The Doll

by Daphne Du Maurier

The Lost Short Stories

Daphne du Maurier,of the “Rebecca” fame, was always a favorite writer of mine, and like most other fans, I loved her novel ‘Rebecca’ which was later made into a movie that is regarded as a classic. I liked her other novels such as “My Cousin Rachel” ,” Hungry Hill”, “Jamaica Inn” as well. Her writing had a sauciness that I enjoyed and the unpredictability of her characters and the content was what drew me to her novels; they were always very intriguing. Ms Maurier appeared quite the rebel of her times as did some of the characters she created; how could someone living in the 1930s and 40s write with such abandon on matters relating to love, marriage, parenting, womanhood?

While browsing through the Used Books section at the HBS (not the Harvard Business School) a couple of days ago, I chanced upon Daphne du Maurier’s “The Doll, The Lost Short Stories” and I was surprised. I had no idea there was another collection of short stories by du Maurier other than the collection titled “The Birds” that I had so thoroughly enjoyed. Needless to say, I bought the book, and finished reading the thirteen stories in less than three hours; I enjoyed each one of them. In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t read them all in one sitting because each story has a distinct flavor that needed to be individually savored; clearly, I had made a mistake! In my desperate hurry to read all the stories, I had done a disservice to the story and to du Maurier’s writing. I plan to fix that by rereading no more than one story a day.

The stories present a collage of human relationships and captures the very essence of what it means to be human. The emotions captured in the stories are varied and so very vivid, be it of love gone awry in “The Weekend” or of love out of sync in the O’Henry like “A Difference in Temperament”. The story “And Now to God the Father” is about a charming, self centered Vicar; it is a tongue in cheek expose of the clergy and of the empty nature of words. The opening story “East Wind” presents a sort of dystopia, a society that has forgotten to ‘live’ and the sudden arrival of a shipload of foreign sailors suddenly ‘enlivens’ the hereto passive inhabitants of the little island and with some brutal consequences. The story titled “The Doll” is about the destructive nature of obsessive love and it has a surprise ending, quite the penchant of a du Maurier tale. I could so easily write about each of the thirteen stories because each one is unique and just as absorbing and fascinating. All thirteen are page turners and demand a read!

Home


A landscape of memories
sweet and sour;
So close to heart
and yet so far

Many a hot summers
Of sheer joy and fun.
The pitter patter of
Tiny wet feet tiptoeing
on a burning hot patio.
Rushing into blue waters
with squeals of laughter
Fighting for floats n noodles,
avoiding the pine needles.
Dreading that first raindrop
That’d bring all play to a stop
Amid moans and the pleas
That no adult would appease.

There was so much to do in those fests of fun:
Endless servings of watermelon
Drinking lemonade by the gallon
Diving for coins that someone would drop
Quietly effacing post painful belly flops
Feigned nonchalance when trunks got undone
And friends laughed and grinned all while you squirmed.

Happy times with old and young.
Oh those were such days of fun.
Those carefree summers
when all was green.
Peace and freedom abounded
Indeed, a place to dream.

It’s all so different now.
With distances and pretences.
My sea of blue is no more.
Nor the petalled pinks galore.
All there is, is the staggering fence.
What did it guard now I wonder?
It is as if a painted canvas broke
Under that mighty oak
It’s now but an orphaned space
that was once a bustling home.

 

Helen Simonson’s Absorbing Read – “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand”

What is it about romance that makes this world more palatable, even rosier! Helen Simonson’s novel “The Last Stand of Major Pettigrew” does just that. It looks at racial tensions, gender disparity, old age, and a dysfunctional family unit with humor and empathy, and that is what makes the novel so enchanting.

The story revolves around an unlikely and disapproved liaison between a retired Englishman and a Pakistani widow both of who live in a small and scenic village in England. The picturesque setting and the witty dialogue cleverly camouflage the racism and snobbishness that exist in the village, and the reader for the most part enjoys a humorous and heartwarming tale of romance. However, every now and again, there are dialogues that could well be aphorisms about gender issues, and human relationships. Luckily, they don’t dampen the light hearted banter between characters which makes the novel so enjoyable. The novel is a must read for an older reader as it explores the changes, both personal and social, that come about in an older person’s life many of which are hard to face and others hard to accept; like Shelly said, “Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts.” Again, there is nothing really ‘sad’ about the novel. It is upbeat, easy to read, and funny; yet, for those with a finer sensibility, it will leave you some resonating questions.

Oscar Contenders for 2017 – A Personal Moviefest

I watched three very different movies in this last one month and surprisingly liked all three. The first one was in Marathi, the language spoken in the state of Maharashtra in Western India, the second one was a science fiction in English, and the third one was also in English, but the movie was set across two continents. Diverse and widespread the movie making world might be, yet how similar its goal, that of appealing to the human imagination, suspending any disbelief the audience may hold, and weaving a story so real that real lives are put on hold. 

Family Katta” the Marathi movie I watched, was much talked about, and the movie lived up to that reputation. Based on a play, the entire movie plays out within a span of two days, each day providing a unique flavor of unrelenting drama. The movie explodes long held myths about Hindu family traditions especially with regard to aging parents and gender roles. The movie has several climactic moments that baffle you yet keep you glued to the screen. Marathi theater has always been held in high esteem in India and abroad with luminaries such as Vijay Tendulkar and Vijaya Mehta to boast of, but after watching Family Katta, and Patekar’s “Nattsamrat” in the past couple of months, I think Marathi cinema is fast becoming a force to reckon with as the movie “Family Katta” illustrates. Undoubtedly, a must see film, even if it’s with close captions.

Villenueve’s science fiction film “Arrivalis another movie I watched. Primarily for two reasons: one I liked Villenueve’s last directorial venture “Sicario” a lot, and I like actress Amy Adams. Though not much of a sci-fi film fan, I was captivated by recent sci-fi movies like “Gravity” and “The Martian”, and “Arrival” definitely belongs in this category as well. “Arrival” threads a very personal human story within a sci-fi interplanetary mystery which adds a unique ethos to the story. As a language teacher, I particularly liked how communication and language become the pivot for averting an interstellar conflict in this movie. Amy Adams plays a linguist, who with Jeremy Redner, a mathematician in the story, is made responsible for handling alien landings in different parts of the world.  “Arrival” is a movie you mustn’t miss!

Lion” is the third movie I watched, and this one is also a ‘must see’. Though quite different from the other two films, it is just as engrossing. It deals with issues of identity and spans across two countries, Australia and India. The first half of the movie dragged out a bit, for me, but that may be a matter of opinion because the rest of the audience loved every bit of ‘Saroo”s’ sad and seamy journey through and in a corrupt and crowded Kolkata and surrounding areas. Based on a true story, I guess the writer director had to stay true to what actually happened, and that may perhaps be the reason that the movie seems like a documentary at times. Nevertheless, it’s ability to capture one’s imagination stays put, and Dev Patel, of the Slumdog Millionaire fame, may be the reason for that.  He does a pretty good job of being that young man who is  tormented by a past he cannot put his hands on; at least not until he embarks on a strange journey, one without a prescribed destination. Though this may be a give away, but I have to say that Larry Page and Sergei Brin should consider subsidizing the costs entailed in the making of this movie since the movie is quite the advertisement for the Google Earth app! All in all, Lion” is definitely a movie you should watch.

Nature Shows ‘How’ in a Post-Brexit World

Nature Shows ‘How’ in a Post-Brexit World
Living in a post-Brexit world,
I wonder at the ‘Live Oak Genus’

Resplendent in olive green attire
with wildly flung out arms,
never one to reach the skies,
it’s spread laterally afar.

Often alone is this ‘beech’,
in abandonment perhaps.
Mirroring its populace
its bearded visage.

Not seeking friends
nor wanting foes;
it is a recluse of sorts.
Indolently languishing
in loamy marshy lots.

Until, Hermes like,
comes a ‘huddled mass’
yearning to be free-
a grey n green epiphyte.
While looking for a home,
it weaves its wispy waves
and very gently drapes
the large languishing oak.
And having found a place
in the Oak’s embrace,
the moss now settles to grow.

Compatriots now,
the wizened oak
and graven moss
survive all nature’s throes.
Perfect mates they are
with symbiotic gaits:
a bow, a bend,
a give and take;
one’s turn now,
while the other awaits.

 Holding up the Spanish Moss,
with largesse is the ‘genus’ oak
No longer migrant, the epiphyte
is beholden to its kindred host.

A team they make
while silently sharing
the sun the land and bonding.
Friends by choice
they casually create
an abode that’s all abiding.

A harmonious ‘union’ so unique
can only respect command.
Look! It seeks no ‘referendum’
and will not an ‘exit’ demand!

Laila Lalami Explores the Master Slave Dynamic in "The Moor’s Account"

“The Moors Account” by Moroccan American Laila Lalami is a captivating read. Written in the historical fiction genre, the novel is based on the voyage chronicles of  Panfilo de Narvaez in the 1520s.

The narrator in this novel is Estebanico, a Moor and also the first black slave of the white world, who accompanied his Spanish masters on an exploratory mission during the era of colonial expansionism into Florida, the land of Native Americans.
 Estebanico, originally Mustafa-Al-Zamori- a native of Azzemur and not a slave, falls into bad times when his father dies, and soon after, the Portuguese soldiers start taking over his homeland of Azzemur. In the face of dire poverty, Estebanico, only a teenager then, sells himself for a few gold coins to Portuguese traders in order to save his mother, his sister, and his twin brothers from starvation. That is how and when Estebanico who only a short while ago was “selling slaves” is now “sold as a slave” and not for the last time; he would soon be resold to a group of Spanish explorers and embark on a doomed expedition during which he would be “one of only four crew members to survive”.  Not only does he, Estebanico, survive, he also becomes the voice of his expedition, and in more ways than one. The question that arises is, will it be his, a slave’s, version of what happened on this ill fated expedition that will get reported back to his Spanish conquistadors?  Will the Moor’s account hold credence with his colonial masters even if it does with the reader.  A master writer, Lalami in “The Moor’s Account” cleverly explores and lays bare the circumstances that lead to the establishment of the slave and master dynamic as it unravels in the encounters between the Spanish conquistadors and Native Americans seen through the lens of Estebanico, a black slave.
At the very outset, Estebanico tells the reader that his current name “was the name the Castillians had given.. when they bought him from Portuguese traders.”  His name was “a string of sounds whose foreignness still grated on his ears, and….. Estebanico was a man conceived by the Castillians, quite different from the man I really was.” Who was he really, is for the reader to find out in this captivating story of Lalami’s.  It’s a story with a ‘foreign’ and ‘different’ narrator who finds himself in an unknown and unforgiving terrain with men whose loyalties are not only sketchy but are often divided and or changing. During the course of the expedition, due to changed and challenging circumstances, the narrator, in spite of his dark skin, foreignness, and his slave status, finds himself elevated to various roles no slave had ever gotten before; those of a deal negotiator, a story teller, a medicine man, even a messiah, and most importantly a savior for his three Spanish companions, his ‘masters’. This role reversal creeps up so naturally that even the three Spaniard ‘masters’ of Estebanico simply go along with it. It is through this role reversal that Lalami showcases the establishment of the master slave dynamic during the colonial era.
Having read this far, wouldn’t you want to know the ending of the novel; it’s definitely one that the reader will carry within for a while. “The Moor’s Account” is  a must read for anyone who likes a good story.  This novel of Laila Lalami’s was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist this year, and deservedly so. Ms Lalami is indeed a great story teller; she spins a yarn so engrossing around a bitter naked truth, and the reader takes it et al.