This is the first time that I tried Anita Nair. I had read such glowing praise for her writing that when I actually read one of her books I was quite disappointed. The subject matter was mildly relevant, but I am not sure if a whole novel was required to answer the question that the author poses at the outset: "Can a woman live without a man to support her?".
The storyline is pretty straightforward: the protagonist, an orthodox Tam girl, omits getting married because she was too busy supporting her family. The family soon becomes busy living their own lives, and she is left feeling lonely and miserable. One fine morning, she amasses the courage to defy tradition and venture out, looking for an answer to the million dollar question. She takes a train journey to Kanyakumari from Bangalore Cantt., and travels in the Ladies Coupe. She meets four other women in the coupe, and elicits their perspectives on the matter based on their own experiences. Her journey that night apparently provides her with the answer - and while I might be wrong, from her actions, what I understood was that her conclusion was that women cannot live without men to support them.
I think the writer intended the opposite effect, though - I cannot imagine a woman writer of fame doling out anything else. What got me however was that the protagonist decides to call an old flame whom she had almost gotten married to right at the end of the book. Why do that, if the conclusion was that women can do just fine without men?
What I liked best about the book was perhaps the familiarity of the settings. It is set in South India, mostly centered around places I am familiar enough with, narrating stories that I can relate to.
What I did not find was mastery - I found myself getting bored every now and then while reading through some parts of the book. Perhaps the subject was not really worthy of a novel and should have been limited to just a short story to have more punch. I also think that the subject matter is somewhat outdated, given where women are in society at the moment. I think such appearances only mattered among the middle and upper classes of society to begin with, and they have mostly moved beyond such concepts by now. Perhaps this is why I found the book boring. If the fundamental premise is something that doesnt hold your attention, it is unsurprising that the details put one to sleep.
I wont be reading much of Anita Nair for a while.
The storyline is pretty straightforward: the protagonist, an orthodox Tam girl, omits getting married because she was too busy supporting her family. The family soon becomes busy living their own lives, and she is left feeling lonely and miserable. One fine morning, she amasses the courage to defy tradition and venture out, looking for an answer to the million dollar question. She takes a train journey to Kanyakumari from Bangalore Cantt., and travels in the Ladies Coupe. She meets four other women in the coupe, and elicits their perspectives on the matter based on their own experiences. Her journey that night apparently provides her with the answer - and while I might be wrong, from her actions, what I understood was that her conclusion was that women cannot live without men to support them.
I think the writer intended the opposite effect, though - I cannot imagine a woman writer of fame doling out anything else. What got me however was that the protagonist decides to call an old flame whom she had almost gotten married to right at the end of the book. Why do that, if the conclusion was that women can do just fine without men?
What I liked best about the book was perhaps the familiarity of the settings. It is set in South India, mostly centered around places I am familiar enough with, narrating stories that I can relate to.
What I did not find was mastery - I found myself getting bored every now and then while reading through some parts of the book. Perhaps the subject was not really worthy of a novel and should have been limited to just a short story to have more punch. I also think that the subject matter is somewhat outdated, given where women are in society at the moment. I think such appearances only mattered among the middle and upper classes of society to begin with, and they have mostly moved beyond such concepts by now. Perhaps this is why I found the book boring. If the fundamental premise is something that doesnt hold your attention, it is unsurprising that the details put one to sleep.
I wont be reading much of Anita Nair for a while.
