Bangalore Book Festival 2010 - First Impressions

As most people in Karnataka know, The Bangalore book festival is back in the Palace grounds. I have made it a habit to visit every year if I am in the country, and unfortunately that was not the case for the last three years. People told me this year it is much better than previous years, and I have to say I had high expectations.

It was a quite pleasant experience - of course, we have to forget the bad language of people supposed to help us park - with lots and lots of options for Kannada book lovers. That was the part I loved most - every major Kannada publisher was there, with a considerable variety of books. So I was able to collected a few works missing my bookshelf in Kannada. Nice to know they have started to re-publish books like Rangannana Kanasina Dinagalu - not seen in print for a long time.

English would have been better - I kept seeing the same titles in every other shop, and was hard put to find rare books in English. I was rather hoping that Bangalore readers would be exposed to a somewhat wider reading world than they would from a usual visit to Sapna or Crossword, but for me that was not the case. The single English book I bought is the one available in every major bookstore - Ramachandra Guha's new book Makers of modern India.

Arts was the most disappointing section, though - it failed me completely in digital photography, and the usual display of Ravi Varma's paintings had a few more not-so-famous artists added to their list. I must say expansion in arts - both books and paintings - has been very little over the years.

Only one place selling ebook readers was there, and I am hoping the empty stalls will be occupied over the course of the exhibition with more tehno-enthusiasts. Not that I am a fan of ebook readers - quite the opposite, in fact - but that is the changing page of reading, and Bangalore bookworms deserve a display of available readers.

Overall, I must say it is pulling crowds, and is showing signs of succeeding beyond most other book fairs of today. The face that I spent only 1/10th of the budget I had gone with probably shows how much scope is there for expanding the range of works, even by the standards of a rank amateur like me, but overall it looks like it is doing its job.

Remembering Will Durant

Will Durant...he was the man who made philosophy popular, history thrilling, and reading a fascination in the early 20th century. It has been nearly a century since the ever-popular 'Story of Philosophy' came out, but its popularity has not reduced at all - even now from Bangalore to New York, the one book I see that is commonly flashed across in bookstores is the story of philosophy.

True - western philosophy has changed an awful lot, approaches to teaching western philosophy has changed, but the value of enjoying a historical account of some of the greatest people in history has not changed at all - Durant definitely has a penchant for studying people more than theories - that, and the wonderfully absorbing English of Durant is what makes this work a must in every bookshelf.
Durant has written somewhere that if we read Spinoza's ethics carefully, we will forever remain lovers of philosophy.Read the story of philosophy at leisure, and you will remain forever a lover of reading.

One great criticism of Durant's 'Story' is that he did not mention two of the most original philosophies of all time - Indian and Chinese. Well, some say he forgot to mention the motherland of philosophy when he omitted Indian philosophy. He sort of made amends to that in his 'Story of Civilization' series, though - his detailed account of philosophical thoughts is a rare thing to see in a volume dedicated to history.

Unlike the story of philosophy, this 11-volume set is no longer being printed - I had to buy a collectible edition for a small fortune to add this to my collection - and the later volumes are co-authored with his wife, Anne Durant. But the first volumes are just as lyrical, and make as compelling a reading as ever. Being a study of world history, Durant looks at history's major personalities, does not give us a list of events to read through, paints a rare picture where he tries to view history through its major people, not events. After all, isn't our society what we, the people, make it?

Agreed that after nearly 40 years of the last volume being published - and 70 since the first volume - much has changed. Both history and philosophy have grown, and the modern student needs to know more than what these books can teach us. But for those of us who want to sit back in an armchair, who can read just to enjoy reading, Will Durant remains a perennial favourite.

Why I do not (always) want reality

I solemnly swear the interview below did not happen.

The other day I was trying to explain to my wife my total fascination of Wodehouse literature, who must have been wondering if I spent more time reading Wodehouse books than reading her emails when we were just engaged bachelors (well, I swear I did not, so that is that :) - well, If I stack up 15 Wodehouse books on my bookshelf and have five more lined up on Amazon, I guess she had a right to know!!! But the interesting story is that the explanation developed into an explanation of my love for fantasy and daydreams, of why some of us love Wodehouse and Anthony Hope just as much as Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. So I wrote that up as an interview rather than an essay.

Q: What do you mean by un-realistic or fantasy fiction? A: Let me make it clear that by fantasy, I mean any fiction that is not aimed at reflecting the reality of today's life. For example, Anthony Hope's Prisoner of Zenda tells a story which could not have happened for the last 150 years, even allowing for all the fictious makeovers. But I still love reading and re-reading that classic.

Q: What is it that makes you love fantasy? A: The fascination I have for Wodehouse stems from the greatest gift of mankind - imagination.


Q: But is this not just daydreaming? I thought daydreaming was a totally useless thing? A: Wodehouse was a first-rate daydreamer. His gift for obscuring the reality and bring to life a world far removed from our day-to-day chores, stressful activities etc is remarkable. With a Wodehouse book,
you won't need a stress reliever, ever. So no, daydreaming is not at all useless - in fact, that is one of the most effective ways to keep yourself alive.

A scene from The Prisoner of Zenda

Q: But surely that type of literature is just 'time-pass', not a serious part of your lifelong obsession, is it? A: You are quite wrong. That is one of the points I am trying to get across to you - good literature needs a good study of human character, but where and how the story is set has nothing to do with the quality of the story.

Q: So you are looking more at how deeply an author looks at human nature? A: Precisely.

Q: And obviously you think human nature does not change quickly if you think fantasies that are hundreds of years old are still relevant. A: When did human nature change?

Q: But don't you get bored of a life that is not real? How can you keep reading stories which don't even remotely describe your situation in life? A: Actually I can't. I keep shifting between two types of literature. But remember that man has a deep-set attraction towards all things he can't do by himself, but has heard of happen. This is why all of us love fairy tales and Arabian Nights.

Q: Do you imagine yourself to be a Knight rescuing a Princess? A: lol. I used to :)

Q: What about this thing where people think other people who read Harry Potter are not really grown-up literary fans? A: Let them think so - I challenge them to find out why they find it difficult to keep shifting - as long as a story is well-told, and engages your curiosity, of course you should read it. Only stories I can't stand are those which do not have something in it and/or badly narrated.

Q: What about people who write great stuff, but can't narrate well? I find some authors' using overly-complex style, and some others who just say things as they are. A: If you can't be a narrator, you can't be a great novelist/story teller. I love people who say things as they are, and make their story really beautiful. Unfortunately, some authors don't know how to do that, but phenomena they want to describe are best described as sequences of events. A story being the most natural sequence of events, these people become authors. I have very little respect for such authors' literary ability - though I respect their scholarship.

Ernest Hemingway, a great author who kept things simple

Q: But they are different from people like Tolstoy? A: Yup. Tolstoy was one of the greatest narrators in history. Coming from the right author, realistic fiction is much more exciting than fantasy, and there are people who are really good at that stuff.

Q: For a hobbyist in literature, what type of literature do you think is more important as a part of his hobby? Realistic fiction or Fantasy?
A: I think both are equally important. A realistic fiction can only prove to be fascinating in a dreamworld, and a fiction is effective only with a background in reality. In other words, a man who does not know the real world can't enjoy fantasy, and a man who writes fantasy can't do so without knowing the real world.

Q: Do you really pick up a book after knowing if it is going to be useful to you? A: Lol. That would be ridiculous. I pick books largely on their reputation, and my taste. I believe every read of a good work is eventually satisfying.

Q: Reading something that is not going to help me in real life may be exciting, but isn't it a waste of my time if it can never come to my aid? A: Lol - if you have enjoyed the time, how can it be wasted time?

Q: Any advice? A: Nope. Go for a walk. Read a couple of good books. Call it a day.

The Friendship Story

Quite a few years ago, one my friends, Shreesha Karantha, told me this (imaginative) story about two friends in the Indian epic, Mahabharata - Karna and Duryodhana. I thought it showed the depth of understanding and excellent harmony two people can achieve, so my humble attempt at translating it to English:

One day, at the height of his power, Duryodhana the king had gone out on some chores, and his wife was alone in the palace. Karna came to visit the king, but as he was a close family friend stopped for a chat with the queen. Soon they began to play the game of dice, and it soon developed into a very relaxed game which they continued to play on the Diwan. For the sake of betting, the Queen bet her pearl necklace and Karna bet his golden ring. Eventually Karna won the game. By this time the mood was very relaxed, and queen had no intention of parting with her necklace. So she refused to give it to Karna, and Karna playfully tried to grab the necklace, and the queen jumped from the bed. Karna's hand struck the necklace and broke the thread, causing the pearls to scatter everywhere.

At this precise moment Duryodhana entered, and for a single second surveyed the whole scene - His wife's pale face in complete shock, pieces of the game of dice strewn all over the place, Karna's hand near his wife's neck, pearls dancing all over the floor, and his wife trying to escape from Karna. He just said:

"Karna, shall I give you the pearls in a bunch or around the string of a new necklace"?

The Pickwick Papers

After a long break from literature, I returned to the good old classics - after a completely satisfying two weeks, I finished the Pickwick Papers - or, formally, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, today. This being the first true English language blockbuster in printing history, he will be a rare reader who can discern that Dickens was 24 when he wrote the first of his masterpieces.

I remember trying to read this multiple times when I was very young - in my school days - but the work was too big for me back then. That remains true in some measure - This is not a work that has to be read letter by letter, but for most of its numerous pages makes you read it letter by letter.

An incident that occurred in India during the centenary celebrations of Dickens (around 1970) shows the immense popularity of this novel:

Sometime around 1970, marking the centenary of Dicken's death, a Dickens expert from UK visited many colleges in India, giving talks about the works of Dickens and their significance. When he asked about the most popular books by Dickens in these parts, response from the Botany Professor B.G.L. Swamy in the Presidency College of Madras (now Chennai) was this: (translated from Kannada, from his book 'Collegu Ranga') :
"There are many people who maintain a steady habit of reading English literature, both people who teach or study English everyday and make it part of their living, and those for whom English is just an optional pleasure. Many such people maintain their own personal libraries, according to their knowledge of English language. One work of Dickens that all such libraries have in common is the Pickwick Papers."

Galahad's Blandings

Finally, a Blandings castle novel which I loved just as much as my favorite Jeeves and Wooster novel. Till I read Galahad at Blandings, I had thought of Blandings as Wodehouse's secondary creation - quality comedy lacking the genius of usual Jeeves novels. But Galahad changed all that - Lord Emsworth is as absent minded and pig-minded as usual, Lady Hermione as bossy as other wodehouse aunts, but Galahad exceeds all expectations.

Galahad at Blandings has a very subtle rigor to it - a literary rigor which keeps the plot tightly in line, making none of the twists and turns distracting. The positive character of Galahad gives an extra pace to the novel - something that was missing in Blandings minus Galahad, like Leave it to Psmith. If you read between the lines, you will notice a subtle balance of characters - Wodehouse plots the story in a way where no character is used too much. Well, packed with the usual supply of lovers, tangles, pigs, menaces and of course, lots of love, this ranks right at the top of Wodehouse novels.

Overlook Press page for the book
Amazon Link

India After Gandhi

Well, Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi is not a literary masterpiece - nor does it talk about our culture. So what is a work on political history doing in this blog? To point out exactly that - lack of focus on things other than turmoils in post-independent India. The book discusses the struggles of India at great lengths, but does not seem to be interested in its triumphs just as much. Also, the book does not provide even a cursory look at the cultural changes in modern India.

The book is very readable, and does not get boring even for such a huge work - it is nearly 1000 pages long.