... a book marked with the same quality of luminous integrity and beauty seen in Maadhorubaagan (One Part Woman). What a world of hidden treasure is being unveiled by this writer and his sensitive translator. Like the creepers and tendrils of the Kongu land he describes so lovingly, it twines around and holds you fast ... I find myself instead being grateful in a grotesquely inappropriate way to the poisonous controversy that brought Perumal Murugan within my ken ... In reading someone like Murugan, there is always a sense of wonderment and mourning at the resonances lost in not reading in Tamil, but Aniruddhan translates with a fine ear that preserves beautifully the music of the original ... I have yet to read an Indian author who writes of love as beautifully as Murugan does ... the love between man and wife glows with a sweet, strong passion that draws you into its folds like the drowsy buzzing of bees on a heady summer afternoon...the tenderness pours off the pages like golden honey ... This is Murugan’s rich Kongu land, which he has mined so deeply and well. It’s a barren, sun-scorched and unforgiving land but it comes blazingly alive in the writer’s eloquent voice ... To classify Perumal Murugan’s books as vattaara ilakkiyam or sub-regional literature would be tragic, because he succeeds in universalising Kongu Nadu to such a degree that place and person fall away and all that remains is a hard and glittering gem of a story.
A novel with a title like Pyre is unlikely to have a happy ending. Nevertheless, the journey towards this inevitable outcome delivers a disturbing insight into human bigotry and brutality whose application extends far beyond the novel’s treatment of inter-caste marriage in contemporary Tamil Nadu ... The translation from the original Tamil relies on simple English and the occasional American idiom yet comprehensively captures the claustrophobic atmosphere in which the lovers exist.
The prose is deceptively simple and sparse. And yet it has the effect of hitting you hard like the blazing sun, the parched land, the rock, and the thorny karuvelum shrubs ... Perumal Murugan, a poet and a scholar, knows how to handle masterful imagery and human emotions. Especially when he delves into the emotional space of his women characters, be it a coarse, unloving mother-in-law or the soft, sparrow-like, bewildered new bride ... It is a sensitive translation done with great care. There is not a single word that jars and the narrative is more tightly woven ... It will haunt the reader for a long time.
The novel is noticeably short and sticks to a single, linear plot with only a few flashbacks and deviations from the story at hand. In this respect, the work is a triumph, understanding its inherent simplicity and wasting no time in setup and execution ... Murugan’s prose is plainspoken and eschews romanticism for arid landscapes and backbreaking labor. A tone of unsteadiness begins from the moment Saroja steps off the bus and continues to the novel’s hurtling, uncertain end. We are given few moments of respite to catch our breath, only crumbs of levity, and none of us hold out hope for a miracle. This renders the novel not especially complex, and one wonders if more nuanced characters in the face of caste violence would lead to a more compelling narrative. Elevating this book from 'problem novel' status is the focus on the romantic relationship between Saroja and Kumaresan, a genuine longing between them that is shown in both perspectives. Most pointedly, her sexual desire is as evident as his, a refreshing take on otherwise old-world themes. The romance makes further events of the book all the more heartbreaking, and serves to flesh out at least these two characters. While Pyre is an exploration of the regional and specific, what with its integration of Tamil words even in the translated text, along with regional foods and turns of phrase, the broad strokes characterizations of caste and familial dynamics hinder the book from being as effective as it could be. Nevertheless, within its short page count, Murugan gives us a tight narrative, a memorable love story, and a truly unforgettable ending.
It is good to be reminded now and then what a price in personal risk many artists face in the pursuit of their work, and what courage it takes to persist ... But in Pyre, caste is never explained or openly defended or deplored, and is not understood in terms of what we are accustomed to call 'race.' Castes are never named. They have more the inevitability of the weather ... Murugan’s style is as simple and plain as the impoverished setting of Kattuppatti, as undecorated as Marayi’s goats, the food, and the huts people live in. It is almost the style of what we would call a young adult novel, and indeed the young in any language could understand and learn from it.
The story is recounted in spare, unadorned language as befits characters who are not educated and rarely venture beyond walking distance from their homes. Translator Aniruddhan Vasudevan includes a note on the challenges of translating ... He wisely does not make the speech patterns too vernacular but leaves it to the vulgarity of their insults to characterize the villagers ... Author Murugan uses his imagery sparingly ... It is into a bush that Saroja seeks shelter when the story comes to its inevitable tragic conclusion. The author makes no secret of what will happen — it’s there in the title. The pyre, however, consumes much more than just the life of a star-crossed lover.
An acclaimed writer in his native India, Murugan skillfully contrasts the young couple’s innocence with the increasingly caustic attacks on their marital union. His spare prose mesmerizes, and Vasudevan’s translation of the original Tamil conveys both meaning and needed context for Western English readers. India’s casteism is on full display, but what makes this novel so powerful is how Murugan shows that intolerance, cruelty, and bigotry are universal traits of humankind, even while tailored to the peculiarity of each society. Universal too, are the love, kindness, and familial bonds that exist between individuals who have the sensitivity to look beyond societal custom and coercion ... A haunting story of forbidden love set in Southern India that illustrates the cruel consequences of societal intolerance.
Murugan delivers a powerful fable of star-crossed lovers and societal intolerance ... Murugan describes rural life in piercing detail, making the everyday toil and inner lives of humble people the backdrop to the unfolding drama of escalating threats from Kumaresan’s relatives and neighbors. The simple, elegant prose of Vasudevan’s translation ranges from poetic to suspenseful as the hopeful innocence of young love bristles against tradition and Saroja faces increasing danger from the villagers. The author himself was censored in 2014 by government-affiliated activists in India and briefly gave up writing; thankfully, he has returned. Murugan deserves worldwide recognition.
