My review of 2014

For once, I am glad to be able to post this on the last day of the year.  As usual, let me begin with a list of the books I have read during 2014:

Books

1) The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha – ISBN 978-0-330-50480-5 – © NR 2009 - PAN Books p/b 353 pp – a gripping crime thriller about an apparently open-and-shut killing – the perpetrator is sentenced to die and after 19 years on death row the execution looms when the family of the victim go through a crisis of conscience and one of them embarks on a mission to learn the truth about what happened with all kinds of complications – well written but not brilliant  (5/10)

2) Marching with Nyerere: Africanisation of Asians by K L Jhaveri – ISBN 81-7646-091-5 © KLJ 1999 – BRPC (India) Ltd, New Delhi – 230 pp – political memoir of a distinguished lawyer and close associate of Nyerere, unedited, could have done with professional guidance  (6/10)

3) Dancing With Destiny: Memoir by Urmila Jhaveri – ISBN 978-1-4828-1042-4 – Partridge India p/b – 295 pp – © UJ 2014 – an utterly absorbing autobiography (companion and complementary to her husband`s, 2 above) (reviewed separately in April, scroll down) (9/10) 

4) Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse – ISBN 978 1 4088 4716 9 – Bloomsbury h/b – © LW 2014 – 276 pp - overhyped family thriller in contemporary mode (yuppie types navigating the mundane details of their ultra-tech lives and preoccupations in London and NY – where British author is resident – with a mass of mundane detail to impress the reader – ultimately amounting to nothing much - boring  (5/10)

5) The Cuckoo`s Calling by Robert Galbraith aka J K Rowling – ISBN 978-1-4-87-0399-1 – Sphere h/b – 449 pp © RG 2013 – an overly long thriller set in contemporary London – an ultimately fairly simple whodunit is overlaid with our current preoccupations with celebrity culture, captured in minute detail, when a one-legged army veteran private detective with a complicated personal history embarks on a murder investigation that unravels a complex tale involving an array of damaged or dysfunctional characters with the exception of his office temp …. a bit overdone  (6/10)

6) A God In Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie – ISBN 978 1 4088 4720 6 (h/b – Bloomsbury) © KS 2014 – 310 pp -  historical fiction based on sound research in the form of a complicated tale of ancient connections between Greece, Turkey and India explored through archaeological expeditions at the onset of the First World War involving an interesting collection of British, Indian and European characters whose lives and actions intertwine, culminating in a crucial turning point fifteen years later in the chronology of the demise of the British Empire. The sheer depth and breadth of the saga is reminiscent of Kamila Shamsie`s earlier `Burnt Shadows` but even more impressive is the technical brilliance of her portrayal of the war scenes and the involvement and treatment of the Indian soldiers, equalled by the unravelling of the events surrounding the 1930 massacre of innocents in Peshawar.  And throughout, the triangular English, Turkish and Indian personal interactions, some with an undercurrent of nuanced romance, form an integral part of the narrative ... (7/10)  

(note: she made a brilliant presentation of the book on 2 April at the RFH and I was fortunate to engage with her during Q & A)                                 

7) M G Vassanji: Essays on His Works ed by Asma Sayed – ISBN 978-1-5507-996-3 (pbk) Guernica - © 2014 AS+Authors+Guernica Editions Inc – a superb collection, especially AS`s interview with MGV & MGV`s own `So As Not To Die` – to be reviewed separately later - 9/10

8) The Dinner by Herman Koch (translated from the Dutch by Sam Garrett) – ISBN 978 1 84887 383 4 (p/b) – Atlantic Books London – © HK 2009 (original); SG 2012 (translator) – an intriguing thriller with a dubious moral undertone – 7/10

(note: the film `Our children` based on this novel was shown at this year`s London Film Festival)

9) Three Continents by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala – ISBN 0-671-66362-3 pbk – Simon & Schuster – © RPJ 1987 –  as noted on the inside cover, I had bought this at Jasailmer, India, in Dec `96 – took me a long time to finish it at last – having dipped into it intermittently through the last couple of years as it lay on my bedside table - excruciatingly long and complex narrative of an American family seduced by a Maharishi type trio of Hindu tricksters in  vogue during the 1960s and 70s hippy era – `Jhabvala`s most ambitious and impressive work` is how Newsweek described it, while another reviewer on the blurb encapsulated the book as a `mesmerizing, icy tale of the progress of valueless youth into self-destruction` and yet another as `{a} penetrating psychological study` - all so true and ending in a predictably tragic denouement – thank goodness the (western) world is wiser now!    6/10

(post-script: reading a review of `Empty Mansions`, about the life of American billionaire heiress Huguette Clark in The Observer New Review of 13 July 2014 it struck me how the fictional portrayal of the rich American family at the centre of Jhabvala`s novel resembled the real life story of this wretched woman whose life was a total waste)

                                                                                                                                

10) The Railway Man by Eric Lomax (originally published 1995 – this Vintage p/b 2014 – ISBN 9780099583844 - 322 pp - with intro by producers Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson of the film based on the book – © EL1995) – an absolutely riveting true story told by the author of his torture at the hands of the Japanese during WWII during the Siam-Burma railway building period – it is also an autobiographical account of his life and more particularly of the devastating effect his wartime experience had on him in the subsequent 50 years during which he nursed a deep-seated desire to confront and kill his tormentor, culminating in a dramatic  meeting with him half a century later on location – the last two chapters make a gripping, emotional finish – a lesson in truth and reconciliation   9/10

(note: as it happened, later in the year came the award of the Man Booker Prize for 2014 to the Australian writer Richard Flanagan for The Narrow Road to the Deep North based on his father`s life as a survivor of the Burma Death Railway, as graphic and painstaking as The Railway Man)

11) The Midwife`s Daughter by Patricia Ferguson – Penguin p/b – ISBN 978-0-241-96275-6 – © PF 2012 -  391 pp –an absolutely brilliant novel set in the Cornwall region of England in the early part of the 20<sup>th</sup> century climaxing during WWi - the daughter of the title is of mixed-race and therefore a novelty, a social pariah, an object of racial stereotyping, prejudice and much more besides – the author`s training and profession of a nurse informs her meticulously detailed descriptions of child-birth, medical procedures and treatment, hospital and doctors` routines and rituals attendant upon treatment and nursing care of characters at the centre of the story – above all she brings alive the period setting superbly – the narrative has a thriller-like quality and keeps the reader engrossed and wanting to end in a certain direction with unexpected turns – all in all coming after the previous one a thoroughly satisfying read  9/10      

12) The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier – Harper p/b – ISBN 978-0-00-735035-3 – © TC 2013 (Map © John Gilkes) 386 pp – Again, an absolutely brilliant novel … this one set in 1850s America – to quote from the blurb, “Honor Bright is a sheltered Quaker” who migrates to America from her native Dorset to recover from a failed engagement.  “Opposed to slavery that defines and divides the country, she finds her principles tested to the limit” against the reality of slaves seeking freedom through the `Underground Railroad` … a tense and beautifully rendered narrative with a cinematic ending  9/10    

13) The Dog by Joseph O`Neill – Fourth Estate, London – h/b – ISBN 978 0 00 727574 8 – © JN 2014 -241 pp – from the author of `Netherland`, which I had enjoyed and extolled so much a few years earlier – the `dog` in the title could best be described as the `dogsbody` of the rich and powerful foreigners who dominate the Dubai financial and business scene – the narrator is the one who executes and performs the orders and whims of his masters but as an expatriate remains ultimately vulnerable – we get more than just a glimpse of the ugly realities of life in Dubai  8/10 

14) Fourth of July Creek – a novel by Smith Henderson (ISBN 9780434022779 – W`m Heineman h/b – 467 pp – had taken this book on my trip to America because of its setting in Wyoming and Montana – which we travelled through on our road trip to Mt Rushmore and back via Yellowstone, with such place names as Missoula, Livingston, Great Falls, Butte appearing there, but gave up after some 200+ pages because it was such a bore … about the minutiae of low lifers` shenanigans with no rhyme or reason  2/10

15) Take Me With You by Brad Newsham – a Bantam Book p/b – edition 2002 – 0 553 81448 6 – © BN 2000 – 377 pp - a moving true account of the author`s journey through the Phillipines, India, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in search of a suitable person whom he could invite to come to America at his expense to see and sample a way of life there otherwise not accessible … his travelogue of this extraordinary trip that he made sometime in 1989  8/10  

16) The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway -  ISBN 978 1 84354 741 9 – Atlantic Books p/b – © SG 2008 – 227 pp - a novel about the siege of Sarajevo that lasted from 05/04/92 to 29/02/96 as told from the perspective of a number of fictional characters based on facts on the ground, so to speak, as they dodged the bullets of snipers from over the hills – grim and moving is an understatement … 7/10

17) Sea Otters gamboling in the wild, wild surf - ISBN 9780099490739 (from Jan 2007) – Vintage p/b – © JB 2006 – 260 pp – a delightful romp by a 16 year old awaiting his A level results who embarks on a round the world journey in quest of a mysterious statue depicting a bestial sex act that arouses his curiosity and hormones … the adventures of this angst ridden teenage boy are a fantasy indulged by the author for his readers ………….  7/10

       

18) Canada by Richard Ford – ISBN 978 0 74759 860 2 (Bloomsbury h/b) © RC 2012 – 418 pp) – a bit like the `Fourth of July Creek` (above), set in Montana (Great Falls etc) and Saskatchewan in Canada – a genuinely gripping, though melancholic, tale of what started out as a typical American family in the 1950s and then turned out to be dysfunctional, full of tragic twists and turns as the young narrator navigates his misfortunate life through adolescence, adulthood and maturity into the eponymous Canada of the title also serving as a metaphor for its semi-detached environment, like America, yet different .. 7/10

   

19) The Children Act by Ian McEwan – ISBN9780224101998 (h/b – Jon Cape – © IM 2014 – 213 pp) – a characteristic McEwan masterpiece - exploring the personal and professional life of a High Court judge of the Family Division dealing with a whole spectrum of matters involving divorce, custody and the eponymous Children Act; how she gets drawn into the case of a young A level schoolboy nearing 18 when he and his parents refuse blood transfusion in a life-threatening scenario – a really superb read, for me the meticulous construction of the semi-collegiate institutional setting of the Inns of Court made    perfect sense  9/10

20) Revolution by Russell Brand – ISBN 9781780893051 (a Century h/b – © R B 2014 – 372 pp, incl an Index) – contemporary Britain`s enfant terrible giving full vent to his manifesto for a social and political revolution ... his ideas are worth a serious consideration, even if trenchantly and characteristically outrageously expressed ... but his solutions are not always rational or produce a symmetry of idealism ... amusing, provocative, incisive, controversial – all these adjectives fit ... but what a year to end on, to finish this on the last day of 2014! .... 6/10 

This year`s collection, as varied and eclectic as ever, was quite satisfying. Not included there are ones which I have formally reviewed (eg. Sultan Somjee`s Bead Bai which can be accessed at

http://opinionmagazine.co.uk/details/1181/--Bead-Bai--ખોટા-મોતી-ના-સાચા-વેપારી--by-Sultan-Somjee    though the one edited by Asma Sayed which I am in the course of reviewing has been listed.) As always, it all represents my bed-time reading, interspersed with a nightly persual of current issues of the London Review of Books. And again there are books that I would have liked to read but couldn`t for lack of time or availabililty.  Right now, the question is, what book/s will I take to read on the cruise to South America that we will be going on in a fortnight`s time. Last year, I was thoroughly engrossed in Gandhi Before India by Ramachandra Guha. This time, I am thinking of taking Mandela`s Long Walk To Freedom, a literally heavy one to pack, so will see. 

Films, Plays, Concerts etc

1) Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - ok, not in the `Gandhi` league - 7/10)

2) 12 Years a Slave - superb performance, brilliant narrative - 9/10   

3) Even the Crows: A Divided Gujarat – film documentary by  Sheena & Sonum Sumaria of Guerrara Films – about the trauma of the 2002 riots + Q&A - 8/10    

4) QEH Concert – The Works(hop) of the Orchestra of the Age of Environment – Vivaldi Concerto for Violoncello da Spalla in D, RV403 + Bach Brandenburg Concerto  No. 3 in G - 6/10   

5) BVBhavan Indian Concert - Guru-Path – Sitar Concert by Anoushka Shankar - 8/10     

6) The Lunchbox (absolutely delightful - separately reviewed in April) - 8/10   

7) A Small Family Business - revival of Alan Aykborn`s 1987 play – rubbish, time & money waster   

8) The Two Faces of January (dir: Hossein Amini, based on novel by Patricia Highsmith - Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst & Oscar Isaac – enjoyable thriller  set in Greece circa 1962 - 8/10       

9) An Autumn Afternoon  (dir: Yasujiro Ozu – Japanese with Eng sub-titles) (this 1962 classic of the Japanese cinema has retained its artistic appeal – 9/10

10) Belle (dir: Amma Asante; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Dido) – ok, mixed reviews but we found it absorbing, focused, with a consistent narrative thread and so there was an integrity in the production as a whole, even if liberties were  taken with some historical facts - such as how far Dido was able to influence Mansfield`s judgment in the civil case involving the dumping of slaves into the sea –        there was however a distinct lack of lightness in the performances but then maybe that was more a reflection of the social norms of the period - 6/10

             

11) Sweet Charity (dir Bob Fosee  - USA 1968 – Shirley MacLaine) revival- this time very much dated -  5/10      

     

12) RFH – Gather together … a tribute to Maya Angelou (hosts: Jon Snow & Moira Stuart) – excellent presentation, smooth, superb - 9/10

13)  TITLI  - Indian entry London Film Festival (LFF) = Dir: Kanu Behl – 2014 – Shashkant Arora in the title role – set in the badlands of Delhi + criminal family of brothers + joint family dynamics + dysfunctional relationships – very well acted, with stomach-churning footage of serial episodes of graphic bodily violence – grim, realistic and sickening at most of the time – as a film however well done - 9/10  

14) The Bride -Turkish `Gelin` entry LFF = Dir Omer Lutfi Akad – 1973 – very much like an old-fashioned Indian joint family saga of an   oppressive mother-in-law and other in-laws making married life difficult for the bride of the title, though she and her husband had been married for some time and even had a son, upon their return to live in the family – with mundane domestic rituals spelt out in minute detail – a depressing tale with many complications and nuances of lower class Turkish life in  the 1970s - 7/10

15)  Exit - Taiwan-HK entry LFF – Dir Hsian Chienn – 2014 – life of a garment worker in her mid-40s after she loses her job, looking after a hospitalised old mother, estranged from her only daughter who rejects all attempts by her to connect, coping with loneliness, begins to care  for another long-term patient in the same ward as her mother – minutely observed social and domestic routines – near to breaking point – radical from a cinematic perspective - 7/10

16) Gone Girl (2014 - Dir: David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pyke) good but forgettable -   7/10 

17) RFH – Philharmonia Orch: cond: Krszysztof Urbanski) Smetana from Symphonic Cycle; Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor; Dvorak Symphony No. 9 in E minor, From the New World) -  8/10  

18)  The Imitation Game (dir: Morten Tyldum – star: Benedcit Cumberbatch) – good, enjoyable, superb acting - 8/10 

19)  RFH  – Philharmonia Orch: cond: Jaime Martin; Colin Currie, percussion – Kodaly (Dances of Galanta); James Macmillan (Percussion) Concerto No. 2 – UK premiere; Mendelssohn (Symphony No. 3) - 6/10 

Lectures, Talks, Events etc

1) 16 Jan – RSA - `The End of Power` (Moses Naim – ch: Matthew Taylor) 

2) 23 Jan – RSA - `Re-thinking Strategy` (Lawrence Freedman – ch: M Taylor)   

3) 06 Feb - RSA - `Does The News Do Us Any Good?` Alain de Botton (ch: M Taylor)

4) 14 Mar - Senate House – Institute of Com`wealth Studies: Decolonisation Workshop  

5) 02 Apr – RFH Level 5 - `Kamila Shamsie: A God in Every Stone` - one-to-one  

6) 23 Apr – QEH - `Letters Live` - a `World Book Night Event` - various contributors

7) 28 May – IALS – Russell Sq - `Tanzania: Corruption & Human Rights` - Seminar   

8) 17 Jun – Senate Hse – IALS Conference on Legal and Judicial Legacies of Empire 

9) 24 Sep – RSA (1-2 pm) – Francis Fukuyama on `Political Order and Political Decay`

10) 14 Oct -  Royal Asiatic Soc - `Researching Gujarati Identities: Current Perspectives`

11) 04 Nov – Chatham Ho:`Statelessness: Impact of International Law ...` etc

12) 27 Nov - RSA: `Command and Control` (Eric Schlosser + Rodrick Braithwaite)

13) 01 Dec – QEH – Liberty Human Rights Awards (various + Shami Chakrabarti) 

(RFH = Royal Festival Hall; QEH = Queen Elizabeth Hall; RSA = Royal Society of Arts; IALS = Institute of Advanced Legal Studies -- also the end ratings 0/0 are just for my easy evaluation)

General

Another year has passed and looking back, as always, it is amazing how much one has done (or not, as the case may be) and how long ago some of it seems to have been!  This exercise in reflection on the past year also helps to concentrate the mind on contemplating what lies ahead, as well as sifting what matters or does not.  One is conscious of time passing, of getting older and becoming less active, as it should be.  Of course there are private regrets, for not doing the right thing, no matter how long ago, or for losing the enthusiasm or vigour to do more now, but then this is the way it is going to be, so tough luck!

RAMNIK SHAH
(c) 2014

Surrey, England