Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last. – Dr Samuel Johnson
80% of business books are articles padded with fluff to fill up 250+ pages. The fluff part is usually the beginning where the author has to give examples showing that his premise worked in his sample of companies. Then there is the good part which is the article, followed by more fluff that talks about how life would be better now that this book is in our hands. Continue reading Books I Read in 2019
For an obsessive compulsive reader like myself, every year begins – among others – with a goal to read certain amount of books of certain genres. However during the year, this goal gets derailed by my impulsive reading of a flashy new novel or a non-fiction topic that I find attractive as I find myself pressing the download button on my Kindle. Continue reading Books I Read in 2018
As we reached the end, satisfied, having sated our (intellectual and culinary) hunger, I felt a little uneasy because the whole night we had been discussing India and Pakistan and on the next table were an expat couple (their timidity signaling a preliminary stage of their dating) one American born Indian (an ABCD) the other asian/oriental. If they end up reading this post I’d like to apologise to them, but they can rest assured that we had the best intentions in the world. And I do not mean it as in the proverb which seems to sum up one of the morals of Shalimar The Clown, “the road to hell is paved with the cobblestones of best intentions”. Continue reading Shalimar The Clown, Salman Rushdie
I discovered Midnight’s Children in a bookstore in Mumbai eight and a half years ago and was more than pleasantly surprised as soon as I began reading it on the train from Agra to Delhi. Back then, my knowledge of Rushdie was limited to the controversy after the fatwa and I must say I am quite angry with the whole cacophony that has shrouded the beauty of his writing. Continue reading Literature Meme, Midnight’s Children
White Teeth hakkini veremeyecek tek cumlelik bir ozet gerekirse 74’lerde dogan 3 cocugun kuzey Londra’daki hayatlariyla ilgili bir roman. Cocuklarin hayatlarinin tam anlasilmasi icin 2 jenerasyon geriye gitmek gerekiyor, dolayisiyla kitap parcalar halinde 1900’lerin basindan 1992’ye kadar, Jamaika, Banglades, Bulgaristan, ve (en buyuk/onemli kismi) Londra’da geciyor. Bu akici ve eglenceli romanin ana temalari goc, Ingilizler ve yabancilar; kontrol, cocuklar ve ebeveynler. Continue reading White Teeth (İnci Gibi Dişler), Zadie Smith
Rushdie’nin bu kitapta denedigi degisik seyler ise mitoloji referanslari, depremler, Londra ve New York. Kitabin konusu Orfeus’un hikayesinden alinmis. Yunan Mitolojisinin en iyi muzisyeni Orfeus, karisi Yuridis bir yilan tarafindan oldurulunce, onu kurtarmak uzerine oluler diyarina gider. Orada bir sarki ile herkesin (Hades basta olmak uzere) gonlunu kazanip karisini kurtarir, fakat bir sartla: yukari cikana kadar arkasina donup karisina bakmamasi lazimdir. Beceriksiz Orfeus donup bakar ve karisi oluler diyarina geri doner. Bundan sonra Orfeus korkunc bir sekilde olene dek inzivaya cekilip muzik calarak yasar… Continue reading The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Salman Rushdie
U2’nun son albumunun Avrupa baskisinda 12 numarali sarkinin adi The Ground Beneath Her Feet. Dostu Salman’in romanindan sozleri secen Bono yazmis muzigini. Yaklasik 600 sayfalik kitabi okurken de tum ana karakterleri film muzikleri misali kafamda bu sarki ve benzeri tonlari kullanarak tasvir ettim. Zaten kitap adeta notalarla yazilmis ve sanki her yeni bolumun basinda bir sol anahtari ve sonunda bir sus isareti var; roman Vina Apsara ve Ormus Cama adli iki uluslararasi rock yildizinin oykusu. Guzeller guzeli ve etkileyici sesli Vina’nin, kendi gibi muzikle icice bir hayata sahip Ormus ile kucuklugunden beri yasadigi iliskiler uzerine kurulu, mitolojik Orpheus hikayesinin esnetilerek gunumuze uyarlanmasiyla ortaya cikan epik ve lirik bir roman bu. Continue reading The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Salman Rushdie (Yalın)
Kitabin ilk 20-30 sayfasini okurken kendi kendime o kadar cok “Oha!” dedim ve sagina soluna o kadar cok not aldim ki, hemen “Evet, Irvine Welsh2ten sonra butun yazilarini okuyacagim ikinci yazar Salman Rusdie olacak” dedim kendi kendime – cocukken okuduklarimdan Enid Blyton ve Jules Verne’i saymiyorum. Continue reading Midnight’s Children (Geceyarısı Çocukları), Salman Rushdie
Nehrin kiyisinda sabahin 6’sinda sabah sporunu (yoga) yapanlar, disini fircalayanlar, kahverengi su icinde sabah banyosunu yapanlar, meditasyon yapanlar, camasir yikayanlar, iki dua edip para alan rahipler, alna renkli toz (tika) surup para alan rahipler, mum ve cicek satanlar, gargara yapanlar, acayip hint halterleri ile vucut gelistirenler, cins cins turistler, balikcilar, cins cins turistlere incik boncuk satmaya calisan cins cins seyyar saticilar, kayik gezisi yapan turistler icin kayikli saticilar, olu yakicilar, olu yakilirken para karsiligi sure basina para alan duacilar, olunun sonuna kadar yandigini (para karsiligi) kontrol ediciler, olu yakarken kotu kokmasin diye tozlar ve bezler satan dukkan sahipleri ve daha daha seyyar saticilar ile karsilasmamak imkansiz. Bir diger imkansiz sey ise daracik sokaklarda hayvan bokuna basmadan yurumek. Continue reading Hindistan ve Din