Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Kaur’s plot takes the form of loosely jointed stories with a distinctive mythological feel to them, centered on the life of Mayuri—a woman growing up in India. The plot meanders, as Mayuri experiences life’s twists and turns, and reflects on the Hindu religion in the process.
Prose: Serpentine prose, with dense philosophical breakouts, makes up the bulk of Kaur’s story, a style that matches the novel’s unique context but makes it challenging to read at times.
Originality: The scope of Mayuri’s life—shared here with an almost lyrical, storytelling slant—is immense, but Kaur manages to spotlight Mayuri’s day-to-day details, from a young girl transformed into a woman, against the larger backdrop of India’s cultural and religious heritage.
Character/Execution: Mayuri is constructed in dramatic, arresting detail, with careful consideration given to the complexity of her life. The many roles she assumes are fully fleshed out, leading to an intricate, compelling portrait of an Indian woman, though the author’s style does create distance between readers and the central lead.
Date Submitted: May 24, 2024
“The prose is lyrical, often comical, and often obtuse, but again, those traits are part of what reading this book is about. An example: ‘To deliver this message, to quest my thirst for Eternal Truth, like a serpent I shed these mortal skins of gender, color, nationality, taxonomies to experience nothingness, the concept of ‘shunya’/zero in Sanskrit, to see the obvious…architecture. You are in me, and I am in you, so who better than me to not understand your constant insatiable appetite for entertainment from every moment to moment so therefore unlike most narratives who like to structure their presentation as it progresses with time, I too use this approach, but just not in the traditional monolithic style. I add Masala spice in it by making it a hybrid by crossing it with an event-driven structure!’
