Book Review 79
Name Of The Book : The Unseeing Idol Of Light (Nethronmeelanam in Malayalam)
Author : K. R. Meera translated by Ministhy S.
Publisher : Penguin Random House India
Year : 2018
Category : Fiction
Review :
One fateful day, Deepti vanishes mysteriously. Baffled by her disappearance and consumed with grief, Prakash, her husband, loses his eyesight. For Prakash, the inexplicable loss of his wife is doubly painful because she was pregnant with their child. And no amount of consolation can bring him solace in the years that ensue. Into this void steps Rajani, a woman with a tormented past. Despite her initial disdain of Prakash, she steadily finds herself drawn to him. And although an intense desire brings them together, Prakash is unable to give Rajani the love she craves just as he is powerless to dispel the luminous memory of Deepti. But where will this grave obsession lead? The Unseeing Idol of Light is a haunting tale that explores love and loss, blindness and sight, obsession and suffering-and the poignant interconnections between them.
The book begins with Prakash who is searching for his wife Deepti who went missing ten years ago. Deepti was pregnant at the time when she disappeared. The shock of this incident leaves Prakash blind. The story thus proceeds and we immerse ourselves in the quest for Deepti. Till the end, there is a lot of suspense and I was really hooked to the book. The book is eventful with a lot of twists and a complex story with various characters. Meera’s attention to detail is simply brilliant. The way she plays with the symbol of bat throughout the book is intriguing. The two female characters of this book – Deepti and Rajani who never meet are exceptional. They are both connected through Prakash, yet they are much more than that. Prakash’s father is another interesting character whom we decipher bit by bit as the book proceeds. Blindness which is used as a metaphor in this book is subtle yet powerful. One of the characteristics of her writing is the author’s use of the imagery of death and darkness in depth. The beauty of this book has not been lost in the translation. The translator has done a brilliant job and the book conveys the complete emotions of the original text. One of the underlying themes is how the society views women and how women are bound by the society. These are seen through the experiences of different characters over different time periods, each having unique qualities. The depth of the storyline and each of the character is unique. This is a book which we can read again and again, and each time, we will find a new dimension to it which we might have missed before. I marked a lot of quotes from this book but my favourite is ‘When some women leave, they also take with them the sight of those men who had loved them.’ This is both literally and figuratively correct in the context of the book.
Rating : 5/5
Name Of The Book : The Unseeing Idol Of Light (Nethronmeelanam in Malayalam)
Author : K. R. Meera translated by Ministhy S.
Publisher : Penguin Random House India
Year : 2018
Category : Fiction
Review :
One fateful day, Deepti vanishes mysteriously. Baffled by her disappearance and consumed with grief, Prakash, her husband, loses his eyesight. For Prakash, the inexplicable loss of his wife is doubly painful because she was pregnant with their child. And no amount of consolation can bring him solace in the years that ensue. Into this void steps Rajani, a woman with a tormented past. Despite her initial disdain of Prakash, she steadily finds herself drawn to him. And although an intense desire brings them together, Prakash is unable to give Rajani the love she craves just as he is powerless to dispel the luminous memory of Deepti. But where will this grave obsession lead? The Unseeing Idol of Light is a haunting tale that explores love and loss, blindness and sight, obsession and suffering-and the poignant interconnections between them.
The book begins with Prakash who is searching for his wife Deepti who went missing ten years ago. Deepti was pregnant at the time when she disappeared. The shock of this incident leaves Prakash blind. The story thus proceeds and we immerse ourselves in the quest for Deepti. Till the end, there is a lot of suspense and I was really hooked to the book. The book is eventful with a lot of twists and a complex story with various characters. Meera’s attention to detail is simply brilliant. The way she plays with the symbol of bat throughout the book is intriguing. The two female characters of this book – Deepti and Rajani who never meet are exceptional. They are both connected through Prakash, yet they are much more than that. Prakash’s father is another interesting character whom we decipher bit by bit as the book proceeds. Blindness which is used as a metaphor in this book is subtle yet powerful. One of the characteristics of her writing is the author’s use of the imagery of death and darkness in depth. The beauty of this book has not been lost in the translation. The translator has done a brilliant job and the book conveys the complete emotions of the original text. One of the underlying themes is how the society views women and how women are bound by the society. These are seen through the experiences of different characters over different time periods, each having unique qualities. The depth of the storyline and each of the character is unique. This is a book which we can read again and again, and each time, we will find a new dimension to it which we might have missed before. I marked a lot of quotes from this book but my favourite is ‘When some women leave, they also take with them the sight of those men who had loved them.’ This is both literally and figuratively correct in the context of the book.
Rating : 5/5