Paul Haston's Blog - Posts Tagged "rising-of-a-dead-moon"

Writing is a passion, but can be a heart wrenching and lonely task at times. How uplifting it is, therefore, to receive feedback, such as Privy Trifles' comments on RISING OF A DEAD MOON yesterday!!


"The moment I began reading it I was gripped. The narrative so excellent and the detailing brilliant. It did not feel as if a non-Indian had written this book. The amount of research done behind this book is immense and it shows.

Its a commendable feat to write on a culture which is so distinct from yours and that too with so much precision. The author truly deserves accolades for the same!

The story does have a tinge of sadness engulfed in it but the story line is such that it needs to be treated in this manner. And the flow is so full of emotions that you cry with the protagonist and smile with her too. This is possible only when the author has managed to conjure magic with words and with this work he surely has. No doubts it is garnering so much appreciation, good reviews and awards too."

The book is set in the late 19th century against a backdrop of Indian Indenture, the shipment of workers from India to work on the sugar plantations and railways in Natal. Indenture was (to me) a dressed-up form of slavery (banned earlier in the century) and met a need by the white settlers for cheap labour. Indentured 'recruits' were invariably from poor backgrounds, with hunger from drought driving them to leave their homeland. Conditions on board the ships and on the plantations were terrible for all workers, with women treated particularly badly, given the assumption that they were less 'useful' for the work. Promises of land to those completing the 5 or 10 years indenture period were invariably reneged upon by the authorities, the landed migrants being viewed as an unwanted 'problem' once their contract had finished.

Usha suffers from the cultural stigma of her widowhood, a condition which prompts - in part - her escape, but to a situation that is no better. The sad thing is that parts of Indian society retain even today a deep seated suspicion of widows, as attested to by the 'widow city' of Vrindavan.

The book is cross cultural and examines themes of struggle, search for self, emancipation. I cannot say that I found answers to my concerns and mankind's treatment of the disadvantaged is a subject with which I continue to grapple.

"A strangely haunting and vivid novel that takes place in India and Africa. I was worried it might be eye-rolling or predictable, but it wasn't. There is a strong current of predestination and fate versus free will, and also it somehow struck me that gods or higher powers were playing with both characters and the readers."

Extract from Sveta's 5 star review posted on her excellent blog:
http://sveta-randomblog.blogspot.ca/2...

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS

Sveta's comments from yesterday raised an interesting conundrum - one which is explored in RISING OF A DEAD MOON.

Karma, as far as I understand it, is the concept of action or deed. According to the Vedas, if one sows goodness in life one reaps goodness. If one sows evil, one reaps evil. Our karma is passed down through the cycle of life, death and re-birth (Samsara). Karma would appear to be associated with, but subtly different from Fate, for humans act with free will creating their own destiny. We can influence our karma to make good or bad.

One could argue that Usha's karma is bad, a legacy of her former actions, not necessarily in this life. Her widow status and the tragedy that befalls her is 'an evil' that has been 'sown' before. It is, however, a hard message to swallow for the young woman and implies a certain inevitability to what will happen to her.

I remain perplexed by this intriguing question. We would all appear to be striving to attain a position of self-knowledge, nirvana...what the Indian culture would describe as Moksha - a liberation from the Samsara cycle. Usha attempts to find the 'light', but those who have read the book will know that she does not. Is this a condition of her bad karma or a consequence of Fate, the chance of her situation in a particular time and place?

I've been selected by the South African Book Lovers group for a poll to choose their August Author of the Month.

Some illustrious competition so at this stage I am keeping my fingers crossed!

If you have any time to vote I would much appreciate it. The poll link is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/87...

thanks a million
Paul

Yippee! I pipped P G Wodehouse at the post so have been selected as SOUTH AFRICAN BOOK LOVERS GROUP August Author of the Month

I've made both RISING OF A DEAD MOON and BLOOD AND DOVES available for free download for the month.

So, happy reading and feel free to post your comments on the discussion thread:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Paul

I feel compelled to issue this warning NOT to read RISING OF A DEAD MOON.

Apparently scientists at Basel University, Switzerland have discovered that a full moon causes sleepless nights. Researchers found a one third drop in brain activity related to deep sleep and a drop off in levels of melatonin in their sample survey.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-2340...

You have been warned. DON'T READ THE BOOK

For insomniacs and werewolves only, here's the link:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...

Freya's review of RISING OF A DEAD MOON on her blog:

"The insight into India by someone who is non-Indian amazed me."


http://blog.fatema.in/2013/08/book-re...

Review of RISING OF A DEAD MOON on Shelf Stacker

"The writing is sparse but I had no problem picturing the events in the story and I love it when a writer manages to pull that off."

http://shelf-stacker.com/2013/07/book...

The best feedback any writer can hope for? Maybe I'm getting somewhere...

RISING OF A DEAD MOON is nominated for the Indian Bookworms October book read. If you'd like to vote for the book the poll is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/poll/add_wid...