Having decided to become a writer after graduating from the university, Salman Rushdie was failing by all accounts. His first book had been a flop, but he was not willing to give up just yet. It was 1976 and Salman Rushdie was wondering what he would write about next. So, he thought about going back to his happy childhood. He booked a trip to India and made a tour through memory lane. Being born a few weeks before India became officially independent, he decided to base his new book on a boy born exactly at midnight on 15 August 1947. The result was the book “Midnight’s Children”, which was awarded the Booker Prize in 1981, the Booker of Bookers in 1994, and the Best of Bookers in 2008.
The story is told by a boy born at the exact time as his home country has acquired independence from its coloniser (the British Empire). Later in life, he decides to write the memories of his life, not taking anything out. Full disclosure: even the most shameful events would be recounted. Throughout the narrative, we learn how the boy’s life is closely connected to the first 34 years of India as a sovereign country. The tale starts in the paradisiac landscapes of Kashmir, when the boy’s grandfather meets the boy’s grandmother, at a time when the country is still under British administration. As the family grows, it moves around throughout India: Delhi, Bombay, and Pakistan.
In a unique style, the author, through the narrator’s voice, describes what is happening to the boy as he grows up, to his family, and to his country. It is a roller coaster of changes and emotions. After knowing the story of his grandparents and his parents, we get to know how the narrator’s childhood was in Bombay. At some point, we learn that a nurse dramatically influenced his fate at his birth, something that marked him later in life. In the meantime, he finds out that has a special power that he loses in exchange for physical improvement.
What looked like a bright future turned into a troubled present as the country descended into dark times. Conflicts and wars affect everyone one way or another, especially in what the schism between Pakistan and India is concerned. The narrator navigates his existence as he can, gaining allies and rivals along the way. He loses people, loses his home, loses everything; gets misplaced and misunderstood in a very Indian way. Indeed, his story could only happen in India to an Indian person. The ending is what is possible: happy or sad is up to the reader to decide.
In a nutshell, a wonderful journey through history and a magical story.
Suggestions:
QUIZ
1. How did Amina pay for the legal process?
- A. Didn’t pay – her lawyer worked for free this time.
B. Sold her family jewels.
C. Won the money on horse racing bets.
2. What was the narrator’s gift?
- A. Shiva had excellent fighting abilities.
B. Saleem had the ability to read people’s hearts and minds.
C. Parvati had the abilities of a true witch.
3. How the members of the Midnight Children’s Conference communicate between themselves?
- A. Via telepathy.
B. Via post.
C. Via telephone.
4. What happened in 1965?
- A. Saleem got married with a woman he didn’t love to look “more” Pakistani.
B. Saleem lost his family, killed during the war between Pakistan and India.
C. Saleem was expelled from his family and went to live in exile to another country.
5. With whom did the narrator married?
- A. Jamila, his greatest love.
B. Padma, his greatest comfort.
C. Parvati, his greatest supporter.
Zarazoga, in Spain, has set a strategic plan to turn the whole city, including their many UNESCO World Heritage sites, accessible to everyone (this means, accessible to people with disabilities). It’s a huge effort, which they want to be a success in five years’ time. You can read the Plan (in Spanish) here.
Check the website daily to read the highlight of the day.
“The Secret Story” is a story about a murder. We learn that right in the first sentence of the book, so no surprises there. What we are going to discover throughout the book is what led to that murder and the consequences it had in the lives of those involved. Strongly based on Greek tragedies, the story is a tragedy of modern times.
The mother of a Chinese child dies. A stranger takes the little boy to London to give him an education. The boy goes with the stranger because he is suffering and there is nothing left for him in his hometown. The boy changes his name and becomes an Englishman. His tutor enrolls him in a special university in order for him to get a degree in translation. And there is where things turn sour. A secret organization, the true nature of his work as a translator, the return to his hometown, the bond with his friends, all collides in a spectacular and unexpecting ending.
Ms Clara Smartest began the session summarizing the story of the book: “The author tells the story through the letters that are being exchanged between the main character, Juliet Ashton, and the other characters. Juliet is a writer and, naturally, she loves books. She is on a book tour when she receives a letter from a man living in one of the islands of the English Channel. He is contacting her about a book that used to belong to her. Conversation gets going and Juliet learns about an intriguing book club created unexpectedly during the Second World War. The letters are exchanged shortly after the war has ended and emotions are still running high.”
Written by the British-Turkish author Elif Shafak, “Three Daughters of Eve” tells the story of Peri, a Turkish young woman who goes to the UK to study in Oxford. Daughter of an ultra-religious mother and an agnostic father, she witnesses her brothers taking different paths. Her older brother rebels against the system and is imprisoned and tortured, leaving him traumatized for life. Her younger brother follows a religious path, like his mother, with many pitfalls. Peri tries to stay neutral, with tragic consequences. In Oxford, she becomes friends with two young women from other Islamic countries, with different attitudes towards religion. She also meets Professor Azur, hoping he could help her with her questions about God, but instead that path leads to a scandal.
“Hamnet” is the story of how the death of a child impacted a typical 16th century family living in England. The boy was living in Stratford-upon-Avon with his mother and his siblings. His father had moved to London to find better ways to provide for his family. The boy was called Hamnet, a variation of Hamlet, and his father was William Shakespeare. The boy’s death, and his father’s subsequent grief, gave rise to the renowned theatre play “Hamlet”.
Ms Clara Smartest, who had “officially” been put in charge of introducing the book of the month, took the floor.
The group then discussed details of the book. The solution found by Blake, the regular guy who was actually a hitman for hire in his spare time, was the most radical. André, the architect in love with a much younger woman who didn’t love him with the same intensity, was the most practical, accepting the new reality and adapting rapidly. The confrontation between the two little Sophias, uncovered a hidden secret about their families. The singer Slimboy and his duplicate found the most original solution and the success of the “oldest” was doubled. David’s fate was repeated. Joanna, who had married and became pregnant in those three months, realised that she shared the love of a man with another person. Lucie realised she had to share her son. Finally, Victor Miesel had a golden opportunity to start a new life.
“Let me just say that it was delightful to see how much we helped each other to ‘decode’ this book. I heard that some of you decided to learn a new foreign language, which I personally think it’s great. Knowing a foreign language opens a door to a whole new world”, said Ms Clara Smartest.
“The book for this month was written by Oscar Wilde, an Irish writer who lived in the last half of the 19th century, during the last years of Queen Victoria’s extensive rule. His famous playwrights wittily characterized the society at the time and surpassed his numerous poems and short stories. His only novel, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, tells the story of a beautiful young man throughout his increasingly decaying life. At the beginning of the story, a friend paints his portrait, forever preserving its untainted beauty. This painting will have a crucial role in his life”, said Ms Clara Smartest.
“A few remarks about the author before we give you the floor”, added Ms Clara Smartest. “Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a pilot during the war and a courier, having crossed over the desert many times. He wrote several books, including one which stem from his nearly-dead experience after crashing in the desert. The description of his hallucinations is very interesting and lively. In a way, ‘The Little Prince’ also stems from such an experience, but reflects as well his concerns about the direction the world was heading. The thesis in the book is that grown-ups forget to be open to the world, as when they were kids, and understand nothing.”
“It’s a beautiful fable about how adults lose sight of the most important things in life, like what love really is and how to make friends. Those people who the Little Prince met during his journey had become so focused on their purposes they had forgotten anything else. Therefore, the story aims to remind adults how it was to be a child, full of amazement and curiosity about the world”, said Mr Mark Mindhearting. “I especially like the fox. It’s like the voice of conscience we sometimes have in our mind, telling us to look closely, to become aware of what it is all about, really. It’s the fox that says the ‘essential is invisible to the eye’, as saying to look beyond what you can see with your eyes, that the important things, or better yet the most important things, are felt, not seen.”
Lothar-Günther Buchheim was born in 1918. He was 15 years old when the Nazis took power and, while attending the Hitler Youth’s meetings, where he had military training, he seized the opportunity to take photos and write articles about the activities of the organization. When World War II broke out, he was studying art, but he left his studies to become a war reporter for the regime. The Ministry of Propaganda had created military structures (called 
Mr John Booklish officially opened the meeting briefly introducing the book under discussion: “Levantado do Chão”, by Jose Saramago. Before he would go on about the story of the book, he made a bibliographical note about the author.
Although not disagreeing with this entirely, Mr Jeremy Toughready said that the story showed how resilient the farmers were, and how that helped create a strong will and a strong mind. They were prepared for everything that might come, not afraid of the consequences. They just went for what they wanted and for what they thought it was right, despite political affiliations. What he meant, he added, was that they did what they did not because of some political belief, but because it was just right.
Lieutenant Ulrich Schmied, working with the Police of Bern, is found murdered inside a car on the roadside. The police officer responsible to solve the case is Walter Tschanz and he is helped by Commissar Bärlach, who cannot investigate the case as he is very ill. However, Bärlach tells Tschanz that he knows who the murdered is and hopes that Tschanz can discover who he is by himsellf and bring him to justice. As the investigation progresses, the case gets stranger and stranger. Bärlach’s actions are bizarre and obscure until we reach the end of the story and everything is explained. Although it is a crime investigation and the main characters are all police officers, the short story is not about the investigation itself. In reality, it is about criminals who get away with murder… or at least try. It is about the good and the evil and the battle between the two. And it is about Commissar Bärlach’s relationship with a great criminal…
“A Farewell to Arms” is a vivid description of his experience in World War I and aims to show the reader how war is in reality. It is heavily based on his own experience. The main character drives ambulances like he did and he falls in love like Hemingway did. Although the descriptions of the war are authentic, the romantic connection is not (maybe he wrote what he wanted to have happened).
Tim Marshall wrote a second book, “The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World”, detailing issues regarding some of the regions analysed in the first book plus other regions that were not included, like Australia… and the Space. Then, he furthered the Space topic in a third book, “The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space will Change our World”.
What if Hitler had won the war and succeeded in achieving his terrible plans?
London is the stage of all the action. Strike’s office is located in the trendy Soho, at the heart of the city. On the same day, the brother of his childhood, and dead, best friend knocks on the door to ask him to investigate the murder of his sister, which was ruled a suicide. The case has nowhere to go, but the client promises him a lot of money, enough money to pay Strike’s debt and the one-week salary of his new employee. He reluctantly accepts the case and heads to Mayfair, the city’s poshest borough, where the wealthiest people in the country, and maybe in the world, live.
Grenouille has no body smell and, because of that, he is feared. People are not afraid of him, they just feel he is different in a completely and unbeknownst way and just keep their distance. No one knows, except Grenouille himself, that he has an enormous gift: he can smell and precisely categorise all the smells (good and bad) in the world. He can also detect the tiniest fragrance that has travelled from far away. For Grenouille, who has no moral values, only this gift matters. So, killing to acquire the body smell of a particular person is just a collection method, nothing more.
You do not just read James Joyce; you become an Irish person that participates in the narrative.
After being postponed due to the strike of writers and actors in the USA, “Dune: Part Two” will finally open in theatres around the world this month. Both Part One and Part Two were adapted from the first book of the series “Dune”, which is the name of the first book.
WORDS IN IDEAS 