Book Review- The Novel Cure: An A to Z of Literary Remedies

The Novel Cure: An A to Z of Literary Remedies is a fantastic idea. To cure all you conditions/ailments through an appropriate reading- of a novel. Ain't it novel? We may do so unwittingly, but this one tells you which books might work!

I have read many of the prescriptions, and learnt a lot about books that I could read if I feel lonely, overworked, pessimistic, overly optimistic, tired, and many other conditions that are listed alphabetically in the book. A Materia Medica of sorts, which promises to cure almost anything you could suffer from. It is also subtitled Bibliotherapy, and is highly recommended for the sheer novelty of the idea. 

 From Murakami to Voltaire, the cures span a thousand years or more, and genres that you may have thought don't exist. The recent Gray literature also finds a place, as a cure for something that does not need spelling out. A fun read!

 

After Dark- Intriguing Murakami

Read a slim Murakami novel called After Dark. It is the most intriguing yet, because it involves a sort of overarching camera as one of the ' observers' of the goings on in the life of a 'sleeping beauty' who has been at it for two months or more. She is a model and also a delicate person with a lot of medical problems. Her teenaged sister is the other major actor, very much awake and aware of the stark differences between herself and her sister- in looks and likes.

Many truths about life and living appear as part of the dialogue between the sister who is awake and a casual acquaintance (male) she meets in a coffee shop, and another (female) she meets in a love hotel (where people go on a short date). It emerges that the siblings are not very close, and suffer from guilt/confusion in their own ways. Like many of his stories, this one also leaves the reader guessing, with the stories of the characters left unresolved.

Very interesting novel indeed, in his trademark style. There are some references to Chinese gangs operating rackets in Japan. Well, seems like a global phenomenon, with only the nationalities changing. But mostly, the story is about self-exploration, like most of his novels. I am an unabashed fan. This is about the eighth or ninth one I have read. The translator is an English literature prof at Harvard. Thanks to him for doing this, bringing a great author within our reach.