Home » Reading & Literature » Indo-Anglian Fiction » Too Many Writers

Too Many Writers

© Mrinal Bose

One notices there is a sudden deluge of novels, especially by women authors. It is difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with so many works which come in different sizes and shapes.

This past fortnight, to get an idea of this new crop of writing, I picked up a representative novel called The Hero's Walk by Anita Rau Badami. This is Ms. Badami's second novel. She got crtical acclaim for her first novel Tamarind Mem.

First, about the plot. Sripathi Rao's daughter, Maya marries Alan Baker, a Canadian, against Sripathi's wishes and settles in Vancouver, a long way from Toturpuram in Chennai, her place of birth. This hurts Sripathi so much that he disconnects himself totally from her daughter. Maya, however, keeps writing to his parents, and maintains contact with her mother. In due time she lets them know of the birth of her daughter Nandana. Then when Nandana is seven years old, both Mira and Alan die in a car accident.

Sripathi is naturally shocked and devastated, more so because he did not behave properly with her daughter this long. He takes a flight to Vancouver, and brings Nandana along to his home. But there is a problem now: Nandana would not talk to any of the members of the family, and she would always duck Sripathi. Towards the end of the novel, she blurts out when she sees Sripathi laid up with a tormenting illness.

So, this is roughly the stuff the 359-page novel is made of. After the first few pages, I had to really struggle through the work up to about 140th page. Then the narrative gained a sort of momentum, and I found the rest of the book a smooth read. Determined as I was to finish it, I had a sense of relief as I reached the last line of the last page.

What do you think of this plot? Meagerness aside, is there anything new or novel for the discerning reader? Is it not stale and hackneyed? It neither entertains nor enlightens. It fits more into the category of a TV soap rather than a literary fiction.

The tragedy is that Ms. Badami has a writing style which you cannot ignore. She has an amazing felicity with words, and can deliver lucid, and even evocative prose at times. It is the banality of the story that fails her.

Perhaps this banality is common with all these new authors. One of them recently remarks in a magazine interview that ordinariness is the 'hallmark' of her work. A candid, though glorified self-assesment. But ordinariness, or banality for that matter, are not known to be things that have any enduring place in art and literature.

The copyright of the article Too Many Writers in Indo-Anglian Fiction is owned by Mrinal Bose. Permission to republish Too Many Writers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.