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Thread: Jeyamohan

  1. #81
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    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.
    Last edited by Sureshs65; 24th February 2011 at 12:06 AM.

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  3. #82
    Moderator Platinum Hubber P_R's Avatar
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    Nice post Suresh.

    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.
    Yeah I feel that in many of his stories set outside his comfort zone. Not just in terms of locale but even in terms of content. When the story does not lend itself naturally to 'things he wants to say' you can almost see how he is bending things to suit what he says. And he has an outsider's perspective of a locale that manifests in the way he writes about the locale, conversations etc.

    For instance there were too damn many mentions of East thanjai in the one half of Mayil kazuthtu I read. Even granting for possible excessive municipal patriotism and the tom-tomming to outsider characters, it struck me as very out of place. As if JeMo can't rid himself of thinking he is writing about a foreign culture. You see the old man wedded to music mentioned one too many times in thayar paadham. Yes musical legacy of the area, people steeped into it etc. is fine but it still felt like he was trying real hard to make it 'appropriate' and it wasn't turning out to be (I am not saying this too well)


    In many ways I am glad he is uncomfortable. A writer should feel he is out of place and has to make efforts to be adequate. Many just write with minimal cognizance about such things. You have to be hyper aware you are aware of comfort zone but also not let it show, that is all.

    But this 'one large monologue' is what makes me hesitant. Not too sure how much I'd be able to enjoy that. Short story-yE moochu muttum. Full novel konjam risk

    PS: Do keep writing in Tamil!
    மூவா? முதல்வா! இனியெம்மைச் சோரேலே

  4. #83
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    PR,

    I understand what you say. Felt the same in one short story where a singer is unable to distinguish properly between Arabhi and Devagandhari. Somehow that didn't ring true.

    Another example of a character that does not work is the foreign return girl, I think she was called Susheela, in 'anal katru'. As someone commented in JeMo's site (comments were enable during that time), it looked like the girl's character was written by Sujatha Ofcourse, I could pardon that since the other characters were wonderfully etched and the central conflict was emotionally draining.

    Yes, it is nice to see JeMo working beyond his comfort zone. Otherwise given the speed at which he writes, he will exhaust his locales very fast.

  5. #84
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    A brief review of 'இரவு'.

    In the wake of success of 'Ulogam' in the book fare and later the sensation created by his short stories, this particular novel doesn't seem to have garnered as much attention. Here is my brief review of this novel. I am not going into the philosophical aspects which need a much larger writeup. I will talk more on the subject and the structural aspects of the novel. Not many spoilers.

    This novel is more closer to the subjects which have been the main concern of JeMo in many of his novels. Love, Betrayal, Women, Religion etc. There is a good deal of emotional intensity in this novel. You can see this novel as a more matured and slightly less intense version of 'Anal Katru' in the sense of the central theme of love and betrayal. Jeyamohan is able to take up an interesting premise and draw up a novel based on this premise. Unlike 'Ulogam' where I did not connect with many of the characters, here even the minor characters leap out of the pages. The novel is placed in Kerala and Jeyamohan's very close association with this land clearly shines through, in his description of geography, people and the language. Characters are nicely etched, the novel moves very naturally towards its climax and unlike 'Anal Katru' wherein you could sense that it was written for a movie and hence everything has to be neatly tied up. Here he has more freedom and so he ends it naturally. As I said earlier, I am not going to debate the philosophical implications here.

    Another thing which was very good is the cover design. Very well thought out and executed.

    A couple of thoughts which passed through my mind as I was reading this novel. One, I personally feel the need for an editor who is as personality should be equal to Jeyamohan. As I have always maintained, there are very few equals to Jeyamohan in bringing a scene to life, a scenery to life, the inner conflict of a character to life. No one describes these better than Jeyamohan. But sometimes this becomes too much. Suppose a scene is being described, you are first hit with a wonderful imagery. Before you can savour it, one more metaphor comes along and immediately one more and one more. Suddenly you have so much description that you one, forget a lot of it or two just move forward. Same happens sometimes when the characters inner workings are detailed. Sometimes it becomes too much of description and hinders the flow. (I am afraid to say this loudly lest JeMo comes back and says we expect 'விறுவிறுப்பு', 'சுறுசுறுப்பு' because we are addicted to movies ) I personally thought that this novel can actually be a more focussed 'kurunovel' and it would have worked admirably.

    Another minor issue which I have felt in more than one of his novels is this: Our own P_R, in his latest lec-dem (http://dagalti.blogspot.com/) quotes a saying, "A man who is reading a classic will find a way to work it into a conversation". It seems to be the same with JeMo. Not about the classic but almost all the views he expresses in his articles/essays find their way into the novel through one character or the other. I feel that the later generations may not have this problem when reading JeMo but since we follow his essays closely we will have this problem. The problem is that these opinions of his come out via various characters and suddenly you feel that the character is Jeyamohan Sometimes it is worked into the conversation very well and sometimes you feel it is a bit forced. And as in 'Ulogam', here too Jeyamohan is in uncertain territory as far as the work aspect of the protagonist is concerned but that doesn't have too much of a bearing on the story.

    All in all, inspite of the mild irritations I listed above, this is a novel I enjoyed a lot. I would definitely recommend that you read it. It is a serious novel and a well written one.
    Last edited by Sureshs65; 3rd March 2011 at 11:41 PM.

  6. #85
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    http://www.jeyamohan.in/?p=13076 - quite interesting

    http://www.jeyamohan.in/?p=13188 - again Kooja for Shaji

  7. #86
    Senior Member Diamond Hubber venkkiram's Avatar
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    சொல்லிச் சொல்லி ஆறாது சொன்னா துயர் தீராது...

  8. #87
    Senior Member Diamond Hubber venkkiram's Avatar
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    நூறுநாற்காலிகள் - மொத்தம் நான்கு பாகங்கள்.. வாசித்து முடித்தேன். ஆன்மாவையே யாரோ பிடித்து உலுக்கியதாக ஒரு உணர்வு. சாதிய வேர்களின் ஆழம் வரை சென்று, ஒரு அம்மா - மகனுக்குமான பிணைப்பை அருமையாக எடுத்துரைக்கிறது இப்புதினம். எல்லாமே கற்பனையாக இருந்துவிடாமல், நடந்தவைகளை இப்படி நெய்வது வரலாற்று முக்கியத்துவம் வாய்ந்த செயல். எழுத்துலகில் அச்சேற்றிய ஜெமோவிற்கு மனமார்ந்த நன்றி. அவரால் ஒரு ஆற்றின் கரையோரத்தில் சாதகம் செய்யும் பாடகரின் வாழ்க்கையினையும் எழுத முடிகிறது, அதே ஆற்றில் பிணமாக அடித்து செல்லப்படுகிற அவலநிலை மக்களின் விளிம்பு நிலையினையும் எழுத முடிகிறது. வணங்கான் போல இதில் மானுட தரிசனம் - காப்பான். அவரின் மனநிலையில் வந்து போகும் பிறழ்வுகளை அழகுபட வடித்திருக்கிறார் ஜெமோ. எது நிகழ்காலம், எது எண்ண ஓட்டம் என்பதை வாசிப்பவர்களுக்கே விட்டுவிடும் பாணி பிடித்திருக்கிறது.
    சொல்லிச் சொல்லி ஆறாது சொன்னா துயர் தீராது...

  9. #88
    Moderator Platinum Hubber P_R's Avatar
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    Jeyamohan explains his stand on 'dramatic monologue' format which some folks (like yours truly) have a problem with.

    இலக்கியம் தொன்றுதொட்டு மனதை, மன எழுச்சிகளை பதிவு செய்ய பல உத்திகளை
    கையாண்டுள்ளது. நெடுங்காலம் அது டிரமாட்டிக் மோனோலோக் எனப்படும்
    உணர்ச்சிகர தன்னுரைதான். அப்படி ஒருவர் பேசிக்கொள்வாரா என்ற கேள்விக்கு
    இடமில்லை. அதன் வழியாக அவர் மனம் வெளிப்படும் முறையே அங்கே இலக்கு.
    A well written essay again. என்ன அங்க இங்க, வரவர வழக்காமிகிட்டு வர்ற superior toneல திட்டிருக்காப்ல.

    இருந்தாலும் 'யதார்த்த' முருங்கை மரத்தை விட்டு இப்போதைக்கு இறங்குவேன்னு தோணலை. இழப்பு எனக்குத்தான் etc etc.
    மூவா? முதல்வா! இனியெம்மைச் சோரேலே

  10. #89
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    P_R,

    Jeyamohan writes too fast. Much faster than I can read. So I generally end up waiting for his books to be released.

    Well, I have not read his article about dramatic monolouge yet. And we don't need to worry about realism all the time. One long monologue I remember appears in the ending chapter of Joyce's "Ulysses" In the western world, that is probably the most celebrated monologues. I guess monologues appear is Shakespeare as well but I haven't read them.

  11. #90
    Senior Member Diamond Hubber venkkiram's Avatar
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    விதிசமைப்பவர்கள்

    இதுவரை படித்த இணையத்தளக் கட்டுரைகளில் உச்சங்களில் வரும் ஒன்றாக இதை வைக்கிறேன். ஜெமோ! உங்களால் மட்டுமே முடியும்! இந்த ஞானம் , ஆளுமைதான் உங்களையும் மற்றவர்களையும் வித்தியாசப்படுத்திக் காட்டுகிறது. சேமித்து வைக்கப்படவேண்டிய எழுத்துக்கள் இவை.
    சொல்லிச் சொல்லி ஆறாது சொன்னா துயர் தீராது...

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