The Covenant
of Water is the most ambitious read I have ever undertaken. It was both rewarding and
painful. As I read the book, I could not help but compare it with Arundhati Roy’s
God of Small Things (1997); I found numerous characters and usage styles
that can be easily matched with Roy’s. Although it acted as roadblocks to my reading
stint, I nevertheless enjoyed Abraham Verghese attempt to weave together a
story of many generations spanning over two centuries.
The
writer has succeeded in creating the right historical ambience of the latter eighteenth
and the nineteenth century for his characters to fully develop. Indeed, one
would definitely get into the trauma of Elsie, Philipose and Big Ammachi. It is
wrong to say otherwise. However, the detailing of surgical procedures and not
leaving the reader his rightful privilege to co-create the novel by independent
thinking, made the characters toys in the hands of the writer. Yet, I believe
that the novel will remain a brave testament to the turmoil of a century, the toils of a bygone generation, and the astonishing life they have left for the
later generations to lead.
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