philly south asian book group

The Immortals by Amit Chaudhuri

2010-02-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

This meeting there was nearly unanimous praise for the novel. All observed with interest that it follows recent trends in cross-cultural literature, by dropping in Hindi and some rarely used British words, the author is making the non-Indian audience work a bit harder to follow his meaning but gaining much in flavor. Anne equated this with Junot Diaz's writing, and Kate P. agreed, having just read Oscar Wao. Maybe this is possible because of ubiquitous internet access as well, (so easy to look words up). This however did not prevent Kate P and Anne from asking Deep, Samian and Sanjay to translate a few words and concepts. The first subject of interest was the mention of several mystical poets, both Hindu and Sufi, and some discussion of connections between Kabir and the Guru Granth Sahib.

We all enjoyed the very subtle references to class, which made an interesting contrast with Rohinton Mistry, where the subject is more overt and central. The more central theme here seemed to be the subtleties of the relationship between guru and student, the inner lives and workings of the family, and to some extent the greater cultural context of music, classical versus popular. Kate P., Anne, Samian and Deep seened to appreciate Chaudhuri's softness and quietness, the slow movement of his story which is slowly revealed, where Kate B. felt a bit frustrated by the lack of drama in the plot. Anne and Kate P. found themselves astonished by some of Chaudhuri's sentences, which sometimes find themselves starting in one place and ending somewhere else completely. This could make for some slow reading at times; like watching a replay of a figure skater doing a triple axle, or a free style skiier- one has to go back to the beginning to marvel at how it was done. Or to change metaphors- listening to Thelonius Monk- you are sure that a rule was broken, but it was broken so beautifully that it must be listened to thrice to see how it worked. If for nothing else at all, the book seems to want to draw our awareness to the complete world of classical music, in which there were times of day for specific forms, and in which there were reasons for everything, devotion and much internal structure, most visible from the inside.

Stars from another sky

2009-11-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

There were many likable aspects to this peculiar little book, according to Kate and Amardeep but not Narayan, and Ann reserves judgment until she has more time to read.
Narayan's main objections were the disjointed aspects, lack of structure, and his feeling that it closely resembled Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon.
Amardeep and Kate acknowledged some queeziness about the gossip angles of the story, but feel it is more than redeemed by the personal depiction of the costs of Partition, as symbolized by the split of friends like Manto and Shyam. Favorite characterizations: Kuldip Kaur, Shyam, Rafik Ghaznavi, and Nargis.

Things that I learned that might be helpful to other readers:
All Bollywood films until the 70s or 80s were in Urdu, and switched to Hindi or Hindustani only after. Still now Urdu is more highly regarded as a poetical language, and many see the switch as a downfall.
Seth means boss, and may denote upper caste boss.
I thought it odd that Babu Rao Patel had two wives, (see p. 187 one was a doctor!) then I learned that Hindus also could marry more than once up until the 1950's.

Near the beginning of the book, the sections where Manto discusses the threats of communalists against his Hindu studio bosses, (p.17) we really got the idea this was the kernel of the idea for our previous book Filming.

add away! pictures of 1940's stars

2009-10-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

Kuldeep Kaur

Naseem Banu

Shyam

"Filming" discussion

2009-10-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

Maybe it was the lovely day, maybe the garden, maybe cute Puran dashing about, but one way or another we did not have a hefty conversation on this title. My recollection is that we got more involved with discussing the actualities behind the fiction, as discussed in the previous post. Those of us that are not fluent in Bollywood learned that : originally the majority of actors were Muslims, and probably poorer or lacking otherwise in status, & that many changed their names after partition. Per the book itself, it was liked by the group very much, including Ann's husband who joined us this once, but who expressed a general dislike of free association in literature. Deep mentioned that these sections were meant to connect with Manto, and perhaps Manto in his cups. Somehow Ann remembered a book by Manto given to her in Bombay by a headmistress or librarian, Stars from another sky, and we instantly adopted it as our next title to read.

Questions prompted by "Filming", Khair

2009-07-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

I am now kind of curious about the situation of Muslim Indian actors during partition. Since there are so many actors today, many of the best known male leads are Muslims, it makes me wonder what happened in 47/48 and the years soon after?
Is there a great book about the legacy of Muslim Indian actors? Is there a book or article about the relative lack of prejudice within the industry?

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

2009-06-05T05:12:00.000-07:00

This month we read our first title set mostly in Pakistan, by Daniyal Mueenuddin, the discussion that followed took some lively turns. The largest sense was that the book was very well written and pretty depressing. The cleavage between those that admired the book and those that didn’t can be described thus: those that felt it could not be liked because there is no one likable in the story, and the others (majority) whom nevertheless found the writing very accomplished. Anne made a comparison to Joyce’s The Dubliners, in which most of the characters are darkly written. The themes of inheritance and class maintenance were also discussed. Kate P. noted that the stories have a sense of Nietzsche’s philosophy, that power is at the center of all relationships, and the jockeying for power the central motive for every character at every class level. Mueenuddin seems to be criticizing Pakistani society on this basis. However many noted that this is not unique to Pakistan. On the other hand, Amardeep mentioned that due to semi-socialist acts of the Indian government mid- century, the zaminders’ land holdings were broken up and some of their hegemony was broken down, therefore in contrast to India, his sense is that Pakistani society has remained more feudal than India’s. Amardeep read some passages that he found particularly brilliant in their turn in meaning from the beginning to the end of a paragraph, and revealing of much in a few words. An interesting contrast was made between Mistry and Mueenuddin, in which we realized that both are good at exposing the motives of opposing characters but Mistry has a gift for making us like them despite ourselves. Shalini liked the style of the stories very much as well, admiring their artistry.

Toss of a lemon by Padma Viswanathan

2009-05-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

It has been over a month since we met to discuss this book, and somehow this post slipped away. We planned to discuss ToL and also Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley. Mostly we spoke about the book. Jamie provided fresh lemons from Arizona! The crowd generally approved of the book, Amardeep was surprised to like it as well as he did since he expected the story to be a rehash of widow-as-victim. The things that captured the imagination were the details of daily life- lots of thinking about how things are done and made. There was a wild card in the form of Mushami the gay overseer. Sonan I think found the story a bit stultifying. All agreed heartily that the book evinced a ton of research- though the basis of the story seems to be family history, the amount of detail on the traditions of Brahman families is vast. The sections that Kate P. and some others found most interesting historically were the depiction of an anti-caste system Ramayana play put on by lower caste Tamils in the town, (apparently this is historically accurate) also the visitations of Siddhis at the beginning of the story, prompting discussion about the difference between Siddhis and Saddhus.... Sita got the short shrift since people forgot to watch it for the most part, but those who did had glowing reviews. One question not answered- why does Laxman not take much part in this version? Perhaps to emphasize the (end of) love story interpretation by Paley.

"Family Planning" and "One Night @ the Call Center"

2009-03-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Over a longish stretch we decided to read two very different books, for somewhat different reasons. Many thought that Family Planning looked promising, and the interest in One Night @ the Call Center was to see what all of the hubub in India was, being that this was such a bestseller for so long.
In a surprising turnabout, it seems that FP was less well received than ON@TCC, but this may be due to the expectations preceding each title. I think only Kate P. was an out and out supporter of FP. KP felt that the book was written excellently in the voice of teen boy(s), and found there were many laugh aloud moments throughout. Others felt that there was not enough plot, that the writing was immature to some extent. One readers (or group's) jejune writing is another reader's brilliant stylings, I guess. It might also bear noticing that many people did find it fun to read and very funny at many points, and it brought out one question in this reaser's mind- can humorous writing ever be taken as seriously as tragic or dramatic writing? It has been noted that the Oscar for best film has not ever been given to a comedy, for example, even though comedy is perhaps the most challenging form to work in, and so easy to fall flat.
Regarding the second title, Call Center, there was some discussion of the political or social content of the book, and regarding its popularity, what seems to be a tiny bit of soul searching per what is being bought and sold in India's "best and brightest". None of us went in expecting literary fiction at any rate, so this will sound overblown, but there were a few surprises nevertheless. It cannot be seriously recommended as a work to read, and there are moments where the telenovella style writing make it unintentionally funny.

Jaipur Literature Festival- let's go in 2010!

2009-01-30T19:20:00.001-08:00

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-01-27/the-greatest-literary-show-on-earth

Note the lines by Nadeem Aslam: "Mueenuddin mused on the tremendous changes in Pakistan and how that causes a sort of “premature nostalgia,” and the urge to commit it all to print, to pin down a precious, disappearing world. In Aslam's words, it's like “writing very fast with a quill whose other end is on fire.'”

Sea of Poppies by Ghosh and Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan

2009-01-13T16:07:00.001-08:00

After a slightly longer absence than usual due to holidays and lovely excursions to India (for the lucky!) we got together to talk about these two titles. The suggestion had been made to read two but also due to the above most people read one or the other, so some catching seemed in order. Love Marriage is a freshman effort by a writer who does more journalism at this point, and several of the group felt that the book read more like non-fiction in general. All were grateful to have a better exposure to Sri Lankan Tamil points of view, and there was a pretty great level of description of what a first generation emigre from a minority group tends to carry in baggage, in particular as the country of origin is warring still. There was sense that some of the themes introduced did not get played to their conclusion, particularly regarding the Tamil Tiger uncle in the story. There were some sparks of literary phrase here and there, but the overall work seemed strangely dry and needed some editorial assistance.

Sea of Poppies had a few strong supporters, Amardeep for one considered it almost a thesis, one could learn quite a lot about the period of time and phenomenon and mechanics of the opium trade. Kate P. talked a bit about the boat brother/sister phenomenon and how that actually manifested in Trinidad, where Hosay is still celebrated among formerly indentured South Asian migrants hundreds of years later. (Until recently also in Jamaica but now in demise due to cross cultural marriages, according to a friend from there). There was some discussion about the language, Amardeep noted that Ghosh's use of Hobson-Jobson vocabulary is quite unlike Rushdies in that it is used accurately for the time and not as word play. Sonan was not entirely impressed with the writing style, finding it I think stilted. Samian I think liked the story overall and is generally a Ghosh fan. Sanjay and others were surprised at the sudden drop off at the end of the story- although we realize this is the first part of a trilogy, it seemed as if it could not stand alone as a separate work, a small flaw according to the English teachers of the group, including Anne. There was an interesting split between people who considered it almost to the academic side of fiction and those for whom the book struck an almost popular/romantic fiction tone, because of all of the unrequited love dramas being played through. Perhaps it was in fact a balance of both!

Enchantress of Florence read

2008-10-28T15:54:00.001-07:00

We met at Kate B's to talk about Rushdie's new effort, which seems to be in the vein of historical fiction, taking place in Fatehpur Sikri and Florence, and uses as its characters kings and rulers of the period. Kate P., Anne and Kate B were under the impression that Rushdie was following the style of E.L. Doctorow, that is, in creating opportunities for unlikely people to meet up, however Narayan reminded us of his research on Manucci, which he explained was the basis for the Mogor character. Narayan did not care to finish the book, pointing out that every Indian school child learns the Mughals and therefore he does not feel that he is the intended audience. Kate and Kate were generally underwhelmed by the novel, but perhaps didn't expect too much, not being huge Rushdie fans to begin with (ditto for Narayan). Kate P. felt that it did not read like a typical Rushdie in that the Hobson-Jobson wordplay was seriously toned down. The book's biggest booster was Anne, who says that she really likes royal historical fiction as a rule, always has, and relished the scenery and settings of the story as well. Still yet Anne felt that the middle section was boggy, and was tempted to skip to the end. Sorry Mr. Rushdie. (By the way, isn't this cover pretty? Must be the British edition).

2008-10-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

I was wondering if anyone else was interested in the references to Chagatai lineage/familial connections that his character Akbar mentions in the new Rushdie. Chagatai Khan was evidently one of two sons of Genghis Khan, and there are several slightly confusing articles on the Wikipedia pages, but I kind of like this one on Chugtai culture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chughtai ...

(this is supposed to be a painting of his brother Ögedei, but I am hoping they looked similar- apparently Ögedei was a bigger badass..in this case not necessarily meant as a compliment..)

White Tiger discussed

2008-09-21T15:45:00.000-07:00

The group seemed fairly evenly split between supporters and detractors. The detractors maintained mostly that there was an unrealism or perhaps unlikeliness to the way that the character describes his own motives, and there was an undercurrent of questioning about intended audiences. This group felt that the book was clearly written for a western audience. The supporters alternately felt that the book might have a cartoonish element, but perhaps as in a political cartoon, that is, with an agenda of critique (dare we say agit prop?). The supporters also felt that the book was a useful glimpse at corruption at many levels of Indian public life today. Everyone agreed that the book lacked the sincerity of A Fine Balance, for example, but some saw this as a deliberate, perhaps post modern stylistic choice and others found it simply weaker by comparison, in part perhaps because one cannot fully empathize with the protagonist at the end of the novel. On the other hand, in every Mistry book the victims remain victims to the end, and in this one the reader can have the perverse satisfaction of seeing the underdog have his day. Everyone agreed that they were entertained by the book and found it fast and enjoyable to read ( Actually, not sure about Narayan and Mary Jane on this) and it seems there were few regrets.

White Tiger

2008-08-14T15:56:00.001-07:00

Narayan wished to post the following about a character in White Tiger: (more to follow I am sure)

The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga

Note 1 ;

I was intrigued on p.29 by this : “The photo was of a plump man with spiky white hair and chubby cheeks, wearing thick earrings of gold; the face glowed with intelligence and kindness.” I figured it out by p.40; here he is, “The Great Socialist” …

http://www.kamat.com/database/biographies/ram_manohar_lohia.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Manohar_Lohia

Adiga must have mistaken his plump earlobes for gold earrings.

2008-08-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Brief comments on what we have read so far, from memory (-please add your 2cents, disputes, etc as you like):

Inheritance of loss, Kirin Desai

Everyone seemed to like the style of this book, but had some issues with the local details. Someone help me here, I can't remember much..

Unaccustomed earth, Jhumpa Lahiri

OK at the beginning both Amardeep and Samian really liked this, also Kate B. but Kate P. felt it (as with other Lahiris) was ultimately cold. After much discussion Kate P. realized that she feels Lahiri's writing style has more in common with some of the WASP New Yorker magazine authors, the people in the stories are generally disconnected emotionally. This was the essence of why it is uninteresting to her- a lack of epiphany and a lack of feeling connected. Perhaps this influenced the group a little. As a proviso, Kate P. also mentioned the interesting task that JL has in regards to representing the upper middle class American desi- sort of a burden, ala Bill Cosby. Samian's mom and dad generally liked the book. Samian and Amardeep pointed to several pungent moments in the stories.

A golden age Tahmima Anam

So this book was much admired in most cases, a full group attending. The book seemed to be very simply written but with a strong plot. Many people felt it was a good introduction to the history of the creation of Bangladesh. Samian had a particular problem with authenticity in the way a lamb was cooked whole. There was some debate about whether the mother's character was fully fleshed out, or whether she was mostly just a cipher for her children's lives, and whether that was OK or not. Many people enjoyed the writing about the relationship between the mother and the general.

I dream of microwaves, Imad Rahman

This one was very controversial. It sparked a lot of debate. Narayan in particular disliked this one. Kate P thought it hilarious and worthwhile. There was a lot of laughter among group members in the midst of discussion, and everyone admitted that they were not bored at any rate. The group was unclear about whether it was short stories as it masqueraded itself. or rather sequential vignettes, as Kate P. insisted. The taste issue here might be paramount- if the reader likes post-modern ironic sorts of works, she or he might think this one wonderful. Kate P. also really liked the many references to identity issues and ethnicity, and the post 9-11 world for diaspora Muslim men in particular, and as a sideline, the stuff about actors and theater as well. I cannot remember all of the objections to the story exactly, I am sorry.

Chemmeen, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai

This was a Malayali title suggested by Sanjay, from the 1950's. This came about because we were looking around for some Indian authors in translation. (ditto for Samskara). Of the small group that attended, several did not completely finish the story, perhaps because it was a bit dense in parts. Much admired was the emphasis on the immutability of caste and marriage, and the picture of a fishing village in its day. One really fun thing was that we watched snippets of the famous Malayali film on Youtube while all together. The music and scenery were luscious.

The Hamilton case, Michelle de Kretser

Strangely enough, this was a short discussion. Sanjay was the only one I think that really did not care for the book, feeling that he got burned out by the self-conscious stylization of the author. Mary Jane and others agreed that the point of the book was not the mystery of the Hamilton murder, and Amardeep mentioned that the real detective story consists of what will the lead character do, will we get to know him and will he evolve. I hope I got that right. Sanjay said that his favorite part was what happens to the character's mother in the jungle, which both Narayan and Kate P. mentioned was very reminiscent somehow of Michael Ondaatje's autobiographical story of his family, also in Sri Lanka. Jamie was back with her new little baby, which was a huge treat for everyone, and made me kind of forget the smart things that she said.

Age of Shiva, Manil Suri

The discussion here broke down mostly along gender lines. The men in the group generally accepted the veracity of the author's voice as a man writing from a women's point of view. The women were pretty indignant about the idea that a woman would have such incestuous feelings about her own son, and be basically an empty shell otherwise. Although the story is not badly written, both Jamie, Kate, Kate, Mary Jane, and Samian felt that the story was rather one dimensional and did not go anywhere really. Sanjay felt that in his psychology field, he has seen weirdness as weird as this before. Amardeep was inclined to give the author a break, and liked some of the historical references to communal violence (I think?). Many had trouble with the authors specific use of the first person narrative, in which the lead character talks to her son the whole time, giving a feeling of separation from the story, or interrupting the suspension of disbelief, although I think Amardeep disagreed. Kate P. felt that the book was on a much lower level than the author's first effort, the Death of Vishnu, which dealt more with duty and class issues, and was rather transcendent. So we were all left wondering what to expect with the third of the trilogy.

Samskara, U. R. Anantha Murthy

I am sorry to say that I can't remember a whole lot about the discussion of this one, I seem to recall it being a bit hard to get in to, even though a classic, and look forward to someone adding comments to this.

The reluctant fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid

Here was a more effective use of the first person narrative (as compared with The Age of Shiva). In this story we are mystified as to whom is the bad guy, setting up a sense of the unreliable narrator. It was generally very well liked, although the segments taking place in the US seemed a bit weaker to people. Kate P. had a reservation about the use of the word "fundamentalist" in the title- was it for sales/senstational effect? Because the character never does become religious in the story, let alone extreme. Amardeep and Kate P. both attended a talk by this author at the Free Library and K. asked him during Q & A why he named the character Changiz, perhaps a reference to Changiz Khan (Ghengis Khan) ? He said yes, and that it was meant with irony, that is, the one whom is completely powerless is portrayed as having teutonic power. Which led our group to a small discussion of the idea of- if there is no way to make a super power listen, to stop bombing ones' country, what remains except random acts of individual violence?

Evening is the whole day, Preeta Samarasan
A small group met at Mary Jane's place, Amardeep, Kate P., Narayan, Sanjay. Narayan particularly admired this book, both for the writing and the content. He and Kate and MJ all enjoyed very much a snapshot of Malaysia in the 1960's. Amardeep and Sanjay had some reservations- maybe the stage for the book was too small- restricted to the confines of the family's dysfunctional mansion. This led to a discussion of why people read books written by people from other cultures. MJ and K. are inspired to read to learn about cultural realities. what makes families work, how people do things. Narayan and Amardeep feel that history and other factual things are best learned by reading non-fiction as a back ground to fiction. K and MJ noted that you can learn a lot by reading fiction as well. We got to talking about how Updike and Oates are just as ethnic as any writer from another part of the world, and probably a great place to learn about class and the culture of WASPS for example...Amardeep's other reservation is structural-he felt that the book was done somewhere in the middle- and that after-stories were tacked on, and unnecessary at least.

Here is a primary list of what we have read, add comments in the sections below

2008-08-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

Read since beginning of book group