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A review by byronic_reader
China Room by Sunjeev Sahota
3.0
"It's different for women, isn't it? They have no choice in where they go. They grow up in a prison and then get married into one."
This quote pretty much sums up what China Room is about. Sahota uses two timelines to explore oppression and sufferings caused by the oppression. On one hand, we have Mehar, a 15-year-old child bride, married off to one of the brothers of an affluent family, and on the other, we have her great-grandson, held in the clutches of addiction, sense of claustrophobia caused by racism and a sense of unbelongingness. These two are 70 years apart, but they go through the similar emotion of being shackled.
Now, this book has so much potential. It could've been a masterpiece. But somehow it falls flat. The story is concise. We are shown what we have to see. Considering that this is loosely based on Sahota's great grandmother and later himself, one can understand the need for conciseness. But what didn't work for me is how underwhelming the characters are developed. It's like only a few of them are focalized while the others are left behind. There is no philosophical undertone, no atmospheric writing like the last 3 books I read. It felt like lazy writing.
What worked for me is the way the author made me angry. There are only a few books that made me furious over the injustice and sheer unfairness. And China Room is one of them. I read the first few chapters swearing at the obscene way. A girl is being shopped as if she is a commodity. Her identity is erased as if she is a person only if she has a husband. We don't even know what Mehar is called before she is Mehar. And the demands made by the boy's family as if they are doing a favour by marrying their girl, when in fact, it is the girl who is going to toil makes me want to punch something. And the men in here are treated as properties. Like their sole purpose is to toil for the family welfare. Ugh!
Then we have this business of not letting the girls know who their husbands are. This whole story wouldn't have happened if only they knew who their husbands were. But, clearly, it didn't and we have a situation that makes things complicated for everyone. I have read a few reviews that say this book makes them uncomfortable. Of course, it is going to be uncomfortable. We have our inner old lady/man out, judging Mehar and Suraj for their adulterous relationship, when in fact, they both are trying to break away from the shackles of Mai. It may sound blasphemous, but morals will be thrown out the window when you are trying to just exist.
It is yet another book that shows how women play as pallbearers of patriarchy. When a woman continuously repressed by patriarchy, constantly wounded and traumatized, stripped of her power, is given power, she will inflict the same violence on others. The orgasmic cruelty of inflicting pain on the other women, especially on the daughters-in-law, are hidden under the veil of maintaining the 'family honour'. This family honour is what imprisons women figuratively and in this book, literally. And while the woman suffers, everything around her goes as usual.
We can see this similar sense of claustrophobia and suffering in Mehar's great-grandson too. While Mehar is shackled by patriarchy, our unnamed boy is shackled by substance addiction, blatant racism and guilt. He stays in the same room as Mehar, when she is imprisoned but he finds his home in there. A complete circle of suffering coming to a sort of closure like a nice woven basket.
I wanted more of Mehar and Suraj, both traumatized, seeking an outlet from an oppressive home, ending with a tragic outcome. Had it been told by Mehar, this book would've been a different one altogether. And the interruption makes the book a bit underwhelming. I feel that we have quite a lot of agency for the trauma caused by racism and substance addiction. But the trauma caused by the arranged marriage or the love where you have to fight for is not discussed on a bigger note. The suffering women face even in this 'New India' is glossed over as something normal. Overall, while I loved a few parts, I am underwhelmed by the writing. I don't know if it'll make the shortlist.
This quote pretty much sums up what China Room is about. Sahota uses two timelines to explore oppression and sufferings caused by the oppression. On one hand, we have Mehar, a 15-year-old child bride, married off to one of the brothers of an affluent family, and on the other, we have her great-grandson, held in the clutches of addiction, sense of claustrophobia caused by racism and a sense of unbelongingness. These two are 70 years apart, but they go through the similar emotion of being shackled.
Now, this book has so much potential. It could've been a masterpiece. But somehow it falls flat. The story is concise. We are shown what we have to see. Considering that this is loosely based on Sahota's great grandmother and later himself, one can understand the need for conciseness. But what didn't work for me is how underwhelming the characters are developed. It's like only a few of them are focalized while the others are left behind. There is no philosophical undertone, no atmospheric writing like the last 3 books I read. It felt like lazy writing.
What worked for me is the way the author made me angry. There are only a few books that made me furious over the injustice and sheer unfairness. And China Room is one of them. I read the first few chapters swearing at the obscene way. A girl is being shopped as if she is a commodity. Her identity is erased as if she is a person only if she has a husband. We don't even know what Mehar is called before she is Mehar. And the demands made by the boy's family as if they are doing a favour by marrying their girl, when in fact, it is the girl who is going to toil makes me want to punch something. And the men in here are treated as properties. Like their sole purpose is to toil for the family welfare. Ugh!
Then we have this business of not letting the girls know who their husbands are. This whole story wouldn't have happened if only they knew who their husbands were. But, clearly, it didn't and we have a situation that makes things complicated for everyone. I have read a few reviews that say this book makes them uncomfortable. Of course, it is going to be uncomfortable. We have our inner old lady/man out, judging Mehar and Suraj for their adulterous relationship, when in fact, they both are trying to break away from the shackles of Mai. It may sound blasphemous, but morals will be thrown out the window when you are trying to just exist.
It is yet another book that shows how women play as pallbearers of patriarchy. When a woman continuously repressed by patriarchy, constantly wounded and traumatized, stripped of her power, is given power, she will inflict the same violence on others. The orgasmic cruelty of inflicting pain on the other women, especially on the daughters-in-law, are hidden under the veil of maintaining the 'family honour'. This family honour is what imprisons women figuratively and in this book, literally. And while the woman suffers, everything around her goes as usual.
We can see this similar sense of claustrophobia and suffering in Mehar's great-grandson too. While Mehar is shackled by patriarchy, our unnamed boy is shackled by substance addiction, blatant racism and guilt. He stays in the same room as Mehar, when she is imprisoned but he finds his home in there. A complete circle of suffering coming to a sort of closure like a nice woven basket.
I wanted more of Mehar and Suraj, both traumatized, seeking an outlet from an oppressive home, ending with a tragic outcome. Had it been told by Mehar, this book would've been a different one altogether. And the interruption makes the book a bit underwhelming. I feel that we have quite a lot of agency for the trauma caused by racism and substance addiction. But the trauma caused by the arranged marriage or the love where you have to fight for is not discussed on a bigger note. The suffering women face even in this 'New India' is glossed over as something normal. Overall, while I loved a few parts, I am underwhelmed by the writing. I don't know if it'll make the shortlist.