Book Review - Ghachar Ghochar

'It's true what they say - it's not we who control money, it's the money that controls us. When there's only a little, it behaves meekly; when it grows, it becomes brash and has its way with us.'

- in the blurb and also my favourite 2 lines from the book.

*Blurb*

From a cramped, ant-infested house to a spacious bungalow, a family finds itself making a transition in many ways. The narrator, a sensitive young man, is numbed by the swirl around him. All he can do is flee every day to an old-world cafe, where he seeks solace from an oracular waiter. As members of the family realign their equations and desires, new strands are knotted, others come apart, and conflict brews dangerously in the background. Masterfully translated from the Kannada by Srinath Perur, Ghachar Ghochar is a suspenseful, playful and ultimately menacing story about the shifting consequences of success.

This book was originally written in Kannada by Vivek Shanbagh and it has been translated so beautifully that at no point during the read does it feel like a translation. The words just flow together.

I am in love with the book, the writing style, the characters, everything. A lot of times in literature by Indian authors I get a feeling that the dynamics of an Indian household are misrepresented but not here. This book comes as a refreshing take on a situation that a lot of families find themselves in. Impeccably written, in first person POV, the book shows the characters with all their faults, hiding nothing. A middle-class family suddenly finding itself with money and how it affects their relationship with each other and with the outside world. Superficial blame for anything that goes wrong is attributed to this money and a subtle wondering of whether they would be better off without it. But materialism always wins. Those who have seen the other side and struggled to make a living, know the value of money and they would be willing to compromise their sanity for that security.

It's a short read, ended more quickly than I had hoped. My only problem with the book was the lack of a proper ending, which is also part of the charm. Life goes on, it doesn't end with the book. But it makes one ponder on any imaginable future to the story. Still, I would rather prefer an ending or some semblance of what could happen in future.

That being said, this book would definitely be one of my top reads in 2019. I may even count it amongst the best and honest way an Indian household could be depicted, almost at the level of Jhumpa Lahiri who again has a flair of writing the truth, no matter how harsh.

My two cents, pick up this book. Maybe you will not love the protagonist and his laid-back attitude and blaming everything on money, but you will get to experience a great work of literature.

That's all from my side.

My birthday book haul has been delivered and this was one of my reads. Now on to the next one. Yaya!

Till the next read...

Xoxo
Pearl

P.S. I am reading "Becoming" tomorrow and yes, it is my birthday pick. :D