Jeyamohan

[Sureshs65]

A brief review of 'உலோகம்'

First, pardon me for writing this in English. I do write in Tamil but it takes a much longer time for me. Hence this review in English.

The blurb says that JeMo is trying a novel in the thriller genre, based on some real incidents. The novel is indeed in the thriller genre but we should probably call it an intelligent thriller. Something along the lines of a Le Carre novel.

SPOILER ALERT: The following paragraphs will contain some of the plot elements.

The novel is told in first person. This is a person who just wants to make a clean breast of things. He is not looking forward to your understanding or sympathy. The whole novel can be said to be a monologue. The protagonist talks continuously. There is no let up. He keeps speaking and speaking and speaking. A constant flow of words come tumbling down. Given that it is JeMo who is writing, you can imagine the quality of thoughts and the quality of the language.

JeMo's novel is about multiple emotions. Love, self preservation, betrayal, double crossings and a general sense of helplessness. It is about characters caught in situations not of their own making and their inability to get out of those situations. Not unexpectedly for a JeMo novel, the whole novel is driven by characters than by the plot. It is probably one of the first novels in the thriller genre in Tamil which depends so much on characterisation and less on the actual events.

JeMo builds the plot well. He slowly sets up the climax. There is no hurry to get there. The story unfolds with lot of details and slowly proceed to the climax. It is nice to see such detailing in plot. As usual JeMo's language is brilliant as are his descriptions. JeMo is known for his symbolism and here too the symbolism of the metal inside the man converting him into a metal exists.

For all this, I had a sense of dissatisfaction. And I can think of a few reasons why I had that feeling. First, this is not a lived experience of JeMo and it shows. If you take something like 'mattagam' or even the short story 'aram', the place and the people easily spring up in your mind's eye. That is the strength of JeMo's writing. He can make a place and its people come alive very easily. Unfortunately, neither SriLanka nor its people come alive in this novel. When the protagonist recalls his past, the streets of Sri Lanka don't come alive nor do the people of that place come alive. It is just some recall by a third party and it doesn't touch us.

The second failing to me is even more surprising. The whole novel hinges on three people and you somehow don't feel for any of them!!! I can understand the consistency in us not feeling for the protagonist since he doesn't want us to feel for him. But while you appreciate the situation in which the man who will be eventually murdered is caught in, you somehow don't develop any sympathy or feeling for him. Nor do you really feel for his daughter. I say this is surprising because of two reasons. One, JeMo is a master at getting you connected with the character. His recent short stories serve as excellent examples. Two, the whole novel will be satisfactory only if the connect happens with these characters. Somehow that doesn't happen or atleast it didn't happen to me and hence the novel doesn't fulfil its promise.

For those wondering if they should read this novel, it is definitely worth far more than the Rs.50/- for which 'kizhakku' is going to sell it. Do buy it and read it. You will not regret it.