The Man who Never was

my Hanuman Chalisa by Devdutt Pattanaik My rating: 4 of 5 stars Hanuman Chalisa, as written by Saint Tulsidas, is a text which is near and dear to my soul for a long time. It is one of the earliest texts I read, back when I was 10-11 years old, and I got this as a present for participating in Gita Recitation. That very same book, wonderfully illustrated and printed, is still in my possession, some two decades or something past. Not as new, and with a lot of pages taped in, but it does the job. Even back in the day, the valorous tales of Hanuman, Sri Rama’s loyal companion were enough to enthrall the sensibilities of an overeager child. Perhaps tied to this were also the brilliantly rendered Ramayana series by Mr. Ramanand Sagar which aired regularly on channels such as doordarshan. The reason they stuck with the child in me, were the simple yet personable language and tone in which it was written. They were like stories being recited in temples and...

The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath My rating: 5 of 5 stars The first thing that jumps out at you when you start reading the story, is how, despite literally being older than the dinosaurs, these two, nigh immortal, masters in their own fields, bicker like children on a playground. They want a shiny toy, and are willing to throw hands and insults to get it. The other is how after spending millenia bickering, they start sounding like an old married couple. Don’t believe me, just read the following ‘You have seen this, I suppose,’ Trazyn said with a drop of acid. ‘In your…’ He wobbled his head, made nonsensical symbols with his fingers.‘Meditations.’ Does that, or does that not sound like someone who’s been having the same fight over and over and over. Complete with freaking Xenos air quotes; I can’t even. Things get so bad when the two are in the same room, even the other necrons, unfeeling, uncaring automatons, get annoyed out of their wit...

Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder My rating: 4 of 5 stars There is this popular fan theory about Batman, saying that he's in fact a resident in a mental asylum. With all of his supervillains being doctors and other patients and staff that torment him in various ways. I like that Scott Snyder's Last knight takes that premise and uses it as a red herring to set up the prologue of the story. The premise of this story is similar to that of Wonder Woman: Dead Earth , where instead of Diana, a suspiciously young Bruce wakes up into the irradiated post-apocalyptic ruins of earth. Then setting out to uncover the mystery of how things got the way it is. Picking up along the way, the Joker, minus his body, like a rambling jack lantern in a glass case. Although only three chapters long, we see Bruce traverse the ruins of a land, where several titanic events seem to have occurred which scarred the world in irreversible and often terrible ways...

Hellboy, Vol. 1: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola My rating: 5 of 5 stars The problem with reading a source novel, after watching a good live action adaptation of it, is that you keep comparing the two. Which is the case with Hellboy, Seed of Destruction. Guillermo del Toro and his team took a good concept and just ran with it. The 2004 Hellboy movie featuring Ron Perlman drew the viewers into the rich and mysterious lore and world of Hellboy. With a dark, oftentimes ironic twist to familiar tropes of fantasy and folklore. The graphic novel, first published a decade prior, sets up many of the lore, themes and characters which would then be fleshed out in the pages and in the movies. Compared to the movie, I felt the story to be more disconnected. Del toro, with consultation with Mike Mignola I assume, were able to turn the disjointed parts into a more cohesive story. Particularly the aspects in regard to Hell boy's origin, as well as his relat...

മാര്‍ത്താണ്ഡവര്‍മ്മ | Marthandavarma by C.V. Raman Pillai My rating: 3 of 5 stars മാർത്താണ്ഡവർമ്മ എന്ന ഈ പുസ്തകം, അതു മലയാള ചരിത്രസാഹിത്യത്തിലെ ഒരു അഗ്രഗാമിയായ കൃതിയാണ്. സുപ്രധാനമായ ഒരു കൃതി ആയിരുന്നാലും, ഇത് വായിക്കാൻ ഞാൻ നന്നെ പാടുപെട്ടു. ഒരു നൂറ്റാണ്ട് മുമ്പ് എഴുതിയും പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ച ഈ കഥയിൽ, ഉപയോഗിച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന മലയാള ഭാഷ, ഇന്നത്തെതിൽ നിന്നും അത്യധികം വ്യത്യസ്തമാണ്. പലപ്പോഴും, പല ഭാഗങ്ങളിലും, വാക്കുകളുടെ അർത്ഥവും ശൈലിയും പഠിച്ചു മനസ്സിലാക്കേണ്ടി വന്നു, കഥാപാത്രങ്ങൾ പറയുന്നത് എന്തെന്ന് മനസിലാക്കാൻ. അതു പോലെ തന്നെ, ആ സമയത്ത് അനുഷ്ടിച്ചിരുന്ന സമ്പ്രദായങ്ങളുടെയും വ്യവഹാരങ്ങളുടെയും പരാമർശങ്ങൾ, ഇന്നത്തെ കാലത്ത് ഉള്ളവർക്ക് അന്യമായവയാണ്. ഇതും, പിന്നെ പല പൗരാണിക സംസാരിക കൃതികളുടെ പരാമർശവും കഥയെ കുറച്ചധികം ദുർഘടമാക്കി. പിന്നെ, നോവലിന്റെ ഇതിവൃത്തം, അതു തിരുവിതാംകൂർ മഹാരാജാവായിരുന്ന മാർത്താണ്ഡവർമ്മ അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ, കിരീടധാരണത്തിന് ഇതിവൃത്തമായ സംഭവങ്ങളുടെ ഒരു കല്പനികമായ പുനരാഘ്യാനമാണ്. ആ സമയത്തെ ജീവിതരീതികളും, നാട്ടാചാരങ്ങളും, സംഭവങ്ങളും, രാഷ്ട്രീയവുമെല്ലാം കഥയ...

The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere by Pico Iyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars Notes & Key Learning You don’t need to travel the whole world to have inner peace, happiness or some brilliant insight. As Blaise Pascal put it, you just need to find a quiet corner and be alone with yourself. Modern technology and the deluge of information, makes it difficult for you to just detach your mind and let it just wander. E.g. It takes you 20+ minutes to refocus, after being distracted by your phone. Writers such as Thomas Merton & Annie Dillard have given their suggestions on writing and creative processes. Which can be summarized as spending time addressing a challenge or problem, until your mind formulates a solution to it, or one appears. Like Frankl said, let it ensue, rather than pursue it. Dillard in particular, sits with a story, like with a dying friend, until the words manifest in an organic way. It is advisable, to set up times of ...

The New Emperors: Power and the Princelings in China by Kerry Brown My rating: 4 of 5 stars Warning: The following review contains some harshly worded criticisms aimed towards the chinese communist Party, and to an extent the current state of chinese society. While I stand by these words, it is also understandable that there might be those who feel offended by the sheer vitriol in these words. Acknowledged a certain amount of personal bias, I nonetheless present to you my thoughts, unfiltered. Read at your own discretion. One of the best combinations in this world is PB&J on a piece of bread. One of the worst combinations, apparently, is an entitled, spoiled, rich kid of a ccp official, driving an expensive car bought with corrupt money. Which often ends up getting crashed in a drunken fit, killing some innocent unfortunate soul just minding their own business. I suppose the second part could be said about any entitled, spoiled, drunk rich brat, ...

The Emperor's Finest by Sandy Mitchell My rating: 4 of 5 stars The first, and most obvious criticism I can foresee from those who’ve finished the story, is despite how we finally get the story where Cain works alongside a space marine chapter (an event that has been alluded to multiple times in previous books; in fact, mentioned whenever Cain encounters a genestealer cult), it is largely underwhelming. Despite best efforts, from the good commissar, the Astartes simply don’t have enough of a personality to make them engaging. Part of that might be due to the particular proclivities of their chapter. The reclaimers, as the name indicates, are quite obsessed with reclaiming Archeotec from the voids of space. In that sense they’re quite similar to how your average admech acolyte works. But whatever that spark is, which sets them apart as humanity’s finest warriors is missing. I would’ve imagined a character arc, where they view the good commissar w...