OBOC - Iceland

The very fact that I finished "Silence of the grave" in one day is enough evidence to show that Arnaldur Indridason has a winner here; and sure enough the book has won many crime fiction awards and the author is compared to many of his Scandinavian counterparts.

A skeleton is accidentally discovered outside the city which brings Erlendur Sveinsson to the case who concludes that the body must've been buried for quite some time. Erlendur like so many other leading fictional detectives is a lone wolf,  completely lacking in charm whose personal life in shambles. In this novel he is forced to confront his own past as he sits besides his junkie daughter  Eva Lind who is in a coma after losing a child, while at the same time unraveling the secrets of two other families each with their own tragic history as revealed by the grave.  We also get a glimpse of the changing face of Reykjavik from the time of the second world war.

The story is told in two alternate narrations - one in the present as Erlendur and his team track down available leads; the other is the sometimes hard to read story of the lady in green, a sad saga of soul destroying domestic violence and the effect it has on the family (some of the most well written passages in the book).

While i enjoyed the book, I have to complain about predictability. There were very few surprises or twists. Although I don't like trick endings, it seemed like this was a bit too easy to solve as the red herring was easy to spot. Even Erlendur's characterization is typical of so many of the detectives from the cold :) Makes you wonder what's with the weather that produces these types of detectives and an army of crime writers! Despite the predictability in the way the mystery is solved, the book stands out because of the author's ability to tell the story of the ordinary yet outstanding Icelandic mother surviving against all odds under some extremely difficult circumstances and the amazing backstory which makes this cold case come to life.

OBOC - Honduras

One of the most maligned careers during the last presidential elections was that of a "community organizer", but what does it truly mean to be one, especially in a country with no real democracy, facing abject poverty and subject to the whims and fancies of the super power(s). "Dont be afraid Gringo" by Elvia Alvarado has the power to do to community organizers what Indiana Jones did for archaeologists, or the Millenium Trilogy did for hackers - except that this one is all real, and unfortunately is not widely read or known!

Elvia is an extraordinary, courageous activist working with some of the poorest of Honduras attempting to do land recovery. The reason the book is such an interesting read is because Elvia has a unique way of analyzing both micro and macro level problems and shows quite a sense of humor and directness when articulating her views.

Through this book she sheds light on some of the real Hondurans living in rural areas on less than a dollar a day whose fate seems to be determined by the United States and the politics of Nicaragua. This is the time when Reagan was funding the Contras against the Sandinistas and Honduras was an important base for many of the American operations. Elvia doesn't hesitate to offer her opinions about Reagan (she had a funny piece where she concludes that Reagan must indeed be a Communist :)!) and American foreign policy, but like so many others in many parts of the world has a fondness for Americans, just not their Government. She also talks about the role of the Church, the local politicians, unions, aid agencies, non-profits, and the power of her analysis and the persuasiveness of her arguments are quite remarkable.

The book is not just about the macroscopic events, or even about blaming others for the plight of Honduras. She also narrates so many incidents from ordinary campesinos lives that it is an amazing insight into the lives of the ignored. She longs for a better future for her grandchildren as she doesn't have much hope that things will change much for her own children. Better education, healthcare, freedom, land ownership - these are all the things she is fighting for and has even gone to jail for.

She has been labelled everything from being a communist, to an atheist and an immoral woman, but she hasn't let any of those stop her. At one point she says how she has never met a Russian and has no idea how a communist even looks. After all the only Gringos she has seen were American soldiers. Although she feared them initially, she gradually comes to sympathize these soldiers as she understands that they are just doing the job that their government was making them do and most of them did not even understand why they were in Honduras in the first place.

This book is certainly worth reading for anyone associated with any kind of grassroots, progressive cause or anyone interested in understanding the plight of Hondurans or countless people all over the world whose life is determined by unseen political forces. The title of the book was a bit confusing for me when i first started to read, but it makes sense when she concludes the book with an appeal to the "gringos" of the world who are sympathetic to the Hondurans and asks them not to be afraid to take on their own governments if they see injustice being perpetrated.

OBOC - Haiti

"Masters of the Dew" by Jacques Roumain is one of the best examples of a peasant novel. The novel highlights the issues faced by Haitian peasants due to loss of fertile land, forest cover and hillsides, erosion, drought and is unfortunately relevant even today! Manuel the hero, returns after spending 15 years in Cuba and is shocked to see the homeland of his dreams (specifically his native village of Fonds-Rouge) reduced to this pitiable state. The issues are further compounded by a local feud that has left the village sundered into two factions. 

In Manuel we see a hero who is frustrated with his country men’s attitudes and he embodies a clash of traditions. In his quest to find water that can revive his village, he takes on the superstitions and religions (both Vodou and Christianity) as he refuses to accept the prevailing thought that the drought was God’s punishment and praying with all your heart can solve the problems. At the same time we also see the other side of Manuel when he lets his soul to be swept away under the vodou rhythms – proving he is not negating everything about his culture and roots. He is struck by the difference between Cuban and Haitian mindsets and this is obvious when he struggles to find a Haitian word for “strike” which is so common in Cuba. He succeeds in finding a water source, but the only way to get the water to the fields is by uniting the two warring factions and forming a unified coumbite. With the help of his sweetheart Anaise, and by tapping into the power of women he overcomes the obstacles and succeeds in uniting the village, but only by paying a very heavy price.

The plot of the novel is very simple and straightforward, and the translator must’ve done a wonderful job as it is quite poetic to read. The central theme is one of regeneration and growth and the book has so many metaphors around this theme. Also there is a strong link between land and sexuality – women exist to serve men (Anaise literally thinks of herself as Manuel’s servant), and so does land. It was a bit difficult for me to overlook that, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the novel. That way Roumain is like so many others before and after him (Fela Kuti comes to my mind – love his music and his liberating politics, but not his gender stance), focused on liberation in one sphere, completely ignoring the other.

As the title indicates, the book is a Marxist call to arms to the peasants of Haiti urging them to take control of their own destiny, and Roumain’s love of land and country makes this a compelling read.