Luminous Infinitus

Was it worth all the wait ? I thought I would read the best of du Maurier after I’ve finished all her other books. Each book I read was better than the other. Each transported me to a world where I wished to remain forever. Each story lingered somewhere in the back of the mind, some scenes coming back often, enabling me to relive the magic. So I started Rebecca , understandably with great hopes. Could it be better than ‘The king’s general’? Could it be more suspenseful than ‘My cousin Rachel’ ? Could it be as nail-biting as ‘The Scapegoat’ ? Could it be as thrilling as ‘The House on the Strand’ ? The most intriguing thing about the book was that the narrator didn't have a name ! You turn page after page expecting to find her name in the next but it never happens and even when the story ends, even as you feel that you just drank with her, her cup of sorrow, insecurity and fear , even as you just feel as though she were a part of you , the story is over and you need to close the bo

I was through just a couple of pages into the book and I knew it would be a tragedy. Many times I tried to stop reading, fearing an ending so shattering that it could upset me terribly. But curiosity got better of the fear ; curiosity to know about David Moray , an orphan whose childhood was a complete misery and hardship, who in a moment of confusion, chose money over love, betrayed the woman he loved for another with money.. He had everything going right for him but he failed. Why? Was it because he wanted more out of life - see better places, live in grand houses, move about with the nobility, collect great artworks, have a lot of money to spend ? was he too ambitious ? was he just an opportunist? No..no..no, none of these. It was because he was too sensitive; tried to be good to everyone, he let others do his thinking for him. There is a saying in Malayalam which probably befits him – ‘Shuddhan dhustante phalam cheyyum’.

N – “look around” I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of some good looking gal, some Indian gal? – yeah! they are a rarity for one.They are few and all are taken. One rarely gets to see a desi girl group here.It's either couples or guys-only-grps. Anyway I could see none. What’s he up to now? N – “What do you think these people are doing ?” Well ! what are they doing. I suddenly noticed that there were many people about the place. Yeah, with a theatre behind and starbucks in front of us, there had to be some crowd. Why was he asking ? Was he suggesting that Americans waste a lot of time or was he suggesting – look at the guys hanging out with babes. Why are we like this ? or was .. well ! I was confused. He was still waiting for my answer. “Well! they are doing several things. everyone is doing what he/she wants to do.” N – “What else” Me – “They are moving about. Here and there. Some standing , some sitting. Chit chatting.” N – “Tell me what they are doing in a single word”

S mails me. I reply back. S replies. I reply. Then S doesn’t bother to mail. I stop. I wonder. What happenend ? It is like talking to someone and that someone suddenly stops taking. Makes one wonder. What did I do ? Did I say anything wrong that might’ve possibly offended S ? I go through my previous mails . Nothing . I see nothing amiss. "Oh, did I say something which could’ve contradicted what I’d said months back? May be!" Like a madman I go through all my correspondence with S. I spend days wondering why S never mailed. This is bad. Why isn’t S mailing ? why don’t I mail and ask what the problem is ? No , may be S doesn’t want to see my mail. May be S hates me. This is bad. I’ll never speak to S again. Then, a month later S mails. "whats up ? why don’t you mail? don’t tell me you are that busy." Now, I am at the wrong end ! But its fine. The fact that S is still my friend makes me happy. All losses restored. All sorrows gone !

Sometime back, D had sent me the best love quote I’ve ever read “If love is the answer, could you please rephrase the question?” (Lily Tomlin) A few other love quotes .. "Love is not love that alters when it alteration finds." ~ William Shakespeare "Love makes the time pass. Time makes love pass." ~ Euripides "Love conquers all things." ~ Virgil "Love is an irresistable desire to be irresistably desired." ~ Robert Frost

Imagine a situation wherein your identity is taken away from you. That you have to, from one sudden day, become another person. That is exactly what happens in 'The Scapegoat'. An evening in Paris, a chance meeting with a frenchman who looks exactly like him, and John’s life turns topsy turvy. From an Englishman, he becomes a Frenchman ; from a bored professor who taught French history, he becomes a French landlord; from a loner he becomes a family man, from a life without worries and troubles he gets into one which is full of it. The story is about how John manages to get into the skin of Jean deComte, how he discovers past one by one, constructing it bit by bit, as in a jig saw puzzle, from the daily conversations, observations and many things by chance. How he slowly , sometimes suddenly discovers that Paul is the brother, Renee brother’s wife , Marie Noel , his daughter , Bella his mistress, __ his wife , the servants …. The book is a real page turner. Breathtakingly pacy.

Maverick: I feel the need... Maverick, Goose: ...the need for speed! (movie - Top Gun) There was a time when I used to do things real fast – talk fast , walk fast , write fast , read fast – do everything fast. Something used to itch if I was ever action-less for a second. After continuous scolding by parents and other well-wishers I mellowed down. I consciously began to ‘think’ before I acted. But now, am feeling really bored . am wondering if I have become a slow, lazy individual ! The need for speed I feel. For speed I feel the need. The need I feel for speed, To meet only speed can succeed The feel of speed I need To do many a great deed

On a vacation at an ancient Manor house, a young man takes an experimental drug that transports him 600 years into the past , while leaving his body in the present. The result, you wouldn't know if you are not in it , is , to put it in simple words – an-outstanding-must-read book. This might be the best du Maurier I've read..

I spoke to K yesterday , that after a long long gap. He made up for it, for the lack of talk all these months, told me so many things that even if we’d been speaking everyday all this while, I wouldn’t ve had this much of info in my mind at this moment. K – my chennai pal - the one who ate, drank, slept, talked, walked in Kannada, one who cursed Chennai in every breath he took. Not a day passed without hearing him spewing out an expletive or two against poor citizens of the place whose fault it seemed to me was that they either loved their language too much or simply didn’t have the ability to pick up other languages quickly. ‘Language fanatics’ he said, ‘narrow minded’ he swore. Probably, being a chatterbox all his life, he wasn’t used to being a mute spectator amongst people who talked more than him, that too in a language completely alien to him. Probably he was jealous of them since he didn’t have the passion for his own language as they had. Probably Chennai made him learn that on

Do you like flashback movies/stories ? The stories where past is slowly revealed to you, wherein during each small incident you are carried back in time to something that happened long ago , those stories where as you go on living in the present you catch glimpses of the past , where present floats along with past. I love them. The first such book that comes into my mind is “Wuthering Heights”. It is not the chief protagonist comes back to his home kind of story. Well ! you can say that about Heathcliff. But the seeker of past is Lockwood, a person who comes to stay for a short while in the Yorkshire moors, it is his curiosity to know more about his landlord that lets Nellie, his maidservant unleash the tempestuous past into his mind. It is the reason why I liked “God of small things” too. This is more dramatic. The present belongs to Estha and Rahel. But the way you get to walk along their , their mother’s , uncle’s, grand-parent’s past, would grip you into the novel. Here you are , i

The wages of sin, is death. Paradise lost – satan and here I am, thinking of Dr.Faustus. This doctor was someone who went too close to the sun and burned himself (figuratively speaking of course. He did no flying towards the Yellow Star. In the legends it is Icarus. Well Icarus makes me think of Ludlum’s 'Icarus agenda'. that gives me a topic for another blabbering). He knew too much and he wanted too much. In the first scene of the play Faustus tells us why he considers medicine, philosophy, theology and other studies as worthless. He says the only worthy thing is necromancy – black magic. He sets out to learn that and how ! before long he has Mephistophilis, Satan’s messenger standing infront of him. Mephistophilis tells him that if he is ready to give his soul to Lucifer , he will give him all the knowledge and power. Faustus agrees. Says he will give his soul after 24 years. Faustus becomes great within days. His fame spreads far and wide. He meets Pope and becomes invisibl

The week of September 12th to 17th is 'Agatha Christie Week'.I’d love to be there now. But what could/would I do/see/read if I were there? Well ! I just wish i was there, though !

"Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees takes of his shoes." ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Paris – gosh ! it brings back a flurry of memories. Stephen wants to go to Paris, Clym(The Return of the native) returned from Paris, Philip(Of Human Bondage) went to Paris, Larry(The Razor’s Edge) went to Paris. What is it ? what is it about Paris that beckons men of art ? If there is a heaven on earth , is it Paris ? Isn’t heaven a place wherein music is played all day? I guess music throbs in every soul in Paris. I see the whole city gyrating in a heavenly tune. How I wish , how I wish to be there . Speaking about Paris , which are those books , those books which had Paris ? 1) The Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy 2) Of Human Bondage – Somerset Maugham 3) The Razor’s Edge – Somerset Maugham 4) A tale of two cities – Charles Dickens 5) A thing of beauty – A J Cronin 6) Agnes Grey – Anne Bronte (I don’t remember well, I think Agnes went to Paris) 7) Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy(Don’t Vronsky and Anna go to Paris when they run away. They do. And stiva does visit Paris often.) Is that

Stephen has finished his education at Oxford and is back to his hometown Stillwater , to his dad , Bertram Desmond , the Rector of Stillwater , his mom , Julia Desmond , a self indulgent lady who is bothered about none but herself, his cute sister Caroline who adores him , his epileptic brother David and his love Clair . Everyone is very happy at his arrival . His dad is happy and proud and dreams of the coming future wherein his son would succeed him after his ordination. He rests all his hope on Stephen , in him he sees the efficient curate that he wanted to be , someone who is loved by all and someone who’d take good care of all. Things take a gloomier turn when Stephen tells his dad that he wants to go to Paris since he is interested in painting. His dad tells him of his epileptic brother ,almost invalid mother, himself old and ageing and tells him that paining is just a whim which he needs to leave away and continue with the good life there. Stephen assures him that he will give i

Went to the library to return the books that I’d taken. Wanted to take Shannon’s way by Cronin. But it wasn’t there. Took ‘A thing of beauty’. I don’t remember the complete poem ..but Keats wrote a gem there - "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams …."

I know I have left the previous reviews(summaries rather!) unfinished. It’s like I love to write when I am reading. It’s a great feeling to relate what one has just finished reading, to relive those moments with the hero/heroine in the novel, to regroup the thoughts in your mind. But once the book is read fully, I lose the interest to write. Some how the specifics are lost (excuse me, but it is much like local variables going out of scope once you come out of a method !!) and what remains in the mind are the unforgettable scenes , memorable dialogues and the complete story itself. At this moment I could start off afresh and write again , now about the whole story but not from where I had left my narrative earlier. Well ! Now that I am all set to write, I have nothing to write about the story. sad !! writer’s block ?? no, this is not called as writer’s block. It is when a writer runs out of a topic to write, right ? Mary meets with Denis again , Matt has reached calcutta and sent

My life is changing. I can feel it. I am Listening to the wind of change. May it carry tidings of good news .. only .. This song is a gem. I can lend my ears and mind to it again and again and again .. Wind of change - scorpions Follow the Moskwa Down to Gorky Park Listening to the wind of change An August summer night Soldiers passing by Listening to the wind of change The world is closing in Did you ever think That we could be so close, like brothers The future's in the air Can feel it everywhere Blowing with the wind of change Take me to the magic of the moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow dream away In the wind of change Walking down the street Distant memories Are buried in the past, forever I follow the Moskwa Down to Gorky Park Listening to the wind of change Take me to the magic of the moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams With you and me Take me to the magic of the moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow

Before I could even get to completely see the fiction section, it was closing time. Gosh ! 3 hrs and I didn’t do anything but browse through a few books and did I love it .You bet. If I was happy arriving at the library being dropped by a bus driver who let me come here for free since I didn’t have a dollar change , I was completely gleeful at this time – the gladness of having done something for the day. Well ! at first he didn’t let me in the bus since I hadn’t change with me. I gave him 5$ and said it’s fine. I had to go to the library. He said it is fine. I’d come into the library , registered , got a card and had gone straight towards Literature section. As always in a library or a bookstore , I sought Hardy first. Greeted Clym, Michael, Bathsheba, Tess and moved on to the previous row – ‘D’ – duMaurier world. Holding “The King’s General” felt like holding a prestigious medal. If his statue had replaced the faceless soldier at Monument square, wouldn’t I have sat there look

The FBI and CIA are frantically searching for a clue towards Rosenberg and Jensen murders. They dig up old cases , follow up menacing threats , look out for the vicitms' enemies ..but no avail. they cannot pin anything down to the dozen or odd theories floated. Darby , on her own , spends days and nights researching. comes up with the pelican brief , her theory about why the justices were murdered , gives it to her bf-prof Callahan . Callahan gives it to Gavin Verheek,his close pal in the FBI casually asking him just to look into it . soon it finds its way to higher ups in FBI and then to the president himself. the president is shaken by the contents of the brief. barely 24 hours later a bomb meant for Darby kills Callahan. Darby knows that they are gunning for her and want her to be dead. Darby runs.. and i slept :) couldnt read much more though. was dead tired.

yet another action packed , non-stop thriller with a lot of legal jargons thrown in ? if "To Kill a mocking bird" (Harper Lee) made law a noble career, "A time to kill" , "The Firm", "The Client" make it a challenging , in modern('american' rather) terms , a coool career. but whatever anyone says a John Grisham is almost un-put-down-able ! Pelican Brief - 100 pages through the book and I still dont know what it means ! Two supreme court judges are killed and the whole world (the whole of US rather!) is in search of answers - what is the motive behind the killing ? who killed them ? Darby Shaw , a second year law student , who is brilliant , who is also beautiful , who also sleeps with her talented con-law prof , is also in search of these answers. (ps : con-law = constitutional law . i have a hunch here that she will beat the fibbies and come out with answers first. what else are heroines for? well ! pardon me , it is a crime to jump the

I'd heard a lot about Mary Higgins Clark , but never read her. so when I chanced upon one recently , I just bought it. "A Cry in the Night " - took me back to my sidney sheleon reading days though. Did i like it ? I dont know . I didnt dislike it though. But the fact of the matter is , I finished it in a night. Started and there was no stopping. Jenny , a single parent , struggling to make ends meet with two kids to raise and an ex-husband who keeps asking her money , is swept off her feet when she meets Erich - a perfect man, a darling with her children , someone who loves her passionately. Within no time she leaves everything , marries him and moves into his bungalow in a ranch with her children. She slowly begins to discover Erich's unusual attachment to his mother(Erich marries Jenny since Jenny looks like his mother Caroline). Things take a sharp turn when Jenny's ex-husband Ken who comes to visit her is murdered. All fingers are pointed at her. She also hear

"What kind of madman would be recreating the gruesome deaths depicted in Alighieri's Inferno ?" As a group of eminent literary men including HW Longfellow are in the process of translating Dante's "Divine Comedy" into English , putting their heart and soul into getting the first American translation into print , a serial killer kills people - people who have sinned in someway - punishing them in the exact manner as given in the Inferno and this he does as the "Dante club" translates. So when they translate the part of the punishment a person who creates divisions in society gets - contrapasso , they find a person killed in exactly the same manner. It is as though a ghost is watching them translate and wants them to stop ! they find him in the end .. the story as such is good but i bet da vinci code was better . inspite of its bad ending and heretic stuff , davinci code was a real page turner this was .. yeah .. good .. one gets to learn a lot. but

one month . what did i read ? nothing ? only project documents :( gosh !!! but i guess i did squeeze in a novel there . "The Dante Club" - Mathew Pearl I've been wanting to read "The Divine Comedy" from a long time . Never felt mature enough to read it . Never could invest that much of time to read and research. Well , I'll swim into Milton's waters before Dante's. But this book has assured me that wanting to read Dante was good all along . it is a masterpiece. it is a must read. But since Virgil is the person who helps Dante through hell , strengthening him whenever he is weak , I guess I must also read Virgil . Aenied of Virgil. oh ! man , I sometimes set the bar too high and achieve nothing - expect for dreams ; the fact is that manytimes i feel much happier in getting something in my dream than actually getting it.

(for those who dont know this most famous short cut key , F5 = refresh) Refresh! Yes. Just when I thought I didn’t have an audience to reach out to , just when I thought that the only person missing my blog is myself , i get friends asking me why I haven’t been blogging. Today when one of my closest pals asked me, that was it - i told myself , Robin boy , roll up your sleeves. I have a lot to write about. The sad thing is I have already written about them , in my diary - actually putting pen on paper – about..err… my trip to fort Williams beach lighthouse, how I found out about the closest orthodox church here , my first visit to Boston St.Mary’s , church picnic to Hopkinton’s state park , visit to New York to see relatives , old orchard beach outing … oh ! can't copy all that :( well ! as someone said , retelling your story can only add beauty to it. Probably I might .. lemme see . but let things happen slowly . slowly slowly , ahista ahista

On the way he gets a mail from Ambrose asking him to leave to Italy immediately. With great difficulty he get to Florence and when he reaches the Sangaletti villa, he is informed that Ambrose is dead. Philip is almost devastated and inconsolable. He could not even imagine that he would never see Ambrose again. He comes to know that Rachel has left the place taking away all of Ambrose's possessions except for a hat. Philip takes the hat and sets out to meet Rachel's friend Rainaldi. Rainaldi is a matter-of-fact businesslike person and Philip takes an immediate dislike for him. Philip sets back to England. After a few months , he is called by his godfather Nick who tells him about a mail from Rachel. Rachel was planning to come to visit them.

It’s a flashback. Philip’s flashback. It’s about him recounting the events that haunt him. Philip ? Philip in ‘The Mill on the floss’ had a hunchback , Philip in ‘Of Human Bondage’ had a clubfoot , what disadvantage does this Philip have ? None? He is orphaned, yes, but none with his physique, something with the psyche though. When the narrative starts with Tom Jenkyn’s hanging that he had witnessed in his childhood, you wonder why he is telling about it and as you go further , you tend to dismiss it as some bad happening that he had witnessed as a kid. Having lost his parents at a very young age he was brought up by Ambrose, his cousin. Ambrose was everything to Philip , He was Philip’s father , mother , guardian , teacher, role model – all in one. Ambrose is unmarried , is very passionate about garden , always trying to gather some rare shrub to plant. The story starts with a middle aged Ambrose not being able to withstand winters in England. He is advised to go to a hotter place an

It was Krishna’s wedding. Krishna, my closest pal during childhood; my first best friend (first best friend !! does that sound strange ? well ! at different times in life I had different best friends. Guys with whom I had nothing to hide and who hid nothing from me. My brothers.) All day I was wondering what to give . He generally was fond of things carved out of glass. The only doubt was whether he still liked showpieces . well , I thought I’d go to the shop and decide. Brigades was on the way. I decided to put at stop at Archies there to choose a gift. As always there was no place to park. Went downwards along Church Street looking for a space. Drove , drove and drove .. finally found a place to park. Turned around to see something that I would always love to see. Blossoms. Something was going on. Was it being renovated ? No , this was the newly furnished ground floor and was still being filled with books. I went to the first floor – straight to the du Maurier section. Eyes sought ‘M

At once smitten by Radda’s beauty he tries to woo her. But she finds his talk humourless, finds his music bland, she doesn’t in anyway relent to him. Zobar plunges into deep despair and is seen playing his fiddle throughout the night. He is so brilliant with the fiddle , that his music melts everyone’s heart. “You felt that tune with every fibre of your body, and you became a slave of it. And if at that moment Zobar had called out ‘out with your knives, comrades’ , every man would have bared his knife against anyone he pointed out. He could wind a person with his little finger, but everyone loved him dearly”. Such was Zobar’s effect on all. Yet Radda would have nothing at all of it. She mocked him continuously. While all others appreciated every song that he sang, she vehemently criticised them. Not finding a way to make her approve of him directly , Zobar approaches Danilo , Radda’s father. Danilo approves ; says “Take her if you can” . Radda is seen sitting on a horse and Zobar appro

With no offence to gypsies , the name reminds me of some below-the-belt curse in hindi or Malayalam or tamil . some bad name ! but that particular fact would make me not forget this name. it’s stuck to my mind. The story starts with Makar , an aged gypsy conversing with the author. It is dark , the wind is heavy , the campfire is blazing furiously ..yet Makar , smoking his huge pipe , was unfazed. It was as though these heavy conditions never affected him.(reminds me of Vikram-Betal stories of chandamama ! it was dark , the night was heavy , yet Vikram was unfazed. He climbed the tree , pulled the corpse out . as he started walking away with it , the corpse on his shoulder came to life !!!) . Makar is of the opinion that people are born to travel; that there is nothing better than traveling. “ A curious lot people are ; they herd together trampling on each other when there is so much of space-” . he asks why a man should be ploughing a field . “ A man who ploughs land pours his streng

The “The Kings General” is unlike any novel that I’ve read. It’s as pacy as any modern day thriller. Reminds me of “Gone with the wind” though. It is about Richard Grenvile , the king’s General in the west , the bravest amongst the brave , the lion of the times , the king’s darling , the rebels’ dread and about the only woman in the world he cared for : Honor Harris – a beautiful lady who was crippled just a day before their marriage in a tragic accident. The novel is a first person narrative by Honor and from the time it starts with her brother Kit’s marriage to Gartred Grenvile , events unfurl one after another so quickly that within no time you would find yourself in Menabilly amidst a raging civil war between the forces of the King and the Parliament , pausing probably in the middle during the accident which cripples Honor , more due to shock than because the story slackens in pace there. (i'll edit this to put in more about the novel later :) )

Much as I want to buy as many books as I want , I don’t like being forced into book-buying , to feel that I’ve done something which I could’ve avoided. That’s exactly what happens when I go to Church street / MG Road. Blossoms, Gangarams, HigginBothams, LB publishers, Crossword ; so many book shops each just a hop away from each other that almost all the time , I’d just enter one , lose my whole evening , and most of time feel : “this is the time to buy , what if I am short of cash tomorrow ? What if I get so busy that I cannot come here? Moreover I’m getting a discount here” … mind always finds some reason. Only after I leave the book shop would the impact hit me ; that my pockets just got shallower. The latest book-buying was just a couple of weeks back. Had gone there to meet a friend. Saw Blossoms. Thought , 'I anyway have another 30 mins to go. lemme check out the books. just see not buy.' Went in and immediately remembered my friend telling me about “The King's Genera

everyone seems to be blogging. is that why i want to blog ? nopes . i have this strong tendency to go retro from the direction that the crowd is going . so thats not the reason. anyway , let me make my tendencies a subject of another post. back to why i thought of blogging , i am freeeeeeeeeeeeeee so totally free that i need to just come to the office , drink coffee , have lunch , drink coffee again and then rush home . well ! somewhere in the middle , i stuff in a task called "check mails" . moreover i always wanted to 'write' something. now that i have time and have done the great thing of starting to put pen on paper (ePen on ePaper rather) , i guess words will flow .