The home and the world

ISBN: 9780140181876

Tagore’s song and poetry shines through with lines like:

“It is the moon that has room for stains, not the stars” (P19)

“…that my husband… did not squander his manhood in the markets of woman’s flesh?” (P21)

P79. Sandip’s propensity for cruelty: where he wanted his followers to embrace cruelty, so he asked them to sever a lamb’s leg while it was still alive. They faltered so he did it himself. Earned the reverence of his followers (also shows how blindly trusting his followers were)

The unwritten: Inside man/ Mike Carey & Peter Gross

ISBN: 9781401228736

“Suggested for mature readers”.

Quite a complex fantasy story in a contemporary setting. I consider this one of the better showcase of the Graphic Novel format, where the story is intellectually and visually fleshed out between texts and illustrations.

The mood, plot-twists and tone is like “Fables” but without the fairy tale association. More contemporary and storyline is deeper, with overlaps of fiction and reality

This overlap even extends to the reader, by featuring realistically portrayed web articles, news casts and blog posts that follow Tom’s imprisonment.

Parts of it seem to borrow from the real life controversy over the Harry Potter series.

Tom Taylor is framed for murder, it seems. He is jailed and there’s a murder attempt on him while in prison. He escapes the prison with a magical door knob (a legacy of his father), only to find himself in Nazi Germany, before the outbreak of WWII. As a reader, I’m also brought along the journey, discovering a hidden quest of sorts with the protagonist.

The crown and other stories/ Rabindranath Tagore; translated by Ranjita Basu

The Crown and Other Stories
ISBN: 8129101815

These shorts would be excellent discussion topics for bookclubs. And among older children and teens, even adults. Different age segments would be able to talk about the stories from different viewpoints.

The writings are concise, though I suspect the translated works convey an old-style English quality that may seem more to “tell” than to “show” the reader, but still flavourful enough.

“The Crown” is about three princes, who are brothers. We learn how the youngest sows the seeds of discord, playing on the second brother’s need for affirmation to the first; and the eldest being seemingly too straight-forward for his own good.

“Giving and Owing” tells a tale that made me wonder if it is still happening today: a man marries off his daughter at an enormous amount of dowry he could not afford. He resorts to borrowing the money but still falls short. His snobbish in-laws ill-treat the daughter because of the inadequate dowry payments. The man is saddled with debts, his entire extended family suffers. Eventually his daughter passes on from neglect by her in-laws. Ironically they spend lavish amounts of money on her funeral and even incurs significant debt to do so.

P48. “The world is a scientific laboratory for the workings of Destiny”

Hungry stones and other stories/ Rabindranath Tagore (translated from the original Bengali by various writers)

ISBN: 9788171677139

Tagore, Rabindranath, 1861-1941.

Some stories reveal why Tagore was reviled, in his time (perhaps even today), by some for his writings. Specifically, his speaking up, subtly and at times explicitly, against traditions and customs like the caste system. Like “Once There Was A King” (some lines taking a dig at how adults take away the joy of enjoying stories), “The Kingdom of Cards”, and “The Renunciation”.

Stories like “The Home-Coming” and “My Lord, The Baby” revolve around the theme of parent-child relationships.

“The Devotee” (a woman who took upon herself to worship the author as a god; as the story unfolds the woman isn’t quite as mad as she seems to be) was more philosophical, and perhaps an allegory about the real priorities in life. And what it means to really live.

Reading the translated words made me wonder if any of the magic was lost in interpretation.

Even if so, the flavour of the magic still comes through. Like “The Cabuliwallah”, a tale of his daughter’s childhood friendship with a street peddler.

The premise was simple (a father’s love for his child) but the magic was in the art of telling: separation, prejudices, the ageless, universal and instinctive fears parents have of strangers toward their offsprings. And of simple human empathy.

Starman: To reach the stars/ James Robinson, Jerry Ordway; Tony Harris et al.

ISBN: 1563897121

Starman aka Jack Knight. Carrying on his family mantle of Opal City’s hero-in-residence.

Deeper layers of Starman’s relationship with girlfriend, Sadie, emerges, where she eventually confesses why she wanted to be with him (to have him help find her brother, whom she believes is still alive among the stars). Which eventually culminates this volume with Jack going to the stars.

Along the way, Jack battles Captain Marvel, as Jack’s father tries to help his former comrade, Bulletman, clear his name from a neo-Nazi plot.

The prelude has Jack regale the tale of the first hero of Opal City, when the place was still a frontier town in the Wild West. And stories of the earlier Starmans before Jack serves to build up the dilemma facing Jack, in choosing between being Starman and the sacrifices to be made with regards to love.

Runaways: The good die young/ Brian K. Vaughan; Adrian Alphona

See Vol 1.

ISBN: 9780785136729

Features issues #13 – 18.

Alex deciphers the text and reveals the secret pact their parents made to the Gibborim.

The parents are plotting against one another.

The mole in the (teens) group is finally revealed.

Conclusion.

Runaways: Teenage wasteland/ Brian K. Vaughn, Adrian Alphona

See Vol 1.

ISBN: 9780785139737

Collects issues #7 – 12.

Nico, Chase, Karolina, Gertrude, Molly and Alex all discover their hidden powers.

Meets a vampire in this issue (oops, plot giveaway!!!)

Runaways: Pride & joy/ Brian K. Vaughan, Adrian Alphona

ISBN: 9780785135586

Woah.

Ever so often, I come across a story that successfully takes a plain-vanilla idea and transforms it into something truly new and original. Without resorting to fancy or convoluted plot or characters.

Simple is best. But this isn’t simplistic.

Here’s the brief: Take a few teenagers, who are at the stage in life where they find their parents a pain (frankly, who doesn’t?) They are ordinary teens. I mean, really ordinary teens. Their parents somehow know each other. The kids are forced to meet at their parents’ annual gathering.

The tip of the iceberg: They discover and witness that their parents are involved in a ritualistic murder.

Here’s the real kicker: Their parents are Supers. As in, their parents possess super powers or some kind of higher-than average IQ or skill sets. The kids seemingly do not have any.

So, the next logical thing that they did: they banded together and act to turn their parents in.

Outwardly, they want to turn their parents in because of the appalling crime (ritualistic murder!) but subtly, it’s an allusion that all teens — at some point — secretly wish to get their parents into trouble at some point. Of course, this is arguable. Which is why I thought this would make a great graphic novel for discussion.

Oh, I told you they were ordinary teens, right?

Not quite.

Along the way, they discover that they do have special abilities.

“Pride and Joy” features issues #1-6.

Two caravans/ Marina Lewycka

ISBN: 9780670916382

From strawberry picking, to chicken slaughtering, to escaping from murderous thugs. And in between, a blossoming romance.

Newcomer Irina joins the team of “Seasonal Agricultural Workers. Yola the female Polish supervisor, Marta (Yola’s niece), and two chinese girls (one from China and one Malaysian).

Andriy (Ukrainian), Tomasz (Polish), Vitaly (fellow migrant and later “recruitment consultant”), Emanuel (from Zomba, Malawi; “harsh staff of chastisement” aka ruler). And a dog.

They are illegal farm workers. One night, after a bit of run-in involving the farmer’s jealous wife, they all suddenly find themselves on the run.

An insightful novel, no doubt fictitious but probably with some basis from real life, about the exploitation of the transitory migrant (often illegal) workers in Europe.

Halo: Uprising/ Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev

ISBN: 9780785128380

Brian Bendis is one of my favourite graphic novelist (I’ve not found any of his works, posted in this blog, to be short of expectations).

For those familiar with the Halo video game, this story takes place between Halo 2 and 3 (I’m citing Bendis, from his interview at the end of the graphic novel).

The story starts with the “Master Chief”, sole surviving Spartan, on board the Forerunner Dreadnought . There’s not much about the Master Chief subsequently, in that in he spends most of his time causing mayhem and kicking Covenant butts in their mega ship.

The main story really takes place on Earth. In Cleveland. Where the Covenant forces are searching for “The Key of Osanalan”.

The Main protagonists turn out to be two civilians. One is the younger brother of a UNSC Special Forces colonel (held captive by the Covenant) and the other a female singer.

Basically, all hell breaks loose in Cleveland. Covenant forces are herding people into a stadium. The aliens are seeking The Key of Osanalan. The male lead character is shocked to know he’s connected with the said key.

The only plot-giveaway I’d write is that the Covenant are caught out in a joke of sorts. Humans show their ingenuity against the technologically superior aliens, and manages to kick-butts.

Sounds like a cheesy B-grade film plot, doesn’t it? But no, it doesn’t come across that way. That’s why Halo is a hit beyond just the video game, thanks to writers and artists like Bendis and Maleev.

End part includes an interview with Bendis, where he shares his thoughts and insights into creating a story based on an established videogame ‘multiverse’. He also gives a concise summary of what the Halo game is about.