N... is for Narration

Narration is everything! Isn't it? Think about it, when you begin reading a book and there is a host of different characters, the author has the option of telling the story through one or many voices. This directs how the story is told, what the voice sounds like, and to a large extent even determines the tone of the novel. What could be a happy ending from the point of view of one of the characters could be a very tragic, or at the very least, a disappointing end for another.
Sometimes, multiple narrators annoy me. Wuthering Heights and My Name is Red, for example, failed me because too many people were speaking one by one and there wasn't a single point from which to approach the story. However, I make an exception for Treasure Island, what a tale! Dual narrations are good, though. Look at Gone Girl, look at Kafka on the Shore, both lovely examples of fabulous books. And then there's the autobiographical, the way Ralph tells the story in Coral Island, the voice of Dr Watson in Sherlock Holmes novels is unparalleled. No one tells a tale like they do. I also like the withheld information mystery, like the name of the second Mrs de Winter in Rebecca and the professor's young wife in Orkney. What kind of narratives do you like?

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This is the fourteenth post for the April A-to-Z Blogging Challenge 2014.
Previously, Archaism, British literature, Critical Analysis, Drama, Edinburgh, Faust, Gothic Fiction, Humour, Interpretation, Journalling, Keats, Language, Metaphysical Poetry

W... is for Writers' Museum, The

This is by far the best museum I have been to. Dedicated to the lives of  Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson, the three of the greatest Scottish writers. There are, of course, painting and sculptures, but there's also memorabilia - their desks, their pens, shoes even.
There are tales of how their greatest works came to be, their stories, inspirations, and thoughts. Lives of these men are brought out in a beautiful collection of objects that were related to them. I grew up reading Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and Stevenson's poetry, some of my favourite childrens' works ever! And for me to visit this place was like taking a spin in a time machine and coming face-to-face with my ten year old self.
I loved it! And the courtyard in front of it has their immortal words and the works of other famous authors set in stone. How lovely!

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This post is part of the ongoing A-to-Z Challenge. Previously, Aye, Berwick, Cramond, Disability, Edinburgh, Forth Bridge, Glasgow, Hamish, Isle of Skye, John o' Groats, Kirk, Loch Lomond and Luss, Mogwai, Necropolis, Old Man of Storr, Portobello, Queen of Scots, Robert Burns, Stirling, Tantallon Castle, Urquhart Castle, Venison.

N... is for Necropolis!

There is something infinitely sinister about the world Necropolis, City of the Dead. Dark, depressing, and creepy are the feelings I'd associate with the word. The Glasgow Necropolis is all those feelings, and one more, that of sheer beauty.
For a bit of background, Wiki says, "Following the creation of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris a wave of pressure began for cemeteries in Britain. This required a change in the law to allow burial for profit. Previously the parish church held responsibility for burying the dead but there was a growing need to give an alternative solution. Glasgow was one of the first to join this campaign, having a growing population, with fewer and fewer attending church. The planning of the cemetery began formally by the Merchants' House of Glasgow in 1831, in anticipation of a change in the law. The Cemeteries Act was passed in 1832 and the floodgates opened. Glasgow Necropolis officially opened in April 1833."
This place is stunningly beautiful. Among the buried are actors, musicians, and scientists. Almost every grave has a massive and prominent tombstone, mostly having something to do with the profession of the person buried there. This place is free and very close to the city center, so if you are, say, changing trains or have a couple of hours in Glasgow, go to this place. I have seldom felt so powerless and humble in front of anything that is man made.

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This post is part of the ongoing A-to-Z Challenge. Previously, Aye, Berwick, Cramond, Disability, Edinburgh, Forth Bridge, Glasgow, Hamish, Isle of Skye, John o' Groats, Kirk, Loch Lomond and Luss, Mogwai.

W

W is for ‘Watson’.

The dear man, who assisted Holmes like an assistant would, cared for him like a friend, and brought him cases like an agent. Dear Dr. Watson, who was forever overwhelmed, like us readers, by Holmes’ extraordinary powers of observation and deduction. ‘Elementary’ that wasn’t elementary at all. He even saved or almost saved Holmes a few times. But for him, we would never have heard of those brilliant tales. I’ll keep this post till here, it’s been a long day.

Holmes and Watson (Sidney Paget)

So far: Atticus, Beth, Cassius, Dumbledore, Estella, Francesca, Gandalf, Humbert, Ishmael, Jean-Baptiste, Kali, Long John Silver & Lisbeth, Miu, Nancy, Oliver, Piyali, Quentin, Rebecca, Scarlett, Tita, Ursula, Valhalla

I'm writing every day of April for the A-to-Z April Blogging Challenge 2012. I'm writing of characters of fiction that are immortal and touch hundreds of lives everyday...

R

R is for 'Rebecca'.
I never, even for a moment, felt that she was dead and gone. I identified with the second Mrs DeWinters, nameless, faceless. I shivered with her, I despaired with her… Du Maurier struck gold with her intense portrayal of Rebecca. Her presence, like an evil charm, hung on the reader’s head throughout the book. She haunted me right through it all. Manderley, oh Manderley, that fell prey to such dark, gothic forms! My heart bled for it.


I sympathized with Mrs Danvers, even when she was being villainous, at least she had a belief and an existence. The rest of us that the author dragged to Manderley, why we didn’t stand a chance against R at all!

She just overpowered all our senses and took over our lives from us. What a woman, what a book!

Q

Q is for 'Quentin'.
Darling Uncle Quentin, crazy and adorable. The Famous Five, the most brilliant Enid Blyton, these names will only fill my heart with joy and bring to mind glorious summer days of childhood, emulating the children in the book. We rode bicycles, hiked out in the sun, splashed water on the beach, camped out in the crannies of fallen trees; yes, I grew up in a seaside town...
Quentin, father of George and uncle to Julian, Dick, and Anne, was a crazy scientist. He hated loud noises made by kids, the ruckuc of nighttime escapades, and the loud barking of Timmy, the dog. Every family has a Quentin, the immersed in work and lost to the world character. He loved his family, especially his wife Fanny, but he just couldn't cope with interruptions in his intense calculations.
While the kids nabbed wicked criminals and solved mysteries, Uncle Quentin was lost, with his head in the clouds! Every kid must be fed on a diet of at least one Enid Blyton a month for 3 - 4 years!

George, Timmy, Anne, Julian, and Dick

So far: Atticus, Beth, Cassius, Dumbledore, Estella, Francesca, Gandalf, Humbert, Ishmael, Jean-Baptiste, Kali, Long John Silver & Lisbeth, Miu, Nancy, Oliver, Piyali

I'm writing every day of April for the A-to-Z April Blogging Challenge 2012. I'm writing of characters of fiction that are immortal and touch hundreds of lives everyday...

P

P is for 'Piyali'.
This girl is the heroine of The Hungry Tide, she studies cetaceans. An American of Indian origin, she comes to the Sundarbans to study them Irrawady dolphins. In a haunting tale of love, high and low tides, and shtrrange relationships that follows, the reader is led through a brilliant travelogue. The writer, Amitav Ghosh, has made a brilliant tale out of this one. The novel is well-researched. And the relationship of Piya and Fokir, her boatman, trancends time and space.
Love that has no words, love that has no name or meaning, perhaps it is not even love but a curious feeling that can exist only in the Gangetic swamps... This is the only contemporary Indian author I have true respect for. The way darkness and light have come together is beautiful, yet disturbing, a highly recommended read. I have written more about it here.

Irrawady Dolphin

N

N is for 'Nancy'.
Nancy Drew, who else!? The smart, intelligent, fantabulous young sleuth from River Heights; the epitome of modern girls. The champ driver, swimmer, actor of a girl that gave rise to one of the most widely sold Young Adult books. The hundreds of books, written by different people, were published under the common pseudonym of Carolyn Keene. Nancy, along with her friends Bess and George, sometimes her boyfriend Ned, nabs some pretty obnoxious criminals.
I spent some 3 - 4 years of middle school devouring these books one after another. And I think all little girls should have wonderful girl inspirations. And Nancy was one such... I loved her intelligence and her wavy blond hair; her powers of deduction and the blue convertible. Good days... simple days...

Nancy Drew, from http://www.nancydrewsleuth.com/

So far: Atticus, Beth, Cassius, Dumbledore, Estella, Francesca, Gandalf, Humbert, Ishmael, Jean-Baptiste, Kali, Long John Silver & Lisbeth, Miu

I'm writing every day of April for the A-to-Z April Blogging Challenge 2012. I'm writing of characters of fiction that are immortal and touch hundreds of lives everyday...

I

I is for 'Ishmael'.

I fell in love with the novel 'Moby Dick' when I was eight. I was a goner from the first like 'Call me Ishmael'. As I grew up, the tale of the great white whale appeared to me with a hundred other thoughts, a ton of other mysteries. And with the knowledge of the Bible came the appreciation of the protagonist, a school teacher turned sailor, Ishmael.

Abraham and his wife Sarai (in religious history, of course) were unable to conceive. So, Sarai suggested using her Egyptian handmaid Hagar, as a surrogate. Thus, Ishmael was born. Years later, however, Sarai got pregnant and delivered a baby boy, Isaac. Driven by jealousy, she convinced her husband to drive away Hagar and Ishmael. They spent years in the desert and yet the boy was to become great. All of that would eventually lead to Moses. But I get carried away.

The plot of Moby Dick is symbolical. The cruel and madly driven captain of the ship Pequod, Captain Ahab, has only one aim in life, to kill the whale Moby Dick. Ishmael narrates the story and somewhere in the middle of the book,  he becomes omnipresent and almost able to read peoples' minds.

Illustration from an early edition of Moby Dick (from Wikipedia)

Moby Dick is a thrilling tale. It is one of those books that must be read as children and reread as adults.