A new year, new resolutions, new books to read. This past month I read three books, each one was enjoyable for different reasons. Here are the books I read:
Sudden Death by Alvaro Enrigue
It is one thing to present a possibility of what might have happened…but as a reader what do you do with a book that presents events involving historical characters that could never have happened…and yet manage to present a very plausible reason as to why things are the way they are? In the case of Sudden Death, Quevedo and Caravaggio could never have met; and yet the outcome of a tennis match between the two explains the former's prejudices so well. And also, what do you do with a book that poses many a question such as what did happen to Anne Boleyn's hair? But more importantly what is the book trying to convey? In the words of Enrigue, when he wrote the book he was angry because the "bad guys always win"; elsewhere he commented, "a whole host of people can manage to understand absolutely nothing, act in an impulsive and idiotic way, and still drastically change the course of history". Enrigue seems to suggest that the world as we know it is the result of totally unplanned, random juxtapositions/confluences/meetings changing not just the lives of people but maps and canvases and objects of the world? Despite all these questions, this novel was a wonderful, exhilarating, refreshing read; it is always so exciting to see how the form of the novel can be experimented and tweaked with. After all how often does one come across a novel featuring Anne Boleyn's hair, tennis, the Conquest of Mexico by Cortes, the Counter-Reformation, Caravaggio and the Spanish poet Quevedo?
Bhairavi by Shivani
Bhairavi: The Runaway by Shivani, translated from the Hindi by Priyanka Sarkar
Shivani is a writer one has heard a lot about but been too afraid to pick up as her books are in Hindi. When I heard about Bhairavi now having an English translation, I leapt at the chance to finally read one of her books. Not being pressed for time, I decided to challenge myself and read the Hindi original simultaneously with the English translation. Lo and behold, this exercise finally made clear to me my friend's reservations about reading a translation, for Sarkar's translation of Bhairavi is a clumsy one which fails to do justice to the rich evocative language of the original. Initially I thought that perhaps Sarkar was a writer who was not too comfortable with the English language, but then I read her preface to the novel and realised that was not the case. More galling is how she positions information differently in the translation from the original—most evident being the very first paragraph of the book (spoiler alert: the original just mentions a woman in pain while the translation mentions that the same woman was an accident victim—thus, reducing the mystery of the woman in the translation). Even more mystifying was the fact that Shivani's daughters Ira and Mrinal have given her access to Shivani's papers and have endorsed this translated volume. The act of translation is an art that not everyone has mastered, clearly not Sarkar, which is such a pity as Bhairavi deserves so much better.
As for the original novel itself, while many of the Hindi words were unfamiliar to me, I found myself slowly lost in the sounds of the poetic language, rich descriptions which created vivid images in my mind. Initially, I was slowly making my way through the novel but towards the end I was in a tearing rush to find out how things would work out, or not. On reaching the end, I found myself very, very angry; not with the book but with the reality of Indian society that Shivani presents one with—men unable to control their lust and the women who pay the price for that, while the men carry on with their lives as if nothing had happened! Apart from the plot, Bhairavi provides a window into Kumaoni culture and life in an ashram of Aghori yogis. While one may like to think that this is a dated perspective of Indian society (1978), deep down not much has changed unfortunately.
Romancing Mr Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
Dear Reader, I have a confession to make: I too have succumbed to the Bridgerton mania courtesy Shonda's latest venture. Season one of Bridgerton, left me wanting to know more and so I had to pick up the fourth in the Bridgerton series, Romancing Mr Bridgerton as I wanted to know how Penelope and Lady Whistledown's column would unfold. Being a Regency romance, this was a quick read and reminded me why I read so many of them in my youth…an easy read featuring some gorgeous men…a most soothing balm in frayed times. Intellectuals may frown on my reading tastes, but frankly I do believe that every type of book serves a purpose and this did prove most delightfully entertaining!
