Jaipur Literature Festival 2024….the middle-aged me was quite content to watch the JLF sessions online from the comfort of my cosy home. The mere thought of early morning dashes and seat grabs was enervating enough, forget the reality on ground. The literary eager beaver in me though was determined to catch as many sessions online. While I did not find this year's line up the most exciting, I nevertheless ended up watching quite a few sessions and would have seen a couple more had they been telecast on the festival website. In keeping with my yearly tradition, here's my account of the good, the bad and the ugly at JLF 2024.
Paul Lynch's session on Prophet Song was preceded by an engaging introduction by the Irish Ambassador to India reminding us of the shared and yet different experiences of the revolutionary freedom fighters of both countries. What made me want to read the book was Lynch's serendipitous mention that his formative reading comprised of The Prisoner of Zenda and King Solomon's Mines—two books that I also grew up on and loved! The guy does have good taste in books.
Bonnie Garmus's talk on Lessons in Chemistry was charming though it did not give one any new insights into the book per se — as there are plenty of interviews of hers available online and having read her book for The Clannish Book Cult one had been through all of those. What I did find noteworthy was that her book is being studied in boys' schools for 15+ and that one of them even remarked that it was way better than Lord of the Flies. This revelation made me realise that when trying to update the canon, one should not hesitate to think outside the box. Also, it was her reference to Eve that made me add that book to my TBR list.
Jonathan Freedland's talk on his book The Escape Artist about Vrba's audacious escape from Auschwitz and his subsequent attempt to publicise the horrors of the camp was absolutely riveting. It's amazing how you think everything has been written about a period and then new information comes out adding another layer to the story. This was one of the books I ordered as part of my JLF haul. What was a bit disconcerting to observe was the sudden jump in the recording, resulting in a missing fragment of a significant conversation. The skip occurs when Cohen brings up the current war in Gaza to explain how the Holocaust still propels Jews today to ensure that such a horror would never happen to their people again. This missing clip felt almost like a censoring of the discourse, intentional or not. Given the leftist leanings of many of the organisers one cannot help but wonder if it was the former.
Mary Beard's session on the Twelve Caesars was a mis-marketed talk. Supposed to be a look at how these twelve men were portrayed in art, Beard spent most of her time talking about how the Roman Empire for the most part was quite static. One con of the JLF telecast online this year was that slide shows were not shown online, which meant one missed out on a huge component of talks accompanied by slideshows. Having heard Beard on Pompeii at JLF in person many years ago, I was most disappointed; and I was not the only one to be let down by the talk, for I subsequently learned that so was my dear friend AS who caught the talk live.
Thubron's account of his travels and observations along the Amur river was absolutely riveting and made me want to pack my bags at once and head over there. I was particularly tickled by the Russian comment on the Chinese being very hard workers but having closed hearts, something I found myself agreeing with since I found the Chinese on the streets not the most friendly or helpful of people during my travels there.
The launch of the book The Loharu Legacy was all the more fascinating for me, as I found myself connecting various dots. Dot number one being the total absence of Wazir Khanam from the conversation. Given that she was the protagonist of SR Faruqi's The Mirror of Beauty which was so feted by the Indian literary world, winner of awards, and featured in the JLF festival, it was odd that she was not even mentioned in passing by Dalrymple. Even odder, given that Dalrymple mentioned how Shamsuddin Ahmad Khan had killed his wife's ancestor the then Chief Resident of Delhi for the East India Company (according to The Mirror of Beauty this was because Fraser was eyeing Wazir Khanam). The plot thickened further when the present scion of the Loharu family, Durru Mian (who has penned the forward of the book) stated that while some people considered the poet Dagh (Wazir Khanum's son sired by Shamsuddin Ahmad Khan) to be a member of his family, in fact he was not. Proof of the same being Mian's father's assertion. Sure some could argue that Faruqi got things wrong, quite possible, though unlikely for such an erudite scholar to do so. In my opinion, this seemed to be a bit of a case of writing someone out of history.
How the World made the West was a session that highlighted the current approaches of looking at history in terms of cultural impacts. Josephine Quinn made some fascinating assertions. Firstly, that the use of the lens of 'civilisation' only gained currency in the 18th Century at the same time that notions of race and nations became important, implying that the civilisational view of history stems from imperialistic ideas and is problematic. As an Indian, I loved how she mentioned that India was important in ancient times to the Western ways of thinking. While Rome had no clear idea where China was, they had detailed knowledge about India, smart!
The Lighthouse Family was one of many books to be formally launched at the festival. I was intrigued by how this slender novella had received so much attention: a vigorous pre-sale in Delhi and a video teaser to the book by Penguin. Mystery solved—Firat Sunel, the writer, is the Turkish ambassador to India!!! While Sunel peppered his talk with insights into his book regarding themes and characters, am not sure whether this is a book I do want to pick up. I think I will wait for an unbiased review before I do.
I was so excited to catch Georgi Gospodinov talk about his book Time Shelter, as the novel is sitting on my bookshelf waiting for the right time to be read. Georgi pointed out how Bulgarians love to complain and are the champions of sorrow. He mentioned how the novel form is new to Bulgarian literature, which traditionally favoured poetry and the short story. Georgi then cautioned the audience on how politicians use the past as a weapon of propaganda. This was a session peppered with many interesting observations which I know will make my reading of Time Shelter all the more insightful. Defintiely a recommended session, enjoyed by both me and my friend Anjali.
Leonardo da Vinci Painter at the Court of Milan by Luke Syson was essentially an explanation as to why Syson is confident that the Salvator Mundi which was recently auctioned off was indeed painted by Leonardo da Vinci. This session was a prime example of why one needs to attend the JLF in person as the slideshow was not visible to the audience at home! Maybe this is something that could be rectified next year.
I ended my online JLF fest by attending the panel discussion on Traders, Teachers and Travellers. Naman Ahuja pointed out how Gandharan art did not just have Roman influences but also Egyptian. Sureshkumar Muthukumaran, while acknowledging the Indian influence in South East Asia, emphasised how the Indian there had a very local flavour. I do find it irritating how the Indian influence in other regions is always toned down. Continuing with this approach in SE Asia, Dalrymple used this session to question Sanjay Sanyal's view of the significance of Indian raids of South East Asia. Why are Indian forays questioned and not those of other empires like that of Ancient Rome I wonder?
This year, I had friends and family attending the festival and sharing their feedback with me. Time Shelter was a hit with Anjali Sethi who also enjoyed the sessions on The Amur River and Black River, and Rajiv and Bhargav's Between Hope and Despair. According to her, Murugan's session was not that interesting. I think members of The Clannish Book Cult have oded on Murugan a bit. She found the session on Yashodhara and Women of Sangha a bit lacklustre.
Sessions that Reeta Chopra enjoyed were Prophet Song, Lessons on Chemistry. She found Writing War interesting along with The Great Experiment: Democracy, Elections and Citizenship and Imagination Muscle. Her update on other sessions was:
"Heard Hernan Diaz talk about his book Trust today. He was born in Argentina but grew up in Sweden. Speaks Spanish, Swedish n is in love with the English language! Dreams n writes in English! His writing form has been greatly influenced by Henry James. N his book Trust apparently is 4 books in one, written in a style very much his own! Also interesting today was Shumona Sinha, an Indian, who writes in French. Her recent novel is Down with the Poor. Tania James' Loot n Anjum Hasan's History's Angel also sound like interesting reads!"
Sessions that I would like catch eventually include: Diaz on his book Trust, John Boyne on All the Broken Places, Galgut on Promise, Theatre of War with Mukund Padmanabhan and Mmhonlumo Kikon.
What I particularly love about JLF is that it gives my reading a focus with a plethora of books to add to my wish list. Already I have indulged in shopping by ordering Eve, The Great Flap of 1942 (have read two chapters already and have to say it is a really fascinating book) and The Great Escape. Books I do want to read include: Trust, The Prophecy, Time Shelter (already have a copy at home), The Amur River and His Majesty's Headhunters.
To have caught eleven JLF sessions in the midst of dealing with the hurly burly of Delhi life is pretty good, I must say, and hats off to the JLF team for making them available to literary aficionados all over the globe!
