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A review by tbr_the_unconquered
Palpasa Café by Narayan Wagle
2.0
War destroys more than it can ever hope of resurrecting forms the exoskeleton on which this tale is built. Reporter Narayan Wagle paints a portrait of the lush vales of Nepal stained red by Maoist Insurgencies.
It is the story of an artist Drishya, a native of the hills who post an abduction by the Maoists begins to see life anew. The plot line begins life as a love story but then proceeds on a path of self discovery for the male protagonist. There is a treasure trove of opportunity here for a writer for like Kashmir, Nepal has a savagery to its beauty. However, while the author does show flashes of brilliance here and there, the overall work was not satisfactory for me. The central issue of state v/s the Maoists is seen through the eyes of a myriad of people : citizens,children,widows,orphans and so forth and the change in perspective is wonderfully captured here. Personally its my thought that the author should have spent more on underlying conflict between the two opposing forces but here the tale branches off into personal tragedy and brings the climax to a very dramatic one.
Translation & editing of this work leaves a lot to be desired. I am not the kind of a reader who would pick up a word and say Aaha you spelled that wrong ! but here the sentences themselves sometimes made no sense at all. It is rather unfair that such a piece of literature could go through translation that wasn't quite up to the mark.
It is the story of an artist Drishya, a native of the hills who post an abduction by the Maoists begins to see life anew. The plot line begins life as a love story but then proceeds on a path of self discovery for the male protagonist. There is a treasure trove of opportunity here for a writer for like Kashmir, Nepal has a savagery to its beauty. However, while the author does show flashes of brilliance here and there, the overall work was not satisfactory for me. The central issue of state v/s the Maoists is seen through the eyes of a myriad of people : citizens,children,widows,orphans and so forth and the change in perspective is wonderfully captured here. Personally its my thought that the author should have spent more on underlying conflict between the two opposing forces but here the tale branches off into personal tragedy and brings the climax to a very dramatic one.
Translation & editing of this work leaves a lot to be desired. I am not the kind of a reader who would pick up a word and say Aaha you spelled that wrong ! but here the sentences themselves sometimes made no sense at all. It is rather unfair that such a piece of literature could go through translation that wasn't quite up to the mark.