The 2 kind of writings and writers!

Yesterday while talking to a friend of mine, we somehow got on to the topic of current bestsellers. And then gradually our conversation lead to different authors and their work. And in between, emerged the name of Chetan Bhagat which was obviously not strange until my friend became furious and said "He, he is a bloody idiot who only writes (now) so that his books can be converted into movies..." I went silent for a moment, because I like Chetan Bhagat. I like his writings, his books, his articles in TOI and yes, needless to mention his courage for being a very prominent and regular participant in the country's affairs specially the political ones. But then, I gave a thought to what my friend said... and I felt as if there was some reality in what he said. You don't get to see the same humor, the same passion in Chetan Bhagat's later books that was there in his initially published novels. Though I just loved all his books. I read his stuff when I really want to take a break from heavy reading! And yes, his writings does a magic in reviving you, freshen you up, it sort of prepares you up again for some grave, loaded, intense reading in the next go.

On the other hand, there are virtuoso writers like Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Rohinton Mistry, Khalid Hosseini whose work is just too intense. They are just and just remarkably awesome! And you know what makes their writing different: their passion. I believe they don't write for money or for fame or just for the heck of putting some words on paper. They write because its their passion, their obsession. I am sure there would be a very strong fervor, some vigorous zeal that helps or rather forces them to transform their thoughts into words! They are, no doubt class apart. 

But yes, to draw a comparison between these 2 categories is just not justified. The former ones (Chetan Bhagat's), they write for the masses, to please them. They write for people, which is again not wrong. The latter category write for themselves, to quench their thirst, their urge for writing! And so, obviously its just impossible to label one of them with the tag of right and the other with the wrong one.

No doubt, the books and novels of the latter category provides a new dimension to your thinking, it just forces you to think about different parameters of living. They just compel you, push you to think about those untouched, unimaginable aspects of life. There writing just takes you deep somewhere, somewhere in the world of illusion. When you read their stuff, you are forcefully dragged into a different universe where you imagine the whole scene happening in front of you! These guys should actually be called as artists because they fall in the same category! They are just unusual, just unique in their own way. At times, I feel there is some different kind of special hormone that gets released in the bodies of such people or maybe they have some unusual and rare kind of chemical that gets released in their brains and makes them genius! Their thoughts are unbridled, uncontrolled, audacious and yet, balanced. 

I mean you read, The God of small things and believe me, it will shake you from within. I have read it twice and can again read it! Its just unbelieving awesome! Pick any novel of any legend and you will find that one thing is just so common in all of them and that is the intensity, the depth! Read The inheritance of loss and Hullabaloo in the guava orchard! They will blow your mind away! And yes go for A fine balance, incredible work from Mistry, I believe! And I do not even need to mention how superb are Hosseini's The kite runner and The thousand splendid suns! I would also love to include Adiga's White Tiger and Manil Suri's The Age of Shiva in this category! What an amazing writing!

By the latest Shiva Triology, Tripathi has actually taken imagination all together to a different level. I mean these guys are genius! Just genius. There is no other word that can be used for them. There work is a treat to mind, to heart and to soul! Their work actually has the power to go deep down your nerves and then travel to your mind, to your heart and then, they just touch your soul that actually leads the creation of those shivers within you. I also want to add the name of Erich Segal in this category, though I know many people will not agree with me! But I love his novels. He has given a new meaning to love! He has... through his writings! I just and just love all his books. 

I don't know if you have read Betty Mahmoody's Not without my daughter. Even that's one of most intense novels I have ever read! Its beautiful! May be because its based on a true story. And you can find that honesty in each and every word of that book. And then there is work of Alex Rutherford, The Mogul's series, which is incredible! And needless to mention Ayn Rand is class apart even in this category...

I believe in novels, there are 2 main ingredients: The style of writing and the stuff: the content: the story (whatever you call it). In the intense kind of novels, both the things are balanced, they are taken care off equally... While in the other category (the former one), if you notice, the author just concentrates on one. For eg if you see Chetan Bhagat's novels, his concentration is always on the story, and never on the style, the literature, the words he choose. Same is with novels like Life is what you make it, Of tattoos and tabboos, Almost single (its an awesome one!) and few of Tarquin hall's novels, twenties girl by Kinsella, Remember me? etc. These novels are for the masses. You will not find the quality of literature in these books, but the stories that is woven in them is just mind blowing! Even novels like Chankaya's Chant, Asura are simply out of the world. I don't know in which category to put them in. They definitely do not belong to the first genre of classic kinds, but do not even completely belong to the other ones (the light ones) because the intensity of matter in them is just too high for the standards of this category.

Authors that fall in the former category are actually writers. Its not that, they are not genius. They are genius in their genre, in their arena, in their own way. I am sure almost each one of us would have loved reading the three mistakes of life, five point someone, 2 states and all the others that I have mentioned above. What else a reader look forward to?

For me, I read the former category novels whenever I am overloaded with some heavy reading! I read them to make myself relieved from the burden of thinking and imagining and yes shedding tears at times. 

And so I believe that the authors in all the categories are geniuses in some or the other way. Some write for themselves and others, they write for people, for the masses. Some write for their passion, others simply write because they know they are good at expressing their thinking in simple words. Some write because of their love for literature, others for their love of becoming famous. None of these can be and should be criticized. The former ones are writers and the others are artists! They both are good at their genre... They both are awesome in their way!