I'm reading Avarana from S.L Bhyrappa. The English translation. Since my kannada is rotting, I thought why not read it in English first and then kannada. Anyway, the point is what the fuck is going on in this book.
It's part flashback, part letters and a part fictional historical novel set in medieval India under Aurangzeb. I find this thing so fucking reductive and generalised.
The arguments of religion are ridiculous, the arguments for the so called "progressive movement" is so vague and also professor sastri is such a typical narcissistic fuckboy. It's just bizzare. What's the point did this guy want to make?
I'm not against books criticising religion. Yes please, we need more of that, but what's really weird, is his arguments make no sense, nor are they coherent. It could be possible because, I don't know much about Islam, what I know is how my friends have been with me and the conversations I've had. Which had more to do with tv shows, kdramas and less to do with religion.
This isn't a novel it's a shitty argument that's been paper wrapped in two characters. Both Razia(Lakshmi) and Amir are dumb.
At one point Amir asks, "if something so basic as food is different, (Razia would have converted from non vegetariansm to vegetarian), then how will our marriage sustain?" (Paraphrased)
Which is..... mind-boggling. Can your tiny mustard pea brain mind not conceive of anything else to do with your wife or have anything else in common or any other basis to live your life with her? Sure, you could make an argument that, Amir and Razia had gone through other shit and this was something that broke the camels back and he's saying it emotionally. But this whole book is structured on the idea that these two people are intellectuals and wanted to advance progressive ideas about religion and religious harmony.
I'm a 150 pages in, and I haven't seen a single intellectual idea or maturity or progressive behaviour. I'm not sure if this is some nuanced ironic portrayal of "intellectuals can be biased and prejudiced too" but it is all over the place if that's what the author intended to do.
I can't even stop reading this book because it's hooked me with its stupidity.