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shelfadmirer 's review for:
A Burning
by Megha Majumdar
Rage, uninhibited and merciless, governs Majumdar's debut novel 'A Burning'. Jivan, a Muslim girl from the slums of Kolkata is arrested because of a careless comment on Facebook, her association then linked to a terrorist recruiter, eventually suggesting that it was she, who helped them carry out a heinous attack on a train full of innocent passengers. Her character certificate is to be provided by two people- Lovely, a hijra who is trying to make it big in the film industry, and PT Sir, a P.E. Teacher turned politician, who dips his head into sinful activities, just for a glimpse of paradise.
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Majumdar neither makes her prose ornate nor lyrical. Instead, she keeps it detail-oriented. Jivan's newly upturned life was harrowing right from the beginning, her mother struggling to make ends meet as they were forced to move from one settlement to another. Her story has been taken advantage of, over and over, during the trails and by the media and society alike. Lovely, with her big dreams and a stubborn yet confident heart learns English from Jivan, just to stay at par with the society. PT Sir, with his questionable morals, seeks an escape from the middle-class life he has been living, to newer ventures, more power, and eventually, a better social standing.
Set in contemporary India, 'A Burning' pieces together incidents to form a bigger picture of a society that is driven by greed. Often misled by the media and the politicians, the story that meets the public eye is distorted to the point where truth never gets a chance to shine. Majumdar's characters justify themselves repeatedly, the sacrifices they had to make, the burdens they had to shoulder and the ghosts that haunt them now. And holding them all in a death-like grip are the people in power and their manipulative abilities.
Propulsive and blunt, 'A Burning' is a morally corrupt society rendered naked. Majumdar's bravado at critiquing the government through well-placed anecdotes outshines her simplistic prose. While the narration lacks the ability to swaddle us into an emotional cataclysm, the story itself is powerful enough to strike a cord or two.
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Majumdar neither makes her prose ornate nor lyrical. Instead, she keeps it detail-oriented. Jivan's newly upturned life was harrowing right from the beginning, her mother struggling to make ends meet as they were forced to move from one settlement to another. Her story has been taken advantage of, over and over, during the trails and by the media and society alike. Lovely, with her big dreams and a stubborn yet confident heart learns English from Jivan, just to stay at par with the society. PT Sir, with his questionable morals, seeks an escape from the middle-class life he has been living, to newer ventures, more power, and eventually, a better social standing.
Set in contemporary India, 'A Burning' pieces together incidents to form a bigger picture of a society that is driven by greed. Often misled by the media and the politicians, the story that meets the public eye is distorted to the point where truth never gets a chance to shine. Majumdar's characters justify themselves repeatedly, the sacrifices they had to make, the burdens they had to shoulder and the ghosts that haunt them now. And holding them all in a death-like grip are the people in power and their manipulative abilities.
Propulsive and blunt, 'A Burning' is a morally corrupt society rendered naked. Majumdar's bravado at critiquing the government through well-placed anecdotes outshines her simplistic prose. While the narration lacks the ability to swaddle us into an emotional cataclysm, the story itself is powerful enough to strike a cord or two.