Category Archives: Books

Books

The Count, in his own words

Yes, Monsieur. I am one of those exceptional beings and I believe that, before today, no man has found himself in a position similar to my own. The kingdoms of kings are confined, either by mountains or rivers, or by a change in customs or by a difference of language; but my kingdom is as great as the world, because I am neither Italian, nor French, nor Hindu, nor American, nor a Spaniard; I am a cosmopolitan. No country can claim to be my birthplace. God alone knows in what region I shall die.

I adopt every custom, I speak every tongue. You think I am French, is that not so? Because I speak French as fluently and as perfectly as you do. Well, now. Ali, my Nubian, thinks me an Arab. Bertuccio, my steward, takes me for a Roman. Haydée, my slave, believes I am Greek. In this way, you see, being of no country, asking for the protection of no government and acknowledging no man as my brother, I am not restrained or hampered by a single one of the scruples that tie the hands of the powerful or the obstacles that block the path of the weak. I have only two enemies: I shall not say two conquerors, because with persistence I can make them bow to my will: they are distance and time. The third and most awful is my condition as a mortal man. Only that can halt me on the path I have chosen before I have reached my appointed goal. Everything else is planned for. I have foreseen all those things that men call the vagaries of fate: ruin, change and chance. If some of them might injure me, none could defeat me. Unless I die, I shall always be what I am. This is why I am telling you things that you have never heard, even from the mouths of kings, because kings need you and other men fear you.

This is what I imagine what Edmond Dantes would look like, if there was any justice in this world.

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Books

Book thoughts

So I read this blog post elsewhere, and it made me think. I suggest you go read it first. If you don’t want to know what I think, you don’t have to come back. It’s a fine article in itself.

Back? OK.

70 books a year is not a bad goal at all, and means that I should read about 6 books a month. Some people would say it’s an ambitious number, but it’s do-able, provided you do not select 900-page tomes all the time. But to quantify something like a to-read list is sobering, in a way. It draws needless attention to your mortality, and snubs all your claims of being “well-read”. I mean, seriously, at this rate, you are going to do a mere 1400 books in 20 years. It shows you how stupid your “best-of” lists are.

The other thing that a number like this fails to take into account is rereads. One of my long-term goals was to read my favorite books all over again. I am rereading The Count of Monte Cristo at the moment. I was planning to begin reading Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and Little Women after I finish this, but the heart yearns for more Dumas. Others on the shortlist: His Dark Materials.  Lee Siegel’s Love in a Dead Language. From Balham to Bollywood. Let’s not even talk about comics and manga – there are too many on the reread pile at the moment. Do rereads count in the number put forth in the post? Needless information: the version of the Dumas classic that I am reading shows 1793 pages on the iPad. I am on page 499 at the moment, having spent about 2 days on it.

It’s somewhat coincidental that I came across this relevant quote in Monte Cristo. In the section where Abbe Faria meets Edmond Dantes for the first time and dazzles him with his wisdom, he also has this to say about reading and knowledge:

In Rome, I had nearly five thousand volumes in my library. By reading and re-reading them, I discovered that one hundred and fifty books, carefully chosen, give you, if not a complete summary of human knowledge, at least everything that is useful for a man to know. I devoted three years of my life to reading and rereading those one hundred and fifty volumes. I could recite you the whole of Thucyides, Xenophon, Plutarch, Livy, Tacitus, Strada, Jornades, Dante, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Spinoza, Machiavelli, and Bossuet.  Observe, I merely quote the most important names and writers.

This makes me shudder a little, to think that 150 books are all that matter. That can’t be right. Right?

I am focusing on Step Five right now. Random Web surfing wasted a lot of read-time. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it.

I totally disagree with Step Three. I need to read multiple books at the same time, the more different the better. Often, I find myself switching from one book to the other in a single sitting, and it makes me appreciate both the books better, gives my mind more time to digest whatever I’ve read and be a little more excited about reading. It’s a kind of Attention Deficit Disorder thingie, but it always works for me.

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Books, Comics, Myself

Hard drives, Trilogies and an Omnibus

A few nights ago, a friend and I were Skyping each other. Since it was a little past dinner-time for me, the laptop was on the kitchen counter when I was making myself some healthy cauliflower and carrot curry. I was also Team-viewering my way into his computer, because he had one of my old hard-drives and I wanted to peek into it.

Looking at old files on a forgotten disk is a sort of perverted self-archaeology that is both life-affirming and creepy. Things that used to be seem relevant once upon a time are now distant, embarrassing. The documents folder yielded old resumes, stray downloaded pictures and half-written Rolling Stone reviews. Most of the other folders had been stripped clean before I left, or had backups of backups in other drives that are here with me. There was the dump of comics that I had transferred temporarily from the piles of CDs and DVDs I had lying around, and my friend was a little overwhelmed by the content. I have never been too tidy with my downloaded files.

We talked about Kyle Baker and Army@Love, remembering old comics and new manga and everything else on our pop culture plates right now. Yes, almost all my conversations morph into variants of this, so don’t judge. At some point, my friend mentioned that he wanted to read an old-school horror book, something that would creep him out and be unputdownable at the same time. I thought about Joe Hill, but he had read all of Hill, most of it before I did. Both of us could not think of anything else at the moment.

I finished Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain last night. And this is what we were talking about. It starts with a plane landing in JFK airport with everyone but four people aboard the flight dead. The Center for Disease Control gets involved, and the plot proceeds like a tight medical thriller, only with fantastical elements. You can easily find out for yourself what it’s really about, because the first line of the Wikipedia summary gives it away. But I went in without knowing anything except that it was a horror book, and I loved the conceit of the plot. Halfway through the book, I was fairly sure it could not be a standalone story, and I was right! The first reaction was disappointment  – I had not finished The Passage, a book based on a similar premise, because the second and third books are due to come out 2012 and 2014. Happily, both sequels to The Strain are out already, the third came out this November. I have now begun The Fall, the second book. Things are proceeding swimmingly. The survivors of the first book are doing well. The dead ones – oh dear. I better shut up right now.

But it’s heartening to find out that my distrust of trilogies seems to be going away slowly, thanks to good content.

I should also mention that you should probably go check out this British movie called Cashback. It’s about break-ups, love, nudity, art and freezing time.

In the middle of the day today, there was a knock on the door. Another USPS package had arrived in my name. ‘Drea the Awesome looked up when I bring it in and open it up, knowing already what it’s going to be. The X-Statix Omnibus, by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred, along with a whole bunch of guest artists like Darwyn Cooke, Philip Bond and Paul Pope. It’s 1200 pages long, and when I pass it over to ‘Drea, she nearly keels over with the weight. “This is a comic?”, she asks. She flips through the pages and then looks up at me. “So you’re going to spend time reading this thing?” “I’ve read this before, but I will probably reread it in a bit, yeah”, I reply, grinning. She shakes her head, mumbling about starting a blog on her experiences with living with a nerd, with a special mention of the many packages that arrive every week. It was not a prudent time to mention that she had been playing Plants vs Zombies the last few nights with the TV on, with an obsession that puts my magpie complex to shame. But I did anyway.

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Books, Myself

Book Meme, a few more questions answered

The first part is here. These questions come from a comment that Amulya left on the post.

1. What was the last book you gifted someone?

I’ll go with three – I gave Craig Thompson’s Habibi to a friend on her birthday last year. I was surprised to find out that she had not read any of Thompson’s books, and I sort of knew she would love it. She did. So did her mom.

I gave another friend Blankets. That was because I met her in winter, and Blankets is a perfect winter book. I believe she liked it as well, though she was a little depressed.

I am supposed to send out a signed copy of Grant Morrison’s Super Gods this week, for a friend, but I have a bad feeling he may not receive it in time, so I may have to find another way to send it.

2. Conversely, what was the last book you were gifted?

On my birthday, I received a book called Erotic Comics Vol 2, by Tim Pilcher and a Romanian graphic novel called Year of the Pioneer, by Andreea Chirica. Also, the first three volumes of XIII, a graphic novel, The City of Shifting Waters by Mezieres/Christin and The Yellow M by Edgar P Jacobs.

(That’s five.)

(But let me talk about one of them.)

The book on Erotic Comics, I first saw it, the same copy, in Carturesti, Iulius Mall, Cluj in 2009. I flipped through it, wanted to buy it, but I was out of luggage space and did not want to spend any more money either. Saw it again in 2010, but I was on a book-buying hiatus. Carturesti was closed when I went there in early 2011. My friends bought it for me because they know me and were fairly sure I would like it – they were right. And I know it’s the same copy because the people at the store high-fived each other when somebody finally bought the dang thing instead of flipping through the pages. Life works in strange and mysterious ways.

3. What is your constant go-to book? Either as a fix/soul recharge?

I’ve found that I end up reading Preacher and Sandman very frequently, maybe once a year or so. Preacher reads like a beautiful love story with dollops of anti-religion and profanity thrown in. Sandman reminds me every single time that I have so much to read, and much to learn.

The Count of Monte Cristo, because the most perfect story about revenge makes for a dish that never gets cold.

The Mahabharata, in different forms, versions and retellings. Hard to believe how timeless this book is, and how fresh it always feels with every reading.

4. Name one, just one.. Okay, three books that made you tear up.

Ashok Banker’s writing makes me want to tear up his books, but I guess that’s not what you’re referring to. Heh.

Ok fine. A lot of books make me tear up, actually. Why, just reading Hunger Games the other day brought me on the verge of tears at one specific point. Off the top of my head: Oscar Wilde’s Happy Prince. Ian McEwan’s Atonement. The ending of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Garth Ennis’s Hitman and Koike/Kojima’s Lone Wolf and Cub. One specific chapter in the seventh Harry Potter book. A stupid coming-of-age book called Summer of 42 by Herman Raucher. Olga Perovskaya’s Kids and Cubs made me weep bitter tears at age 14, and just thinking about it makes me melancholy now. This is Too Much Information, I am sorry.

5. What is the most embarrassing book you are in possession of?

A first edition hardcover of Michael Crichton’s The Lost World. It’s embarrassing because I paid a shitload of money to buy it when it came out, thinking that it will be a “collector’s item”. 350 Rs, I think, an insane amount of money for someone in Class 10, and I still cringe at the number of excuses I gave myself when coughing up the money at the counter.

I did not even like reading the fucking thing.

6. Say there was only one library that existed in the world, with every single book ever written – and it burnt down, which three books would you save for mankind?

Ugh. I should not answer this. My brain shuts down with scenarios like this, and I cannot think of the answers right away. Even if I answer them now, somehow, tomorrow morning I’ll wake up and curse myself for not choosing that instead of this. Also, I have a feeling that I will select these books based on the assumption that I have to decide what knowledge has to be carried forward in a world sans learning, and I am not sure if that was your intent.

But ok, I will play.

The collected works of William Shakespeare. Such a world will need entertainment, comedies, drama, dramedies, tearjerkers. No one better than the Bard.

A Science book. The Origin of Species, off the top of my head, just because it has a lot of answers that can bitch-slap religious nutjobs.

A book about books. Maybe Chip Kidd’s Volume One, which makes you ache inside and long to touch a physical book.

For the record, I hate this question.

7. Ever made friends in a bookshop?

Yes. A specific one that has lasted – I saw a guy in Best Book Stall, Hyderabad who had a pile of comics to sell. Asian-looking, brusque, speaking Hyderabadi Hindi like a pro. At one point, Ahmed sir, the proprietor just stood aside and let the two of us decide which ones I was buying directly off him, and which ones he would ultimately put for display eventually. The guy turned out to be the owner of the most famous Chinese restaurant in Hyderabad, Blue Diamond (if you’re ever in Hyderabad, take an auto, say ‘Blue Diamond, Basheer Bagh, near Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium’. Try the Cantonese chicken soup. The Bhutan chicken. Chicken, bamboo shoots and mushroom noodles. And tell Chun that Satya says hi, and that I’ve got some things he may get later this year). I was a semi-starving student back then, and went to the restaurant a few weekends later. He took me to his room upstairs, where I stood gasping at a pile of comics scattered around tables and shelves. He brought me some dumplings and noodles and let me be for a few hours. We occasionally call each other from random bookshops in different parts of the world and crow about new acquisitions. We are like that only.

7. a) The most interesting conversation you’ve had in a bookshop?

The one with Ahmed sir, where we talked about my buying 90 years of bound Punch magazines. It took him about 30-odd minutes to convince me that I should not pay him my money. He talked about some of his other regular customers, and how he does not want me to end up like them, buying books just to own them. Sometimes, I think he knew me better than my friends did.

8. If you witness someone else reading a book, what habit of theirs is likely to piss you off?

Seeing someone reading a book without any discernible reactions, especially when I know it’s supposed to make you laugh or react in some way. My bad habit is that if I see the person reading a book I know, I keep asking “where are you now?” and “what do you think?”. It’s almost like I take their reaction to it personally. Stupid.

9. What was the most bizarre dream you had after reading a book?

I dreamt something really terrifying after reading From Hell the first time. I do not want to remember what I saw in my dream, but it was to do with entrails, Ganesha, living cities and a coach following me through cobbled streets. Brrr.

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Books, Myself

Book Meme

1. What’s your favorite time of day to read?

In the morning, when I am on my way to the office. I get about 45 minutes, and if I am reading something really interesting, I just stagger my travel-time so that I wait longer at the bus-stop. That helps set the tone for the day, really.

2. Do you read during meals?

Yes. And no. Depends on the company I keep, really. When I worked in my previous company, I treated lunchtime like it was special, would not go out with anyone, and infallibly took a book to read. I did not read during dinner because that would be rude. I used to think eating by itself is a waste of time, unless you’re doing something else along with chewing your food. My parents hated that.

Now, I only read during lunch if I am in the middle of something very interesting. Most of the time, I go out to lunch with colleagues, so reading’s out of the question. If I delay lunch sometimes because of work, I still read.

3. Do you have bad habits while reading?

When I read a book that’s exciting, time passes by faster. My eyes dart through the pages faster as well. Happens to all of us. But you know what sucks? When there’s a chapter break at a crucial moment in the narrative. What happens then is that my eyes, out of their own accord, jump to the end of the chapter and read the last few words. This drops a nice monkey-wrench into the few seconds of build-up that would have been my due. I hate this habit, and I wish I could control it, but it feels impossible. (Sad panda face)

Once upon a time, I chewed on (and swallowed) corners of pages. True story.

4. How many hours a day would you say you read?

Again, depends on the book(s) I am reading. Can vary between 2 hours to maybe 7 hours (I’ve done read-binges from 9 PM to 3 AM). I read more in the weekend, if I am not doing anything else.

5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?

I have been reading more over the last year, thanks to the iPad and the iPhone. Been doing 2-3 books every week, and way more comics/manga. Also, I read different books at different times of the day, just to keep things interesting.

6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?

I’ve done 900-page books in a day. You do the math.

7. If you could have any superpower related to books, what would it be?

The ability to carry my physical collection with me wherever I go. Remembering lines that I like verbatim. The ability to super-sample a book before I read it, without any spoilers.

(As you must have figured out already, I think about super-powers a lot. Just in case I need to pick one on the spot.)

8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?

I carry an iPad everywhere I go. Which means I carry thousands of books with me. I win.

9. What kind of book do you prefer to read?

Something unlike the one that I just finished reading. Unless it’s the first in a trilogy or a series and I need to know what happens next.

10. How old were you when you got your first library card?

Six and a half. 1986 was a long time ago, goddammit. It was at the Tezpur district library, which had a ripping children’s book collection, and I had a really cool elder-brother-figure who took me to the library once a week, on his bicycle.

11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)

The oldest book would be an 1893 copy of Charles Reade’s The Cloister And the Hearth. It belonged to a relative, and I took it from him because one of our English readers had an excerpt from it involving a hunter and a bear. The rest of the book was pretty disappointing, if I remember correctly.

I still have a copy of Ukrainian Folk Tales from 1987, that I bought with my own money. But the oldest may be a copy of Indira Gandhi, by Swraj Paul, that my father gifted me on my sixth birthday. I have spoken about this before.

12. Do you read in bed? Do you like reading in bed?

Yes. Ouch. I read in bed in strange positions, one old favorite being lying back, lifting my legs against the wall, and laying the book against my knees.

13. Do you write in your books?

No. HELL NO!

Though I have taken to highlighting interesting paragraphs within iBooks, nowadays. But it’s usually pointless, because I do not refer to them later on.

14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?

Just one? Let me go with three.

  • You’ve wasted a lot of time being a non-reader. Make up for that lost time by reading more.
  • Read the classics first. There is a reason why they are the classics.
  • If you do not like the first 10 pages of a book, find out someone you know and whose taste you respect and ask them if it’s worth reading. If they cannot convince you, move on and read something else.

 15. What was the last book you read? What are you reading now?

The first book I read this year was I Am Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59, which was a tremendously entertaining story of Google from the director of marketing and brand management. This forms a sort of companion to In the Plex that I read last year, which was sort of a from-the-outside look at the company.

I finished Killing Floor after that, the first of the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. I liked it, but I am not sure if I should read any more of them because a friend tells me they are more of the same.

I am now reading The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro, which begins really well.

There’s a whole bunch of comics I am reading as well, including the Noble Causes Archives, Absolute Death and the Walter Simonson Thor Omnibus. The latter two are rereads.

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