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zabiume 's review for:
Samskara: A Rite for A Dead Man
by U.R. Ananthamurthy
challenging
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is not an easy or friendly book to people outside the specific culture represented in the story, so I would suggest unfamiliar readers to a) do their research on Hinduism/Brahmin culture b) read the AK Ramanujan translation, which has a helpful index at the end, or c) skip this one entirely.
Getting into the actual book: this was a layered, frankly phenomenal look at caste and culture within a small, village community. I love how the author examines the complex, arbitrary rules and self-policing a community might come up with—and the paranoia that such self-policing results in. The way religion works is that its rules or laws are meant to guide people in times of distress. However, the central conceit of Samskara is that the villagers have landed themselves in an unsolvable dilemma that has no easy answer in the religious texts. I think the book does a great job at expressing the discomfort of a community when it can't turn to its usual sources for solutions. It also does a decent job representing the hypocrises of people, and how they're willing to bend religious codes to fit their own personal agendas. As an anti-caste novel, this book expertly shows how arbitrary and meaningless caste rituals can be.
However, I like how, even if it's arbitrary, these particular identities are inescapable. We try to free ourselves from the shackles of our identity but they still follow us, as seen inpart 3. It was intriguing, structurally, how the book went from a plot-focused contemplation on caste in the first two parts to a stream of consciousness narrative that is existential and philosophical in part 3. I admit, part 3 did throw me off track often with its confusing ambiguity, but the confusion seems intentional on the author's part and I don't think I could have accepted a straightforward answer at the end of it all, so yes, the author does manage to stick the ending—all things considered. How can a decaying community reconcile with its decaying values in a rapidly growing world? This seems to be one of the more interesting questions the novel asks.
I'm still wondering how I feel about the portrayal of women in this book—on one hand, it IS an accurate depiction of time and place and I can buy the attitudes the men have towards them, but the repeated, overtly sexual vision of the "lower" caste women in the book did give me pause, even though lust plays a significant role in the story and the men's attitudes are believable for their demographic.
A pretty thought-provoking novel overall with a simple style that is lightly humorous. There's a comedic element to the notion of purity, and the author draws on it well without overdoing it. Ultimately there are no easy answers in Samskara, but the journey to the end offers a lot of intriguing questions.
Getting into the actual book: this was a layered, frankly phenomenal look at caste and culture within a small, village community. I love how the author examines the complex, arbitrary rules and self-policing a community might come up with—and the paranoia that such self-policing results in. The way religion works is that its rules or laws are meant to guide people in times of distress. However, the central conceit of Samskara is that the villagers have landed themselves in an unsolvable dilemma that has no easy answer in the religious texts. I think the book does a great job at expressing the discomfort of a community when it can't turn to its usual sources for solutions. It also does a decent job representing the hypocrises of people, and how they're willing to bend religious codes to fit their own personal agendas. As an anti-caste novel, this book expertly shows how arbitrary and meaningless caste rituals can be.
However, I like how, even if it's arbitrary, these particular identities are inescapable. We try to free ourselves from the shackles of our identity but they still follow us, as seen in
I'm still wondering how I feel about the portrayal of women in this book—on one hand, it IS an accurate depiction of time and place and I can buy the attitudes the men have towards them, but the repeated, overtly sexual vision of the "lower" caste women in the book did give me pause, even though lust plays a significant role in the story and the men's attitudes are believable for their demographic.
A pretty thought-provoking novel overall with a simple style that is lightly humorous. There's a comedic element to the notion of purity, and the author draws on it well without overdoing it. Ultimately there are no easy answers in Samskara, but the journey to the end offers a lot of intriguing questions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death