moody_bibliophagist

Who can define the connection between philosophy of life, body, emotions and death? A philosopher would be my first answer. Writer or even a reader might come second. After that I think I would have to simply stare back at the question. But after reading this memoir I got one more answer which I would have never imagined!

Can a man of medical profession really walk through the meander geography and reach an answer? Meet Mr Paul Kalanithi, an American Neurosurgeon who sought out to find the ultimate secret with his life and through academia.

Beginning with Kalanithi and his sibling's life in Arizona after their parent's marriage and eventual shift from NewYork, the first part of When Breath Becomes Air moves through his days as a student of Universities of Cambridge, Stanford and Yale. His growth as an enthusiastic resident to a successful surgeon with morale in the early years is admirable. The most touching segment I felt was the call informing Jeff's su***de after his patient's demise.
The second part Cease Not Till Death deals with Kalanithi's decision of battling against metastatic lung cancer. Inspite of his own expertise, Emma's medical judgements, chemos and medicines he still had to stoop infront of death but only after trying to immortalise his thoughts.

The autobiographical account is rich in intertexual references and helps the reader to navigate through the jargons especially if he or she is someone outside the health care field. Though this book wasn't in my list I'm really glad that I took and read it. It was so agonizing and insightful at the same time.

📚📓

☺️

Claire Perkins is on her way to Pigeon Grove, a sleepy locale in the foothills of Blue Ridge Mountains after her mother's funeral. Her one and only motive is to have a fresh start and plans on doing so by running away from the ghosts of her past. But will she be able to accomplish it is what we find in this novella.

Being abused by her single mother though the exact details isn't found in the book, Dave Cenker's protagonist appears to be a pent up one. Her incompetent interactions with Hank and Lydia, the new acquaintances at Pigeon Grove and Jack, the artist who holds certain wounds to himself further adds to the story thereby resulting in the dull nature of the text. Not to mention the unnecessary misunderstanding with Lizzie, Jack and Hank that's supposed to bring ultimate heartbreak to Claire!

The only person I am fond of in this whole novella is Dillian whose presence begins and ends in the first three chapters itself. He seemed like a character that could be used in the full sense but the writer had to kill him in an accident to make the protagonist's life bit more dreary. Anyway I have made a reminder to add Dillian and the Road not taken in my diary for sure next to my all-time favourite Velutha.

I didn't get to see the kaleidoscope of emotions Cenker has promised here..and it was not an overwhelming experience reading this one.

I may not be paedophobic in the general sense but people who really knew me knows how much tense I get around children especially infants. I have a hard time appreciating their language and the messages they want to shout out to the world. Why am I blabbering about it now?
Ofcourse I have to because that's what I had to go through again when I read Emma Donoghue's Room. Told from the perspective of Jack, a five year old, the narrative travels through the captive times of the protagonist and his Ma in the Room.

Jack's Ma was abducted at the age of nineteen and sexually abused for almost seven years resulting in the birth of two children. The first one dies infront of both the mother and perpetrator. The second one being destined to live and be a hope for his mother is Jack and he is the one that comes back with cops to rescue Ma in the every end.

Jack's psychological development till their escape from Old Nick is completely dependent on his Ma. She teaches him with the resources available to her in the dungeon but this infact is not sufficient for his interaction with the 'outside' as a child bred outside norms. At times we see his child like ignorance and lack of boundaries merging together thereby making him vulnerable like his mother who attempts su***de due to mental breakdown. However in the last part of Room, we see them reclaiming their true self by biding farewell to the entire 'Room' eventhough we know it as a tedious task.

Being inspired by Fritzl case, Donoghue crafted her fiction with the images of Elizabeth Fritzl's surviving children who emerged out of their claustrophobic life for the first time in 2008. Notwithstanding the immense criticisms the Room brought in terms of identity politics, it still can be concluded as an inventive and tense narrative that can hook you up.

📚📓

☺️

📚📓
☺️
📖

Finally I have sorted the unread books stacked in my phone from the time I joined IOE. Though I read most papers and articles downloaded then, my own inhibitions and indolence made me pile up most of the books. And now it seems like the apt time to tame my spirit! With the pandemic times and announcement of lockdown again striking i'm planning to keep myself sane and healthy unlike last year. I have decided to clear my conscience by reading all the books i have hoarded rather than rereading the old ones. I'll be posting my in here for a while rather than my instagram account. So cheers to a happy reading phase🥂