I am finally back to blogging!! Or so I am hoping.
I have been wanting to write reviews of the books that I have been reading recently and my first post would be of the book "We are all made of Glue". I mean .... just look at the title!! If this title doesn't attract anybody to pick up the book then I don't know what else will :)
This was the first book I read this year. I love exploring old book stores, second hand book stores and the likes, more than I like the big bad book stores in the malls (I love them too....slightly less I guess). So in the month of December of 2019, when going out was still prevalent and life was normal, I had made a trip to Jehangir Gallery in Mumbai and if you have been to the area you might have seen that if you walk towards Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus from the gallery, there are quite a few small stalls and small shops selling new and second hand books near the Hutatma Chowk. I simply love those quaint little shops and road side stalls. You cannot guess what you might find there! You might just stumble upon a rare book or just a generic one. They sell academic related books, art catalogues, magazines, novels and everything that one can find. And in one such shop I brought this book. This book was published by Readers Digest which are called Readers Digest Condensed Books or Select Editions where they put four different novels in a single book. I have quite a few of those readers digest collectible books and I was thrilled to find this one. This book had John Grisham's The Associate, Nicci French's What to do when Someone Dies, Death or Glory by Michael Asher and the last one was We are all made of Glue by Marina Lewycka.
And to be honest, I had never heard the author's name nor the name of the book. But this title itself was so intriguing that I had to read this one first. Marina Lewycka is a British author of Ukrainian origin and a quick Google search led me to her many other books which I am planning to read in the near future. This book has many characters but the main stars are Georgina Sinclair and her elderly neighbour, Mrs. Shapiro and I must add her cats too ;). It is set somewhere in the late 1980s or early 1990s I think as one can see the usage of computers and the likes. Also the kind of relationship the neighbours had back then cannot be found in this date and age, especially in the Metros. The novel begins with Georgina being dumped by her husband RIP, and her struggle trying to find a balance with her work, her 'End of World' obsessed son and her strange, dirty and mysterious neighbour, Mrs.Shapiro. She is a wannabe novelist writing articles for an adhesive company where she is writing articles and articles about glue, epoxy resin, etc.
There are too many things happening in the novel and at the same time it feels like things are moving very slowly and one is in a different era. The story makes one quite uneasy as its a comedy novel but at the same time it revolves around the theme of old age, neglect, ugliness, separation, dilapidation, holocaust, racism, etc. Its not easy to read, let alone write a novel where the basic tone is comedy and humour and yet the author plunges into the darker themes of holocaust and other themes and mixes them so well that it was difficult for me to comprehend the talent that Lewycka has. It is a very simple book that has layers and layers to it like an onion, and every time you peel one layer, another layer comes up which looks more interesting than the other one. It is engaging and intriguing and makes you laugh at an unexpected moment. The subtle nuances, the backdrop of holocaust, the betrayal, the tragedies of old age and abandonment are weaved so beautifully along with the small incidents and accidents that will make you laugh at an unexpected moment in this novel and I simply couldn't put the book down till I finished it.
I do hope that I write more frequently now. Do come back and check my blog in a few days or weeks for another article.
