Book Review: Man and Madness

Book: Man and Madness
Author: Parna Banerjee Sarkar
Publisher: All About Books Global
Genre: Romance- prose-poetry 
Number of pages: 110
Price: Rs 150

A personal journal, random thoughts- “Man and Madness” was nothing but mad ramblings by some drugged and overdosed pen. Believe it or not- but that was my first impression. Poetry juxtaposed in between poetic paragraphs- the newcomers simply love to play with anything nowadays.

Yes, I repeat, you need to fly over cloud nine- to get anywhere close to what the writer has to say. I read when owls howl all around and hit the bed when the next door kid goes off to school wailing. There are so many things that make me sad at heart. This book got included in that list. I don’t think I could see any silver lining in the sky the morning, I finished it- and nothing seemed gay and happy that particular day. (Activists buzz off).

This book lack conclusive narrative break, chapters simply sprout up all through the book. Having said this, if creating a freaky collage was the prime intention of the author than this book is a perfect guide for a mourning Shakespearean lover. Every poem in the beginning of each chapter is filled with un-thought-off emotional jigger- ready for you to gulp it down. But nothing is new- love repeats itself again and again- poisoning you to extremes. Gone are the days when you could sit beside your French window and flip through tomes of French romances. People no longer use smelling salt after faking a faint. Likewise, surely this is not the right time to write long drowsy sentences and continue mourning unnecessarily about the cupid’s favorite potion. An author should judge the mind of the reading public. I would not just say the editors of this book were all blind- rather what I felt, it was the confusing story line kept all edition at bay.

Lastly, the images seem to tell a story of their own- but black and white hardly rings the right chord in me. They vaguely assimilate the chapters that immediately follow- but the really connection is nowhere to be seen.

Man and Madness- I tried reading this title is all possible ways. Here is a man fiddling with love and here is an ailing woman showering it on him. He is “the man” and she is “his madness”.-Guys, surely this sounds like one of those Indian melodramas from the 60s.

I suggest- if at least I am allowed to – “Think, jot down your random thoughts in a note pad, make compact character and plot sketch and then assemble every detail minutely into a manuscript, don’t send the NOTE PAD to the printer.”

My ratings: 2/5

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