Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man :U. R. Ananthamurthy

magical realism in a claustrophobically close community

The blurb on the back of U. R. Ananthamurthy’s ’Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man’ says “…is a tale of existential suspense, a life-and-death encounter between the sacred and the profane, the pure and the impure, the ascetic and the erotic”, which captures so much about the book so remarkably well. The book starts off with a very learned, pious Hindu Brahmin, Prahesacharya, tending to his ailing wife before learning of the death of a rebellious Brahmin. Questions around how ‘antim samskar’ (Hindu death rituals and funeral rites) should be handled delay the samskara and bring ‘misfortune’ to this group of high-caste villagers in Karnataka (a South Indian state).

It reminds me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’, and a bit of Ismael Kadare’s Chronicle in Stone. If you liked those, I think you’ll enjoy this less known novel. There’s the strong belief in ancient ritual, magical forces at work, in punishment and reward. As with the other novels/novelists, you’re immersed in a very superstitious close-knit society where everyone knows everything about everyone else. It focuses deeply on caste - but not in the typical way you may think - instead examining a world of minutiae and caste-based ritual, duty, and figuring out what one’s duties are, exactly (involves a surprising amount of time, conversation, and consultation with elders and learned figures and whatnot for Hindu rituals).

I loved this book. It felt familiar, highlighting the absurd and the bigger discussion behind that absurdity. The writing, even in translation, is beautiful the pacing spot-on, the realizations about the nature of humans stunning.