At 867 pages Charu amazes us with a massively engaging book...
Looking past the reliability, repetitiveness, author's personal life controversies, the strong criticism Charu's character and his works conjure up everywhere, fact from fiction debates - Exile is a 100% pure celebration. Though most readers give this credit to his other famous novel 'Raasaleela', for me Exile is far better, far fun-filled and amply entertaining..
As a book, as a work of fiction - Exile is capable of staying at the top of the chart among contemporary tamil fiction (especially the ones with contemporary setting). As with the author's other works, it doesn't follow any particular genre or theme or flow and it breaks all kinds of walls & conventions of a traditional fiction set up and flows on like a free flowing stream making its own path wherever it might lead to.
It's like note on hundred different things stringed together by Charu's bewitching writing.
From intriguingly weird sex affairs, to daily routines, to dogs, trees, people, fishes, landscapes and leaves, to communal riots, to famous literature works, cinemas, to govt & govt offices, to music, to travel, to cooking, to meditation, to tit(bits), to temples, to Mantras, to Vedas and to every odd thing you simply cannot think to interwine in a single piece of work - it has everything.
There's literally something on everything for everyone..
Go, read and join the celebration 🔥🔥