This book which won the “2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction”, has been the most difficult book I have read till so far. It has taken me three weeks to finish it.
The characters in the book are unnamed. They live in an unnamed city, in an unnamed country, in an unnamed era. The main protagonist is this girl, ‘middle sister’, who’s narrating the story. She’s become a part of the rumour of she having a torrid affair with the much-married ‘Milkman’. The book is pretty much about this premise and how she’s navigating her life despite all the repercussions of the said rumour.
The book deals with issues such as sexual harassment, misogyny, patriarchy and terrorism which are so contemporary and relevant in today’s times. However the language of the narrative is essentially in passive voice, involving long sentences. I needed a thesaurus quite frequently.
The pace of the book is very slow. There are no so-called ‘twists and turns’. Plus the absence of any names in the story, make it a very laborious read.
I would recommend this book to all the literature students. And for the rest of you; read it if you want a true literary experience.
~ JUST A GAY BOY. 🤓
the shiny diaries 