Family Life
Just finished reading
‘Family Life’,
a novel written by American-Indian writer Akhil Sharma. It’s a story of the family
and the ups and downs they experienced in their life. Sharma writes with the
great compassion. Though, the novel has autobiographical inputs, but he doesn’t
turn to any character particularly.
Sharma’s strength,that I
like in his writing, is his simplicity. I read and re-read his words, most of
the literature he has penned down ever, and always feel that he is sitting just
in front of me and telling stories. Even common Indian English readers can
easily grasp his words. He has worldwide recognition for his writing style
which is gripping and poignant.
His earlier novel-‘An Obedient
Father’ had attracted the attention of readers and critics equally. He picks up
the stories from the life of middle class people and presents them with his
phenomenal skill of storytelling.
In ‘Family Life’, he speaks about
relationship , socio-cultural ethics, love and slowly deteriorating value
system. Sometimes, he creates humor, but his humor has dark shade. Here, we
came across with the best example of dark comedy.
In this novel, narrators elder
brother met an accident in a swimming pool and damaged his brain and left him
bed ridden permanently. The story moves around the struggle of his family,
their endeavors for his brother’s survival. Their loneliness, helplessness, despair
and unbearable loss aroused our sympathy for the characters . Every main
character , though they reside in same home and belong to one family, has their
own problem.
The story is written from
the point of view of Ajay, an eight year old boy of migrated family to America.
The novel is an emotional journey of this young boy. The story lingers in our
mind for long time and makes us restless. I think, as a writer, that is the
strength of Akhil Sharma.
The novel own prestigious,
‘The Folio Prize-2015’ and critically acclaimed all over the world.
In short, ‘Family Life’
is a real page turner and a treat for fiction lover.
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