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![Estuary by பெருமாள் முருகன் [Perumal Murugan]](https://cdn.thestorygraph.com/hjvq46cv7htajo6yipxejng0ufpv)
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Book: - Estuary (translated from Kazhimugam)
Author: - Perumal Murugan (translated by Nandini Krishnan)
Review: - The subtleness of Perumal Murugan to bind social issues into a thread and then stretch it into a tale is unparalleled. Estuary, addressing a congregation of social issues around a government employee will take you through a journey of emotions. It will showcase the fragile nature of the parental relationship, the working structure of government offices, marriage rituals, complexities of society and personal bonding. Though it is really hard at some places to understand the context and you might get lost, but the author manages to bring you back on track in the next paragraph. It will take you on a discourse of internal conflicts, parental duties and how to face your demons.
I am not aware of the literary techniques of Tamil language but this translation is well versed with the style of “Poonachi-The story of Black Goat.” If you were impressed by that book, Estuary will seal a place for Perumal Murugan in your heart and hopefully in your bookshelf.
Ratings: - 4/5.
Read this to understand the emotion of a father and how he holds his fort for you at every point in his life.
Author: - Perumal Murugan (translated by Nandini Krishnan)
Review: - The subtleness of Perumal Murugan to bind social issues into a thread and then stretch it into a tale is unparalleled. Estuary, addressing a congregation of social issues around a government employee will take you through a journey of emotions. It will showcase the fragile nature of the parental relationship, the working structure of government offices, marriage rituals, complexities of society and personal bonding. Though it is really hard at some places to understand the context and you might get lost, but the author manages to bring you back on track in the next paragraph. It will take you on a discourse of internal conflicts, parental duties and how to face your demons.
I am not aware of the literary techniques of Tamil language but this translation is well versed with the style of “Poonachi-The story of Black Goat.” If you were impressed by that book, Estuary will seal a place for Perumal Murugan in your heart and hopefully in your bookshelf.
Ratings: - 4/5.
Read this to understand the emotion of a father and how he holds his fort for you at every point in his life.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Note to Self: When you see a book by Perumal Murugan sitting in the corner of a book shop, buy it and ease into its stories. They are warm and amusing, peeling absurdities from the skin of our times, using Tamil metaphors and you will always feel safe in them.
I am moving. I wonder if my new terrace will watch over my worries like Kumarasurar's terraces watch over his. For him, worries are parental, about his child, Meghas - a son of the technological shift era. Mine are my own, parent and child of this self.
This novel isn't morose although my introduction might sound like it. Within the lives of Kumarasurar, his wife Mangasuri and son, Meghas are moments I collect. I recognise how poetry leaves us with no notice, only the presence of its absence. My heart squeezes a little when I read of this woman who has two yellow-billed babblers, two lizards a crow and a tomcat and tabby for best friends.
There's a lithe humour as in all of Murugan's writing. It appears in the form of freshly fried vadas of the morning which cause gastric at noon. It is in the brand new computer packed and stored in the government office cupboard. It is in all the collected govt issued calendars saved to prove loyalty to a fascist authority. And then, it is in the coloured harnesses used by colleges for their students, colleges that are prisons to systemic structures.
I'm choosy about the male writers I read, because most describe their women as objects - sexual or otherwise - with no human character of their own. Murugan's writing is not like that. And this is another reason I seek his stories. The women maybe housewives, but they have lives and opinions of their own. In this one, there is a scene where Kumarasurar calls Mangasuri to learn how to cook. Words cannot write how painfully joyful I felt. Breaking gender binaries can start as simply as that. As simply as recording the labour a woman puts into, in the house. Reflecting her worries when she wakes up in the night and finds her husband missing in the bed. (he's on the terrace, sitting on his worries).
And just like that, in all the anxieties and alienations between parent and child, I learn secrets to parent my own inner child.
I think, the tank bund lights will disperse my worries. I dare to hope, I will be alright. If you're worried and anxious, you need only step into Asura loka and meet Kumarasurar and his family.
I am moving. I wonder if my new terrace will watch over my worries like Kumarasurar's terraces watch over his. For him, worries are parental, about his child, Meghas - a son of the technological shift era. Mine are my own, parent and child of this self.
This novel isn't morose although my introduction might sound like it. Within the lives of Kumarasurar, his wife Mangasuri and son, Meghas are moments I collect. I recognise how poetry leaves us with no notice, only the presence of its absence. My heart squeezes a little when I read of this woman who has two yellow-billed babblers, two lizards a crow and a tomcat and tabby for best friends.
There's a lithe humour as in all of Murugan's writing. It appears in the form of freshly fried vadas of the morning which cause gastric at noon. It is in the brand new computer packed and stored in the government office cupboard. It is in all the collected govt issued calendars saved to prove loyalty to a fascist authority. And then, it is in the coloured harnesses used by colleges for their students, colleges that are prisons to systemic structures.
I'm choosy about the male writers I read, because most describe their women as objects - sexual or otherwise - with no human character of their own. Murugan's writing is not like that. And this is another reason I seek his stories. The women maybe housewives, but they have lives and opinions of their own. In this one, there is a scene where Kumarasurar calls Mangasuri to learn how to cook. Words cannot write how painfully joyful I felt. Breaking gender binaries can start as simply as that. As simply as recording the labour a woman puts into, in the house. Reflecting her worries when she wakes up in the night and finds her husband missing in the bed. (he's on the terrace, sitting on his worries).
And just like that, in all the anxieties and alienations between parent and child, I learn secrets to parent my own inner child.
I think, the tank bund lights will disperse my worries. I dare to hope, I will be alright. If you're worried and anxious, you need only step into Asura loka and meet Kumarasurar and his family.
I've been grappling with the social media storm which has taken over our lives and minds. Especially with the insatiabled feeding of content. What is this content? I swear I've not clue. Feeding an invisible, insatiable monster. Force feeding at times too. Trends, followers, algorithms, fast content, videos, IGTV, story, reels. Waves after waves. Huge ones. Torrential. I can't even stop to make sense of it. The FOMO is real. I'm still finding my footing in this maelstrom.
I found Estuary by Perumal Murugan at the right time. This story was my redeemer. A story to remind me to let it all go. Breathe. Sit back and watch. Let it go.
The protagonist Kumarasurar struggles mentally to raise his teenage son Meghas. The polarizing generation gap was deftly argued out in the story. Meghas is a grounded and composed teenager who handles his era's social norms and patterns through a filtered lens.
On the other hand, Kumarasurar is regressive, a totally warped mindset. He loses his footing altogether in Meghas's urban world of technology and the youths who depend completely on it. He became alienated. Generation gap. Different ideals. Different purposes. The dangers lurking at every bend in the world of internet. His mind kept playing into the various dooms he could possibly imagine for his son. This in turn turned him into a paranoid of the first degree. He became toxic. His fears were irrational. Unmanageable. And he was imposing his toxicity on his son.
This toxic time bomb Kumarasurar created in himself finally gets defused and neutralized. His best friend comes to his rescue. They both visit the Estuary. Kumarasurar has his cathartic release during this time at the estuary. Like an epiphany, he learns to let it all go. Unlearn. Embrace. Accept come what may. And that it's okay to sit back and watch the world passing by. Don't lose yourself trying to read into the magician's secret.
"Every second, the shifting colours of the sky created a new work of art. His heart was heavy at not being able to retain each of those images. Not one disappeared. Each faded into the background as a different one took shape in the foreground.
The turbulence in his mind stilled as he focused on these scenes. It was as if the day was cheekily fooling his eyes, disappearing right before him but without
his noticing. The magic of these moments entranced him. But he didn't care to learn the magician's secret; he wanted to savour every moment of the spectacle, and lost himself in it. "
The original story is written in Tamil. Titled "Kazhimugam". Hands down, Nandini Krishnan captured the struggle within the mind and helped us readers to make sense of it all. Her translation is magic. Perumal Murugan is a linguistic prowess. In order to interpret the story in English is certainly no easy feat. Nandini, a wordsmith has love for the written word. Hence, delivered a befitting translation for a masterpiece. Couldn't be better than this.
5 stars for the story
I found Estuary by Perumal Murugan at the right time. This story was my redeemer. A story to remind me to let it all go. Breathe. Sit back and watch. Let it go.
The protagonist Kumarasurar struggles mentally to raise his teenage son Meghas. The polarizing generation gap was deftly argued out in the story. Meghas is a grounded and composed teenager who handles his era's social norms and patterns through a filtered lens.
On the other hand, Kumarasurar is regressive, a totally warped mindset. He loses his footing altogether in Meghas's urban world of technology and the youths who depend completely on it. He became alienated. Generation gap. Different ideals. Different purposes. The dangers lurking at every bend in the world of internet. His mind kept playing into the various dooms he could possibly imagine for his son. This in turn turned him into a paranoid of the first degree. He became toxic. His fears were irrational. Unmanageable. And he was imposing his toxicity on his son.
This toxic time bomb Kumarasurar created in himself finally gets defused and neutralized. His best friend comes to his rescue. They both visit the Estuary. Kumarasurar has his cathartic release during this time at the estuary. Like an epiphany, he learns to let it all go. Unlearn. Embrace. Accept come what may. And that it's okay to sit back and watch the world passing by. Don't lose yourself trying to read into the magician's secret.
"Every second, the shifting colours of the sky created a new work of art. His heart was heavy at not being able to retain each of those images. Not one disappeared. Each faded into the background as a different one took shape in the foreground.
The turbulence in his mind stilled as he focused on these scenes. It was as if the day was cheekily fooling his eyes, disappearing right before him but without
his noticing. The magic of these moments entranced him. But he didn't care to learn the magician's secret; he wanted to savour every moment of the spectacle, and lost himself in it. "
The original story is written in Tamil. Titled "Kazhimugam". Hands down, Nandini Krishnan captured the struggle within the mind and helped us readers to make sense of it all. Her translation is magic. Perumal Murugan is a linguistic prowess. In order to interpret the story in English is certainly no easy feat. Nandini, a wordsmith has love for the written word. Hence, delivered a befitting translation for a masterpiece. Couldn't be better than this.
5 stars for the story
Such beautiful writing.
Even though in the foreword of the book, the author has mentioned that this book is different from all his other works, that it wont have the intensity and nuance that he is often praised for, I still saw it. Perumal Murugan wanted to write without restrictions, and I felt that freedom when reading this one.
I had forgotten the feeling of reading a south indian author. It is such a beautiful feeling when you recognise yourself and your life in the pages. Its like reaching home.
The book had my heart go out for the characters, made me want to reach out and talk to them, console them or shout at them. But at the last chapter, at the last line, I couldn't help but laugh out.
Even though in the foreword of the book, the author has mentioned that this book is different from all his other works, that it wont have the intensity and nuance that he is often praised for, I still saw it. Perumal Murugan wanted to write without restrictions, and I felt that freedom when reading this one.
I had forgotten the feeling of reading a south indian author. It is such a beautiful feeling when you recognise yourself and your life in the pages. Its like reaching home.
The book had my heart go out for the characters, made me want to reach out and talk to them, console them or shout at them. But at the last chapter, at the last line, I couldn't help but laugh out.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
पेरुमल मरुगन से मेरा पहला परिचय पिछले महीने हुआ जब मैंने किंडल पे पुनाची पढ़ी। कहानी साधारण होते हुए भी बहुत अच्छी है और दिल को छू लेने वाली है। लगातार हिंदी साहित्य पढ़ने के कारण जो एकरसता आ जाती है उसे इस उपन्यास ने बखूबी तोड़ा और नयापन होने के कारण बहुत ही अच्छा लगा। पेरुमल मरुगन के बारे में जब पढ़ा कि उनकी किताब नर नारीश्वर इतनी चर्चित हुई कि संगठनों के विरोध के कारन उन्होंने लेखक के तौर पर 2015 में अपनी मृत्यु की घोषणा कर दी । इसलिए हिंदी में उपलब्ध न होने के बाबजूद मैंने तमिल साहित्य की इस कृति का इंग्लिश वर्जन पढ़ना शुरू किया। यह मरुगन कि शहरी पृष्ठभूमि का पहला उपन्यास है।
यह कहानी है एक ऐसे पिता की जो की सरकारी नौकरी में है और एक बँधी बधाई लीक पर अपना जीवन यापन कर रहा है। टेक्नोलॉजी और मोबाइल के दुष्प्रभाव को देखने से वह इतना घबरा जाता है कि अवसादग्रस्त होकर पागलपन के कगार पर पहुंच जाता है।
कहानी का प्लॉट जितना साधारण है, लिखने का तरीका उतना ही असाधारण है। कहानी में गजब का प्रवाह है और इसने अन्य भाषा की होने के बाबजूद मुझे बांधे रखा। जैसे जैसे यह अंत की ओर पहुंचती गयी इसने लेखन के चमत्कार से मुझे अचंभित कर दिया। इसमें आधुनिक जीवन में हम जो भी चुनौतियां झेल रहे है उसका सुक्ष्म विवरण है। दक्षिण के होते हुए भी इसे पढ़ते समय लगता है कि यह हमारे घर की घटना हो।
यह कहानी है एक ऐसे पिता की जो की सरकारी नौकरी में है और एक बँधी बधाई लीक पर अपना जीवन यापन कर रहा है। टेक्नोलॉजी और मोबाइल के दुष्प्रभाव को देखने से वह इतना घबरा जाता है कि अवसादग्रस्त होकर पागलपन के कगार पर पहुंच जाता है।
कहानी का प्लॉट जितना साधारण है, लिखने का तरीका उतना ही असाधारण है। कहानी में गजब का प्रवाह है और इसने अन्य भाषा की होने के बाबजूद मुझे बांधे रखा। जैसे जैसे यह अंत की ओर पहुंचती गयी इसने लेखन के चमत्कार से मुझे अचंभित कर दिया। इसमें आधुनिक जीवन में हम जो भी चुनौतियां झेल रहे है उसका सुक्ष्म विवरण है। दक्षिण के होते हुए भी इसे पढ़ते समय लगता है कि यह हमारे घर की घटना हो।
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I took my time to read Perumal Murugan's Estuary at a leisurely pace. As always – stellar. Insightful and microscopic detail driven, his writing is a rare treat.
Estuary is a beautiful work of art that follows Kumarasurar's life and how it drastically changes when his son calls him out of the blue and makes a request. The request is a simple one but like a stack of dominoes falling, one on the other, changes the course and understanding of Kumarasurar's life.
The book begins with a beautiful foreword by @perumalmuruganofficial. In it, he highlights a few things about the book that caught my eye. One, the promise that the book is an absolute work of fiction and two, Murugan has forgone his usual writing and let his hand vomit everything that his imagination cooks up.
Stating that, I would like to emphasize on how real the book was to me. Me, a being from an average middle class family in Tamil Nadu felt that someone took my story and wrote it, giving it a narrative from my father's perspective. Everything that Murugan has so beautiful written about, is something almost every child in Tamil Nadu goes through.
The emotions of a father finding it difficult to get accustomed to the changing, progressive world and relinquishing control over everything he has been used to is difficult to behold and makes one think. The tackling of modern day problems due to technology and the sarcastic quips towards the modern day education were my favourite parts of the books. But nothing prepared me for the climax! What a chapter that was! I loved ever bit of it, from the beginning till the end!
The writing followed by the adapted narrative was something magical to behold. The hilarity and sarcasm behind the story serves as a subtle reflection of the modern day society.
The beauty of the writing lies not just in the author's hand but also the translator's! @nandinikrishnanofficial has done an exemplary job in capturing Murugan's essence with her words
The book begins with a beautiful foreword by @perumalmuruganofficial. In it, he highlights a few things about the book that caught my eye. One, the promise that the book is an absolute work of fiction and two, Murugan has forgone his usual writing and let his hand vomit everything that his imagination cooks up.
Stating that, I would like to emphasize on how real the book was to me. Me, a being from an average middle class family in Tamil Nadu felt that someone took my story and wrote it, giving it a narrative from my father's perspective. Everything that Murugan has so beautiful written about, is something almost every child in Tamil Nadu goes through.
The emotions of a father finding it difficult to get accustomed to the changing, progressive world and relinquishing control over everything he has been used to is difficult to behold and makes one think. The tackling of modern day problems due to technology and the sarcastic quips towards the modern day education were my favourite parts of the books. But nothing prepared me for the climax! What a chapter that was! I loved ever bit of it, from the beginning till the end!
The writing followed by the adapted narrative was something magical to behold. The hilarity and sarcasm behind the story serves as a subtle reflection of the modern day society.
The beauty of the writing lies not just in the author's hand but also the translator's! @nandinikrishnanofficial has done an exemplary job in capturing Murugan's essence with her words