Review of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl- Banality of evil makes it commonplace

The novel scores as a very contemporary  depiction of the dynamics of  relationships in modern world. Gone Girl may have a very sick relationship as it's centerpiece but Ms Flynn manages to strike a universal note with these demented characters. Finding echo of everyday turmoils and conflicts in such a diseased milieu is hugely disconcerting. This novel may put off quite a few readers as Gillian Flynn makes us inhabit these twisted minds in a dizzying tandem of  chapters made intimate by first person voice. The reader may feel alarmed by easy identification with many aspects of thinking of the sociopaths. For example, Amy's grouse with the concept of 'cool girl' May find many nodding in agreement when she writes""Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl."  or when Nick waxes eloquent about his lack of control over what image he is projecting    "People love talking, and I have never been a huge talker. I carry on an inner monologue, but the words often don't reach my lips.” Banality of evil makes is easy to find startling resemblance in most mundane of the moments.

Gillian Flynn demonstrates  a dexterous hand at psychological profiling and characters remain at the desired degree of likability-under full command of the author. She can make the reader fall in love with character in one chapter and create intense hatred in the next. Furthermore, she can go nuanced and successfully conveys the machination deployed by the character to be likable or despicable. She also benefits from the useful gift of keeping many plot balls in the air while keeping the reader clued in with the basic tension of the story. All this with tight accessible prose and painterly depiction. She creates word pictures that conveys with dazzling clarity the basic point of the author about a very complex feeling. 

Review of The Wolf of Wall Street: Oscar Worthy Stripper Stampede

Watching a Scorsese movie always lends itself to pleasurable memories. Wolf of the Wall Street starts with DiCaprio's character moving into his lair (in this case his stock broking firm) reminding Scorsese lovers of Mean Street’s entry of Harvey Keitel where camera follows him as he glides through his club milking presumed and real applause. Music, adoration and sense of entitlement of the recipient of all the attention creates an alchemy which makes the viewer smile with amusement and concentrate in awe at the same time. Similarly, the film has marching bands and ‘stripper stampede’ to entertain the employees. Here we see the continuation of a hallowed tradition started by one Charles Foster Kane in 1941 ‘Citizen Kane’ to enthuse his newspaper staff.

Many critics have found funny tone of Wolf of the Wall Street a novelty in Scorsese movie.  The auteur has been grittily funny throughout his distinguished career. Anyone who has followed Scorsese in Mean Street, Casino, After Hours and, somewhat atypical, Hugo will feel sufficiently Scorseseque in the funny moments that  Wolf of the Wall Street creates. One can’t suppress a smile on  the memory of Harvey Keitel, De Niro and friends discussing the meaning of ‘mook’ before getting into cat fight that was to be broken by cops and end in round of drinks among the participants. Here also we find many moments of this humorous cacophony.

Dizzying breezy sequences with showy editing that create a tempo leading to bravura crescendo are old Scorsese trademarks. His characters are great at verbosity (barring tongue tied Taxi Driver). Speeches are bombastic with rustic bravado – quite unlike Woody Allen’s talkathons of confused intellectuality. Though both, I must admit, have their own pleasures. The enjoyable momentum created by oration on benefits of drugs, debauchery and greed among the Decaprio’s charater and his thuggish associates led by madcap Jonah Hill are in the same league as you would find in Casino, Good Fellas and, again, in Mean Street. I find many similarities in mediation on qualuudes and the Butcher explaining the ways of stabbing pig in Gangs of New York.  Both take the story or the experience of the movie forward.

Trajectory of rise of a small time pusher to obscene level of success replete with mind numbing excesses and eventual downfall is an almost as established as a sub genre.  This is the basic cliché of the Wolf of Wall Street too. What is different this time is that Scorsese stayed away from the business of providing full closure. He kept the perspective resolutely neutral and kept the camera in voyeur mode.  Even the excess was not meant to caricature or demean a life style. He is more concerned with conveying the unbridled joy of the excess. He transfers the high notes of carnivalsque debauchery in full measure without making a parody of it- quite a feat.

This is film-making which is self consciously high strung –energy, tension and joy communicated in clearest possible notes. Clarity dazzles but grabs you to notice the effort and genius that has gone into the spectacle.  Scorsese is loved for his flourishes, he is worshipped for sustaining those flourishes with impeccable film making.

Review of The Cuckoo's Calling

The Cuckoo's Calling by J. K. Rowling/"Robert Galbraith” is a good read. This has a good plot, great atmospherics and fluid grace of tightly constructed prose. It is a quick read to too, from the point of view of  accessibility and flow. I felt fine after spending my weekend chunks with it.

Story is about death of supermodel with an interesting family background. Our Private Dick comes in three months after the event in a scenario where the case has been declared as suicide. In a classical detective genre scheme, the detective has been given enough quirks and  an eager though bright secretary. The investigation proceeds through various stages towards gradual clarity and a reasonably satisfying climax. 

Rowling is a great story-teller and creates a compelling yarn. She creates good scene with interesting details. Her description of alleys and ultra-rich homes is detailed and lends the story an air of believability. The chapter where Cormoran Strike, our detective, interviews the designer Guy Some is replete with fascinating  details and eccentricities of the fashion world. 

I think, character of Cormoran Strike will take one or two more installments to get its full flowering as a comprehensively itched character. He has all the ingredients-Questionable but interesting pedigree (illegitimate son of a major rockstar), physical deformity (one leg blown off in Afghanistan) and troubled family life. This crumpled genius is staple of many characters of the genre. Where Rowling lacks is establishing the genius of the detective. He rarely comes out with gems of deduction. These character need a bit of flamboyance of when they start dazzling with their brain power along with the hubris of cramped gloom that they carry.  Strike here is thorough and delivers the goods but appears more diligent then genius. 

Over-all as I said in the beginning. A goodread.

Review of Blacklist TV Series

Watched and liked 'Blacklist' as it is a taut well paced TV show in the thriller genre. I am a sucker for action, drama and adrenaline rush of such offerings. The show starts with the surrender of Raymond 'Red' Reddington (James Spader) a criminal who figures very high on the pantheon of the FBI's Most Wanted list. He negotiates an immunity deal and promises to help FBI catch A listers on his blacklist. He intriguingly works only with Agent Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone). Episodes move with great speed and keep us engrossed by deploying all the tropes- recurring mystery about Elizabeth’s husband, lingering speculation about the nature of relationship between Elizabeth and Reddington and above all Reddington’s resourcefulness in helping FBI catching the dreaded criminals. 

This consultant-law enforcement drama is a well established category on television. Mentalist and  Castle come to mind. Chemistry between the core duo and consultant’s dramatic value edition in resolving difficult situations makes this category   who is able to convince us of his status as a master criminal and his ability to convey menace and capability without being overly dramatic.

very interesting. Despite being in the crowded space, Blacklist manages to grip due to its high production value and controlled performance by James Spader

The show losses out on developing interesting side characters except may be Tom Keen (Ryan Eggold)-the suspected husband or Reddington’s bodyguard Dembe (Hisham Tawfiq). Over all a pretty watchable fare if you like that sort of thing.

Primal pleasure of your own language.

Just read Picture Postcards by Nirmal Verma. A short story set in Delhi but distinctly from a period when the city was much more manageable and higher education was more leisurely and somewhat posher than practical vengeance that we call degrees now a days. It picks up a day from the life of 3 male seniors who are meeting 2 girls one of whom is leaving Delhi may be for good. Setting is, as I wrote earlier, is Delhi from Connaught Place to Delhi University. Story captures the unformed, uncertain intensity of the cusp between college and career. But first and above all, for me, it is a Hindi story.
 
After so many years of 'English Medium' existence, foundation of mother tongue asserts effortlessly and I find it easier to catch and absorb the depiction in its intended nuances. Pleasure is more raw and on occasions, as happened with this story' more primal. Connect with the text is smooth and deeper. I wish that this happens with English too which is my primary 'working language'. On a different plane while the consumption of Hindi products is smoother, creation in the language is often a problem. May be this has to do with the timing of exposure. Immersion in Hindi came early till the age of seventeen to be interrupted by 'English medium'. Conscious creation it seems is a later development. Still poetry can be approached and created exclusively in Hindi.

First Appearance of Superman-- Action Comics #1. Page Two of "Superman" June 1938

In June 1938, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Introduced a superhero with clean cut sense of right and wrong backed by astonishing powers in "Superman," published in Action Comics #1. Page two of "Superman," published in Action Comics #1 conveys to us the urgency with phrases like ‘seconds count’ ‘I haven’t the time to attend to’ and ‘matter of life and death’ (Siegel and Shuster, 1938 unnumbered page). His impatience for protocol is amply illustrated by forced entry and treatment to the lady and the door opener, presumably a valet. Though we know that this is first appearance of ‘Superman’, there is no mention of the name ‘Superman’. Here, he is just a ‘tireless figure’ who has some strength (he breaks doors and lifts the valet effortlessly), flying is indicated but not confirmed in the opening panel.

The panel arrangement is simple 3,3 and 2. Amounting to quick cuts, first six panels set the pace for the final two panels which can be seen as the climax or pinnacle of the build-up. Direct action crusader is not the one to stand on ceremonies and action orientation is very clear as he is convinced of the rightness of his actions. Though the page is not a full scene from the point of view of the plot as it leaves us intrigued by the presence of gagged but well dressed woman and clearly the ‘tireless figure’ has just started on his quest. The narrative is aimed at establishing the contours of the plot and more so of a character. The hero is new character as we have been told and we are being goaded to form a certain image of the hero. To me, it can be summerized as someone strong, clear headed about his values and in a hurry to finish his task using the powers that are at his disposal. In this sense the page is telling a full poem or a point. It is fulfilling a complete task of introducing us to a superhero and introducing a story.

We start caring for the fortunes of the people introduced in the panels- The ‘tireless figure’, the gagged woman, the person whose life/death is to be discussed with the governor and also the valet who has been lifted by the hero.  In this caring lies the seeds of the story on an immediate level and future of a franchise on a long term basis. We are hooked and story can build up on this solid start that is full of intrigue, well paced action and a glimpse of extraordinary powers that the hero enjoys (he breaks the door and runs on stairs with single handed lifting of a man).  Use of shadow in the last two panel is another interesting feature. Shadow increases drama and presence of something supernatural is conveyed with suitable menace. Shadow has been used with great impact in comics.

With a character such as Superman, it is difficult to fully discard the baggage of the readers own experience with the superhero. Those who are still engaged with the superhero in 2013 will note the relative lack of sophistication and a direct approach to establish the story. Of late we may find an attempt to convey inner conflict of the superheroes including Superman who is supposed to be least conflicted among superheroes. However, as we can see, the second page of the Action Comics #1 (this may well be the first effective page) the intention was to leave enough space to build a rich back story. Surely,  the story was built over a period of two third of a century and the myth making is still on. For a reader presented with the page two of Action Comics #1, a big part of the joy will be to witness the beginning (in my case this was so as I have not read Action Comics #1). More so we immediately, somewhat condescendingly, admire the pace and quality of comic in 1938. We can’t help thinking about the ground that has been covered since then. We see that later Superman would not have been restrained by time as he can reach the Governor in the blink. We like his lifting of man and breaking of door but we know that this a man capable of moving planes, building and even planets. We are liking it as a tourists likes an ancient ruin or in an unknowingly condescending way in which we admire simple beauty of products by exotic tribes.

The page is an important milestone in the life of an art form. It creates solid ‘beginnings’- mind the plural. An eventful start of a story and a character. This mode of starting a story involving parachute landing in the middle of action, provides good ground for a back story to develop and that is what that must have happened in Action Comics #1 and that has surely happened in the saga of Superman. We are bound to see the page as a key building block of hugely successful franchise and a beloved character. It is a story that is part of our growing up process and we are still engaged with it. Triangulation of art, medium and the reader is complete when we get to see this page in 2013 with our ‘trained’ eye and inability to unlearn.

*****

Ray Donovan Ends

Finale of Ray Donovon on Showtime was neat as finales are meant to be. Finales are supposed to tie up the loose ends and give the patient viewer a satisfying payoff and Ray Donovon did that. The twelve part series was a well planned module and the built up in the first two episodes was very well orchestrated and laid the character with great success and with nicely delineated lines leaving enough rough edges that left something to be liked in almost all characters. Their angers, regrets and in some cases their over reactions made enough sense in our hearts to make us care for them. 

Eponymous Ray (Liev Schreiber )   shouldered the key part with a restrained grace which entailed most of the talking by his gestures and body, always a sign of good actor. His brothers- the seasoned pair of Dash Mihok and, more so, British veteran Eddie Marsan were picture perfect with their issues and attitude towards loyalty and forgiveness. And, above all,  seventy five years old, Jon Voight who gives a master class in depicting well intentioned sleeze whose good intentions are so well hidden that it takes long time to like him. He has delivered a performance without any false note. He is a survivor and he has both charms and redeeming virtues to keep him afloat. He makes us root for him in later episodes without evoking condescending sympathy in our hearts. His nuanced portrayal of his vices is sufficient to explain away his ills. Only weak point is the Ray’s wife played by mercurial Paula Malcomsom. She has been given the unfortunate task of acting against the logic of the story of Ray. She does a fantastic job of making the life of her husband miserable who is famously uncommunicative in explain things to her while deeply valuing her approval. After sometime, her intensity starts bordering on unhinged melodrama and we start grudging her lack of understating and cooperation. 

Back to the finale, it tied up the series efficiently. The episode took the choices made by the various characters to the logical conclusion. It resolved the climax in a somewhat pat but logical manner. The final minutes were well utilized to show the depth of Ray’s hatred for his father. These last few minutes also further revealed Mick’s snake oil salesman charm and his ability to rise to the occasion.  The final episode played to its strength. Showdowns, between Ray and Mick, between Ray and brother played by Eddie Marsan were placed knowing full well the capabilities of these strong actors to raise the level of the programme. It paid well and the fade out with the entire family settling into cosiness felt soothing and appropriate.