A Burning: A Read with Jenna Pick: A Novel

A Burning does so many things beautifully - a compelling momentum, believable characters and dialogue, believable action, and granular details that make reading the book feel like traveling, to someone else’s street, someone else’s home, in full texture as if you could feel the air on your skin and the actions all around you. It’s a book that feels exceptionally real.Jivan is a well-developed character whose personal ambitions, although simple, are thwarted by a system that doesn’t support some of her most basic needs. She has a striving and self-assurance over being able to create a more comfortable life for herself and her family. Unfortunately, her individual efforts may be crushed by the unequal and exploitative nature of her society.

A Burning by Megha Majumdar“One morning, daylight fails.”A Burning is Megha Majumdar’s first novel, combining a character study, a political tempest, a communal heartbreak. The chapters are brief and punchy, told from three rotating points of view: Jivan, a teenage girl who lives in a Kolkata slum; Lovely, a hijra with acting ambitions who Jivan is tutoring in English; and PT Sir, Jivan’s gym teacher who joins a rising Hindu party movement. Their personal connections are thrown into relief when Jivan gets caught up in a criminal case involving a terrorist attack (which takes place within the first few pages - no spoilers!).“The rules are different on a rainy day.”While the plot of a terrorist attack and its aftermath is the main driver of the novel, I especially loved the urban details of the city of Kolkata. Because Jivan and Lovely are both surviving on the lower rungs of society, the street with its vigor and filth is never very far from view. The hawkers, the dirt, the heat, the crowds - all of it feels tangibly present: “A pillow filler is walking by, twanging his cotton-sorting instrument like a harp.” A great deal of the novel takes place in a prison and that whole dire ecosystem feels painfully real: “It is as peaceful as it gets in a cage.”I found the main characters compelling, if a little simply drawn (a bit like icons of themselves). For instance, it came as a surprise to me that Jivan was Muslim because nothing in her family’s cultural or religious traditions (or her name or her speech patterns) hints at this. Her religion is a critical pivot in the plot but we’re simply told what she believes. However, there’s enough else going on to keep a reader thrillingly occupied. Majumdar’s gift is in showing how poverty and communal strife can grow slowly yet inexorably into something quite frightening. As different as America might be from India, when it comes to how both countries treat those accused of terrorism, there’s not much moral or ethical ground between them.“There is a lot about life that the law misses.”At the individual level, the characters in A Burning are faced with choices that bear upon their personal lives, liberties, and ambitions. Majumdar refers to “the riot economy” and how the persecution of certain groups leads to profit for others. I am reminded of the choices American citizens have made to look away from systemic racism, gun violence, immigrant children locked in cages, the poisoning of water and land and air. There are many roads to fascism and no country is immune, even with constant vigilance. For me, literature plays a huge role in that apprehension. A Burning is a quick read, and I found myself in tears at the end. I’ll happily read more by the author.

Let me start by saying that this book is beautifully written. The author portrays her culture with courage, depth, humility, candor, and profound respect. It is one of the world’s worst kept secrets that the government, especially at the lower levels, is often gallingly corrupt. The storyline, although predictable, is still moving and heartbreaking. I appreciated how this book highlighted various fringe/minority groups as well. The main character is Muslim, which is a dangerous way of life in many parts of India. This is even portrayed in a scene of horrendous and fatal violence against a Muslim family whose only crime was eating beef. However, without expounding and in an effort to avoid politicizing this review, I will simply say that while I felt compassion for the character “Lovely,” I did not appreciate the subtle attempt at normalizing gender dysphoria. This is my primary reason for downgrading this novel.This is a “chew and spit” book for me, meaning I did not necessarily feel the need to abandon it, but I did not enjoy it nearly as much as I otherwise would have if it weren’t for certain themes. While it is poignant and well-written, and provides wonderful insight into Indian culture, I do <b>not</b> recommend this book, especially for younger audiences. The mature content and inappropriate portrayal of mental illness are not appropriate for teens and below. For older audiences, I would recommend group reading so that discussion can help with processing and digesting with compassion but Godly discernment.