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nivaasini's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
byronic_reader's review against another edition
4.0
A Passage North by Anik Arudpragasam
Memory is a trickster. Just when you think that it's gone, a smell, a smile or a song will induce that deepest part of it you think you forgot. When you are grieving, this memory is taunting. It taunts you with what-ifs and what not scenarios. You go through the motion as if you are an outsider to your feelings. When it comes to a breakpoint, the feelings that are at bay will engulf you as a whole. This is where you go numb. Where you don't feel pain and don't care whatever happens to you.
A Passage North shows this exploration of grief through the memory with highly philosophical prose. Right from the first line, I was hooked. I read, reread and read some more to just understand the gravity of the words. We follow Krishan on his journey to the war-torn North of Sri Lanka. And as the author points out, it is not just a physical journey but a journey from the deepest south to the north of his own mind.
We see all the characters through the eyes of Krishan. Even then, we are not shown all of them. We have to work with the vignettes of the characters in Krishan's memories. One thing I found fascinating is that how the author can connect mundane things to a trauma exploration. Like in one part, we see how Poosal built a temple in his mind and its connection with how Krishan creates the war scene in his mind using all the data he consumes. And how well PTSD is explored! I remembered all the psychology and rehabilitation lectures. It was surreal.
Another thing I liked about this book is how well trauma is investigated. We dissect layer by layer of Appamma's trauma caused by her ageing. How it makes her feel weak and cranky, almost like a toddler, showing that at the end of our life, we will be returned to the state of birth. Except now we will be waiting to die not to live. Then we see Anjum, who is not accepted by her mother for loving a woman. She may look indifferent to that, but it makes her vulnerable. This creates a restlessness that is only satisfied by her activist work with her comrades.
The heart of this book is Rani. It is her trauma that triggers something deep inside me. Rani lost her 2 sons in the Civil War. Deeply affected by PTSD, she even takes shock treatment and dozens of medications. She yearns for her boys and feels a detachment that affects her everyday life. The time Rani works as a caretaker of Appamma brings her a brief relief but not a cure. And we are left to figure out what happens to her.
.
.
The author brutally discusses the violence that happened around that time. There's this carnivalesque nature to the way he writes trauma. I don't know how else to put it. Krishan, ridden with survivor guilt, tries to appropriate the trauma by bringing violence to life in his mind. He is detached from the violence in person but there is an obsessive attachment to the trauma caused by it, that makes this whole thing complex.
.
.
I also love how atmospheric this novel is. The way the character's mood is reflected in the sunset or a passing train is beautiful. The small stories of Poosal and Pillayar, the uncertainty of new love and the realization that the love is not going to last. The tangle of bodies and mind and then yearning to detangle. The detachment and attachment to the self. It all adds flavour to the story. And how can I not mention the part where he talks about Kuttimani and LTTE cadets. The way he wrote it sounds cool and indifferent? Also, what's with the sentences as long as paragraphs, conversations without punctuations? I loved it but I constantly had to change the highlight colours which made my ebook look like a rainbow.
.
.
About the things that didn't work for me, we are shown the snippets of various happenings in the Civil War in the inner monologues. But, most of the time the transition from memory to reality is not smooth. That bumpy passage doesn't reduce the reading experience in any way. And we see vignettes of all the characters except Krishan and his mother. I understand why Krishan is detached but I would've loved to see his mother who lost a husband to the bombing, kept her sons under locks to save them and later have to put up with a whiny mother-in-law.
.
.
A Passage North is not an easy book to read. You will spend equal time reading and indulging in philosophical ramblings. But it is a book that must be read with tenderness and love and desire. I will not be surprised if this book makes it into the shortlist.
Memory is a trickster. Just when you think that it's gone, a smell, a smile or a song will induce that deepest part of it you think you forgot. When you are grieving, this memory is taunting. It taunts you with what-ifs and what not scenarios. You go through the motion as if you are an outsider to your feelings. When it comes to a breakpoint, the feelings that are at bay will engulf you as a whole. This is where you go numb. Where you don't feel pain and don't care whatever happens to you.
A Passage North shows this exploration of grief through the memory with highly philosophical prose. Right from the first line, I was hooked. I read, reread and read some more to just understand the gravity of the words. We follow Krishan on his journey to the war-torn North of Sri Lanka. And as the author points out, it is not just a physical journey but a journey from the deepest south to the north of his own mind.
We see all the characters through the eyes of Krishan. Even then, we are not shown all of them. We have to work with the vignettes of the characters in Krishan's memories. One thing I found fascinating is that how the author can connect mundane things to a trauma exploration. Like in one part, we see how Poosal built a temple in his mind and its connection with how Krishan creates the war scene in his mind using all the data he consumes. And how well PTSD is explored! I remembered all the psychology and rehabilitation lectures. It was surreal.
Another thing I liked about this book is how well trauma is investigated. We dissect layer by layer of Appamma's trauma caused by her ageing. How it makes her feel weak and cranky, almost like a toddler, showing that at the end of our life, we will be returned to the state of birth. Except now we will be waiting to die not to live. Then we see Anjum, who is not accepted by her mother for loving a woman. She may look indifferent to that, but it makes her vulnerable. This creates a restlessness that is only satisfied by her activist work with her comrades.
The heart of this book is Rani. It is her trauma that triggers something deep inside me. Rani lost her 2 sons in the Civil War. Deeply affected by PTSD, she even takes shock treatment and dozens of medications. She yearns for her boys and feels a detachment that affects her everyday life. The time Rani works as a caretaker of Appamma brings her a brief relief but not a cure. And we are left to figure out what happens to her.
.
.
The author brutally discusses the violence that happened around that time. There's this carnivalesque nature to the way he writes trauma. I don't know how else to put it. Krishan, ridden with survivor guilt, tries to appropriate the trauma by bringing violence to life in his mind. He is detached from the violence in person but there is an obsessive attachment to the trauma caused by it, that makes this whole thing complex.
.
.
I also love how atmospheric this novel is. The way the character's mood is reflected in the sunset or a passing train is beautiful. The small stories of Poosal and Pillayar, the uncertainty of new love and the realization that the love is not going to last. The tangle of bodies and mind and then yearning to detangle. The detachment and attachment to the self. It all adds flavour to the story. And how can I not mention the part where he talks about Kuttimani and LTTE cadets. The way he wrote it sounds cool and indifferent? Also, what's with the sentences as long as paragraphs, conversations without punctuations? I loved it but I constantly had to change the highlight colours which made my ebook look like a rainbow.
.
.
About the things that didn't work for me, we are shown the snippets of various happenings in the Civil War in the inner monologues. But, most of the time the transition from memory to reality is not smooth. That bumpy passage doesn't reduce the reading experience in any way. And we see vignettes of all the characters except Krishan and his mother. I understand why Krishan is detached but I would've loved to see his mother who lost a husband to the bombing, kept her sons under locks to save them and later have to put up with a whiny mother-in-law.
.
.
A Passage North is not an easy book to read. You will spend equal time reading and indulging in philosophical ramblings. But it is a book that must be read with tenderness and love and desire. I will not be surprised if this book makes it into the shortlist.
nila's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I wanted to read more from Sri Lankan authors AND read more books outside my comfort zone, so I picked this up knowing it was heavy on the introspection (is that a word?). The 2/3 of this book flew by, and I absolutely loved it. The secondary characters were so great I didn't even think of how it's all in the main character's head. However, in the last third, the main character is by themselves and the pace slowed down too much for me, and I sadly lost interest.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child death, and War
julesanne's review against another edition
4.0
Post civil war Sri Lanka is the back drop for this somber tale. A beautiful prose. Meditative and inward looking. Slow read.
carlybarly6's review against another edition
Per the book description, “A Passage North begins with a message from out of the blue: a telephone call informing Krishan that his grandmother's caretaker, Rani, has died under unexpected circumstances--found at the bottom of a well in her village in the north, her neck broken by the fall. The news arrives on the heels of an email from Anjum, an impassioned yet aloof activist Krishnan fell in love with years before while living in Delhi, stirring old memories and desires from a world he left behind.” Throughout we accompany Krishnan as he makes the journey to the war-torn Northern Province of Sri Lanka, meditating on Sri Lanka’s thirty-year civil war, on longing, on grief, and more. Lyrical, slow moving, and beautiful.
cricca's review against another edition
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
rissaleighs's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
savannah_may's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
madeleinekl's review
4.0
3.5 - I found the 'meditative' prose at the start challenging, and was worried I would slog through this book, but once Krishan's musings started to become more directed I found his thoughts on relationships, death, religion and selfhood quite though-provoking, and the long sentences and meandering style drew me into his world. Not easy, but beautiful.
neethuraghavan676's review against another edition
3.0
Much more than reading a book, i was experiencing the tradition, culture and politics of Srilanka through A passage North since this was my first read about Srilanka.
When Krishan got a message about the death of his Grandmother's maid, he was already dealing with his chaos over his relationship with Anjum.
From Colombo he boards the train to the Northern region to attend Rani's funeral, he was actually travelling to the only left overs of a thirty year civil war.
The story is a narration from Krishan and is all about his thoughts on what might have happened, what might have the other person thought and so on. The beautiful lyrical prose are very disturbing since they handle war and the lives affected by the war, their scars, their trauma their yesterdays and todays.
This book is nominated for the man Booker prize 2021.
When Krishan got a message about the death of his Grandmother's maid, he was already dealing with his chaos over his relationship with Anjum.
From Colombo he boards the train to the Northern region to attend Rani's funeral, he was actually travelling to the only left overs of a thirty year civil war.
The story is a narration from Krishan and is all about his thoughts on what might have happened, what might have the other person thought and so on. The beautiful lyrical prose are very disturbing since they handle war and the lives affected by the war, their scars, their trauma their yesterdays and todays.
This book is nominated for the man Booker prize 2021.