Ryan Lobo

Ryan Lobo is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker based in Bangalore.

His work has appeared in National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Boston Review, The Caravan, and Bidoun Magazine.

Lobo's new novel is Mr. Iyer Goes to War.

Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. His reply:

I am currently reading several books both fiction and non-fiction.

I also just finished reading The Poetry of Derek Walcott, much of it at 2:30 AM while feeding my one month old daughter. Such powerful writing. A line struck me '..and the doors themselves, usually no wider than coffins'. I recalled a friend telling me the story of a maid who had criticized an apartment building because its stairwell was not large enough for a coffin and it struck me that the architect had forgotten about the possibility of death for the residents when building that building. Such optimism!

I am currently in the middle of the book Voltaire's Bastards by John Ralston Saul. He writes that age of reason ended the powers of kings and courts also aimed to create a more just civilization. However, Saul postulates that the symbiosis between reason and morality has been destroyed and leaders today, bereft of an ethical framework, have turned the age of reason into something that it's founders might abhor. He explores the schism between democratic principles and modern governments. The going is pretty slow on this book as i find I have to re read portions to really understand what is going on but a lot of it seems to have deep relevance to what is happening in the world today.

I just re read A Confederacy of Dunces a book I enjoyed immensely. I found myself laughing out loud throughout the book, even waking up the baby on one occasion. After reading it I even tried reading Ignatius's favorite book, Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy but gave up after the first few paragraphs as it is written in old English. Here's an excerpt 'And all naturall things reioyseth at theyr returne to their owne nature. And nothynge hath any other prescribed order, but that onely that hath ioyned the begynnyng to the ende..' Needless to say but my head spun, unlike Ignatius J. Reilly's.

I also recently finished Paul Beatty's The Sellout. I met him and his lovely partner Althea at a literary festival and had a most interesting conversation with him about films like How to Train your Dragon and Jurassic Park and what they might reveal about America. I bought his book shortly thereafter and found it terrifyingly funny and sad.

Finally, on a stranger note, I just read The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl as inspiration for writing stories for my daughter for when she grows up a bit.

Visit Ryan Lobo's website.

My Book, The Movie: Mr. Iyer Goes to War.

--Marshal Zeringue