Peng Shepherd
When a man loses his shadow in India, it is seen as a curiosity. Until it turns out that when the shadow goes, sooner or later, memories too follow. The world, understandably, switches to panic mode, even as the contagion spreads across continents. Two years later, Ory and Max have managed to survive and create their own tiny, though dangerous world. Then Max loses her shadow, and knowing the danger posed to Ory, runs away. Ory follows, and thus begin two journeys. They’re both physical and metaphysical.
There are two other significant narratives – that of Naz, Iranian and archer, and The One Who Gathers. The respective “road trips” quickly ups the pitch of the dystopian survival narrative, complete with street gangs, faithful fanatics, and a single destination towards which everyone is gravitating – New Orleans, the rumoured abode of The One Who Gathers.
The premise is indeed interesting. Think about it – what does the loss of memories mean to one’s identity and sense of self? And is the sum of the person and his/her memories somehow lesser than the whole? Would a different physical body with the same memories be treated as the same person, or the other way?
The author also manages to do a good job of fleshing out the characters, who are not just multi ethnic but differ in their sexuality too. Some of the twists and turns are inventive and Max’s recordings are poignant enough to pull at heartstrings, without any melodrama.
However, it fails on a couple of points. The pace slackens a bit towards the middle, and it doesn’t help that the book is almost 500 pages. Additionally, though there is a bunch of folklore that do make sense in the context – from Peter Pan to Kerala’s most famous elephant – the rough edges are difficult to ignore. Add to that, seemingly random bizarreness like the Statue of Liberty attacking New York City are a little difficult to fit in.
But that’s not too much of a put off, and once you get into the groove of the book, it makes for an interesting read.
P.S. The hat tip to Ursula K. Le Guin’s (for A Wizard of Earthsea) is to be noted. 🙂
