Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I am having my mid-semester exams right now. I picked this book expecting it to be a relaxing bed-time read. It turned out to be good, though I had to struggle hard to keep myself from opening it during study time.

It was my first experience with Neil Gaiman’s novels. It was great. I think to some people it might sound childish, but then I would love to be a child. So no worries there. Although I cannot imagine myself being a child like Coraline. I fell in love this cute, odd, intelligent, curious, strong-willed and daring character of Coraline in the very first chapter. And loved her even more as the story develops.

Coraline is a little girl living with her parents who have recently moved to a new house. She is spending her summer holidays, so she spends her time exploring. She has a deeply curious nature. She likes to go outside the house, meet new people and find new places. The most remarkable thing is that she is not at all nervous about going to new places or rather her curiosity is so strong that it easily overcomes her nerves. She likes to spend her time with new people she discovers and make friends with them. Coraline is so self-sufficient that she does not even brood over her parents’ indifference since they always remain busy in the story and tell her to go and play and not disturb them. I think I can go on and on about Coraline’s qualities.

Now her boredom and curiosity leads her to a door in there house that remains closed all the time, and there is a solid brick wall behind this door. But later she discovers that there is another world, a distorted version of her own, behind that door. She steps into this worlds and discovers her “other parents” (to be a part of the world, it was necessary to have black button eyes). There is a witch who lures children into that world she has created. To lure Coraline, she steals her parents. Its so fascinating how she manages to live alone in the house until she discovers who had taken them. She does not even get nervous about being alone in the house. Every word in this novel spells fantasy; every character and their actions.

When she discovers where her parents are, she takes it upon herself to bring them back. She does not even think twice before stepping into the dangerous world. She loves her parents enough to risk everything for them. In spite of being odd, she is a loving and dutiful daughter. I loved the part where Coraline recounted the incident when her father had willingly let a swarm of wasps sting him in order to let her escape. It shows how deeply she thinks and how intelligently she can infer.

As you read further, Coraline’s determination, her strong will, and her smartness and above all her courage continue to be a surprise. She has an incredible combination of unwavering will and a kind heart. After facing a number of frightening obstacles, she finally manages to rescue her parents and three other children who were captured by the witch earlier.

After this episode in her life, she realizes the importance of what she has in her own world and loves her parents. She even stops feeling nervous about her school after facing much more worse things.

I also liked the cat character. Sarcastic and proud on the outside but inwardly scared by the witch.

Its funny that I picked this book only because it had only 160+ pages (I am having my mid-semester exams and do not want to read something too involved). It certainly was an enjoyable read.

I am giving it 5 stars (on goodreads) happily although I think it was an ordinary horror story, written very intelligently. The reason is that I don’t like horror fiction in general (after my experience with R. L. Stine) but I enjoyed this one thoroughly.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

One Choice Can Transform You!!

Enjoyed this book very much. I picked this book because it won reader's choice award on goodreads in two categories and found that it did deserve it.

The story is of a young girl living in a society divided into different groups or factions, each representing a firm belief in only one of the virtues of honesty, intelligence, kindness, selflessness and bravery. These qualities are, to a great extent, considered to be mutually exclusive, although many do not believe so. The people believe that, given the aptitude, every human being can be trained to focus on only one of these qualities. 

There are some rare people who cannot think that way and they are termed as "divergent".

I once heard a motivational speaker commenting about extremism. I don’t remember the context but he said that extremism is not bad in itself but it depends upon what it is about. And he proudly said that he was extremely honest, extremely kind and extremely truthful. So its nothing to be ashamed of or nothing to be defensive about either. I was very impressed by the argument. After reading Divergent, however, you will probably feel the urge have to rethink what it can mean to be extremely honest and that you cannot be extremely honest and extremely kind at the same time. That definitely is an interesting theory. Of course, its true only if you take "extremism" in its truly literal meaning. There has to be a boundary before reaching at an extreme of one good quality to give room for another.

Its very interesting how the writer attributes different qualities of human nature to a specific function to be performed in the society. And how she makes them look to fit perfectly well in their respective situations. And then reveals how the whole society falls apart as a result of inculcating only one of the virtue in every member while ignoring other important qualities. Its ironical yet fitting that the faction representing knowledge and intelligence is responsible for all the cruelty and destruction.

The protagonist Beatrice decides to choose the Dauntless (representing bravery) faction with apparently no actual passion for being brave but more by eliminating the alternatives, as she feels herself misfit in her original faction Abnegation (the selfless) and despises the Erudite(the intelligent) for their greediness, which was predictable as she was raised in Abnegation. So she chooses Dauntless without realizing what it takes to learn to be brave. Almost whole book describes the process of "initiation" in the faction, which the 16-year old have to qualify in order to be members of that faction. During this process, the writer tells how Beatrice adjusts to her new environment, how she makes new friends and how her fellows who came from different backgrounds adapt to the new ways of Dauntless, how she gradually gains strength through her new experiences and how some of her fellow initiates fail to do so. How she, after closely watching former Erudite members, experiences conflicted emotions towards her brother who chose Erudite.

Then comes her falling in love with Four, which was very much predictable from the start. I was actually waiting for it to happen. 

Its not just a science-fiction or an average young-adult novel, I found in it a deep analysis of human nature. 

I agree with some other reviewers that the real story began a little late than it should have. But it was still thoroughly enjoyable.

I am really looking forward to reading the sequel Insurgent.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

It was great!

The narrator is a young woman who gets married to Maxim de Winter who is the owner of the an estate called Manderley and is much older than her and who supposedly could not forget his late wife Rebecca. The novel tells how this new girl who didn't have the right background to be the mistress of an estate, falls victim to insecurities and inferiority complex. She is haunted by the memory of Rebecca, which is kept alive by the house maid Mrs. Danvers. She constantly feels that she doesn't fit in the new position of being a successor to Rebecca who was adored by everyone who knew her and was great as a wife and mistress of Manderley. She constantly compares herself with Rebecca and repeatedly declares herself incompetent. It is a great depiction of how dead are kept alive by their memories.

But the mysterious personality of late Rebecca is not actually that adorable. Although how she managed to be liked so widely and sincerely is amazing. 

I think the novel as much about Manderley as it is about the characters. Hats off to du Maurier's imagination. The account of Manderley makes it sound like another central character of the novel.

Most importantly the novel is about human nature. How it can become insecure enough to be affected by the dead even more than they are affected by the living. The young Mrs. de Winter, in spite of being the mistress, let herself be dominated by the servants which is so strange but understandable. As she thinks that her husband still loves Rebecca along with everybody among the servants and their social circle, instead of making an effort to make herself distinguished, she immediately gives in and becomes defensive. She is supposedly from a weak financial background and worked in a minor situation before getting married, so due to her low self-esteem and lack of self confidence and the communication gap she had with her husband when it came to talk about his first wife, she accepts that she cannot replace Rebecca and let others make decisions while she just kills the time at the house without participating in anything at the household because she was frightened to be compared with Rebecca. So she let the customs set by Rebecca live even she herself was dead.

The girl's insecurity might be annoying and her being dominated by servants is really idiotic but her innocence and simplicity is endearing. 

I am going to read more of du Maurier's and I hope she has created more magical places like Manderley.

Rebecca was simply great from beginning to end!!

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

This book was recommended by a friend some time ago. It was quite a new experience altogether reading about a social setup that I know more closely being a Pakistani than the western culture which is usually expected when picking an English novel. Not just the culture but the sarcastic tone of the narrator was something unanticipated. I was rather expecting a depressed voice. Hats off to Aravind Adiga. This one truly deserved the Booker Prize. 

It was easy to pick pace with. It is one of those rare experiences when you don’t have to struggle with initial chapters. It just takes off and you don’t even realize that you have read almost fifty or sixty pages.

The book comprises of narrator's letters, or rather his diary in which he addresses a Chinese Government official. He hears that this Chinese official is coming to India on a visit and wants to meet entrepreneurs. The narrator calls himself an entrepreneur and wants to tell what it can take to become one in a country like India, where a very large part of population is deprived of even the very basic needs as a result of caste system and feudalism. The narrator is skeptical about everything but he makes his tone so innocent that the reader can start falling for him immediately. The whole novel is about his confession of committing the murder of his employer.

As the narrator Balram relates his story, I couldn’t help being impressed by the depth of knowledge the writer has about his country's customs and how deeply he feels for the people's deprivation. A lot of it must have been the result of his occupation as a journalist. He present the bitter facts about the nation generally known to be prosperous. I would add that it is not the complete picture but a considerable portion of it.

Balram was just another common man in a tribe of "Halwaiis" or sweet-makers. It’s a common thing in our villages that you are forced to take up a profession defined by your caste. This is a custom defined by the powerful feudal lords to keep their countrymen oppressed and needy and so badly caught in fulfilling their very basic needs that they can never rebel. But over time these customs are so religiously taken up the tribes that they do not feel the need to change anything. Balram, however, was the odd one out. He was intelligent and hungry for knowledge and was given the title of "White Tiger " by a teacher for his intelligence amidst all the dumbness of villagers. His father wanted him to study but he could not continue in school. Thanks to yet another custom of compulsion of dowry that her sister needed in order to get married. He relates the incident of his father's painful death, recounting the lack of any sense of hygiene or any medicine or even the doctor in the only hospital that was accessible by the poor of his village. Similar conditions are described regarding the so-called school in which he studied. So after leaving the school, he is forced to work with his brother in a teashop. There he picks up an idea of becoming a driver. He has a hard time convincing her grandmother, who was the head of family, to let him be a driver. At last he succeeds. He then learns how to drive and gets hired after lot of effort. This was supposedly a revolution in the sweet-makers' family.

In the course of his job, he learns about one his fellow servants in the same house who was a Muslim pretending to be a Hindu so save his job, because Hindus and Muslims cannot tolerate each other in their houses.

The thing that Balram ridicules the most is that India is known for democracy. He tells how the politicians buy entire tribes to vote for them. He tells how the politicians use the poor for playing their political tricks.

So Balram continues his job as Mr. Ashok's driver who was a feudal lord recently returned from America with an American wife. He tells how he learnt new things while listening to them while driving. He even tries to imitate his clothing and other habits. Then he moves to Delhi with them where he drives Mr. Ashok around so that he can bribe the politicians to get unlawful benefits for his family. He and all other servants in that house were supposed to do whatever their masters wanted. His position as a driver didn’t spare him from having to do cleaning, washing, cooking and massaging. It was not employment but slavery altogether.

I loved the part where he described his "rooster coop" theory. How the people in underdeveloped countries are so used to being deprived that they somehow feel comfortable enough to not even thinking of rebelling. They just feel a sense of resignation. That’s how Balram felt when he was asked to take the blame of a road accident committed by Mr. Ashok's wife. He says that even if somebody tries to get a better life for himself, his tribe does not let him do that and they make him an outcast. That is the punishment of wanting to prosper.

Balram killed Mr. Ashok simply because he wanted to steal the money he was carrying to bribe a politician. He insists continuously that he does not have any bad feelings about his employer and continuously felt guilty when he was killing him and stealing his money but he was still determined to win a better life. He knows that his whole family might be killed by the victim's father and brother but he just tries not to think about them. The police fail to catch him only because of their inefficiency. Its funny how he stands in front of his own "most wanted" poster in a crowded railway station and nobody recognizes him because his picture was blurred. The only man who recognizes him was illiterate and so could not understand the description with the picture.

Then he describes his "murderer's life on run ". How he tried to avoid tracked by the police and how he cannot even dare ask about what happened to his family.

Balram manages to start a "rent-a-car" service, for which he called himself an entrepreneur. He insists that he does not treat his employees the way he was treated as a servant. But in the process, he just becomes another briber, another hand in corruption. So that was the price he had to pay for a better life: become a murderer and just the same person as his victim was.

He also tells continuously how lonely he felt with nothing but chandeliers to talk to and that he wants to have a partner.

I can still continue to write about it but the review is already too long. I want to point out that as far as I know, this is definitely not the big picture of India. It is just some of the curses for the poor of villages that continue to prevail even after all the development and modernism in the cities. 

Finally I want to say that the book was a complete package: it has story, a message and an easy-to-read style that will keep you engaged.