Friday, December 4, 2009
Ruswa and Hamid
I just wanted to draw a parallel between Umrao Jan Ada and The Reluctant Fundamentalist in the sense that both novels require readers to give in to form of the novel. By setting up both stories in the form of a conversation, Ruswa and Hamid give the impression that each story is organic and genuinely spontaneous, when in actuality they are well-planned. Yes, I know, Hamid's planning seems far more apparent than Ruswa's, I'm just pointing out one specific function of this form. While Hamid has a relatively clear bias that seems to motivate his using this form, Ruswa seems to be evoking the spirit of tradition embodied in Umrao Jan by using conversation to place readers in the same room as the characters.
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It is weird that I've never read a novel in the second person before reading Hamid. It never bothered me, though I know some of my friends hate the form. Mary was asking if we could do this in the limited third person. You said Hamid seems to have "clear bias that seems to motivate his using this form," could he channel his bias through the third person? Would this be as effective getting the message across? I don't know the answers to these questions.
ReplyDeleteI do like that the structures of both these novels are based on the framework of a character's narrative. The difference, of course, is that when Umrao Jan is telling the story, it slips into a more poetical, first-person narration without acknowledging her audience. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is also first person, but with a healthy bit of "you" thrown in to acknowledge his listener.
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