BOOK: If You Are Afraid Of Heights by Raj Kamal Jha
Title:
Author: Raj Kamal Jha
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN: 0156031736
List Price: $14.00
Review: If you are afraid of heights, it becomes difficult to survey the people, fragments and events of a place from an understanding vantage point. If you are afraid of heights, life on the ground becomes rote and menial. If you are afraid of heights, it becomes nearly impossible to see the nearly infinite number of layers that nearly every person’s actions contain.
A novel in three parts, ‘If You Are Afraid Of Heights’ can only be described as a gem in the slush pile that is modern literature. In the first story, a train accident brings a man and a woman together in a strange relationship of opposition and preoccupation. In the second, the young reporter, Mala, investigates the rape and murder of a young girl wearing a red dress. The third story is told from the point of view of a young girl wearing a red dress who looks at the city from a balcony and talks to a secret friend who sees things from even higher.
The ways these stories intertwine may seem circumstantial and meaningless, but Jha has written a novel of layers. Symbolism and reflection play a large part in each story. Though the prose is sometimes simple and the style is sometimes minimal, this isn’t your typical beach read. This is a story of the everyday in India and a magical deconstruction of human relationships that challenges the reader to look closer and step back. Jha gives you the surface, but encourages you not to be afraid of the heights that the characters and circumstances in his second novel can achieve.
Rating: 4 / 5
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