All That Man Is by David Szalay: A Warm Portrayal of Male Psyche

All That Man Is is written by David Szalay and was short listed for Man Booker prize 2016. Though it is listed as a novel, it is actually a collection of nine stories with many recurring elements and themes. Basically it is a portrayal of manhood through specimens of nine European men of different ages and at diverse stages of life.

The book starts with the story about Simon, a young introvert British teenager, sightseeing in Berlin along with his friend. It ends with the story of his knighted grandfather Tony who is seventy three and recuperating from surgery. In between there are diverse stories about men of many ages and social status facing testing life situations where either love, money or in most cases both are at stake.

All the protagonists are invariably flawed men in humiliating circumstances, mostly of their own making. Some are indifferent, some are with bloated egos and most of them totally break down. The stories are pretty bleak, but told with a very mild dose of humor and with much sympathy. They are so realistic that they have the potential to be case studies of psychologists.

All nine stories feature their protagonists in international journeys- some of them holidays, some personal errands and some business trips. Invariably while they are in a foreign situation, they face an issue where a tough choice has to be taken which can affect their life. The stakes- sex, love, money, job, assets and ultimately life- build up as the age goes up. The book is an existential comedy.

Buy the book :

Bridging Connections: A Collection of Sri Lankan Short Stories.

Edited by Rajiva Wijesinha, Bridging Connections is a collection of twenty five short stories penned by Sri Lankan writers. The book has representations from all three major languages of the country. Eight of the stories are English translations of Sinhala stories, seven translated from Tamil and ten are stories originally written in English. There are stories written in different eras- right from 1940s to contemporary ones.

The first story of the collection, titled Diversion is written by Martin Wickramasinghe, who is acknowledged as the father of modern Sinhala fiction. It is about the remnants of colonial attitudes still showing its ugliness even after the English left for good. Going Back is about a retired head teacher visiting her school nostalgically with her son who doesn't care. The Dancer very beautifully portrays a psychological aspect of married life. A Latrine For US Too establishes how a new habit is formed. Initially all are sceptical about building a new toilet, but are forced to make one by the law. Later one by one the family starts using it and it becomes a norm. This story, I feel has significance in the current Indian situation of digitalisation.

Today My Son Comes Home is a dark tragedy as the name indicates. The Teacher is about how desires can veil our humanity. SMS is a heart felt story about the interactions between a consultant and mine searchers in a war zone. Akka is a family drama about a divorced sister.

The Tamil stories starts with Chastity, which mulls about the importance of life over chastity of a lady. Satisfaction has a very personal narration about a boy selling wares to feed his family and to educate himself. Among the Hills starts as a romance and then by the end take an abrupt turn.

Thousands of Directions is about ethnicity and the ridges created by politics. It Could Happen Anywhere, Anytime is a tragedy of lives altered permanently by war. Thanks is a mini story that's interesting due to its sharp anti-Indian twist in the end. The Door of Infatuation is a hilarious retelling of an old mythological tale.

Stories that are written in English are more interesting because they are not translated and comes directly from horses' mouths. Also, absence of the strong ethnic divide seen in the previous two sections make it an interesting read. Notable are the satires Professional Mourners and The Doughty Men of Purantota. No State, No Dog is a story of sudden and drastic change in life, so is The Colour of Life. Home Coming contrasts expectations and reality. Reunion is a black comedy about extreme situations tearing the mind apart.

The Drummer is perhaps the most modern of the stories. The Price goes back to the theme of parents' inability to raise their children as individuals. The Rabbit's Retreat treads a nostalgic path of reminiscing about school life. The last tale Monkeys is like a wise Buddhist fable.


Title Bridging Connections signifies the attempt to unify the two ethnicities that are perpetually at loggerheads with each other. But the stories given in the book showcase the stark difference between their views and attitudes. It is interesting to observe how one party tries to avoid or sugar coat the issue while the other constantly brings it up to the verge of propaganda. One tries to induce restraint and a feel good factor in its stories, while the other tries to stoke the emotions.

Staying One Step Ahead.

I received this email a few days back and thought it worthy of sharing with my readers. Enjoy:
 
The Taj hotel group had invited Mr. Masai Imai from Japan to hold a workshop for its staff.
 
The staff were very skeptical - the hotel is doing excellent business, this person from Japan has no exposure to hotel industry - what exactly is he going to teach?
 
But everybody gathered as planned for the workshop in the conference hall sharp at 9 am.
 
Mr. Masai was introduced to them - a not so impressive personality, nor the English all that good; spoke as if he was first formulating each sentence in Japanese and then translating it into rather clumsy English.
 
"Good morning! Let's start work. I am told this is a workshop; but I see neither work nor shop. So let's proceed where work is happening. Let's start with the first room on the first floor."
 
Mr. Masai, followed by the senior management, the participants, the video camera crew trouped out of the conference room and proceeded to the destination.
 
That happened to be the laundry room of the hotel.
 
Mr. Masai entered the room and stood at the window, "beautiful view!" he said.
 
The staff knew it; they need not invite a Japanese consultant to tell them this!
 
"A room with such a beautiful view is being wasted as a laundry room. Shift the laundry to the basement and convert this into a guest room."
 
Aa Haa! Now nobody had ever thought about that!
 
The manager said, "Yes, it can be done."
 
"Then let's do it," Mr. Masai said.
 
"Yes sir, I will make a note of this and we will include it in the report on the workshop that will be prepared." Manager
 
"Excuse me, but there is nothing to note down in this. Let's just do it, just now." Mr. Masai.
 
"Just now?" Manager
 
"Yes, decide on a room on the ground floor/basement and shift the stuff out of this room right away. It should take a couple of hours, right?" asked Mr. Masai.
 
"Yes." Manager.
 
"Let's come back here just before lunch. By then all this stuff will have got shifted out and the room must be ready with the carpets, furniture etc. and from today you can start earning the few thousand that you charge your customers for a night."
 
"Ok, Sir." The manager had no option.
 
The next destination was the pantry. The group entered. At the entrance were two huge sinks full of plates to be washed.
 
Mr. Masai removed his jacket and started washing the plates.
 
"Sir, Please, what are you doing?" the manager didn't know what to say and what to do.
 
"Why, I am washing the plates", Mr. Masai.
 
"But sir, there is staff here to do that." Manager Mr. Masai continued washing, "I think sink is for washing plates, there are stands here to keep the plates and the plates should go into the stands."
 
All the officials wondered - did they require a consultant to tell them this?
 
After finishing the job, Mr. Masai asked, "How many plates do you have?'
 
"Plenty, so that there should never be any shortage." answered the Manager.
 
Mr. Masai said, "We have a word in Japanese -'Muda'. Muda means delay, Muda means unnecessary spending. One lesson to be learned in this workshop is to avoid both. If you have plenty of plates, there will be delay in cleaning them up. The first step to correct this situation is to remove all the excess plates."
 
"Yes, we will say this in the report." Manager.
 
"No, wasting our time in writing the report is again an instance of 'Muda'. We must pack the extra plates in a box right away and send these to whichever other section of Taj requires these. Throughout the workshop now we will find out where all we find this 'Muda' hidden."
 
And then at every spot and session, the staff eagerly awaited to find out Muda and learn how to avoid it.
 
On the last day, Mr. Masai told a story.
 
"A Japanese and an American, both fond of hunting, met in a jungle. They entered deep jungle and suddenly realized that they had run out of bullets. Just then they heard a lion roaring. Both started running. But the Japanese took a short break to put on his sports shoes.
 
The American said, "What are you doing? We must first get to the car."
 
The Japanese responded, "No. I only have to ensure that I remain ahead of you."
 
All the participants engrossed in listening to the story, realized suddenly that the lion would stop after getting his victim!
 
"The lesson is: competition in today's world is so fierce, that it is important to stay ahead of other, even by just a couple of steps. And you have such a huge and naturally well endowed country. If you remember to curtail your production expenditure and give the best quality always, you will be miles ahead as compared to so many other countries in the world.", concluded Mr. Masai.

The Veteran by Forsyth: Quick Shorts

I have found Frederick Forsyth novels consistently enjoyable. The deep research that evidently went behind each of his books gives the stories much credibility. Also the way he mixes facts and fiction is commendable. The background information-trivia- that he provide for the readers in many novels are fascinating. That was the reason when I saw that The Veteran was a collection of five novellas, I was a bit turned off. I was worried that the short story/novella format may not suit Forsyth's elaborate style of narrating stories.

The Veteran, the opening story is a police procedural. It starts with the mugging and killing of an unidentified man and the police arresting two criminals, thanks to a sound witness and solid proofs. But a very successful attorney appears for the convicts and causes their acquittal, only to ensure that natural justice prevail. Breakneck speed is the only thing that keeps our interest in the story. The twist ending was predictable, but satisfying.

Art of The Matter is a heist story set in an auction house that deals with paintings. When he loses his job due to a fraud committed by his superior, an ex-employee decides to take revenge by teaming up with an out of work actor, another victim of fraud. This one is my favorite due to the elaborate setting of the plot and detailing. Suspense element does not play much of a role.

In the third story, titled The Miracle, an American tourist couple in Sienna meet a stranger who tell them a mesmerizing story of a miracle that happened right there during the Second World War. Though in the end the story turns out much simple than anticipated, that makes the twist more enjoyable. Point to note is the mastery displayed in narrating the story. I could visualize the entire happening.

In the fourth story, titled The Citizen, the author really falters. It is about international drug trafficking through commercial airlines. The plot tries to be too clever and the climax tries to be manipulative. This resulted in an unsatisfactory ending.

The fifth novella, Whispering Wind is the longest of all. Here an American scout in Montana loves a Cheyenne girl in 1850s, but she gets married to someone in her community. The man wakes up in the next century and after facing much hardships, gets successful in getting back the love of his life. The narration of this story is top notch and that helped me to adjust with the sudden shift to fantasy.

Forsyth is successful in assembling a bunch of stories displaying an astonishing range. Plotting is great. Pacing is frantic to say the least. Narration is fantastic. The forced twist endings doesn't work in some stories. Characterization is totally lacking. Overall, keep the expectations a bit low and here is your perfect holiday read.

Bring Back the Touch

Anand was feeling miserable. Every evening it was the same feeling from last many years. The same job, the same pressure of deadlines, the same terrorizing boss. Still, leaving the workplace after a long day's work made him miserable. It was the cold evening and the long night that was awaiting him at home.

Home.. A word that had all the affection and passion in the world associated with it. These were exactly the same things that were missing from his home. His home used to be beautiful, lovely and an oasis of his barren life. Those were times, times of pure love and romance, times of spurts of happiness and playfulness, times that were lost forever. Forever...? It was that word, the hopelessness of which that hurt him the most. Everybody who is anybody in their life had tried for a reconciliation. But nothing worked. Or, is it more correct to say that they never allowed these attempts to work?

Sthiti was once an epitome of everything that he revered. They were meant to be a couple from the first sight of each other during their college days. They were together during every day of their studies. In the evenings, they were always on a date- hanging around on beach, movies, cafes or theaters. On weekends they went for short trips on his old bike, returned back exhausted and crashed on his couch watching movies on TV. Then there was the wedding. A wedding that everyone of their friends and family could never forget. The color, the warmth, the enjoyment they radiated together, their parents feared of bad eyes. 

And bad eyes did cast their spell. Soon they were having issues within them. Every day, every night turned into a battle and their much envied home, into a battle field. Anand and Sthiti were on the verge of a divorce, a separation that only a miracle could prevent. But miracles do happen. Don't they?

So that day Anand reached home, carrying with him all the ills of a bored husband, ready for a fresh battle. He found the door not latched, as usual and strolled in. He threw his bag on the couch and walked towards kitchen for some cold water. He could sense an unusual brightness in kitchen. He sensed movement through the closed door. He quickly pushed it open. Flames were licking the switchboard above the refrigerator and were on the way towards gas stove. Sthiti was there armed with a blanket, trying to force down its path. Anand ran out towards main switch and threw it off. He ran into kitchen to find Sthiti beating the flames to a defeat. 

She was quivering and sweating profusely. He himself was terrified. She fell on him, tears gushing out of her eyes. Her touch made him forget the ordeal. He was remembering all that he was trying to suppress in his subconscious mind. He embraced her tight. "Damn faulty electricals", was all he could mutter, while he sensed a return of all the lost beautiful times. 

This post is made for the Happy Hour initiative of indiblogger.in in partnership with Parachute Advanced Body Lotion. Follow the hashtag #BringBackTheTouch. Check out the video were Nimrat and Parambrata #BringBackTheTouch

Unaccustomed earth: Emotionally satisfying read...

Unaccustomed earth is a collection of not-so-short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri. The author heavily relies on the experiences of being a second generation Indian settled in USA to carry forward every story. But the restraint shown in romanticizing them makes it a collection suitable for light reading. Though the situations are done to death and utterly cliched, a natural development of lead characters and the subtle undercurrent of humor makes the reader to connect with them instantly.

As I said early, every story deals with the process of assimilation of immigrants into the local culture. The book is designed in such a way that each story gives you a little more insight into the turbulent life of immigrant Indians in US. The book start with the title story of a widower father coming to meet his daughter who is married to an American. She finds out that her orthodox father has considerably changed for good. There is another story that has a similar plot, named Only Goodness, but with a sad ending, of an alcoholic brother coming to meet his married sister, who in the first place had introduced drinks to him.

Nobody's Business deals with a man falling in love with an Indian girl, who is his housemate, but can only watch her falling in a destructive relation with another man of doubtful intents. Hell Heaven is about the relation between a student and a married woman who helps him in the unknown country. In the story titled A Choice of Accommodations, a Bengali- American man goes to his high school crush's wedding with his American wife and gets into some severely unpleasant situations. 

In the end there are three stories that are connected together as a sad love story, but are equally convincing as standalone reads too. Here, each story- Once in A Lifetime, Year's end and Going Ashore  is told from the view point of either of the one protagonists, as if speaking to the other person.

If you need an emotionally satisfying light read, I would recommend trying Unaccustomed earth by Jhumpa Lahiri.