'The Heart Of The Matter' by Graham Greene

Few authors, essentially European, have an ability of analyzing human nature in a superbly intricate way. He puts it on the table, observes it, dissects it, takes it under the microscope, observes it again and writes the results down. That's what Graham Greene has done in his novel, 'The Heart Of The Matter'. One of the reviews quite truly states: "I read some comments by Greene about the book ... He says that the book the critics and public read is not the book he was trying to write. Despite himself, he has given us a terrific book ..." Some parts of the book: actions, thoughts, characters, sentences wonderfully resembled my own life, thoughts. It was indeed a pleasure to read this book, Mr. Greene.

A much belated letter of gratitude to Leonard Cohen

Dear Leonard, After being pulled away intermittently by distractions, like bad times in an extended love affair, I finally was able to finish reading your novel, 'Beautiful Losers'. How many times have I thought of starting it all afresh, and thank you Leonard, for giving me that chance. You wrote of a 'second chance' in the last pages of the book, and I selfishly assume it to be aimed towards someone like me. After all, I'm just a mediocre student. Maybe I'll be in a better position to write something more meaningful after reading it again, and rereading it. All the events and characters seem to be so far off from me now, they've departed, they appear unclear, like those faint stars being covered and uncovered by a slowly drifting night cloud. I never intended to take seriously the happenings in your book and match them against common behavior, as I consider 'Beautiful Losers' to be a novel in its truest sense, where plausibility doesn't hold any meaning. I knew I would be at a loss to read the novel with a critic's mind. Thank you for writing this book, dear Leonard, and contributing to the history of a Novel. Sincerely, S.

The Bookshelf

No reasons not to write lately, just didn't feel like it. Lets just leave it that way. Uncomplete. Unexplained. Let me list down some of the books I read in the last couple of months after finishing with Holger Kersten's "Jesus lived in India": The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown: I believe the only reason for this novel (as it is said to be, in my opinion the book doesn't come anywhere near to one) to gain global acclaim is the exposure of the fact that Jesus Christ's was married to Lady Magdalene. Nice scoop to make your work a bestseller! Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco: Too heavy a book for someone like me. The vast knowledge possessed by Eco and the extensive research work, combined with the capability of story-telling is what makes this novel a classic. I see myself reading it once again, more slowly and patiently, ten years down the line. The Company Of Women - Khushwant Singh: Maybe I needed a light read, but I regret having chosen this book for it. The Diary Of A Young Girl - Anne Frank: Nice read. Emotional. Makes me wonder why human beings are like the way they are. Roots - Alex Haley: Makes me wonder more about human beings and why they at all came to exist. Product of an extensive research work by an African American to find his roots back to Africa more than two centuries back. What appealed to me is the honesty, simplicity and naturalness in the relationship between a black-skinned human being and another, just to be destroyed eventually, and without any good reason, by a white-skinned. Presently reading Testaments Betrayed by Milan Kundera: Driving me to read better novels (real literary works in terms of art, which can be categorized to add to the history of a novel), and listen to more good music.

The Hitchhiking Game

A mind game that starts between a couple on the first day of their vacation of two weeks, turns getting sour. In the Hitchhiking Game, another brilliant short story from Milan Kundera's 'Laughable Loves', the young woman becomes the hitchhiker, and the young man becomes the stranger who has picked her up from the roadside. The game continues till the end of that day, and both of them, at one point or the other wish to stop the game, so as to "return" to their original selves. But somehow, quite fortuitously, the game continues, and the sexual relationship between the two takes the shape of a power struggle. The game drags on, becomes bitter, still drags on, and ends with the end of the day, changing the perspective both had for each other. The meaning and implications of the "game" for both the young man and the young woman are also based on the traditional virgin/whore dichotomy, whereby women are categorized according to their sexual behavior as either "good girls" or "bad girls".

Nobody Will Laugh

That's the first story in Milan Kundera's collection of short stories, Laughable Loves. The protagonist, is the author, is a writer, and the story begins with the receipt of a letter from one Mr. Zaturecky, who requests him to write a review for an article. The author finds the article utmost crappy, and not even worth the half hour of inattention he gives to it. He, however, is not able to slam this on the face of Mr. Zaturecky, and starts off with a lie, which in turn gives rise to a series of lies, miscommunications, and misunderstandings between the author, his girlfriend Klara, the authorities of the institute where the author used to gives lectures, Mr. Zaturecky, and his wife, leading ultimately to the loss of his apartment, his job and his girlfriend. All that was started with lightness, and with an intension of a subtle humor, led to the complete loss of the author's personal and professional belongings. But that it was indeed started with some lightness gives the author some solace.