reading habit
Book Editor’s note
You first saw Vivaan Shah in ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ an adaptation of Ruskin Bond’s ‘Susanna’s Seven Husbands’ ten years ago, and most recently in ‘A Suitable Boy’, based on Vikram Seth’s beloved classic of the same name. No wonder, then, that books are an integral part of his life—he is a voracious reader and an author of dark noir, and he answers our Book Addict’s Quiz this week!
What is your most powerful and/or cherished childhood memory of a book?
There’s many. I remember being absorbed and terrified by a game-book for children called ‘The Jungle of Peril’, which my brother and I would try to solve. It was like a puzzle, or a precursor to a video game. There was something enigmatic and mysterious about this book. One would get lost in it. It acquired a menacing presence not unlike that of the fictional ‘Jumanji’ board game. Tintin and Asterix were other childhood favourites. I would often read these before sleeping. Their permanent resting place was under my pillow. Every once in a while, a slim pulp novel would fit behind an open textbook so as to give the impression of my being immersed in my studies whereas I was actually off on a flight of fancy. I was often caught by teachers trying to do this, and the novel promptly confiscated. God only knows how many James Hadley Chases currently reside in some antiquated cabinet in my school.
<Somewhere in Vivaan’s old school, a pre-teen is reading a stolen James Hadley Chase, silently thanking the gods.>
What line of literature or poetry can you quote ad nauseam? Brownie points if you can tell us when and where you quoted it most recently.
Anything by Edgar Allan Poe. I recite his stuff to myself whenever I’m feeling strange and gloomy. My favourite poem of his is ‘The Conqueror Worm’. Another poem I know by heart is ‘The Harlot’s House’ by Oscar Wilde. I sometimes spontaneously spring these poems on unsuspecting friends on drunken occasions. I also like to do them on stage in an empty auditorium as a sort of vocal warm up. When people hear me recite these to myself, they might think I am mad.
<Yes, because what you really want to hear eight whiskeys down is "The dead are dancing with the dead. The dust is whirling with the dust.">
An author you adored as a child but haven’t thought about in years.
Ursula K. Le Guin. I remember her book ‘A Wizard of Earthsea’ having a strange effect on me. That was the heyday of fantasy fiction, with books like ‘Artemis Fowl’ and ‘Eragon’ fascinating readers of my age. I have a friend who, when we were kids, claimed to have read ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ in 30 minutes, a sheer impossibility as per the laws of physics and recorded human logic.
<Unlike JK Rowling’s other great tome, ‘The Casual Vacancy’, which we’ve been trying to finish for the past nine years.>
Which book would you gift to your new best friend, and which to your worst enemy?
Haha, I don’t have a worst enemy. Although if someone really wants to make a person suffer, he can give them ‘Ulysses’ or ‘Finnegan’s Wake’. (Hahaha, just kidding, ‘Ulysses’ is a masterpiece and one of the greatest works, but ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ can be difficult). To my best friend I would gift ‘Moby Dick’. It’s a life changing book.
<Moby Dick? Gives a whole new meaning to ‘With friends like that, who needs enemies…’>
I would love to see a movie/series adaptation of ‘___________ starring ____ as _____.
I would love to see a movie/series adaptation of ‘Gargantua and Pantagruel’ starring Jim Carrey as Gargantua.
A book review that was better than the book?
Difficult to pinpoint one. But I’m a huge fan of the literary criticism of Edmund Wilson and Joyce Carol Oates.
<Would it be mean to say Oates’ own reviews are better than her novels?>
Which book do you pretend to have read?
‘Gravity’s Rainbow’ by Thomas Pynchon. Also, anyone who claims to have read Moby Dick when they were a child can instantly be branded a liar. A lot of people think it’s a kid’s adventure yarn. It’s much more than that. It’s a work of theological implications.
<Ah, the book most often compared to that other great unreadable tome ‘Ulysses’. Good choice!>
What is the first “forbidden” book you read in secret?
‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ by D.H. Lawrence.
<Nice! Well-written smut is the best kind!>
What’s one of the funniest books you’ve ever read? Something apart from Wodehouse, Adams, Durrell et al would be even better.
‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh.
<Catholic guilt, homo-erotic yearning, upper class angst… ‘Funny’ isn’t the word that comes to mind lol!>
Send us a photo of your tsundoku pile.
<130/100 for sheer variety and organised chaos!>
Thank you for playing, Vivaan! Be sure to check out his excellent book ‘Living Hell’.
