BOOK REVIEW: THE LAST FLICKER
A fragment of love, a sense of respect, a bond in
relationship and a typical life of village are the parts that confined together form a social and economic outcast fiction “The last flicker”. ”The
last flicker” is a translation of
Gurdial Singh’s first major work “Marhi Da Diva” published in 1964, it
was hailed as a modern classic. The title “Mahi Da Diva” has its cultural
significance that sometimes acquires a suggestive power far beyond their
immediate context. Gurdial Singh’s intimate contact with rural reality and her
deep feelings for village takes us on a life and topsy-turvy journey of a shy,
over 40 years old dalit Jagseer, whose love for his friend’s wife and a gifted
hold on a land of his landlords struck him into a misfortune which drags Jagseer
life to his death.
As such there is not much in the plot, it's Gurdial Singh's writing and experience that makes it more interesting to read. The story is
plausible one where one can say an orthodox story of village is shown. One of
the beautiful feeling, the feeling of “love” is shown on a heavy platform in
the novel that not only creates a warm atmosphere but also create a trails of
trouble in Jagseer’s life. Jagseer’s love for Bhani is written as a synonym of
sacrifice, a word of respect in the text. But Jagseer’s love turned to be a pity
for him due to obvious reason that she was someone else’s wife and also due to
their social status confined in a caste and age gap.
Jagseer’s father and mother marriage also brings a chivalrous plot in the story due to that magnanimous
event problems arises in marriage of Jagseer and Jagseer’s sister which ends
with Jagseer’s tomb with no one to even light it.
Respect and friendship are other tools that are shown in
the story, Jagseer’s father loyalty as a tenant and his friendship and respect
for Dharam Singh's father bring himself a gift of a two acre from Dharam Singh’s
father land and this friendship and respect goes on. By this plot the author
shows us the sense of humanity and jealousy.
The narration of the story is simple and easy flowing, and a
phrase “Man, life has ten phase
fine; the first one blew you away Where have gone the other nine?” which
is written in the starting of the text gives the reader a flicker about the
novel. The same phrase is written again and again in the text not only giving
the glimpse of the plot but also trying to explain its meaning in Jagseer’s
life. The author from the eyes of the protagonist gives us a brief summary of the
village and its houses that invoke the readers about the life in village. The
author tries to make an attempt to reclaim the diverse and complex strands of
his cultural memory within the scope of a single work of fiction.
The translation of the novel is rugged one where many-many
words are in Punjabi. The phrases mostly said by Jagseer’s mother are in
Punjabi whose translation is given after each line. Thus, it preserves the
narrative style of the author. There’s both a touch of authenticity and
self-absorption about Gurdial Singh’s narrative style and the novel translator A.S. Rode preserves both of this aspects in his translation.
I as a reader found the story as one typical village
story of Punjab where love, courtesy, jealousy, friendship, and a pity life of
protagonist is confined together making the novel a little obvious but worth reading. On the whole, the plot of the story is plausible where Gurdial Singh tries
to explain an authentic village story in a small context.
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