Still without my laptop

Unfortunately, I still don't have the use of my laptop, though hopefully, today should see the end of that. And quiet fitting too, 'cause tonight, I should be done reading Shogun. It's been quiet amazing to me that I've read the book in less than a week. It's 1200+ pages for the uninitiated.

But what's been ever better is the satisfaction I have got from the book. I get the feeling that it hasn't tried to short change you - trick you into not having to tell you things. It tells you everything you want to know - maybe not right away, but nonetheless - and then some. The details of how Japanese society worked in those days, how people thought, how they behaved, how they survived, how they fought, how they killed, how they treated other's (and the list goes on) continues to enamor me. But the most satisfying part about the book has been about how the politics of the day played out. The trickery, the ambitious forward planning, the treason for more land/women/honor et al were all highly satisfying. There is only one place parts of said statements are missing - the climax. It ends in such a way that leaves you wanting. There was all this foreplay to a war, which never comes. There is no definitive ending - only thoughts (though the book gives u hints as to what to make of that) which give you the feeling that 100-150 pages more should have been written to play out the war and the make the book feel complete. However, I'm not complaining - I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book.

My next read is going to be Lolita followed by Babyji - both of which I bought yesterday. I'm excited. During my drive back, I was reading the foreword to Lolita (when the traffic was at a standstill) and I realized that I'll probably need a dictionary to read through the whole thing. So that might be something I will keep in mind when the actual reading gets started - which might not until after next week when my mother leaves.

P.S. - The first half of this post written a couple days back and the second half now. Hence, maybe some inconsistencies.

Finished Memoirs of a Geisha

So...I've finished reading Memoirs of a Geisha. An interesting book, though maybe a little disappointing towards the end. I would have liked to hear some more about her years away from Japan. But, perhaps, it didn't make sense to include those days in this book, since it had already reached a climax with Sayuri finally getting what she wanted (for once - which really was good to read) when the Chairman offered himself as her danna.

Looking back, what the book did best was describe Japan in the early parts of the 20'th century. It also did a pretty decent job of describing Sayuri's (and earlier Chiyo's) feelings, but the former came off being the winner in my opinion. I wish I could remember things about my childhood as clearly as was written in this book. I guess it wasn't written based on Sayuri's memories alone, but even so, remembering what I felt at various points during my infancy and adolescence would be quiet interesting. I of-course remember some incidents which have left a mark on me, but I don't remember, for example, how the first rain drops of the fall felt on my skin when I was 10 years old.

Anyways, definitely a book worth reading. Highly recommended.

Started reading again - with Memoirs of a Geisha

As noted in my earlier post, a positive outcome of my laptop charger breaking is that I now have the time to read. So, I've started the process off with Memoirs of a Geisha. From what I have read so far (and from the book's blurb) it seems to be about the life of a Geisha (Duh...) which starts in Japan and ends in New York. I used to think that Geisha simply meant prostitute in Japanese, but now it seems like they were much more than that. I think it'd be more apt to call them entertainers who at the end of the night, had sex with their clients. From what I have gathered so far, sex wasn't the primary motive for men to come see them.

I have read about 4-5 chapters, and the one thing I guess I can feel and relate with the most is when Chiyo describes her feelings upon learning that her mother would die (we have been told before, and it has also been hinted that, her father is old and does not share the same kind of bond she and her mother do). What knocks the nail into the coffin as far as those feelings go is when she is taken away by Mr. Tanaka to be sent to Kyoto - at the drop of a hat, with no time to say goodbye or otherwise allow her to reconcile with the fact that she will never see her mother again. These sad feelings are reinforced by the readings in the earlier parts of the book when the bond between the mother and daughter is described.

It is also sad when she is separated from her sister once they're in Kyoto, but for some reason (and even though it should), it doesn't sting as much. The rest of what I've read, the feelings you have for this little 9 year old girl, fade in comparison. She is given a beating, she is made to do household chores, she is sent to school where "mean" and hard teachers teach her. None of that matters as much (to me anyways) as her being parted from her dying mother and not being allowed to see her sister.

So, it's been an interesting read, though it's not been as spellbinding (so far) as I had thought it would be. I must add though, the description of Chiyo's village as well as that of 1930's Kyoto and the okiya Chiyo lives in reminds me of a quote from Jhumpa Lahiri's book - The Namesake where Gogol's grandfather tells his father that reading books allows you to travel without moving an inch (or something to that effect, I don't remember the exact quote).