I could begin with how I found this book or where I found this book; why waste time? It doesn’t matter when you are writing about the book’s content rather than how and where I found it.
I am sitting here in front of this computer screen. The words grow and grow until they fill my mind and they flow everywhere and drown me in this flood of words and ideas. Its so tempting too tell you the whole story of this book ’The Blue Bedspread’ by Raj Kamak Jha.
I actually want to take you along with me to show you how I felt when I had read each chapter of this book.I want you to vist all those chapters line by line , word by word and letter by letter. I want to open all the rooms filled with intricate patterns of words.
But I know it’s a sin to reveal everything this book offers to its readers.So I will keep all the doors closed , giving you a chance to explore it on your own.But I will open the doors just doors just a chink so that you can take a peak.
Hi friends, I am back after almost a sixmonth break to our very own Mouthshut.com. Sorry for being away for so much of time.(And sorry for this little interruption).
Trust me, this book will be loved by you.Infact this book has inspired me to write a review in its own style. I liked this book more than any other books by Indian authors in recent times.I liked this book more than God of small things or Interpreter of Maladies. The greatness of this book lies in the simplicity in langauge and complexity in narrative and it can be easliry read in one sitting.
This book is actually about 31 storis and those stories are about a family history filled with unresolved nysteries and dark secrets. To tell you the story in simple, its about a man who finds his long lost sister dead with a new born daughter.During that night as the baby sleeps he writes the stories for her until next morning when she can be adapoted by a childless couple.Its through these stories the secrets of his childhood and and his family are revealed in an extremely visual prose that flows like a melancholic poem.
The man is a lonely man.The story is sad story.But there are momnets of susprise, revealation, beauty, truth and happiness.
The book starts with the chapter ’’First Story’’ and this is how it begins.... ’I could begin with my name, but forget it, why waste time, it doesn’t matter in this city of tweleve million names....’ .....and this is how it ends with the final chapter ’’Eight words’’.... ’...it’s done, the eight words have been spoken, they have flown, each word across the city, like eight pigeons in flight, in the night, white against black, he doesn’t have to lie any more, twist facts to flesh out of his fiction he coughs once to his throat, coughs twice, and then he looks down to see the belt in his trouseres firm and stiff, he breates in hard, the stomach doesn’t droop, he adjusts his shirt, walks down the steps ....’
All in all its a nice blend of emeotions that will take you on a roller coaster ride going up and down, here and there, past and present to the stories of his sister to the stories of his mother to his stories of his father to his own stories.
The Blue bed spread is not a traditional narrative.In a way it can be called as the recently popular ’non linear narrative’.The stories can shuffled and arranged in as many way with out changing the story.Its a montage of thoughts , moments , emotions, rememberences touching the past and the present. To conclude its a rare oppurtunity to be the first MSer to write a review on this good book and to introduce it to you all MouthShut.com.
I request you to please post your comments about this review as it helps me to grow.