Friday, June 22, 2012

TrainSpotting | Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe

Tales of Mystery and Imagination on the Mumbai Local.
Worth musing over, isn't it?

This column on The Caterpillar Cafe has been slow on the uptake because of one reason only -- I've been too shy to take pictures of people reading books on trains. I keep thinking of what I would say if the shoe was on the other foot and someone were to approach me with something like:

"Hey, can I take a picture of your book/ bag/ beer belly?"

"Sure, why not. What's it for? Where will it appear. Will this make me famous? Are you famous? What camera do you use? I ask a lot of questions, don't I? Hey, where are you going? The station isn't for another mile or so... Oh..."

Ok, I've been psyching myself about this for no reason at all. So here's a toast to the return of TrainSpotting where I report back to this blog with the coolest and most curious books I see people, ladies mainly because I don't do 'General compartments', read on the Mumbai Local.

This week, I met an 18-year-old named Praneeta from St Xavier's College who has English Literature as one the three modules for her Bachelors. I spotted her reading a book with a dark cover when I entered the train, and suddenly, my tummy was twisting and turning, guilt can do that to you, in reminiscence of my sweet sweet baby, TrainSpotting. So I decided to untangle those knots, and got closer to see that old skull-face there was actually a really cool print edition of Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. What can I say, I can't help but judge a book by its cover.



It's not your quintessential train read if you ask me -- 
the language, dialogue and themes require a quiet spot in the corner with your undivided attention -- which is why conversation with me might have been a welcome change for Praneeta. She loves food -- recommended this amazing Tibetan Chinese dive in Malad called Sernyaa -- and a trilogy called His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. Did you know that the first book of the series, Northern Lights, was adapted into Hollywood film, The Golden Compass? Of course you know what I'm referring to -- Nicole Kidman caresses a monkey, Daniel Craig is just as, erm, attractive in a parallel universe.


So there you have it : two birds with one stone, especially because I eat for a living and read for fun.

Sorry for the long hiatus, dear reader. I promise to keep this place buzzing week in and out with a lot more reviews, rants, musings and entries from The TrainSpotting Series.

2 comments:

  1. Aha, love the movie and your column. And this article for reasons not unknown.

    You still owe me your share of recommendations :) so keep in touch.

    Love and all that jazz.
    Pranita.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well hello again! I'm actually going to do a post really soon on all my recommendations. Been a little out of the world of print and pages. I can, however, recommend The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, to get you started :) Keep in touch and all that jazz.

      Afsha :)

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