As soon as I arrived, I randomly picked this book in the institute’s library, expecting it to be a short and lighthearted novel –– a perfect way to start my reading routine in the new environment.
However, Such a Long Journey was a long and exhausting read, like Gustad’s dense life. There is an excruciating amount of details and sudden shifts in tone. Family drama (the usual stubborn child going against their parent’s wishes) jumps abruptly to espionage, and without notice, we are thrown a pinch of erotic satire? A good chunk is about Gustad’s reminiscences. They randomly pop up as the plot attempts to move further, dragging it along the process.
I see that this book has appealed to many people. As hectic as it felt to me, many readers became invested in Gustad’s misfortunes. Some even described it as touching.
As it is clear by now, this isn’t my opinion. Amongst other things, I strongly dislike how the character of Tehmul is presented. His voice as a character rests upon a gimmick of tying several words together without spaces to illustrate his intellectual limitations. It feels loaded and callous – especially as his role in the novel unfolds as the story continues. I am not partial to careless demonstrations of wit – moments in which the author supersedes their characters in an attempt to show off.
However, an interesting thematic interplay starts to come to light by the end of the novel. Although Gustad is undoubtedly the protagonist, he shares a plot thread with his wife, Dinalvaz. Gustad becomes slowly entangled in a mystifying net of worldly, murky affairs. He faces problems outside his control in areas of life that go far beyond his scope. Corruption, power, money – questions to which he lacks the resources to answer appropriately.
Dinalvaz also has her share of problems. That said, those seem to be embedded in the magical and mystical. She resorts to spells and superstitions to make her way through the grieving puzzles of her own life. This juxtaposition of the fabulous and the mundane is a beautiful illustration of India. A country saturated with marvel and, at the same time, so blunt and earthy in its challenges and wounds. I love being here. I have been treated so kindly all the way through, much like most characters of this novel are – despite the harshness of their day-to-day – loving and kind-hearted. Although I didn’t like this book that much, I like India too much not to recommend it.