A review by raji_c
The Taming of Women by Pritham K. Chakravarthy, P. Sivakami
4.0
There is no overt statement in P Sivakami’s book. It depicts rural Tamil Nadu without the veneer that Hindi and Tamil cinema often apply to rural settings. The first female Tamil Dalit novelist, P Sivakami is a former IAS officer. Her observations of the life and rhythms of rural Tamil Nadu are real and stark.
The book features three generations of women, Anandhayi, her mother-in-law, and her daughters. There is also an almost overwhelming cast of other characters whose lives intermingle with that of Anandhayi and her family. The commonality in their lives seems to be unceasing violence, physical and emotional, inflicted by men. The men and their behaviour also pits the women against each other.
And this is a cycle that keeps repeating itself. One of the most poignant images of this is that at the beginning of the book, we see Anandhayi’s mother-in-law occupying the thinnai and by the end of the book, her largely immobile and physically degenerating space on the thinnai is taken by Anandhayi.
I am not a fan of the translation. Some bits were too literal in my opinion and the resulting awkwardness did make certain passages a little tedious. However, overall, I think, the mood of the book has been captured.
I now want to read Sivakami’s first book, which she herself translated. It would make for an interesting comparison, I think.
The book features three generations of women, Anandhayi, her mother-in-law, and her daughters. There is also an almost overwhelming cast of other characters whose lives intermingle with that of Anandhayi and her family. The commonality in their lives seems to be unceasing violence, physical and emotional, inflicted by men. The men and their behaviour also pits the women against each other.
And this is a cycle that keeps repeating itself. One of the most poignant images of this is that at the beginning of the book, we see Anandhayi’s mother-in-law occupying the thinnai and by the end of the book, her largely immobile and physically degenerating space on the thinnai is taken by Anandhayi.
I am not a fan of the translation. Some bits were too literal in my opinion and the resulting awkwardness did make certain passages a little tedious. However, overall, I think, the mood of the book has been captured.
I now want to read Sivakami’s first book, which she herself translated. It would make for an interesting comparison, I think.