Moom : A book Review

A short, compelling, gripping and the most suspenseful novel I have read in a long long time. This is a kind of book that keeps you latched on to, haunts you to the core, leaves you dumbfounded, and compells you to think. It was frightening for me at first, relatable in the middle and shocking at the end.

Moom by Bani Basu translated by Arunava Sinha talks about patriarchy, misogyny, gender inequality, customs and traditions that has been unfair to both genders to a great extent, of course to females, a lot more but even males have had their fair share of unjustice from our very own society and Bani Basu hasn’t ignored male forlorn even to a slightest bit is what distinguishes her.

The whole story is spooky and a bit eerie at times. Characters may seem too silent, very hard to read, building the suspense. You may also feel some characters are built a bit vaguely, the story is a bit slow paced in the beginning but it all starts to make sense as you slowly march towards the end. You won’t be able to keep this aside once you start reading it. It’s like the characters would guide you through this jungle of secrets, it gets densier as you move ahead, and by the time you reach the end, BOOM!!! The sun shines right above, making everything clearly visible to you.

Each character, having their share of flaws, in a way or other, gives an example of how everyone is a victim of some customs and traditions which have been imposed over them. Everyone is a part of this mechanism of patriarchy, knowingly or unknowingly contributing.

This one was a thought provoking read in its very own way. You will have to keep reminding yourself that this is a work of fiction but the fact that this fiction is the reality of lives of millions will haunt you for a really long time. Bani Basu managed to talk about so many menaces of our society as a whole in such a tiny small, weaving it all together in a simple yet impactful story.

I actually had to Google MOOM after reading the book inorder to relate it to the story. While I found so many meanings of it, for this particular story, I guess it actually means something made of milk. And it all makes sense in the end.

While Bani Basu has written it astonishingly, translator Arunava Sinha has done a splendid job. Originally written in Bengali, translated in english MOOM doesn’t lose its essence even to a slightest bit owing to impeccable translation.

By now, I guess you must have understood that this is not to be missed at all. Worth every minute you would invest in this.

Sharing a few quotes from the book that made me want to read them more than once:

“This tribal ability to suffer, to toil away, was in their blood”

“He sat by, time passed by, life passed by”

“Regret, accusations, contrition and suffering were constantly at war with another”