boyhood:scenes from provincial life - j.m.coetzee

Coetzee is one of the authors that i like to go back to, for the simplicity with which complex issues are unfolded in his understated style.

the current book looks at the 'boyhood' of the author. 

distanced in time, forty years later, he brings to bear his wisdom to untangle his vivid childhood memories for our benefit and describes it in the third person.  

the contradictions of childhood is one of the running themes - the child Coetzee is petrified that his beloved mother,Dinny, will die and at the same morbidly fascinated by the thought of her death.

his father has many virtues but each has an embarrassing qualification- 'an attorney but one who no longer practises, a soldier but only a lance corporal, a rugby player but only for the Gardens second team, he plays cricket but for the Worcester second team which no one bothers to watch'. he hates his father's personal habits, is unable to work out the position of his father in the household.

he is a self absorbed child who spends long hours with his Meccanno set, his stamp collection and reading books which he borrows from the library - when he is unwell enough to skip school, he forces his mother to visit the library and borrow books so that he may read it in bed.

his school is another of those contradictions. his life in school is a secret which he does not share at home just as his life at home- he is from a strange and unnatural family- is a secret not shared in school . he comes first in class, his conduct is rated 'very good' and his progress 'excellent' . he has never been caned in school and is ready to kill himself if he were to be ever flogged. but at the same time feels left out in class, since he cannot discuss with the other boys the relative merits of different canes used by the teachers, the character of the cane and the quality of pain that they inflict. for this he blames his mother since she has never beaten him.

coetzee loved visiting the farm where his father grew up and where his uncle currently lived. he confesses that he is twice-born: once born of his mother and again of his grandfather's farm. he feels he belongs to the farm. this part of the narrative in the book has echoes of 'life and times of michael k' by coetzee. in that book the narrator, hibernates under the shade of a rock and revels in the solitude. one is reminded of the same solitude, vast expanse of space in the description of the farm in 'boyhood'. he feels safe, secure during the time he spends on the farm. the boy coetzee also describes various activities associated with sheep - their sheering which is done by a team which goes from one farm to the next and creates a festive atmosphere; the casatration of sheep; and the killing and gutting of sheep. it is a very cruel description but one can again relate to it as childhood memories which tend to be devoid of judgement.

the book revolves around coetzee's relationship with his mother and how she was constantly on his mind. it made me pause and reflect on how my actions are perceived by my son, whether every mother is a touchstone forever for the childs' world view....

an extremly lucid but crisp recital of vivid childhood memories by a master.

aunt julia and the scriptwriter - mario vargas llosa

The book is a semi-auto-biographical narrative by mario vargas llosa.
what i found charming is the structure of the novel itself. the title to each chapter is the beginning of the sentence in the same chapter. the story moves back and forth between the radio serial stories and the tumultous events in the life of the teenage mario. the first such story about  doctor alberto quinteros was really like a teaser- i kept looking through all the chapters for the next events in the life of alberto, red antunez, richard and elianita. i could then locate only a one word reference to richard in 'the bard of lima'towards the end of the novel!!

it was only later that i realised that it was the magic of pedro camacho which had kept me so engrossed and i believe this is what holds the entire novel together. pedro the scriptwriter for the brilliantly successful serials of the radio station panamericana, with his absurd habits, ingenious plot line is the one who comes across as more real than mario and aunt julia.

the gradual way in which mario and julia 'fall in love' is also interesting- both are acutely aware of their age differences, family disapproval, lack of funds for setting up their home, budding dreams of a teenager waiting to be fulfilled...
Despite their reality, they pursue their 'love'and marry each other in the most absurd of circumstances. Their 'love' is not one of turtle-doves and cherubs, but one more rooted in the physical world, and therefore more lustful than what is generally associated with 'love'.

julia comes across as a light hearted woman who has retained a youthful outlook to life which is reflected in her meetings with mario without the knowledge of the other family members, her willingness to elope with mario, happily going through the series of misadventures after she elopes and till they finally find a mayor to conduct their marriage.

the stories are so rich in detail and seem to have lost nothing in translation. i could actually view in my minds-eye, the landscape of the desert where the sales man runs over the girl, the shack in the jungle where where rats ate up the baby, the harbour where the negro hides, the crushed spectators in the football field, the wedding reception that was attended by dr alberto quinteros, the buddng charm of the young teenager born to very old parents, who cried 'rape', the ruthless way in which the rat exterminator was beaten up by his family....

an amusing read and a very good introduction to the works of mario vargas llosa.

the gospel according to jesus christ - jose saramago

this is an unusual book on christ that i have recently read. it has a distinct narrative style, which i subsequently wanted to emulate. in the book, there are no chapter numbers or names. there is no punctuation except the comma and the full stop. the comma is used to indicate start and end of conversations, thoughts that the characters have and the description of the places.

it describes the life of christ as a very ordinary individual with just a passion for seeking God. But even in that pursuit it shows Christ to be full of doubts. The narrative of Christ's life with his parents, with his siblings, in a civilisation which is struggling under the yoke of the Romans is so vivid that it is necessary to continuously remind oneself- this is a book on THE Jesus Christ. There is nothing so sacred or so profane that it it becomes out-of-bounds for discussion in the book.

There is also a chapter devoted to a brilliant conversation between the Devil and God himself. This is the forty days when Christ was lost in the mists of the Sea of Galilee.This chapter where Christ speaks to God, with the Devil also invited, is a very thought provoking one. In the course of the discussion, the Devil proposes that for the word of God to spread to all corners of earth, God should receive the Devil into his heavenly kingdom, redeem the Devil's past offences by those he would not commit in the future, that God should also accept and preserve the Devil's obedience as it was in the happy days when the Devil was one of god's chosen angels -Lucifer. however God refuses the offer and tells the Devil that it is inconcevable that Good can exist without the Devil, the death of one would mean the death of the other, and that unless the Devil lived like the Devil, God cannot live like God.
God also predicts the manner in which Jesus Christ and his followers will die, as well as hundreds of thousands of people through the centuries who would be put to death because they believe in God - not because they will doubt Him. And the Devil says that one has to be God to enjoy so much bloodshed.

What i liked the most is the candid manner in which the foundations of christianity are discussed and questioned. there is no feeling of awe in the prescence of God which inhibits one's thought. It reminds me of the genius poet Kalidas, who prayed to Godess Kali till she appeared before him and offered him a boon. Kalidasa then said that he wanted both wit and wealth to make his way in the world, pleased by his boldness, Kali called him a 'vikatakavi' and granted him two boons instead of one.

a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in Jesus Christ.