THE BOOK OF EXODUS BY V.J. JAMES (TRANSLATED FROM THE MALAYALAM BY MINISTHY. S)

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BOOK NAME: THE BOOK OF EXODUS

AUTHOR NAME: V.J. JAMES (TRANSLATED FROM THE MALAYALAM BY MINISTHY. S)

GENRE: MAGICAL REALISM

PUBLISHER: PENGUIN INDIA

BOOK BUY LINK: https://amzn.in/d/gm8r1iQ


BOOK COVER IMAGE



BOOK REVIEW

I am literally obsessed with books based in Kerala or translated from Malayalam because of the simple fact that they come with such picturesque settings and a spectrum of unforgettable characters. I am very thankful that this book, written almost 25 years ago, was translated recently so that I could get the opportunity to read it.


Set in Potta Thuruthu, a village in the backwaters of Kochi, the book starts with Kunjooty’s desire to reach the mountains beyond his town to join his ancestors. He gets inspired by the tales of the firebird narrated by his Valli Ammachi and makes it his mission to write the book of Exodus based on his village and its people. But Potta Thuruthu is a land of curse - just like Macondo in Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. 


Kunjooty also lives with a secret that no one knows about and wonders why his lineage and village were cursed forever. There are so many things happening in the book - there is passion for writing, lust and romance, hatred and jealousy, love and loss, secrets and obsessions, and mysteries and magic.


The only drawback I had was that Kunjooty’s mother, Eli, was seemingly a strong character initially, but she reappeared only at the end of the book. I was very much looking forward to her characterisation, but she did not even land among the secondary characters. Also, there were way too many deaths that I could keep a count of. Every character I liked ended up dying almost immediately, and it was so disheartening. 


Though I liked the book otherwise, I couldn’t ignore its close similarity to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The likeness was so glaring for me not to see it, starting from Potta Thuruthu’s Valliamachi’s similarity to the matriarch of Macondo - Ursula to the similar fate of both villages and their people, the strange mix of alternate universes in the current scenarios and people with secrets who end up getting their village accursed. However, one can still read it because it is much simplified compared to the other. 


MY REVIEW: 4/5

This is a part of Blogchatter’s #TBRChallenge

#penbooksandscalpel




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