P. Murugan came into the national spotlight a couple of years ago when he came under attack for blasphemy for his novel Madhurobhagan. In protest, he publicly announced that he was giving up writing novels altogether. A highly decorated Tamil scholar, teacher and writer, he has written several novels as well as collections of poetry, short stories and non-fiction.
Current Show is a translation of his Tamil novel 'Nizhal Muttram' and is one of a series of translations of Murugan's work by Penguin Random House, aimed at readers who don't read Tamil. It is a powerful, gripping story of several young boys who live and work at a cinema hall in a small town in Tamil Nadu. The prose is raw, powerful and evocative. It is peppered with curt, coarse language that has one automatically translating the lines into vernacular in one's head. Sathi, the protagonist, has run away from his leper father, trying to leave the taint of untouchability and beggary behind him. He hopes to somehow make a life for himself in the alleys behind the cinema hall, selling 'colour soda' to the patrons of the theatre and doing odd jobs for people in between shows. The story is presented in a series of quick cinematic 'shots' as it were, rapidly creating a story of the days of these boys. They live in a world of filth and squalor and are exploited as cheap labour. They eat badly and escape into ganja-fuelled stupor in the evenings. And yet, despite their fights and seeming hostility towards one another, they band together as a group, reaching out for each other for solidarity during their waking hours and comfort when they sleep.
A word on the translation: The novel is translated by feminist historian and publisher V Geetha of Tara Books, who has also translated several other works by Murugan. She has deftly created a manuscript that reads fluidly in a language that it was not written in. It's not an easy job but she has done it remarkably well.
An interesting piece on Perumal Murugan's writing here at The Caravan.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me for review.
Current Show is a translation of his Tamil novel 'Nizhal Muttram' and is one of a series of translations of Murugan's work by Penguin Random House, aimed at readers who don't read Tamil. It is a powerful, gripping story of several young boys who live and work at a cinema hall in a small town in Tamil Nadu. The prose is raw, powerful and evocative. It is peppered with curt, coarse language that has one automatically translating the lines into vernacular in one's head. Sathi, the protagonist, has run away from his leper father, trying to leave the taint of untouchability and beggary behind him. He hopes to somehow make a life for himself in the alleys behind the cinema hall, selling 'colour soda' to the patrons of the theatre and doing odd jobs for people in between shows. The story is presented in a series of quick cinematic 'shots' as it were, rapidly creating a story of the days of these boys. They live in a world of filth and squalor and are exploited as cheap labour. They eat badly and escape into ganja-fuelled stupor in the evenings. And yet, despite their fights and seeming hostility towards one another, they band together as a group, reaching out for each other for solidarity during their waking hours and comfort when they sleep.
A word on the translation: The novel is translated by feminist historian and publisher V Geetha of Tara Books, who has also translated several other works by Murugan. She has deftly created a manuscript that reads fluidly in a language that it was not written in. It's not an easy job but she has done it remarkably well.
An interesting piece on Perumal Murugan's writing here at The Caravan.
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me for review.
