The Man who Never was

後遺症ラジオ 1 [Kouishou Radio 1] by Masaaki Nakayama My rating: 4 of 5 stars PTSD Radio, a horror manga where the circumstances surrounding its publication is arguably more interesting than the story itself. Not to mean that the story itself is necessarily bad. It doesn’t so much as scare you, as it creeps you out, with its eerie atmosphere, mysterious happenings, and a narrative which unfolds in piecemeal. Oftentimes, stories which began in one chapter are left unfinished, until another segment is added to its plot somewhere down the line, leaving you with crumbs which you have to assemble and make sense of. Also, in line with the title, the chapters, and oftentimes themes of the story are notated with references to radio frequencies. As the older generations who used the old analog type radio are sure to remember, much like how stations at different frequencies go in and out of focus as you tune the device, just so we see every day glimpses of the insid

Remina by Junji Ito My rating: 4 of 5 stars Warning; Viewer discretion Advised. Story contains graphic content, body horror, cosmic horror, and other disturbing content. You know those old tales of cosmic horror, the Lovecraftian eldritch gods, whose merely psychic presence was enough to drive men insane; whose inevitable arrival would mean the end of all reality? Well, Junji Ito's Remina gives you of a good approximation as to what that might actually look like. When a mysterious new planet is discovered on the dark side of a wormhole, the scientist who discovered it, named it after his daughter. Soon after, as if drawn to their discovery, the planet, appearing as if it has a will of its own, begin racing across galactic distances, straight towards earth, consuming other celestial bodies in its path. Naturally, this causes mass hysteria, civil unrest and rioting amongst the earth's populace; largely directed towards the one convenient ta

Smashed by Junji Ito My rating: 4 of 5 stars Content Warning: Graphic violence, blood, gore, body horror; viewer discretion advised Comprised of an anthology of 13 stories, Smashed by the master himself, is a mixed coterie, which doesn't as often delve into the body horror and the macabre which has at this point become synonymous with Junji sensei. It's a bit all over the place, with each story delivering the minimum Ito quality of creepy horror, which leaves you disturbed. __________________________ List of Stories 1. Bloodsucking Darkness 2. Ghosts of Prime time 3. Roar 4. Earthbound 5. Death Row Doorbell 6. The mystery of the haunted house 7. The mystery of the haunted house: Soichi’s Version 8. Soichi’s Beloved Pet 9. In Mirror Valley 10. I don’t want to be a ghost 11. Library Vision 12. Splendid Shadow Song 13. Smashed __________________ Out of the collection, I liked the stories 'Earthbound', 'In Mirror Valley' as we

Batman: Detective Comics, Vol. 1: Gotham Nocturne: Overture by Ram V. My rating: 4 of 5 stars A good start for a new series. I've been out of the loop for the latest happenings in the Batman Mythology; and I here there were some major events. So, it's refreshing to see the old characters you know and love, presented in a new light, having to grip with the reality of their changing city. A major strength of the Batman mythos, I've always felt, was how the setting of Gotham, with its gothic architecture, dark crime ridden alleys, the coterie of villains, and the gamut of humanity running from good to bad to worse, offered up a wealth of stories, past and present to mine from. One of the best examples for this from recent publication is the brilliantly written Batman, Volume 1: The Court of Owls (While I write this, I realize that the Court of Owls was published nearly 12 years ago; Damn I'm getting old). I was looking forwards to what

Visappu Pranayam Unmadam | വിശപ്പ് പ്രണയം ഉന്മാദം by Muhammed Abbas My rating: 5 of 5 stars കുറിപ്പ്: മലയാളത്തിലുള്ള നിരൂപണത്തിനു കുറച്ചു കൂടി കാത്തിരിക്കുക There are people out there in this world, who live at the most deplorable existence; barely able to tide over day to day, with a half-full stomach, and a leaking roof over their heads. This is something you and I know, as well as see in mundane life. It might be during your daily commute to work, or while on a trip with family and friends, or just randomly when you’re on and about. In most cases we tend to give them our attention perhaps for a scant few moments, until which time, our minds, the brilliant attention seeker that it is, would’ve switched over to some other thing which caught our interest. Rarely do we sit and ponder deeply about what brought them to such states, what their daily lives and struggles are, what their dreams and aspirations are. While we might possess lofty aspiration

Coffee Can Investing: the low risk road to stupendous wealth by Saurabh Mukherjea My rating: 3 of 5 stars The central idea of the book can be summarized as follows (At least the way I understood it). Rather than trying to time the market, and bet on so-called 100x-1000x unicorn multibaggers, it is best to be invested in the stock market for the long haul. A simple but effective strategy, first coined by Robert G. Kirby is not meant for those who panic and sell out their entire portfolio during market fluctuations. His observations postulate, given a long enough time period, say 7-10 years, an investment portfolio consisting of stocks from good quality companies, market leaders and such, will be able to outperform the index, and in the process, net the holder a lucrative and relatively risk free return. This has since been proven through practical data, leading to the rise of the low expense, low volatility, passive index funds. Although it is to be n

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky My rating: 3 of 5 stars Not the most engaging of Dostoevsky's works. But it has a certain sobering, melancholic, romanticism about it. As someone who is prone to taking long contemplative walks, especially at the early hours past midnight, this spoke to me. The way that our female character is written, one is also left to ponder, who exactly was it that hurt Fyodor's heart in such a callous way, that now they have the misfortune of having their legacy living in infamy in the annals of literature. Our main character is clearly a stand in for the writer himself. Who somehow managed to be the first simp in recorded literature (I assume), to get friend zoned by the object of his affection, with the good ol 'It's not you, it's me', and 'you're like a brother to me; we can still be friends, right?', one two punch to the gut, that most cohorts would empathize with, to this day.

Dopamine Detox : A Short Guide to Remove Distractions and Get Your Brain to Do Hard Things by Thibaut Meurisse My rating: 3 of 5 stars To be honest, the reason I picked up this book, was because it was short, and was free on amazon. After reading the first quarter or so however, I liked the subject matter. In how it was able to put on page, the exact sort of issues a serial procrastinator such as myself runs into, whenever trying to accomplish any task without distractions. Some of the things mentioned in the book, describes me to T, as in to a terrifying degree. There was however a small section in the middle, where I began to suspect whether I was reading a thinly veiled promotional pamphlet for amazon's perfectly curated collections and innovate business model. Thankfully that passed. As you'd expect from the book of this length, the action points and observations are simple, and to the point. It presents a hypothesis (a call it as such, a

The Wild Swans At Coole by W.B. Yeats My rating: 3 of 5 stars Poetry is not of the genre which I can claim I have read extensively, or heck even decently. The most memorable poem in my head, is The Solitary Reader by William Wordsworth . That too because of a passionate 10th grade English Tutor. Then there was Gitanjali , the collection of works by Rabindranath Tagore . But those were more spiritual in nature, one's appreciation is more towards the depth of the lyrics rather than its flow. This year, I've been trying to rectify that shortcoming, but Gods it's not as easy as reading prose. With literary fiction, you can usually get hooked on the narration. The premise, the characters, what they do, how they do it, what doing it does to them, does to the story, the twists, the turns, the parables, the subtext, the works. With Poetry, I'm drawing a blank. There is also the case that I might not have chosen necessarily the best work to

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy My rating: 5 of 5 stars I got interested in reading this book, after a reference to it, in a memoir by a lesser-known author. He himself was dealing with crippling poverty, mental health issues, as well as from the general indifference that the world had to his life. On his second or third suicide attempt in Kanyakumari, after preparing to swallow a bottle of pills, he read the book that he had brought along on the journey. Reading it was a life-changing experience; quite literally. Driving him away from the embrace of death, and giving him the hope to keep living, no matter how difficult life might present itself as. Not that I think about it, I should sit down and write my thoughts on that book, before this one. The book is Visappu Pranayam Unmadam വിശപ്പ് പ്രണയം ഉന്മാദം by Muhammed Abbas, for those of you who are able to read it in the original language. Ivan Ilyich is a quintessential Tolstoy character; a

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Batman - Knightfall #1 by Kyle Higgins My rating: 3 of 5 stars The Dark Multiverse, expanded upon after the mind-bending Dark Nights: Metal saga from Scott Snyder was an interesting concept, adding to the already expansive Batman Mythos. Harkening back to the Infinite Crisis and more specifically to JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison, as well as its much underrated by narratively brilliant Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths animated movie, the dark multiverse as its name implies, explores chaos theory. For every major event which happened in the main DC continuity that we know, ones where the heroes were able to overcome great odds, and triumph over evil, there could be other alternate infinite realities, where the villains won, where evil triumphs, where the heroes fell. Where the paragons of everything good, just and compassionate strayed from their moral compass and ended up consuming the very world and reali

Batman Vampire by Doug Moench My rating: 4 of 5 stars *** Content warning: Mature themes, graphic violence, nudity. *** When your favorite comic character dresses like a bat, works during the dark hours, stays in the shadows and instills the ever-living fear of death onto criminal scum, it's only a while before you begin to draw parallels between them and another of pop culture's iconic characters, who share many of the traits, but inhabit moreover of a neutral evil compared to the Lawful Good (maybe Lawful Neutral) of your favorite muse. So many jokes are being made about Count Batman, or the Bat Vampire, it would not be a surprise if there are stories featuring both of them facing off; or him being an actual f***ing Vampire. What surprised me was that it took me this long to come across the story. I had previously encountered a similar character in the DC animated movie 'Justice League: Gods and Monsters' but seeing as how that char

Batman-superman World's Finest 4: Return to Kingdom Come by Mark Waid My rating: 4 of 5 stars It's good to see this story revisiting the continuity of Kingdom Come , and expand upon the backstories of those characters, how they came to their sorry, miserable, defeated states. Also, a good bookend to the story of David, introduced at the beginning of this run. The kid had serious Jason Todd vibes going for him. Even though he had Rafael level of anger issues, you feel bad for the kid, going through the entire cocktail of survivor guilt induced PTSD trauma, with a whole bunch of reality hopping side effects added on top. Even though Magog was a character you saw only in the Kingdom Come reality, and one that seemed to be created for the express purpose of serving as a more violent foil to Superman, it's good to get more fleshed-out backstory for him. As well as a cathartic ending for his arc of suffering and guilt. Even without those, ther

Batman/Superman: World's Finest, Vol. 1: The Devil Nezha by Mark Waid My rating: 3 of 5 stars In another mythology-based adventure, the dynamic duo, plus their sidekicks team up with the members of the Doom Patrol, to combat an ancient demon released from its seal (yes, another one, makes one wonder, just how many sealed malevolent entities are just camping around this universe). The story is pretty run of the mill, hits the usual notes, Superman gets mind controlled (basically everyone gets mind controlled, except for Batman cause he's the freaking), Bats being his usual badass stuff, some fun banter between Robin & Supergirl. The highlight of the story has got to be the brief but Awesome inception of BatSups Lantern over here. Gosh, I really hope that the writers never run out of fun ways to combine two of the best comic heroes out there. View all my reviews

The Book of Five Rings: A Graphic Novel by Miyamoto Musashi My rating: 3 of 5 stars A good graphic novel adaptation of the simple yet informative treatise by Miyamoto Musashi. It was not as kinetic as you'd expect; but the serene almost Zen like artwork meshes well with the spiritual nature of Musashi's work, especially highlighting the wizened sage like austerity he seemed to imbibe during his twilight years. This would be a good companion piece for those who've just finished reading the original text, to reinforce its teachings. View all my reviews

ചിദംബര സ്മരണ | Chidambara Smarana by Balachandran Chullikkad My rating: 4 of 5 stars Balachandran Chullikkad is someone who is intimately familiar to Keralites; at least those who were born in the 90s and 2000s. Well known for being a gifted poet, whose verses are capable of creating embers in your mind, he was also a mainstay on the film scene, often doing small supporting characters in motion pictures. This was something for which he was ridiculed and judged, both by the general public as well as some of his intelligentsia cohorts. Balan, of course, in his typical irreverent and piercing nature, didn’t bow down or apologize, for consorting with the capitalist machinery, a group viewed as the ideological rivals of the intellectuals. While growing up, I too had some amount of reservation, as to why a respected, erudite literary agent would stoop low and star in soaps and commercial ventures like this. As an adult, the reasons are clear enough; very

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick My rating: 5 of 5 stars From the cover it was evident that what we were to expect was a group of badass warrior women, sorry, warriors, bedecked in resplendent attire, just dripping with style, grace, elegance and strength, going about, chewing bubble gum, taking names and kicking ass, gum optional. And got to say, was not disappointed, for the most part. The art of the story is drop dead magnificent, and something out of a Neil Gaiman fever dream. The story mostly comprises of an almanac of the genesis of our favorite band of badass good girls. The history of Diana and the Amazonians, or Themyscirans, is considerable, varied, and often times convoluted, as the long run of the titular character indicates. Sometimes she is the daughter of Zeus, sent to save the world of man. Other times, she's the daughter of Hades/Ares or any other god the writers took fancy on. Even other times, she's

Batman: One Bad Day - Ra's Al Ghul #1 by Tom Taylor My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ra's al Ghul is a character who'd best fit the saying 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'. As well as the villain who sees himself as the hero in his own story. He's one of the members of Batman's Rogues gallery, who is driven by a higher purpose, and one who you would likely empathize with; were it not for the fact that his methods tend to largely be genocidal. Ra's, I felt, has been a perfect foil for Batman, in a manner different from the Joker. Where the Joker's brand of Anarchy contrasts Batman's need for rules and order, Ra's is more of Bruce's intellectual and physical equal. Both have the skills, training, and resources at their disposal to see their respective missions to fruition. Yet where the similarities get more evident, is the sheer drive that Ra's and the Bats have to their ideals; to the point that

Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky My rating: 5 of 5 stars Detailed review pending. View all my reviews A whole lot of things are crammed in Dmitry Glukhovsky’s post apocalyptic, claustrophobic, introspective, yet engrossing underground tunnel opera. From the very first chapter, the author had me hooked, with the detailed dives into the history and lore of how exactly, the remnants of humanity came to live in such existential squalor. How the populace had devolved into tribalistic colonies centered around the metro stations, where only a thin veneer of law and order held sway, just enough that humans don’t devolve into utter barbarity and cannibalism; well, mostly. How, lack of basic necessities we today take for granted, such as clean running water, medicines, and lights, are slowly but surely pushing them ever closer to the edge of annihilation. How, a simple errant spark, a mutated strain, some contaminated water is all that would t

Lovesickness by Junji Ito My rating: 4 of 5 stars Viewer discretion advised: Warning for graphic violence, acts, and body horror. The master of Japanese Horror, nay, graphic horror worldwide. As usual he has the unique ability to take day to day, mundane aspects of life, and turn them into graphic, disturbing, macabre displays of terror. The premise of these series of interconnected short stories involves our protagonist, who has returned to his childhood home, a childhood which I might add, has some seriously disturbing repressed memories attached to it. Right after his arrival, mysterious incidents begin taking place, ending in a serious of disturbing suicides and deaths. As the body count rises, and bit by bit the townspeople turn to rabid, maniacal, insanity, it's upon him to solve this phenomenon and stop the violence. It seems as if, in every other of his stories, things go bad, and everyone goes mad. But despite a predictable pattern, we s

The Gospel According to Artyom by Dmitry Glukhovsky My rating: 5 of 5 stars Note: This really should've been a review that comes after writing about the main story. But there is much for me to ponder over in regard to Metro 2033 , which requires a detailed discourse. So, here goes. // Spoilers for the main story // This short excerpt, more of an epilogue, is a companion piece to the main story of Metro 2033, added during a later edition, to provide more context as to the mental state of our protagonist Artyom. Following the destruction of the Botanical Gardens, and the Dark Ones' nest that was located in it, the whole metro rose in celebration, at the elimination of a dangerous threat to their existence. Artyom, who played an instrumental role in bringing about this victory, was hailed as a hero. Little do they know that their hero is a broken man, plagued with remorse and guilt. For only he knew, in the literal last minutes before their dem

20th Century Boys, Volume 1: Friends by Naoki Urasawa My rating: 4 of 5 stars It's difficult not to draw the parallels between Naoki Urasawa's '20th Century Boys' and It by the master, Stephen King. After all, both have a group of kids, turn to adults, battling a greater evil through various time periods in their life. Yet that is where the comparisons end. Where Mr. King's work is one of pure horror, involving the malevolent soul consuming entity of Pennywise, Urasawa's work is more an intricate quagmire of suspense, conspiracy and revelations, through the lens of the major cultural events in several time periods. Generally, I have an aversion to suspense, mystery thrillers, because they focus too much of the twists and revelations, and eventually write themselves into a corner, necessitating the writers to pull something out of their ass to keep the story going. Also, in many of such stories, the characters are merely. the

കൂട്ടം തെറ്റി മേയുന്നവർ | Koottam Thetti Meyyunnavar by M. Mukundan My rating: 4 of 5 stars I've read several works from M. Mukundan's Biblography, and perhaps this is the first one, which I read that was not read in the author's beloved Mayyazhi (Mahe). Kootam thetti Meyyunnavar (Those who graze away from the flock), is written more in the vein of something that his contemporaries such as M T VASUDEVAN NAIR or Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai would've penned. Yet still, there is the spiritual signature of our writer evident. Whether it be in the cruel indifferent passage of time, or the hapless protagonist who is a victim of their own choices and ideals. One of the defining conflicts in the life of our protagonist, Prakashan, is poverty, something which she shares with protagonists written by most writers at the time. Whether this is a reflection of the dire, pitiable state of the Indian society at the time, or a common string which ins

How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali by Prabhavananda My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is one of the older translations, one with much simple language and none of the more convoluted esoteric diction seen in some of the newer age, self-help tomes taking inspiration from spiritual texts. At the beginning of the book, the translators explain how, since Sanskrit followed an oral tradition of passing down knowledge from teacher to student, a lot of the Yoga Aphorism were more of a shorthand that mentors would then expand upon using their own knowledge and sensibilities. This approach appears efficient and contrary to what one might think, helps preserve the pith of the message better. There are some parts of the book which deal with supposed real-life instances of 'abilities' that the practitioners of Yoga acquire. But to those who're interested in learning a structured approach to Yoga and the Sanatana principles that it represents,

The Middle Ages: A Graphic History by Eleanor Janega My rating: 3 of 5 stars Going blind into the book, I had no idea or expectations towards 'The Middle Ages' by Eleanor Janega. For the first third of the book, we got a clear, concise, easy to understand, cliff notes version of the medieval world, following the split of the Roman Empire into West & East. I call it a cliff notes version, because a lot of events are summarized, and we get synopsis breezing through some key events which characterized the times. Most of the book deals with what is essentially the histories of Europe, as well as some supplementary stuff that happened when they interacted with Asia & Africa. Despite not being of said cultural background, having had some exposure to the subject, through similar academic works, many of the things described in the works were familiar to me (Although, full disclosure, the only reasons I even know the distinction between various cultu