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A J CRONIN
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| The Judas Tree - A J Cronin Review by Hasmita Chander David Moray is a man who lives the life that people dream of. He lives in a luxurious villa in the mountains overlooking the Alps beside a lovely lake, has devoted servants to take care of his every need and pleasure and consumes only the best food and drink. A doctor by qualification, he has retired early--why not? He has a never-ending source of wealth, well-invested in bonds and property, he owns some of the most sought-after paintings, china, and antiques. He enjoys his good life and looks much younger than his actual forty-five years. A charming and genuine person, always aware of how to please others, he is lucky in his career and in love. Yet why does he live alone now in this wealth and comfort? Why does he seek to escape his past? How did he achieve this wealth when he started off as a poor medical student living in a ramshackle room? A J Cronin never disappoints. You read on and on, unable to put the book down, perplexed, wondering, but always interested to know what happens next. First published in 1961, this story is timeless, just as Cronin's books usually are. The plot is always intriguing, and just when you begin to guess what is going to happen, there's a twist that stops you short, and you have to hold the author's hand again and let him lead you through the story, until you begin to guess again, only to reach another twist. He never lets the reader down, and always keeps the story moving. And like all good books, gives you something to think about at the end of it. This is a classic worth reading--and owning.
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| A Pocketful of Rye - A J Cronin Review by Hasmita Chander I was lucky enough to find this book at the British Library. If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now: I love this writer all the more because I can simply pick up a book by him without even opening it, knowing it will be good. I started reading the book almost prepared to be disappointed in this case because I found the situation and characters similar to the last book of his that I'd recently read, The Judas Tree. A Scottish doctor in Switzerland using a lot of German, and living a comfortable but undeserved life, working cures for children he can't stand but pretends to be hearty with. The narration is in first person, and could well serve as a study on character-building for writers. The narrator is always the character and never the author. It is incredibly difficult to present and do justice to a character who has big faults but is basically a nice person, and show it through himself as a narrator. Cronin does it through the main character, Carrol's small selfless and then selfish acts, the words he says contrasted with his thoughts. He chauffeurs the story masterfully, never letting the reader feel we've guessed what's coming next and at one point when we do, we find later that he had meant for us to guess. Another thing Cronin is good at is telling the character's past while continuing the present, and making both relevant and significant to the other. The "turning-point" of the story that fiction writers talk about so much is beautifully done in this book, as is the choosing of the title. This is the first book of Cronin's (or any book read recently) that I read so quickly. It just kept me turning the pages. The language is comfortably modern and the story is as relevant today as it will be, I guess, always. It is not just about a romantic situation, but about a person, his character, his way of thinking, his priorities, and attitude. No wonder that, although it feels like you're reading a regular mere-story-novel, it becomes, by the end, a classic, a treasure you want to buy and keep and re-read. As a writer, I am all the more in awe because I know, as do many of us writers, how difficult it is to craft a story--the plot, characters and story with such superb control. I think this book is as good or better than his popular classic, The Citadel. |
