The Criminal from Lost Honour (by Friedrich Schiller) - A Review

The Criminal from Lost Honour

Location: Germany
Author: Friedrich Schiller
Publisher/Year: ?/1786
Genre: Crime
Theme: An inquiry into the nature of circumstances and psychology on crime, as evidenced by the case of a convicted poacher, rejected by society and subsequently embraced by a group of criminals

I'm quite a fan of crime writing, so it came as a surprise to me when I realised that I had never read this piece by Friedrich Schiller, an early work that makes for an interesting look at the evolution of the genre. It is classified as a novella because it was published as such, but I have also seen it classified as a 'short story,' and not without reason. It really is fairly short. But German novellas are an art form, often condensing massive stories into tiny packages, and this is no different. Just as German novellas are an art form of sorts, so is German crime fiction, and as an early example of both of these (and as something I had neglected to read in the past) this work by Schiller seemed like a must read.

This is the tale of Christian Wolf, a thrice-convicted poacher (well, convicted over the course of the story...), a man much neglected by society because of his lack of beauty and of poverty. Convicted for poaching on the word of Robert, a rival for fair Johanna's affections, he lost what little he had and went to prison. When he returned, it was to a town that shunned him more than ever, and he found himself poaching again. Eventually, on one such day he found Robert hunting in the jungle as well, and a dark instinct took Wolf over as he shot Wolf and let the cold joy of revenge take over. Wolf was convicted again. When he got out, he found himself in the midst of a band of criminals, including similar folks who had broken laws out of circumstance more than anything, who gave him the acceptance and respect he had always seeked from others. As much as his instincts told him this was wrong, it was exactly what he had searched for all his life. The tale ends when he ends up in front of a magistrate after yet another misadventure, and for once finds someone not entirely willing to judge him without fairness and honour. How this last exchange proceeds, I will not share with you.

It is a brief tale, but a strong one. Even in this day and age, the implications that social circumstance and psychology could be considered crucial factors for the mindset of criminals and their crimes be treated as such are topics of great debate. In the 18th century, when Schiller set about exploring such notions, it was not something that truly concerned the law. Schiller's writings did not just impact how crime fiction evolved, but also in many ways led to the idea of exploring criminal psychology, well before such an idea was even conceivable.

The writing style is dense and stark. It is not particularly easy to read. Indeed, it is rarely my style, which is more suited to the more poetic stylings of French prose than German starkness. I don't want to indulge in German stereotyping here, and have also read much classic German literature of a more 'elaborate' style. But this particular 'blank' style is also a dominant one in German literature over the past 250 years, increasingly so of late, and much reminds me of a more recent and intriguing look at the manner of criminals, Ferdinand von Schirach's Crime. Where von Schirach's legal background leads to stories narrated in the style of legal briefs, Schiller's 'crime reports' are more of an inquiring nature. But both (and many other German crime writings) are characterised by a very matter of fact style, conveying the most horrific of crimes in the quotidian manner of writing about one's neighbour going about one's daily routines. This strange combination of abject horror and blank writing is pretty effective, to be honest, providing a good picture of the events and the mentality of the criminals in question. In Schiller's work, it becomes clear that this is a look into how the circumstances of his life on the fringes affected his descent into the life of a criminal, and the strange acceptance he found among other such people raises the question about whether they were criminals alone or had been victims at first.

This is not an easy read, as previously mentioned. Many would question the literary merits of this barebones work after moving through more florid prose and into a new brand of 'plainspeak' in the intervening years. But it is still powerful in its premise, and for those who can stomach the style the true craft is quite visible. That said, the value of this work lies more in its philosophical premise and for the manner in which Schiller's work went on to influence crime writing and literature in general.

Pedro Páramo (by Juan Rulfo) - A Review

Pedro Páramo

Location: Mexico
Author: Juan Rulfo
Publisher/Year: Fondo de Cultura Económica/1955
Genre: Drama (?)
Theme: A first and third person narrative about the life and legacy of Pedro Páramo, an important but not particularly pleasant figure from the town of Comala

A famous work in Latin American literature, this short novel has been a major influence on the writings of many modern greats such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Luis Borges, among others. It has an occasionally surreal quality to it, and is considered influential in the development of magical realism.

Now, down to the synopsis. I couldn't give you a rundown of the plot in half an hour, since it's fairly complex, so I'm going back to the Wikipedia well for this. It's still complex, to the extent that I'd recommend reading the Wikipedia play-by-play as well, but this should do for a review:

The story begins with the first person account of Juan Preciado, who promises his mother at her deathbed that he will return to Comala to meet his father, Pedro Páramo. Juan suggests that he did not intend to keep this promise until he was overtaken by subjective visions of his mother. His narration is fragmented and interspersed with fragments of dialogue from the life of his father, who lived in a time when Comala was a robust, living town, instead of the ghost town it has become. Juan encounters one person after another in Comala, each of whom he perceives to be dead. Midway through the novel, Preciado dies. From this point on most of the stories happen in the time of Pedro Páramo. Most of the characters in Juan's narration (Dolores Preciado, Eduviges Dyada, Abundio Martínez, Susana San Juan, and Damiana Cisneros) are presented in the omniscient narration, but much less subjectively. The two major competing narrative voices present alternative visions of Comala, one living and one full of the spirits of the dead. The omniscient narration provides details of the life of Pedro Páramo, from his early youthful idealization of Susana San Juan, his rise to power upon his coming of age, his tyrannical abuses and womanizing, and, finally, his death. Pedro is cruel, and though he raises one of his illegitimate sons, Miguel Páramo (whose mother dies giving birth), he does not love him. He does not love his father (who dies when Pedro is a child), or either of his two wives. His only love, established from a very young age, is that of Susana San Juan, a childhood friend who leaves Comala with her father at a young age. Pedro Páramo bases all of his decisions on, and puts all of his attention into trying to get Susana San Juan to come back to Comala. When she finally returns, Pedro makes her his, but she constantly mourns her dead husband Florencio, and spends her time sleeping and dreaming about him. Pedro realizes that Susana San Juan belongs to a different world that he will never understand. When she dies the church bells toll incessantly, provoking a fiesta in Comala. Pedro buries his only true love, and angry at the indifference of the town, swears vengeance. As the most politically and economically influential person in the town, Pedro crosses his arms and refuses to continue working, and the town dies of hunger. This is why in Juan's narration, we see a dead, dry Comala, instead of the luscious place it was when Pedro Páramo was a boy.

Not the smallest synopsis, is it? I'd like you to reflect on the fact that this is a fairly short novel featuring all this in significantly greater detail. It's a bit of a marvel, really, that Rulfo was able to pack all this in while redrawing narrative structures and incorporating elements that would have a great impact on the development of literature. As recently as 1955, this oeuvre managed all this.

The characters are beautifully outlined, and the setting of Comala is brought to life gloriously, particularly in the second part of the novella. This is a product of a different time, but it could apply to any period in many ways, not unlike the work of Machado de Assis in Brazil. The dual narrative makes for a complex read, and the transition can be a bit sudden, but this is all done without taking away from the manner in which readers immerse themselves in the tale. This is engaging, absorbing stuff, and at no point does it feel like the writer has not taken the time to flesh details out.

This work is not for everyone, I'd say. But it is certainly a great piece of art, and a masterclass in crafting stories. For those interested in reading a great work displaying elements that had a major impact on Latin American literature, this is definitely worth a go.

Zahra's Paradise (by Amir & Khalil) - A Review

Zahra's Paradise

Location: Iran
Creators: Amir & Khalil
Format: Graphic Novel
Publisher/Year: First Second Books/2011
Genre: Drama (Political)
Theme: The tale of a family's attempts to find a young protester who vanished without a trace following the 2009 Presidential Elections in Iran.

In the aftermath of the 2009 Presidential Elections, young activist Mehdi disappears under mysterious circumstances, almost certainly abducted and detained by the government's secret police. This is not an uncommon tale in Iran, but one that's rarely told. But thanks to the efforts of his brave mother Zahra, his brother Hassan (a blogger) and other friends, Mehdi's tale gradually unfolds, and along the way the tenacious group hears from many others of their own tragedies. As the tale draws to a close (but not an end, by any means) they find themselves at the cemetery Behesht-e-Zahra (literally 'Zahra's Paradise,' for some sense of irony), a burial place for many opponents as well as supporters of the regime.

Like Cuba: My Revolution, this is a graphic novel set in a tumultuous period and the protagonist is a female character confronting some harsh truths about an autocratic regime. That's where the similarities end, however. Zahra, the main protagonist of this tale, is not a naïve young girl whose enthusiasm about the regime is shattered. No, she is a strong woman who does not truly know her strength until it's tested by the unthinkable, the disappearance of her son Mehdi.

This is the tale of one brave family, using modern means in the hunt for a missing son/brother. But it is by no means solely the tale of Mehdi's family. This is a narrative that highlights numerous tales of tragedy and instigates readers and subjects to keep fighting for a better nation. It is simple in its premise, but powerful and oh-so-current.

The protagonists are well etched out, and the locale is well established. This is a rare look at life in Teheran under the current regime, set against a modern backdrop with technology a dominant force. The writing is good, and the art is clean. At the end, though, this is not a work that's about the plot/narrative or the stylistic aspects - it's about the message. It's about revealing the way things really are in modern Iran, and it does that very well.

Is it a truly groundbreaking work? Not really. Is it a great novel? Again, probably not. But it is a good look at Iran as it is, something that most of us only hear speculation about. If you'd like a look at it, it's also serialised online (as I found out after reading it), so go check it out.

Farewell to the Indies (by Hans Vervoort) - A Review

Farewell to the Indies

Location: Dutch East Indies/Indonesia
Author: Hans Vervoort
Publisher/Year: Conserve/2012
Genre: Historical fiction; Adventure
Theme: When the Japanese invade the Dutch East Indies during World War II, young Hans and Sonya (as well as their parents) end up in an internment camp for non-natives. They struggle through the next few years until the Japanese are defeated, only to find a new world where the Dutch colonial masters are no longer welcome, leading to a mass exodus back to the Netherlands.

First up, I should note the obvious similarities in theme to John Sweeney's Elephant Moon, which was in fact the last book I read before this one. Both books involve colonialism in Asian countries that were invaded by the Japanese during the Second World War, and are told from the perspective of non-native characters who then have to cope with a situation where they no longer find themselves welcome, leading to a hasty exit through unusual means. Both involve children, though they are more prominent in this tale.

Where the big difference lies in how the narrative unfolds, however, is that this is clearly a more personal work. Where John Sweeney relied on research into the past, Vervoort uses his own history. Hans Vervoort was born in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1939, and grew up there. Much of the setting and the events are built from his own memories, though one must qualify that he was younger than the fictional protagonists at the time of the war. In 1953, four years after the Dutch granted Indonesia its independence, Vervoort returned to the Netherlands himself, but spent much of his subsequent life missing his actual home back east. As such, the narrative here is very intimate, with little details thrown in here and there that make this feel like a very real work. The location and the period come through, with particular emphasis on local slang that help place the tale in that specific place at that specific time. It is possibly not as well crafted a novel as Sweeney's, but in so many ways feels more real.

From the book's own blurb, which builds on the theme I outlined earlier:

Hans and Sonya are living in the lovely sunny Dutch East Indies when war breaks out. Holland has been occupied by the Germans, their parents tell them, but the Indies will certainly remain free. Of course, the Japanese army does want to conquer the Indies, but everyone knows that the Japanese have crooked eyes so they can't shoot straight. And their tanks are made of tin! What a shock when the Japanese army does conquer the Indies in 1942. Hans and Sonya end up with their mother in a camp where people are hit and each day they must fight against hunger and illness. When Japan is beaten three years later, they are freed and hear how difficult life has been for families outside the camps. And then a new adventure begins right away. The Dutch have ruled the Indies for three hundred years but now the locals don't want that anymore. They revolt, people die and danger lurks everywhere. Everyone flees and Hans and Sonya must say farewell to the Indies too. A dangerous journey begins. Will they make it?

The tale is largely told from an endearing childlike perspective, which cuts across the clear horror and despair in a very intriguing way. As the narrator grows older in the camp and after, the joy and the sadness shine through in different ways as well, but at the end of the day this feels very much like an adventure book for young teenagers despite the horrors of war in the background. The characters are fairly well written, and the language is interesting. The plot moves forward at a relatively decent pace given the strained timeline, and as previously mentioned the narrative feels quite real for the reader.

It's an enjoyable work, and a good look at what it must have been like for the author and other folks during those dark days. My only regret about this work, to be honest, is that I went and picked another colonial narrative right after Elephant Moon, and feel I could have done something a little more 'current.' That said, this is an enjoyable work that gives intriguing insights into that period. If you feel this could interest you, just go download it from the author's page (it's available for free!) and give it a read.

Cuba: My Revolution (by Inverna Lockpez & Dean Haspiel) - A Review

Cuba: My Revolution

Location: Cuba
Author: Inverna Lockpez
Art & Lettering: Dean Haspiel (pencils), Jose Villarrubia (colours), Pat Brosseau (letters)
Format: Graphic Novel
Publisher/Year: Vertigo Comics/2010
Genre: Historical fiction; Politics
Theme: A semi-autobiographical look back at the tumultuous period of the Cuban revolution, as told from the perspective of a young girl (or woman, given the story starts when she is 17)

A disclaimer to start with: while this is still a fictional work in terms of the central characters, this is very much based on the youth of the writer Inverna Lockpez, an artist who was supposedly coaxed by artist Dean Haspiel into telling her story in the form of this slightly more fictional graphic novel narrative. As such, it is clearly a very personal work, and this shines through quite clearly as one reads the novel.

The narrative starts with Castro's rise to power in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when seventeen year old Sonya is swept up in the initial wave of optimism and freedom accompanying the new regime. In a rush of patriotic fervour, she even drops her dreams of becoming an artist to better serve the country as a doctor. As with the nascent independent nation of Cuba, though, her passion is soon dealt a harsh blow as the United States of America invaded in a battle now widely referred to as the 'Bay of Pigs,' where Sonya serves as a medic and finds herself face-to-face with her boyfriend Flavio, now on the other side! He comes to a sticky end, but things go from bad to worse for Sonya as she somehow ends up accused of being a CIA spy and is tortured for days before getting released. Through it all, Sonya somehow continues to believe in Castro's Cuba. She returns to her art, finds a new life, and continues to believe in the Cuban dream despite the increasing concerns of many around her. It's her new life in art school, however, that leads to Sonya learning once and for all that her dream of a free Cuba under Castro is a sham, that rampant censorship and unspeakable horrors persist, and that the revolution was not all it was made out to be. Eventually she makes a big decision of her own, and manages to flee the country.

How she escaped is not the focus of this tale. The story is of a young girl, full of newfound idealism and pride in a new regime, gradually having her trust eroded and replaced with fear and utter disappointment, to the point that escape becomes the only option. This is very much the tale of Inverna Lockpez as well, and as such comes through clearly. The setting feels all too real, with Lockpez and Haspiel providing a front row seat to many key events in 'modern' Cuban history. The characters are reasonably strong, particularly Sonya of course, but few feel like characters that are explored in great detail. Understandable, given that this is a work focused on one character in the midst of a changing geopolitical landscape. It is the setting that is truly important, and Sonya's changing life in the midst of it. In this aspect it succeeds marvellously.

The art is stellar, which is expected from an artist of Haspiel's calibre and reputation. It manages a personal feel without getting overly 'real,' conveying the situation and feelings in an effective manner. The colours are also effective, while the lettering does the job it is meant to do.

All in all, it's a well-written and well-executed graphic novel with a very personal tale to tale, and is very much a recommended read for a look at Cuba during that tumultuous period. It's a period that has often been written about, but rarely does one get as personal a look at the historic events as one does with this novel.

Elephant Moon (by John Sweeney) - A Review

Elephant Moon

Location: Burma/Myanmar
Author: John Sweeney
Publisher/Year: Silvertail/2012
Genre: Historical fiction
Theme: The daring tale of a schoolteacher and her students as they attempt to escape Japan's invasion of British-ruled Burma during World War II

This is a rather interesting work, set in pre-independence Burma, revolving around schoolteacher Grace Collins and her efforts to lead her schoolchildren out of a nation under attack from the Japanese and into the relative safety of India. This is a fascinating look into the period, but also intriguing for me as an Indian. The author, veteran BBC journalist John Sweeney, sets the period, the location and the characters up beautifully, but at times the historical aspects seem to be questionable. That said, I am more than willing to concede that my history books are probably slightly limited by Indian biases as well, so the true events probably lay somewhere in the middle.

Synopsis via Amazon (yep, I'm feeling lazy again, but my own attempt got a bit too detailed and meandered on for 3 paragraphs):

As the Second World War rages, the Japanese Imperial Army enters Burma and the British rulers prepare to flee. But the human legacy of the British Empire will be left behind in the shape of sixty-two Anglo-Burmese children, born to local women after affairs with foreign men. Half-castes, they are not acknowledged by either side and they are to be abandoned with no one to protect them. Their teacher, Grace Collins, a young Englishwoman, refuses to join the European evacuation and instead sets out to deliver the orphans to the safety of India. She faces impossible odds because between her and India lie one thousand miles of jungle, mountains, rivers and the constant, unseen threat of the Japanese. With Japanese soldiers chasing them down, the group s chances of survival shrink - until they come across a herd of fifty-three elephants who, with their awesome strength and kindness, quickly become the orphans only hope of survival.

Grace is a most striking character. Smart, resourceful, capable, and so utterly resolved that it seems unfathomable that anything can get in her way. Indeed, as the novel progresses it becomes clear that nothing can break her and no problem can truly last before her strength and determination. She is a caring guardian to the sixty-two children in her care, some of whom are also fleshed out as characters, and grows from a young woman who is already smart and capable to one who has survived the worst humanity has to offer and still takes her wards through to safety. Along the way, she meets many characters, such as the hapless Mr Peach (who grows from an awkward and occasionally unreasonable man into a respectable leader of men, and a man worth caring for), the loyal (not to the British army) Jemadar (Grace's first great love and a brave soldier), Sam Metcalf and Havildar Singh of the elephant patrol, homicidal maniac Eddie Gregory, and others. Each of these characters is interesting in their own way, and Sweeney does well to make each of them a reasonably full character. Grace, a headstrong woman of (apparently) incomparable beauty has quite the effect on each of these men in different ways, but at no point uses this to get what she wants. Most of them, however, were well and truly won over by Grace as a person, and did whatever they could to help her with her mission.

The tale is based on a true story of elephant patrols shepherding refugees from Burma to India, and Sweeney acknowledges this. This tale itself, however, is utterly fictional, and a fair bit of work clearly went into researching the settings in which they'd have operated. The locations are pretty well researched, and the customs and attire are well in keeping with the British Raj. Some aspects of the history seem slightly off to me, but as I already noted, this often happens with history as told through multiple lenses. Sweeney can't help approaching this as a British journalist, while I can look at this differently as a South Asian. Having lived in England for a while I can definitely state that there are far greater differences in the way British colonial history in India is taught between the two countries, so I can only help but note that Sweeney has put some effort into his research in this area as well. On the whole, this is a good work for getting an idea of what Burma was like in those days, but not so much for the present (which few among us can truly be clear about).

It's a well-written book, with good style, great characterisation, an interesting concept and plot, and certainly as a work of historical fiction. There are clumsy moments at times, admittedly, but on the whole this is decidedly one of the better books I have read in a while, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

The Wise Woman, by Philippa Gregory - A review

The Wise Woman

Location: England/United Kingdom
Author: Philippa Gregory
Publisher/Year: Harper Collins/1992
Genre: Historical fiction; Romance
Theme: The tale of a young woman with witching abilities who falls for a Lord's son

Sorry about the lack of updates. It's been a nightmare of a month at work and dealing with illness, but here I am with my Book of the Month review for March in the Around the World in 80 Books challenge.

This month's book is The Wise Woman by Philippa Gregory. I am not the biggest Philippa Gregory fan in the world per se, though I can see the merits of her style for those who are into the subject matter. As for this book, it feels a bit rough around the edges, which is understandable for one of her early works and feels a bit contrived and forced at times. I say this as someone who loves 'contrived' plots when done well, but this really does not seem up to the mark. Of course, it doesn't help that apart from the historical context this is not my book at all.

Since the book did not make enough of an impact on me and I read it 2 conferences, 3 presentations and 2 bouts of illness ago, far too long to truly remember every bit of this plot, I shall cheat and let Goodreads/Barnes & Noble summarise it for me:

Alys joins a nunnery to escape the poverty of her life on the moor with her foster mother, Morach, the local wise woman with whom she lives as an outcast, but she soon finds herself thrown back into the world when Henry VIII's wreckers destroy her sanctuary. Summoned to the castle as the old lord's scribe, she falls obsessively in love with his son Hugo, who is married to Catherine. Driven to desperation by her desire, she summons the most dangerous powers Morach has taught her, but soon the passionate triangle of Alys, Hugo, and Catherine begins to explode, launching them into uncharted sexual waters. The magic Alys has conjured now has a life of its own -- a life that is horrifyingly and disastrously out of control.

Is she a witch? Since heresy means the stake, and witchcraft the rope, Alys is in mortal danger, treading a perilous path between her faith and her own female power

The plot, honestly, is lacking. The characters, with a few exceptions, feel ill-defined, and it's not easy to empathise with some of the character choices in the book. Oh, by the by, this summary above fails to mention Hugo and his family's role in burning her nunnery. Murder, rape, arson... all forgiven if you're a reasonably handsome guy. So, not the healthiest relationship to begin with. Alys' slightly terrifying desperation leads to her attempts to kill Catherine, and after some intense lovemaking involving the three of them she does eventually succeed - only for Hugo to have an arranged match with someone else. This makes sense considering he was a lord's son in that era. Sorry, Alys!

So, yeah, it wasn't my favourite book, and it was also a lousy time for me to read it and try to appreciate it (so apologies for how dismal this review is). Plot and characters were weak and ill-defined, as I stated, and the story was largely propelled by strange events. As for the 'history' behind the 'historical fiction,' I just wasn't getting the feel of Tudor England. Philippa Gregory did eventually get better at it, and whether or not one likes The Other Boleyn Girl there are at least some elements of what the Tudors were like (but merged with a bit of regency style, to be honest). In this, apart from passing references to remind the reader that this was in that time period, there is nothing to truly let one get a feel for the location and the time period. In some cases this could be considered a trait that makes a book feel like it take place anywhere and anywhen, but this is not one of those cases. I do like my history and I have never been that great with romance novels without other stuff to hold my attention. Alas, on this occasion the historical setting was largely contrived as well, which made it very hard for me to get through.

Final word? I wouldn't really recommend it, unless for some reason you are looking to study the evolution of Philippa Gregory. I wish I could truly analyse this book and tell you why I did not engage with it, but it's pretty hard to do so weeks after having read this book, for which I do apologise.

In slightly better news (for me), my April looks a lot clearer with only 1 big deadline, so I hope to begin my reading catchup in earnest!