Truth is stranger than fiction

When you know where you come from You back down for no one Just be true to yourself, it's your life.        These are the lyrics of a ballad by rock band Scorpions, featured in their latest album titled Rock Believer.    This band holds a special place in my heart as I was introduced to rock music through their numbers. I was probably eight or nine years old when I accidentally stumbled upon their audio tape in my parents’ music collection. As a latchkey child, I was mostly accustomed to an empty house. Occasionally the sound of rustling leaves would reverberate inside the apartment. While I enjoyed silence and solitude, I craved a little noise, and often played music in the background while doing my homework. The music ranged from English pop or Indian film music. Back in the 80s numbers from Abba, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Boney M were regular on my playlist.  When I was bored of listening to the same numbers, I’d rummage thro...

Book Review   Title: The Sky is Everywhere Author: Jandy Nelson Genre: Fiction/Young Adult    The Sky is Everywhere follows the story of Lennie Walker who is trying to cope up with the sudden demise of her sister. Her grief manifests itself into poems, and little notes that she plants in different places. While Lennie is grappling with her loss, and trying to find her footing, she gets into a relationship with her late sister’s fiancée. At the same time, there is Joe who helps Lennie find solace in music. As the story progresses, Lennie discovers aspects of her sister that she never knew and feels distant from her. The book goes on to reveal Lennie handling complex dynamics, and her palatable grief.    Narrated in first person from the point of view of Lennie, readers are treated to the interiority of her torrid emotions. The writing is lucid and poetic, giving it a certain rhythm and cadence. This rhythm is found in the dialogues which is the strongest point in...

  Book Review Title: The Lost Daughter Author: Elena Ferrante Genre: Fiction/Translation (Italian)   The Lost Daughter traces the story of Leda, a divorced woman, long separated from her grown up daughters who takes up a summer rental at a beach. On the beach, she observes a family that catches her fancy. There is Nina, her daughter Elena, and a doll they both play with. When Elena goes missing, Leda helps in finding her but later steals her doll. This triggers a series of questions about Leda’s reasons for doing something so inexplicable. Was it her way of clinging on to memories, or an unresolved childhood problem?   Written in first person from the point of view of Leda, the readers are taken deep into her interiority. Through her eyes, we observe intricate details about people and the place around her. What makes it interesting is the several layers in her characterization and plot. As we delve deeper, we hear about Leda’s confession to a group of strangers about her ...

Summary of movies    Due to my training and semester on in full swing, I haven’t been able to catch up on too many movies as much as I’d have liked to. Nevertheless, managed to watch a few that stood out to me.    My father’s violin : It chronicles the relationship between a father and daughter who are ardent music lovers. When the father discovers one day about his numbered days, he entrusts his daughter to his estranged brother who is a famous music composer. The story goes on to trace how the little girl attempts to win her uncle’s heart through music. While the movie was in Turkish, there were several aspects that struck a chord. The overall rhythm of the movie lent well to music which is a silent character. Even dialogues between people can be emulated in a tune, as the father tells the daughter. He attempts to play a tune after listening to two people in conversation. Since I’m studying both poetry and dialogue this semester, it’s interesting how such movies he...

This semester, I'm enrolled in a seminar that focuses on speech and dialogue. It’s interesting how reading some information from the material assigned, triggered a memory This excerpt is from a novel titled You which is also a series. It’s about a narrator stalking a woman who visits his store. The term ‘you’ elicits a creepy feeling in the reader, giving them the feeling of being the person stalked. However, there are certain lines and passages that makes the reader feel the narrator is stating nothing but the truth.    In the above passage, the narrator talks about the absence of DVD stores and the reduced communication levels between humans. Having grown up in an era where I’ve rented DVDs, this statement struck a chord.  Back then, I’d have some wonderful conversations with the DVD rental shop owner, who later became a very dear friend. There were times I’d be confused on what movie to watch next, and he’d come up with several recommendations and reviews. I remem...