BOOK REVIEW: ANITA AND ME BY MEERA SYAL

ANITA AND ME is Meera Syal's debut novel, and was first published in 1996. It is a semi-autobiographical novel which won the Betty Trask Award. The story revolves around Meena an Indian Punjabi girl with a funny hair-cut (the "me" of the title) and her relationship with the white Anita as they grow up in the fictional Midlands village of Tollington in the 1970s. The book was also made into a film and Meera Syal wrote and co-produced the movie as well as acting in it (she played the role of Auntie Shaila). (Source: WIKIPEDIA)

Syal has been very successful in the UK and her works have included her second novel, ‘Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee’ (I have read this too), which was made into a miniseries and starred Syal as well. She can also be accredited to the hit TV shows, ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ and ‘The Kumar’s at No 42’. Her first screenplay, ‘Bhaji by the beach’ was directed by the acclaimed Gurinder Chadha (who made ‘Bend it like Beckham’ and ‘Bride and Prejudice’).

ANITA AND ME captures the trials of Meena (the ‘me’ in the title), a precocious girl growing up in a working class suburb in England. Meena’s parents have emigrated from Punjab and like most new immigrants, are quite insular in their way of life. They get along just fine with the English neighbourhood but are rarely invited or invite the neighbours to their house. Meena on the other hand is caught with a foot in both worlds. She adores the local brat Anita and thought that all her Christmases had come true when she was accepted into Anita’s gang. Anita soon realises that her ‘troubles’ are trivial compared to those of her friends and the sacrifices her parents made in order to have a better life in England. The undercurrents of racism are done just so. They are not glaring and they seem entirely plausible.

My complaints about the book are Syal’s constant need to be witty and the never ending British colloquialism. I actually found that quite exasperating. Also, the stereotyping of the family nucleus – Meena’s family is portrayed as a close knit family whilst the opposite is the case for her Caucasian friend Anita. I guess those undercurrents were probably essential to the plot.

As a whole, I did enjoy the book.

BOOK REVIEW: MY LIFE AS EMPEROR BY SU TONG

Set in Imperial China, it depicts the life of a fictional emperor, based on true life accounts of Chinese Emperors throughout the ages.

An extraordinary and chilling dramatisation of the dark side of nation building. It is an exploration of the complexities and failings of human nature

Written by Su Tong, the acclaimed author of "Raise the Red Lantern"and "Rice".

BOOK REVIEW: FAMILY MATTERS BY ROHINTON MISTRY

I love reading but it can be a very expensive hobby as the price of books here in Australia isn’t cheap. Most books retail around $29.95 to $39.95, depending on the author and the size of the book. Not that I want to deprive the authors (more likely it is the publishers that get a bigger slice of the pie, or in this case, the book) from making a buck but the economist in me says that if you lower the price of a good, you would get more demand and in turn, actually increase your profits. Oh well, at least the high cost of first hand books has given birth to another business and hence contributed to the economy – that of second hand books.

This is where I come in. Half of the books that I purchase are second hand; but even then, I stick to the ‘VG’ standard. They have to be in pristine condition even before I consider a purchase. Creased edges, a no-no. Dog ears – definitely not! (in my opinion, people who make dog ears in books should be sent to book school – Book Care 101: What not to do to books and how to care for them. In other words, R-E-S-P-E-C-T books!).

The Author - Rohinton Mistry

Which brings me to my next book: FAMILY MATTERS by Rohinton Mistry. After reading Rohinton’s A FINE BALANCE, I was hooked. I have been looking for FAMILY MATTERS ever since and everywhere. I keep checking the book stores to see if the price has gone down but to no avail. Image my joy when I was up in Queensland (yes, I looked for books there too) and found this book. Unfortunately, it did not make the VG standard at all – not even by 50 per cent. But at this stage, I had almost given up hope of finding it and coupled by the seller’s comment of how good the book is, I relented and purchase it…..and I have not regretted the decision.

The story is about Nariman Vakeel, a Parsi and the elderly widowed patriarch of an extended family, who suffers from Parkinson's disease. He lives with his stepdaughter, Coomy and stepson, Jal, in a large flat in Mumbai (Bombay) in the 1990s. Coomy and Jal's half-sister (Nariman's biological daughter), Roxana - lives with her husband Yezad, and their two young sons, in a tiny two room flat, purchased by Nariman as Roxana's dowry.

Nariman marries Coomy and Jal’s mother for the sake of his family. He was in love with a Christian girl but the relationship was opposed by Nariman’s family and the Parsi community. They would rather Nariman marry a widow with two children rather than someone from outside the race. Coomy dislikes her step father, as she blames him for the death of her mother. As the story unfolds, the true nature of Nariman’s wife death becomes evident.

When Nariman breaks his ankle during his daily walk (which constantly receives Coomy’s chides), he is bed ridden and needs help for everything. Coomy resents this and hatches a plan to make her sister Roxanna take care of their father in her tiny flat. Jal is against the plan but is too afraid of Coomy to protest. What Coomy does to make her plan succeed is quite appalling – it shows the amount of hate Coomy has for her father.

So Nariman is ‘shipped’ to Roxanna house, much to Yezad’s chagrin. The family can barely make ends meet, much less having another mouth to feed and Nariman’s medical expenses to boot. However, living with his father-in-law in cramped quarters for several months, Yezad grows from a moody and uninvolved husband to a sweet and caring husband, father and son-in-law. Family values and elders are revered and ghosts are laid to rest in the Vakel family. But for how long? To find out what actually happens in this book, I implore you to read FAMILY MATTERS.

PS: Dilemma - I now need to find a good copy of FAMILY MATTERS, to take its pride in my ever bludgeoning bookcase! I can never win….. !

BOOK REVIEW: A FINE BALANCE BY ROHINTON MISTRY

A FINE BALANCE is the first Rohinton Mistry book that I read. Since then, I have read FAMILY MATTERS, another excellent book, and I will post a review on this shortly. I enjoy Mistry’s writing style and the subject matter of his books, although it can be quite depressing. In this instance, this story centres on the unlikely living arrangements of four characters that are forced by their strained economic circumstances to share an apartment.

Dina Dilal is a widow who has spent her life trying to escape her abusive and domineering brother, in a society where independent women are not the norm. The apartment represents her attempt to maintain her freedom, but she can ill afford the rent on her own. She is cajoled to take in a young fellow Parsi as a boarder, Maneck Kohlah, whose parents have sent him to the city to study. With her ailing eyesight getting worse and her independence slowly slipping from her, she then hires two Hindu tailors to sew for her; the arrangement equivalent to that of a sweat shop.

Despite their disparate backgrounds, the four live akin to a family, as they rely on each other in the face of financial hardship, personal troubles, and political turmoil. Their journey in life in laden with hardship and what finally happens to the four main characters in this book (and their friends/acquaintances in the story) is heart rendering. To say more would give the plot way.

So to find out what happens to Dina, Maneck and her tailors, I beseech you to read A FINE BALANCE. It is only fair to warn you that you may find this book too disturbing and heartbreaking. But then, to quote an Indian saying (or is it Meera Syal’s???), “Life is not all ha! ha! he! he!” (In other words, life is not always full of laughter and joy).

BOOK REVIEW: A SUITABLE BOY BY VIKRAM SETH

Ihave always wanted to read this book but have been put off by the sheer size of it. ‘A Suitable Boy’, at 1474 pages and 591,552 words, is one of the longest novels ever published in a single volume in the English language. It is written by VIKRAM SETH and was published in 1994. A Suitable Boy is set in post-independence India and the remnants of life under the British rule. The British glory is still very much evident in the book.

The novel follows the story of four families over a period of 18 months as a mother, Mrs Rupa Mehra (whose sole aim is to take care of her family) searches for “a suitable boy” to marry her youngest daughter Lata.

Lata is of marriageable age and is an independent and rebellious (to a point) girl who is already in “love” with a Muslim boy much to the horror of her mother. Although Mrs Mehra seems open minded about the caste of her future son-in-law (within some boundaries, of course), she is horrified that her daughter might marry a Muslim boy and bring shame to the family. However Lata is determined to write her own fate and will not be influenced by her mother or her snobbish brother Arun. Her story evolves around the choices she has to make between her three suitors, Kabir (her Muslim college mate), Amit (her sister-in-law’s poet brother) and Haresh (an ambitious and hard working ‘executive’ in a shoe factory).

The book is not only about Mrs Mehra’s quest – it also examines the journey of Mrs Mehra’s other children and in-laws and those people that happen to cross her path in their life’s journeys. It also examines the political atmosphere in India, leading to her first post-Independence election of 1952. It touches on inter racial marriages, courtesans, inter sectarian animosity, land reforms, caste system, feudal system, status issues, politics in the education systems and family issues. Even diction gets quite a mention!

The book is set in the fictional town of Brahmpur, with travels along real Indian towns such as Calcutta, Delhi, Kanpur (Cawnpore as Haresh would pronounce it – you will understand why I highlighted this fact when and if you read the book) and other Indian cities.

I really, really enjoyed this novel and Mr G ‘enjoyed’ me reading this book because whilst I was engrossed in it, I did not annoy him with additional work around the house. He said he enjoyed the peace and quiet the book afforded him! :(

My only grievance is the length of the book and the lack of hours I had to read it. It frustrated me that I had to put the book down to cook, work and sleep. But this book is worth the read and to support this, it has been on the ‘Angus and Robertson Top 100’ books since the late 90’s. It is now entrenched as one of my favourite books. To those of you who are up to the challenge, you won’t be disappointed. Happy reading!

BOOK REVIEW: BRICK LANE BY MONICA ALI

I recently finished reading “Brick Lane”, which was short-listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize. It is written by Monica Ali, a British writer of Bangladeshi origin.

Brick Lane is named after BRICK LANE, the street at the heart of London's Bangladeshi community. The novel caused controversy within the Bangladeshi community in Britain because of what they saw as the negative portrayal of people from the Sylhet region, saying that the novel made them appear uneducated and unsophisticated. Parts of the community were opposed to plans by the filmmakers to film in the Brick Lane area. (Source: WIKIPEDIA)

Brick Lane tells the story of Nazneen, who came to England from Bangladesh at young age of 17-18 for an arranged marriage to Chanu, who is over twice her age, has big plans that never eventuates and is basically a pompous and intellectual snob. He blames racism for all his misfortunes, never himself. When Nazneen arrives, she does not speak any English and her attempts to educate herself is brushed away as her husband does not see the significance of an education in her role as a house maker. Her life is one of patient submission to her fate, though she longs for her home and her sister.

Meanwhile, it also tells the story of Hasina (Nazneen’s sister) who elopes with her lover and the tragedy surrounding her life. It tells the story of other Bangladeshi migrants, and the quandary faced by first, second generation Bangladeshis and also of Nazneen’s own children.

Nazneen’s fate changes when she meets Karim. Karim is everything that Chanu is not and the two begin an affair. The affair forces Nazneen to begin the process of self discovery. In the aftermath of 9/11, and against a background of increasing racial tension, she finally makes a choice, much to the surprise of Karim, Chanu and herself!

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it. I have not seen the movie so I cannot comment on it but it got good reviews from Margaret Pomeranz (3 ½ stars) and David Stratton (3 ½ stars) (for non Aussie readers of this blog, they are one of Australia’s top movie reviewers). You can see their review HERE.

BOOK/DVD REVIEW: THE THORN BIRDS (ENGLISH) BY COLLEEN McCULLOUGH

What I did yesterday and today was watch ‘The Thorn Birds’ miniseries DVD (adapted from Colleen McCullough’s book of the same title) with my eldest daughter. I had forgotten how good the miniseries is, for I first watched it when it was released on TV3 in Malaysia in 1983. Richard Chamberlain and Bryan Brown are sooo cute in the show (although they are looking quite over the hill now). And the best thing of all, all the juicy bits are intact! There is no censorship. Both mother and daughter balled their eyes out.

Anyway the DVD went for 8 hours but it was worth it. However, I do have one complaint. Initially I was upset with the American accent as it did not seem right that an aussie book and an aussie backdrop had American actors playing the lead roles. When I first watched the show in Malaysia, I did not know any better. But watching it the second time, I felt ripped off. But I soon got over it. So, if you are interested in watching the show again, you can buy the DVD from Dick Smith’s for AUD$19.95 (I bought it last Sunday).

I am now on the quest to find another of Colleen’s stories that has been made into a movie – Tim - which I believe stars Mel Gibson in the title role. Wish me luck in my endeavour!