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Tambudzai is a black Zimbabwean woman in her forties living in a women's hostel in Harare. It’s a temporary arrangement as she is older than the permitted age and has to find a place of her own soon. But having quit her job at an advertising agency after white male co-workers got credit for her work, she is struggling to find accommodation and employment. The traumatic experiences and hardships that she goes through affect her mental health and she is even institutionalized for a while. All in all, Tambudzai or Tambu has a difficult life.

Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel ‘This Mournable Body’ that got shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize is somewhat bleak. But despite the general theme of despair running through the book, This Mournable Body is actually a story of triumph and the strength of the human spirit to persevere. Tambu is aware of the brutal reality of her situation but she never loses her sense of self. She is a strong character. She is every woman who has ever found herself in a difficult situation.

This isn’t a book without problems—it’s slow, for instance—but it shifts your perspective on things and that’s an important kind of storytelling. But what I loved about the book is that it is narrated in second person from Tambudzai’s perspective. You feel like you are Tambudzai and literally in the midst of all that is happening. Tambu is sometimes quite self-centered and thus a difficult character to like. If it hadn’t been for the writing style that put me in her shoes, it would have been frustrating to understand or feel connected to her.

I did, at various points in the novel, wish I knew more about Tambu—where she came from, what her childhood and growing up years were like, and how she ended up where she was. Turns out, This Mournable Body is actually the concluding novel in a trilogy. You needn’t have read the previous parts to pick up this book—it works fine as a stand-alone novel. But reading the other two books will definitely give you a better sense of things.

The first book, ‘Nervous Conditions’, published in 1988, is about Tambudzai’s childhood. The second, ‘The Book of Not’, out in 2006, follows her time at convent school before she starts working in advertising. Set 20 years later, the final instalment of the series chronicles the later years of Tambu’s life. It’s a sad depiction of how the education system is filled with false promises for black Zimbabwean women and how they deal with that reality. It’s also an essential commentary of sorts on class, race, and misogyny that divide most societies even today.

Three stars

Fiction

This Mournable Body

Tsitsi Dangarembga

Published: 2020

Publisher: Faber & Faber Limited

Pages: 363, Paperback

For someone who watched football in the 90s, the ponytailed figure of Roberto Baggio leading his team from the front in every match with the same zealous energy is a memory that can’t be easily erased. Nor can the iconic image of Italian football’s legendary forward and attacking midfielder ever be forgotten in the annals of world football. Baggio, in his career span of roughly three decades, gave the sport some of the most memorable moments and the biographical feature film “Baggio: The Divine Ponytail” (l Divin Codino) celebrates his contributions.

The movie starts when Baggio (Andrea Arcangeli) is 17-years-old and plays for the local team L.R Vicenza. Born to a lower middle-class family, Roberto lives with his parents and seven other siblings in a small apartment. The opening scenes with long shots in the confined space of his family home suggest how chaotic and equally colorful Roberto’s early life must have been.

Then, in 1985, he is recruited by the Serie A team Florentina, a big moment for him and his family. Everyone around Roberto seems to be supportive of his football career and see him making a name for himself and the country, except for his father Florindo (Andrea Pennacchi). Baggio has an uncomfortable relationship with his father and although Florindo is not totally against his son’s career, he is not very appreciative either.

But Baggio is unhindered by any negativity in his life, including a major knee injury he gets in the early stage of his career. Baggio quickly recovers physically and gets into Buddhism to help him recover spiritually and goes on to deliver record-setting performances in football. In 1993, he wins the coveted Ballon d’Or and is in the peak of his career when in World Cup 1994 he misses a deciding penalty against Brazil in the finals. This incident would haunt him for the rest of his life, even giving him nightmares at times.

The movie Baggio, directed by Letizia Lamartire, covers most of the footballer’s professional life and some of his personal life in a fast-paced sequence of events. The storytelling is quick and concise, but owing to its brevity of just 91 mins, the film feels more clustered than compact. Many questions have been left unanswered. There also seems to be a discrepancy in the chronology of Baggio’s life and career.

We get little into the life of Baggio and are shown more of what is easily available on the internet. For instance, his embrace of Buddhism, as shown in the movie, is unconvincing. Also, we are told in words that Baggio has had problems with his coaches all through his career, but we do not get to witness much of this conflict. Nor do we see his relationships with his fellow players, some of them icons in their own rights. For the rest of the film, there is just not enough conviction and emotion as expected in a passionate biography of a famous sportsperson.

Actor Andrea Arcangeli, playing Roberto Baggio, cannot be blamed for this though. He has done a convincing job of portraying the flamboyant Baggio on screen. He acts his part and definitely looks his part, doing everything expected from an actor. It’s the storytelling that lets the film down. The makers seem to be confused about whether they would like to show the professional side of Baggio, or his personal side, and end up not doing enough on both the fronts.

I had never expected I would ever say this, but this film is just too short! A sportsman with Baggio’s list of contributions and achievements should have definitely been given more screen time. With the healthy pace the film maintains, a 2.5hr long feature or even a mini-series would have been more interesting.

Who should watch it?

Football fans, new and old, unquestionably. Even if not as a good movie, watch it as an ode to the rockstar of international football. As mentioned, the film’s steady pace will not let you get bored even if you find a lot of pieces in the puzzle missing, and the acting performances are decent enough.

Rating: 2.5 stars
Genre: Biography, drama
Actors: Andrea Arcangeli, Andrea Pennacchi
Director: Letizia Lamartire
Run time: 1hr 31mins

Nineteen-year-old Sadie’s life hasn’t been easy. Raised by a mum who is at best indifferent, she realizes early on that she is going to have to get by on her own. She is fiercely protective of her little sister, Mattie, and tries her best to take care of her after their mother, Claire, runs away. Then Mattie is found dead. The police investigate but nothing conclusive comes out of it. Sadie knows who murdered Mattie and she is determined to bring the killer to justice.

Sadie buys a cheap car that’s quite literally falling apart and, with only a few meager clues to follow up on, hits the road. Along the way she meets many characters who take the story down different interesting paths. There’s a cranky waitress at a diner, a young woman on the run whom Sadie picks up as hitchhiker, and some high school kids whose lives are on the opposite spectrum of Sadie’s.

The basic premise is simple and straightforward but ‘Sadie’ by Courtney Summers is essentially a dark, heartbreaking YA novel about the price children end up paying when their parents make bad decisions. As Sadie searches for her sisters’ killer, you see how her entire life has always revolved around being there for Mattie, filling a place where their mother should have been. In fact, ‘Sadie’, I believe, shouldn’t really be slotted as YA. It will appeal to adults as well and make us value the things we have, so far, taken for granted. The beauty of ‘Sadie’ is that at no point does it just feel like a thriller novel. There’s a social drama element to it that makes it relatable and real.

The book alternates between chapters from Sadie’s perspective as she tries to track down a man who seems to have many identities and a true crime radio show transcript run by West McCray. He is trying to find Sadie by following whatever information May Beth Foster, Sadie’s surrogate grandmother, and the police are able to provide him.

The narrative is compelling and Summers is great at building anticipation and making you work your grey cells to try and figure out what might have happened. I remember reading somewhere that Summers, who has many other fantastic books to her credit, doesn’t believe in neat, happy endings. But what happened in the end in this book blew me away. I can’t get the story out of my head—and I have already read two other books and some short stories after completing ‘Sadie’. It still haunts me. And I think it will for a long, long time.

What makes the book so good?

The format in which it is written, alternating between the protagonist’s perspective and a radio show transcript.

Courtney Summer’s restrained and sparse writing that makes for a gripping narrative.

Interesting characters that Sadie meets along the way that don’t let the story take on a one-track mundane tone. You enjoy getting to know these fascinating, at times weird and disturbed people.

Rating: 3.5
Fiction
Sadie
Courtney Summers
Published: 2018
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 322, Paperback

The blurb of the Granta 2020 paperback edition of ‘Strange Weather in Tokyo’ by Hiromi Kawakami reads: “One night when she is drinking alone in a local bar, Tsukiko finds herself sitting next to her former high school teacher. Over the coming months they share food and drink sake, and as the seasons pass—from spring cherry blossom to autumnal mushrooms—Tsukiko and her teacher develop a hesitant intimacy that tilts awkwardly and poignantly towards love.”

I must confess I didn’t like how it sounded but I bought it nonetheless. I have been trying to be open to all kinds of stories, especially ones that make me uncomfortable. I’ve read and loved some writers whose works I wouldn’t have across had I only stuck to authors I knew and preferred. Japanese author Yogo Ogawa’s collection of short stories, ‘Revenge, was something I picked up to deviate from my usual reading choices. That book is now one of my absolute favorites.

So, I’m also trying to read more Asian authors and translated works of fiction, hoping to find others like Ogawa who can shake up my reading life. Also, if I can’t travel, then the next best thing I can do is read about people and places that are unknown to me.

Strange Weather in Tokyo is basically a love story, tinged with melancholy. Tsukiko, 37, meets her old high school Japanese teacher, 30 years her senior, whom she refers to only as ‘Sensei’, at a bar. From there on, the two come together, on and off, because of their shared love for sake, beer and traditional Japanese dishes. They have terse, awkward conversations but find they connect on an emotional level. However, neither knows how to describe or express what they are feeling. That leads to a series of bizarre dates, with Tsukiko and Sensei both trying to figure out how best to navigate the situation they are in.

The book is divided into short chapters, each of which could have been a short story in itself. Also, it’s character driven rather than story or narrative driven. Kawakami’s characters are charming, albeit a bit weird, and thus memorable. There are also mentions of many kinds of food, their descriptions so vivid it feels like an elaborate set up is right in front of you. The story is slow but the writing, which is crisp and clean, makes it worthwhile. You know much of what there is to know about the characters and how they think despite the book being so slim. The best part of Strange Weather in Tokyo is that it’s a different story convincingly told.

About the author

Born in 1958 in Tokyo, Hiromi Kawakami is one of Japan’s most popular contemporary novelists. She is famous for her offbeat literary fiction. Strange Weather in Tokyo won the Tanizaki Prize and was shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Man Asian Literary Prize. Her other works include The Nakano Thrift Shop, The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino, and People From My Neighborhood.

Fiction
Rating: Three
Strange Weather in Tokyo
Hiromi Kawakami
Translated by Allison Markin Powell
Published: 2013
Publisher: Granta Publications
Pages: 217, Paperback