The Art of Reading

When you don't understand why a book is so great, or why you are not able to relish how others have proclaimed to, either they all are false, or there is a possibility, you are not in the best position to read, comprehend, absorb the intricacies and the depth of the situation described. Maybe you are just unaware. Unlearned. Not upto the level. Hasn't it happened, that you have started reading a very famous book, but you are not interested and put off the book, just to read it a year later and derive amazing levels of contentment and pleasure from the whole text? Or the book is plainly horrible.

How to write a novel, exist, but I haven't read anything about how to read a novel. Do you go about it scientifically, reading a series of books one after the other, and derive organized pleasure? Maybe that is possible. More often that not, picking up random books on random subjects is what I do. Which introduces me to topics suddenly, and hits me. I like that feeling. Instead of reviewing the book, knowing about its details and then try to find how the book is. I'm not a critic. What I want is learning. Pleasure of a spontaneity. Of novelty.

Greatness

"In what way does life contribute to the beauty of human existence? As respects those puruits which contribute only remotely, by providing the mechanism of life, it is well to be reminded that not the mere art of living is desired, but art of living in the contemplation of great things."
- Bertrand Russell.

Jean Paul Sartre was also involved in Marxist politics and was impressed upon visiting Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara, calling him "not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age". It feels so big, Satre meeting Che and commenting. Great people. Great ideas. Great events.

That is something you can idealize. Reading about books, reading them, and reading in between the lines, when you realize the experience and thought that has gone into writing the phrase, the line and the paragraph, is when you see a pursuit. When Salman Rushdie says, while writing Midnights Children, he was not considering it as a joy, but as work. He wanted to perfect the work. Not just romantically writing the book, jot down his feelings, and make a bestsellor. Most ideas which have bases so noble as these, are what become in the true sense, 'successfull'. Others just randomly pass by and make some impression, but the former ones are the ones which stand out. Talent is not enough, but the inspiration, the motivation, and the objective. That is what is quintessential.
Today is Martyr's Day. Today symbolizes the siren which goes on in respect of the father of the nation. His ideologies, strength, perseverence. His fight. Whether he was wrong, right, good, his approach, his ideas, implementation faults, whatever. The point is, he was so strong to carry it out. As in individual.

I can go on and on, and it will be an epic.

So when you see an 80 year old man at the base of Mount Everest in Full gear, then is when you realize what greatness is.

Friendly Living, High Thinking

Last weekend I went for my first play ever, to Sophia college in Breach Candy, (the eye candy for southies, its a girls' college). I was already late for the play, reached right spot on when the bell rung, with the 8 books I bought from fort an hour earlier, for a mere 600 bucks. (Including the Unarmed Victory, by Bertrand Russell which is a banned book here)

I was already very happy throughout the day, I had watched Dasvidanya with Sheru and Shama, and liked it, also we had met after a really long time.

The play was ok. Lots of sexual comedy. And we were embarrassed that we had invited Archit and his sister for the play. Anyways, they were quite cool with it. When we came out, I just saw how beautiful the place is. The buildings were all with the old British feel. The roads were sloping and curvy, (as they were when I was in Paris, at Luv's university, and we had to walk down at least 400m to get to the sea level. ) There was graffitti on the walls, with the teenage one liners like, 'Suicide, I've already died'. The whole ambience felt very homely.

When I finished up dinner and was in a cab with pooja and gaurav, I realized something. We are changing. I, who never cared for how much we spent, on at least friends and outings. I had told Pooja how much money she owed me. That had never happened. Now, I felt like telling her, ' have we ever done a hisaab, ditch maar'. But I didn't, unconsciously, either not to make her feel bad, or just that others might feel odd.

Anyways, will feel so nice...it is just another feeling.. to be friends who dont care about money.. saying - we will be the same as always no matter what.. we are strong, carefree people with our own rules..Let the world go down.. Yessss.. truly.. we will live life kingsize as suits us, and we will believe in simple living, high thinking.. Suddenly my thoughts changed to a line which I shaama had told me earlier that day when we were discussing about body building, "Kitna mast lagta hoga, khud ko dekhkar roj bolte honge " Main kitna awesome hoon!" "

In the long confused version of life we are living where we are so netted by all the constraints we put on ourselves, not living as freely as we used to, we tend to 'mature', becoming more individualistic, having certain principles and making rules of behaviour for our mates. Which tends to kill all the fun. Too much sentimental abstraction, but considering it objectively, not.

Just remember the old saying,
"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend."
- Albert Camus

The Inscrutable Americans

A good book. described what i think i have already read a lot about, I think most of us have. but anyways a funny enough story.. A book I want my mom to read.

The Romantics - Pankaj Mishra

I'm reminded of Pink Floyd. It goes so much beyond logic, it beats all logic, by the sheer simplicity and the flow. A very chilled book, it reminds me of my Gang in Chemical, IIT Bombay. We used to fantasize about how we would leave everything, go to North, read up stay in Manali, smoke up and live a simple life with high thinking. He has taken it forward. later story. How he fails and finds what he thought he would, how hs journey in the untold confusion of certainty and nihilism, ends up with him experiencing emotions which he hadn't expected to, and he moves on in the same way. The story doesn't end with the book. A very soothing story. The phrases he uses to describe the usual situations, suit so aptly. He uses the English language so perfectly.

Unbearable Lightness of Being - Q2-Q4

Continuing from where I left off, the book is quite on a different level than the others which I read. My friend had said, 'it is not a quite a fiction, it has so many explanations that it tends to get a wee boring', which is not quite unacceptable, but then I didn't feel the same way when I read it. Maybe it appealed to me in a very different way. It was like i didn't want to imagine with the writer while reading the book,i wanted explanations as and when I was in that situation and that is why I was reading the book. I didn't want to imagine, as my friend wanted to do in a novel, in a fiction.

And so, the explanations which he gives, are so apt, so logically sound and rational, He redefines the whole base of reason and certainty. The sexual fears, its relations to everyday life and the relation ship fears and the various phases a person goes through, are written down well. philosophically, it is a wonderful book. it might not appeal to someone who would assume to be in a culture shock on reading a book with so many infidelities, passages and metaphors about shit, being in a toilet and vomiting compared with sex. It might get too much. But the whole description of it all is very nicely done.

You are Here

So this girl journalist, miss. Reddy has written a book named You are Here. Having read the blog, I was of the opinion that it would be a whiny, extremely emotional, full-of-sex, break ups and mushy relationships, painful boyfriends, judgements passed, a glimpse of high society who smoke coke, the cool lingo and the trivialities which affect them. It is EXACTLY this. It is full of SHIT. Literary Pleasure to chhodo, a not so horrible storyline is also not defendable. It feels like a mixture of one of Sidney Sheldons and some mushy type of a girly story and it brings you to the point of Yuk. It might have appealed to the general public, who have never read a classic love story, a mushy love story, a pornographic novel, mills n boon, penthouse, sidney sheldon, erich segal, or the likewise. Its just an indian copy of a mixture of it all.
It is just a conglomerate of Indian ways of defining 'Cool and Hep' in the new generation. Some may argue it is bold, it represents Indian Youth, the Fuckoff Generation, and the coolness associated with it which lets pulses running and the desperate junta gets a hard on reading such a piece of work, but then No. 1? Is Indian literary public actually literary? Is it worth even publishing such a book other than this type for them then? Will Intellect be awarded ever then?
It was a horrible attempt for a kitsch. Better are those Mumbai Mirror Writers who gossip about the Bollywood likes and dislikes and relationships and boob jobs. Let us not elevate the status of the writing and the book because it reflects Youth of India and the SMS generation.

Ess Muss Sein. It Must be.

The life of Galileo

A play on the later life of Galileo, when he was already famous for his thoughts and theories. He wants some time for his own research and wants people to believe what they see, rather than what they believe through texts. Preachings. Repeated judgements have been made against the Church, rational reasoning. The fear of the masses to change their beliefs, their faith in the church and hence, avoid a panic stricken social order is the arguement given to disallow him to preach his findings. He is threatened to be killed for this, when he as a normal human, submits that he doesn't believe what he proved and works within the shackles of the kingdom, and carries his own research. 'Better work with cowardice than die.' finally, he hands over his work to his disciple at the age of 80 when he is almost blind.

A good play. The dialogues are power packed. It is almost on the edge of being ironic. The arguements make us symphathize with Galileo. Nice, 85 pages. The point of view of a scientist, disciples, his family life and his conflicts with everything are very well potrayed.

The Art of Mathematics

Nice book. A little more attached to mathematics than the philosophy and the dying need of being a mathematician. Gets a little drab for a layman, in the middle. Covers more concepts than 'A Mathematician's Apology'. It is almost a Part 2 of the latter. It is more about numbers. Talks about the beauty of mathematics. The other book talked about the beauty of mathematics in the mind of mathematicians and their pleasure and inevitable need to do so. The earlier one was a better book for laymen and for thought, while this one appeals to a more mathematical frame of mind.