#18 A book you own but haven’t read

The Bookseller of Kabul  - Asne Seierstad

Every story that is set in Kabul , or at least the ones I have read so far, have all left me shocked and speechless.

The title of the book was what had urged be to buy it in the first place. One never could connect a book-seller in war-ravaged Kabul, as a remote possibility. And so, I had quickly picked it up and bought it. But, even though the book has been with me for a long time now, I never did read it.

Asne Seierstad is an award-winning Norwegian journalist, who, in 2002, spent four months living with the Kabul bookseller, Sultan Khan and his family. What she witnesses is told to us in a the form of a fictional narrative, going into the thoughts and desires of Sultan Khan, his two wives, mother, sisters, brothers and children.    

Sultan Khan is a very interesting character himself. He has run his bookstore for the past twenty years by defying every authority in power which have come and gone in Afghanistan. Under the Taliban regime his books were burned in public.

“These men considered anyone who loved pictures or books, sculptures or music, dance, film or free thought enemies of society.”

The Taliban soldiers armed with Kalashnikovs had descended on Sultan Khan’s shop early one November morning in 1999, in order to destroy all books with pictures in them – it was forbidden to represent any living thing – animal or human. They tear down entire shelves of books and toss them into the fire. Sultan had expected this. He is arrested and sent to jail for anti-Islamic behaviour (ordered by the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Extermination of Sin a.k.a. Ministry of Morality).

Sultan Khan, though devastated and bereft of his beloved books, is happy in the knowledge that they haven’t got to the prohibited books he had stashed away behind the shelves. Later on he will continue this strategy and keep some of his most precious books stored away in different hideouts across Kabul. We realize with horror that these Taliban soldiers are illiterate – they cannot distinguish between any written texts, but images they can comprehend. So, in all probability  they wouldn’t have been able to read the Koran either.     

Sultan’s stoic reply when he is interrogated, reveals his passion to not let the history and culture of his country to fade away. 

“You can burn my books, you can embitter my life, you can even kill me, but you cannot wipe out Afghanistan’s history.” 

The havoc and destruction meted out to the antiques, statues and monuments are tragically captured in a line – “it took them half a day to annihilate thousand years of history.”

After the Taliban regime is deposed, and schools start reopening, Sultan Khan hopes to land a deal on getting new textbooks printed since books printed by both the Mujahedeen and Taliban government would be useless. This is how their alphabet book runs:

“J is for Jihad, our aim in life, I is for Israel, our enemy, K is for Kalashnikov, we will overcome, M is for Mujahedeen, our heroes, T is for Taliban……”

Even the math problems are centered around war. Sultan Khan being a shrewd business man goes to various printers and book publishers across Pakistan in order to try and land this very lucrative deal on making new textbooks. 

Shah M. Bookstore on which the book is based

On the other hand, we also see how, despite his passion for books, his patriotic love for the cultural legacy of his country, he is a very authoritarian patriarch whose word is law in his family. Except the one chapter dedicated to his bookshop and bookselling business, the rest of the book unfolds the story of the bookseller’s family – we see him through their eyes.

His widowed and elderly mother, Bibi Gul, is the second in command at home. Married at the age of eleven, she has borne thirteen children. But of late, she has given up all work and leaves it to her daughters and daughters-in-law to carry on with the daily household chores and duties. Sultan Khan has two wives – Sharifa, a qualified Persian teacher (who is later on prohibited from working again by her eldest son, to whom she has to listen to), and his younger illiterate wife Sonya with whom he has a year old daughter. The patriarchal command over women and the manner in which they are treated admittedly has provoked the sensibilities of the writer as it will in the reader. “The belief in the superiority of men is so ingrained that it is seldom questioned”, says Seierstad.  

The bullet ridden and half-dilapidated flat that the Khans live in has four rooms and is shared by all his children, wives, and siblings and nephews. The story of his younger sister Leila is probably what will tug at our heartstrings. She is the youngest of Bibi Gul’s children, Sultan Khan’s unmarried sister. At nineteen, Leila has gone through a lifetime of drudgery and ungrateful daily routine. It is she who wakes up first and goes to bed last. And during the day, she sweeps, cleans, cooks and bears the brunt of everyone’s harsh tongue, including her nephew who is three years younger than her.

“She has been brought up to serve, and she has become a servant, ordered around by everyone.”

Though she tries to apply for a job in a nearby girls’ school, her hopes are let down when the authorities tell her that she needs to register at the Ministry. Initially faced with a lot of opposition, she eventually gets to the Ministry only to find to her dismay that the process is a tedious one. It doesn’t matter that the majority of schools in Afghanistan lacked proper teaching faculty, it was a sadistic bureaucracy that asks Leila, an aspiring English teacher, questions in Math and physics and bundles her off to fetch a missing paper before she can be registered.

Leila’s fate, as she understands all too well is in the hands of her elder brother and mother. They will decide who gets to marry her. Her desire, her hopes remain like her – invisible under the burqa.

This book will leave you with a sense of despair, but hopefully also with an awareness of the value of every opportunity before us. I am aware that Afghanistan was once a flourishing, rich country which had important trade routes to different parts of the world. But, one cannot underestimate the power of intolerance, ignorance and corrupting authority – it can lead to an absolutely devastated land, and perhaps equally devastated people.

#17 A book that became a film

 A Man Called Ove  - Fredrik Backman (translated from Swedish by Henning Koch)

A grumpy old man

+ a cat that won’t leave

+ a pregnant Iranian neighbour

+ a lot more eccentric characters come together to tell us a story filled with a certain delightful aura that we don’t find in stories nowadays.

And the fact of the matter is – it is a very simple story - Ove, a grumpy old man living in a housing community with a clockwork daily routine. He wakes up daily and inspects his neighbourhood, to check if all the rules are followed, checks if all the signs are still standing, locks up any stray bicycle left outside, shovels snow from his front steps and in general makes sure that everyone strictly follows the community rules.

Though cranky, and an adherent of strict principles he has a kind heart that is revealed to us slowly. As a young couple moves in next door, with two young daughters as well, his solitary life is shaken up and more changes than he could have ever expected is heralded into the small community living there.

“People said he was bitter. Maybe they were right. He’d never reflected much on it. People also called him antisocial. Ove assumed this meant he wasn’t overly keen on people. And in this instance he could totally agree with them. More often than not people were out of their minds.”

I wouldn’t reveal anything more about the story – it is a heart-warming tale that leaves you feeling warm and renews your belief in the simple joys of truth, love and human companionship. It is a tale that belongs to a generation which time forgot but one which should clearly be remembered.

“One of the most painful moments in a person’s life probably comes with the insight that an age has been reached when there is more to look back on than ahead.”

Ove’s life has been shaped by what has happened to him, and we are slowly led to understand how much every action in our lives have meanings and significance that can last a lifetime.

There is a touch of dark comedy and sarcastic wit throughout the story, which at times will make you smile. And there are other parts, from his flashback that will leave you teary-eyed. This book was originally written in Swedish and was made into a movie too (again in Swedish). But, the movie too has been able to capture the essence of the story, ably carried the tough task of transforming the bitter old man into a much loved ‘Ove’.

"Ove understood things he could see and touch...he was a man of black and white."

He may not be a person one could love, since he is grumpy, anti-social, staunch, strict and all that – but you will love Ove, he is one of a kind. Just read this book!

#16 A bestseller

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This story is narrated by Death. It is set in Nazi Germany. Enough said. You will definitely pay undivided attention.  

Death, has found a book called ‘The Book Thief’ in one of his many rounds of going to fetch souls. And he tells us the story he finds in that book – the story of Lisel Meminger, the one who has also written the book.

Lisel Meminger, is the foster daughter of Hans and Rosa Hubermann. She travels with her mother and six year old brother to reach the Hubermanns. Her six-year old brother dies on the way there and is buried in the snow. It is at his burial that Lisel ‘finds’ her first book The Gravedigger’s Handbook left lying in the snow by her brother's grave.

Her mother leaves her with her ‘new’ parents and is never heard of again.

It is enough to give a nine-year old nightmares for life, and it does. Lisel can’t  stop seeing her dead brother in her dreams. Unable to sleep, afraid of her dreams, she lies awake – and it is her foster father Hans Hubermann who stays up with her, helping her learn to read and playing her music on his accordion. Both he and his wife are poor Germans who are given a small allowance to keep her, but they both love Lisel and each in their own way slowly build around Lisel, a certain kind of warmth and security which she cherishes. 

 

She makes friends with Rudy Steiner, the boy next door, the one with “lemon-coloured hair” and the one who worships the athlete Jesse Owens, who Hitler refused to shake hands with. Rudy Steiner is a sweetheart and he will be Lisel’s constant companion, friend, admirer and would do anything for her sake.

But, things are getting worse in Nazi Germany – the signs of the times are brought home when the children are forced to be part of Hitler’s Youth Group and also participate and witness the burning of books in public. Lisel steals her second book then – from the fire itself. Her love for words and reading keeps a part of her alive especially when death, poverty, hunger and the horror of war all came to them at once. 

Then comes the day when their lives change forever, with the arrival of a Jew, Max Vandenburg at their doorstep. His father, had been a dear friend of Hans Hubermann and had even saved his life. In return he had promised his deceased wife that if ever they needed his help, he would be there for them. To his enduring honour, Hans kept the promise – he took in the 25 year old Max, his dead friend’s son and hid him in his basement. Rosa and Lisel too share this secret and keep it from everyone.

Character sketches by MissySerendipity

The story has many poignant moments – too precious for me to explain it here. It will break your heart and make it whole again. This is one book that will make you cry and laugh along with a girl who grew up in one of the most horrifying times in the history of mankind. It will make you realize what it means to be human and ironically Death will teach you how to be more in love with life than you could ever be.

#15 A book by someone who isn’t a writer

The Hidden Life of Tress by Peter Wohlleben

Peter Wohlleben  is a forester by profession, not a writer. But, his passion and knowledge of the trees he has helped preserve has translated into an extremely fascinating book on how trees communicate with and care for each other. 

His many years of experience along with scientific evidence support many of the extraordinary discoveries that he shares with us in this book. We have all probably learnt to classify a tree as a ‘living thing’ , yet we continue to think of them as ‘objects’. Reading this book will open your eyes to a whole new world – full of living, breathing, nurturing and speaking trees. (Yes! Speaking! Tolkien's Ents came to mind )  

   

Trees seem to be just like human beings – they communicate with other members of their species, support their young, they have memory, hearing and language. In fact a major discovery was made sometime in 1990 by American doctoral researcher, Suzanne Simmard, who found intricate underground networks of symbiotic fungi (mycorrhizae) that bind to the roots of plants which extend for miles and help trees exchange nutrients. Dubbing this network ‘wood wide web’, the journal Nature brought it to the attention of the world. Since then this fungal web has been the centre of attention of various scientists and researchers who are discovering surprising ways in which trees function.

According to Wohlleben, “The main reason we misunderstand tree, is because they are incredibly slow.” That is true. The entire lifespan of a tree is at least five times as long as ours. Most trees discussed by him in the book mature between 80-100 years! And they can live at least to be 500 years and many trees have been around for a much longer time than that.

“Trees are among the slowest-moving beings with which we share our world and changes in the natural forest are observable only over the course of many human generations.”

 Hence, learning the language of trees is something you embark for a lifetime, and there is so much to learn! Each chapter in the book will reveal some aspect of trees that have been closely studied and observed over the years. Trees for instance are social beings, they share food with their own species and even at times nourish their competitors. That is because they realise that working together has its benefits. Even sick trees are supported and nourished until they recover.

How do trees communicate? Trees have an unusual communication system – scent. Apparently, when herbivores feed on the leaves, which the trees may h find harmful, then they secrete toxic substances into their leaves to rid themselves of the large herbivores. They even communicate this to the nearby trees, so that they too can be prepared. It is said to be a highly effective strategy which scientists have observed in the African savannah.

Further, he goes on to explain how trees store water for winter, procreate, adapt , migrate, pass on their genes and age gracefully. His passion and love to preserve forests in their natural habitat is something that resonates throughout the book. Though he talks about characteristics of trees native to Central Europe and North America, I started  looking at trees in my own backyard in a different way. I began to understand that every tiny organism, be it visible or invisible, has a mighty role to play in the environment around me.

As Peter Wohlleben himself puts it, “only people who understand trees are capable of protecting them”. His book will be an eyeopener for everyone who reads it and our walks amongst trees will never be the same again

 

Every individual can become better at learning about trees and it is merely a simple step away.  I also came across this inspiring documentary 'Forest Man' - which unfolds the story of Jadav Payeng who has been planting trees in order to save his island. To date he has single-handedly planted a forest larger than Central Park NYC. His forest has transformed what was once a barren wasteland, into a lush oasis.

#14 A trilogy or series

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Series by Douglas Adams

Now this book – it is a trilogy of five:D

So, from the start we can assume that it will be something that defies categorization and indeed is something that carries an infectious air of mystery around it.

‘The Hitchiker’s Series’ is a highly popular sci-fi comic/adventure/satiric tale written by Douglas Adams, as a radio play initially, in 1978. It was later adapted into a novel and then into a movie as well (a pretty good one too!).

 It is either bound all together in one complete volume or if it comes in individual books, these are the titles you need to look out for:

1.The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 

      2.The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

      3.Life, the Universe and Everything

      4.So long, and thanks for all the fish

      5.Mostly Harmless

It is a great, crazy, funny story which begins very humbly. Arthur Dent, is about to have his home demolished for the building of an express highway. His long-time friend Ford Prefect arrives at that moment to fetch him away for a drink to a nearby pub and lets him know a couple of unbelievable, absolutely unheard of things:

First of all, Ford Prefect was not from Earth at all- instead he came from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse (that’s somewhere really far away in space – which is infinitely, mind-bogglingly huge!) He was a hitchhiker (in fact a ‘researcher’ for an amazing book titled The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and was stuck on planet Earth for the past 15 years.

Second, and probably the most important information was that Earth was scheduled to be demolished by the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council to create a hyperspatial expressway route…that too, in less than ten minutes. And this is where their adventures begin.

So, the Earth does get destroyed (kind of vanishes) but, Ford Prefect is able to hitch a ride on the Vogon Spaceship as it passes through after completing its demolition duties. Along with Arthur, he embarks on a space journey of a kind you have never heard before.

The logo and motto of The Hitchhiker's Guide. The towel (any towel will do) is also important. 

They have as a guide the highly useful and compact guide to the Galaxy, which Ford carries with him. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy  is probably the most popular and the most remarkable of all books ever to come out of the publishing corporations of the Ursa Minor . Yes, that’s right. The Ursa Minor. We are not talking about Earthly limits anymore. It is about space, and this is what the Guide has to say about space:

“Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it’s a long down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space…..”

 The dry witty tone used throughout the book was endearing in its lightness of tone and absurd truisms. If you like the style there is probably no looking back till you complete the series, but on the other hand if it isn’t your cuppa, then you may not even progress with the first book.

In their breath-taking , mind-boggling, inter-stellar adventure we meet several interesting characters, planets, beasts, people, aliens and what not.

We meet alien destroyer ships piloted by the dreaded and unpleasant Vogons (whose poetry is reputed to the third worst poetry in the Universe, on no account should you allow a Vogon to read poetry to you)….

And the Babel fish (a yellow, leech-like thing that once put into your ears will enable you to understand any language spoken…brilliant! Isn’t it?) ….

And Zaphod Beeblebrox (the two-headed, three handed, egomaniacal President of the Galaxy)….

And Trillian, the only other human who survive the demolition of the Earth (since she was in Zaphod’s spaceship at the time)....

And Marvin (the paranoid android) , who is infinitely brilliant a, but equally infinitely depressed. Nothing can cheer him up…but oddly enough he is a delight to read. Incidentally he is voiced by Alan Rickman in the movie and I adored it!

And Deep Thought – the mastermind computer which was given the task of calculating the meaning of life, universe and everything. It comes up with an answer in seven and a half million years! The answer is ……………(I am sorry, I can't tell you this!) 

And the factory where they make planets (which incidentally happens to have a back-up Earth, just in case). Absolutely brilliant!

And many, many, many, more such ‘weird-astic’ creations of the infinite possibilities of space.

It’s a series that you can read just for fun, and indulge in the hilarity of the prose and at the same time begin to understand that we really are very very tiny specks in this huge Universe. That’s a perspective worth having. 

If you wish, take a look at this famous video of Carl Sagan's excerpt from Pale Blue Dot  and you will be able to take a quick trip into outer space and give yourself an out-of-this world perception - quite literally!