Poetry Session on May 11, 2012

 Gopa

Long dead poets, recently deceased poets, and living poets inspired our readers' selections. The poets spanned the globe: India – 2, UK – 3, USA – 2, and Russia – 1.

 Talitha

For the first time there was a clash of the poets chosen by two readers, which indicates we need to pre-announce the choice. Perhaps, this will extend to the readings chosen within a novel too. Joe will work on a method to do that coordination online.

 Mathew, Sunil, Gopa

Our loyal reader, Thommo, is on a tour of India in a Tata Nano (the world's best car for the buck). We are all following his progress. Currently he is in Gangtok, driving on his way to the lovely Seven Sister states in the North-East.  Check out: http://manoetnano.com/

Priya

Since this is the two-hundredth year of Robert Browning's birth, the readers decided to celebrate it with an exclusive session that will feature Robert Browning, on Sep 14. At the top right of this page are the future programmes.

 Kavita, Priya, Talitha, KumKum, Gopa, Mathew, Sunil, Joe

Read on for a Ghalib exercise after scanning the full account below ...

The Stranger by Albert Camus ― Apr 13, 2012

The reputation of Albert Camus has never been higher. He was the novelist who captured the post-war sense of European civilisation in tatters. In his 1957 Nobel speech he said: "For more than twenty years of an insane history, hopelessly lost like all the men of my generation in the convulsions of time, I have been supported by one thing: by the hidden feeling that to write today was an honour."

Zakia reads about the trial

Camus' thought evolved with his writings and experience. When this novel is read with his later philosophical essay The Myth of Sisyphus, we see a vision emerging of how Camus surmounted the nihilism pervasive in much of European thought at the time – which gave rise to various streams of existentialism. But Camus' stance is unique as man of action, writer engagé, and novelist.

Thommo left early to test drive his Tata Nano

Is Meursault a 'queer fellow' as his girl-friend Marie suggests, or is he the normal male who enjoys the simple pleasures of life, and seeks to avoid the kind of  involvement with others that would abridge his own freedom? The irony is he gets caught up in a fracas, though he had no dog in the fight (as Texans say); and ends by losing his freedom totally!

Talitha, Priya, and KumKum at the Camus reading

Be surprised by who else read this novel lately:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/16/opinion/16dowd.html

Here are the readers at the end:

 

Talitha, Zakia, Priya, KumKum, Bobby, & Joe

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Poetry Session on Mar 16, 2012

The session was unique in that men outnumbered women 3:1 at the start. The poetry of of the Mithila poet, Vidyapati, figured, and also the poetry of the earliest Indian English poet, Derozio.

 Priya

We had a guest from America, Thomas Duddy, who has spent the past ten years coming annually to reside in Fort Kochi for extended periods. He is a retired professor of English literature who has taught in many colleges, and knew poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Denise Levertov.

 KumKum and Thomas Duddy

The recitation ranged from the sophisticated cynicism of Andrew Marvell, to the abstract symbolism of Lawrence Durrell, who is better known as a novelist. 

   Sunil, Arundhati, and Sivaram

One poet was repeated for the third time: Angelou – testament to her popularity. Here are the readers at the end of the session in the Library of the Cochin Yacht Club. The late joining of Arundhati Nayar reduced the majority of men from 3:1 to 2:1 ! We are still waiting for Verghese Samuel to join the poetry sessions.

  Thommo, Priya, Tom, KumKum Sivaram, Arundhati, Mathew, Sunil, and Joe

Click below to read a full account of the session ...

Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne ― Feb 10, 2012

  Martin Rowson's graphic version of Tristram Shandy

Sterne's novel has caused trouble enough in the past to readers; KRG won't be the last group tormented by the fanciful prose and the meandering narrative of this famous book. If the fault be Sterne's wayward tendency to stray wide and far from the narrative, listen to his defence: “Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine;—they are the life, the soul of reading!”

Talitha reads about the right use and application of auxiliary verbs, according to Walter Shandy

KumKum's whingeing made Joe expect 'storm and rage' at the reading … but the surprise was the immense mirth that took hold once the readings started. Each reader tried to bring out the sense of fun and mild bawdiness which pervades much of the book.

KumKum swears she'll never again allow Joe to select a novel alone

'God' occurs 106 times and you might think it a treatise on religion. Indeed, Sterne subjects religion to satire, and brings the learning of an ordained minister to bear on the Inquisition, the rites of excommunication, circumcision, papists, hypocrisy, and other religious subjects. But his purpose is ungodly.

 Sunil reads Sterne's dictum that an ounce of a man's own wit is worth a ton of other people's

Perverse as Sterne might have been in his idea of a novel, there is no sign of fatigue on the faces of the group below ― only the sense of having had a good time!

Sterne's humour and satire prevailed over his troublesome digressions - 

Priya Talitha, Zakia, Thommo, Gopa, KumKum, Sunil, Joe

You may read a full account by clicking here ...

Poetry Session on Jan 17, 2012

Nine readers participated in a rousing session of poetry that included the poetry of the Sufi poet and mystic, Hafiz, from Iran, and songs by the popular Hindi film script-writer and lyricist, Gulzar.

  Zakia, KumKum, Marianne, Priya, Sunil, Thommo, Mathew, Bobby (back)

We had a guest from Sweden, Marianne Hård, whose interest stemmed from the fact she is a member of an all-women's reading group running for ten years in her home town of Holmön. They read fiction, meeting by rotation in their homes, and having supper after the event. There are ten members, and being all women, they naturally discuss other things besides literature.

 Marianne Hård, travel operator from Sweden, & author of book on Kerala tourism

The recitation ranged from the comic verse of Lewis Carroll to the religious poetry of George Herbert. Talitha even recited a couple of her own poems, which she hopes to publish in a collection. May she succeed!

Three poets were repeated: Larkin, Seth, and Angelou – testament to their popularity. Here are the readers at the end of the session in the Library of the Cochin Yacht Club. We thank the Club for its continuing courtesy in offering a congenial space to hold our sessions!

 Zakia, Marianne, KumKum, Talitha, Thommo, Priya, Bobby, Joe, Mathew, Sunil

Read the full account below.