My to-read list!

(They're in no particular order whatsoever.)

1. After Dark by Haruki Murakami
2. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
3. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
5. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
7. The Overcoat and Other Short Stories by Nikolai Gogol
8. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
9. Why I Write by George Orwell
10. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli

It's always so great to see the kind of things the medium of visual narrative is capable of. I had never thought that philosophies and ideas like this, that one often associates with a literary novel, could be presented in such a form in a graphic novel. Reading Asterios Polyp was a refreshing experience.

The general design and fairly desaturated colors in the graphic novel gives us breathing space to allow ourselves to be reeled in by the thoughts and ideas that are being presented. David Mazzucchelli's voice seems to be quite introspective and intimate, it tries to direct us to a certain line of thought. But it is never imposing, like he wants us to really think about what he is saying and come to a conclusion ourselves.

His art itself has a distinct voice of it's own. Each and every character has a very unique design, structure and font style for dialogues that is consistent with their personality and helps convey the ideas that Mazzucchelli wants to express through them. And even though they're so unique, they somehow fit seamlessly in this world. He also uses colors very specifically to set the mood for the particular period of Asterios' life or state of mind that is being portrayed.

It is really interesting to see how Asterios and Hana's relationship plays out through the imagery. The way their worlds collide, merge, isolate and dissipate.

It seems like Mazzucchelli paid a lot of attention to details. He sets up the whole story so intricately, that it all pays off at the end. It is almost poetic how everything just comes together.

A World That I Know

(Here are some sounds from my home city to accompany your reading- http://soundsofmumbai.in)

The air hangs heavy with the smell of monsoon, sweat, sweets and colours. A sea of people envelops you amidst the cacophony of drumbeats, conch shells and celebratory chanting.  You’re lost (and somehow found, too) in a subliminal chaos. The noise is oddly calming. You feel one with the people and the surroundings. Like you’re a part of this large living machine that works in a strange harmony.  Feeling one and infinite has become such a cliché thing to feel, but you feel it nonetheless. And it is as deep and meaningful as when Charlie had felt it.

“And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” – The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky

Did I forget to mention where you are? You’re standing on the seashore. You’re looking on as your dear friend, your dear Lord Ganesha is being immersed in the sea. The week of celebrations, honoring the elephant-headed god, has come to an end.

“The murti (idol) is viewed as a temporary body and is then returned to Nature by submersion into running water, such as a lake, river or the sea….

The process teaches us detachment and to realise that life is short and that our own body, which we cherish and pamper, will one day be reduced to ashes and base elements.”- Pt. Damodar Sharma

You look at your best friend standing next to you. She is crying, she cries every year.  She hates celebrations because they always have to come to an end. She has always been the emotional one, giving herself the freedom to feel things and get attached.

As you reach out to hold her hand, your eyes begin to well up too. Not because the festival has come to an end, but because she is crying. You never really learnt an appropriate way of feeling emotions, so you have a tendency to feel your emotions through her. Your grandmother had always wanted you to be more like her.

Your vision’s becoming hazier. You’re all alone in a pool of dark cold water.

And you’re drowning…..

I woke up in a colourless world, to the monotonous lull of the refrigerator and air conditioning. Lying in bed, I stared at the gray ceiling as my mind tried to get a grasp over reality. Taken aback by the dullness of this world, I felt disoriented.

“….I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheap hotel room I’d never seen, hearing the hiss of steam outside, and the creak of the old wood of the hotel, and footsteps upstairs, and all the sad sounds, and I looked at the cracked high ceiling and really didn’t know who I was  for about fifteen strange seconds. I wasn’t scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost.” – On The Road, Jack Kerouac

I was in my dorm room. I turned over to check if my roommate was still awake. But her bed was empty. She must have slept over at her uncle’s place. It felt strange to be all by myself in the room. Sleeping alone was something I had to learn to get used to after I left for college.

I used to always sleep with my grandmother until then. Some people called it unusual, some thought it was cute. To me, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. My grandmother was my home. I don’t really have a home anymore. I don’t know why I ever left.

I didn’t like thinking about leaving home or abandoning my grandparents. So I decided to stare at my bookshelf instead, hoping to find some solace there. I had a set of ten of my favourite books that I carried with me everywhere I went. They were like an extension of my self or vice versa. I have often suspected the latter.

“If you practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.” – Illusions, Richard Bach

It was at the beginning of my high-school years that I had decided to choose to populate my world with fictional people and imaginary friends since reality had been too disappointing. My life has been a mimicry of an ideal fictional world ever since.

An old entry in my diary would say that I took immense pride in my choice, in the fact that though I lacked the teen spirit that Kurt Cobain had once sung of, I wasn’t lacking at all in the spirit of Holden Caulfield, Esther Greenwood, Philip Carey, Jane Eyre, Harry Potter, Howard Roark, Donald Shimoda and many more. I have taught myself never to regret my choices and I do not regret this one. But I do wish I had been less indifferent.

“breaking on legendary beaches: in faith

 we shall board our imagined ship and

 wildly sail

 among sacred islands of the mad till death

 shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.” -Tale of a Tub, Sylvia Path

My Voice

There was something inexplicably magical and esoteric that had led me to the field of visual arts, or so my college essay would like to say. I was supposed to express these worlds inside of me through this beautiful medium. I sounded quite confident saying that my voice would echo through my works, make the audience feel something and mesmerize them. But an year and a half through art college, I’m not so sure anymore. My current self feels kind of burdened by the responsibility of expressing the voice of my past self through art. Do I even have something substantial to say anymore? Maybe its all the sleepless nights weighing me down, making me see my own abilities through this negative filter.

But honestly (and I say this with a pang of guilt), simply making something conventionally pretty that can bring a smile or two on someone’s face seems kind of enough at the moment. I don't really have a voice of my own right now. Did I ever?

Assessment

1. Are there any prominent symbols in the story? If so, what are they and how are they used?

The story does seem to make use of certain prominent symbols. For instance, the itemized list itself seems to be a symbol of his victory over the wits of Nebula and every other hero that tried to go against him, it was more of a mockery rather than an apology. His constant mention and glorification of the Martians seemed to symbolize his belief that his was a different kind of genius which mere earthly mortals were incapable of appreciating.



2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

The whole idea of a secret identity in general. I often wonder about how no matter how close we get to a person, there is always a part of them that remains hidden. Of course, it is never something quite as dramatic. But what if it was?  What if, in those empty spaces of time that usually go unaccounted for in general conversations, one of your close friends was planning world domination? Highly unlikely, but an interesting idea to think about nonetheless.



3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

I would love to see this story adapted to a sort of bizarre and dark psychological tale, wherein this under-appreciated researcher builds an alternative reality in his mind when his ideal relationship with this perfect girl hits a rough patch. It could be a more realistic graphic novel which is kind of ambiguous about the protagonist's perceived reality and actual reality and questions the idea of reality in general.

Influence- Zweig & Anderson

Just a few minutes into the movie, and the influence of Stefan Zweig’s work on it is quite evident. The thing about ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ that intrigues you is the flawlessly aligned frame of each scene. Wes Anderson’s style of storytelling is inspired by the style of Stefan Zweig; from the language used by the narrator to the Author based approach to the story, the similarities are uncanny.

Both, the author and the director have narrated their stories through the eyes of the author. It is made very clear that the story consists of their vision and is whatever they believe to be true. Wes Anderson clearly, got inspired  by the ‘Story within a story’ concept adopted by Zweig wherein there always exists a mystical, almost animated aspect which, in case of the movie, has been used for the purpose of either humour or providing the audience with a variety of visually appealing frames. Even the language used by both the artists holds similarities. The director has interpreted the accent, poise and demeanour of the characters of Zweig’s stories according to how we would imagine them to be after reading his stories and understanding his characters.

While the movie has a more direct and straight forward take on humour, the subtlety of humour in the novellas written by Stefan Zweig is evident. Both the artists seem to have strong control over the course that their respective stories would take and in the process of unfolding them to their audiences, create characters that are familiar but not necessarily relatable. The similarity between their works lies in the way their characters are written. These characters seem to have a life outside of the immediate story too, maybe in the present or in the past. There is no unnecessary emphasis on the background or past of the characters, though a significant amount of general description is provided keeping in mind the importance of it to the story.

Wes Anderson has admittedly borrowed inspiration from the theme and mood of Zweig’s work for his own work; and somewhere along the movie, it is quite clear that the plot has been developed keeping in mind Zweig’s work too, the similarities being the progressive yet sharp storyline, The vague and almost secretive background of the characters, the unpredictability of it all and also, the philosophies endorsed in the movie as confessed by Wes Anderson himself.  I also feel the need to emphasis on the existence of an underlying sense of tragedy in their work. Humour has been provided to take the story forward, but their work, in the rawest form, has a sense of tragedy that has been left for the audiences to interpret according to their own imagination.

Zweig seems to be convinced in the philosophies that he endorses in his stories and Anderson backed them with his movie. While watching the movie and while reading Zweig’s work, the mystical worlds created, enticed me completely. I was charmed by the old fashioned and delicate representation of work that has more depth in fewer words. The intensity of the work is equivalent to the depth that lies in the eyes 

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest- As The Director

‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ had piqued my interest ever since my psychology teacher had once recommended it in class but I never really got around to watching it. Naturally, when I saw its title on the list, I jumped at the chance of getting to read the script. But as my initial excitement about getting to write about directing such a critically acclaimed film faded I realized what an intimidating task I had put myself up to. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience.

I started my reading with a kind of emotional detachment so as to be able to analyze the script properly but I couldn’t help but be involved. And I feel like a script like this requires a degree of emotional involvement. The audience’s emotional involvement is quite important for the film. The director needs to make the audience care about this film and its characters to have an impact.

The film’s plot follows the story of McMurphy, a rebel who gets himself transferred to a mental institution from a prison to live in a less restrictive environment, and his revolt against the authoritarian head nurse, Miss Ratched. McMurphy is a unique protagonist in the sense that he doesn’t really fit the ideal heroic rebel prototype. He is loud, brash, crass and sexual- not the most appealing characteristics in a main character. But as the plot progresses you realize that he is also free-spirited and independent, unwilling to give in to oppression. He is the only one sane enough to understand how the patients are being suppressed by Nurse Ratched. She is more occupied with maintaining order and control rather than looking after the mental welfare of the patients, and he is the only one courageous enough to do something about it. As the director I would lay emphasis on the contrast between McMurphy’s non-conformity and Nurse Ratched’s rigidity and control. The conflict between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched is the focal point of the film. It is what leads to the progression of the plot and the subsequent end.

McMurphy’s character development is one of my favourite aspects of the script.The way he begins to care about his fellow patients and becomes willing to take responsibility for the consequences of the actions he has taken to bring them some joy.  he sees them as individuals and not mere lunatics. It is so subtle yet incredibly touching. I would pay special attention to crafting his character development in a way that it translates well from the script to the screen, since it has the potential to be even more heart-warming on-screen. Visuals can also be used to establish a greater empathetic connection with the audience. 

While reading the script, I was trying to imagine the general look of the film and thinking about how interesting it would be if the film was to be in black and white, when it struck me that it would be quite compelling if the film was in colour but there were not many colours to see inside the mental institution. It would really emphasize the monotony and dullness in the patients’ lives and how they are trapped inside a gray world.

Entrapment is an important theme in the film because the patients at the institution are not only trapped in that environment but they are trapped inside their heads too. I’d make use of mise-en-scene in the set design to establish this theme. Making use of frame within a frame shots would also be helpful to show their isolation and how they are cut off from the real world even when they get to be outside. Hence, these aspects of design combined with the emotional message can be used to get the audience involved and have an impactful effect.