Saturday, December 14, 2013

Shuttlecock by Graham Swift – A Book Review

Shuttlecock by Graham Swift – A Book Review

About the author : Graham Swift is an English author born in London.

Claim to Fame : Author of various novels including the 1996 Man Booker winner 'Last Orders'. 'Shuttlecock' was the winner of the 1983 Geoffery Faber Memorial prize. Two of his books viz. 'Last Orders' and 'Waterland' have been made into movies.


Review

          Ignorance is bliss! What you don’t know will not hurt you.

          A lot happens in the world around us. And some of this ‘lot’ may directly or indirectly affect us, for good or bad. Some secrets are better kept under the sheets. There is already a huge mountain of woes and miseries clandestinely floating around the world. Wouldn't it be better to not increase any more of it by keeping away from people things which could invariably disturb them? What would you do if one day you chance to find something elusive and shattering about that person you look up to in life, who has always been your ideal, your demigod so to say? Would it not shake your believes, the values that built you, would it not shatter the entire essence, the foundation of your life rather falsifying it? Is everyone strong enough to get over it? ‘Shuttlecock’ is built around these thoughts.
          Prentis, the central character, lives with his wife and two kids, works for a sub department of the police, responsible for keeping the records and files involved in various investigation cases. His attempts to bring in discipline into his kids come at a prize of his anger and frustration. He has a bigger problem in his father who is placed in a mental asylum since he has not spoken for the last two years and just stares without a cause. This has happened since his mothers’ death. His father is a war veteran. The father has also written a book on his war experiences and the horrific torture that he went through at the hands of the Germans at the Chateau Martine. He emerges as a war hero when he writes about the daring escape from the prison in the final chapters of his book. Though Prentis visits his father 2 days in a week and spends his time in a one sided conversation with his stone faced father, the only remembrance and solace he finds for his father is in the book that he has written. He repeatedly reads the book facing the ire of his family but he is at a loss of understanding the quietness of his father and what had brought him to this breaking point. Without a probable answer, he attributes it to the death of his mother.
          His dominating boss Quinn doesn't give him an easy time at office either. He has enough suspicion that something fishy is being carried out by Quinn when he finds files missing from the office on certain cases. While life goes on in such a mundane manner, he one day chances upon a file which has an element of familiarity as the occurrences and incidents have happened around the time of his fathers’ daring escape from the prison. As he decides to probe further and deep, it comes as a cost of indirectly accusing his boss of hoarding files. And this is when it has been disclosed by Quinn that he is to be promoted to his position in a couple of months.
          As he approaches his boss Quinn for the answers he seeks, a shattering story unravels which brings in a possible ugly aspect of his father’s life. Was his father really a hero, does his book really reflect the truth, was this horrific fact that had just been unraveled the reason for his breakdown? But these are accusations to be proved! The missing file holds the key to a lot of truths. As he realizes, the inane strict behavior of Quinn was actually a sham and he did that for a purpose, in Quinn's house, as the real story of his father unfolds, would Prentis want to go through the file or would he like to destroy it at the behest of Quinn who feels it is the right thing to do? Would he join Quinn's quest of feigning righteousness by keeping hurtful information away from people at the cost of their ignorance but at the same time keeping the unwanted misery out of their lives? Would he like to live in his created illusion of his father or would he like to know the truth?

READ THE BOOK!

Beautifully crafted, easy readying, Graham Swift has wonderfully woven an aspect of human life that though invisible and less talked about holds and weighs such significance that it can make or break a person, his belief! The racy plot and the truthfulness, the frightfulness of the characters infuses life into them and makes it a very interesting read!

My rating : * * * * * * * * * * - 7/10

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