First books of 2008

To continue from where i left off…The Thirteenth Tale is indeed engrossing…and i manage to catch one hour every morning on my trip to my college…the novel seems episodic at this stage…(Pg. 127)…who knows how the threads are going to weave in and out…i am enjoying this exercise…helps me keep my focus…must do it with other books too…

i have started my books account for 2008 with 2 books – Umberto Eco’s Baudolino and Early Novels in India (Ed. Meenakshi Mukherjee; Sahitya Akademi). i had a copy of Baudolino and had also read it…but one fine day i discovered that it was missing from my shelf…i don’t know how it happened, as i am abnormally possessive about my books…but, missing it was and i searched wherever I could and asked all friends and relatives who had come home and had something to do with books…no luck! The only alternative was to buy a fresh copy…which i did…after waiting for more than 6 months for Baudolino to turn up miraculously from some forgotten corner…even after the purchase of a new copy, i am sure that the old one will re-appear one day…

The other book, Early Novels in India, is something i wanted to own as part of my collection on the early novel in India. i had worked on the early novel in Kannada for my PhD and the topic continues to be my academic passion…this book has a series of articles on early novels in various regional languages across India by scholars who have been working on this area for quite some time…in terms of academic value, the book is a milestone…

Jai

Books about Books-2

I wanted to read all the 6 books and wanted to buy them…but all books were not available in Hyderabad and I went net shopping and found 4 books on indiaplaza. I started with the Interpretation of Murder and finished it soon and enjoyed it, especially the recreation of scenes of early 20th C. New York and the mind games following the murder. I took up The Poe Shadow next, but it took me 3 months to complete it…so much so that I don’t know what I read…I must re-read the book…I am sure it is interesting…but one thing to remember is, you must know a little bit about Poe.

Now, I am reading The Thirteenth Tale. It holds the reader’s attention and I am already hooked. It is about a best-selling author Vita Winter, who tells ‘stories’ about herself to journalists after each book launch, and each story is different from the other. A number of biographies are written about her and no two biographies have anything in common about her life. Many had attempted to uncover the truth, but failed. So, her life is a secret and she decides to reveal her secret to an antiquarian bookseller and bookish biographer, Margaret Lea. I have reached the part where Margaret is in Vita Winter’s house…the novel promises to be engrossing…will let you know once I finish it…I hope it is soon…

Jai

Books about Books-1

The first book that I am reading in 2008…is Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. This is one of the 4 books that I bought in 2007 after reading Pradeep Sebastian’s column ‘Endpaper’ titled ‘Of books inside books’ in The Hindu’s ‘Sunday Literary Review’ (Aug 5, 2007). I have always read Pradeep Sebastian’s column with interest…and the books he recommends or rather, mentions, are invariably different and makes for good reading. This column was about ‘bookish thrillers’ … “Books are the actual protagonists in these thrillers. Not books about books, but books inside books. In this genre, librarians, bookstore clerks, collectors, and even readers (you and I) come off looking brilliant and sexy!”

I had earlier read Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s English translation of his Spanish novel The Shadow of the Wind, belonging to the same genre and enjoyed it immensely. Readers come across the most unusual ‘cemetery of forgotten books’ in this novel, preserved and maintained by a dedicated group of book lovers and initiates. Each initiate is allowed to pick out one book from the library…and the rest…read it for yourself… This book, according to Sebastian, galvanized and expanded the boundaries of the genre and brought the genre into prominence. Pradeep Sebastian mentions 6 books in the column – Jed Rubenfeld’s The Interpretation of Murder (Freud and Jung as characters); Matthew Pearl’s The Poe Shadow (search for Auguste Dupin; and investigation into the last days and mysterious death of Poe); Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale; Michael Gruber’s The Book of Air and Shadow (hunt for an unknown Shakespeare’s manuscript); Louis Bayard’s The Pale Blue Eye (Poe himself investigates a series of Poe-like murders!!); and Sheridan Hay’s The Secret of Lost Things (discovery of hand written version of Melville’s lost book).

Fountain Pens of AP-Ratnam Pens

i have been using or rather longing to use a good fountain for ages...and it was only recently that i became serious about it...i read in an article in 'The Week' sometime in early 2007 about Ratnam Pens of Rajahmundry (AP)...i was determined to own a Ratnam Pen, as the article narrated a hoary history for the pen and i was hooked...i went around asking my telugu friends and one of them, Pavan, said that his uncle resides in Rajahmundry and he would get me a Ratnam Pen...it took a long time for the pen to come by and at last it came sometime in Sept 2007...it was an ebonite (hard rubber) pen with a closed nib (like the Hero pen nib)...i was thrilled to own a piece of history...i wanted more...i scoured the net and found a lot of information...especially on Fountain Pen Network and also discovered a lot of historical details...like the letter that M K Gandhi wrote in 1935 to Mr K. V. Ratnam, the proprietor, thanking him for sending a Ratnam pen. An article in 'The Hindu' (http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/06/stories/2005100603782200.htm) says that
Mr Ratnam met Gandhiji in 1921 and Gandhiji asked him to produce something that would be useful to the common man and was inexpensive. The Ratnams, who were basically goldsmiths, went on to manufacture nibs and pens, and presented one to Gandhiji. Ratnam pens were known as swadeshi pens and were used by Gandhiji, Rajendra Prasad, Indira Gandhi, Ramnath Goenka, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, Shankar Dayal Sharma and other eminent persons.

After i got my first ratnam pen, I called up Mr K. V. Ramanamurthy, the current proprietor and son of Mr K. V. Ratnam, and spoke to him. He is a genial gentleman with an old world charm in his speech and gave me all the information i needed. I ordered 2 more pens - a 14 carat gold nib ebonite pen (size 302) and a steel nib (size 32) ebonite pen. One can also get one's name or initials inscribed on the gold nib. My gold nib is inscribed 'jaya'. i was extremely ecstatic on receiving the pen and immediately started using it. Imagine getting a personalised pen for a fraction of the price for imported personalised pens available in the market!!

Ratnam manufactures ebonite pens from 3 and half inches in size to 6 inches in size and all can be fitted with gold nibs, but only the bigger size nibs can be personalised due to space constraints. check out the photo above and see for yourselves. i have been living in Hyderabad since 1992 and have been on the lookout for a good fountain pen and it was right there in AP and i didn't know!! For those of you who are interested in owning a piece of history, you can write to Mr Ramananurthy at Ratnam Ball Pen Works, 10-7-18, Fort Gate, Rajahmundry-533101; or even better, call him at 0883-2498782.

i hadn't used an ebonite pen till them and I was hooked and started searching for more...and i found more...right here in A.P....till the next blog then...

Jayasrinivasa Rao