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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
No, Mama, prop me up to a high ceilinged garden. My tiny feet, they will walk on the artificial grass and sustain in an artificial environment. But Mama, never would I ever think of traversing the world with you.
- The Leila I created in my mind
Never before has a speculative fiction made me so uncomfortable and fearful. After all, even though they were fearsome, they didn't feel like home while this, Leila by Prayaag Akbar, felt so close to home that it started feeling like I am living in it. This book doesn't feel distant, it doesn't feel like a far-fetched future that might someday be our reality. It is now. This class division, this caste discrimination, this climate crisis - all of it is as real as our yearning for development. The only condition that it needs to fulfill in order to be called a social fiction instead of a speculative fiction is that the country turning its imaginative walls into real, concrete walls.
A work of fiction, especially a speculative fiction, I feel, can't represent the whole world in less than 400 pages. Thus, the novel is a representative of that large fragment of society that discriminates, oppresses, tolerates and resists everyday. It doesn't represent the handful of people who, either have been ignorant of the discrimination or have unlearned and learnt to love all. I have never felt that in my time, society has comprised itself with the poor, the oppressed, the intentionally forgotten and ignored section. In fact, I haven't ever believed in a society. It has always been an 'amalgamation' of various societies. Prayaag Akbar has done a wonderful job in depicting the fragmentary society that we live in. The only problem that I felt with the book is that it wasn't able to maintain its strength throughout the work. To me, it felt like the narration had lost itself as it started approaching the end. Don't let this opinion bar you from picking up this book though. This is a book that needs to be picked up, read, realised and change the self that you've been carrying with yourself all along. I realised that I have a dark side in me, have you?
- The Leila I created in my mind
Never before has a speculative fiction made me so uncomfortable and fearful. After all, even though they were fearsome, they didn't feel like home while this, Leila by Prayaag Akbar, felt so close to home that it started feeling like I am living in it. This book doesn't feel distant, it doesn't feel like a far-fetched future that might someday be our reality. It is now. This class division, this caste discrimination, this climate crisis - all of it is as real as our yearning for development. The only condition that it needs to fulfill in order to be called a social fiction instead of a speculative fiction is that the country turning its imaginative walls into real, concrete walls.
A work of fiction, especially a speculative fiction, I feel, can't represent the whole world in less than 400 pages. Thus, the novel is a representative of that large fragment of society that discriminates, oppresses, tolerates and resists everyday. It doesn't represent the handful of people who, either have been ignorant of the discrimination or have unlearned and learnt to love all. I have never felt that in my time, society has comprised itself with the poor, the oppressed, the intentionally forgotten and ignored section. In fact, I haven't ever believed in a society. It has always been an 'amalgamation' of various societies. Prayaag Akbar has done a wonderful job in depicting the fragmentary society that we live in. The only problem that I felt with the book is that it wasn't able to maintain its strength throughout the work. To me, it felt like the narration had lost itself as it started approaching the end. Don't let this opinion bar you from picking up this book though. This is a book that needs to be picked up, read, realised and change the self that you've been carrying with yourself all along. I realised that I have a dark side in me, have you?
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This dystopian novel gripped me right from the start. I finished it in a couple of hours! And it left me feeling… all sorts of things (both good and bad).
The book is set in a dystopian world, sometime in the near future, where an obsession with purity is all-prevalent. There is a Purity One building, where deviant individuals and communities are confined to be treated. Behind those walls, an order prevails, where purity is upheld - with purity being defined by certain powers. Against this backdrop, the novel follows Shalini, a desperate mom, in search of her lost daughter, Leila. Sixteen years have passed and Shalini is so close to finding Leila, only to be betrayed by the harshest bitter truth.
This is a story of faith and longing, while delving deep into the complexities of grief. Through the plot, the author masterfully explores systemic issues of race, class and privilege, spotlighting the difficult choices that have to be confronted in life. It is a startling account of what organized powers can create, and perpetuate, allowing many lives to be lost and simply dismissed.
Leila is a beautiful piece of fiction that I’d highly recommend to all.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes