“...character isn’t destiny anymore.”

I finally finished reading Salman Rushdie’s much controversial work, ‘The Satanic Verses’. I must go on record to say that it is one of the densest texts I have read with such rich imagery, a plethora of references relating the present to the history to mythology, and an abundance of subtext. 

Even if you haven’t read the book, I am sure you have heard enough of it, though it was written and published more than 20 years ago. The reason it is banned in many countries, including India, was ofcourse the most compelling motive for me to get my hands on it. 

Having read Midnight’s Children, I was prepared for the characteristic Rushdie, complete with magical realism, frame narrative and the allegories. In terms of sheer literary technique, it cannot be doubted that The Satanic Verses proves Rushdie’s virtuosity and catapults him to the highest league of writers that have been and will ever be.  

There are umpteen references on the WWW, including Wikipedia, as to what the book is about, what are the blasphemous references, and what has been the take of various peoples and countries over the decades. So, I won’t delve into that.

My personal take is that an organized thwarting of any work is not correct in a free, civilized society. Let people write, paint and say what they what, and you decide whether you want to read, see or hear it. Why should you give that power of choice to state machinery?

In the case of The Satanic Verses, from the very title to some key chunk of the text is quite obviously blasphemous. There is no denying that some conservative groups must have found it genuinely offensive but then there is no claim made that this is a religious text. It should be evaluated for its literary worth. Anyways, each one to his and her own but what I feel is that a lot of people are missing on the other larger and very poignant points that Rushdie makes in his novel. In all this hullaballoo, the main text and motive seem to have been lost on the masses. And that is a real tragedy for The Satanic Verses.

Rushdie so evocatively weaves words together to bring out the serious danger the society faces due to closed and absolutist belief systems (call it, religion, if you may); the identity crisis that is brought not only by physical immigration but an alienation from within even though you may be “close” to your roots; how we conform and compromise as we live through the years, and how the reality of all of it strikes at the time of death. 

“…… mingling with the remnants of the plane, equally fragmented, equally absurd, there floated the debris of the soul, broken memories, sloughed-off selves, severed mother-tongues, violated privacies, untranslatable jokes, extinguished futures, lost loves, the forgotten meaning of hollow, booming words, land, belonging home.”

One can’t help feel but awe at the way in which Rushdie begins the book, with an existential question, “How does newness come into the world? How is it born?” And then a sort-of-resolution at the closing, “If the old refused to die, the new could not be born”.

The schizophrenic character of the good, the salvaged being of the bad, and the complete subversion of “essentials” provides, throughout the novel, an interesting interchanging play of good and bad, write and wrong, farishta and shaitan – that surely is the overarching binding (and winning) theme.

Finally, the aspect of the novel that reached out to me most forcefully was how Rushdie brings in the universal angst and skepticism of “today”. There is a famous Greek saying, “Character is destiny”. And we all would like to believe that. And it should be true if we were living in utopia. However, we all have learnt directly and indirectly that life isn’t fair and ideal; and Rushdie beautifully sums it up in this paragraph from The Satanic Verses:

“In this century history stopped paying attention to the old psychological orientation of reality. I mean, these days, character isn’t destiny anymore. Economics is destiny. Ideology is destiny. Bombs are destiny. What does a famine, a gas chamber, a grenade care how you lived your life? Crisis comes, death comes, and your pathetic individual self doesn’t have a thing to do with it, only to suffer the effect”.

[Image Source: Google Images]

The Marriage Plot

Now, this novel by a one-time Pulitzer Prize winner American author, Jeffrey Eugenides, caught my attention in the public library in town for one simple reason – I had not heard about the author or the book at all; it fell in the attractive “new and un-recommended” (as against recommended or not recommended) category :P.

The verdict? The Marriage Plot makes a very interesting read - interesting not in the sense that it cannot be understood (:D) - but interesting in the sense that it challenges your own intellectual background and reading.

Set in the early 1980s, in the context of the global economic recession, the novel traces the lives, during the one year after school, of three undergraduates at the Brown University, the then emerging hot bed for post modernism. 

Interestingly, the female protagonist is an English major who finds it tough to make the leap from outdated Victorian sentimentalism to the ragingly fashionable semiotics – Caught in the times when Jane Austen had become passé, and Derrida had come to be in vogue.

As an English Lit grad myself, I found myself empathizing with Madeleine, every time she exasperated on discourses on deconstruction and post structuralism. I remember sitting in my literary theory classes trying to decipher Foucault and wondering where had gone all the texts that could be understood in one simple reading!

In this ‘semiotically’ charged backdrop, the two male protagonists – Leonard, a charming Darwinist, and Mitchell, a religious scholar, court careers, confusion, existential crisis, undergrad life, dope, mental and emotional extremes, and Madeleine. To call this a love triangle, would be not only overly simplistic but against the very grain of the novel.

The Marriage Plot is about the death of the 'marriage plot' as existed in the seemingly romantic and uncomplicated times of the nineteenth century. Through the novel, and the so many failed marriage plots inherent in it, the author seems to ask the retrospective question – faced with the realities of feminism, sexual freedom, prenuptials and divorces - are we in an age sans of any great majestic love stories? 

Through the three characters, Eugenides brings out the intellectual angst representative of the world we live in today. Madeleine is devastated as Barthes deconstructs the very notion of love and even more so when Leonard quotes from the very book to respond to her declaration of love. 

Leonard has a complex layer of grey matter that plays hide and seek with him and in a way writes the destiny of all three of them. 

Mitchell is confused about most things – his love and the lack of it, religious mysticism, Nietzsche, his true calling and the meaning of life. His anti-proposal is a crucial aspect to the marriage plot – concealing its fate completely. 

In its commentary of the coming of the new age – as confused and as angst ridden it may be – Eugenides does a fantastic job – And I feel there is also exactly where the book fails as a work of pure fiction. Maybe it was never intended to be so. 

The characters, seemingly real, fail to appeal to you as people in flesh and blood. I failed to emotionally connect with any of them, as usually would be the case in a typical novel. At least, the two male leads show some kind of progression or regression – but in the case of Madeleine, there does not seem to be a movement – no journey – and apparently no growth – in that sense, the characters are not well carved. 

The scholarly didacticism takes over the story telling – the focus is on literary commentary, and the lives of the protagonists a context to experiment with and prove the theories. 

I would recommend this book to people who keenly follow literary theories and emerging philosophies – for the pure genius of contextuality that the author weaves in a highly readable and fast paced novel. This one’s not for those looking for a tale with vivid characterization and a plot that binds and progresses.

Tagged: Why I Read!

Tagged by Aparna here to do a post on why I read.

My first reaction was this would be a breeze cos I do read a lot, but getting down to it, I am at a loss of reasons really.

I don’t even remember when I started reading or if ever it was a conscious decision.

For as long as I can remember I have derived the distinct pleasure that only books can give. Maybe it comes from my mom – she introduced us to the joy of reading way way back.

A voracious reader from childhood, I had graduated from Noddys and Enid Blytons to first abridged and then very soon unabridged classical and semi classical literature much before an average child my age – As soon I was done with Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys in Class 5 and 6 , I was onto Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, and the likes.

An English literature degree was the ultimate treat as I was exposed to so many authors from different periods and geographies. The education in literary criticism and appreciation brought a whole new dimension to the act of ‘reading’.

Though thanks to the IT madness I have gotten myself into, I do not get to spend as much time and energy as I would like for reading, books remain my greatest passion.

Reading opens up new horizons, new perspectives – it broadens your thinking – making you a more holistic and inclusive individual – the awareness of the world in the sense of its diversity is a revelation in itself.

And so I continue to read to...

…fuel my fantasies and imaginative flights

…forget my worldly worries

…learn about the varied cultures, countries and peoples

…be able to understand contexts better

...appreciate the beautiful weaving of words that create linguistic magic

I read an assortment of genres – none to specify as my favorite – but as a rule I like what people usually call “heavy reading”. I like detailed, long, drawn out accounts with an overplay of drama and emotions :)!

In keeping with the tradition of “The Tag”, tagging a few co-bloggers who I feel would have something interesting to talk about…

- Keerthana

- Susan

- Sameera

- Bikramjit

- Aastha

So, waiting to hear from you guys – do this if you have the time! And if somebody else wants to pick this tag too – most welcome – point me to your post when you are done!

[Image source: Google Images]

My Feudal Lord

My Feudal Lord is an autobiography of a woman that transcends the geographical, religious, political and societal context it is based in. Though it is the story of Tehmina Durrani, a member of the Pakistani elite society, set in the highly volatile political milieu of the 1970s, 80s, against the backdrop of a highly radical Islamic community – it is first and foremost the tale of a woman caught in a predominantly patriarchal world that is unfair to her because of her gender and makes her pay dearly for actions that she chooses of her free will.

Though being a Muslim does not help Tehmina’s inherent rebellious streak, her situation is exponentially compounded by her specific background – her rather complicated childhood and problematical relationship with her mother, her latent inferiority complexes, her need to prove her self as a lady befitting the highest echelons of the social pyramid, the tug of war between her hopeful heart and her strong mind, and the final straw – her abusive and traumatic marriage to Ghulam Mustafa Khar, the then Chief Minster and later Governor of Punjab, Pakistan.

Tehmina goes back and forth in time as she constructs the very painful narrative of the 13 years of her marriage in a feudal, woman-baiting society to none other than the Feudal Lord himself. Her silence breaking indictment of the curse that a woman’s life was in the post-colonial era in Pakistan is gruesome, bloody and highly graphical. A victim of domestic abuse – physical, financial, and emotional abuse, a victim of a repressive and racial social structure, a victim of the family need to “keep up” appearances for the sake of social stature, a victim of her own super ego that forces her to mould into the vile of the predominant social ethos, it is rather admiring that Tehmina finally gathers the courage to expose to the world the frailties of the veiled homes.

The book makes you shudder in disbelief at the schizophrenic Mustafa Khar – who is irrationally possessive, insanely aggressive and sick in his highly convenient interpretation of Islam to suit his whims and fancies. Your heart goes out to Tehmina as she tries time and again to break the shackles of marriage only to be each time placated for another chance, by Khar who would resort to every trick the male-dominated and oppressive community bestows him with – subtle manipulation, playing on her insecurities, blackmailing to kidnap her children and open threats of violence.

What is most endearing about Tehmina is that here is a woman against whom the worst profanities have been committed mostly in the name of Islam, yet she is not bitter against the religion. She embraces Islam understanding its true spirit and teachings. The subverted interpretation of the religion by fanatics for their own selfish interests has not disillusioned her. She has picked up the pieces of her life, learnt her lessons, and strives to work for the betterment of Muslim women. Now married to Shahbaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif, she has been reunited with her children whose custody she lost because of the divorce with Mustafa Khar.

Inside The Kingdom

Inside The Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia is the true story of a woman born in the western world to mixed parenthood and married to a Saudi Arabian hailing from none other than the much known Bin Laden family – this is a tale of the innocence of childhood, the defining moments of youth and love, the saga that is marriage, the pain that motherhood brings, the bitterness of dreams that go sour when faced with the recklessness of reality.

However, this is not simply one of the many hapless stories of broken marriages and international divorces that are tough on women – this is a narrative convoluted by the clash of religions, beliefs, and faiths – this is the life of Carmen Bin Ladin, sister-in-law of the world’s most dreaded terrorist.

Carmen is a Swiss national now residing in Geneva post her divorce with Yeslam Bin Ladin. Inside The Kingdom chronicles snapshots from Carmen’s life, in her words. She talks about her growing up years in Europe – her strained relationship with her Swiss father and her exotic vacations to her mom’s Persian home in Iran. She lovingly recalls how she fell in love with Yeslam - his commanding presence, his alluring roots, his belief in equality of partners in a relationship, his intelligence. Her fond memories of their time together in California, US and the big fat wedding in Saudi Arabia convince the readers of her assurance of a life of fulfilling love and empowering freedom.

Life is a bubble balanced on swords – and unfortunately, Carmen’s bubble broke. The oil boom in the Middle East in the mid 1970s compelled Yeslam to move back to Saudi Arabia in order to take advantage of all the money that was waiting to be made. And thus, started the long and arduous journey of Carmen – the black cloak or burqa, the thick veil, the walls within homes, the eyes that never meet, the suffocating shadows, the deafening silences, the blatant disregard for individualism, and finally the fervent and fanatic reverence of Islam that threatened to annihilate Carmen and her beautiful daughters.

The final straw to her 11-year marriage was the disintegration of her only pillar of strength – her husband, Yeslam. As his personal traits and attitude collided with the radical Islamism and complicated family politics, his weakness to stand by his wife and daughters against the established system came to the fore.

The book published in 2004 is Carmen’s attempt to distance herself form the “Bin Laden” name that had become a curse for her and her daughters in light of the 9/11 attacks in the US. She was compelled to come out in the open to state her severed ties with the family of 22 wives, 29 daughters and 25 sons – of which Osama Bin Laden was one.

Sadly, her struggle is not over. Though legally divorced in 2006 after a bitter long battle, Carmen still worries about her daughters’ well-being given Yeslam’s constant threats of abduction. Unfortunately, Yeslam holds a Swiss passport in order to keep in touch with his children.

This book is a must read for all of us who are so smug in the cobwebs of our everyday living, so entangled in our small worlds that we forget to thank god for our blessed lives, forget to cherish what we have, and forget to pray for others...

(The lives of women in Saudi Arabia remain deplorable even in today’s times – While modern amenities are making their way to the region, the people continue to steep deeper into the harshest form of Islam – that derived from the Bedouin practices. The power nexus that oil, money, dependence of the western world on Saudia Arabia, and the failure of milder forms of Islam as, for example, preached by the Shah of Iran is blood curdling. Jean Sasson has written a trilogy on the life of a Saudi princess – This is also a true account. You can read about it in my post here.)