A BURNING - Megha Majumdar
Kolkatta. Three characters. An economically backward Muslim girl, Jivan, who lives in the slums and has started working at Pantaloons showroom in a mall is of the hope that her job would be the means to fulfill her dream, not that of becoming not rich but somehow rising up to the status of middle-class. On a train journey back home she witnesses a terrorist attack on a train and on reaching home, posts on FB 'if the police didn't help ordinary people like you and me, if the police watched them die, doesn't that mean the government is also a terrorist?'. A post that gets her charged for having instigated the attack because she had a suspicious looking bag with her during the journey and her social media history reveals her having chat with a muslim terrorist recruiter. the second character is that of the transgender lovely, who overcomes years of being shamed by society by channeling her passion for acting, gets a chance to act in a top director's film but her statement in court that jivan was teaching her english and the suspicious bag was her books could derail her chances of making it into the movies. the third character is PT Sir, who finds his spot in the world when he makes a good impression to the upcoming right-wing extremist female politician and follows his advice to go to villages to conduct rallies and stir up the hindu people on petty issues like beef and mosque. when the female politician becomes cm, the PT sir is asked to take on the education ministry, provided he does not make any positive statement in the court about his former student jivan.
the plot has lots of referances to the present scenario. i felt the characters could have been developed a bit more. the fresh thing about the novel is the structure. chapters are named after the three lead characters. on top of that, three different language narratives have been used for the characters. for jivan, we have an autobiographical narrative, for lovely there is a conscious level narrative and for PT sir, it is a distant observer narrative. the author has given a complete changeover for the way the different characters approach their chapters.
kaanaruthu kelkkaruthu parayaruthu- td ramakrishnan. article 370 and kashmir lockdown aanu prameyam. nannayi work cheythenkil international reach kittiyene pakshe thattikkoottu aayippoyi. bhayankara bore. vayichu theerkan paadu pedum.
Recently vayicha pusthakangal
Delhi - Solid, a good read. ettavum ishtapetta malayalam pusthakangalil onnu
Varanasi - Average. Mukundante haridwarum delhiyumayi ariyathe compare cheythu pokum. far below those two for me. Non linear narration meticulous ayi cheyan shramichitundekilum bookumayi emotional connect kitiyila. orupadu characters ullathukondu alpam confusingum anu. geetha ena kadapatram oke evdiuno potti mulacha pole. oru rushed feel anu mukundante nritham oke pole. an opportunity lost. Randamoozhathinu sesham MT eyuthiya novel.
Rithubhedangalude Parithoshikam - Tedious. Nakashtarangale Kavalile Prabhu ena kadaptram thane anu ithile protagonistum...valare depressing ayoru feel...chumma negativity kuthi kayattia pole...novel papaettante weak area anen thonunu...udhakappola nanayathu athoru plotine matram munnirthi pokunilla enullakondanu...ivdeyum kadha keturippilatathum balishavum aayippoyi...oru extra marital affair oke neritu kandu anubhavicha aalude krithi pole thonni...100 pagese ulluvenkilum vayichu theerkan budhimutti...
THE CITY AND THE SEA - Raj Kamal Jha
The plot is divided between two places. First, The Sea - a resort in the Baltic Sea where we go along with the dream like hallucinations of a woman, for whom this holiday trip was a dream for long. The Sea is where things discarded are collected and stored. Nothing can be created or destroyed there. Second, The City - a school-going boy in Delhi worries about his mother who has been missing for two days. He then goes out searching for her. The plot navigates between these two worlds. Slowly we realise, the narrative is inspired by the Nirbhaya incident. The lady in The Sea portions is under coma in a hospital bed, after being the victim of a state bus gang-rape. Through the search of the boy, who is helped by a mystical character who has reached over from the sea, we get to realise that the world we are inhabiting is not at all fit for the boys growing in it. The story ends with a shocker. After finishing the book, I am in two minds about it. Frankly, the hallucination chapters were lagging a lot. I mean, it is tough to write about after-life (coma) events. Rarely has a novel successfully articulated that. The search chapters had characters coming in and going out with no particularities which makes you feel a bit disjointed. The writer has purposefully chosen a narrative of his own which is languid and that can seem a bit tedious.
Khabar
Cheria book anu. Core plot interesting ayi thonni. Oru point vare tharakedillathe kondupokan sadhichu.eluppam aswadhikkan sadhikuna simple language anu. pkshe pineedu bhayankara unconvincing aayippoyi. Prathyekichu aa theatre sequenceinu seshamula bhagangal. petenu thane thrilleril ninnu romamceileku drift ayipoyi.pine orupadu chodyangal bakki nirthikondu thanne end cheyukayum cheythu.
Poerty Killer
ottayirippinu vayichu theerkkavuna nala mystery. serial killing anu theme. oru cinema kanumpolathe anubhavam. kola cheyanula karanam alpam thatikootayi poyi. vaychu kayinju pirakileku sancharikumbol kure bhagangal apraskthamayi marunathu kanum. enkilum oru fast, time pass read enna reethiyil ok anu, evideyum bore adi thonunilla.
Manjaveyil Maranangal
main plot valare weak ayi thonni. prathyekichu ithinte climax valare nirashappeduthi. nanayenu thoniyathu sub plots anu. puraskaram kitunna eyuthukaranod thonuna vidwesham. ellarum accuse cheyumbol christyku thonuna gulit. oru lolan anen thonunu benyamin, athukond anaganathe bhagangal oke nanayi vanitund. padathil narrator nadathuna train yatra , athu valare nanayanu vivarichirikunathu. pkshe sambavam enthanenu vechal athu eduthu kalanjal polum bookine ottum badhikila ennulathanu. itreyum valia build-upinu ottum justify cheyunila ending, avasanathe chapter keeri eduth enu vare samshayichu pokum. pine coincidence-inte perali anu. Narrator aare meet cheyunuvo avaronnunkl iyalude suhruthi allenkil classil padichavaro ayi marunnu. athoru pattern akumenu varumen thonni.
Verukal
Geethayude characterisation oke valare mosham. adyathe kurachu pages vayichappol oru mega serial pole akumen karuthi, engane theerkum enu orthu vishamichu, pkshe pineedu nattil pokunnidam thottu kuzhapamila. pulide jeevitanubhavam ayathukond thane oru satyasandatha thonnikum. athilupari eyuthu atra mikachatayi thoniyila. oru simplistic/manipulative narration ayathu kond than bhooribagam perk ishtamayi enanu enik thoniyathu.Overrated.
Kaalam
Nala detailing and language. Alpam samayam eduthanu theerthatenkilum it was worth reading. Oru sharashari malayalilku ipolum connect akunna orupadu bhagangal und enathanu ee noveline ippolum prasakthamakunathu. Pine unni namboodiri, cheriamma polathe orupidi nala kadhapatrangalum. Krishnam kutty nalloru kadapatramanu. Madhavan mamayude portions comparatively alpam izhanjtayi thonni. Chila idathu itreyun detailing vendiyiruno, enu thonni. Pulli enthukondanu devune kalyalan kayikkan nirbadhitanakunathu. Sumitra any angeru kalyalam kayikan pokunathu enula theetidharana ale sumitraye sethuil ninnu akattunath. Ee angle atra convincing akunila enik. Sethuvum achanun thamilula bond moving ayi thonni.
Last edited by bhat; 05-04-2021 at 09:57 AM.