Klik på en miniature for at gå til Google Books
Indlæser... The Ghosts of Meenambakkam (udgave 2016)af Ashokamitran (Forfatter)
Work InformationThe Ghosts of Meenambakkam af Ashokamitran
Ingen Indlæser...
Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
One dark and stormy night, Dalpathado unexpectedly crosses paths with the narrator at Meenambakkam airport. The faceless middle-aged man from Dalpathado's past is there mourning the unexpected death of his daughter in a plane crash. After they spend a dangerous night in each other's company, lashed by rain and reminiscence, neither man remains the same. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsIngen
Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerVurderingGennemsnit:
Er det dig?Bliv LibraryThing-forfatter. |
There's something unmistakably cinematic about the present->sharp cut to flashback->present structure of the narrative. On the last page, I found myself thinking not about the narrator, but about Sylvia and Dhalpathado. And for some reason found myself singing Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division, a strangely apt tune for the tragic end. Their tangent injected a lot of drama into the story without being mentioned too often, and it's used expertly at the novel's conclusion. I think that's what going to stick with me, along with the Lalitha flashback and the narrator's regret about not knowing his daughter.
Sidenote #1: Ashokamitran & Vivek Shanbagh
In the preface, translator N. Kalyan Raman classifies Ashokamitran's narrative technique as "documentary realism". His description of the term however reminds me of another celebrated South Indian author, Vivek Shanbagh. I loved his 2017 book Ghachar Ghochar for it's subdued narration, simple prose, and as Raman puts it in the preface of this book, "for describing the surface of events - choosing the details with great care but never spelling out what they might mean". That's true for both of them, and both of them use the art of leaving things unsaid in different ways. While Ashokmitran's generous with the blunt emotional triggers and puts unspoken tangents to great use, Shanbagh is more subtle and a closer proponent of "documentary realism".
Sidenote #2: Cannot do the reader the injustice of not linking this brilliant profile of Ashokamitran by Arvind Adiga. Enjoy! ( )