Fiction, 1932
There are three things I love deeply: funny sentences, gorgeous shots, and absurdist humour. The past week (and a bit before) has not been the easiest time. After feeling incredibly overstimulated and simultaneously burnt out by everything and everyone, an elixir came to me last night in the form of a novel and a film. In case you’re in a similar situation, perhaps this can be the tonic for you. If you’re not, shut up and take it.
Laughter in the Dark follows an incredibly boring yet rich man, Albinus, as he falls in love (or leers and gropes creepily) with a young girl, Margot. She has dreams of becoming an actress, and he is bored with his monotonous marriage. The story is one you’ve heard before. Nabokov’s writing, however, not only levitates an otherwise sparse plot but electrifies it with such energy that reading sentences felt like the intellectual equivalent of gulping Redbull. It is simply, such a darkly funny read. If I had to summarise it in a sentence, I would say: lusting men pathetically amble through empty rooms, only to stub their toes in every doorframe they cross. And don’t they deserve it?
Last night, when I came back to my room after spending a full day at Hauz Khas, I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I had reached the zenith of overstimulation, and all I wanted was a good film. When I began Taste of Cherry, I could immediately tell that it was going to be incredible cinema. But the coda left me with such amazing bewilderment, that I jumped out of bed at 1 am, turned to my non-existent roommate who was having a sleepover elsewhere and shouted, “Yes! Of course! That is exactly it!” I may be deranged, but I am accurate in this week’s pairing.
Song - Strangers by The Kinks
Film - Taste of Cherry
Thank you for this—great novel I now want to reread, great song I want to hear again and a movie to watch.