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Monday, July 25, 2005

Recent Reads...

I recently finished two books- Ellen DeGeneres' "The funny thing is..." and Art Buchwald's "Stella in Heaven". This really calls for celebration given the fact that these days I can hardly gather my thoughts around me for more than 10 minutes when reading books. Woohoo! The sad thing is that I found Ellen's "The funny thing is.."..well, sad. To do justice to her, perhaps the stuff she has written about might actually be funny in a stand-up act. But the book is a sad let-down. Somehow, when I was reading her book, Jerry Seinfeld kept popping up in my head.

I liked "Stella in Heaven.." in a weird way. As I described to RS, it was a flatline with no dramatic ups and downs. But it was a strangely moving story about a widower (Roger) whose wife (Stella) talks to him from heaven everyday. They talk about everything including Roger's loneliness,social life, their children, mother-in-law, investments et al. Stella helps Roger in wife-hunting. And finally when Roger marries Samantha, he calls up Stella in heaven to say one last goodbye. I felt a lump rise in my throat as he decides to let go of the past and Stella reluctantly acknowledges the fact that she has moved away from him to a different world. I started wondering if I would be able to let go of someone I loved, that too after some 30 years of married life. If for some weird, quirky reason, I was still having conversations from heaven with my husband on earth, I think I'd burn with jealousy if he marries again.

Stella: "Someday-not very soon- but someday I hope I see you up here."
Roger: "And Samantha"

13 comments:

Agnibarathi said...

*Sigh* Girls and jealousy...;)

Anonymous said...

I liked your postings at thinnairattai. Pls do update it frequently. thodarattum ungal tamizhl pani.

RS said...

Yes, I had the feeling the Ellen De...book was nothing out of the ordinary although good for light bedtime reading. Stelle in Heaven was different! For some reason it reminded me of R.K.Narayanan's book...The English Teacher? Actually, am not even sure if I got the title right, it had a story about a man who lost his wife and she communicates with him...very very different from this book though :)

Robbie said...

Subha:
Very interesting story, the story seems to dwell heavily on buddhist philosophy of letting go of your attachments. Death has taken away two of my best friends and my grandfather away from me in the past, they still dwell in my heart. But, every morning when I think about what I should achieve in life I remember my grandfather, he keeps telling me to move on in life. If you really love someone you will let go of them for the best. Love is the most selfish as well as the most altruistic feeling. It is a true paradox.We want the person we love but also would not hesitate to sacrifice our love for their well being if we really love them...

Robbie said...

SUBHA:
THIS IS TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOU HAVE BEEN BLOGROLLED BY SCIENTIFIC MASALA FOR VIOLATING@!#$$%:P

Robbie said...

You have to break that code for me to certify that you read the blind watch maker:P

Prabhu said...

"padikkattila baanu" ( dhil padathula vivek soke!) maathiri "sorgathil stella".

Ganesh said...

hey I thought you will be updating your tamil blog, looks like its the other way round.
So should I change my link to point to ur english one !?

Arvind Srinivasan said...

the hopeless romantic inside self never dies - or does it ? ;)

Narayanan Venkitu said...

The last two lines were very touchy.

I am glad that Samantha found a good guy.!

I like Art Buchwald...thanks to his columns which used to come in THE HINDU.

I thought he was funny...What I read here tells me that he can write serious stuff too.!

Ellen - I am clueless.! I didn't know she can write.!

Aatma said...

Well thats what you do when u love somebody, u want them to be happy where ever they are and Subha if u ever loved the person, u will overcome your jealousy to do what is the right thing for them.

Try reading Nick Hornby's books - u will start seeing life in a different way. Through his dark humour he tells u about life as it really is. No romantization - True love with all its weakness.

Venky Krishnamoorthy said...

You should be a very patient individual to read Ellen

Maayaa said...

eppo next one????