Ararat - Christopher Golden - Book Review

 

I have been reading horror for a long time. I was recently browsing through the list of Bram Stoker Award winners when this book caught my attention. A different name! This set me reading the book.

A newly engaged couple sets out on a trip to Mount Ararat in Turkey. This mountain is supposedly the site of Noah's Ark. The couple get a call from their friend that there has been a discovery at a cave on the mountain. The couple make their journey to the cave on the mountain where there are a team of archaeologists, professors and filmmakers studying the coffin that was discovered. As they discover a disfigured cadaver, the climate takes an ugly turn into a blizzard and the people are stuck in the cave. As the blizzard intensifies, an unknown evil seems to linger in the cave. What transpires forms the story.

The biggest plus for me in this book is the pacing. The first ten pages starts at a slow pace and as the story progresses, the pace picks up and keeps upping our experience. The author succeeds in creating tense claustrophobic moments for a big part of the story. Most of the characters are well written and their emotions convey the situations very well. I would not categorize this as a full fledged horror genre intended to scare us but you can see equal mixture of horror, thriller and disaster genres. The genuine scares that I felt were due to the whole atmosphere. The natural settings play an important role in taking the story to a different level. I liked how the author brings people of different beliefs together thereby triggering discussions on belief and atheism. The demon force remains strong and a mysterious force throughout the story keeps us on tenterhooks. One thing I was not satisfied was the way the novel spiralled towards the end. There was an ambiguity on what happens to the evil entity. May be the author had left the story that way on purpose. But for me the ambiguity was a damper.

In short, a quick read filled with a lot of tense moments that keeps the reader at the edge of the seat.

Random Ramblings # 8 - Are we destined to fail?

 

                    When I was pondering over what to write, my little girl suggested this quote: "No one is destined to fail" 😊

As humans, we encounter failures more often. Even the most successful people have had to taste failure at some point in time. Many people stay away or step back when they face failure. Many see failure as a dead end or warning that nature may be indicating. This might be correct in a few instances.

In reality, these failures might be the way nature prepares us to face the odds and conquer the world around us. Failure should be considered as the final fate. Instead, it should be a plank that helps us step on and achieve what we need.
However, each human is unique. They may have different levels of struggles and systemic barriers that may need different levels of effort to break down.

Failure is never an end to anything. See it as a learning experience to improve ourselves. With such a mindset, you can beat self-doubt, laziness and the tendency to postpone things, thereby placing you on the right track to victory.

 There is a Vadivelu dialogue in a Tamil movie - "Enakku End Card ae illa da". Translated as 'I do not have an end card' that metaphorically implies you do not have an end no matter what. Embrace failure, learn from it, beat the odds and carry on ahead in your life journey.

How do you see failure?

The Bewitching : Silvia Moreno-Garcia : Book Review

 

                    Last year, the book Mexican Gothic caught my attention. It was a good read, and I was looking forward to reading more of Silvia's works. Recently, while browsing Net Galley, I came across this book, which is yet to be published and ended up selecting it as my read.

               Minerva is a graduate who is studying horror literature and is doing a thesis on the works of Beatrice Tremblay. Throughout the study, Trembley's novel 'The Vanishing' becomes an obsession when she realizes it is based on a true incident that happened to Ginny, a friend of Beatrice. As she digs deeper, she realizes that there is a malice angle associated with it. Delving into the incident, she remembers the stories that her great-grandmother Alba had told her as a kid. The terrifying stories where Alba encounters a witch. Slowly, Minerva realizes that the malicious force might be after her as well. The remaining story explores how the three women from different timelines encounter this witchcraft and how Minerva tries to solve the mystery of Ginny's vanishing.

               What prompted me to read this book was the subject of witchcraft and the three timelines. This book was good in both respects. I liked how the writer can blend the horror into these eras and invoke the same feeling in us. The read may not be too scary, but the story invokes a slight chill as we read on. The storyline is plain without any twists (well, at least for me). I was able to decipher who was behind all the happenings. Having said that, this did not cloud my reading experience in any way. I like how the execution of scenes kept its tempo in a plain storytelling. The placement of scenes during three eras was what kept it going. It was interesting to see how the witch folklore from different places was imbibed into the story and that is a major plus point. The few recurring characters that appear during these timelines provide great support to the story, however small they may be. The setting of the stories is another big plus point. The Mexican village and the college set in New England play perfect host to the witching in the novel. The ending was also satisfactory, and there may be a hint at a second part. But I don't mind reading another part of this book.

               In short, a fantastic novel by Silvia Moreno Garcia. Like Mexican Gothic, this book is also a slow but very engaging read. This is one of the writers I am definitely willing to read in the future. If you like witches and curses then this is the perfect book for you.

 

Random Ramblings # 7 - Do you live or Just Exist?

 

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” - Oscar Wilde.

A simple quote. But, please look at the level at which this tugs at your heart. At least in my case, it does. Many people we see around us are living their lives. But deep down most of them are merely existing.

Existing Life means going on auto gear mode. Life goes on at a mundane pace. People start avoiding challenges and risks, fall into a routine and eventually life becomes sluggish and robotic. While setting a routine for life is great, the one that is discussed here slows you down. Playing it safe and laziness becomes a routine that in turn makes our life just an existence. In the last article, I mentioned procrastination which is a big factor in making an existential life. Most of us are not living the life or undertaking a profession we had dreamed of. This is the first step that makes us take a back step. Once this latches on to our mind, it becomes a leech sucking all the life force within us. Post this, we start getting lazy and comfortably blame everything on our unfulfilled dreams. To top all this, all the appliances that are supposed to make our lives easier are making us too comfortable.

However, we can move out of this habitual life and make it more effective.

** Realize that life is not just a myriad of dreams.
** Be aware of yourself. Know what you want, and work towards it.
** Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses.
** Start drifting out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself.
** Prioritize life over comfort.
** Indulge in hobbies that keep you engaged and refreshed.

Nowadays, life has become so fast. Yet when we dig deep, we see people falling into a routine that burns them out or slows them down. Breaking free and resetting it might not be as easy as it seems. Take it slow and steady and tune your life back to the energetic way it was.

Random Ramblings # 6 - Do you have time to spare?

              

Hello, I am back with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson this time - “Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.”

Great quote, right! No one seems to have spare moments now. Whenever I ask some people if they are free, they project themselves as busy. But are we really that held up? Just think about the time many of us spend swiping through reels and shorts. Those are spare moments that can be used. Some people do not even consider that as spare time as this has become more of a habit to them. Not all, but a significant lot.

Back to the quote! It talks about time management and making use of the opportunities. Time is precious and cannot be replenished. We have different duties and tasks every day. But we all do have idle time, which we might not realize. Proper utilization of such a time to cultivate a new hobby or explore new things brings much-needed positivity into our lives. They might add value to your professional life or personal life. Importantly, such useful distractions can light up our otherwise mundane lives.