You by M Mukundan, tr by Nandakumar K can be approximated as an ordinary man’s life journey, something akin to Upamanyu Chatterjee’s Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning you may think. But CV Unnikrishnan, son of a stamp paper vendor and a homemaker, the fourth born of 5 children, the only graduate in the family for whom reading is everything, the author of just one novel that earned brickbats and bouquets, a man wedded to his writing only to divorce it later bitterly, makes you think otherwise.
The book opens with 70 yr old Unnikrishnan announcing in a press conference arranged by him, attended by only two reporters, that he would die on Dec 16, 2019. Upset at being dismissed as as a lunatic, when Paru, a newbie journalist, knocks at his door to elicit information on how he can predict his death accurately, Unnikrishnan, who in his youth had an uncanny obsession of uncovering mysteries, is both amused and irritated at her curiosity about his past - a past he tries hard to shed but clings firmly to his skin.
True to the pronoun ‘you’ in the title, the 2nd person narrative used here is unique - it lends a certain emotional detachment yet facilitates ‘you’, the reader, to put yourself in Unnikrishnan’s shoes; the strongest plus of the book. Though Unnikrishnan’s life journey occupies centrestage, every character is well-written, for Unnikrishnan & the author believe “There is no need for any story to have a protagonist, male or female, you thought. Every character is an adjunct”. This is evident as the principal question raised in the novel- ‘Shouldn’t one have the right to choose when and how to die?’ is not Unnikrishnan’s line of thought, but that of his close friend, Dr. Balan. Like in Delhi: A Soliloquy, personal history is intertwined with politics here too with Moplah rebellion & Thalassery riots finding mention. A writer’s fantasies, apprehensions and ordeals, writer’s block are portrayed so well. Wry humour imbued with local flavour, well preserved in translation, makes Unnikrishnan’s life readable & interesting. You - a book that could have been a perfect ten is let down by its implausible climax.