hadassahchana's Full Review: Shyam Selvadurai - Cinnamon Gardens
Shyam Selvadurai has now become my fast answer to the question "Who's your favourite author?". After having read a review of 'Funny Boy' by member stephen_murray, I read the novel and was absolutely enamoured of Selvadurai's writing(Murray's too, for that matter). His first novel was absolutely brilliant, so I was a bit apprehensive about starting the second- I was worried that he couldn't possibly meet my high expectations.
I was foolish to have worried, even for a second. "Cinnamon Gardens' is a great novel, one that ought to become a true classic. Like 'Funny Boy', it is set in Ceylon, this time in the 1920's, against a backdrop of the ending of British rule. Cinnamon Gardens is a wealthy suburb of Colombo, and is the centre of the action. The Mudaliyar Navaratnam is the patriarch of an old and important family. His son, Balendran, is an obedient son, a gay man who has nonetheless dutifully married the wife chosen by his father and fathered a son. Balendran's niece , Annalukshmi, is the other main character of the story. She is a well-educated, independent woman who is a teacher, and who refuses a traditional arranged marriage in order to remain true to her ideals.
Selvadurai's remarkable gift for analyzing and describing people is even more apparent in this book than in his previous novel. As he is gay, it is not really a stretch for the reader to realize why the character of Balendran is so sympathetically portrayed. However, the girl Annalukshmi, with all of her longing for independence as well as her conflict at the thought of giving up the chance for marriage and children is equally well-written.
Both Balendran and Annalukshmi have their principles tested by events in the book, and in my opinion, both act on these events in a totally characteristic manner. Balendran's lover from his university days, Richard, reappears, reminding Balendran of what he has given up to be in a marriage, to raise a son. Although he is saddened at the thought of the man who could have been, he ultimately chooses the family with whom he has made his life for so many years. Annalukshmi, having rejected an arranged marriage to a dull-witted and conceited man, is offered a sweet-natured, educated man who rapidly falls in love with her. However, as he is an Anglophile and she is on the verge of discovering her own love and sympathy for the working people of Ceylon, she lets this opportunity pass, too.
"To thine own self be true" is perhaps one of the most frequently-quoted lines from Hamlet. However, under Selvadurai's skillful hand, we discover just how cliched that line can be. In 'Cinnamon Gardens', the real question is ,"To which self be true?" . Balendran, while obviously in love with his wife, also obviously still struggles with his sexual nature. Yet in no way can it be said that he is untrue to himself. Likewise, when Annalukshmi, who values education and independence over everything else,feels an unexpected twinge of jealousy while watching her pregnant sister, it only illustrates just how complex all of us truly are. The feelings of alienation experienced by Balendran, and by Annalukshmi, are painful, while ultimately leading to the next stage in their lives. Selvadurai unobtrusively points out that one needn't be gay, or extraordinarily different in any way to feel this same sense of alienation, and that in fact it is a common aspect of the human condition.
'Cinnamon Gardens' is a wonderful book, a varied tapestry of people and emotions. Selvadurai is a very sensual writer, and his descriptions of everything from the scent of flowers, to the feel of salty sea air on a hot day, to the warmth of a lover's hand in the small of one's back, is just a delight for the senses. However, in addition to that, Selvadurai , without sermonizing or patronizing the reader, expertly paints characters as whole human beings, with all of the nobility as well as the faults that are inherently human. He reminds us of just how alike we all are, once we get past religion, or skin colour, or sexual preference. If 'Funny Boy' was about that first thrill of a forbidden stolen kiss, then 'Cinnamon Gardens' is about the next phase of life, where one realizes that each day is made up of irrevocable choices, of performing not great and heroic acts, but of choosing the least painful path from the many opportunities offered each of us. This is a great and remarkable book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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