tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237273472012-02-01T06:09:29.494+05:30<i>I prefer perplexity, doubt, uncertainty, not just because it provides a more 'productive' literary raw material, but because that is the way we humans really are.</i> -Jose SaramagoMadhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.comBlogger2021100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-70431750713463399342012-02-01T06:00:00.001+05:302012-02-01T06:09:29.510+05:30

There is no dearth of people who have read David Foster Wallace or DFW. His works have been looked and re-looked and re-re-looked into several times over for clues to understanding modern/post-modern lives. His iconic work Infinite Jest has appeared in at least 50 of the articles I have read since I subscribed to some literary magazines in my Google reader feed. The reason I still did not pick up

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-90724106805916545082012-01-28T15:47:00.008+05:302012-01-28T17:41:29.238+05:30

The Singapore National Museum Cinematheque and Mexican embassy in the country is running a short program on Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. During this period, they are show-casing some moveis from Mexico made during the period 1936 to 1969, which is labeled as the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, when some of the finest movies came out of the country.I have so far watched two movies during the

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-89265411170005537182011-12-14T14:46:00.005+05:302011-12-14T14:55:54.930+05:30

Alejandro Zamba's Bonsai is a short book. I needed the comfort of brevity after reading Patrick White's Voss, which goes on for considerable pages, and perhaps says less than what Bonsai says in less than a quarter ink.Sometimes you like a book because it manages to haunt you with thoughts that you did not have earlier. But often, you like a book because it resonates with some of your own

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-62274705031451045152011-11-03T08:05:00.003+05:302011-11-03T14:07:43.212+05:30

Reading Natalia Ginzburg felt like watching a neo-realist movie by De-Sica. Despite being placed in the backdrop of the war (1939-44), it is still focused on the life of people, and keeps itself slightly distant from political agendas. Instead, you are forced to know individual characters, understand their worldview, even sympathize with their stupidities.All our yesterdays is about the children

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-46203274894658650342011-09-29T09:16:00.006+05:302011-09-29T10:17:41.380+05:30

After months of wait, I finally got to see Terrence Mallick's new masterpiece - Tree of Life. It is never good to see a movie with too much expectation, and I had carefully avoided reading much about this work. So, when the movie unfolded into an orchestra of Universal creation, I was astounded. I was not expecting an hour of a musical journey taking me through the creation of life. That anyone

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-43227953099610574302011-09-12T13:20:00.003+05:302011-09-12T13:28:52.328+05:30

Loving Sabotage by Amélie NothombMy rating: 4 of 5 starsNothomb's short novel is a curious work. It is the story of a child, narrated by herself, but filtered through growing up. Filtered here does not mean filter out,because Nothomb does not really filter out her thoughts, obsessions and world view of childhood as she writes this. But she lets some of the latter experiences seep into the tale, a

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-32103316134978727092011-09-06T07:45:00.002+05:302011-09-06T08:30:10.445+05:30

Someday I would like to write an essay on the title above. Someday soon I hope. It's just that I do not have the mindset of a literary student, and have not written essays since high School. But there is something so characteristic about Marias' writing and his penchant for elongating a tragic/unpleasant situation which begs writing about. He wrings out the misery, repetitively and pulls it out

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-34422481431781057892011-08-19T21:32:00.005+05:302011-08-19T22:09:48.253+05:30

This is one of those how to kind of posts that I never write. But considering the amount of trouble I went through in getting my iphone legally unlocked, I have to make a note of this. Also considering how I have never written How-to posts, this will probably read less like one and more like my horror story. Somewhere beginning of last year, I purchased an iPhone 3G in India. At the time, the

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-90307050096231957642011-08-18T08:33:00.004+05:302011-09-07T07:39:21.831+05:30

I have seldom stayed long in a place ever since I left my hometown. Every few years, I pack some stuff into a Suitcase, reach a new place and hope to begin a new life. When it is time to leave (inevitable), I realize my suitcase has grown several folds, and I have to disperse this excess baggage. What follow are Garage sales, throwaways, gifts to friends/college juniors/housemaids, and

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-83927127971318057272011-06-06T15:08:00.005+05:302011-06-06T18:59:49.151+05:30

Some time ago, in my post about the book 'The Discoverer', I mentioned discovering a few good reads in translation through Three Percent's Annual "Best Translated Book Award". I have continued to find great reads through this source, be it Confessions of Noa Weber, or Memories of the Future and now this year's winner - Tove Jansson's The True Deceiver.Tove Jansson was a Finnish writer, who wrote

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-65984989324434979112011-05-30T16:06:00.001+05:302011-05-30T16:12:26.588+05:30

From time to time, I like to come back to Japanese writing, mostly to float in its ethereal world as against walking the more defined (and often harsh) ground of European writing. Besides, there are times in life when Memento Mori needs to be refreshed , and to do this, Mishima's words are a good place to go to.The Temple of Dawn is the third part of the Sea of Fertility tetralogy written by

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-65604263698345608112011-04-06T19:52:00.005+05:302011-04-08T08:41:54.573+05:30

'In my film, time is shattered', says Resnais of his first full-length fictional film Hiroshima Mon Amour. I don't think this statement is as true of this film as it is of Last year at Marienbad (where time seems to explode and be everywhere), but time does fold on itself in this poignant film of memory, loss, war and love.A French woman is shooting for a film in Hiroshima, and a day before

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-64420902613311326532011-03-23T01:10:00.003+05:302011-03-23T01:19:12.103+05:30

In the last couple of years, I have begun to enjoy photography more and more. Though I still carry my camera mostly on travel (and thus almost never capture Mumbai through this eye), I have learned a little more than what I knew two years ago when I picked up my first DSLR.Although still a bit premature, I think I can dabble with a photoblog now, which is what I am attempting to do at Memento

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-4599737668117163942011-02-22T10:47:00.003+05:302011-02-22T10:56:26.257+05:30

He watches, but what he sees isn't real to him. Too much traveling and placelessness have put him outside everything, so that history happens elsewhere, it has nothing to do with him. He is only passing through. May be horror is felt more easily from home. This is both a redemption and an affliction, he doesn't carry any abstract moral burdens, but their absence is represented for him by the

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-7372312434177063842011-02-16T16:51:00.002+05:302011-02-16T17:00:54.695+05:30

"Have you noticed", she asked the girl, "that the left are always drab? When I was in the Party they thought I was frivolous. They did not trust me because of my dresses."......"They dressed like they had no hope. It is capitalism, I told them, that is bleak, not socialism. When there is a revolution the people should wear wonderful clothes, streamers, flags, balloons. It should be full of

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-67541170253421843862011-01-31T10:13:00.004+05:302011-01-31T10:18:35.283+05:30

I agree with the sentiments expressed by many people - this book would never have been published except to cash in on Bolano's posthumous popularity. Nevertheless, it brings out a candid Bolano, and some of the interviews are more conversations between writers, and hence enjoyable. The least inspiring conversation in the book is the Last Interview where Mónica Maristain asks Bolano some

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-47451073497258863632011-01-24T09:33:00.003+05:302011-01-24T09:42:14.583+05:30

Sebald's already immortal book Rings of Saturn is being further etched into a visual medium. Grant Gee has made a movie on the book, Patience (After Sebald), which is premiering on January 28th. More on the movie can be seen here.This picture, taken by Grant Gee, seems like a beautiful introduction to the walking journey Sebald took. I cannot wait to see the film, but getting my hands on the film

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-36460327311267522672011-01-13T19:22:00.000+05:302011-01-13T19:24:01.378+05:30

I started reading this book somewhere in April last year, then abandoned it due to travel schedules, and have been reading it amidst different books since last month. A long drawn read sometimes hampers a reading experience, but not when the book has been written with as much clarity as Czeslaw Milosz has accorded the Captive Mind.Milosz, a Polish writer, lived through the Warsaw uprising of 1944

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-12701603326841743952011-01-07T18:00:00.001+05:302011-01-07T18:01:55.073+05:30

This is one of the most heartbreaking, yet perfect endings in cinema. The ruin of a life, abandon and infinite pain. I visited Angkorwat recently, and kept going back to this moment of acute melancholy and perfection in those ruins.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-23145484691047648702010-12-14T10:11:00.002+05:302010-12-14T10:31:50.071+05:30

The past few weekends have been very busy and I have only found time for a few movies - I decided to make those films noir to get the maximum out of the time spent. I love the genre - mainly for its terribly stylish heroes and the very twisted plots. I also love the dark shots of cities and vintage cars zooming around. Of course some may like the femme fatale best but I am not inclined that way.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-34840437612593776312010-12-13T09:56:00.003+05:302010-12-13T10:09:29.651+05:30

Its the time of the year when yearly favorites come out. I like to indulge in this game once in a while, but most of the time it is hard to play favorites. However, this year a cover of one of the books I have been reading stands out above all the rest I have come across: The Captive Mind by Czeslaw Milosz. I am afraid I could not find a better picture on the internet and will have to click my

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-44391867871669091752010-11-12T16:44:00.000+05:302010-11-12T16:44:04.370+05:30

What a beautiful baritone, Matt Berninger!

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-44722549611935390572010-11-01T11:48:00.005+05:302010-11-01T16:04:47.865+05:30

Llosa has written on a variety of themes. In the books of his that I have read, he has created history in War of the end of the World, attempted a commentary on mindless violence of Latin America in Death in the Andes, sympathized with cultures vanishing into civilization in The Story-teller. And now, I read one in which he has presented comically a rebellious phase of his life.Aunt Julia and the

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-32973218801214487232010-10-14T10:26:00.002+05:302010-10-14T11:41:10.827+05:30

I finished reading the book in week2; it is hard to slow down your pace when the book is cruising along splendidly.As I had said, the book is pretentious in places, but enjoyable mostly. Once Ludo, the genius son takes over the narration, the broken sentences disappear, and the cyclic, repeating nature of the book becomes more pronounced. Sibylla appears only in conversations with her son, and

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-89658937343549792872010-10-08T09:36:00.005+05:302010-10-08T09:45:04.513+05:30

The theme of this year's Nobels seems to be awarding men who long ago made their claims to the prize, were ignored, and then suddenly have been picked out of the old pile.But it is nevertheless a delight to see Mr. Mario Vargas Llosa claim the prize. I have admittedly read very few Nobel-prize winning writers before they won the Nobel (I was in the middle of 'Snow when Pamuk was announced as the

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-17410234018218768862010-09-29T23:22:00.002+05:302010-09-30T00:09:43.268+05:30

The Last Samurai is one book, which, even without clearly knowing what post-modernism is, I can call post-modern with some conviction. It has so many stylistic elements that could have never been found in traditional literature. The perspective changes in the middle of the book, there are many stories and anecdotes in the book, and Kurosawa's Seven Samurai always keeps holding the background.The

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-33034513155911969692010-09-29T23:16:00.004+05:302010-09-30T11:04:53.510+05:30

Naipaul's Middle Passage begins with the description of his ship journey to his birthplace- Trinidad. This was probably the first travelogue that Naipaul wrote, and perhaps that's why the book is written in the way of a typical travel account - a journey starts and then gets to the destination. Funny incidents, people, anecdotes line it along.The description of the ship journey is mildly tedious.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-24403962374808819222010-09-22T14:09:00.002+05:302010-09-22T15:22:20.937+05:30

At Conversational Reading, a rather interesting blog on World Literature, a second book read is happening. Their last book read was Javier Marias' famous trilogy'Your Face Tomorrow' - and it was this book read that prompted me to pick up the book myself. The current read is an interesting book by an American Author Helen Dewitt, called The Last Samurai. The book is about a single mother, bringing

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-30186643070998433602010-09-21T23:09:00.006+05:302010-09-21T23:29:48.951+05:30

Sebald's On Natural History of Destruction is a collection of essays on German literature and its handling of World War II incidents. The four essays in this book are:Air War and Literature, based on lectures given in Zürich in 1997Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: On Alfred AnderschAgainst the Irreversible: On Jean AméryThe Renorse of the Heart: On Memory and Cruelty in the Works of Peter

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-2947383711260766952010-09-01T10:26:00.000+05:302010-09-01T10:27:44.694+05:30

Your Face Tomorrow, Volume Two: Dance and Dream by Javier MaríasMy rating: 5 of 5 starsIn both its parts that I have read till now, Your Face Tomorrow is a fascinating read. Each of these books are almost housed in single nights and in the disturbing, absorbing events of those nights. You are drawn to the mystery of the nature of Deza's work, but the plot is least of the writer's (and possibly

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-49966191253385716482010-08-12T19:33:00.005+05:302010-08-12T23:04:58.548+05:30

It is true that perhaps I would have paid little attention to Thomas Bernhard and his writing if Sebald had not been compared to him. By Sebald's own admission, Bernhard's influence on his writing is tremendous - an admission which makes it hard to ignore Bernhard.It was surprisingly hard, then, to find Bernhard's books. Even on the online bookstores, his books have remained elusive. I am still

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-59861796041608241332010-07-07T11:13:00.001+05:302010-07-07T11:14:53.558+05:30

The Passport by Herta MüllerMy rating: 4 of 5 starsThe Passport by Herta Muller is a haunting tale of a village, where each life is repressed by totalitarian state. The narration is almost dream-like, ghost-like - in a Pedro Paramo way, but much more brutal and carnal. The entire village hangs on the dream to escape, and every sweat and the last piece of honor is invested in this dream. The

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-60004822868295137132010-06-30T22:20:00.004+05:302010-07-06T11:57:56.517+05:30

If orbits intersected like streets, and stars crossed paths like people, they would have all crashed into one another and the sky would be benighted and black. No, up there, everything turns on an eternal separateness. And if we won't unwedge our cramped everyday life with separations, if we won't convert our collectives from a close order to an extended one - we may perish. An old saying

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-64624585561966559502010-06-21T10:03:00.003+05:302010-06-21T10:17:42.180+05:30

The 18th of June, a legendary Nobel-laureate author Jose Saramago passed away.I came to read Saramago first only four years ago, but the Double was a book which completely blew me away with its power. It was the sort of existential writing that shocks. After such a powerful introduction, this Portuguese writer continued to amaze me with books like The Cave, Gospel according to Jesus Christ, Death

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-56862291273127142912010-06-14T12:57:00.003+05:302010-09-30T18:06:09.142+05:30

In my limited access and awareness of world literature, there are many regions whose readings I have never been introduced to. Sometimes a Nobel laureate in an area helps bring it on the literary map, or sometimes it is an explosion of the kind that has helped Lat Am literature take the readers by storm. Sometimes it is the quietly persistent Three Percent, which brings a large part of

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-40101399209643965972010-05-28T13:52:00.003+05:302010-05-28T14:00:58.265+05:30

For days, perhaps months, the feeling of inadequacy and incompleteness is mounting inside me. There have been rare moments in my life when I have felt completely satisfied, but this dissatisfaction is becoming a burden too heavy to bear. For the first time, it has begun to flow into moments of minor joys.What is it that is troubling me so much? What responsibilities am I failing in? I don't like

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-24334860912238600522010-01-10T00:57:00.002+05:302010-01-10T01:00:50.337+05:30

I often find it hard to appreciate science fiction. It seems useless to waste a couple of hours on watching some man's boyhood fantasy finally being allowed indulgence. There is an abundance of automation and hi-tech gadgets. There are usually some aliens, trying to destroy the earth or America in the least (same difference huh?). There is high action, and equally high drama. Often, the hero

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-58111208823148783652009-11-29T23:07:00.002+05:302009-11-30T00:01:21.938+05:30

For slightly over two weeks, I have been hearing a man's voice from my bathroom window. It comes from some floor below, and is desperate. For the first few days, all I heard was his pleas to open the door - presumably to his family. At first, I thought I had imagined it. I was alone at home for a few days, and in such times the senses become extra-perceptive to imagined danger. However, after a

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-31097873200886957242009-11-28T09:33:00.001+05:302009-11-28T09:33:36.158+05:30

Gary Lightbody's beautiful voice again.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-68286076258151401552009-11-16T21:14:00.004+05:302009-11-16T21:29:34.277+05:30

Many times, a good Sunday is all about stumbling on a good movie playing on TV. Especially so if it is a movie you have never heard of. (Which also brings to mind the perils of depending too much on IMDB for movie recommendations. You end up missing some worth-a-watch movies that have not caught the user base’s fancy, or are not great enough to make into an elite must-watch list.) My lazy Sunday

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-54410074024612565312009-11-11T00:11:00.004+05:302009-11-11T00:18:20.735+05:30

...is so amazing! I wonder what took me so long to start reading him. Although the idea of reading all seven volumes is intimidating, I think I will certainly enjoy the dips in memories. Remembrance of things past is not only a remarkable account of remembered life, it also a catalyst for revisiting old memories. Reading Swann's Way (part one) takes me back to some moments from my own life,

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-31826330341832488482009-11-04T15:02:00.004+05:302009-11-04T15:18:50.260+05:30

Recently read a beautiful poem by Elizabeth Bishop at Five Branch Tree. I share part of it here:Is it right to be watching strangers in a play in this strangest of theatres?What childishness is it that while there's a breath of life in our bodies, weare determined to rush to see the sun the other way around? The tiniest green hummingbird in the world? To stare at some inexplicable old stonework,

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-43713108090634822982009-11-03T09:09:00.003+05:302009-11-03T20:14:52.989+05:30

I feel that there is much to be said for the Celtic belief that the souls of those whom we have lost are held captive in some inferior being, in an animal, in a plant, in some inanimate object, and so effectively lost to us until the day (which to many never comes) when we happen to pass by the tree or to obtain possession of the object which forms their prison. Then they start and tremble, they

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-13930144238247440902009-10-31T23:22:00.004+05:302009-11-01T00:09:02.552+05:30

A lot has already been said about the movie. So much so, that my knowledge of its existence came from none other than Times of India - the Mumbai Times section - no less. A movie shot with a hand-held camera, made within a budget of $15000, raking in millions at the box-office after its delayed opening in mid-October this year. (Mumbai Times, keeping with its decorum, hardly spent any space on

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-19979317279367402702009-07-27T11:03:00.003+05:302009-07-27T11:54:11.707+05:30

LA Times has published a list of 61 essential postmodern list here. I have always been unclear as to what constitutes as post-modern, and this list makes the task easier by using specific criteria. Some of the key yardsticks used are: author as a character, blur between fiction and reality (duh!), comments on its own bookishness, self contradicting plots, etc. Now I don't know if these are

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-25954400407156895232009-06-29T15:07:00.003+05:302009-06-29T15:14:55.213+05:30

For those who believe in the Day of Judgment, the day of death is for making atonements. Even those who have different beliefs seem to feel a compulsion to explain their lives on the deathbed. I remember vaguely (or maybe it is only a romantic imagination) the last few words from the only two people I have seen close to death (not on their last days). Their words were incoherent, their eyes

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-13099903850282436492009-06-23T21:31:00.001+05:302009-06-23T21:32:54.106+05:30

Wait seems to be the theme of the moment. I am waiting for the monsoons, which seem unmoved by the scorching days. I am waiting for things to progress at work, beyond which let me not say more. I am also waiting for getting out of the city to greener pastures (though I did come back from a hectic weekend - but that was 'hectic', so not quite what I am looking for).

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-57759336802893426862009-05-14T10:32:00.002+05:302009-05-14T10:45:09.687+05:30

Am reading 'Who is Mark Twain', a brilliant collection of personal papers that Mark Twain left behind. The one on Austen is a crack-up. Here is an excerpt: Does Jane Austen do her work too remorselessly well? For me, I mean? Maybe that is it. She makes me detest all her people, without reserve.Is that her intention? It is not believable. Then is it her purpose to make the reader detest her people

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-53247758469482781972009-05-12T13:49:00.001+05:302009-05-12T13:52:57.506+05:30

Spent a wild weekend at the Kanha National Park. This was my first trip to real wilderness, and it was a wonderful experience. Kanha is such a beautiful, varied place. And the tiger - it never looked so majestic in a zoo. (That's the only place I have ever seen it before)

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-25476321781284701162009-03-15T14:25:00.001+05:302009-03-15T14:26:40.564+05:30

It has been raining through most of the weekend - the beautiful kind of rain which breathes life into everything. After many days of unexplained unhappiness, I feel suddenly an unexplained happiness.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-62506410396998675352009-03-11T16:16:00.001+05:302009-03-11T17:04:20.539+05:30

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-87331071302688021242009-02-25T12:23:00.006+05:302009-03-29T17:47:00.022+05:30

This brilliant book, amongst other things, is a good example of how intellectualism can mess up your life. The perpetual questioning of things that seem alright, questioning of the slightest inflection and intonation, questioning of an inconsequential moody denial. Questions about: Why did she not want to come out with me, why is she suddenly comfortable with spending time by her self, why does

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-59687061970466208882009-02-24T08:54:00.005+05:302009-05-29T11:35:16.250+05:30

Am home for a week, and could not resist the urge to finally visit Mumbai Landmark after a gap of almost six months. There were a few pleasant reshuffles there. On the Literary fiction side, the store has not added many authors - just a few more titles from some of theiold favorites. A huge section dedicated to Clezio (I find this over-the-top allegiance to the latest award winner a little vulgar

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-68259789909921589852009-02-16T14:42:00.002+05:302009-02-16T14:44:18.484+05:30

Stumbled upon this beautiful piece from Dhafer Youssef on Last FM. Listening to it for a while made me feel I was somewhere else, floating, dreaming.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-8741051000909431222009-02-11T17:33:00.003+05:302009-02-11T17:43:30.378+05:30

All photographs are Memento Mori. To take a photograph is to participate inanother person's (or thing's) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely byslicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time'srelentless melt.- Susan Sontag, On Photography

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-73232034484967732132009-02-08T08:02:00.005+05:302009-02-15T05:06:45.853+05:30

My introduction to Godard is fairly recent. I have only in the last three weeks begun to watch his films, and have been both intrigued and a little puzzled by his stylistic approach to film-making.Not withstanding my confusion over his films in general, I found watching Vivre Sa Vie an absolute delight. Even in its title, the movie begins to show a certain contempt with popular notions: My life

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-23461728311922899412009-02-03T14:02:00.003+05:302009-02-03T14:06:30.000+05:30

It is back! What a relief. I was not there when my favorite bookstore burnt down in October, and I am a little disappointed that I am not there to greet its return. But yet, the news makes me look forward to return to Bombay with a little more zeal.Welcome Back Landmark, you were missed!

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-77226300524057486432009-01-14T16:33:00.003+05:302009-01-14T16:39:14.787+05:30

Another trip to the land down under. Three more months of 'Out of the box' living :) I am quite proud of my first day achievements: having found the closest library and becoming a member, AND issuing a few books which have been on my to-read list for a while. It is an interesting city - I landed yesterday to a bright evening at 9 pm, with temperatures soaring to 32 degree even that late. And

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-23856489563777579692009-01-07T17:29:00.005+05:302009-01-07T19:10:23.523+05:30

It was with Hindi books that I began reading. Every evening, my dad would bring from his library a copy of Champak, which slowly grew to Nandan, Balhans, and gradually shifted to short story books. And yet, as soon as I got access to the series of Blytons, I almost completely ignored all Hindi writing. Of course I have all sorts of reasons - Hindi books are not easily available in most parts of

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-53131994948267287492008-12-30T17:21:00.003+05:302010-09-29T23:21:39.453+05:30

The World is what it is – a phrase that now seems instantly Naipaul. Not only because Patrick French used it as the title for Naipaul's much publicized biography, but because a lot of Naipaul's writing seems to converge in these words – a real, clear and unapologetic observance of the world, which shuns romanticism and intellectual exaltation.'The World is what it Is' are the words with which

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-43538007567803621752008-12-15T09:21:00.002+05:302008-12-15T15:21:48.349+05:30

To the Grey of Melbourne, originally uploaded by Shifting sands.One of my Melbourne snaps was selected for the sixth edition of Schmap Melbourne Guides. I took this one at the St Kilda Pier - a very beautiful place. I loved the grey tones of the city, apart from its chilliness.Might go there again next month for sometime. Look forward to it.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-27066377774303759812008-12-05T09:42:00.003+05:302008-12-05T17:41:38.775+05:30

Last week's ordeal of Mumbai has made fear very real. Suddenly, dates like December 6 have come alive again. I am traveling tomorrow - and with all the threats about possible air strikes, I am quite apprehensive. How does one deal with such things - give in to the fear and cancel plans? Or travel when security is at its tightest and no one is caught napping in a surprise attack.Few days ago,

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-88070793874697563672008-11-28T20:23:00.004+05:302008-11-28T23:08:37.719+05:30

These are days of shock and horror. Not just for those of us who reside in the city which has seen incredible mayhem in the last 50 hours, but for the entire nation, even the world. How different it is to drop a bomb and run away, even blow up as a human bomb in a flash. But to enter a city, to fill it with terror and then seize its softest points at gunpoint and engage in a long, endless battle

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-86342188633781235322008-11-12T11:56:00.001+05:302008-11-12T11:56:00.229+05:30

Theme music from Once upon a time in America

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-1129701071473640322008-11-10T19:18:00.004+05:302008-11-10T21:45:19.224+05:30

With once upon a time begin most stories from the past. Even this one looks through a keyhole in a man's past: a past of many complexities – friendship, crime, choices, love and guilt. And even though he is not a man easy to like, his complexities evoke a heartfelt sympathy.The movie begins in the 1930's, which is presumably the present. From there we journey into the future of the 60's and

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-4642466697162005392008-10-29T18:29:00.005+05:302008-10-30T07:27:18.097+05:30

The Penguin Great Love Series, as I have remarked earlier, is a brilliant collection, exploring some famous and intriguing writings on the subject of love. (My previous posts on books from the series can be found here, here and here.) I recently read another work from the collection: the controversial short novel from Tolstoy,The Kreutzer Sonata, which completely denounces the notion of love and

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-31686211743341539762008-10-14T10:39:00.004+05:302008-10-14T13:46:44.017+05:30

From the director of Head-on, this is another perceptive interplay of lives, emotions, generations and geographies. Threading together lives of six people, Faith Akin has created a beautiful, if a slightly morbid drama of relationships and penance. His characters are drawn together by diverse relations - filial, carnal, romantic and human, each a little strained.The film is presented in three

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-63665296612285901012008-10-13T09:21:00.001+05:302008-10-13T09:23:19.828+05:30

After much deliberation, I have finally invested in a digital SLR - a Sony Alpha 300. It seems appropriate for my amateur attempts. Up to this point, I had quite enjoyed my Point and shoot, Sony DSC P100, which has been by my side for four long and faithful years. It has traveled with me to many places and captured many of my memories. But there are a few things which can be best filmed with

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-16134933717393137522008-09-28T08:00:00.003+05:302008-09-28T09:45:06.670+05:30

In Coetzee's Inner Workings, one of the best essays that I have read so far is also about one of my favorite books: The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer. Given that they have always remained at loggerheads over the space socio-political issues deserves in literature, it was surprising to see Coetzee speak highly of any of Gordimer's work. It is, as Coetzee puts it, an astonishing work, and Coetzee's

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-55382845757618806322008-09-26T17:26:00.000+05:302008-09-26T17:27:02.689+05:30

Last few days in Brisbane, and I am trying to tuck away everything. I really enjoyed my stay here, especially some time being alone and away from the overpowering weight of a routine.The most beautiful evenings were spent listening to Eddie Vedder, walking on a wharf behind the story bridge. And some more spent with strangers stumbled upon.I will miss this place.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-22386414380759669502008-09-17T14:31:00.002+05:302008-09-17T14:48:10.184+05:30

No, no, no Mr. Kar Wai. In flirting with Hollywood, please do not forget what you are loved for. We love the mood you create. We love your lights, your fleeting characters who do not speak, the ethereal music. Just because you are in America, please do not give so many words and tasks to your characters. Especially when they are played by actors who understand none of your romance. You have told

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-62068241381631010852008-09-09T09:56:00.002+05:302008-09-09T10:17:42.013+05:30

What was I thinking?! picking up Autumn of the Patriarch for a tired journey beginning on a Thursday midnight! No, I have not traveled through even 100 pages of it yet, despite having traveled many miles on either side of the equator in a crammed plane seat. It is not a travel companion, but a book to be read when you are in one of your 'streams of consciousness'. Now that I am more awake, I am

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-73138152251973282762008-09-02T14:08:00.003+05:302008-09-02T16:52:27.601+05:30

Thomas Vintenberg's Festen has been on my watch list ever since I watched Breaking the Waves and Ubermensch introduced me to the concept of Dogme95. Finally, I found the movie on Quickflix (the DVD rental portal of Australia, which has a reasonably good collection, significantly better than seventymm and bigflix of India when it comes to titles from World cinema). The movie was well worth the

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-45598857971513563062008-08-28T13:17:00.007+05:302008-08-29T06:12:52.252+05:30

Every country bears a lot of weight on everyone who is born to it - all the history, the beliefs, fears, errors, successes and a lot more. When you chose to leave it, you also in a way try to offload all these weights and go out empty-handed to adopt something new with more openness. But no country is a new country. There are people already living there, weighed by the being of their nation. You

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-45423257899046415342008-08-20T05:17:00.004+05:302008-08-20T05:36:10.748+05:30

Recently I have felt inclined towards reading more Latin American literature – perhaps it is the after effect of reading a book as mesmerizing as Pedro Paramo, but I think I still have to find the right sequel. The Death in the Andes is definitely not one, and after putting it down, I can only feel slightly disappointed and confused more than anything else.It begins as a mystery – a civil guard

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-45540899335553889162008-08-02T14:11:00.005+05:302008-08-09T08:08:13.328+05:30

Just getting into it - what better way to begin then to sink into the exceptionally beautiful and poetic Spirit of the beehive. To question the evils of the world through the silent eyes of a very pretty child.And then watch the very beautiful Penelope Cruz play again the Sophia from Vanilla Sky in Open your eyes. This was certainly a far better version than the English one, though I have to say

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-65360305261161328682008-08-02T08:03:00.008+05:302008-08-18T05:50:55.484+05:30

The theme of a wandering man is central to many of Hamsun's characters, so it is perhaps only fitting that a book comprising of two of his writings be called The Wanderers. The cover contains two inter-twined Hamsun writings: Under the Autumn Star and Wanderer plays on muted strings, the latter a sequel to the first - and is a close but stale reflection of Hamsun's themes and moods, perhaps even

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-51733782098433012232008-07-26T07:54:00.004+05:302008-07-26T08:38:32.715+05:30

Once I had little patience with Woody Allen - he always seemed to play a self-obsessed neurotic character who just couldn’t stop talking. I suspect that I may have grown out of my short attention spans now – and that is perhaps the reason I am able to appreciate his movies far more. That could be a possible explanation of why I liked Annie Hall where Allen plays another of his neurotic

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-70166747715112092232008-07-25T07:15:00.002+05:302008-07-25T07:37:24.101+05:30

It is almost a week since I have been living in this city. It is a pretty city, and it helps that I am living in the downtown, in a nice hotel-apartment on 30th floor where I can look down at the city glittering in its lights. There are a few libraries, theatres and performing arts centers around, which I have yet to explore. Sometimes, especially when you are alone, there are wide swings between

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-25076620880773624652008-07-16T09:49:00.002+05:302008-07-16T10:24:14.254+05:30

Going to be in Brisbane for next three months - not sure if I will have get a net connection there during off-work hours. So might just not spend enough time here :(

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-48379828781384704722008-07-11T07:37:00.004+05:302008-07-11T08:46:32.676+05:30

In the last few days, have spent a lot of time watching movies - on my TV screen, on the laptop, and even smaller versions - on the minuscule video screens in the flights. Some of them have been quite rewarding - most specifically Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies. It was almost a delight to watch, not in the least for its happy ending, which amidst a score of tragic tales of most good cinema seemed

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-55392947962496945012008-07-07T22:53:00.007+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.398+05:30

I have spent the last few days amongst ghosts. The more literal (and talkative) ghosts of Juan Rulfo's magnificent work Pedro Paramo, the haunting ones of Sebald's Emigrants (which I am still reading), and if these were not enough, the ghost of an entire empire speaking through the sombre voice of Joseph Roth in The Radetzky March.I tried and tried to find the Michel Hoffman translation of this

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-65102806292045711702008-06-26T18:06:00.006+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.400+05:30

Ever since I read 'The Pickup', I have been an ardent fan of the South African Nobel laureate author Nadine Gordimer. She has the uncanny ability to portray the misgivings of mind and emotion, to draw many dilemmas and make them seem most natural.Sometime back when her latest collection of short stories was released (Beethoven was one-sixteenth black), New york times published a review, comparing

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-45736540658719109152008-06-23T10:19:00.003+05:302008-06-23T10:21:45.177+05:30

At the end, originally uploaded by Shifting sands.Had intended this weekend to be a reading and movies weekend after a long time, since next weekend will be again wasted in flying to Sydney.However, it ended up being a weekend of traveling. Not that I am complaining. The drive to Murud was one of the best I have had in a long time, as a considerable stretch runs along a beautiful and virgin sea.

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-71516856427774979782008-06-11T11:47:00.007+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.402+05:30

After a long time, I have come back to reading Nabokov. I had read him long ago with his Lolita, which I found to be a shocking work expressed beautifully. However, even with that impression, sometime it is easy to forget that Nabokov has written anything other than his ubiquitous Lolita. It is only when you begin to read his other works, the grave folly of this assumption is illuminated.In this

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-6461335609802224282008-06-04T21:16:00.003+05:302008-06-04T21:36:29.613+05:30

It is confounding to feel touched by and be utterly disgusted with the same person. Perhaps so much innocence is bound to be abominable. It is also confusing to watch a movie which resounds with a surreal beauty and horrifies with its bleakness. The only thing which seemed to make any non-confusing sense was Bess' choice of a personal God over the horrors of some sadistic, un-ringing church.I

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-10613965202393491622008-06-02T11:46:00.001+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.403+05:30

It would be such an extraordinary help to me if I were lucky enough to find a suitable winding up for this little essay. I had stuck just at a rather difficult point in it, where there ought to be a quite imperceptible transition to something fresh, then a subdued gliding finale, a prolonged murmur, ending at last in a climax as bold and as startling as a shot, or the sound of a mountain

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-35590926432190177252008-05-26T20:48:00.004+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.405+05:30

After reading Zweig's 'Beware of Pity' recently, I came upon a less than generous review of the story in Time's:...one of those puddle-depth stories that, draining themselves with a sort of literary eye dropper, pretend to contain oceans of ideas. The tedious technique might seem justified if it conveyed vivid people, or even lively situations. Beware of Pity conveys only one droplet of an idea (

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-28596994268490289622008-05-22T15:55:00.005+05:302008-06-02T13:19:27.497+05:30

Persepolis: I rarely find good movies on flights, but found this one on the Thai airlines in-flight entertainment system quite accidentally. It is an autobiographical, French animation movie. Written by Marjane Satrapi, who grew up in Iran during the period of Islamic revolution, it is a story of these years and of her later life in Vienna. Adapted from Satrapi's graphic novel, it is a very

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-50204629184281034192008-05-19T15:08:00.002+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.407+05:30

I will make my character laugh where sensible people think he ought to cry.And why? Because my hero is no character, no 'type,' ... but a complex, modern being.- Knut HamsunI don't know whether Hamsun spoke these words to describe the character of Nagel in his work Mysteries, but I can say that in Nagel, he was successful in what he intended to carry out. Even though he does not want to call his

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-68837405540523209482008-05-14T18:46:00.003+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.408+05:30

What is this strange madness, Petrarch asked of his young secretary, this mania for sleeping each night in a different bed?What am I doing here? (Rimbaud writing home from Ethiopia)Somehow, with Chatwin's Songlines in my hands, this trip to Australia does not seem that abortive. Even though, the Australia that I am seeing is poles apart from the one he has written about - the distance runs in

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-58538985181232220592008-05-09T17:11:00.004+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.410+05:30

The Seducer's Diary is another book from the Great Love series by Penguin which I mentioned in an earlier post. After reading this, my enthusiasm for the series has increased even more and I have managed to find and order a few more titles, which now happily adorn my shelf.Seducer's Diary is primarily a philosophical work from Soren Kierkegaard: a 19th century Danish philosopher, and one of the

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-13790123260699858552008-05-08T13:53:00.004+05:302008-05-08T14:48:45.978+05:30

It is almost impossible to disentangle one-self from memories. It always begins at 'In the old times...' and forever, one just keeps hanging around near the past. It does not matter then whether the past was beautiful or sad, or whether we even had something there. It is a mad affinity, which just keeps you looking over the shoulder, dawdling, not wanting to go on. It is almost painful to

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-75749970744922011502008-05-06T10:54:00.003+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.412+05:30

The Paper cuts blog from NY Times talks about a Panel discussion on the Austrian author Thomas Bernhard. I have read only one book from Bernhard and was immediately struck by the geriatric leanings that Dale Peck mentions in the discussion. I loved the passage quoted by him from Concrete:Even early in my life there were times when I had no one - I at least knew that I had no one, though others

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-55482971636991147722008-05-05T22:41:00.004+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.413+05:30

Hunting for books, I suppose, is as involved and time-consuming an activity as reading it is. May be more. In fact, by my own experience, certainly more for some ever-hidden mysterious books, which appear on all good reading lists, except on the list of your bookstore.However, it is also true that discovering books in a bookstore is also a rather satisfying experience. Of course that depends

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-25938012440297386852008-04-25T17:46:00.003+05:302008-04-28T14:54:28.342+05:30

This is the first Wong Kar Wai movie that I have watched (except for an abortive attempt at 'Happy Together', where the graphic homosexual love scene in the beginning surprised my expectations of a romantic movie), and it left me very impressed. And though I am a little ashamed to admit - moved.It is a story of a man and woman living in adjacent quarters who discover that their spouses are having

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-49602133169525817802008-04-22T13:27:00.009+05:302008-08-02T14:03:52.414+05:30

I have been inactive on the blog for a long spell now. Part of it was boredom, part laziness. Have not been doing much in the last few days except for a couple of trips here and there, the latest one being Nepal, which was quite remarkable even though very different from what I was expecting. In the last couple of days have also been remarkably busy with my new iphone, which has kept me jumping

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-73725366634857330942008-04-10T12:46:00.003+05:302008-04-10T12:56:58.371+05:30

Going through infinite sheets of boredom where almost nothing seems to be interesting. Have shelved the books I am reading, after futile attempts to sieve through more than 5 pages of them at a time. All movies seem to be either utterly dramatic or utterly cliche.Even tried watching a TV series - having faith in their complete mindlessness in general - but the overkill of ideas in 'Triangle' did

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-22614954514329869332008-04-07T13:26:00.004+05:302008-04-07T15:37:08.539+05:30

In general - I hate flights. The more I am dependent on them for the evil reasons of work and the affinity to travel, the more they horrify me for their crummy, crammed, loud, uncomfortable and disturbing demeanor.This weekend, hoping to cure myself of this distaste, I decided to travel aboard the much advertised A380. As I got in, it did look promising - a little more space and a much bigger

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23727347.post-36056704274072264502008-03-29T06:13:00.002+05:302008-03-29T06:30:41.647+05:30

NY Times has a funny article on dating amongst the bibliophiles and how saying too little or too much about a book can break relationships amongst those whose first love is reading ! Dating bibliophiles seems like a very tricky business, for you could be dropped for not knowing Pushkin, or for adoring Howard Roark!But perhaps talking about books on first dates has some practical application in

Madhurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01323335479301675432noreply@blogger.com0