New Skin for the Old Ceremony: A Kirtan

by Arun Sood

New Skin For The Old Ceremony: A Kirtan follows four estranged friends who reunite for a motorcycle trip up the Isle of Skye, in the hope of coming to terms with how their lives have splintered since a transformative ride in Northern India fourteen years earlier. In their fumbling attempts to spiritually reconnect, expectant father Raj, recently widowed Vidushei, perpetually youthful Liam and perpetually fragile Bobby test the limits of their friendship around campfires, on twisty roads, in unexpected Ayahuasca ceremonies, and against discussions of belonging, race, and identity.

A novel about youth, the ghosts of friendship, and growing up as a mixed-race person in a small but fiercely proud nation, the story spans India and Skye, seeing the characters exorcise past ghosts in order to face the present. A must read from an incredible new fiction talent.

259 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2022

About the author

Arun Sood is Lecturer in Global Pre-1800 Literatures at the University of Exeter. His research, writing, and creative practice is underpinned by various interests including Scottish literature in g;obal contexts, postcolonialism, oral cultures, diaspora, and cultural memory studies. He is the author of Robert Burns and the United States of America: poetry, Print and Memory, c.1786 -1866.

Reviews

[Stuart Iversen · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times it's very overwritten, but it manages to find the emotion regardless.

[L.S. Bergman · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘New Skin for the Old Ceremony: A Kirtan’ is a book about life. A book that re-imagines a unique telling of a reunion of old friends from Scotland, told in a mystical ebb and flow of 'present-remembrance', a musical Kirtan of shared memory set to a Cohen soundtrack. Four old friends (Raj, Viddy, Liam and Bobby) who’ve lived a memorable adventure wandering the vastness of northern India on old Royal Enfields, back in the day, reunite on the Isle of Skye with the bikes - their lives having each taken a series of twists and turns, none pain free or entirely satisfactory. Each friend’s story is intertwined however, weaving a rich tapestry of a seemingly larger stream of consciousness, their reunion answering a ghostly call for remembrance, belonging and interrogation of the former. This is a philosophical read with a dense writing style, packed with cultural and geographical flourish. From intimate socio-cultural knowledge of India to Scotland’s Creag an Fheilidh. This book spans very different worlds, managing to navigate disparate concepts of racial and cultural ‘belonging’. A revealing poetic read that tells it straight. ‘New Skin for the Old Ceremony: A Kirtan’ demonstrates the complexity of the modern diasporic condition. The layers, joys and struggles of being many things in one body, a product of different colonial historical narratives. No easy task, the reader gets caught in an illusive dreamscape, placed within shifting sands of time, identity, and friendship. The merging of past, present and future reawakened and enveloped in a ceaseless Kirtan.

[Danielle D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice read which explored alot around nostalgia, sense of self, friendship and group dynamics. Mentions of Ceremonies, ayahuasca and spiritualism were interwoven among the narrative without feeling forced.
I particularly liked Bobby's section where he addressed his relationship to his OCD.
'Paralysed by our own thoughts, intrusive thinking and the need for certainty'
I could relate to that ruminating about a chosen topic and overactive thinking.

[Susan Sinclaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, engaging and refreshing. I l can’t wait to read Arun’s next book.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful novel. Superbly written - the characters are compelling.