Sallipir is a nice novel. Nicely written, poetic language, excellent story, provides a glimpse of Himali lifestyle which is not generally portrayed in popular literature (just like Loo). it is an inspirational journey of a mother who wishes to gift 'words' to her son - intermingled with pain and driven by destiny (perhaps, or societal dogmas, we should say), the hardships ensue, and it never lets the characters spin off that vicious circle.
The writing style is beautiful, no doubt. Poetic, yeah totally. Reflective, sure. At times the beautiful style keeps going on like a poem - that it simply doesn't rhyme with the context. Excessive reflective writing made the reading mundane for me. Too mundane the very style became at times that I felt like skimming the text. I'd say it has excessive and mismatched word play - feels like a word play just for sake of word play. At times it feels that the typical Sherpa words are shoved up in the text, albeit without the Sherpa rhetoric. The terms could be technically correct, precisely named but they just don't go with the flow. Feels like someone else is speaking, not Pema, not Dawa, definitely not Phurba. I would have loved to hear that story in Pema's language, Dawa's feel and Phurba's style. When I'm with Pema, I want to be with Pema (and not juggle between some visitor poet and Pema at the same time).
Its a touching story. Himal, Sherpa, and unsung heroes in an otherwise untold story. But can a story alone elevate a writing to a next level? Can a plot transform the novel to a next level? I don't think so. I think how a documentary explains a story should be (must be) totally different than a story teller. Story teller, in a novel, are the characters themselves, not an external researcher.
I feel like I'm being too harsh to such a 'sweet story', but I feel I'm not satisfied. For me Loo was much better than this. Much much better.
If a piece of writing doesn't go through you like a storm, it is not a great piece. If you are the same reader before and after the book, it is not a great piece.