Official Review: Warp and Weft by Vinay Jalla

[dlachance9]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Warp and Weft" by Vinay Jalla.]

---

Share This Review

---

Warp and Weft, a work of fiction by Vinay Jalla, is a rags-to-riches tale of a boy coming of age in a small village in south India. Our story begins in the 1930s, opening with a scene of domestic unrest and reluctant female subordination: wives abused by and struggling to appease their inebriated husbands. Amongst this turmoil, our protagonist is born. Baby Narayana, called Nara, is orphaned and raised by his neighbor who cares for him as her own. Nara has a happy childhood: he thrives in school and enjoys the company of his two best friends. When a devastating drought hits the region, Nara loses nearly everyone he is close to, but proves to be resilient and resourceful. Nara struggles with loss, poverty, and starvation. Everything changes when Nara meets Gagoopa, a hermit who teaches him the importance as well as the dangers of acquiring wealth, and he vows to become a rich man. From that day forward, everything Nara does is in the pursuit of wealth. To his good fortune, Nara makes the acquaintance of a wealthy businessman and is offered a job. Due to his strong work ethic, he earns promotion after promotion until he reaches the status of revered weaving master.

Jalla’s story is an easy read due to his minimalistic writing style. His sentences are short and simple, establishing a narration that is unpretentious and unembellished. I felt that it read somewhat like a folktale due to its simplistic storytelling. The narrative is not highly emotive; it tells it like it is, with facts and blunt descriptions. This style is not for everyone, but I was impressed by the way Jalla successfully paints a tragic picture of death and suffering with such emotionless language.

The themes present in this story are quite clear. The primary and most obvious theme is specified in the oft-repeated quote,

"God made man
Man made money
Money made man mad."

Nara learns, as does the reader, the dangers of greed and selfishness, and that wealth can make one lose sight of what’s important in life. This is demonstrated through Gagoopa’s story of his own downfall, as well as through another character’s spiral into insanity (I hesitate to say more so as to not reveal any spoilers). It’s a good message that remains present throughout the entire story, but I can’t say I’m impressed by this quote that Jalla makes such a focal point and chief vessel for his message. The lack of punctuation, alone, is enough to make me cringe, but I also just feel that the phrasing is discordant in sound. Perhaps I’m being nitpicky, but I simply don’t like the wording used.

Another theme present in Warp and Weft is the danger of consuming and abusing alcohol. From the very beginning of the novel we are bombarded with images of abused women and miserable drunkards. No good occurs for those men in the story who consume the drink known as “toddy.” In fact, death follows those who do. I noticed a pattern: when a man is described as a drunkard, his death and/or the death of someone close to him soon follows. Nara seems to notice this pattern as well, as he vows to never touch an alcoholic beverage.

These themes work together to deliver an important message in the form of a life lesson. If you like a book with a happy ending, this may be a story for you. I will say only this as to avoid giving it all away: Nara transcends the cycle of wealth that predictably leads to misery and madness; he does this by abstaining from alcohol and following the moral compass he was born with in conjunction with the lessons he learned from Gagoopa, his spiritual economic advisor.

Nara is a strong protagonist. Though young and naïve, Nara has a strong sense of morality, which allows him to be such a likeable character. The only other character that seems to have no distasteful flaws is Nara’s love-interest, Savithri. Perhaps this was done intentionally.

I give Warp and Weft a 3 out of 4 stars. I would potentially recommend this book to someone looking for a decent bildungsroman, but otherwise I found it lacking in intrigue and stimulation. The average reader may find this story less than engaging. Looking back on the arc of the story, it is pleasant and well crafted, but one must complete the novel to have such hindsight. As I previously mentioned, the style is very simplistic, and I found it to be dull at times. I also came across quite a few spelling and grammar mistakes, which in my opinion is simply unacceptable in a published piece; I expect an editor to catch these mistakes before the book goes to print. Furthermore, the story is a bit too didactic for my taste. The message is highlighted again and again, lacking subtlety and taking away from the entertainment value of the work. I don’t believe that the average reader wants the moral of the story to be shoved in his/her face, but rather for it to be subtly revealed over time. Finally, I was unsatisfied by the ending; it felt incomplete. The ending of the novel, overall, is appropriate, but the final scene of the story doesn’t seem to fit. For one thing, Nara is not present at the end of his own story. On the last page, we are left with a scene featuring Nara’s wife, and it is a happy ending for her, but there is no mention of the story’s protagonist. In this sense, it seems that the story isn’t over. It feels as if this scene is the beginning of a new chapter for Nara’s wife. As I don’t believe this book is the first in a series, this just seems unnatural and inappropriate. On the other hand, the final scene is in good juxtaposition to the opening scene of the novel, which I do regard as notable.

On a positive note, the novel has a good and logical story arc. We are given a strong introduction to life in the village of Zarivaram, including the daily lives of the impoverished people of the village and their immoral behavior. Jalla provides us with sufficient background information on Nara to understand why he makes the decisions he does. This background is lengthy, but proves to be vital to the story and beneficial to the reader’s comprehension. We do meet interesting characters and witness strange and remarkable events as we follow Nara along his journey to wealth and happiness: we listen to a great speech given by Mahatma Gandhi, witness a brutal cock fight, learn all about the art of sari-weaving, and accompany Nara on a spiritual journey as he travels to the temples of Tirupati. Readers will actually learn a good deal of knowledge about mid-twentieth century India while reading this novel. Though fictitious, it appears that Jalla did his share of research in order to create a story that accurately depicts its setting. I recommend Warp and Weft if this is a topic that interests you.

***
Buy "Warp and Weft" on Amazon
Buy "Warp and Weft" on Barnes and Noble

[vinay_j11]

It's such an honest review. Much appreciated. Thanks

-- 06 May 2014, 17:27 --

I'm very strict with myself when it comes to spelling. I'm curious to know the typos in the novel.