en-US Thu, 05 Sep 2024 06:43:42 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review6821487245 Thu, 05 Sep 2024 06:43:42 -0700 /review/show/6821487245 Shanmugam gave 5 stars to குள்ளச�� சித்தன�� சரித்திரம் [Kulla Chithan Charithiram] (Paperback) by Yuvan Chandrasekar
]]> Review6821484365 Thu, 05 Sep 2024 06:42:21 -0700 /review/show/6821484365 Shanmugam gave 4 stars to Ghachar Ghochar (Paperback) by Vivek Shanbhag
The very definition of Novella! ]]> Review6821478365 Thu, 05 Sep 2024 06:39:47 -0700 /review/show/6821478365 Shanmugam gave 3 stars to Serotonin (Kindle Edition) by Michel Houellebecq
God is a mediocre scriptwriter; A bleak outlook, not an irrefutable one either. ]]> Review6324307845 Thu, 07 Mar 2024 06:23:10 -0800 /review/show/6324307845 Shanmugam gave 5 stars to Don Quixote (Paperback) by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Had Cervantes stuck with the misadventures of The Kight of Rueful Countenance, it would have turned out into a fine comical novel dishing out chivalry romance. The first few pages into the novel, I couldn't help remembering Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Cervantes was too gifted to do just that; he went on adding layers and layers over it to make a perfect novel. First, well-developed ancillary characters and their adventures in frame narratives set the historical and social context of 16th and early 17th century Span. Critique the cultural aspects of the said period with at least three elaborate conversations, then the brilliant discourses throughout the novel (my favorite among them is the Knight's advice to the future 'governor'), and the famed metafiction to top it up.

For obvious reasons, a sequel in any art form is a tough nut to crack. Cervantes excelled at it with aplomb; in fact, the second part, written ten years later, read better than the first. Cervantes masterfully moved from the physical slapstick in the first part into psychological cruelty in the second part. The novel was full of quirk moments; the quirkiest in the narrative structure came towards the end, wherein the Knight and Squire encountered Don Alvaro, the character from the unauthorized sequel, which not only forced the pair to change the course of their adventure but also Cervantes to write the sequel in the first place. The boundary between fiction, fictional reality, reality, and whatever else was mired.

Since I am done with the first reading, I am tempted to reread a different translation. I am also tempted to open the book randomly to chance upon one of the many delightful discourses between Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. ]]> Review6272222598 Sat, 17 Feb 2024 22:40:28 -0800 /review/show/6272222598 Shanmugam gave 5 stars to Trust (Hardcover) by Hernan Diaz
I don't know whether this can be called a postmodernist novel; it is too serious for the genre. However, it uses its techniques generously. Among many other things, I loved the metafictional aspects. It is a self-contained novel with keys for all the puzzles within. Sometimes, it is too eager to remind you not to miss the tricks, but I guess it is ok. It is the kind of novel that will open up more and be even more enjoyable during the second read. ]]>