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Some books make me want to grab every person I meet and say, “Read this.” Books that have me wishing I could do a mental rewind just to be able to read them again for the first time. “The Rosie Project” by Australian novelist Graeme Simsion is one I want to hold, stroke, and hug. The main character has a piece of my heart. 

The Rosie Project is narrated by a 39-year-old genetics professor, Don Tillman, who doesn’t quite get social norms and has his own unique understanding of the world and how it works. He reminded me of Adrian Monk, the chief protagonist of the American comedy-drama detective series ‘Monk’, whom I was absolutely smitten by during my college years.

In Monk, Tony Shalhoub plays the role of a former cop who has obsessive compulsive disorder and struggles with day-to-day activities. But he’s a genius when it comes to solving crimes. I had the hugest crush on him for years. I watched all eight seasons on television and then watched it all again on DVD after the show ended in 2009. Tillman reminds me of Monk and I have, in my mid-30s, a newfound crush.

Tillman may or may not have Asperger’s Syndrome. It’s never explicitly stated but there are many, many hints that he might suffer from autism. He abhors physical contact, has a detailed meal plan that he sticks to week in, week out, and doesn’t seem to react to emotions in the conventional way. After several failed attempts at finding a ‘compatible’ woman, he decides to turn to science for a solution. He devises a questionnaire (which is 16 double-sided pages) to hand out to women to test their suitability. This is what he calls the Wife Project.

But along comes Rosie Jarman, who is evidently the world’s most incompatible woman for Tillman. She’s disorganized, irrational, and tends to do things spontaneously. And she’s often late and a vegetarian. It’s all really blasphemous in Tillman’s world. But then as he embarks on the Father Project, helping Rosie track down her real father, he finds himself feeling differently about the one woman he should logically be staying away from.

Simsion, in his debut novel published in 2013, has created a charming, lovable character whose quirky ways make you both smile and shake your head in frustration. As you get inside the heart and mind of an odd character, you realize that people, however they appear to be, aren’t fundamentally all that different.

The novel apparently did get some serious flak for not being well researched with some representation aspects even being problematic. But there’s no denying that The Rosie Project is a laugh riot of a novel that sheds light on an important issue: autism. It deserves credit for managing such tricky feats together and not letting one diminish the power of the other.

Fiction

The Rosie Project

Graeme Simsion

Published: 2013

Publisher: Penguin Books

Language: English

Pages: 330, Paperback

One thing leads to another, they say. And this time, it happened to me over Netflix. After watching the mysterious mini-series “Behind Her Eyes” last week, I decided to rummage for more Netflix series. A quick search for what’s new on the OTT platform brought me to “Capitani”, a crime drama series from Luxembourg.

Yes, you read that right. Luxembourg! Released February 2021 on Netflix, “Capitani”— which originally premiered in Luxembourg’s national television in 2019—is apparently first Luxembourg’s first crime series as well as the country’s first Netflix series. Also, obviously, the first ever Luxembourgish movie or cinema for me, which, I am sure, will be the same for most of ApEx’s Nepali audiences.

Police inspector Luc Capitani (Luc Schiltz) is called in from the country’s south to investigate the possible murder of a 15-year-old Jenny Engel whose body is found in a forest near the northern village of Mënscht. The arrival of an unfamiliar inspector stirs things up in the close-knit village where everyone knows everyone. In the otherwise peaceful rural setting without a history of violent crimes, the only police force available for Capitani’s backup are two officers, one of whom is Elsa Ley (Sophie Mousel), and who plays a key role in supporting his investigation. 

For Capitani, what initially looks like an open-and-shut case turns out to be a labyrinth of interconnected mysteries that point at multiple directions. As unwelcome as he is made to feel by the villagers, his key witness—Jenny’s twin Tanya (Jil Devresse)—refuses to cooperate. Also, the twins’ mother, Nadine Kinsch (Claude de Demo), goes through another tragic bereavement while her estranged husband Mick Engel (Jules Werner) makes his way back into her life, and right in the middle of the investigation, further complicating things.

As if the complications were not enough for our sleuth Capitani, he meets Carla Pereira (Brigitte Urhausen)—an old lover and a drugs trafficker who he has had a mysterious past with—living in the village under the alias of Sofia Santos. He tries to solve the case despite all the hindrances while attempting to resolve his issues with Carla. Meanwhile, Capitani is himself being investigated by the Internal Affairs office for his possible involvement in the murder of a gangster 15 years ago.

When I use the phrase “labyrinth of mysteries” to describe what Capitani is going through in “Capitani”, I do not overstate. Right from the opening shot, the writers of the series— Thierry Faber, Eric Lamhène, Christophe Wagner (who is also the director)—weave an intricate web of suspense and secrets which unfolds till the very end. The unexpected climax also justifies the build-up and sets up the premise for season 2, while satisfyingly concluding the first season.

Consistency in the story, screenplay and direction are the keys to Capitani’s successful breakout into the global platform. The series has no indications of belonging to a relatively new film industry and there’s no sign of inexperience in the 12-episode series. The whole production works as a package to deliver an entertainer that could easily compete with some of the most popular new Netflix releases.

Who should watch it?

“Capitani” is not only an entertaining thriller but also an educational one as it provides a rare glimpse into the people and society of the exotic Luxembourg. For example, it took me the whole first episode to realize that the Luxembourgish language also has a major influence of German and French. (Maybe Belgian, too, but I wouldn’t recognize that.)

Also, watching this series you realize what living in a “full democracy” is like. The policing there seems to be entirely different from Nepal, India or even the US, which we are used to seeing on screen. The landlocked country 57 times smaller than ours has belted out one of the best international series of contemporary times and any movie/series fan will definitely enjoy “Capitani.”

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Crime, thriller

Run time: 5hrs 30mins (approx.)

Actors: Luc Schiltz, Jil Devresse, Claude de Demo

Director: Christophe Wagner

I love children’s or young adult (YA) books for how they make you feel. They are hopeful. They are inspiring. They make you feel heard. They help you calm your chaotic mind by making you focus on a story. And, best of all, you can finish it in a day or less and feel really, really accomplished.

So, often, I browse through the children’s section at bookstores to discover new books and authors. I also stalk friends and relatives who have children, on Instagram and Facebook, to find out what books their little ones are reading. ‘Gangsta Granny’ by David Walliams, ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ by Madeleine L’Engle and ‘The Poet X’ by Elizabeth Acevedo are some children/YA books I read recently. I loved all three. But the one I want to reread and recommend is The Poet X.

The book is about a 15-year-old girl named Xiomara and how disconnected she feels from her family. Her mother is a devout Catholic and wants Xiomara to follow suit. But Xiomara is a tough young girl with a mind of her own. She isn’t going to do anything unless she wants to. She also has a tendency to get into fights. With a lot of emotions bottled up, she tries to work her way through her issues by writing poems—that she keeps hidden in a notebook under her bed. Ultimately, a slam poetry club forces her into sharing her poems and thus revealing her secrets.

Acevedo has written The Poet X in the form of a collection of poems and each poem is a little self-contained story in itself. I’ve marked the bits I’ve loved and rereading them has been a joy. The poems, in their entirety, give you an insight into the mind of a young girl who is trying to find her voice and is unable to conform, even when the stakes are high.

Xiomara is a fascinating character and it often feels like she has somehow managed to get inside your head and is saying the things you have always wanted to say. The other characters—her twin brother who Xiomara refers to as ‘Twin’, her best friend, Caridad, and her English teacher, Ms Galiono—are also fun people to get to know. These characters show you a different side of life, a different way of being. You wish you had someone like them in your life too, to balance out your quirks a bit.

Overall, The Poet X has a lovely message to convey about the importance of staying true to yourself and pursuing your passion against all odds. It’s also about love, change and adapting to that change. Acevedo, through Xiomara, shows you there’s beauty in holding on to your dreams even when there are hundreds of things pulling you in different directions.  

Fiction

The Poet X

Elizabeth Acevedo

Published: 2018

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Language: English

Pages: 361, Paperback

For me this week has been full of regrets. First, I sold the currently circuit-breaking scrip in the share market for much less than what I could have gotten. Then I realized I had forgotten to the buy the subscription of Amazon Prime Video for the release of the highly anticipated “Drishyam 2: The Resumption”. By the time I got around the complicated hassle of subscribing, most of my social media mutuals had already posted rave reviews about the Malayalam-language thriller, and some inconsiderate ones had given out spoilers as well. Watching the movie won’t be the same now. With so many interesting releases lined up in the near future on Prime Video, I should probably switch between it and Netflix for my reviews too.

So, coming back to my week, in an almost distraught mood, I decided to invest my time on a recently released series on Netflix; mini-series to be fair and a thriller, so worth the risk. To my satisfaction, “Behind Her Eyes” turned out exactly what I’d expected it to be—a gripping suspense thriller that would keep me hooked throughout. The Erik Richter Strand-directed psychological thriller, which also has its fair share of the supernatural, is based on Sarah Pinborough’s 2017 novel of the same name.

Louise (Simona Brown), a single mother in London who works part time as a secretary at a psychiatric clinic, one night accidentally spills her drink on a man at a bar. That fateful encounter with David (Tom Bateman)—a psychiatrist who has just moved to London and is to become her boss at work—becomes a turning point in her otherwise normal life. Then she has another accidental encounter with David’s wife Adele (Eve Hewson) on the streets. They immediately hit it off as friends. The trio then gets entangled in a complicated relationship with each other. Louise starts an affair with David while she is also best friends with Adele. In all this, the dark sides of the mysterious couple start showing up and Louise is thrown into a storm of suspense, mystery and misery.

Each of the six episodes of Behind Her Eyes, ranging between 47-53 minutes, are so intriguingly suspenseful that the series-length seems inadequate. The filmmakers execute this British web series using single-camera setup and mostly indoor shooting. Not very fancy in terms of production, location and set-design, the film’s highlights are its story and the adapted screenplay, besides the acting of course. Packed in are so much drama, suspense and mind-boggling revelations, and without the need of theatrical antics and grandiosity. There’s some VFX, which is of course necessary for storytelling, and nothing more on the technological side. 

On the acting front, the lead trio of Brown, Bateman and Houston complement each other as they share screen-time. The dynamics between their characters demand the actors emote love and passion, which all lead actors do perfectly. Even in parts where the negative sides of their characters need to be projected, the actors manage to have the audience empathizing with their situations. Hewson’s Adele is the most mysterious character in the series. As a traumatized former patient of a mental institution, the layers on Adele’s characters are abundant. Her mood flips every other scene and her eyes terrify their intended target. Hewson does an excellent job of portraying the various personalities of Adele in the film.

Who should watch it?

Behind Her Eyes is an excellent specimen of how a series can be short and be perfectly confined in a season. This series does not leave behind unclosed storylines, forcing the audience to bear with the suspense till the next season. It completes what it starts—unless somebody writes a spin off if it—and this is why Behind Her Eyes is recommended to all those who want to cross over to a series from cinema. Think of this as one lengthy film and you will definitely enjoy it.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Triller, drama, mystery

Actors: Tom Bateman, Eve Hewson, Simona Brown

Director: Erik Richter Strand

Run time: 4hrs 30mins (approx.)