Ashokamitran (1931–2017)

I had absolutely no idea this was going to be a thriller (is it even?). Judging by the cover and the blurb, you'd imagine a quiet contemplative dialogue between two strangers at Meenambakkam Airport (a novel I'd have loved to read) something along the lines of The Sunset Limited. With the sudden introduction of murderers and secrets in the air, you slowly realize the author has other plans, sink deeper into your bed, and get ready to be taken on a different ride than the one you thought you were on.

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!… (altro)