J M Coetzee's inner workings (essays 2000-20005) is a book I recently picked up on a rainy morning, wet to my skin.
Of the 21 essays, I selected the one on GGM's Memories of my Melancholy Whores.
In most part, Coetzee quotes from the novella and outlines the plot of MOMMW.
Then he turns to comparison. Seems that not only Marquez's latest offering based on the basic structure of his previous work (Love In the Times of Cholera), there are other writers who have explored the theme of old age and paedophilia like Japanese writer Kawabata. But Coetzee is quick to point that "Marquez not so much imitates Kawabata as respond to it'.
Then Coetzee mentions the influences of Marquez like Sophocoles and Faulkner. As per Coetzee Marquez is the true successor, legatee of Faulkner and Sophocles's influence ? Well here is a funny story- his first book LeafStorm when read by his friend left the latter shocked. Its resemblance to Antigone was so palpable that GGM felt embarrassed at his 'subconscious' plagiarsm and made many changes to it to redeem himself from the public embarrassment of plagiarism though unable to privately hide his pride about the coincidence of thought in good faith.
Then he makes a controversial point: Is Garcia, the very Czar of Magic Realism at all one?
Now run a quick google search on the genre Magic Realism and the search engine will most probably throw GGM in all the metatags.
However Coetzee, a recent Nobel Laureate commenting on another, feels GGM more fits the description of Psychological Realist.
Coming back to the theme of paedophilia, Marquez has touched but not elaborately commented on it in Love In the Times of Cholera, described as an "autumnal comedy" by Coetzee.
Coetzee makes the point that what we outsiders consider 'magic realism' is perhaps commonplace if not real in the Spanish literature. Cervantes' Don Quixote is as much a fantasy married to reality with fuzzy boundaries.
Now this means the next post is about Magic Realism and that surely means Midnight's Children revisited.
Ciao
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Unforgettable Characters
Let me list out the books which I recall having read and from which I have derived some meaningful insight about life.
1. Disgrace by J M Coetzee
2. The GOST by Arundhati Roy
3. Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
4. David Copperfield
5. Great Expectations
6. Oliver Twist
7. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
8. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
9. Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
10. The Curious Incident of Dog at Night
11. The Da Vinci Code
12. Digital Fortress
13. Chrnonicles of a Death Foretold
14. Memories of My Melancholy Whores
15. The Kite Runner
16. City of Joy
17. Jude the Obscure
18. Pride and Prejudice
19. Sense and Sensibility
20. Many Sidney Sheldond but his bio The Other Side of Me is best
21. Papillon
22. The Godfather
23. Heart of Darkness
and this is going to be followed by the books I am going to read.ho ho.
1. Disgrace by J M Coetzee
2. The GOST by Arundhati Roy
3. Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
4. David Copperfield
5. Great Expectations
6. Oliver Twist
7. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
8. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
9. Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
10. The Curious Incident of Dog at Night
11. The Da Vinci Code
12. Digital Fortress
13. Chrnonicles of a Death Foretold
14. Memories of My Melancholy Whores
15. The Kite Runner
16. City of Joy
17. Jude the Obscure
18. Pride and Prejudice
19. Sense and Sensibility
20. Many Sidney Sheldond but his bio The Other Side of Me is best
21. Papillon
22. The Godfather
23. Heart of Darkness
and this is going to be followed by the books I am going to read.ho ho.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Aspects of A Novel by E M Forster: Story
As an aspiring novelist (mid-way through my first), I am naturally interested in any advice especially from an acclaimed novelist.
I am, to be honest, only faintly familiar with the fictional works of E M Forster but this book always interested me as a precursor to the many DIY and How To books about the craft of writing.
Barring the Introduction which makes one impatient, eager as the reader is to mine all the secrets of writing, the book is surprisingly light read. It is the size of novella (is there a blog post where this Novella word does not figure) and very conversational in style.
He has divided the aspects into 7 chapters beginning with story. He cites exxamples of various people from golfer, bus-driver etc who read the novel and express their opinion on what a novel is. In the ultimate analysis, all agree that it is a story.
Forster thinks that if you catch this creature with a forcep, then the wriggling thing is a story.
Story, story, story. Aha! So anybody thinking of embarking on a writing voyage, remember that novel though it begins with n is actually a story, spelt with capital S.
Next point (he builds his case very meticulously) is that story precedes novel. Even palaeolithic men gather around fire to hear stories so 'reading a story' is a modern phenomenon.
Next, he elaborates that what is it in a story that makes it so riveting.
His pertinent example of Scheherzade from Arabian nights should haunt the would-be's a little. You have to tell a story not because you want to win the Booker or highlight the condition humaine.
It is to ctrl+s (Save) your life.
So your novel (or shall we agreee to call it a story) must make the reader gasp - and then? and then? and then?
So having said that he takes up the example of different authors and talks about the two dimensions of the novel- its inner clock and values.
Time is an inherent quality of a novel- a novel cannot be meaningful unless there is a movement in time. He cites examples of Gertrude Stein, Sartre and Proust who tried to dodge the clock.
And he talks about value.
And that is where the chapter STORY ends.
I have read many hundreds of articles on structure of novel and they all lack the gentle persuasion of Forster who is no hurry to give you a formula.
We will talk about PEOPLE next in another post.
I am, to be honest, only faintly familiar with the fictional works of E M Forster but this book always interested me as a precursor to the many DIY and How To books about the craft of writing.
Barring the Introduction which makes one impatient, eager as the reader is to mine all the secrets of writing, the book is surprisingly light read. It is the size of novella (is there a blog post where this Novella word does not figure) and very conversational in style.
He has divided the aspects into 7 chapters beginning with story. He cites exxamples of various people from golfer, bus-driver etc who read the novel and express their opinion on what a novel is. In the ultimate analysis, all agree that it is a story.
Forster thinks that if you catch this creature with a forcep, then the wriggling thing is a story.
Story, story, story. Aha! So anybody thinking of embarking on a writing voyage, remember that novel though it begins with n is actually a story, spelt with capital S.
Next point (he builds his case very meticulously) is that story precedes novel. Even palaeolithic men gather around fire to hear stories so 'reading a story' is a modern phenomenon.
Next, he elaborates that what is it in a story that makes it so riveting.
His pertinent example of Scheherzade from Arabian nights should haunt the would-be's a little. You have to tell a story not because you want to win the Booker or highlight the condition humaine.
It is to ctrl+s (Save) your life.
So your novel (or shall we agreee to call it a story) must make the reader gasp - and then? and then? and then?
So having said that he takes up the example of different authors and talks about the two dimensions of the novel- its inner clock and values.
Time is an inherent quality of a novel- a novel cannot be meaningful unless there is a movement in time. He cites examples of Gertrude Stein, Sartre and Proust who tried to dodge the clock.
And he talks about value.
And that is where the chapter STORY ends.
I have read many hundreds of articles on structure of novel and they all lack the gentle persuasion of Forster who is no hurry to give you a formula.
We will talk about PEOPLE next in another post.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Structure of Story
Structure of story- some authors have clairvoyant clarity about the structure of their novel even before they proceed to write it.
Booker Prizewinner Arundhati Roy said in an interview once about her novel The God of Small Things-- the structure of the book was clear to me like the "bleached bones of the story"
Not every writer however can expect to begin with a blueprint of his creative edifice.
But structure emerges.
Best thing is to free write for sometime and let the leashed Muse pull you like a Doberman in the direction it prefers.
Writing is not always about words in cement, it can be more pleasurably imagined as play in the sand.
The aggregate (pun definitely intended) is to have fun while coming with something concrete.
Booker Prizewinner Arundhati Roy said in an interview once about her novel The God of Small Things-- the structure of the book was clear to me like the "bleached bones of the story"
Not every writer however can expect to begin with a blueprint of his creative edifice.
But structure emerges.
Best thing is to free write for sometime and let the leashed Muse pull you like a Doberman in the direction it prefers.
Writing is not always about words in cement, it can be more pleasurably imagined as play in the sand.
The aggregate (pun definitely intended) is to have fun while coming with something concrete.
To The Lighthouse
Within me, the belief is gaining ground that perhaps all joy is ultimately an act of visualisation.
By this measure, Virginia Woolf should have been a happy woman but her life's facts do not corroborate my nascent belief.
She could with her frugal writing, in a few broad strokes, create a picture so exact and haunting, one is forced to think that her favourite pastime was to amuse herself. Then why did she get bored of life?
Her disease was an affliction that many creative people share- swining from violent joy to despairing grief
I plan to read her seminal novella - To The Lighthouse tomorrow.
I read it once a long time ago but not fully.
I am exhilirated at the prospect of going to the lighthouse. It seems at times I am James lying on the floor, cutting pictures from a catalogue.
I am Lily Briscoe sitting in front of the canvas, brush heavy with colors but unable to daub much. It will take me a decade to finally complete the painting.
I am Mr. Ramsay, inspiring oedipal storms of hatred in my little son's mind but a decade later, congratulating him on his seamanship though I still do not trust it in the heart of hearts.
and I am the lighthouse, alternating between darkness and light.
By this measure, Virginia Woolf should have been a happy woman but her life's facts do not corroborate my nascent belief.
She could with her frugal writing, in a few broad strokes, create a picture so exact and haunting, one is forced to think that her favourite pastime was to amuse herself. Then why did she get bored of life?
Her disease was an affliction that many creative people share- swining from violent joy to despairing grief
I plan to read her seminal novella - To The Lighthouse tomorrow.
I read it once a long time ago but not fully.
I am exhilirated at the prospect of going to the lighthouse. It seems at times I am James lying on the floor, cutting pictures from a catalogue.
I am Lily Briscoe sitting in front of the canvas, brush heavy with colors but unable to daub much. It will take me a decade to finally complete the painting.
I am Mr. Ramsay, inspiring oedipal storms of hatred in my little son's mind but a decade later, congratulating him on his seamanship though I still do not trust it in the heart of hearts.
and I am the lighthouse, alternating between darkness and light.
Say My Name and I am no more
Silence is a golden thing.
There are so many aspirations, dreams and ambitions we have- the moment we begin to talk about them to others - in words and casual phrases, they just seem to lose their personal meaning.
It is as if the words like salt catch moisture, become turgid and plonk down into the bottom of our soul.
The soul cannot fly with words in its belly.
Wordlessness is an inherent condition for art to be first born. All books are wordless when they are born.
Perhaps that is why meditation is so much about silencing our inner and outer voices.
These are inchoate thoughts as of now but they have a prenatal coherence. ....to be contd.
There are so many aspirations, dreams and ambitions we have- the moment we begin to talk about them to others - in words and casual phrases, they just seem to lose their personal meaning.
It is as if the words like salt catch moisture, become turgid and plonk down into the bottom of our soul.
The soul cannot fly with words in its belly.
Wordlessness is an inherent condition for art to be first born. All books are wordless when they are born.
Perhaps that is why meditation is so much about silencing our inner and outer voices.
These are inchoate thoughts as of now but they have a prenatal coherence. ....to be contd.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Second Think Coming: Heart of Darkness
As the McDonald jingle goes: I'm loving it.
Not the book per se but my perseverance to understand it. This kind of tenacity is often appreciated by the Maths teacher when you try to crack (factorise) a cubic equation.
But a piece of literature: you are either supposed to like it or not.
I mean it is the spontaneous philosophy of love-at-first-sightism that states that all reaction to Art must emerge from the gut.
But that need not be the case. Upon my first reading, I do not like to know the background of a story or how it is precariously positioned like a tarantula on burning coals of historical and literary contexts.
Just dive right in: that is my approach.
But with HOD, I think I am beginning to get an insight into this stark writing after reading some criticisms and plot summaries.
It is deemed the precursor to the modern novel.
Honestly I am still struggling to understand why the style is so heavily titled towards recalling the feelinngs of Marlow rather than actual happenings.
Uptil page 65 if I recall, he is thrilled to meet the great man Kurtz in the Innner Station. Nothing ever 'happens' in the novel--- I read in one criticism, that this is the uniqueness of this writing that it tends to be so character-driven rather than having a plot-heavy style.
I would love it if we can use this forum to expand our understanding of literature beginning with this milestone.
So I invite your comments and musings.
Not the book per se but my perseverance to understand it. This kind of tenacity is often appreciated by the Maths teacher when you try to crack (factorise) a cubic equation.
But a piece of literature: you are either supposed to like it or not.
I mean it is the spontaneous philosophy of love-at-first-sightism that states that all reaction to Art must emerge from the gut.
But that need not be the case. Upon my first reading, I do not like to know the background of a story or how it is precariously positioned like a tarantula on burning coals of historical and literary contexts.
Just dive right in: that is my approach.
But with HOD, I think I am beginning to get an insight into this stark writing after reading some criticisms and plot summaries.
It is deemed the precursor to the modern novel.
Honestly I am still struggling to understand why the style is so heavily titled towards recalling the feelinngs of Marlow rather than actual happenings.
Uptil page 65 if I recall, he is thrilled to meet the great man Kurtz in the Innner Station. Nothing ever 'happens' in the novel--- I read in one criticism, that this is the uniqueness of this writing that it tends to be so character-driven rather than having a plot-heavy style.
I would love it if we can use this forum to expand our understanding of literature beginning with this milestone.
So I invite your comments and musings.
Waratah
Read an interesting story about Waratah the Australian Titanic that sunk on its second voyage with all the hands.
How many drowned ships are there in the box called ocean.
How many drowned ships are there in the box called ocean.
The Buddha by Karen Armstrong
Let me tell you a funny thing- In India, many children have the first name Rahul and we have all read how Gautam Siddharth named his son Rahul. More than a matter of nomenclature, it was a claustrophobic emotional reality for would-be Buddha because in domestic relations, he only saw fetters which is exactly what Rahul means.
So not a very positive context!
I am reading this book- bought it at an airport shop at 5.30 am....nice time to contemplate about Buddha. I have read other works of the author and find her a balanced and authoritative voice as far as religious history goes.
She begins with a Zen dictat that says: If you find the Buddha, kill him.
And elaborates thus: Buddha never claimed divinity and did not comment on the presence or absence of God but rather chose to emphasise that each person has to find her own hidden Buddha or Realised Soul.
Something I quite like!
I had bookmarked it but the complimentary bookmark fell from the pages and fluttered to the floor. Making me think- what a lame boundary to divide the read from the unread, the known from the great unknown...ha ha.
So not a very positive context!
I am reading this book- bought it at an airport shop at 5.30 am....nice time to contemplate about Buddha. I have read other works of the author and find her a balanced and authoritative voice as far as religious history goes.
She begins with a Zen dictat that says: If you find the Buddha, kill him.
And elaborates thus: Buddha never claimed divinity and did not comment on the presence or absence of God but rather chose to emphasise that each person has to find her own hidden Buddha or Realised Soul.
Something I quite like!
I had bookmarked it but the complimentary bookmark fell from the pages and fluttered to the floor. Making me think- what a lame boundary to divide the read from the unread, the known from the great unknown...ha ha.
Midnight's Grandchildren
Have to talk about this book: well the whole world's talking. Again.
It is just so "talky", you get into it without realising what a thick book it is. And just when you are coursing through the noses of Aadam Aziz, oh yaara, you realise that there are so many other things in the world to do -like watching Man Vs. Wild on Discovery, eating the salted peanuts and smelling the toluene marker. But you forget everything and concentrate on the rotten, malodorous mouth of Tai the boatman, no yaara?
So this is how it is with SR- he will take you right into the cavernous, cucumberish noses and rotten mouths with misshapen teeth.
And you would find yourself revisiting your curiosities again.
It is just so "talky", you get into it without realising what a thick book it is. And just when you are coursing through the noses of Aadam Aziz, oh yaara, you realise that there are so many other things in the world to do -like watching Man Vs. Wild on Discovery, eating the salted peanuts and smelling the toluene marker. But you forget everything and concentrate on the rotten, malodorous mouth of Tai the boatman, no yaara?
So this is how it is with SR- he will take you right into the cavernous, cucumberish noses and rotten mouths with misshapen teeth.
And you would find yourself revisiting your curiosities again.
First Words
Well my first words are: Heart of Darkness.
A sombre note to begin my first ever blog.
I just put the novella down and do not want to pick it up. I am Tiny Thinkers- I shudder to go through the 111 pages again.
Let me clarify at the beginning itself that I have some memory issues due to certain medication and it is difficult for me recall anything that is remotely uninteresting.
Having said that, I always make it a point to ask myself : did I miss something there?
I could not follow HOD at all- neither philosophically nor linguistically. It is an interesting fact that Joseph Conrad did not know English till adulthood and even till his last days, he spoke English with a lilt.
I found that apart from the hard 'ship' terms which I like collecting as a hobby - yawl (sail boat), barges, estuary, almost every sentence was abstruse and recondite. Obdurate as I am, I tried to persist but ultimately had to keep the pencil down and concentrate on the story.
The story is disappointing. It is a framed narrative and is a recollection of a voyage into the eponymous heart of darkeness & the noblesse oblige of the white man to the amorphous blackness - the black natives, their pagan culture, their foggy river. And it is about whiteness too- ivory trade and the brilliance of a civilised soul. It is about the contrast.
But I cannot seem to fathom the story at all and therefore leave the floor open to anyone who has read and understood the little book. Little as in Kurtz and Kline and not in any inferior way.
Ciao
A sombre note to begin my first ever blog.
I just put the novella down and do not want to pick it up. I am Tiny Thinkers- I shudder to go through the 111 pages again.
Let me clarify at the beginning itself that I have some memory issues due to certain medication and it is difficult for me recall anything that is remotely uninteresting.
Having said that, I always make it a point to ask myself : did I miss something there?
I could not follow HOD at all- neither philosophically nor linguistically. It is an interesting fact that Joseph Conrad did not know English till adulthood and even till his last days, he spoke English with a lilt.
I found that apart from the hard 'ship' terms which I like collecting as a hobby - yawl (sail boat), barges, estuary, almost every sentence was abstruse and recondite. Obdurate as I am, I tried to persist but ultimately had to keep the pencil down and concentrate on the story.
The story is disappointing. It is a framed narrative and is a recollection of a voyage into the eponymous heart of darkeness & the noblesse oblige of the white man to the amorphous blackness - the black natives, their pagan culture, their foggy river. And it is about whiteness too- ivory trade and the brilliance of a civilised soul. It is about the contrast.
But I cannot seem to fathom the story at all and therefore leave the floor open to anyone who has read and understood the little book. Little as in Kurtz and Kline and not in any inferior way.
Ciao
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