Introduction number two strikes me with a heavy hand. I feel that the author is reaching through the book, taking hold of my collar, and trying to shake into me an understanding that I can't achieve, because I am not him. It is artless, melodramatic, and ineffective.
"There are thousands of 'becauses' like it, and no sword is sharp enough to cut this 'because.'" This introduction seems to be one of these-- it is here just 'because,' because of the enormity of the undertaking that is this novel, because the reader must know that the author is taking a stand, proclaiming his identity, staking his claim to his vision of the past, his memory of place. I think I get what he is attempting. I don't think it works.
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haha. I liked this book, believe it or not. Perhaps I liked it for the wrong reason as i found laughs in the most inappropriate places, even where people were getting beat up and raped and didn't know it.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding of this novel is still limited. I don't pretend to know all the reasons for the 'becauses' or what he is attempting at. However, those becauses that you gave in your post are sufficient for me. I buy it, because...
In light of the discussion that we've been having about Mohsin's novel, our reactions to both Reza's second introduction and Mohsin's oh so obvious political allegory are so much reactions of discomfort because we feel unsettled by such obvious intentionality. The pen presses too strongly.
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