Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.

 

Those who have read and enjoyed David Copperfield by Charles Dickens can relate to the characters in this book. That said, while David Copperfield is a classic on its own, Demon Copperhead, deals with modern day travails like drugs, drug abuse, foster care and how depressing the foster care system proves to be for many children.

This tale is about how the protagonist feels the need for love, how drugs wreck his life and for those around him. Though harrowing to read through many pages, I was glad the protagonist had it in him to fight all odds and tries hard to realize his dreams and ambition.

The story is about Demon Copperhead who loses his mother who made wrong choices in life. He is then shunted to foster homes where he had to work and still was starved for food most times. He had a Good Samaritan in the Peggots who time and again fed and took care of him and he found a friend in their grandson, who too turned to drugs as they grew up.

One day Demon decides to find his paternal grandmother and hitch hikes his way to her house and she in turn introduces him to a basket ball coach and his daughter Angus and things turn out to be alright only to turn for the worse. Demon injures his knees and soon drugs take over his life. However, he finds a good mentor in his art teacher and slowly he figures out a way to wean himself off drugs with the help of his friends.

While David Copperfield was melancholic and touching, Demon Copperhead is harrowing and uplifting.

This book was unputdownable.

Brotherless night by V.V. Ganeshananthan

 

The story is set-in war-torn Sri Lanka of the eighties. The story is about a girl Sashi who wants to become a doctor. How her ambitions turn off course as her beloved brothers and friend K are sucked into the war as violence mounts in the country, is what the book is about.

While Sashi wants to help the movement, she keeps questioning her own moral stand in this situation. She accepts her friend K’s invitation to work as a medic in a field hospital. Soon the tigers murder her favourite teacher, then the Indian peace keeping force arrives not to help but commit more atrocities on people and women. She begins questioning her own path in this.

Soon her Tamil feminist professor invites her to join her project, to document human rights violations in the country. She thus embarks on this dangerous assignment that will change her life forever. 

This book is a very compelling read. It is a passionate account by the author narrated in the first person by the protagonist Sashi. Though certain parts were difficult to read, imagining the trauma of the people, it was unputdownable.

This book triggered a lot of memories as I lived in Sri Lanka towards the end of the war. I had the chance to tour all the cities except Jaffna which was still reeling under the aftermath of war.

The Book binder of Jericho

It's been ages since I updated this blog. My reading has been very sporadic. This book has been with me for ages and I finally completed it. Here goes my thoughts on that.

This book is about a young woman working in a book bindery in the year 1914 when war erupts and men are drawn to fight for their country. Peggy and Maude are twin sisters who work in the bindery, sorting pages. Peggy collects damaged pages binds them and sneaks them into the narrow boat where they live in Oxford. Peggy is intelligent and wants to pursue education if and when she gets the chance. She nurses the ambition to attend college and is delighted when she gets access to the library in Sommerville college.

However, she feels compelled to watch over her sister Maude. Soon refugees arrive in train loads from Belgium and new people arrive in the lives of the sisters. Peggy finds love and see a possible future with a Belgian soldier and also a way to educate herself.

This novel is an exploration of lives during the war and what women went through in those times in pursuit of knowledge.

Please look after Mother by Kyung-Sook Shin

 

Please look after Mother is the story of Park So-nyo, who gets separated from her husband in a crowded subway station in Seoul. The story begins with her children beginning a search for her by printing and distributing fliers all around Seoul, in the hope that someone would help them find their mother.

 

The story is narrated from the perspectives of the mother, daughter, son and husband. Initially, the style of the narrative (in second person) is tedious to read, but once you settle into a rhythm, the story goes on smoothly. The premise of the story is true universally for all mothers and especially so in an Asian setting. In general mothers are taken for granted by children and in this story one can relate to the sacrifices made by Park So-nyo for her family all the while not expressing her thoughts on her situation even when her health is failing.

 

The characters of Hyong Chol, her favorite child and Chi-Hon the writer daughter are the ones who begin the active search for their mother. And this leads to them wondering how well did they know the woman who was their mother. It is heart rending when they find out that they do not have a recent photo of their mother.

 

The book feels melancholic as it progresses, mainly because it makes you reflect on your own relationships. It also makes you realize that we should take the time to know those we love.

 

However, among the five children of which only four are alive, the book describes the view of just two children and fails to mention the views of the other two children. That said it is a bitter sweet but interesting story of post war Korean society and the burden women carry single handedly on their shoulders.

 

 

The Stationery Shop of Tehran

The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali was on my "to be read" list for a long time. This novel deals with love, loss and characters that fill your thoughts long after you have finished reading the book.

The story is about Roya and Bahman Aslan who meet in a stationery shop for the first time and fall in love. The shop run by Mr. Fakhri has translated books of literature from all over the world. While their relationship blossoms, Tehran is in turmoil. Soon violence erupts in the country, and Roya rushes to meet Bahman at a place where in a letter he had asked her to meet. When Roya reaches the place,  violence erupts and gun shots are heard. While she looks for Bahman in the crowd, Mr. Fakhri rushes to meet Roy in a bid to rectify his mistake in miscommunicating their meeting place. In a twist of fate Mr. Fakri dies as he comes in the way of a gun shot.  

When she is unable to meet Bahman and is depressed over it, Roya's father decides to send his daughters abroad for higher studies. Did Roya get over her love for Bahman? Did they meet in the end? Did they marry somebody else and move on in life, makes up the rest of the story.

The story is beautifully written with a few twists and with a bitter sweet ending.

Kitchen

"Kitchen" by Banana Yoshimoto is a book about mothers, grief, love and tragedy and Kitchens. The protagonist of this novel uses the kitchen in times of grief and loneliness.

Satsuki is taken by a friend's family when she faces grief due to the death of her grandmother. How she tackles her grief, does she recover from remorse to lead a better life, makes up the rest of the story.

Overall a well written novel.

Alias Grace

When I picked up The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, I thought it was a little slow moving and I gave up reading after 50 pages. So it was with great trepidation I picked Alias Grace by the same author and it was unputdownable. It's a fictionalised true story that happened in the 1800s.

Grace the protagonist of the story is somehow involved in a double murder and her partner in crime is hanged for it. Grace due to behavioural disorders is sent to a lunatic asylum. She is then shunted to the penitentiary and serves time. She also works as a maid in the governor's house. Twenty years into her imprisonment, a doctor arrives and listens to her tale at the behest of the Reverend of the church.

Dr. Simon Jordan arrives daily at the governor's house and tries to understand Grace and her story. He meticulously writes down her story, hoping that he would be able to get her a pardon and release from the penitentiary.

Does Simon succeed, did Grace get out of the penitentiary, makes up the rest of the story. Atwood's writing is outstanding, with a deep understanding of human behaviour. Each character is well etched that it  will remain in memory for a long time. 

I am glad I read the book before watching the series of the same name on Netflix.

Now I have to read The Handmaid's Tale next.