Em and the big Hoom by Jerry Pinto

"Em and the big Hoom" by Jerry Pinto. This book is published by Aleph book company in 2013 and has 240 pages. It has won 2013 Crossword book award and Hindu literary award.

Author and his sister call their mother 'Em' (Probably for Imelda) and their father 'The Big Hoom'. Em is special. She is mentally ill. Em's mental illness is not a continuous state. She suffers bouts of depression. Em says that a black drip starts inside her. She hears voices that ask her to do certain things, things including killing herself.

Mental illness makes the person suffer, makes the spouse suffer and also makes the family suffer. The family becomes devoid of relationships with outside world. They become a closed unit. They have to be continuously ready for the depression attack. Children live in constant fear that these genes may be there in them too.

It's tiresome & excruciatingly painful and wears you down emotionally. There is a constant fear of attempted or, even worse, successful suicide. The family suffers and they can't explain the suffering. The person suffers much more and can not even explain what is happening.

The story is narrated through discussions, letters and memories. Em understand that her mental illness is a curse but can't help it. She is brutally frank with her kids and husband. Big Hoom is a character that loves his wife, cares for her and is rock solid. He is the anchor of the family and prevents the family from flowing away in the flood of Em's illness. Authors sister has to step in as matriarch every now and then and author is the free floating element of the house.

What would be the response of family when such a person dies a natural death? Joy? Sorrow? Relief? Emptiness? All of above? Or a combination of above?

Author has delivered a noir nonchalantly. Writing style is fluid. Though not much happens, readers are glued to the book.

A good book. Recommend reading if you don't mind the genre.

Veronica decides to die by Paulo Coelho

"Veronica decides to die" by Paulo Coelho.  This book was first published in 1998. A film, based on this book, was released in 2009.

Veronica, a deluded  beautiful young lady from Slovenia, decides to die by committing suicide. She takes pills but finds herself in a hospital (sanitorium). Here she meets a number of people. The main characters are Zedka a lady who is victim of depression, Marie who was once a well known lawyer before she started getting panic attacks and Eduard who is a schizophrenic and had visions of paradise. They are treated by Doctor Igor, who keeps experimenting on his patients in hope to become next Einstein.

Veronica is told that although she had escaped suicide, her heart has become weak and she would not live more than a week. This is when she forges relationships with the three inmates. She escapes Villet and elopes with Eduard.

What happens next? Is anyone cured? Is anyone released? What does Veronica learn? What are the experiments? Does Doctor Igor prove anything?

Paulo Coelho is a writer who writes at a very different level as compared to other writers. His books are full of philosophy and spirituality and he has a knack of making it simple for the readers.

In this book he has shown what the bland life of a typical young European lady would look like, from becoming young to becoming old, in few pages very effectively. He has also provided answer to 'what it means to be crazy' in a couple of pages beautifully and we can not contest it.

The book explores the lives of mad and deemed mad people. He defines madness as something that is different from the majority. The book asks who is mad? The people branded as mad or the rest of the world? The book ends on a positive note.

This book has a catchy title. Although this book is not bad, it is not as good as some of Paulo's other books. Veronica, the central character becomes a secondary character in the middle portion of the book.

You can give it a miss.