Review of IN SEARCH OF LA RADICE : MOINAK DUTTA
Title
In Search of La Radice....
Author : Moinak Dutta
Genre : Novel
Publisher : XPRESS PUBLICATIONS.COM
PP214
Price Rs 300
Written in lyrical prose , the novel immediately grips you ; I found the cover so intriguing that the moment I laid my hands on the book , I started reading it , and finished it in one go . Set in Naples[ Italy] and West Bengal ,[ India ], it is a book , which enchants from page one .
There is a comatose man, lying on the bed, mumbling incoherently , intermittently glimpsing the silhouette of a woman , standing by his bed , singing Tagore songs .
This woman also creeps into the dreams of Isabella , a girl , caught between two disparate worlds - Naples [ Italy] and West Bengal [India] .
'She comes in her dreams ...in her reverie...a figure of a woman wrapped in a veil of smog.... and a picture ... old one ..shabby and crinkly ..'.p 13
What is the connection of this woman to Samir and Isabella ?
Who is this woman , reminiscent of Wilkie Collins' Woman in White ? An abandoned waif ? A possessed woman ? A lost spirit ?
There is no way of knowing , except to read - and read some more , till one comes to the heart- warming denouement of this beautifully written book .
The aura of mystery , the lyricism , the suspense , the endearing characters , characters you meet in every walk of life , with their warts, their existential angst , their baggage , grudges , guilt and painful memories . Samir and Nadi , Jaya and Cicero , Donya , with her 'coarse voice , loud airs and authoritative assertion', and Amadore , the seventy year old reclusive artist of Naples , who mentors Isabella .
And a tree - strong and full of branches spread like a myth , and roots - groping - groping in search of life saving elements..... are all characters in the novel which soon grow on you .
Isabella is in search of her roots . Will she be able to find them ?
The novel is like a melodious song , the notes of which keep on haunting one deep into the night . Believe me , you will love the book .
In Search of La Radice....
Author : Moinak Dutta
Genre : Novel
Publisher : XPRESS PUBLICATIONS.COM
PP214
Price Rs 300
Written in lyrical prose , the novel immediately grips you ; I found the cover so intriguing that the moment I laid my hands on the book , I started reading it , and finished it in one go . Set in Naples[ Italy] and West Bengal ,[ India ], it is a book , which enchants from page one .
There is a comatose man, lying on the bed, mumbling incoherently , intermittently glimpsing the silhouette of a woman , standing by his bed , singing Tagore songs .
This woman also creeps into the dreams of Isabella , a girl , caught between two disparate worlds - Naples [ Italy] and West Bengal [India] .
'She comes in her dreams ...in her reverie...a figure of a woman wrapped in a veil of smog.... and a picture ... old one ..shabby and crinkly ..'.p 13
What is the connection of this woman to Samir and Isabella ?
Who is this woman , reminiscent of Wilkie Collins' Woman in White ? An abandoned waif ? A possessed woman ? A lost spirit ?
There is no way of knowing , except to read - and read some more , till one comes to the heart- warming denouement of this beautifully written book .
And a tree - strong and full of branches spread like a myth , and roots - groping - groping in search of life saving elements..... are all characters in the novel which soon grow on you .
Isabella is in search of her roots . Will she be able to find them ?
The novel is like a melodious song , the notes of which keep on haunting one deep into the night . Believe me , you will love the book .
Thanks a ton Santosh ji , for this crisp review.
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