Kafka On the Shore

When you pick a book you look forward to a genre and get ready to read the story pertaining to that genre - thriller, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy and so on. Pick up an Asimov and you know the story will pan across the galaxy. Pick up a John Grisham and you know the story, most probably, be about lawyers. Pick up a Murakami and you should expect a story that easily crosses between the real world and the metaphysical one.

Given that, Kafka On the Shore is probably Murakami's most extreme take on bridging that divide. The story deals with complex emotions as Oedipus Complex, labyrinths inside and outside oneself, androgynous characters, ghosts and being at two places at the same time. The story is also peppered with the usual Murakami foundation of music, sexuality and dark humor.

Kafka On the Shore deals with two parallel stories which are destined to cross paths. While at one end is the story of Kafka Tamura, a 15 year old boy who runs away from home to escape his father's prophecy; it is also the story of Satoru Nakata, a 50 year old who has lost all memory, is a bit slow-witted and who can talk to cats. As you read the story you realise that their lives are interlinked and they will cross paths at a later part in the novel. Across the story they come across various other people who add to their journey and keep you engrossed.

Kafka is a 15 year old boy who wants to become tough and has left his house to find his mother and sister. On the run he lands up a a library where he meets with Oshima, a 21 year old female who knows that she is a he, lives her life as a he and becomes Kafka's closest friend. Throughout the novel Oshima is always referred to as a he and infact you think otherwise till she herself explains her status to some arbid random visitors to the library. Oshima also lets Kafka stay in his jungle log cabin as a refuge. Kafka also meets with Miss Saeki who he thinks is his mother but who seems to visit him as a 15 year old girl/ghost in his room at night. And his runaway travels also bring him across Sakura, a young woman who he thinks might be his sister.

Nakata, on the other hand, is a 50 year old man who - after a childhood accident - lost his memory, his ability to read or write and a bit slow on the uptake. He gets a subsidy from the Governor and think that the governor controls everything. However, he can talk to cats and becomes a cat-finder on the side. One of his finding missions bring him across a person who kills cats to capture their souls. Nakata kills him in cold blood and then his life takes a different turn as he now realises that he has to close an entrance stone and he takes off on a mission. Nakata meets Hoshima, a truck driver who helps him in his mission.

But did Nakata kill Johny Walker (a take on the whiskey icon) or did he kill Kafka's father? Did Nakata kill him or did Kafka take over his body and make Nakata kill him? Is Kafka's landing up at the library where Miss Saeki works pre-determined or co-incidence? Is Miss Saeki really his mother? How are Nakata and Kafka connected and what has the entrance stone got to do with all this? Just some of the interesting questions that come up across the story.

Without revealing too much, Kafka On the Shore is also a story of metaphors as each flawed character represents some aspect of human nature. Kafka is the quintessential teenage boy who needs to discover himself and has too many angst and is struggling with questions. Oshima is the perfect voice of subconscious - non sexual, knowledgeable, with all the answers and some deep questions.Miss Saeki is the one lives in her memories and cannot live in the real world. Nakata is the perfect example of simplicity and focus - one who takes on a task and single mindedly pursues it to its closure. Hoshima is a story of coming-of-age, someone who has no cares in the world who comes in contact with Nakata and whose life changes for the better, who gets a purpose in life. Johny Walker and Colonel Sanders represent the temptations that come our way and what actions we do to overcome them or fall prey.

Murakami is not an easy read for everyone. I believe that there is a right time in your life when you will enjoy reading Murakami. If you start reading him too early you find his novels idiotic and without purpose and too esoteric. But if you read him at a proper time in your life, the novels get you thinking about yourself and your beliefs and flaws.They stay with you. If you've read a Murakami and found his novel too obtuse for your thinking, I suggest you give it a rest and pick them up after a few years again. I'm sure you'll discover something new.

Kafka On The Shore is best summed up by Murakami himself when he said - The secret to understanding the novel lies in reading it multiple times. Kafka on the Shore contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write.

I rate it 4/5 at this time of my life. I'm sure I'll pick it up again in about 5 years.

Have a little Faith

I picked up the first Mitch Albom a few years back when I saw it on Oprah. I loved 'Tuesdays with Morrie' for its simplicity and its core message. The book opened up a few windows for me and got me thinking that its sometimes worthwhile to slow down.

I then read his 'Five people you meet in heaven' which I didn't quite enjoy and so I stopped reading his books. But when I saw that his latest book 'Have a Little Faith' is a return to non-fiction I had to pick it up.

This book reminds me very much of his 'Tuesdays with Morrie' and he regularly references his meeting with Morrie in this book as well. 'Have a little faith' will take you on a journey that you may not want to go on. It raises some pertinent questions on your faith and also tries to answer them through the perspective of two believers of completely different faiths.

The book starts with Mitch's rabbi requesting him to write his eulogy. This gets Mitch intrigued since he has hidden his faith and run away from it. Mitch approaches the 'problem' in the same manner as he would write a book - he starts to research the subject through regular meetings. In his own words Mitch says that he wants to know the person rather than the rabbi that everyone knows. It is these conversations that slowly get Mitch to understand his own faith and start believing again. At the other end, as part of his charity that helps the homeless camps, he comes across a pastor of a crumbling derelict church in the poorest center of the city who still sticks to his faith and believes that the Lord does everything for a reason. And therein lies the crux of this book.

Through the eyes of a successful community building Jewish rabbi and a Christian pastor of a derelict church with a past so dark that you wonder how he became a man-of-God, Mitch Albom brings to fore some of the underlying question on faith and belief in God. How do you cope with the loss of a child? What do you do in tough times?Is it OK to blame God? If there is a God why is there so much sadness and violence? If none of the religions preach violence then why are most wars fought on religion? Suffice to say some of the conversations will open your mind as well.

Mitch Albom's writing also keeps you engaged. As he begins the story of his meetings with Rabbi Albert Lewis to understand him as a man, he peppers it with nuggets on the past life of Henry Covington (a criminal, a drug dealer, a jailbird) and his journey to becoming a pastor. While the first half is more about The Reb, the second half dwells more on Pastor Henry and his struggle to keep his church operational. The faith of people shines through in instances where Henry's church has no electricity in the middle of a harsh winter.

As you read this book you realise that faith is not something connected to your God. Faith is universal and stems from your belief.

Read it and it might open some windows for you.

I rate it 3.5/5.

Ford County Stories

Mississippi - the US state made famous by movies like 'Mississippi Burning' and 'A Time to Kill' - is the location for John Grisham's collection of short stories. 'A Time to Kill' is of course his own novel and a brilliant treatise on segregation and racism rampant in that area. For us non-Americans the horrors of racism against blacks, the philosophy of the KKK and the terrors that the blacks had to endure during those years is gleaned from novels and movies like these. John Grisham himself accepts that he wanted to return to the places and people from 'A Time to Kill' and talk about them.

So as I pick up the book at the store I half expect to read stories again on racism, on segregation and atrocities on blacks at the hands of the whites. The book pleasantly surprises you by the absolute lack of that. 'Ford County Stories' is not about rehashing what happened in 'A Time to Kill' but about the people who stay there and their daily lives. From your past 'experience' of the area you do expect the people to be boorish, crass, temperamental, angry and gun toting extremists. Some stories validate these characteristics while some very beautifully bring out the basic human nature that you would find anywhere in the world.

A group of youngsters decide to go on a journey to donate blood to one of their town guys and get sidetracked by gang fights, sleaze and sex and land up in jail - a poignant story on how one can loose track of the aim and objectives.
story about hope that a convicted death row prisoner keeps giving his family till the last moment and how his family seems to be relieved when the inevitable finally happens.
A vendetta by a low key guy who discovers that he can manipulate casinos and how he destroys a casino to get his wife back. A wonderful story on skills used well.
A dead beat lawyer hits jackpot with an old litigation and how he manipulates things to start a new life. A story on how some things help to start a new life.
A lawyer comes face to face with an old case where he was responsible for wrong justice and gets a time bound life sentence. Things will always come back to haunt you.
But my best story is really of a white boy coming back home with AIDS, how he is sent to stay in the blacks portion of the town where he finds more love and acceptance by the lady of the house than he found even in his own family. The short story selection end on this beautiful note about human relations.

Its not vintage Grisham. Its not all about lawyers and cases. Its not about blacks and whites. But its a good read on a short flight or when you have nothing to read.

I would rate it 3/5.

Norwegian Wood

Another Murakami and another beautiful piece of work. If you've read a number of Murakamis - like I have - you realise that this one is a bit different but still retains the essence of his writing. The poetry in prose is intact. As you read this book the metaphors come alive and you can almost visualise the scene and the people in them.

'Norwegian Wood' is at its root the love stories of the central character Toru Watanabe. Its a story of lost friendships and the pain felt by Toru as he tries to find and keep love. Death is a underlying theme in the story and Toru learns something new with each death. The engrossing thing of Murakami's writing is that each character is human surrounded by flaws and you feel the pain of each character. As you read the book you tend to relate the flaws with some of the people you know and wonder if this is how they feel.

The entire story spans just 4 years but is packed with so many events in Toru's life that you feel he has lived a lifetime. The huge emotional gap in Toru's life starts at 17 when his best friend - Kizuki - commits suicide. He discovers love for Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, but she is so flawed and emotionally imbalanced by Kizuki's death that she focussed on healing herself first while asking Toru to wait. But Toru finds friendship in Midori who, incidentally, is just as emotionally unstable as Naoko but accepts those faults and lives with them rather than fighting them.

The book presents us with two completely different ways of dealing with the pain of losing a loved one. While Naoko is unable to deal with the pain and is trapped in her own fragile world; Midori accepts her instabilities and fights them in the real world. Her bravado hides the emotional instability but she is at least alive. At the same time one sympathizes with Naoko and wishes desperately, for Toru's sake, that she get better.

In all these are two fantastic characters - Reiko Ishida - Naoko's room mate in the sanitorium but really a midway character between Naoko and Midori. Reiko understands her instabilities, has not bravado and quietly fights them to emerge triumphant. And then there is Nagasawa, Toru's friend who presents the emotionally detached character for whom women and lust are a ways to and end; who clearly knows where he wants to go and is bored by the journey.

The best character in the book is of course Toru and you feel for him as you travel the journey with him. You wish he gets Naoko, you wish he outgrows her and understands his feelings for Midori, you wish he listens to Reiko and you wish that he does not become like Nagasawa. You smile as he tells Naoko that he will forever remember the time she gave him a handjob and that he would never have sex with another woman and would wait for her. You feel his pain when he roams Japan to get over the death of the one he loves the most.

For me the book has a special meaning for its explanation of love that resonates with how I understand love. Read the book - you might discover something about yourself.

I rate it 4.5/5

Nine Lives

I hadn't read any books of William Dalrymple before this, which was probably for the best. I approached this book as a fresh one by another author without being prejudiced by his earlier writings.

'Nine Lives' appealed to me from the time I heard about it in the media. Here was a book that spoke about searching for the sacred in the modern India. At the same time I was skeptical that the book would dissect India and its religious beliefs and present it from a view point of a Westerner thereby making it sounds spiritual or worse still comical. And so I started the pages with trepidation.

Suffice to say 'Nine Lives' is one of the best books that I have read in a long time - especially about India. William Dalrymple shows why he loves India so much as he approaches each subject with an open mind and presents the religious belief in a neutral manner. He does not put his views on the subject matter but rather presents it as a learning experience informing the readers about the belief, giving a backgrounder of the same and taking us on a journey of the person in question.

Starting from the first story of the Jain Nun and the concept of Sallekhana he captures your mind. The book presents various facets of India's lost religious cults and masters which - I am embarrassed to say - even I didn't know of. I've learnt a whole new face of India which I was unaware of.

From spirituality of the Jain munis in 'The Nun's tale' to overturning the oppressive caste system in India for a brief moment of time in "The Dancer of Kannur".

From explaining how religion was viewed in a sexual form in India and the challenges of latter day prostitution in "The Daughter's of Yellama" to showcasing how 'illiterate' villagers of Rajasthan can remember and sing the wonderful 5,000 couplet epics in "The Singer of Epics".

From bringing to life the real background of the Runa Laila hit song 'Dama Dam Mast Kalandar' and introducing a Bihari lady in Sindh Pakistan in "The Red Fairy" to the absolutely amazing story of the Tibetan monk who took up arms to fight for his motherland and presenting the true angst of the Tibetan folks on the China invasion in "The Monk's Tale".

From showing us how God's idols are made in "The Maker of Idols" to the amazing story of the sadhus in the cremation grounds of Tarapith in Kolkata in "The Lady Twilight" and the Bauls of West Bangal in "The Song of the Bling Minstrel".

From one part of India to another William Dalrymple takes us through a journey of exotic India and presents facets of India that we may not be aware of. The best part is that it really does present India in its true form - not in a spiritual India or a comical India or a yoga-istic India but in its true form.

I highly recommend this book to everyone - Indian or not - to understand what India's religions are about, especially the so called exotic ones.

I rate this 5/5!

Outliers

Malcolm Gladwell's 'Tipping Point' has become a verb, his 'Blink' was OK and his 'Outliers' will open your eyes in the first half and re-instate what you already know in the second. It is a MUST READ book for everyone and it will help you understand a lot of things that seem obvious - why are Asians (actually Chinese, for Malcolm) better at Maths and how is that connected to Rice Paddy farming? Why was Korean Air the worst airline with multiple crashes and how that was linked to their culture?

The best things about Malcolm Gladwell's writing is that he starts off with a story that gets you engrossed, then questions the assumptions that we have made and finally puts forth his hypothesis. This type of writing gets you interested to know what will be the next story and as you read the book you try to question the assumptions in the story and try to get one step ahead to guess his hypothesis to follow. This ensures that you stay with the book and don't get bored too easily. Other writers of non-fiction should learn from that.

Gladwell has split the book into two parts - Opportunity & Legacy.

In Opportunity he presents the facts that success is a combination of multiple factors and not just hard work. It depends on your upbringing, your lucky breaks, the society and your hard work. As you start the book there is a possibility of falling into the trap that you are not successful because of the month or year that you were born. Gladwell starts by comparing the best ice hockey players of Canada, best basketball players of US and concludes that kids born in the first half of the year are the ones who turn out to be most successful. This is because of the cut off date for trying for these leagues. Without revealing too much (on my side) he draws a conclusion that the kids born in the latter part of the year in these countries might as well not try for the league playoffs and hopes that the country's sports administration wakes up to this fact. The year you were born in also determines if you have been successful although this is really in hindsight. He presents facts of the computer revolution and compares the age of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Vinod Khosla and other successful IT people drawing a conclusion that they were born just at the right time to take advantage of the revolution.

You might despair as you read this but the books really gets interesting after this. An underlining factor of his book is the '10,000 rule' where he says that to be successful in anything you want to do, you need to have put 10,000 hours of practicing that under your belt before you can even think of being good at it. Bill Gates had 10,000 hours of programming before he started thinking of Microsoft, Beatles had 10,000 hours of playing in Hamburg before they became famous, successful pilots have 10,000 hours of flying before they become good and so on. So practice hard at what you want to be good at. There is no escape from hard work.

But it also depends on your upbringing and if you parents have taught you to question everything or bow down to authority. Chris Langan is the person with the highest IQ but because he does not have good social skills and is unable to converse with people or question them or present his case, he is not as successful or as famous as Einstein. It also depends on what your ancestors used to do as you tend to carry their values and teachings with you. The reason Jewish lawyers are so successful is because their grand parents or parents use to own sweat shops and taught their children the value of hard work and the relationship between effort and reward. If you have not seen or been taught that, you tend to take life easy and shy away from hard work therefore not getting the 10,000 hours under your belt.

The second section of Legacy deals with explaining that it is also important where you have come from. This is where it got really interesting for me. He explains the reason of Korean Air disastrous run as an airline and presents the study of PDI - Power Difference Index. This determines how you respond to authority and how you interact with someone in a position of power over you. I think this section makes sure that you get all your money back as reading this will explain to you how to react and work with people from Korea or Japan or India or US for that matter.

In summary, Malclom Gladwell seems to say the same thing that we knew all along. While luck may favour you and give you some chances, there is really no shortcut to hard work.

Success still depends on leveraging the opportunities that you get, understanding and respecting your values and culture and doing plain hard work.

I rate it 4.5/5

Dance Dance Dance

This is the second Murakami that I picked up to read back-to-back. While 'The Elephant Vanishes' was a great collection of eclectic stories, 'Dance Dance Dance''s beauty lies in the fact that the prose is actually like a great dance.

It begins slowly, reaches a nice little pace in the first half, a crescendo towards the middle and ends on a beautiful note.

As Murakami build his characters in the first few pages - the main character is unnamed but this is his story, he slowly but surely pushes your imagination and draws you into the life of the character. It is a slow book to start but if you can get beyond the first 50 - 60 pages, you are in for a treat. Murakami's prose in this book especially is really like a dance. It flows and grabs you in its fluid nature. The beauty of his prose is that you can actually picturise the incidents as they are happening in the book. For me that is the secret of a fictional book's success. If I can smell the characters, feel them and picture them in the story, then the book is worth spending time on.

From the beginning when he re-visits the Dolphin hotel only to realise that it has changed drastically but is still central to his life to the end when he returns back to the hotel it is an amazing story of connectedness and how each person can lead you forward into your life. Each of Murakami's characters have their flaws and that's what makes them so interesting. They don't lead perfect lives and even if on the surface you thought that they do, if you scratch the surface you realise that each one of them fights with their own demons.

The book is also a great collection of amazing characters that come to life. Yuki, the adolescent lonely teenager with special gifts; Gotanda, the darling of B grade movies with a secret that could destroy him; Yumiyoshi, the regular but beautiful hotel receptionist who wants to sleep with the main character but doesn't know if she should; Ame- Yuki's mother, a super talented photographer who knows only that - to photograph and lives her life in her pictures; Dick North, the one armed poet who can slice bread more efficiently than anyone else and whose life is about subservience and serving and finally Murakami's own poetic dig at himself - Hiraku Makimura, an ex-successful writer who thinks money can buy everything. I particularly liked the last touch of Murakami about the author down on his luck. Wonder if that's how he saw himself down the years.

I won't reveal the story or the plot but suffice to say that there are certain images from this book that will stay with you for a long time - Yuki with her headphones listening to music; Yumiyoshi with her glasses behind the hotel's reception; Gotanda and his Maserati. You will also remember and hear the music in the story when it comes up.

Murakami has a facsination for loneliness and many of his stories deal with this aspect of life. Thankfully 'Dance Dance Dance' does not end in loneliness for the main character.
I rate it 4.5/5. Read it.......you might just like it.