Submit your Article

If there is a movie adaptation of a book on Netflix that I haven’t read, I will put off watching it till I’ve gotten around to reading the book. It’s a crime to watch the movie before you’ve read the book, right? I think it should be. However, I must confess, I watched ‘Bird Box’ before reading Josh Malerman’s debut novel by the same name. I had heard so much about it that I just couldn’t stop myself from hitting play. Also, Sandra Bullock, who portrays the protagonist Malorie, is one of my favorite actors.

Bird Box is a dystopian novel where unseen creatures, whose mere sight drives people crazy enough to kill themselves, are taking over the planet. At the beginning of the story, Malorie is seen leaving the house with two children she calls ‘Boy’ and ‘Girl’ to go on a boat ride up the river in search of the safe place that is presumably somewhere out there. The catch is that they are blindfolded and Malorie and the children have to listen carefully to navigate their way despite not being able to see the danger that lurks around them. The narrative alternates between their journey up the river and Malorie’s flashbacks to events that led them to that point.

This is the first time I watched a movie and then read the related book. It’s also perhaps the only time I have liked the movie adaptation better than the book. Is it because I watched the movie first and Malorie was Sandra Bullock instead of a character in my head? Is it because the tension is palpable in the movie and not so much in the book where things appear rather laid back at times? Or is it because I already knew what was going to happen and waiting for it to unfold page by page was a bit taxing?

The book feels a bit stretched out. Malerman builds up tension, a sense of danger, only to have it fizzle out. And there are quite a few such incidents. Then, you know there are some dangerous creatures out there but you don’t know what they are and you never find out. That curiosity is never quelled. It’s frustrating.

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the book. I had a good time. I was a nervous wreck every time I got a sense that something was about to happen. I was rooting for the other survivors—namely Tom, Olympia, Jules, Cheryl, and Felix—even when I knew they were doomed. It’s just that I think I would have loved the book a whole lot more had I read it before watching the movie. Note to self: Never again.

3 stars
Fiction
Bird Box
Josh Malerman
Published: 2014
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 379, Paperback

There’s a lot of Young Adult fiction out there these days. I’m a bit jealous of those who are able to grow up reading these uplifting, important stories that help you understand yourself and the world around you. I wish the stories that are being written today were there when I was growing up. Armed with the wisdom, might I have made fewer mistakes, been a less difficult daughter, and had as much sense at 25 as I think I have now, a decade later? I’d like to believe so.

 The YA books that I’ve been reading in recent times have made me slightly more compassionate and tolerant of people and ideas that don’t necessarily support my stand on things. They might have hit differently and I might have gotten far more out of them had I read them earlier, as a teen or in my 20s. When I was growing up, I was reading mostly for entertainment and stories largely served that purpose too. Not that there is anything wrong with that. But the books that are being written now, with the added value of insight and the experiences of the characters, are so vast and varied.

‘Simon vs. The Home Sapiens Agenda’ is a much-talked about book. Many adult book clubs have chosen to read and discuss this YA novel and almost every booktuber I follow on YouTube has raved about it. Becky Albertalli’s debut novel tells the story of 16-year-old Simon Spier who is gay but hasn’t come out. The only person who knows the truth is a boy named Blue, another closet gay teen. The two meet through Tumblr and they communicate via emails. Both have no idea who the other person is.

Then one day, a boy named Martin reads Simon’s emails to Blue on the school computer after Simon forgets to sign out of his email account. Martin now knows his secret and he wants Simon to help him date Abby, the new girl in school. If he doesn’t figure out how to do that, then Martin is going to tell the entire school that Simon is gay.

What follows is a part-hilarious, part-moving story about the angst of growing up and learning to accept yourself for who you are. It’s also a tender and poignant tale of friendship and love. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only reason I gave it three stars is because I’m quite stingy with my four and five stars and reserve those for books that blow my mind and have me blabbering about them all wide-eyed. Simon vs. The Home Sapiens Agenda might not have had that effect but it was still a great read.

3 stars
Fiction
Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda
Becky Albertalli
Published: 2015
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 303, Paperbac

A group of strangers is traveling in the same vehicle through a dense forest at night. Everything is going fine in the journey when suddenly something appears in the middle of the road and unable to swerve away, the driver crashes the vehicle. The group is thus stranded in the middle of nowhere, unable to get help. On the top of that, the place they’re in seems to be haunted or has that creepy, eerie aura to it. Then they start getting killed one after another.

A rather clichéd plot for a horror movie, repeated multiple times over the years, right? Well, that’s what the freshly released “A Classic Horror Story” on Netflix wants to tell you. The Italian horror film, for which altogether four different writers take credit, at first feels like it’s a serious spoof of some iconic horror movies. But when you learn these allusions to classic horror movies are deliberate, you know “A Classic Horror Story” is not your run-of-the-mill horror flick.

Roberto De Feo and Paolo Strippoli direct this modern production that is intentionally styled after many classic horror movies. Five strangers—Elisa (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz), Fabrizio (Francesco Russo), Riccardo (Peppino Mazzotta), Mark (Will Merrick), and Sofia (Yuliia Sobol)—find themselves in a lurch when the RV they are taking crashes in the middle of the road somewhere in southern Italy. Everyone survives, but they find themselves on a clearing in a dense forest which seems to be inhabited by a cult that worships something sinister and performs human sacrifices.

Narrating the movie’s story without giving out spoilers is almost impossible. The film starts as a typical horror show but by the time you reach the second half, it tells you it is definitely not so. It then twists and turns so much that you get bewildered by the quick changes. It is a strange amalgamation of some iconic horror movies, and infused with some modern motifs to create a stylistically driven horror film that is a visual treat.

The film’s technical aspects, although the movie is seemingly under-budget compared to most Hollywood productions, are well-covered and become its highlights. More than the storytelling itself. The overall schematics, including the terrific cinematography, lighting, color grading, and background music, make this an enjoyable watch because of the visual and aural vibes it gives.

But the efforts put in by the actors as well as the production crew are somewhat discredited by the four writers of the film. Maybe a classic case of ‘too many cooks.’ Trying to cut too many corners in the film gives it a ‘wrong turn’, from where it never comes back. The direction also cannot save the film from going haywire.

To make matters worse, there are very few scary moments in the whole film. The makers have taken inspiration from classic horror movies but seem to have forgotten to emulate their shock factors. Even the ‘slasher film’ type of sequences lack the brutality and without much ingenuity, the film starts to bore by the time it reaches the second half. The makers keep the film short at 1hr 35mins and this is probably one of the wisest decisions they’ve made in making this film.

Who should watch it?

For those less acquainted with the niche world of hard-core horror films and those who prefer far less blood and gore than typical slasher flicks, A Classic Horror Story will not disappoint. It has all the elements to make for an interesting horror film, just not enough for someone whose toddler watches scary scenes from “Annabelle” and “The Nun” more than nursery rhymes.

Rating: 2.5 stars
Genre: Horror, thriller
Director: Roberto De Feo, Paolo Strippoli
Actors: Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Francesco Russo, Peppino Mazzotta, Yuliia Sobol
Run time: 1hr 35mins

Simply put, Yaa Gyasi is a genius. Her books, and there are two, brim with an unparalleled understanding of the human mind and condition. You don’t just read her stories—you feel and live them. Gyasi, whose debut novel ‘Homegoing’ was published in 2016, has a subdued writing style that makes every word seem important. In 2017, Gyasi was selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young American Novelists and in 2019 BBC selected her debut as one of the 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.

‘Transcendent Kingdom’, Gyasi’s second work of fiction, was probably the most awaited book of 2020. The internet was abuzz with anticipation for another masterpiece from a brilliant writer who was only getting started. And she didn’t disappoint. The book is an excellent meditation on life and how we are sometimes consumed by our losses. But it also celebrates the resilience of human spirit and the way we don’t stop trying to rebuild our lives.

The novel’s protagonist is Gifty, a PhD candidate at Stanford University, who is running an experiment on mice to study the neural circuits of reward-seeking behavior. The mice are addicted to a sugary energy drink and caged in a behavioral testing chamber fitted with a lever that administers either the drink or an electric shock. With the help of optogenetics, Gifty is trying to identify which neurons are firing whenever the mice press the lever. She is interested in those mice that can’t stop pushing the lever, even after being shocked dozens of times.

The experiments are Gifty’s way of trying to figure out why humans do what they do. The driving force behind the study is her need to understand why her brother Nana couldn’t get over his drug addiction and make sense of his death due to overdose. Gifty hopes her work will someday lead to an effective diagnosis and treatment of addiction. Then, her mother comes to live with her after suffering from a relapse of the severe depression she had after Nana died and Gifty’s carefully crafted world crumbles. She is forced to confront some traumatic memories as she takes care of her mother.

I have always loved narratives that explore parent-children relationships. They help me make sense of the complex ways in which we are often forced to navigate it. Stories like that make me realize that you don’t always have to understand your parents and that love is still possible without it. In that way, Transcendent Kingdom really hits home and leaves you with a bittersweet feeling. It’s sad, it’s contemplative, and, above all, Gyasi’s power-packed prose haunts you for days after you finish the book. 

Four stars
Fiction
Transcendent Kingdom
Yaa Gyasi
Published: 2020
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 264, Paperback