Title:The Weight Loss Club
Author: Devapriya Roy
Published by: Rupa Publications
India in 2013
Genre: Fiction
Price: Rs.250
Pages:297
Rate: 4/5
Devapriya Roy's second novel, The
Weight Loss Club too, like her first novel The Vague Woman's Handbook,
left a thoughtful impression in the mind. The vibrant creative graphic of the
cover page is the first impression that would force a mind to grab it and dig
deep in the fiction. The Fiction delineates the
mental turmoil and the transformation of the characters and the story line.
When I say story line I should make you all sure it doesn't have any particular
story line, like it has never begun nor ended. It is a story of a phase and the
lives of the residents of Nancy Housing Cooperative. And again don't judge the
book by the title too. If it says The Weight Loss Club it is actually not. The title is allegorical; symbolizing a
united cosmic world that brought people together under one roof may be with one root
motto "weight loss", but actually to find solace from the frustration
of the daily life. As usual this Fiction again became the perfect example of
Devapraya Roy's intellectual affinity, where the drama of life never makes one
to feel fictitious but the noesis of our daily life.
From Nandy
to Nancy, from Mandakini to Mandy, the transitions of the characters in the
housing complex are woven with each other as an integral part in a plausible
parameter but in a very simple manner it evolves.
The whole setting of the novel is developed around Nancy Housing
Complex. 7 protagonists if I say so and among them one who played the role of a
catalyst, who brought solace and rain in a deserted world. A vignette of the
characters:
Monalisa
Das, the stay-at-home mum and over
obsessed with the education and scores of her sons. A typical home maker who
always thinks of the cleanliness of her kitchen and house.
Meera Sahai, continuously bullied by her Mother-in-law and a
victim of Postpartum Depression.
Aparajita Mukherjee alias Apu: An academic and a PhD Student
who opposes marriage to her family front where Apu’s mother is deep in search
for a perfect match for the daughter.
Abeer Mukherjee: Bother of Apu, a college student and a
secret admirer of Mandakini Mandal alias Mandy.
Treeza Mathew: Once a school secretary, now doomed in
glumness and loneliness.
Anada Bose: a true blue bachelor and secret admirer
too. Always ready to help others and a
social creature too.
Sandhya: The catalyst, returned from Oxford and nestled in
Nancy, brought all under the Weight Loss Club.
She became the therapeutic guru of all.
These are the main characters of
fiction around whom the fiction sprung up. Apart from them there are many
characters who worked as the binder in the fiction.
The characters in the fiction
seem like extracted from the real life. I feel like I am one of them and
residing in Nancy Housing Complex with all the neighbouring mates I meet in my
everyday life. The minute detail of the behavioural and the circumstantial
aspects are so well projected that will never let one feel fabricated. The characters' psychological
modulations are illuminated with an array of naturalistic ordeals.
Kolkata as
the prime location of the Fiction, Devapriya doesn't leave any loop to encompass
detailing the city, the city life, the Mom's gathering in front of the
school gates, the delicacies of Bengali cuisine, Durga Puja, the over casted
clouds of Kolkata, Garia Haat, Universities, Romaces, Bangla band not even she left
Paoli Dam too. Kolkata- Bengali- Food are an integral part- the first four
lines of the novel are the perfect example of that:
"September
in Calcutta is a delicious time, Mrs Das realized as she stood in the balcony
of her flat in Nancy Housing Cooperative (Building A-1). Sublty Delicious, like
creamy sandesh flavoured with cinnamon and dusted with pistachios." (CH:1
; P: 5)
Overall I enjoyed
reading the book though found a bit boring in many parts. The Fiction is very
well narrated and I am a great admirer of Devapiraya Roy's writing skill, the subtle
literary wits she delivers. The fiction is a bit lengthy but not over powering.
The best part of the fiction what I loved most is the detail character
orientation and the facts related to them with all the psychological imbalances
and upheavals.
2 comments:
Thank you for writing about this book. Not a fan of long fiction but seems interesting.
The post length and the excerpt placement is good, please take care of the font. Goes off track in places.
The cover page like you said indeed is catchy.
Hellos! Is this the book review you mentioned? Gosh I was really thinking its about weight loss man! :)
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