Submission - Michel Houellebecq

“The shocking and simple idea, which had never been so forcefully expressed, that the summit of human happiness resides in the most absolute submission.” 

This book is a political satire in which the author imagines France under a Muslim president. The narrator Francois is a middle aged lecturer and  expert in the study of novelist Joris Karl Huysmans. He has few friends and has sort of boring sexual life and his parents are dead. He is pessimistic most of the time.

“Only literature can grant you access to a spirit from beyond the grave a more direct, more complete, deeper access than you’d have in conversation with a friend.”

The newly found Islamic political party "Muslim Brotherhood" has narrowly wins the election after forming coalition with Socialist and Center-right.  After forming the government , they slowly impose the quasi-sharia law - women were ordered to wear veils, co-education is abolished,polygamy is legalized, welfare budget is reduced by 85% and public education is almost defunct.

“The past is always beautiful. So, for that matter, is the future. Only the present hurts, and we carry it around like an abscess of suffering, our compassion between two infinities of happiness and peace.” 

The author targets not the Muslim rulers but the education institution and politicians who just surrender themselves.These intellectuals are ready to do anything asked by the Islamic government and defend their action by using literature. But the author is happy about some of the things happening like returning of old family values in which women retreated from workplace to home and creating millions of jobs for men which in turn reduces the crime rate.

“In all of human history there may never have been a mind as brilliant as Isaac Newton’s—just think what an amazing, unheard-of intellectual effort it took to discover a single law that accounted for the fall of earthly bodies and the movement of the planets! Well, Newton believed in God.” 

At one point Francois visits Black Madonna of Rocamadour  and enjoys moments of bliss but he could not sustain it and he thinks about faith. I think this part is very important to understand the author's view. He really feels something sacred about this experience. The author worries about the madness of the mankind. He struggles between faith and reality- sort of existential condition. This novel asks the question what does it mean to be human being without faith?. The author compares the protagonist's subject (Joris karl Huysmans) who after many struggles end up converting to Catholicism. Why did Huysmans  needed a faith for his deliverance?  

“Jesus had loved men too much, that was the problem; to let himself be crucified for their sake showed, at the very least, a lack of taste, as the old faggot would have put it.” 

“People don’t really care all that much about their own death. What they really worry about, their one real fixation, is how to avoid physical suffering as much as possible.” 

“A woman is human, obviously, but she represents a slightly different kind of humanity.” 

The story ends with Francois looking forward to his own submission to Islam.A controversial but intelligent satire. I don't know much about French politics but wile reading this book I started to read about the history, very interesting but at the same time , its high time France needs to look at itself about the mess it created.  This book was released exactly on the same day of Charlie Hebdo shooting .

Definitely worth reading.

Black Flags : The Rise of ISIS - Joby Warrick

I came to know about this book through twitter. Recently i started reading all the news articles about ISIS and started spending more time in searching about the fight in Iraq and Syria. Obviously I knew something about ISIS and the war against it. But the details in this book is something I never thought of .

First good thing about this book is the way the author structure the events leads to the formation of ISIS and later its conquest of land territories, like a thriller, an absolute page turner.  The " List of Principal Characters" at the beginning of the books makes it easier for the reader to relate the characters each other as one proceeds reading further. And I think list like this is very important for the books dealing with groups like ISIS.

He had a hero complex and guilt complex.He wanted to be a hero and saw himself as a hero, even when he was a thug. But it was the guilt that made him so extreme.

 First part of the book explains how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi , a Jordanian street thug became chief of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Until Collin Powell's historic speech at the UN , not many in western world know about Zarqawi, US inadvertently made him famous. Zarqawi used the fame to the fullest by murdering an American, who wanted to start radio tower business , Nick Berg. That video changed everything in Arab world and announced that he was there to built a caliphate. The video was so telling - orange jump suit, the Arabic calligraphy on the black flag everything gave some messages to people who watching it.

“In deciding to use the unsung Zarqawi as an excuse for launching a new front in the war against terrorism, the White House had managed to launch the career of one of the century’s great terrorists.”

Though Zarqawi was warned by the Al-Qaeda chiefs, he continued his own way of slaughtering the innocents. He wrote a letter informing the leaders of his obedience. Al-Qaeda gave him the training ground to prepare the jihadits where he developed his own way of running things. He was arrested and put in al-Jafr prison, where he met   Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a radical preacher. The relationship with the preacher was vital to his belief.

Zarqawi cleverly used American invasion to stoke sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites and organized various bombing including bombing of UN building . But his suicide bombings in Jordon triggered international outrage, specially it made Jordan to act with immediate effect which ultimately leads to his death and immediate demise of the organization.

He was talking about physically restoring the Islamic caliphate in a way that nobody else did.

The rest of the book deals with how the organization was revived by very clear strategy by the current ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He made sure that the legacy of Zarqawi will live for ever through his actions and by announcing the formation of Caliphate.Another important player in this book is King Abdullah -II of Jordon. It seems like he was the only one who foresaw the resurrection of ISIS. Its very interesting to know the creation of Jordon and their constant vigilance against their neighbours . The story of King Abdullah-II and how he became a king in a dramatic manner was very interesting.

The author highlights serious of mistakes by  Bush and Obama administrations. Very unfortunate that such senior politicians like Dick Cheney who forced CIA to find non-existing weapon of mass destruction and Saddam's link with Al-Qaeda. In reality Saddam hated Al-Qaeda. All 'so called' findings by Office of the Special Plans(OSP) were fabricated to justify the invasion of Iraq.  The refusal to accept the insurgency in Iraq by the American politician even after the intelligence reports keep confirming it was another big mistake, by the time they realized it was too late.Another 'fatal' mistake was placing all those most wanted criminals grouped together in a prison, seems like Zaraqawi and others enjoyed their stay there and formed a long lasting friendship and made him as a leader.

The author weaves stories around each key events and key players,which makes a compelling read. The book is well researched.The author did not blame anyone , he just gives facts and circumstances related to each events and maintained the neutrality throughout the book. This book gives the perspectives of players on the frontline, CIA and political leaders. A simple lesson from this book if intelligence is compromised by the politician then disaster will follow.

If you want to start read about ISIS I think this is the best book . A must read book.

துருக்கித்தொப்பி - கீரனூர் ஜாகிர்ராஜா

Most of the things I knew about Muslim community is from Thoppil Meeran's books and Salma's Irandam Jamakangalin kadhai. But this novel breaks that boundary. Kudos to the author. Most of the things portrayed in this novel are new to me.

This is the story of  ettukal veedu and it's gradual deterioration. The stand out feature of this book is the portrayal of two main characters KB Sheik and his grandson Rahmadullah.  KB Sheik, once a powerful man, lost huge amount of money which made him powerless. His fall from grace starts from there. He was lustful. His relationship with his wife is mostly sexual. He even tried to have sexual relations with his grandson.  He spends most of his time in his room upstairs with his harmonium.

Rahmadullah's story itself can be written as a separate book. The author brings the essence of the childhood with all its playfulness. As his mother moves away from him after the birth of his brother, Rahmadullah started behaving differently. He enjoys watching his mother giving breast milk. He also  enjoys being with his aunt's daughter Mallika , the first touch by the girl made him go crazy and kept on thinking about next touch. He even write a letter to his father detailing the relationship between his mother and Ruben. He speaks to Jesus during his visit to Palani church.Kudos to the author for bringing psychological aspects of a adolescent.

Noorjahan, the most beautiful girl, who marries not so handsome son of KB Sheik. She think Abbas as her ideal partner. Abbas is her cousin and childhood sweetheart. She realised that all the power in the ettukal veedu is with her mother-in-law Pattammal. She believes she was deceived by the fake fame of the house. But everything changes after the birth of Rahmadullah. She was strong and fight all the way to get his son back when Pattammal took away Rahmadullah. She even walks naked. She starts hating Rahmadullah after the birth of second son,- more importantly once she realized her beauty was destroyed by giving birth to him.Through Athavullah's character, the author highlights the growth of  Dravidian parties and how he was utilized by the leaders.

The story ends with the Turkey cap which made KB Sheik famous and well known in his village was hanging out without anyone taking care when the ettukkal veedu's  family shifting to new house .And at the same time Noorjahan receives money order from her husband Athavullah. As the story starts with Neem tree, it ends with need tree - remarkable story telling.

Everyone has some sort of sexual feeling for someone else, I think this particular point is very important for this story. KB Sheik - Noorjahan, Rahmadullah - Mallika, Ruben - Noorjahan, Kuttilevai-Renganayaki. This shows our society's view on female body and how we treat them.

The author brings alive all the characters with its unique features, though some times the writing is bit boring. The author also highlights the caste , economic division and sexual abuse in this story. The way the author highlights the division is remarkable - Pattamal is proud of eating mutton and hates Keelatheru people from where her daugher-in-law comes, who eats beef etc. The use of local slang was one of the highlight of this novel ,though I did not know some words. So many details about habits,rituals and food items of the Muslim community made this novel even more interesting.

Good read. I need to read this author's other books too.

சிப்பியின் வயிற்றில் முத்து - போதிசத்வ மைத்ரேய

This is a Tamil translation of the Bengali book "Jhinuker Pete Mukto " by Bodhisattva Maitreya. First thing that struck me was that the detailed description of the lives of Parava community. A Bengali writers writes about Tamil people!

 சிப்பித் தாய்கள் கடுஞ் சூட்டிலே இனிப்புத் தண்ணிக்காக ஏங்கிக்கிட்டு இருப்பாங்க. பௌர்ணமி இரவிலே மழைத் தண்ணி ரொம்ப இனிப்பாயிருக்கும். அந்தத் தண்ணியைச் சொட்டுச் சொட்டாய்க் குடிச்சால் அதுகளோட தாகம் தணியும். நிலவிலே கழுவின அந்தத் தண்ணிச் சொட்டு அதுகளோட வயித்திலே போய் அதிலேருந்துதான் முத்து பிறக்கும்.

This is the story of Anthony and Peter who are childhood friends but separated by principles and distance. Anthony is a son of one of the richest man in Tutocorin - Godwin. Anthony despite his families objections leaves home and goes to Bengal , from there to London for education. He was in relationship with a girl there. Through Anthony's character the author highlights the Jeep Scandal case, i never heard about this scandal anywhere before.

Peter's father was murdered and no one was prosecuted for the crime .Peter too was in danger as he lives in hiding in his boat rarely leaving the sea. But Peter has revolutionary ideas of changing working class people's life. He was in relationship with Sophia who joined convent to become a nun . And there is Raman, who was born in Tanjavur , educated in Tiruchi and learnt classical dance . These three are major male characters of this novel.

The author beautifully describes history and culture of these fishermen, their relations with Srilanka. Also the story covers all the major events  of Tamilnadu like story on Chidambaranar and Rajai etc.  I think no other novel may be except Aazhi Chool Uzhagu and Kadalpurathil gives such a detail accounts of the life and history of Tamil fishermen specially Paravar's.The story of Venky Aiyyar was reflection of many of freedom fighters after the independence.

Through Raman, author explores the life of  Devadasis. The way they surrendered their life to the temple and to satisfy the patrons were told in detailed manner, specially the encounter between Raman and daughter of one of the devadasi. The author gives lots of details on Tamil classical music and dance. And lots of references to classic writings .

The novel cover two landscapes the coastal area from Korkai to Turicorin and green lands in Cauvery basin.  The author also highlights the command hold by the catholic church even in people's personal choice. The relationship between Britishers and the fishing community were told through historical context. As expected the rich had good relationship with Britishers.

A must read book about Tamil fishing community.