Arzee The Dwarf

April 23, 2013 Leave a comment

arzee_the_dwarfArzee The Dwarf

by Chandrahas Choudhury | 184 Pages | Genre: Fiction| Publisher: HarperCollins India| Year: 2009 | My Rating: 8/10

“I am myself in my thoughts too much,
I seek recourse to myself too soon,
My days don’t stand up without a crutch,
I sing my own song out of tune.
I stand before the mirror too long,
Stare big at the eyes that return my gaze,
My shadow seems to me more strong
Than my shrunken heart, that lonely place.
My worries hang about me like clouds,
And my creditors they come calling,
My being is riven by spooks and doubts,
The walls of my house are falling.
In mine own alleys I traipse and turn,
Dreamlike I float through nights and days,
I watch the hours slowly burn,
And do not leave on time my trace.
I myself speak and myself hear,
And myself act and myself see,
My own self extends far and near,
And so I cannot myself be.”

– Chandrahas Choudhury, Arzee The Dwarf

In his debut novel, Chandrahas Choudhury has skillfully captured the nuances of intimate life and dreams of Arzee, who’s a midget, working at an old cinema hall in Mumbai as a deputy projectionist. Even though all the thirteen chapters revolve around him and he’s the protagonist of this novel, Choudhury has not projected him as a larger-than-life hero, which makes his world as interesting as that of a common man, yet one cannot stop feeling sympathy for that man whose all troubles stem from him being a midget or a dwarf. So much so that the characters around him forget his last name Gandhi, and instead address him as ‘Arzee the dwarf’. The beauty of this books lies in its prolific prose and colloquial dialogues portraying time and space, old world charm portrayed through the dying Noor cinema and modern day problems of love, money, and self-image, the memorable characters that even ‘The Babur’ the projection machine, which is Indian mutation of its German name Bauer seems to breath life. The novel ends without a definite ending as if Choudhury was overcautious to continue, leaving the readers to decipher it themselves about the new turns Arzee’s life is to take.

This novel full of pathos and pragmatism is my Read of the Week.

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No Country for Old Men

April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

countryGenre: Thriller/Crime | Year: 2007 | Duration: 122 mins | Director: Ethan & Joen Coen| Medium: VCD (BIG Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating:5*/5*

Fav Dialogue: “Nervous Accountant: Are you going to shoot me?
Anton: That depends. Do you see me?”

This movie is a pitch-perfect thriller that delivers the intended fear and suspense, and at the same time the directorial brilliance thrashes the conventions of the genre. No doubt it won four Oscars, including best film & best director! The film starts with Llewelyn (Josh Brolin) hunting in West Texas when he comes across a drug deal gone bad, a wounded mexican, dead dogs and men, and 2 million dollars in a black satchel bag. He’s throughout chased by Anton (Javier Bardem), a psychopath hitman hired to recover the money, who uses a captive bolt pistol as his choicest weaponry for killing. Sherrif Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) is investigating the case of a string of murders by Anton, who plans to retire from active service as he feels over & outmatched. Anton kills Llewelyn, and visits Llewelyn’s wife for a pledge that he had.

This film, which is a faithful adaptation of McCarthy’s novel, and is full of pessimism, nihilism and nervous dark humor, is my “Movie of the Day.”

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Loot

April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

Loot1LOOT and other Stories

by Nadine Gordimer | 237 Pages | Genre: Short Stories| Publisher: bloomsbury | Year: 2004 | Rating: 9/10

Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer explores tragedy and opportunity through the lives of a town’s survivors of an earthquake through the story ‘Loot’, which has the most lyrical narrative among the rest. Loot explores the greed and avarice of people when the ocean bed is bare with treasures, and people are ready to go to extremes to possess others memories. In the end the story takes on a political undertone setting the mood for the entire collection of stories.

My most favorite story in the collection is ‘The Generation Gap’, a sexual allegory of romance and responsibilities, youth and age. It has four grown-up children srambling the lives after their father end the relationship of 42 years and leaves their mother for another woman their age. What follows is an upheaval of the dynamics of their old life; familiar roles and definitions are changed, relationship lines are redrawn. I liked its almost-detached reportage quality of narration, an outsider’s view of a very personal matter, and  that the story never declines into melodrama despite its very nature.

The other stories that I truly enjoyed are ‘Karma’ and ‘Look-Alikes’. This uncomfortably beautiful and wittingly startling book is ‘My Read of the Week’.

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The Photographer

April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

9781596433755The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders

by Emmanuel Guibert, Frederic Lemercier and Didier Lefevre
267 Pages | Genre: Graphic Novel | Publisher: First Second | Year: 2009 | Rating: 8.5/10

In 1986, French photojournalist Didier Lefèvre documented the efforts of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in Afghanistan, which was torn apart by a war with USSR. This graphic novel is a record of his arduous journey along with the Doctors across Afghanistan and presents a powerful story of a mission dedicated to mending the wounds of war. I like the presentation style of using real B/W photographs and comic book illustrations & dialogues by Emmanuel Guibert based on the notes taken during the journey.

This incredibly brilliant graphic novel is my “Read of the Week”.

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Almost Famous

April 15, 2013 Leave a comment

famousGenre: Drama| Year: 2000 | Duration: 122 mins | Director: Cameron Crowe| Medium: DVD (BIG Home Video) | Trailer: HERE | My rating: 4*/5*

Fav Dialogue: “William Miller: I love you. And I’m about to boldly go where… many men have gone before”

This movie views the rock scene in in 70s through a nostalgic lens, yet not a hitting expose` or a tell-all story of the music era. The story is inspred by Cameron’s own experiences as a teeage music journalist, is about a 15 years old boy, willim Miller (Michael Angarano, and later Patrick Fugit) in 1973 going on a road trip with an upcoming rock & roll band, Stillwater.  For William, the trip with the band is about exploring his sexuality and learning how to live outside of his mother’s protective umbrella. In the process, he loses his virginity, rejects the drug scene, forms a few lasting friendships, and saves a life. He falls for a band groupie, Penny Lane (Kate Husdon) who already has a ‘thing’ going with one of the lead singers of Stillwater, Russell. The film’s ecstatic atmosphere is only briefly interrupted by the sense of longing that is associated with first love and the pain that accompanies the inevitable separation between a child and a parent.

Almost famous with its sheer exuberance is my ‘Movie of the Day’.

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