BOOK REVIEW by Sumati Mattoo

BOOK: INVASION


AUTHOR: ROBIN COOK

YEAR OF PUBLICATION:

GENRE: SCIENCE FICTION

Invasion is a suspenseful book about a time when human beings and creatures succumb to a virus and start to behave bizarrely and symbiotically as if controlled by some ‘outside influence’. These mutated creatures together worked together on the building of the GATEWAY.

The gateway was a connection, or more correctly put, a transportation medium between the species from other planet and the virus infected people on earth in the time to come. They believed that the Earth henceforth will be linked to the other worlds and its isolation will be over. ‘It shall truly become a part of the galaxy’.

For this purpose, the leader of the ‘infested’ people, Beau, opens “The Institute for a New Beginning” in the town, Santa Fe. Spread across four point six acre of land, amidst the lawns, the estate was magnificent. From the description we come to know that it was built in the early nineteen hundred in a French chateau style. The stone used was local granite. The reflecting pool described in the foreground was a sight through the French windows through which the sunlight cascaded the interiors. *The distant saw-toothed purple mountains looked like amethyst crystals bathed in golden light.

Beau occupied the master suite at the chateau. The room has been described as French doors over a balcony that looked down on the terrace. The library room nearby, was equipped with TV monitors from where Beau could keep himself updated on the happenings around the globe. The heavy velvet drapes were drawn across the arched window in such a way that viewing was easier. And from the wrought iron balcony off the library could be seen a long stretch of driveway before it disappeared into the trees.

But the area used for the making of the gateway was the ballroom. It was a huge hall decorated with enormous chandeliers as well as massive decorative cornices and large spanned arched windows. In the center of the room were various electronics concerns from all pirated parts of the observatory and the nearby university physics department. It was completely in contrast with the tranquility of the bedroom, filled with people working as machines, paying no heed to others around. All the walls and the floor were covered with wiring and in the center of the space was a huge metal structure. At its core lay an enormous cylindrical tank with steel girders aligned in any possible angle. This superstructure was basically built for the storage and transmission of high voltage electricity. Surrounding it was the command control center with numerous monitors, dials and switches.

I chose to write about this scene because the author has very beautifully described the inside world from the outside.

While the work being done inside has is all technical and mechanic like, the outside description has a flow to it. I assume that the contrast was made on purpose by the author so as to mark the difference clearly. Had the outside been as technical as the inside, the gateway might not have had the effect that it imposes now.

Even though the book isn’t as interesting, but I believe that the selection of words by the author to describe scenes it quite effective.

* page 189

Book review by Sandeep Ahuja

Book Review: The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende

The House of the Spirits is an epic on four generations of women of the Trueba family; their dreams, hopes, love affairs, spiritual yearnings, and connections with each other. The book also portrays the chaotic social and political changes occurring in Chile. Although the story is fictional, it draws from the reality of not only the history of Latin American countries but all the third world. This is the true, pure and raw recent history of these countries summarized concisely in this novel. The offbeat magic realism, lightens up the intensity of historical events presented in this novel; After all the magic realism is a part of the culture in the third world. The part of the novel that has impacted me as a reader is the ‘Big house in the corner’. The various moods and characters in the novel have been portrayed by this ‘Big house in the corner’.

As named by Allende, the ‘big house in the corner’, it is the newly built house of the Trueba family. It is evidently the grandest house in the town. Allende’s description of the house indicates a major change that would occur due to it. She portrays the house as a living being, witnessing the growth of the Trueba family over three generations. The life of the Trueba second generation begins in this house. The Trueba couple moves into the extravagant house Esteban builds for his wife Claire, a structure that everyone calls "the big house on the corner". This is soon populated with Claire's spiritualist friends, the artists she sponsors, the charity cases she takes an interest in, with Esteban's political cronies, and, above all, with the Trueba children; their daughter, Blanca, a modest girl who will, to the fury of her father, form a lifelong connection with the son of his foreman, the twins.

When the house is newly built, Esteban, the main protagonist is also young and in full spirits. The house also dilapidates with Esteban’s death; Hence in this case it acts as a symbol for his life.

The house is white in color, and can thus be spotted from far. It has big entrances and enormous staircases leading to the first floor. The staircases in this case are designed such that they meet after regular intervals. This could again act as a metaphor for the Trueba family; they all met at different situations of each other’s life.

Allende sets her family saga against a backdrop of political change, in an occasionally violent era, but her novel also functions as an examination of women's lives during this period in Chile. The house acts as a major symbol in the novel. There is repetitive description of the house which is used to expose the characters of the novel. It is this house, that I haven’t forgotten till date.  

A place i remember till date - Pangong Tso lake at Leh by Sumati Mattoo

The first time when I heard that my parents were planning to take us to Leh , I was thrilled , the fact that we were going by road made it all the more exciting. In my mind it was the perfect combination, an adventure with a dash of danger and trouble in the form on the tough road journey to behold the prize - the seldom seen beauty of Leh which has no equal.

The journey there by road wasn’t just like the usual means to an end, where you would plod along for hours to reach the destination, rather it was an adventure in itself. As we crossed the Tanglangla pass which is one of the highest passes on the earth, it snowed. The snow covered the road, the mountains, the car, everything. At that time, there were few travelers on that road. The snow seemed to amplify the profound silence around us, it was just us and the snow covered mountain. So thick was the snow that it seemed like the mountain wore an ornate white cloak.

Finally after seemingly endless hours of travel , we reached pangong tso lake. Simply put, it was one of the prettiest sights I’ve ever seen. The first thing that struck me was the array of different colors congregated in one place. The sheer variety of colors that my eyes could see made it an astounding sight. The blues and the greens of the lake merging together, it started from cyan to turquoise, then to blue, then to navy blue, then to light green and finally to dark green. The light played on the lake and it seemed that the lake had a life of its own and was constantly changing its color according to its moods.

Not to be outdone by the lake, the mountains had equal (if not more !) shades. It ranged from light purple to rust to deep green. Between the colors of the mountain and the lake, it was a study in contrast. The mountains seemed to be stoic, the lake seemed serene, a cool breeze blew lightly ruffling my hair and sending tingling sensations down my spine. This sight seemed almost fictitious. It looked like something dreamed up by Van Gogh or Monet. Yet I was there, I could see it with my own eyes, watch the light play on those lofty mountains and the placid lake. Feel the wind play with my hair. As far as I could see the lake met the mountains and with there was nothing else except the blue skies ahead flecked with clouds.

The sight was impeccable, and then I realized it was because civilization hadn’t reached here yet, there were no buildings, no cars, no people. I tried to imagine this beauty co-existing with people in harmony and I failed.

I was glad that we hadn’t marred this landscape and its beauty. I was glad that there still existed someplace like this. I was glad that we hadn’t subjugated this and turned it into something undesirable.

So I stared mesmerized and thought that god himself must have painted this as a testament to the beauty of the earth.

And the light kept on playing on the lake and the mountains giving them myriad colors, the wind kept on ruffling my hair.

The moment seemed perfect. So I sat back and let nature beguile me with its unblemished beauty.

TOS - A place I remember till date by Sandeep Ahuja

A place I remember till date – Russian metro station at Piliguna

It was my first day to school in Moscow when I realized that we did not have a school bus coming to pick us up. My brother and I instead had to go by the metro.  Until my second class, I hadn’t heard of anything like metro, and now, on the first day to class third I get to travel in one! ‘an electric railway operating below the surface of the ground’ my brother read the definition from the web.

The metro station was not hard to spot; even from a distance we could see a big, shiny red sign saying ‘M’. There was a staircase going down right next to the ‘M’. We were intimidated, not only by the size of the people, who seemed three times our size, but also by the scale of everything. It seemed like everything was built for some big giant world.

I clearly remember thinking for ones that maybe this wasn’t the metro station; it seemed so much more like a museum with all the sculpturing and painting.

We moved further, towards the ticketing counter, and remembered our uncle telling us ‘no metro ticket for kids less than 5, and Russian kids are big, you both will easily be classified as 5 year olds’; and he was right, it did work! On the other side of the ticketing was the biggest escalator I had ever seen. It was like 20m wide, and some 14 escalators on it, half going up and half going down. Despite that there were so many of them, every single one was very crowded. It seemed about a ten minute journey in the escalator. Ones we reached down, the up seemed way too high. The sizes of the spaces were mind boggling. I could do nothing about the fear that had by now settled permanently in me. With every step I took, I became more conscious of everything around me.

I noticed everything, from the shiny maroon flooring to the circular ornate chandelier. As we approached the metro platform, I was stunned by the never ending corridor-like space. The platform seemed like a long stretch that goes till infinity; on the side of this never ending corridor space were arches. They seemed more like entrances, only I was unsure about where they lead. I realized later, that they all lead to another never ending corridor. This was where the metro arrived. I was too scared to want to stay a minute longer in this space. The metro came as a relief, since it was the first thing in this place that seemed of the right size. I still don’t know how many wagons each one had, since I never managed to count.

Once I was on the metro, the doors closed.   I could see outside through the glass in the doors. Within a few seconds, we were out of the intimidating station and into a seemingly endless tunnel. By now, I knew that the new country was not going to be an easy shift; I prayed in all my fear and silently took a seat.

Movie architectural review

How have the directors of Troy and The Prince of Egypt use their knowledge about the architecture of Egypt and Troy to enhance various scenes of their movies?

Architecture is used in films not only to enhance the narrative, but to represent life itself. It shows what ones existed, exists now, or could possibly exist. This can be seen in the movies Troy, directed by Wolfgang Peterson, and The Prince of Egypt, directed by Chapman and Hickner. Both the movies plot in a historical setting, one in ancient Greece and other in ancient Egypt. One might think, that the architecture was already known, since the buildings that once existed just had to be replicated. However, the job does not end there; the architecture of a place is too vast, and it requires accurate understanding of a scene and imagination to decide which part of the existing architecture to be used as the backdrop for a particular scene in order to augment it. This essay shall explore how the directors used the pre-known architecture to enhance scenes in Troy and The Prince of Egypt.

There are various instances in Troy where the appropriateness of the architectural background can be appreciated. One of these is from a beginning scene; in this scene Peterson captures an image of a giant door behind which lies an entire city. The color and design chosen for the door is plain and dull, however the city behind it is shown as energetic and full of colors; The two are a stark contrast to each other which helps to accentuate the vivacity of the people and their love and respect for the king (since they are celebrating the king’s arrival). Further on, there is a fight scene in the movie where the invaders hide behind the pillars in the temple and then inconspicuously attack. The scene is aided by the provision of chunky pillars. Here, it might have been known that there were chunky pillars in the temple of Apollo, however the architect for the movie decided to choose that for the appropriate setting of this scene. Here, the architecture does not just serve as a backdrop; instead, it adds on to the plot and opens the chance to explore various stunts involved.

In addition, the director chooses to show the giant wall of Troy as a protection barrier from any invaders. The wall has various levels for different purposes, for example one levels for archers, another for fire balls. This not only helps to accentuate the feeling of security, but also acts as a symbol for the hierarchy in the system. The wall, also forms feelings of pride and power. It further enhances the contrast between the colorful inside to the bland outside. Another, interesting part of palace design is used to aid the plot of the movie. Towards the end of the film, the women manage to escape alive due to the existence of a secret tunnel. This was built inside the palace in case of any such emergency. This further helps to enhance the feeling of security that the king wanted his people to feel. Hence, as it can be seen through all the above examples, the movie would not have been as impactful as it is if the architectural backdrop was not appropriately chosen.

Such examples of using historical architecture suitably to enhance a scene is not only used in conventional movies like Troy; a fair example of this can also be seen in The prince of Egypt, where the director uses the various architectural backdrops to convey not only the characteristics of the various characters, but to also depict the mood. Towards the beginning of the scene, the director shows a chariot race between the elder prince and the younger prince. In this race, the brothers enter the town and disrupt it. The setting is created such that everything seems clustered; this helps to enhance the crazy, entertaining and immature character of the brothers. It also helps to establish their power, since they had the courage to disrupt the town without any fear. Further, there is a scene with an environmental setting. Here, the younger brother is in deep melancholy, since he has just found out the truth about his father. This mood is accentuated by the use of light colors in the background. The water he is sitting in, further builds the feelings of sorrow. Also, it is the first time in the movie that the setting is natural instead of a massive built structure. This marks a major change in the character.

Not only does the architecture in the film reflect on the forlorn mood, but it also helps to show feelings of power and pride. This is evident in one of the later scenes in the movie; here the character is talking about proving himself to be a great leader and making sure the world remembers him. In the background are massive constructed heads of the father of the character, and a bigger head for the character himself. It shows his urge for more respect and power. A similar feeling is conveyed when the director chooses to show the leader on a giant high seat and the slave down below. The difference in height also reveals the difference in their social status. It serves to enhance the contrast between the two characters. Hence, it can be seen that Chapman and Hickner used the known architectural facts not to limit their imagination for the setting of the scenes, but instead to enhance the impact and help the audience to further appreciate the film.

Although both the movies have a historical setting to them, reveal the leadership through the use of architectural setting. The stark contrast between the palace of the leader and the usual houses in The Prince of Egypt serves to reveal the importance of pride and power for the leader. In Troy however, the palace is in the middle of all the houses. The biggest structure built was the wall, around the entire city; this wall was not built for any pride but for the protection of the people; hence, further revealing the leader’s characteristics.

Both the movies explore the apt use of architectural setting to enhance the movie. It is however vital to understand that architecture is only one of the many features used to accentuate a scene; the directors have displayed the use of different camera shots, the lighting and the sound to create a mood for their audiences. Yet, in both the movies the architecture undoubtedly stands out; thus, showing the deliberate effort given to every scene in the movie.