My impression on When the River Sleeps



When the River Sleeps
Easterine Kire

Kire, Easterine. When the River Sleeps. Zubaan, 2014.

‘When the River Sleeps’ is an unassuming fictional book that has the power to keep the reader warped with attention. The vivid and detailed narration of the story, keeps the reader glued to the book till one turns the last leaf.

The story revolves around Vilie, a man in his forties, who ventures out to get a stone from mysterious sleeping river. The setting of the story is based on the far flung village life and wild forests, which are infested by spirits. Just as there are human villages, there are also certain forests that are inhabited by the spirits. The spirits are presented to be as real and powerful as human beings. The evil spirits would attack human beings especially those who fear or those who are weak hearted.  

The suspense of the story and the spirit infested jungle, hold the reader’s imagination and evoke goosebumps. The author throws light on the culture of the Naga people, ethos, hospitality for the strangers, hard-earned livelihood, and how elders would take major decisions. In fact, the reader is given the glimpse of how the early Naga Society live and thrive on.

My personal note: the ending of the story is abrupt. If Vilie could overcome the villain and continue to protect the forest, it would have been better. However, there might be reasons why the author wanted to give a twist at the end of the story.  Every adventure in the story is well knitted. Judging from its power to captivate the reader's mind, I will not be surprised if this novel is adapted for a feature film.

The theme of Authenticity seems to stand out prominently, in this fiction. Vilie risks his life to get the magical stone from the mysterious river. In spite of care, it got lost. However, there is something more valuable than the magical stone which Vilie has, which no one can steal. It is his ‘Authenticity of heart.’


Book image link https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23258350-when-the-river-sleeps

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Local land the blessing of North East

Image
(Musing on Samir Bordoloi’s vision of Ecological Farming in North East) Northeast India being richly blessed with natural land resources, the Government of India is promoting the whole region to grow organic food for the people of India. The youths could launch out as Agripreneurs to produce good food and sustain their livelihood through ecological farming practices. There is a greater need to give value to our land and grow healthy food. Sustainable mode of production: The harmful effects of the accelerated mode of production could be seen in terms of health problems among the consumers and degradation of the quality of soil which even has cost the lives of many farmers in many parts of the country. This same mistake should not be allowed to repeat in the name of Organic Food Production in the region. Therefore, in a very careful way, the farmers of the region have to play a crucial role in meeting the demands of the country while preventing the over-exploitation of natura...
Read more

Mary Clubwala Jadhav: Indian Contemporary Social Reformer

Image
Introduction: Mary Clubwala Jadhav  (1909-1975) was an Indian philanthropist and a recipient of India's civilian honour  Padma Shri . She has been the reason behind the awakening of the dawn of several NGOs in  Chennai  and the rest of the country. Often credited with setting up the oldest organized social work bodies in India; her contribution is unparallel. Her organization Guild of Service operates more than a dozen units related to the orphanage, Female Literacy, Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled etc. She has been honoured with  Padma Vibhushan , the second highest civilian honour of India in 1975.  A.     Her Life Mary was born in 1909 in Ootacamund in the then Madras Presidency to Rustom Patel and Allamai, member of the 300-strong Parsi community of Madras city. She had her schooling in Madras and married Nogi Clubwala at the age of 18. They had a son, Khusro, in 1930. Nogi Clubwala died due to an illness in 1935. Af...
Read more