|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Big Bookshelf: Sunil Sethi in Conversation with 30 Famous Writers Reviewed by Mohammad Imtiaz HOW is a writer made and what is the nature of the writing impulse? Are writers born with a burning creative drive or do they steadily hone their art? How do they shape their characters and stories in their fiction?" These are the basic questions dealt with in The Big Bookshelf. Generally, films and TV serials are based on books; this book, however, is based on a TV programme, "Just Books". The programme was based on 300 interviews of various writers conducted over six years. The book contains 30 such literary interviews, each representing 10 interviews. The list includes celebrity writers like Salman Rushdie, Javed Akhtar, Shobhaa De and Chetan Bhagat. Nobel laureates like Amartya Sen and Orhan Pamuk add to the glory of the series, while noted writers Anita Desai, Mahasweta Devi and Amitav Ghosh provide variety to the book.
The book also gives an insight into the life of Chetan Bhagat. The IIT and IIM graduate grew up in Delhi and chose investment banking as career but ultimately became a writer. His previous jobs did not prove to be hurdles in his writing career growth, as many people assume, rather they proved helpful, as he himself admits: "I am used to those fourteen-hour days that banking demands." When asked whether his book Five Point Someone was a fluke, he says, "I can’t say if it was a fluke, but yes, it was definitely random", adding that "I shamelessly borrow from my life. However, I do fictionalise." The multi-dimensional personality of Shobhaa De is reflected in an interview, where the interviewer observes: "One of the transitions in Shobhaa De’s varied and colourful life as successful model, editor, columnist and author is that from creating celebrities, she has become one." Another female writer Anita Desai starts her creative process in the morning. "I always sit at my desk with a pen in the hand, to wait for the moment," she says, while answering a question. When asked about her daughter Kiran Desai, "What is it like to have a child who has become a professional writer", she answers, "It has been the most exciting and fulfilling experience of recent years, seeing her grow and develop as a writer." For Kiran Desai, who moved to the US with her mother, the Man Booker Prize came as a surprise. "It still doesn’t really feel a part of my life ...," she says. The book also includes the interview of Daniyal Mueenuddin, who has led a double life between Pakistan and America. Apart from being half-Pakistani and half-American, his personality also reflects the combination of two contrasting professions of being a lawyer and a farmer. His works represent rural life in general and women folk living there in particular. Mueenuddin perceives his female characters as victims of their environments who are trying to empower themselves. Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, whose works include tradition and modernity, was expected to become an architect by his family, but got distinction of winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. Other Nobel Prize winner is from India—Amartya Sen. Besides being an economist, Sen is a great thinker, philosopher and writer. Based in Cambridge, Massachusettes, he travels widely but returns to his home in Santiniketan each winter. The book is a glossary of
short biographies (or autobiographies) of these writers. It also
provides many little-known facts about them, which make the book more
readable.
|
Every
writer starts the creative process in his or her own way, and it takes
considerable amount of time to reach the satisfactory point. For
example, it took Kiran Desai nearly seven years to finish her book, The
Inheritance of Loss, while Nadeem Aslam completed his novel, Map
for Last Lovers, in 11 years. Reading and love for letters are the
basic inspirations for these writers. Motivation behind Javed Akhtar’s
success, in his own words, is: "I think one should do things one
enjoys and passionate about." He is carrying the family tradition
forward as his grandfather Muzter Khairabadi and maternal uncle Majaz,
besides his father-in-law, were Urdu poets.