THE BOOK OF EVERLASTING THINGS, AANCHAL MALHOTRA

This book is historical fiction, a bildungsroman, with its epicentre as partition. This is Aanchal Malhotra’s third book, the other two being nonfiction on partition.

There is love, perfumes, calligraphy, and oodles of aroma. Vivid descriptions of smells emanate from many natural flowers, herbs, and spices. A major chunk of the book deals with perfume making, and the author has quoted many historical facts and anecdotes relating to perfumes, which I found very interesting.

Did you know that it takes four tons of roses to make one kilogram of Attar?

Did you know that Babur, besotted by roses, named his daughters: Gulchihra, Gulrukh, Gulbadan, and Gulrang?

Did you know that Ambergris is produced in the digestive system of the Sperm whale?

The book primarily showcases the impact of war and partition on commoners with a backdrop of a love story. Having watched movies and series and read a few books on partition, we know that the partition of 1947 impacted the common man significantly,  rendering them homeless, separating them from families, and causing mass displacement. Millions were uproote,  resulting in trauma, suffering,  and loss of life. All this has been woven into the story beautifully.

Samir Vij and Firdaus, the main characters, the star-crossed lovers, are based in Lahore, part of India, then. Samir, a nose, is Hindu and Firdaus, a calligrapher is Muslim.

Two characters that I liked the most were Samir’s uncle Vivek and Firdaus’s father Altaf. On observing that Samir is a nose like himself, Vivek sees to it that Samir learns the art and skills required in making perfumes, like fragrance creation, sourcing the ingredients, bottling them, organizing etc. He teaches Sameer affectionately and patiently. Altaf is depicted as a father who is quite modern for that era. He lets his daughter learn the art of calligraphy and sends his daughter to college, which is scorned by his neighbours.


Upon reading this book, I felt transposed to that era. Aanchal has superbly and vividly described the era. She is a historian and the cofounder of the Museum of Material Memory. I got the opportunity to see her talk and got to meet her and get her book signed @emirateslitfest. She is brilliant.

"SOMETIMES, WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD SEEMS RUINED BEYOND RECOGNITION, EVEN THE FAINTEST GESTURE OF BEAUTY, LIKE THE WHIFF OF A FAMILIAR PERFUME CAN BRING A SENSE OF SOLACE."

This book is bound to leave a trail of fragrance, a sillage, in our minds!

DUST CHILD, BOOK BY NGUYỄN PHAN QUẾ MA

A poignant tale that connects many people affected by the Vietnam War. In this tale, every character is worthy of empathy as they suffer their own. The war affects everybody and the aftereffects or people traumatized by it react in their own way.

This book is a historical fiction/war story that moves back and forth. Each character's tale is moving,and the author has brilliantly portrayed the struggles in their lives. The story shows discrimination based on colour, gender, and class.

Why can't people accept people for what they are?

How does it matter who they are or where they are from?

The author has written in the beginning that this book was a result of her Ph.D. research. The author has projected the traumas and the impact of the war so realistically that one can visualise it. The simplicity of the language and the captivating storyline set a happy and sad tone while creating intrigue and a want-to-know-more kind of situation at the end of each chapter.

On one side, sisters, Trang and Quynh, desperate to help their parents pay off their debts,become bar girls. On another side, an Amerasian orphan, Phong, is frantically looking for his parents. Many years later,Dan returns to Vietnam looking for his girlfriend and child.

I found Trang's story very evocative and kept hoping everything would turn out well for Trang. I loved this character who is shown as a sweet and simple girl who earnestly works to earn money to support and help her parents. She is also a loving and caring sister.

Why do women pardon men if they cheat on them? If one imagined a role reversal ,would the man be able to pardon the wife?

Though Dan is portrayed as being severely traumatised by the war, having seen death face to face is quite pitiable. But I hated this character for dumping his girlfriend and running off. Throughout the story, I couldn’t empathise with him.

 Pyong’s trying to feel belonged can be felt throughout the book- for he tries so hard to find a place to call his own! There is a sense of helplessness, exclusion, hostility, and unwantedness that Pyong faces. He is ill-treated, traumatised, and is looked down upon. I felt very bad for Phong.

I hate wars and war-based books, but this is such a beautifully written book that does not showcase the war predominantly but can be felt in the backdrop. I do recommend you read this beauty for sure!

Clifford Simak and Isaac Asimov were contemporaries and Simak was well-liked by Asimov.

Way Station is a Pastoral Science Fiction. I just came to know about this genre. Did you know about this genre? It’s a sci-fi set in the woods in this case.

A way station, its keeper, some aliens and events that transpire!

The protagonist, Enoch Wallace is a guardian of the way station, which is actually his house. It's a station meant for intergalactic travel. He provides coffee and refreshments to the aliens who pass by. The aliens reach Earth through a materializer. The station, set up by the aliens keeps Enoch young. He looks like a 30-year-old although he is 124.

What would it be like to live so long? I might not like to live so long and that too without my friends and close relatives.  

I loved the character Lucy, who is deaf and mute but is sweet, warm and charming. Though I wasn’t certain of her role in the book at the beginning, her role fits the story so aptly, finally.

The story is set in the 19th century and was written in 1963, but reads as though it has been written in the current years.

If Aliens are found, what might be the extrapolated words for global citizens, or nationalistic for instance? Though Marvel movies do have a lot of new words and so does Star Wars etc.

Every time I read the word aliens, I remember reading in a book by Stephen Hawking, where he says that humans should never try to contact aliens for if they come to earth, they might suck out all our energy resources. (though this doesn’t happen in the Way Station!)

It’s a simple, slow-paced read that I found very interesting and the theme was really sweet too!