What can you say about a thirty-four-year-old book which is immortal?
That it’s beautiful. And brilliant.
===================
Sometimes, life puzzles me. Correction. Life always puzzles me. We come here alone. And go back alone. Yet, in the period between life and death, we experience a plethora of emotions - joy, sorry, jubilation, misery. And love.
How simple it is. Arrange four letters and form a word which signifies the simplest emotion of life. Yet, the most complex.
Somehow, this word tends to be the most misused word in contemporary conversation. Whether it’s liking, friendship or pure lust, it is fashionable to claim that one is ’in love’.
For instance, take the average teen. He copies his homework from one gal, stares at another. He flirts with a third girl and goes out with the fourth. And then, he mutters the three same words to each of them, as nonchalantly as someone who is commenting on the weather.
Hot ... er, no, I am not talking about Lara Dutta in the promo which I just saw. I was also commenting on the weather. Er ...
Yet, in the midst of nations being bombed by nincompoops who call themselves presidents and divorces being more common than marriages (er, is that possible?), most humans remain humans. Humans, who maintain the belief that someday, they would find true, immortal love.
Which brings us to Erich Segal’s Love Story - a journey into true love. Love, which is immortal and remains even after separation.
The novel has of course been an inspiration for a number of motion pictures - Akhiyon Ke Jharokon Se, being my favourite among them. Yet, no cinematic portrayal has been able to match the serenity, languidity and poignancy of this literary masterpiece.
To say the truth, I used to shy away from this book since I had the misconception that it would turn out to be a mushy ride all the way. However, spurred on after reading Segal’s masterful ’The Class’ (do check my review for the same, publicity zindabad!), I managed to acquire a copy of Love Story, only to realise how stupid my earlier apprehensions were.
Primarily, Love Story is a love story. This remains one of the greatest observations I have made and I believe that even Einstein (who is no one but me, punar janam, you see ...) could have made such a profound observation.
Paradoxically, I would call Love Story as a celebration of tragedy. Yet, the touching, heart-breaking climax apart, the book is one of the most breezy, amusing novels you would read. Subtle humour in the conversations between the principal characters gives Segal brownie points as he immaculately infuses humour with grief, love with melancholy.
Oliver Barrett IV is a wealthy Harvard student with a jaw-dropping lineage of ancestors. He has only two passions in life - sport and Jenny. Jenny Cavilleri, a Radcliffe music major is a character whose fate we are informed about in the first line of the book. In spite of the inevitable culmination of her character, the sense of humour possesed by her is beautiful which adds to the effect as the reader enjoys her casual one-liners, but remembers that her wisecracking, peaceful and jovial nature will eventually culminate in premature death.
Love Story is all about the relationship shared by these two characters. And more. Oliver’s estranged relationship with his father amd Phil Cavilleri’s character are two of the other highlights of the book.
The book may be merely 115 pages long, but do not expect to complete it within an hour as the number of pages might make you believe. Replete with poignancy, the narrative is sprinkled with moments which force you to pause and think. And daydream.
It’s rumoured that Oliver’s character was inspired by the life of Al Gore. Thank God Segal wasn’t inspired by Gore’s opponent who is famous for bombing Eye Rack!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
I repeat my profound observation. Love story is a love story. Kindly comment how brilliant that observation was!