Dear readers,
We read a lot of books in a year, so it is hard to declare a favorite. That being said, rarely has writing struck the delicate corners of my heart as "A Passage North." Thus, “A Passage North” is our Summer 2021 Book of the Season.
It is special when a book churns an emotional response rather than an intellectual one. While reading this novel, I frequently sent Mishika long audio messages to process how I felt. Perhaps it is because I share some parallels to the protagonist, Krishan, who attempts to escape his self-doubt by traveling to the farthest reaches of a poor community, only to spend most of his time in his own head. When I moved to Puducherry, India, at 24, I was yearning for an antidote to the apathy I felt post-college. I wanted a career with a clear social impact, and living and working in a faraway rural community was a grateful pause.
While Krishan's existential ruminations thrust me back to my own experiences, I believe this book will resonate in a different way with readers who grapple(d) with questions of love, identity, healing, or purpose. The philosophy in "A Passage North" is at once deeply personal and beautifully universal. To me, that is the beauty of any good story.
Until next time,
Sri (and Mishika)
A Passage North
"A Passage North" strips down the human existence to its most inescapable truths.
The story is unwontedly simple: the protagonist, Krishnan, is on a train ride from Colombo to Jaffna, a city on the Northern tip of Sri Lanka. He is attending the funeral of his grandmother's caretaker, Rani, a refugee of the island's brutal civil war. During the journey, Krishan reflects on his life, relatively abundant in privilege yet somehow lacking, and Rani's, whose life was splintered by terrible violence and devoid of peace. As the train ventures deeper into Sri Lanka's war-torn provinces, readers dive into Krishan's reflection about identity, grief, healing, and the meaning of his life.
Absent entirely of dialogue and taking place almost entirely in Krishan's mind, Arudpragasam's writing is a complex symphony, and not one every reader may enjoy. It is a challenging read. The most mundane events, like smoking a cigarette, are described over multiple paragraphs or even pages. This seems intentional: this novel is a meditation on ordinary existence just as much as it is about heavier themes like loss and trauma.
"A Passage North" quietly unearths how violence can have a multi-generational effect. Krishan, who is educated in the city and without direct ties to the war zone, is tormented by the malaise of his young adulthood, particularly when he lives in the epicenter of immense injustice. He compares his restlessness to Anjum, a passionate activist with whom he shared an intense romance. He measures his life against Rani's, which was dictated by cruel circumstances, causing her to live suspended between her past and present. Arudpragasam successfully avoids the pitfall of reducing the life of a refugee to trauma porn; he does not rank or belittle any of these characters’ journeys.
His writing technique is to be applauded. He features several mythologies and historical anecdotes of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Some of these mini-stories are delightful, others are somber, and all eventually tie back to the protagonist's life, but together, they make "A Passage North" feel like several stories in one. While these cultural touchstones are rigorously authentic, they carry universal morals which make them accessible to readers unfamiliar with the Tamil society.
For people who enjoy philosophical books, "A Passage North" will resonate in a way that feels deeply personal, timeless, and even painfully true. This is writing which will not release you until you are kneeling before it. It feels as though I have absorbed these words, and the messages within "A Passage North" continue to reveal themselves in my own life.
Order your copy of "A Passage North."
We want to help get this book in your hands. Hogarth Books generously offered to give two of our Instagram followers a copy of "A Passage North.” This raffle is open until Wednesday, July 30th, and available to US residents only (sorry, international friends)!
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