Outstanding.To create passion like this and alternate between expressed passion and subdued passion is incredible.Miss Julie - headstrong and confused - wavering between strength and weakness - is a work of art. You hate her and admire her. Above all, you pity her. Or maybe not above all. There's no 'above all'. It's impossible to have a single emotion after a play as powerful as this one. A range of emotions rises and falls, leaving you almost breathless.Then, there's Jean - another work of art. Power-hungry, ambitious, practical. When I think about it, a character like that ought to be unbelievable. Yet, he's not. He's wholly believable, wholly despicable - and wholly worthy of hateful admiration.Christine - I wish I knew her. I wish she could just look at me with her grey eyes and hold my hand. Because then, the world could, perhaps, be good. … [Read more...]
Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard
Why does 'easy to read' somehow strike me as a slightly negative comment in the context of this book?Yet, I would not say I disliked the book. The gentle humour made me chuckle time and time again. The paradox of unbelievable believable characters was wonderful. Each character was more than just a character. The characters came alive despite being so exaggerated and unreal. Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard did not end one page too early or one page too late.I think what made the book seem deserving of moderate praise rather than great praise was simply the fact that I find it forgettable. The fact that even though I just finished the book, I choose to write 'Each character was more than just a character' not 'Each character is more than just a character'. It's not one of those haunting stories that stays with you and makes you feel as if the character is a dear friend you want to … [Read more...]
Sylvie and the Songman
What a crazy book.And that's a compliment.There were parts of the book that I read only because I wanted to finish the book. I pushed myself to read, page after page, completing each chapter before putting the book down. So I simply can't give it those overused compliments - 'page-turner' and 'unputdownable'.When imagination is truly beautiful, there's such a strong semblance to life that there's no need to understand each detail. The world is like that. There are so many questions that we ignore. We don't feel the need to answer or even understand the questions. Why do fiction writers so often feel the need to explain everything?Sylvie and the Songman made me think. I did not need to understand everything. I needed to accept and marvel. The ideas were magnificent. The concept of music was thrilling, frightening, enlivening.And like all good books, it made me ask why we create. … [Read more...]
A Note of Music
Everything is made out of notes, vibrations. Many people think the universe started with a great big bang. What's that if it isn't a note, albeit a rather loud one? Somewhere there's probably a note that brings the whole universe together... Goodness knows what will happen if anyone finds it... We'll probably be blown up; either that or we'd find ourselves in another universe. - from Sylvie and the Songman by Tim Binding That, succinctly put, is the power of music. … [Read more...]
The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison introduced me to the real horror of slavery. When I read Beloved, I simply could not get over the idea of black slaves being forced to wear the bit. I still cannot get over it.'Racism', in the way it exists in the west, simply does not exist in India. Sure, we have discrimination, perhaps discrimination of the worst possible kinds. We also have an obsession with fair skin. I like to think that the obsession is on the decline, but I'm horrified by the number of times I come across it in the most casual ways.The Bluest Eye was another of those eye-openers. A black child, looking at the fact that little blond babies with blue eyes are caressed, loved and cooed over, wishes for blue eyes herself. The idea of very black skin and very blue eyes is simply appalling. The child prayed, prayed, prayed for blue eyes. Why? Why did she need them? So that she would be loved? So that … [Read more...]
The Dictionary at School
The portion for the exams has been completed; students are fed up with revision. So, a colleague of mine decided to do something different - she read out a story from The Story-Catcher. I was thrilled!This reading went one step further than 'I loved your story' and 'nice story' and 'I like the story of Sana'. After listening to The Dictionary, the students were expected to write a poem. It had to be inspired by the story, but they could write what they liked.And so they did. I was waiting to have a look at their work, and that happened in a lovely way too!On Thursday, a Student Held Conference took place at the school library. The library was jazzed up a little to make it slightly more attractive.One large notice-board was dedicated to The Story-Catcher. Poems covered the board. One child even made a beautiful copy of the cover illustration. I looked at all the poems in … [Read more...]
Non-Cooperation
Leela Samson, in her book Rukmini Devi writes:'Mrs Besant disagreed with Gandhi on the issue of non-cooperation. Her opinion was that mass civil disobedience was fraught with dangerous possibilities. She was apprehensive of the nation's integrity being weakened as a result. She repeatedly warned that if and when India attained swaraj, it should be careful not to 'find itself in a condition of anarchy, resistant of all discipline, defiant of all authority, where everyone was a law unto himself, enforcing his will by mobs, or trampled on by superior force'. The wisdom of the statement she made then rings frighteningly true today.'Later, India forgot its resentment against Mrs Besant and embraced her as one of those who worked for its independence. I wonder, could things have worked differently? … [Read more...]
Mourning Achebe
So many people have written about Chinua Achebe so knowledgeably in the past few days; I can't come close to that. I know next to nothing about him, but the sense of loss I felt when I read about his death was like a pit within me.I was introduced to Achebe when in college, with, of course Things Fall Apart. After that, I read little about him and by him. Yet, the impression he made on this young student of literature was so powerful that even today, images of the novel remain in my head. The iron horse, the sacred silk-cotton tree, the cowries and the bride-price. What a simple, wonderful writer he was.The world will miss him. … [Read more...]
More Readers?
I, Varsha Seshan, author of The Story-Catcher and English teacher at your school...... donated two books to Vishwashanti Gurukul library. One for the primary school library and one for the whole school. I also spoke to the principal about the way I've done readings in the past at St. Mary's, and she seemed interested. At the library today, the librarian was entering the details into the system. Does this mean that more children will actually read the book? I wonder! … [Read more...]
Wide Sargasso Sea
Post-colonial literature frightens me. When I think of it, I wonder whether I have to read it closely and carefully, and then pretend to the whole world that I understood it perfectly. I have to talk about how good it was, and what I felt and thought. More than anything else, with great literature, it becomes important to have an opinion. And that is why I avoided reading Wide Sargasso Sea for so long.The greatest famous book is one that makes you forget about what you are going to say about the book. Sometimes, when I read famous literature, I plan my opinion as I read, page by page. I feel stupid doing that, but sometimes, I have no choice.Wide Sargasso Sea was a world away from that. From the very first page, I forgot about the world. I forgot about the 'post-colonial' tag. I forgot about the careful formulation of opinion. I even forgot that I was reading it to teach it.I … [Read more...]