Page 60 - English Tehelka Issue 7 - April 15, 2018

Book review
Thayil brings out
outlandish souls
from the fragments
of desperate times
o vigils left to keep, No
enemies left to slaugh-
ter. Dom Moraes, in
his 1983 poem Ab-
sences, perhaps best
N describes what he
would not know then to be his own
fictional reincarnate. Like the poem,
the protagonist of Jeet Thayil’s novel,
The Book of Chocolate Saints, Newton
Frances Xavier lives in the dilemma Book of ChoCo-
of conflict, much in the aftermath of
it. Only in this case, the conflict does
not appear to be in the face of a di-
rect confrontation but the lack of it.
In fact, it lies in the connected dots of
the characters Xavier faces through-
Tehelka / 15 april 2018 60 www.Tehelka.com
60-61 Book Review.indd 2-3
Jeet Thayil tries to pull the
hidden glories of unclaimed
artists from the potholes of
their times in his second novel
that manages to capture the
reader’s attention at every sen-
tence either through shock or
awe, thanks to its unrestrained
volatility, Bedasree das writes
out his elusive life.
It would be true to say that Thayil’s
second novel is an ambitious read.
More than just a novel, it can be said
to be a homage to the potpourri of
artists and poets who cramped the
creative scene of the 1980’s Bombay.
For those initiated with the times, it
would not be surprising to find some
renowned artists at almost every
turn of the page. Eunice De Souza,
late SaintS Arun Kolatkar and most prominent-
by Jeet thayilr ly, Dom Moraes, to whom the book is
aleph dedicated. Fiction only enters in the
512 pages; 799 fragments tying the story together.
In fact, there are even glimpses of the
author himself. No, the book is defi-
nitely not an attempt at an autobiog- secretly from his wife of eighteen flourished in that era. Who wouldn’t
raphy but seems to be a mirror which years to be with Goody Lol, his muse have recognised Kamala Das’s explic-
allows Thayil to comprehend some (another character loosely borrowed it words on women’s actual desire?
of the points in his life. However, it is from Souza’s personal life). Indeed, Or does Thayil just recognise artists
difficult to say whether Thayil wants Xavier is married thrice and has a to be desirous, damaged and aloof
to juxtapose them against the west- plethora of women in his life, with- men in whose lives women can’t
ern artistic culture (by presenting out being explicitly able to claim his claim to be more than stage props?
a veiled satirical picture) or wants love for any one of them. One thing
However, one still cannot unsee
to plaster the final confirmation of that the book points out now and Xavier’s carnivorous mind, steal-
the western imposition on their art. again, is that the only identity Xavier ing his inspirations from the com-
Whatever is it, one thing that Thayil has been able to build for women monplace market of facts. It is as if
definitely wants to portray is the in- in his life is that of beauty. What he Xavier’s personalities dual with each
herent madness in each of these art- seems to need and pine for is a muse other. He is addicted to the emotions
ists which makes them loners of the for his art project till the painting is of his art but callous in his approach
same eclectic club. A club in which complete. And by the time, a project to relationship which does not limit
drunken, sexually violent and ad- is over, Xavier would have already itself to romantic liaisons. He even
dicted and, most importantly, forgot- seen enough through the emotional leaves his young daughter without
ten geniuses have together closed the peephole of the muse for it to appear much of a hint of remorse. He is mag-
door to the world. Like Thayil says, nanimous and outlandish but cow-
“poets who had been forgotten by ard and laden with the insecurities.
everyone except the odd scholar or Most of the protagonist’s tale is
barkeep to whom they owed money” The author could told through interview excerpts of
At the centre of the book is New- have paid tributes Dismas Bambai, Xavier’s biographer.
ton Frances Xavier, a Goan painter, Throughout of the length of the in-
poet and drunkard who lives in to at least some terviews it becomes increasingly
New York but leaves a post-9/11 city women poets who clear that Xavier is himself trying to
wrecked in fearful thoughts. A quick escape the finality of his artistic abili-
analysis of the character reveals that flourished in that ties. “You understand that thought is
he himself is a blend of two major in- era. Who wouldn’t the enemy, the source of all lesions,
fluences of Thayil’s life - Dom Moraes tumours and sarcomas; then thought
and painter Francis Newton Souza. have recognised becomes flesh becomes the emblem
Interestingly, the author seems of Kamala Das’s of your shame,” this quote by Xavier
have borrowed chunks out of Souza’s almost exposes the poignant gamble
life to fill in Xavier’s childhood. Like explicit words on of thoughts in the painter’s mind.
that part where Xavier is expelled Thayil manages to divide the
from his school for drawing a graf- women’s desire? reader’s mind. One half that shivers
fiti on the wall of his school’s toilet in the cruelty of the painter and the
is directly taken from Souza’s expe- other half that sympathizes with him.
rience as a school student in Goa. lacklustre. In fact, women in the nov- There is also this other part which
However, readers who are familiar el or per se Xavier’s life hardly have a has to admire the artist despite the
with Thayil’s work would know that say in the way the protagonist whirls person in the artist.
Newton Frances Xavier was already around them and at best assure and The unrestrained volatility in The
introduced in Narcopolis, the author’s reassure Xavier of his sexual abili- Book of Chocolate Saints is one of the
first novel which was also shortlist- ties. Like the model Glory Pande, who main reasons why you read this book.
ed for the Man Booker Prize. In The recounts how her enlarged breasts Both the language and the characters
Book of Chocolate Saints, the author’s were a confirmation of Xavier’s sexu- are unabashed and Thayil manages
second novel, Thayil takes the liberty al prowess. At certain points, it seems to capture the reader’s attention at
to explore Xavier through the latter’s like Thayil almost gives Xavier a free- every sentence either through shock
same perpetual weaknesses - booze, hand over women, making it almost or awe. The novel will leave you
broads and beauty. Xavier’s tenden- justifiable for an artist, whose love for aghast but also satisfied. At best, it
cy for broads is only reflected in his his art is above all mortal beings. Also, tries to pull the desperate and hidden
repeated drunken stupors and fre- if the author was inspired by a host glories of the unclaimed artists from
quent need to untangle himself from of artists lighting the poetry scene in the potholes of their times.
the demands of a relationship. In the Bombay, he could have paid tributes
first page itself, Xavier is seen fleeing to at least some women poets who letters@tehelka.com
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