Book: Susanna’s Granthpura
Author: Ajai P. Mangattu
Translator: Catherine Thankamma
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 265
Ali and Abhi undertake a journey to Marayur, a small town in Western Ghats in Kerela in the hope of discovering an unfinished manuscript by a long-forgotten author, and there they meet Susanna, who might help them find the manuscript in her Achan’s books collection! But when years later Ali gets a call from Paul, Susanna’s son, days after her death, he wonders what could be the reason behind it. What could happen to one in finding a long-lost manuscript?
This book is a reader’s delight. With so many literary references, conversations, and mentions, one might become overwhelmed and there comes a moment when one might forget what the story is about and be completely immersed in the literary talks and references.
One cannot write when the mind is filled with chaotic thoughts. Nor one can write when the mind is a void. At what point does one become a writer? Where do the words disappear, the ones that flow into the mind like waves, while travelling in a bus or lying down to sleep? Why don’t they return? Couldn’t you have jotted them down, the moment they flashed across the mind?
A quote from the book “Susanna’s Granthpura”
The description of the beauty of the Western Ghats and Kerela was a delight to read and make one long to see and visit it. The book is rich with deep impacting lines in between, giving a lot of food for thought.
The translator says in the translator note that “While each of the references is integral to the novel’s thematic and structural progression, I was wary not to miss the forest for the trees, for I realized that a strict adherence to the narrative style of the source text would weaken the tautness and structural integrity of the translation.” And I so agree with it. The translation was very smooth and the translator deserves appreciation for it.
But for me, the story in itself does not have much to offer nor the characters and that’s the reason why it took me so long to finish it(literally months!). The narrative and descriptions in some places are a little creepy. In between the short-length chapters, the story goes on but in between so many literary references, the story takes a little backseat, making me feel disconnected with it multiple times.
Although it’s my first novel in Malayalam Literature, this is the third book from it that I read this year, and the only thing I have to say at least about it is – Astonishing. Subversive Whispers by Manasi(translated by J. Devika) and Marquez EMS Gulam & Others by Benyamin (translated by Swarup B.R.) were the other two books, and the writing styles of all of them are so different, yet uniquely astonishing in their way. There is a sense of rawness, captivity, and bringing things from the surroundings in a perspective that one might not observe otherwise! And that makes it astonishingly astonishing for me if that’s a word! And I surely want to explore more Malayalam Literature.
I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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Jainand Gurjar 
Thanks for the book recco! I liked the title and cover design too. even the title is very interesting, especially the work “Granthapura”
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