"My Childhood" by Maxim Gorky

Maxim Gorky's "My Childhood", his autobiography is a painful recollection of his childhood that was strewn with poverty, loneliness, abuse and maternal deprivation. His young father dies of cholera and his mother has a miscarriage on the same day. Though he is unable to comprehend the happenings around him, he is engulfed by a profound sorrow. He ends up in his grandfather's house along with his mother after his father's death. His grandfather, a self-made man runs a dye workshop at his home. His grandfather often flogs him for his acts of mischief with a strange belief that it is for his good. 

When Gorky lives with his grandparents, he comes across a variety of people and his autobiography puts forth before us their characters without judging their actions on the basis of morality. He comes across the workers in the dye workshop who are subjected to oppression for long, his two warring uncles who fight to extract money from his grandfather, the kids in the neighbouring house who are restricted to mingle with others but end up listening to Gorky's recital of his grandmother's stories, a bunch of mischievous kids with whom he steals wood for a living and many others. His autobiography respects everyone's decisions including his mother's when she decides to remarry and at the same time conveys the pain and suffering he endures in due course. 

Gorky's relationship with his grandmother is special and it provided the much needed emotional support which he yearned for. Gorky, as a writer would have grown listening to the stories from his grandmother. The contrasting religious beliefs and worshipping ways of his grandmother and grandfather made him pick his grandmother's "God" ahead of his grandfather's during his childhood. But, his independent intellect made him choose atheism at a later stage. 

Despite the physical abuse, emotional unavailability of his mother, his situation during his family's descent into poverty being a depressing narrative to hear, this autobiography of his reiterates how life instills hope in the form of people around us and promises a better and more humane future.

 

This book is an intimate portrait of Gorky's painful childhood in a dysfunctional family that instills in one the confidence to face upto the truth. 

“The Incredible Life of Savitribhai Phule - The Fearless Reformer” by Swati Sengupta

It was a time when women in India were confined to the households by virtue of inveterate age old beliefs. It was a time when the caste system deep rooted in the society purposefully denied education to women and lower castes. It was a time when any change to the so called “order” that the caste system dictates was regarded an impending danger to the society. The regressive state of the society imposed practices of child marriage, sati, enforced widowhood, all of which were mere attempts to curtail the freedom of women and establish the unjust social order. Being a woman from a lower caste meant she had to endure double the oppression - caste based and gender based. 

A 9-year old girl who dreamt of going to school was facing the situation of getting married to an unknown 13-year old boy. From this stage where she had to succumb to the societal shackles to a stage where she was instrumental in shattering the societal shackles not just for her but for generations to come, Savitribhai Phule’s journey is a testament to her determination, bravery and resilience. 

“The incredible life of Savitribhai Phule - the fearless reformer” by Swati Sengupta is a concise biography of Savitribhai that covers all key events in her life chronologically from her marriage to death. Savitribhai was born in 1831 into a Dalit family at Naigaon, a village in Maharashtra. Savitribhai who was getting married to Jyotirao at the age of nine thought that was the end of her dream to learn. On the contrary, little did she know that she was about to be the pioneer of feminist movement in India and the first ever woman teacher of India.

Jyotirao, who had experienced a denial of education after being humiliated by higher caste students at school understood Savitribhai’s pain and her wish to learn. He taught her to read and write. Savitribhai, determined to change the pitiful state of women in India decided to impart education to women in her neighbourhood. She attended teacher training to ensure she was equipped to impart knowledge to the underprivileged girls. 

When Savitribhai was 17, she and Jyotirao decided to start a school for girls. In 1848, they started the first school for girls in India at Bhidaweda, a locality in Pune. Her attempt to educate women was a direct opposition to what was happening in the society.

On her way to school, loud, jeering voices came to her from all sides. She was targeted with incessant violence and the crowd used to pelt stones at her. People used to fling dung at her cursing her of ruining the purity of the society. However, she was undeterred and continued to follow her path to liberate women from the patriarchy and the shackles of caste. Savitribai once stated, “As I do the sacred task of teaching my fellow sisters, the stones or cow dung that you throw seem like flowers to me. May God bless you!”. Such was her resilience and her refusal to conform. 

Savitribhai did not limit herself to educating women to free them from the patriarchy they had been subjugated to. She voiced out against social ostracisation of widows and organised a barber’s strike against shaving the hair of widowed women in 1860. Widowed mothers who were often sexually exploited, killed off newborns and committed suicide. Savitribhai started a home for widowed mothers and children born out of wedlock.

“Satyashodhak Samaj” started by Savitribhai and Jyotirao focused on the fight for social equality of the marginalised and women. The organization also promoted Satyashodhak marriage - a marriage that rejected dowries, happened without following any customs and respected both the bride and groom equally. 

Savitribhai died at the age of 66 succumbing to bubonic plague after being at the forefront of providing rehab and medical facilities to patients who were affected with the same disease.

Savitribhai Phule is a revolutionary who stood against all odds for the betterment of the society. She took the unchartered paths that no one else had dared to take before.

“Rock Paper Scissors” by Alice Feeney

Alice Feeney’s “Rock Paper Scissors” is a psychological thriller set in an eerie chapel that is cut off from the city. A couple in a desperate attempt to save their marriage and patch things up plan a weekend getaway to a secluded place which the wife won in a Christmas raffle. On their arrival, they experience mysterious happenings in and around the chapel that are paranormal in nature. Is there a rational explanation to what they experience? Were they lured in to visit this chapel? What is it that is planned for them?

Adam, a screenwriter who suffers from face blindness and his wife Amelia arrive at the chapel to give a try at renewing their relationship. With secrets at stake which they have hidden from each other and their past catching up with them, they realise that their stay at the chapel is life threatening.

Alice Feeney

The first half of the novel is slow paced with the happenings restricted to a closed atmosphere. The letters written by the wife secretly on each anniversary and hidden from her husband serve  as a nonlinear narrative to the story. Though this narrative occasionally gives the high points, the novel tests your patience for an impending twist which takes long to show up. But, the author drops a banger of a twist after the first half and from then on, there is no looking back. 

The novel is filled with quotes that are superficial and often distracting. There are few knots that are put up early on and left unattended when the story unravels at the end. 

A novel surviving on a sole twist which is genuinely surprising, but one has to sit through a snail paced narration in the first half to experience it. 

ஆணவக் கொலைச் சாமிகளும் பெருமிதக் கொலை அம்மன்களும் - ஆ. சிவசுப்பிரமணியன்

தமிழ் சமூகத்தில் மக்கள் வழிபடும் கொலையுண்டு தெய்வமாக்கப்பட்ட நாட்டார் தெய்வங்களின் தோற்றம், பின்புலக் கதை, வழிபாட்டு முறை ஆகியவற்றை ஆய்வின் அடிப்படையில் ஆவணப்படுத்தும் நூல் "ஆணவக் கொலைச் சாமிகளும் பெருமிதக் கொலை அம்மன்களும்". 

சாதி மீறிய காதல் தொடர்பான கொலைகள் தினசரி நிகழும் அவல நிலையை காண்கிறோம். இவை சாதிய ஆணவக் கொலைகள் என வழங்கப்படுகின்றன. ஆணவக் கொலைகளுக்கு பின்னால் சாதியைத் தவிர குடும்ப பெருமிதமும் காரணமாய் அமைகிறது. அப்படி தென் தமிழகத்தில் நிகழ்த்தப்பட்ட சில கொலைகளையும், கொலையில் பலியானவர்களை தெய்வமாய் வழிபடும் மரபையும் விவரிக்கிறது இந்த ஆய்வு. 

சமூகத்தில் நிலவும் சாதிய கட்டமைப்பு, பொருளாதார ஏற்றத்தாழ்வு, பாலின பாகுபாடு ஆகியவை எவ்வாறு மனித உயிரை பறிக்கும் எல்லை வரை கொண்டு செல்கின்றன என்பதை இந்த கதைகளில் காண்கிறோம். குடும்ப மானம் என்பதை பெண்ணைச் சுற்றியே நிறுவி, கற்பு என்பதை பெண்ணோடு மட்டும் சம்பந்தப்படுத்தும் நிற்பந்த கற்பு முறையால் நிகழ்ந்த கொலைகள் ஏராளம். கணவனை பிரிந்து வாழும் மனைவி மகிழ்ச்சி தரும் பொழுதுபோக்கில் ஈடுபடக்கூடாது எனும் மரபை மீறியதாக கூறி ஒரு பெண் கொல்லப்பட்டதை மாடாத்தி அம்மன் கதை விவரிக்கிறது. 

கிராமிய அமைப்பு சாதிய அடிப்படையில் நிறுவும் விதிகளையும், அவற்றை காப்பதற்கு ஆதிக்க சாதியினர் எடுத்துக்கொள்ளும் பிரயத்தனமும் கொலைகளில் முடிகின்றன. ஒடுக்கப்பட்டச் சமூகத்தில் பிறந்த ஒருவன் தனது ஆற்றலால் இடைநிலை சாதியில் இருப்பவனை விட உயர்ந்துவிட்டான் என்பதற்காக நிகழ்ந்த கொலையும் இந்நூலில் இடம்பெறுகிறது. அதே சமயம் சாதிய படிநிலை ஒரே சாதிக்குள்ளும் ஏற்றத்தாழ்வு கற்பிக்கும் என்பதற்கு சான்றான கொலையும் இந்நூலில் இடம்பெறுகிறது.

ஆ. சிவசுப்பிரமணியன்

இந்த தெய்வங்களின் கதைகளை குறிப்பிடும் போது தடை அல்லது மரபு, தடை அல்லது மரபு மீறல், விளைவு, பழிவாங்கல், முடிவு ஆகியவை கொலையுண்டவர் தெய்வமாக மாறுவதற்கான கூறுகளாக சுட்டிக் காட்டுகிறார் சிவசுப்பிரமணியன். சாதிய வண்மமும், குடும்ப மானமும், பொருளாதார மேல்நிலையும், நேரடி சண்டைகளும் மூர்க்கமான வன்முறையை தூண்டும் காரணிகளாக அமைகின்றன. நாம் பேரூந்துகளில் பயணிக்கும் போது கிராமப்புரங்களிலும், ஊர் எல்லையிலும், தூரத்து காடுகளிலும் காணும் முறையான பராமரிப்பு இல்லாத சின்னச் சின்ன கோவில்களுக்கு பின்னாலும் இம்மாதிரியான வன்முறை சம்பவங்கள் இருக்கக்கூடும்.

ராஜேஷ் குமாரின் "ஒரு துளி கடல்"

க்ரைம் மற்றும் மர்ம நாவல்களில் பிரசித்தி பெற்ற ராஜேஷ் குமாரின் ஒரு social drama இந்த நாவல். இருவேறு கதைக்களம், இருவேறு சூழ்நிலை, இரண்டு பெண் கதாப்பாத்திரங்கள் என இந்நாவல் தங்குதடையற்ற non-linear narrative ஆக பயணிக்கிறது.

 

சமூகம் பெண்களுக்கு விதிக்கும் கட்டுப்பாடுகளை மீற முற்படாத பெண்ணாக பூர்ணிமா - வேறு ஒரு கதைகளத்தில் தன் சுதந்திரத்தை உணர்ந்து சமூகம் மூர்க்கமாக கடைப்பிடிக்கும் கட்டுப்பாட்டுகளிலிருந்து விடுபட முயலும் பெண்ணாக ரோகிணி. ஒரு ஆணின் சுயநலத்தால் இவ்விரு பெண்கள் சந்திக்கும் பிரச்சினைகளும், அவற்றை சமாளிக்க அவர்கள் எடுக்கும் முடிவுகளுமே கதையின் கரு. பிரச்சினைகளை எதிர்கொள்ள பூர்ணிமா தியாகம் செய்கிறாள், ரோகிணி சமரசமில்லாமல் எதிர்த்து நிற்கிறாள். 

இவ்விரு கதைகளின் பிண்ணனியில் இரத்த தானம், உடலுறுப்பு தானம், ஆதரவற்ற குழந்தைகள் காப்பகம், அடுத்த தெரு மருத்துவருக்கும் multi specialty மருத்துவமணையின் மருத்துவருக்குமான ethics ரீதியான வேற்றுமை ஆகியவை பற்றிய social commentary மேலோட்டமாய் அமைந்தாலும் கதையோடு பொருந்தி அமைகிறது.

பல திருப்புமுனைகளுடன் அமையும் கதையோட்டம், பேச்சுவழக்கான வார்த்தை பிரயோகம், எளிய மொழியில் அமையும் கதைசொல்லல் முறை ஆகியவை வெகுஜன மக்களிடம் ராஜேஷ் குமாரின் நாவல்களை சேர்த்துள்ளன. அதனால், இந்நாவலில் அமையும் "over the top” காட்சிகள் கூட கதையின் ஒட்டத்தை எந்தவிதத்திலும் பாதிக்காமல் நகர்கின்றன.

Stephen King’s “Mr. Mercedes”

“Mr. Mercedes” is the first of the Bill Hodges trilogy written by Stephen King. Bill Hodges, a retired detective contemplating suicide is pitted against a psychotic killer in a cat and mouse game in this crime thriller. 

The Mercedes killer is “the one that got away” in one of the cases Bill was formerly in charge of - a madman riding a Mercedes runs over a group of job seekers waiting outside a job fair on a foggy morning killing eight and injuring many more. The killer contacts Bill by sending him a letter and inviting him for a chat in a mysterious website. Bill comes out of his suicidal ideation and is bent upon catching this killer who has proved elusive before. 

The killer with his traumatic childhood and an unsettling and complicated relationship with his mother is one intricately written character. On the other hand, Bill Hodges as a retired cop starts off as a well written character but falls flat as the usual over-ambitious detective of mystery novels often driven by personal revenge. Holly as a socially awkward, mentally unstable middle aged woman shines towards the very end especially when the character tries to get into the mind of the Mercedes killer with deductions from her own condition. 

The exchange of messages between Bill and the killer is brilliantly written with enough suspense that keeps us guessing. There are flaws in the way the relationship between the characters are handled and it brings down the grounded nature of this novel. The novel never dips in pace and the scenes unfold seamlessly proving yet again that Stephen King is a master storyteller. 

Hoping the next in this series is even better!

“The Pelican Brief” by John Grisham

“The Pelican Brief” is a mystery novel that revolves around the murders of two Supreme Court justices who were either liberal or democratic or environmentalists. There are two possibilities behind the murders - a revenge for a case in the past that these judges were part of (or) a precautionary act to eliminate their voting on a case that is yet to be handled by the Supreme Court. Which one is it? 

A young law student Darby Shaw hunts all cases from the past that might link the two Supreme Court justices but fails to find a compelling case. She finds a case that is a long shot, writes a legal brief on it and almost decides to discard it. When the brief circulates around in the circles of FBI and the White House, she is in grave danger of getting killed and she is forced to run for her life. Her legal brief which was a shot in the dark had threatening implications in the inner sanctum of the White House.

While she is on the run, she calls up a reporter who goes to any extent and even resorts to sleazy ways to break a shocking news to the world. She dictates to him how she wants to approach the story and its verification before he breaks the story to the world. They both start digging the truth only to realise that there is an even bigger conspiracy. 

The novel is propulsive and page turning.  Though the plot solely rests on the suspense behind the legal brief, the novel is able to keep up the suspense until the very end without losing its steam. The overwhelming list of characters might need a track, despite that the novel is fairly engaging and easy to comprehend.

Another John Grisham masterpiece in the legal thriller genre!