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Nineteen-year-old Sadie’s life hasn’t been easy. Raised by a mum who is at best indifferent, she realizes early on that she is going to have to get by on her own. She is fiercely protective of her little sister, Mattie, and tries her best to take care of her after their mother, Claire, runs away. Then Mattie is found dead. The police investigate but nothing conclusive comes out of it. Sadie knows who murdered Mattie and she is determined to bring the killer to justice.

Sadie buys a cheap car that’s quite literally falling apart and, with only a few meager clues to follow up on, hits the road. Along the way she meets many characters who take the story down different interesting paths. There’s a cranky waitress at a diner, a young woman on the run whom Sadie picks up as hitchhiker, and some high school kids whose lives are on the opposite spectrum of Sadie’s.

The basic premise is simple and straightforward but ‘Sadie’ by Courtney Summers is essentially a dark, heartbreaking YA novel about the price children end up paying when their parents make bad decisions. As Sadie searches for her sisters’ killer, you see how her entire life has always revolved around being there for Mattie, filling a place where their mother should have been. In fact, ‘Sadie’, I believe, shouldn’t really be slotted as YA. It will appeal to adults as well and make us value the things we have, so far, taken for granted. The beauty of ‘Sadie’ is that at no point does it just feel like a thriller novel. There’s a social drama element to it that makes it relatable and real.

The book alternates between chapters from Sadie’s perspective as she tries to track down a man who seems to have many identities and a true crime radio show transcript run by West McCray. He is trying to find Sadie by following whatever information May Beth Foster, Sadie’s surrogate grandmother, and the police are able to provide him.

The narrative is compelling and Summers is great at building anticipation and making you work your grey cells to try and figure out what might have happened. I remember reading somewhere that Summers, who has many other fantastic books to her credit, doesn’t believe in neat, happy endings. But what happened in the end in this book blew me away. I can’t get the story out of my head—and I have already read two other books and some short stories after completing ‘Sadie’. It still haunts me. And I think it will for a long, long time.

What makes the book so good?

The format in which it is written, alternating between the protagonist’s perspective and a radio show transcript.

Courtney Summer’s restrained and sparse writing that makes for a gripping narrative.

Interesting characters that Sadie meets along the way that don’t let the story take on a one-track mundane tone. You enjoy getting to know these fascinating, at times weird and disturbed people.

Rating: 3.5
Fiction
Sadie
Courtney Summers
Published: 2018
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 322, Paperback

The blurb of the Granta 2020 paperback edition of ‘Strange Weather in Tokyo’ by Hiromi Kawakami reads: “One night when she is drinking alone in a local bar, Tsukiko finds herself sitting next to her former high school teacher. Over the coming months they share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass—from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms—Tsukiko and her teacher develop a hesitant intimacy that tilts awkwardly and poignantly towards love.”

I must confess I didn’t like how it sounded but I bought it nonetheless. I have been trying to be open to all kinds of stories, especially ones that make me uncomfortable. I’ve read and loved some writers whose works I wouldn’t have across had I only stuck to authors I knew and preferred. Japanese author Yogo Ogawa’s collection of short stories, ‘Revenge, was something I picked up to deviate from my usual reading choices. That book is now one of my absolute favorites.

So, I’m also trying to read more Asian authors and translated works of fiction, hoping to find others like Ogawa who can shake up my reading life. Also, if I can’t travel, then the next best thing I can do is read about people and places that are unknown to me.

Strange Weather in Tokyo is basically a love story, tinged with melancholy. Tsukiko, 37, meets her old high school Japanese teacher, 30 years her senior, whom she refers to only as ‘Sensei’, at a bar. From there on, the two come together, on and off, because of their shared love for sake, beer and traditional Japanese dishes. They have terse, awkward conversations but find they connect on an emotional level. However, neither knows how to describe or express what they are feeling. That leads to a series of bizarre dates, with Tsukiko and Sensei both trying to figure out how best to navigate the situation they are in.

The book is divided into short chapters, each of which could have been a short story in itself. Also, it’s character driven rather than story or narrative driven. Kawakami’s characters are charming, albeit a bit weird, and thus memorable. There are also mentions of many kinds of food, their descriptions so vivid it feels like an elaborate set up is right in front of you. The story is slow but the writing, which is crisp and clean, makes it worthwhile. You know much of what there is to know about the characters and how they think despite the book being so slim. The best part of Strange Weather in Tokyo is that it’s a different story convincingly told.

About the author

Born in 1958 in Tokyo, Hiromi Kawakami is one of Japan’s most popular contemporary novelists. She is famous for her offbeat literary fiction. Strange Weather in Tokyo won the Tanizaki Prize and was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Man Asian Literary Prize. Her other works include The Nakano Thrift Shop, The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino, and People From My Neighborhood.

Fiction
Rating: Three
Strange Weather in Tokyo
Hiromi Kawakami
Translated by Allison Markin Powell
Published: 2013
Publisher: Granta Publications
Pages: 217, Paperback

A.R. Rahman, the legendary musician from India who has also made a name for himself in the global music arena, had apparently penned the script for “99 Songs” back in 2011. The film was announced in 2013 under a different banner, when Rahman decided that he would produce the film under his own YM Movies. So after almost a decade since its inception, the film finally launched on Netflix in April under Rahman’s production. 

“99 Songs”, a dream project of Rahman, and also his debut work as a film-writer and producer, is supposedly a love saga. Of course, it was always going to be a musical with Rahman composing the music. Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy directs the Hindi-language movie which has also been dubbed in Tamil and Telugu. 

It is kind of complicated to explain the film’s story in so many words because with Rahman’s imaginations coming into play, the storyline becomes a mix of simple yet complicated plots. Jay (Ehan Bhat), a college student and an aspiring musician, is in love with his college mate Sophie (Edilsy Vargas), a budding fashion designer/visual artist. 

When Sophie’s music mogul father Sanjay Singhania (Ranjit Barod) hears about their affair, he approaches Jay with a condition he has to fulfil before he can marry Sophie. Sanjay is developing an AI streaming service for which he needs 100 songs and Jay is to compose all those songs before he can marry Sophie. 

Jay agrees and as his friend and bandmate Polo (Tenzin Dalha) suggests, he heads out to Shillong because “it is the best place in the world to make music.” In Shillong, Jay starts off well with writing new music but quickly loses inspiration. So Polo gets him a job as a pianist at the local jazz bar where Jay meets the mysterious singer Sheela (Lisa Ray) who later becomes his mentor and close friend. Then disaster strikes and things take a bad turn for our protagonists and their aides. 

In all honesty, 99 Songs feels like it draws a lot of influence from past Bollywood films, as if Rahman did a school project on Bollywood films as he watched them by the dozens. The film itself starts like a Karan Johar production and in the latter half becomes something Sanjay Leela Bhansali would make. You’ll have to watch the movie to understand the connection. 

Also, the widely publicized news about the makers auditioning more than 1,000 people for lead roles seems fake news. Acting is much below par, with lead actors Ehan Bhat and Edilsy Vargas desperately failing to display the passion their characters demand. Their dialogue delivery feels like they are acting in a high-school play staged by science students who’d rather go back to studying than give extra effort to their performance. The north-east Indian characters in the film, including Tenzin Dalha as Polo, are the only cast who look natural. Everyone else is either trying too hard or not bothered at all. 

Now comes the most disappointing part of the movie. For a film written, produced (Rahman), directed (Krishnamoorthy) and also acted (Barod/Rahul Ram) by musicians, the music of 99 Songs is painfully underwhelming. Rahman does try to assimilate all his musical influences into this musical production, but not a single soundtrack stands out. The genres of music vary from Indian classical to modern pop and rap but nothing sounds even a fraction like the musical benchmark Rockstar (2011), where Rahman gave some of the most memorable music ever created in Bollywood. Had it not been for the film’s excellent cinematography and editing, the 2hr 8mins long film would have been totally unwatchable. 

Who should watch it?

A word of caution: maybe my high expectations from a Rahman musical were too high. As mentioned, the cinematography is beautiful. And a plus of us Nepalis is, our own Manisha Koirala is in the film as a psychologist, although her role could have been given to any real-life medico and nobody would have noted a difference. Still, there are a few moments in this highly layered film that can be entertaining for some, especially Rahman fans.  

Rating: 2 stars
Genre: Musical, romance
Actors: Ehan Bhat, Edilsy Vargas, Tenzin Dalha
Director: Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy
Run time: 2hr 8mins

Ghalib (Suvinder Vicky), an aging trucker struggling with chronic back-pain, leads a lonely life divided between driving long hours and resting at his small Delhi apartment. His wife of two years has recently died by suicide and he still struggles to come up with a valid reason. They had disagreements and had stopped talking at the time she died, but he had never expected her to take the drastic step. 

A dedicated workman who is looked up to by his colleagues and adored by his employers, Ghalib’s struggle with mental peace and his aching back make him slightly slack off work, something he had not done before. Living a life between milestones in the highways, Ghalib also finds that he has done  500,000 km on the road, the first person in the transport company to do so. 

At the same time, Ghalib realizes his precarious position. On the one hand, his village panchayat back in his hometown in Punjab has decided that he will pay a lump sum in compensation to his wife’s family, which could mean giving up his life’s savings. On the other hand, he is intimidated by the presence of a young intern Pash (Lakshvir Saran), who he fears might replace him. Ghalib has traveled for thousands of miles in his line of work, but when it comes to his own life, he does not know where to go. 

The uncertainties and fears in Ghalib’s life make the story of the Hindi-Punjabi language film “Milestone” (originally, “Meel Patthar”). Co-written and directed by Ivan Ayr, this arthouse cinema first premiered at  the 77th Venice International Film Festival in September 2020 and was screened in various other film festivals around the world before being released on Netflix in May 2021. 

Milestone is a multi-layered film that not only explores the human psyche but also exposes the inequalities in the society and the dynamics between employers and employees, the haves and the haves-not. To an employer, a worker is only good till they can give their best. One sign of weakness and the employer does not hesitate to think of firing even the best employee. The employee for his part is ready to be fired, ready to be replaced by someone younger. This is Ghalib’s situation even as he battles doom and despair in his life. The company that he gave his youth to and sacrificed many sleepless nights for might replace him with someone younger.

The film uses multiple long shots and a bluish color scheme to make the audience internalize the poignancy in the lives of Ghalib and other minor characters attached to him. Every character in every situation in the film feels like a metaphor, something open for the audience to interpret. And the actors, almost all unknown faces with little information about them on the internet, add authenticity to the realistic storytelling. 

Ghalib is riddled with conflicts and so are other characters. But the film does not take it upon itself to resolve them. Milestone makes the audience travel into people’s lives and then leaves them to find their own way. The film progresses at a slow, sluggish pace, giving the audience enough time for self-realization. Like Ghalib’s life, the film goes nowhere. It’s a journey into a world full of metaphors and self-realization. 

Who should watch it?

Ghalib is a close representation of art-films. So naturally the film might not entertain all those used to watching the more conventional kind. The pace is slow and the runtime of 1hr 38mins might feel excruciatingly long if you fail to connect with its theme. But if you do, Milestone is a journey worth taking.