'Red Seas under Red Skies' by Scott Lynch

Goodreads, Amazon
Pages: 558

'Red Seas under Red Skies' is the second book of the Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastards series. [I have written about the first book 'The Lies of Locke Lamora' but it's in my writing journal and I'm too bored at the moment to transfer it here.]

The series is about thieves who want to win over the world through their many deceptions. The setting of the series reminds of the world and period of 'One Thousand and One Nights'. The world is all about ports, traders, rich people with palatial homes, and there's a little bit of magic amidst all the chaos. After the adventures of the first book, the group of thieves has been badly wounded and has been reduced to just two people - Locke and Jean.

The book begins two years after the events of its prequel. The prologue makes the reader jump right into action with Locke and Jean under an attack and Jean is about to betray Locke by crossing over to the attackers' side. Once the actual book begins, the narration alters between the present and the period of rift between the this book and its prequel.

'Red Seas under Red Skies' introduces us to new characters and a new place (the port of Tel Verrar) though villains from the prequel make scanty but important appearances. In the initial part of the book, Locke is unwilling to get back to his old deceptive ways and Jean tries measures, which are extreme but also adorable, to bring him back. Eventually, the duo gets into its groove and finds a new target for duping through many layers of masterful scheming - Requin, the shrewd and powerful owner of a gambling den. However, there's another dominant character in Tel Verrar, Maxilan Stragos, who knows a lot about the duo's past and threatens to harm them fatally unless they act according to his wishes.

In order to gain political points, Stragos makes Locke and Jean travel by sea, in their mission to become pirates and stir trouble in the region around Tel Verrar. After a hurried training through the lovable ex-seaman Caldris, Locke and Jean are pushed off in the sea. They come across the pirates Zamira Drakasha (who pirates around with her toddler kids in the tow) and her lady-lieutenant Ezri Delmastro. Loaded with lots of characters, witty lines, naval terms and interesting tricks, the plot proceeds towards a thrilling climax.

I had great fun reading this book. There are hardly any dull moment throughout the 600-odd pages. Locke is so funny especially when he gets angry that I'd love to be around the angry Scott Lynch. The many lies of Locke left me guessing about his true intentions throughout the book. The world creation is not very dense except while describing buildings. My imagination failed to keep up with the scenes intended to be created by the author. However, he must be credited for achieving the rare feat of having more than one major female character in a fantasy book.

My only complaint about the book was about the overdose of twists that Lynch supplies throughout. A few of them seem just too forced and, in order to accommodate them, he seems to take the characters out of their painfully built personalities. The tedium of traversing through the complications spiked towards the end of the book. This was entirely consistent with what I had experienced while reading 'The Lies of Locke Lamora'.

I'm totally in for reading the remaining (five?) books in the series but a Gentleman Bastards reading spree seems tiring. See you later, Locke. 

The Complete Stories and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

Pages: 821

Goodreads, Amazon

Edgar Allan Poe's works caught my fancy a couple of years back when I was introduced to horror writing. I had listened to the audio version of 'The Black Cat' rendered by Diamanda Galas from the album 'Closed on Account of Rabies'. The weird murder story as well as its rendition was nothing like what I had listened to ever before. The tale itself had such a eerie feel to it that it gave me the creeps. I listened to and recommended many friends to listen to all the audio versions of Poe's horror stories which were available online. Soon, I even read almost all the horror tales by Poe. I was immensely impressed by his narrative style and decided to read everything written by him. 

The book gives us an insight into the mind of Edgar Allan Poe. It is not an easy read as it is full of short stories and poems, many of which are extremely weird. After reading the book, it is easy to understand why Poe is regarded as a genius by some and a psycho by others. Though he is widely recognized as a horror and mystery writer, there are many stories that belong to Satire and Comedy genres. Beware though. Poe's sense of humour is nothing like ordinary and there is a good deal of gore in many of them too. 

Poe is considered to be the pioneer of murder mystery story-writing. The book begins with 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' in which we are introduced to C. Auguste Dupin, who is not a professional detective but is blessed with supreme deductive abilities. The stories are inspired by true events in Europe and Poe's attempts at solving the mysteries sitting in USA going just by newspaper reports. It is said that Dupin was the influence behind Sherlock Holmes. 

Among the comedy stories, 'The Spectacles' is the funniest. The protagonist falls in love with a stranger whom he sees at the opera. When the two finally meet and the protagonist wears his spectacles, he realizes that the lady is his great grandmother. Besides this, I remember 'The Predicament' as a story that's more morbid than funny. 

Other than horror, mysteries and comedies, there is a 'Flights and Fantasies' section which reads like science-fiction. Poe is clearly smitten by the Hot-air balloon. The most notable among the sci-fi stories is 'The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall' in which the protagonist takes a balloon trip around the earth but ends up leaving for the moon by the end of it. 'The Balloon Hoax' though cleverly written, is tiring to read owing to its details about the balloon's construction and the trip.

I'm not too big a fan of poetry and struggled to go through the huge collection. I particularly loved the poem - The Conqueror Worm. It talks about the inevitability of human mortality. Poe's conception of death as a worm and more importantly that of humans playing actors in the theater of life is nothing short of extraordinary. 

I'd recommend the book to someone who wants to study Poe. Otherwise, it's better to stick to the popular collection. 

रामधारी सिंह 'दिनकर' की "रश्मिरथी"

(Disclaimer: I am writing in Hindi for the first time in about 16 years. Please ignore the grammatical, spelling and sentence construction mistakes.)

पृष्ठ : १७६
गुडरीड्स, अमेज़न

'रश्मिरथी' का ज़िक्र मुझसे सलोनी ने कुछ किताबों पर चर्चा करते समय किया था। उसने मुझे बताया था कि 'रश्मिरथी' उसकी सबसे प्रिय पुस्तक हैं और मुझसे यह भी पूछा था कि क्या वो मुझे 'रश्मिरथी' भेट कर सकती है। हिचकिचाहट में मैंने उससे इस विचार का कारण पूछा तो उसने बताया की अच्छी पुस्तकें भेट करने से हम एक दूसरे को अच्छी पुस्तकों से परिचित कराते हैं और पढ़ने के लिए प्रोत्साहित करते हैं। मैंने जब देखा कि इस किताब की कीमत कुछ ७० रुपये ही हैं, तब मैंने उसे इस किताब को मुझे भेट करने को कहा।

किताब कर्ण पर आधारित होने की बात सलोनी ने मुझे बताई थी। लेकिन जब मैंने किताब पढ़ने की कोशिश की, तब मुझे ऐसा समझ आया कि दिनकरने उसे काव्य रूप में लिखा हैं। इतना ही नहीं, पुस्तक की पहली पंक्ति में ही "पुनीत" और "अनल" जैसे कठिन शब्दों को देख कर मैं थोड़ा डर गया और किताब को कुछ दिनों तक पढ़ा ही नहीं। कहते हैं की सही समय आने पर कुछ किताबे स्वयं तुम्हे अपनी ओर आकर्षित करती हैं और उन्हें पढ़ने पर मजबूर कर देती हैं। "रश्मिरथी" को लेकर मेरे साथ कुछ ऐसा ही हुआ। मैं काम के सिलसिले में सफर कर रहा था। मेरे पास पढ़ने के लिए "रश्मिरथी" को छोड़ कर कुछ नहीं था। मैंने कठिन शब्दों को नजरअंदाज कर के पुस्तक पढ़ना शुरू किया। हवाईसफर के पहले चरण में मैंने लगभग आधी किताब पढ़ ली थी। इतना ही नहीं, मैं बची हुई किताब को पढ़ने का बेसब्री से इंतजार कर रहा था।

किताब में कर्ण की कथा विषम तरह से बताई गयी हैं। कथा पूर्ण न होते हुए उसके केवल मुख्य अंश ही बताए गए हैं। इनमें कर्ण का दुर्योधन से द्रोणाचार्य द्वारा आयोजित प्रतियोगिता में पहली बार मिलना, परशुराम का कर्ण की जांघ पर सोना, कृष्ण और कुंती का कर्ण  संभाषण, इंद्र का कर्ण से कवच-कुंडल मांगने का किस्सा और कुरुक्षेत्र की लढाई शामिल हैं। इनमें से सबसे भावुक कर देने वाला किस्सा पुस्तक के तीसरे सर्ग में बताया गया हैं। यह भाग कर्ण और कृष्ण के बीच के संवाद का वर्णन करता हैं। कृष्ण कर्ण से यह विनंती करने आये हैं कि कर्ण दुर्योधन से कहे कि वो पांडवों से युद्ध करने की हठ छोड़ दे। इस सर्ग में कर्ण के द्वारा उसकी बतायी गयी पृष्ठभूमि काफी भावुक कर देने वाली हैं। मैं, हर साल, महाभारत पर आधारित कम से कम एक किताब पढता हूँ। लेकिन काफी कम किताबे दिनकर की इस रचना की तरह भावनात्मक जोड़ स्थापित कर पाती हैं। इसके अलावा, युद्ध में अर्जुन को पराजित करने का कर्ण के उत्साह का विवरण मुझे सिर्फ "रश्मिरथी" में पढ़ने को मिला।

इस पुस्तक को पढ़ने में मुझे एक अद्वितीय अनुभव मिला। मैंने पाठशाला ख़त्म होने के बाद प्रथम ही कोई हिंदी पुस्तक पढ़ी। उसपर एक काव्यरचना पढ़ना काफी अलग लग रहा था। 'रश्मिरथी' रामधारी सिंह 'दिनकर' का यह सामर्थ्य दिखाती हैं जो वाचक को काफी दिनों तक पुस्तक के बारे में सोचने पर मजबूर कर दे। कर्ण की कथा न केवल दानशूरता की कहानी हैं, बल्कि वह ये भी एहसास कराती हैं कि कुछ लोगों को इस दुनिया में केवल सहनशीलता का प्रतीक बनने के लिए भेजा गया हैं।

वैसे तो यह किताब कई बार पढ़ने लायक है पर पुस्तक में यदि कठिन शब्दों के अर्थ दिए होते तो पढ़ने में एक पूर्णता आती। चूँकि किताब महाभारत पर आधारित हैं, चतुर्थ सर्ग में ईसा और गांधी का उल्लेख अयोग्य लगता हैं।

'रश्मिरथी' पढ़ने के बाद मुझे इस बात का भी एहसास हुआ कि भारतीय अंग्रेज़ी लेख़क (खासकर नए) चाहे जैसे भी हों, लेकिन प्रादेशिक भाषाओं वाले लेख़क सच में पढ़ने योग्य हैं। मैं दिनकर से इतना प्रभावित हूँ कि मैं जल्द ही उनके द्वारा लिखित 'कुरुक्षेत्र' भी ज़रूर पढूंगा।

कुछ पंक्तिया मुझे ख़ास पसंद आयी जिन्हें मैं यहाँ प्रस्तुत कर रहा हूँ:

१. जब दुर्योधन कृष्ण से कहता हैं कि वह पांडवों से युद्ध कर के ही रहेगा:

जब नाश मनुज पर छाता है, 
पहले विवेक मर जाता है। 


२. जब कर्ण कृष्ण से कहता हैं कि वो युद्ध को नहीं रोक सकता:

"तुच्छ है, राज्य क्या है केशव?
पाता क्या नर कर प्राप्त विभव?
चिन्ता प्रभूत (ज्यादा), अत्यल्प हास,
कुछ चाकचिक्य (चकाचौंध), कुछ क्षण विलास।
पर, वह भी यहीं गवाना है,
कुछ साथ नहीं ले जाना है!"


३. जब इंद्र कर्ण से कवच कुंडल मांगने आते हैं:

पर, जाने क्यों, नियम एक अदभूत जग में चलता है, 
भोगी सुख भोगता, तपस्वी और अधिक जलता है। 
हरियाली है जहाँ, जलद (वर्षा) भी उसी खण्ड के वासी,
मरू (रेगिस्तान) की भूमि मगर, रह जाती है प्यासी की प्यासी।   



४. कुरुक्षेत्र के युद्ध के बारे में:

ये तो साधन के भेद, किन्तु,
भावों में तत्व नया क्या है?
क्या खुली प्रेम की आँख अधिक?
भीतर कुछ बढ़ी दया क्या है?
झर गयी पूँछ, रोमान्त झरे, 
पशुता का झरना बाकी है;
बाहर-बाहर तन सँवर चुका, 
मन अभी सँवरना बाकी है। 


५. कुरुक्षेत्र के युद्ध की रणनीतियाँ बताते हुए:

है धर्म पहुँचना नहीं, धर्म तो 
जीवन भर चलने में है। 
फैला कर पथ पर स्निग्ध (सौम्य) ज्योति 
दीपक समान जलने में है।
यदि कहे विजय, तो विजय प्राप्त 
हो जाती परतापी को भी, 
सत्य ही, पुत्र, दारा, धन, जन;
मिल जाते है पापी को भी।


६. साधन से ज्यादा लक्ष्य पर ध्यान होने के बारे में बताते हुए:

साधना को भूल सिद्धि पर जब 
टकटकी हमारी लगती है, 
फिर विजय छोड़ भावना और 
कोई न हृदय में जगती है। 
तब जो भी आते विघ्न रूप, 
हो धर्म, शील या सदाचार, 
एक ही सदॄश हम करते हैं 
सबके सिर पर पाद - प्रहार। 

उतनी भी पीड़ा हमें नहीं 
होती है उन्हें कुचलने में। 
जितनी होती है रोज कंकडों 
के ऊपर हो चलने में। 
सत्य ही उर्ध्व (ऊपर देखने वाले) - लोचन (आँखे) कैसे 
नीचे मिट्टी का ज्ञान करे?
जब बड़ा लक्ष्य हो खींच रहा, 
छोटी बातों का ध्यान करे?

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Pages: 416

Goodreads, Amazon 

Dennis Lehane's 'Mystic River' features prominently in most thriller/mystery lists. I have read his 'Shutter Island' and loved it immensely for its psycho-thriller quotient. I read it after many days of having watched the movie based on it and yet the book went exceptionally well for me. 

'Mystic River' begins with a description of the town in which the three main characters are growing up as eleven year old children. The bourgeois nature of the town is as much a part of the plot as the characters themselves. Sean lives in the upmarket area whereas Dave and Jimmy live in a slightly contrasting area of the town. One day, while the three are playing, two child molesters take Dave away in their car only to be dropped off four days later. Jimmy, the brash bold kid and Sean, the thinking one, refuse to get in the molesters' car and start living with the guilt of not having done anything to save Dave. 

Twenty five years later, Sean has grown up to be a homicide detective, Jimmy is an ex-convict and Dave is a famous ex-baseball player who has outlived his fame. The main plot of the book revolves around the murder of Jimmy's daughter - Katie under mysterious circumstances. The murder takes place on a night when Dave comes home with blood on his body and confesses to his wife that he had gotten into a fight with a mugger whom he supposedly beat up with his bare hands. 

Like a typical mystery, the plot involves many suspicious characters, their thoughts, back stories and hints at possible intentions to have committed the crime. 

Lehane is a gifted writer who excels at keeping the reader guessing for a good 95% of the book. However, the end result is not too convincing in terms of the motive of the crime. There is a certain abruptness to the reveal. I got a sense that Lehane may have forcefully reverse-fitted several characters and a major part of the plot after coming up with the premise.

Besides the main plot, however, the most appealing part of the book is the insight into the mind of Dave Boyle who turns out to be a shell of a person even after twenty five years of the incident that he suffers as a child. Lehane has captured his hurt psyche extremely well. The most appealing and touching part is when Dave recalls the fateful day when he entered the car of his abusers. From the day of his return, he believes that, it is not just he who has undergone a terrible transformation. Everybody else in his life has changed too. There is nobody to listen to his side of the story. Instead everybody has turned into this smiling sympathizer who asks and does what Dave wants. The bit, where the grown up Dave confesses about having a part of him stuck in childhood, was also very touching. 

Overall, Lehane scores high on developing deep characters. However, the minute descriptions of scenes fall short in keeping up the enthusiasm about solving the mystery.