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Indian Library
Literary Review
THE HINDU Magazine DELHI
Sunday, March 3, 2019 29
FANTASY FICTION
In The Scent of God, places and
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persons are always strongly felt.
Consider this description of Kamal
Swami. “In his smooth saffron robe, he Fire, ice, midnight and magic
was ageless. The pure and smooth
lotus… smooth and green on the
cheeks… teeth like specks of a white
flower…” Kajol is evoked by his This witch’s cauldron of a tale will make you look over your shoulder
eyelashes, “his bony neck”, his “soap or peer into the darkness a few moments longer
and clean cotton and the
heartwarming Kajol smell”. Life at the
monastery is “a blaze of saffron that ANAND VENKATESWARAN spirits jostle for men’s belief and fear about the inherent stupidity and
raged across the football field, black against the din of church bells. And misogyny of life, fought not with blind
hair matted on pale, sweaty arms.” elancholy is sweet wine in Vasya is a reluctant bridge hope but grim courage and
Russian folk stories. The between the two worlds. The the kind of empathy that
Just another aphrodisiac Malachite Casket: Tales from malevolent meddling of comes only from shared
The social activism that Anirvan is later Mthe Urals, comes to mind. Medved the bear, a powerful suffering.
seduced by, thanks to “sharp and There is adventure aplenty, and hope Chyerti (demon), sets her on a It’s the kind of story that,
angular” Sushant Kane, is similarly and humour and vigour, though pain path not of her making. without taking away the mad
understood in terms of appealing and sorrow are never far, and the cold Arden fleshes out the terror that Baba Yaga evokes
spectacle — “men could see what it c is a dagger mere inches from the heart. spirits — the protective in men and demons alike,
meant to think clearly, speak without a Within a Katherine Arden’s Winter of the Witch is Dvorovoi, the vampiric Upyr, reveals that she is also a
slur... a fresh young voice would catch singular spiked with that mildly intoxicating even a conscientious greatgrandmother who can
their souls.” When that world palls on warmth; there’s no other way we could mushroom sprite — with a ladle a nourishing broth for
Anirvan, it does so by becoming ugly: dimension, walk with Vasilisa (Vasya) on her confident intimacy. her kin.
“cobwebs swam closer and tried to there can be journey as she dips between the real These beings live and die Dim the lights, cradle a
muffle him. Patches of cracked plaster no conflicts, Russia and its shadow. Through fire, on human faith, but there is Winter of the mug of something hot, and
grew larger... graffiti screamed from only verdicts ice, midnight and magic. something other in them, Witch pick up this book. Vasya’s
every inch of space.” — the Winter of the Witch, the conclusion which makes for thrillingly Katherine Arden iron will and the Chyerti will
But while the book’s world, along beautiful to the ‘Winternight’ trilogy, begins like unpredictable reading. Makes Penguin hold you in a long, dizzying
with its apparent contradictions, is a newborn colt trying to walk. It takes a you look over your shoulder, ₹599 embrace. They’ll take you
always vivid, yet — by the same token — simply prevails few steps, only to clatter sideways on or peer into the darkness a places. And do cover up.
those contradictions are never realised, over the ugly gangly legs. And then, when you least few moments longer than you usually There’s a chill in the air.
because the author’s perspective is at any given expect it, it finds footing. would. ...............................................................................
resolutely and insistently one moment Arden paints a witch’s cauldron of a But this is not a fairy tale. It is an old The ex-journalist works as a consultant
dimensional, clinging solely to the world from centuries ago. Demons and wives’ tale in the best sense. Pragmatic in fintech and crypto-economics.
aesthetic. Note that within a singular
dimension, there can be no conflicts, Download Indian Library App
#70929
only verdicts — the beautiful simply
prevails over the ugly, at any given GRAPHIC FICTION
moment. It is with this one rule of CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
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measure that Anirvan goes about
making his choices, encountering,
therefore, the least resistance where Where the rivers meet
the book advertises the most — within
the ashram. For while the dogmas of
god might have presented a problem
for his sexual desire, the ‘scent’ of god Twin streams, of words and images, drawings and colouring,
is just another aphrodisiac, and converge into a seamless whole
Majumdar’s only interest is the scent.
All this makes for a smooth and
intriguing read, but one that flatters to SATWIK GADE But that craft is perhaps limited to
deceive, and having enchanted the fiction.
reader like a dream, also dissipates like he title, Doab Dil, is supposed There are very few pages that have
one. Meanwhile, the kinds of multi to signify the heart of the the multipanelled layout typical of
dimensional questions that drag a convergence of twin streams: graphic novels. Instead, the pages
story, even if kicking and screaming, Twords and images, fiction and themselves are meant to work as
into existence, stay off the page. But it nonfiction, and so on. Sarnath panels. Typically, Banerjee’s minimal
is such unasked questions — what Banerjee brings together an illustrations are great but
happens when a moral concern assortment of real people there are several fullpages
(should preteens be having sex?) from around the world and where the reader might feel
encounters an affective desire? Or gives us sneak peaks into taken for granted. The
when undeniable obligations to the their lives. Highlighting their shading, deliberate and
needy threaten one’s personal luxury? quirks and imagining the considered, looks lovely while
— that are the relevant questions for reasons behind their the crosshatching is largely
our times. idiosyncrasies, Doab Dil clumsy. That said, both
............................................................................. treads the fine line between characters and landscapes
The writer is the author, most recently, fiction and nonfiction. So never fail to attract curiosity.
of The Outraged: Times of Ferment . GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK there is Charles Baudelaire The real doab dil here is
speculating about Samuel Doab Dil the coming together of
Taylor Coleridge’s restless Sarnath Banerjee Banerjee’s drawings and
nocturnal wanderings; an Penguin Sudeep Chaudhuri’s
anxietyeaten Gurgaon CEO ₹799 colouring. As Banerjee
hitting golf balls into the night; admits in the introduction,
a 9thcentury Arab scholar getting his the colouring and production are the
library confiscated. real heroes of the book.
The sketches are reminiscent of The cover design is fantastic. The
Banerjee’s column in these pages, but panels in Banerjee’s previous works,
Doab Dil lacks that earlier whimsy and characterised by his spare brushwork
poesy. In the few pages where his skips and sparse colouring, had seemed
over to the world of Digital Dutta, the twodimensional. In Doab Dil, colours ENTHRALLING Digital Dutta. DOAB DIL
writing and images come together add the muchneeded depth. This book ...............................................................................
wonderfully and you know why is sure get the graphic novel The writer is an illustrator who reads
Banerjee is one of the best in his craft. enthusiast’s fingers itchy. and sketches comic books.
