Published in 2015, this 720 pages long novel was long listed for the Man Booker award.
Though dark and disturbing , this book
will most likely change some perceptions of your life .It will leave you with more positive
and compassionate attitude towards persons who have been
subjected to physical and
emotional abuse and trauma as a child. And you feel with some depth that a victim of child abuse has to live
with scar and pain for the rest of his or her
life. “Hyenas” in the shape of memories of those traumatic incidents torment him or her frequently.
Though , at the initial stages ,
the book gives an impression as if it were the story of four friends, it slowly
emerges out to be mainly the story
of an emotionally and physically damaged
man , Jude St. Francis. The novel is an exploration of the depths of his pain and shame. As an
infant,he was deposited in a bag near a monastery and was raised by monks. Over
the years,he was subjected to repeated
abuse by a number of sadists. He
has scars on his back , and his legs are
badly damaged.
Yes,
it is also a book about Jude’s three
friends and their friendship and support to him and to each other. His friend , Willem , gives him
support and loving kindness. But there is a limit of what friends can do
when you have the memory and shame of an
abused childhood.
Jude
excels in his profession as a corporate litigator. He has an excellent
character , and his suffering is the
foundation of his strong character.
Where does that
leave Jude? He inflicts harm on himself
by cutting his flesh
with razor blade whenever
the mental pain and shame become unbearable. And that
seems to give him a temporary relief.
The novel is dark
, sad and disturbing , but once you
start reading it , you get hooked on to it , and you end the book by feeling
the beauty of a little life that
Jude represents.
I recommend you
to read this book.
