[BOTM] Manan by Mohit Parikh

What is BOTM?

I’ve read many books but few stand out and become part of my best read books. So, each month if I find a book outstanding and exactly captures my heart, I’ll make it my  BOOK OF THE MONTH or BOTM.

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Manan

by Mohit Parikh

While reading this book, it felt like I am reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is written by James Joyce or Samuel Beckett.

The language is simple, extremely smooth and fluidic. This is most accessible streams-of-conscience writing I have seen till now, and also with beauty. Don’t think that the simple language prevents it to reflect utter beauty in everything in this book. A child transforming to puberty can only be clearly understood by reading his mind. And streams-of-conscience does just that.

Unlike other eminent work on SOC,where I’d have to read it repeatedly to correctly understand the line of thoughts (Note : Ulysses or Beloved), this one does not make you do that. You can get the underlying working of MANAN with one read, with one line forcing you to read the next line, thus the next page to the end of the chapter.

The imagination of a intelligent child , completely rational, explaining everything with logic is described gloriously. The evil eye walking on street, emitting laser to detect any fault by someone, sound waves emerging from a gonging bell refracts and reflects are visualized like a pro. This kind of imagery, or sometimes wonderful use of verb in action, made this one of my prized possessions.

This intricate way of understanding puberty for a child instantly reminds me of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Chapter 1 where Stephen closes his ears and compares effects of sounds with emerging in and out of a train through a tunnel.

But there are differences with portrait too, of how a child feels after watching a pornographic photo and how he reacts to every one is fairly convincing,which is not the case in portrait.(Where Stephen repents and promises to himself to live a celibate life.)

And one should learn and appreciate it’s swift change from third person to second person to first person. In few cases I even didn’t notice when the narration had turned from third person from first person, which is done like a breeze already two pages ago. When you read the book you will be forced to feel and be there where the protagonist is, which is the plus point for a book like this where not much happens and you only have to rely on the mental situation at a tender age.

And also there is a microscopic examination and observation of love in this book. It sometimes feels stupefying to see a boy thinks such of love.

All in all, I can assure you that this is the book that stands out in recently conventional love stories or thrillers. I have not seen any Indian book lately that takes up the subject of adolescence so boldly, bravely and beautifully.

NOTE:
As in the same way I don’t know Stephen King or Salman Rushdie personally, I don’t know Mohit Parikh too. These are unbiased and honest feelings of mine and yes, I have bought the book with full price in paperback format from Amazon.

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