Some more reading experiences

Another change in my daily routine is that instead of driving to work, I'm using the office cab. I last used the office conveyance more than 7 years ago, and then it used to be a bus - those were quite fun days. But I digress. So, there are 3-5 people in the cab, some days we chat, some days we don't. In the initial days, we usually didn't. So, even though it was only 25-30 minutes commute, I thought I might utilize it catch up on long-neglected reading. Didnt want to read anything heavy, so started with some relatively light re-reading.

First picked up "To Kill A Mocking Bird" (had read it twice earlier, 13 and 8 years ago, I think). Enjoyed it, as ever. Simple, endearing, enriching. Though, to be honest, read the last part of it in a quiet hour I managed to snatch at home. 

Next, I started on "The Bridges of Madison County". Had read it twice or thrice earlier, more than 6 years ago, and had seen the movie as well. I had mixed feelings about the movie, even though it was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood - I found it really well made, but very slow. The book though had a big impact on me - I had found it very intense, and extremely sad - so much so, that for years, I didnt want to read it again. But anyway, I thought it was good time to enjoy it again. Imagine my surprise - halfway through, I realized I wasn't enjoying it half as much as I did earlier. The intensity didnt come through, and there were parts that I found kitschy - particularly the part describing the love affair. I tried to see the reason for this extreme difference in experience. You change with time, and experience is undoubtedly a factor of the mental state. So was it because I have grown up and matured, that I didnt find the idealistic story quite realistic/creditable? Or was it because I read it on my short commutes, with so many breaks and interruptions, and therefore didnt get involved with the story? To try to get an answer, I looked for some reviews. Another surprise - the book, even though a huge best-seller, was panned as limp and overdone, while the movie was highly acclaimed. Perhaps time to revisit the movie.

There is an amusing incident for me, associated with this book. I still clearly remember the first time I read it - in IITD hostel, lying down in the common room, a borrowed copy. Few years after that, I remembered this book, and wanted a copy of my own. For a long time, I looked for it in all the bookshops, online stores, but it was out of print. Some of my close friends had assisted me in this search and so knew of my near-desperation. After looking for it for months, I finally found it in a bookstore, along with a sequel (A thousand country roads)!! I spared no time or second thoughts in purchasing them both. Barely a few days after this was my birthday, and I received a copy of TBoMC from a dear friend as a gift! And, another set of both books (from then my "good friend", and now my better half), who had located them in an online store and ordered them for me as a surprise!! Patience and perseverance rewarded in thrice? :-D

A Thousand Splendid Suns

In my new profile of having two full-time jobs (the regular work, and you guessed it, a growing-up kid), one of the things I miss is the leisure of curling up with a book, with no worry of mundane chores, and more important, no interruptions. In this while, I have barely been able to read. Three books in three years - sort of a record for me - a record low, that is :-). And whatever reading I managed was rather hurried, and a while ago. In no way sufficient to write a review, as I had been doing earlier for the books I was reading. Still, I'll try to capture whatever I can recollect of my impressions (for that is what my "reviews" typically are, I do not consciously try to outline the story).

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseni

'The Kite Runner' had set quite high expectations for this one, and the editorial reviews/comments escalated them further. I was really looking forward to read this one, but by the time I got the book, I had a newborn to look after. To be honest, I almost rushed through it, omitting some parts here and there, that were not kind of contributing to the story, but to the picture. I might have had a different impression, if I had a chance to read it at more leisure, but I don't think I'll pick it up again to see if I missed things the first time around. Though I'm glad that I did manage to get through it.

I must say that it did not disappoint. It is a gripping and touching story, capturing the plight of women in Afghanistan quite well - their sheer helplessness in the face of constant contempt and abuse they are subjected to by men. Gender equality? I think they would be grateful if they are allowed to spend their lives, however constrained, with dignity. It reinforces how grief is a unifying factor like nothing else, and how hope can emerge, sustain, and win, even in the face of absolute dejection. It was highly engrossing - the reason I rushed through it, to at least read the story even if I could not manage to enjoy the book.

However, it did not quite live up the expectations. It seems to lack some of the distinguishing qualities of The Kite Runner - despite the constant feeling of sadness, Kite Runner didn't leave one gloomy. Kite Runner also presented a different kind of background - a land and culture which people in general are not very familiar with. Thousand Splendid Suns did not create that kind of interest, because of the more general theme. Also, I felt that at times, it was deliberately and dramatically stretched to paint a picture of misery so complete, that it was kind of trite. Perhaps this comes from reading more than a few stories by Indian authors, centered around the grief and pain of women that they suffer all alone.

Though I wonder if this is generally true for subsequent works of an author whose first work (or may be the first work one reads) creates a big impact with a radically new context and strong story? I remember this happened to me with Dan Brown - I simply loved Da Vinci Code, but didnt particularly like Angels and Demons. Some of my friends read Angels and Demons first, and admired it, but did not appreciate Da Vinci Code as much.

Soon to follow:

The Collector's Wife - Mitra Phukan

Mistress - Anita Nair

Filling in ...

Ah. After my determined resolution last week, I seem to be back to the square one - how and where to start. And all of a sudden, those numerous thoughts swirling in my mind seem to have disappeared away. Whew!

I might as well start with the reason for my long hiatus. The last post before my absence was on June 20th, 2008. My "life changing moment" occurred five days after that - Sid arrived into our life, turning it topsy-turvy :-) I now remember with a certain degree of amusement, that before he was born, how I planned to keep a record of his growing up years, his achievements, his deeds (and misdeeds), and my thoughts and reactions to it all, through my blog. And how, after he was here, I was just too occupied in the actual business of bringing him up, to even think about blogging! Now that he is three years old, he demands a lot of attention. To think of it, he did that earlier too - the only difference is that the reason for the demand has gone from physical needs to mental :-) Can I dare to hope for the things to improve, once he gets older, perhaps before the pressure for studies start?

In the last two years, I did get a few minutes to myself, here and there, abbreviated with needs for my intervention or attention, but this is hardly enough to think, and organize your thoughts, leave alone open a laptop (which  is something one can't do anyway, with a small kid around). I really don't understand whats it with kids and laptops - the laptops have a magnetic charm for them, even if you never ever play any videos and cartoons for them!

So, in last three years, I haven't blogged, I haven't read (except for a couple of books I managed to read in fragments, on solo flights or metro commutes), and I haven't travelled (except for one vacation last winter). To compensate for blogging and reading, I developed  a not-so-desirable addiction for facebook (which is something that can be managed in those short snatches of time, specially with the help of a wireless router and an iPod touch). To compensate for travelling, I picked up a near-obsession for photographing flowers, which is not that bad I think :-) I have been posting these pictures, that I took from my phone camera, in office, apartment complex, parks, or anywhere else I visited, on facebook. A number of times I considered posting them on my blog instead, but oh, the inertia!! This also brings me to blog vs facebook dilemma, but let me save this subject for another day.

The other major changes are relatively recent. I quit my first job after nearly ten-and-a-half years, and moved to a new workplace and a new city - something of a paradigm shift.

In last few months, I checked on the blogs I more or less regularly read (and not to forget, whose authors visited mine :-)). Some of them have stopped writing, and most of the rest are no longer active. Sad indeed.

And so I am back ...

... neither with a bang, nor with a whimper, but as normal as I can be :-)

My blogs have been severely neglected for over three years now. For last two years, and even more so the last one year, I have been giving a serious thought to resurrecting my blogging activities - there are so many thoughts take a seed in the mind, awaiting germination, taking root in imagination and consideration and concentration, and surface into the world. Thoughts craving for expression. And mind craving for some interaction [beyond "like" on Facebook, that is :-P ].

A lot has changed in this time, creating some real constraints on my activity here, the most significant being little uninterrupted time to concentrate and articulate. Though one of the major reasons is my organized/perfectionist self - I wanted to make my "comeback" well structured  - with appropriately described details and chronological events. Finally I came to terms with the fact that this is something that is not possible, realized that this is simply deferring my intent, and so I finally decided to make a start anyway, and with an idea that I'll pick up the threads here and there.