin the key tenets of the story. The description current events are oftentimes dry and even low on relatability to the reader’s surprise on many occasions.

The editing is something that could have been definitely better with multiple instances of clear and obvious errors. Readability is good and requires minimal effort to hold on to the thread as it winds up and down. But on the whole, the book did not leave upto the plot potential. A one-time read with a personal rating of 2.5/5.

P.S. not really in a position to comment on the justification for a Booker shortlist.

List

Arun Kumar

  • The Loneliness of Hira Barua by Arupa Patangia Kalita
  • Unfair by Rasil Ahuja
  • Harivillu by Haribabu Maddukuri
  • All-time Favourites for Children by Ruskin Bond
  • Shidilaalayam by Dasari Subrahmanyam
  • Avasthe by UR Ananthamurthy
  • A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi by Manobi Bandyopadhyay, Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey
  • 3 Rays: Stories from Satyajit Ray ed by Sandip Ray
  • Intersections by Gautam S. Mengle
  • Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Island Tales by Michael Morpurgo
  • Beyond the Gender Ninary by Alok Vaid-Menon
  • Tales from India by Bali Rai
  • Fiercely female: The Dutee Chand Story by Sundeep Misra
  • This is What I Know About Art by Kimberly Drew
  • The Night Train at Deoli by Ruskin Bond
  • Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
  • Chivari Gudise by Kesava Reddy
  • Concrete Kids by Amyra Leon

Nalini Dharanipragada

  • Strutting Lightbugs by Kalam Babu & Lavanya Nukavarapu
  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
  • The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects by Marshall McLuhan

Muralidharan Parthasarathy

  • Many Lives, Many Masters by Dr. Brian Weiss
  • The Notes and Other Poems Salvaged by Nilufer Ozsoy
  • Otherwise Engaged Volume 7 Summer 2021.

Syed Shakeel Imdad

  • Girl in White Cotton by Avni Doshi

Neena George Kunnath

  • The Refund (a play) by Fritz Karinthy
  • At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

Ankit Choudhary

  • The Majesty of Calmness by William George-Jordan
  • The Story of Tomoda and Matsunaga by Junichiro Tanizaki
  • Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Anibal Fernandes
  • Memoirs and Misinformation by Jim Carey and Dana Vachon

Dr. Surya Kaladhar

  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
  • The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects by Marshall McLuhan

Manohar Grandhi

  • 13 Steps to Bloody Good Wealth by Ashwin Sanghi & Sunil Dalal.
  • 2 Minute Short Stories by Priya Bharathi
  • Inspirational Real Life Stories by Rahul K
  • Eat from Heart Eat for heart by Rima das
  • Dasvatara Series by Sundari Venkataraman
  • Inspirational Stories of Greats by Ranjith Kumar
  • Crorepati Mindset by Mukesh Jindal.
  • Dream Big by Mukesh Jindal.
  • Game Changers: Forget Startups Join Corporate and Still Live the Rich Life by Pranav Surya and M Pattabiraman
  • Silver linings by Aishwarya Arun

Lavanya Nukavarapu

  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez

Sanjay Churiwala

  • The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

Hari Arayammakul

  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez

Dhruv Nalla

  • The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects by Marshall McLuhan
  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
  • Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini

Isha Maheswari

  • On the Face of It by Susan Hill

Salini Vineeth

  • No Presents Please by Jayant Kaikini
  • Mohanaswamy by Vasudendra
  • The Miraculously True Story of Nomi by Ali Usma Aslam Khan
  • It’s Not About Burqa by Mariam Khan

Preenika Malarkodi

  • The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Krishna Ahir

  • Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon
  • The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon

Mridul Minal

  • Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Aishwarya Lakkakula

  • Budugu by Mullapudi Venkatramana

Syed Shakeel Imdad

  • Girl in White Cotton by Avni Doshi

Mahboob Hussain

  • The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin

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