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OTHER STORIES RELATED TO BOOKS The Impersonator Authorspeak

The challenge of satire is sustainability. More so when it is intended to mirror contemporary society. The most effective showcase of the allegorical art is brevity—short pieces or stories that readers can instantly, and easily, connect to current events. The full-length satirical novel is, understandably, a considerably more challenging enterprise, which explains why it is not such a commonly attempted form of fictional writing. Moreover, the author is not a professional writer: he is an investment consultant, and though he has penned musicals and a Hindi short story, this is his first work in English.

THE CHRONICLER'S DAUGHTER BY KISHORE THUKRAL RAVI DAYAL PRICE: Rs 300 PAGES: 360

He seems to have taken his literary inspiration from George Orwell. His fictional state, U Belly, is near-utopian, the only blot on the landscape of peace and prosperity marred by the chronicler’s daughter who is physically different from the rest, being slim and not rotund, and the only one who questions the air of complacency and the machinations of the Elders, the governing group of Wise Men. Predictably, they try and neutralise her and (shades of V.P. Singh) it backfires: her popularity grows, she attracts converts to her cause and overthrows the Elders.

Enter the only superpower around, bringing money and glamour and a charismatic Clintonesque president. In an ending that will gladden the hearts of Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Jyoti Basu and the Swadeshi brigade, external influences lead to corruption and decay with everything being overturned, including the father being pitted against the daughter. Whether the twists and turns are for dramatic effect or for making a statement on the current economic and political climate is unclear. This book is really like a broken mirror, fragmented images that are fleetingly recognisable but they somehow fail to come together as one composite portrait. It’s the kind of book you put down after a chapter or two and only pick up again to find out what happens next, not because the plot is powerfully allegorical enough to keep the literary momentum going.

However, the author’s command of the language is commendable and parts of the book make for a delightful read. Sadly, it’s the literary equivalent of a curate’s egg; the bad parts spoil the enjoyment of the good. The flaw lies in stretching the allegorical inference too far rather than keeping it tight and more powerful. The result is that halfway through, it becomes somewhat predictable, a chronicle foretold.