Review: Nutshell


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Review: Nutshell


♦ Author: Ian McEwan
♦ Publisher: Random House
♦ Pages: 208
♦ Price: INR 699
"Pessimism is too easy, even delicious, the badge and plume of intellectuals everywhere. It absolves the thinking classes of solutions.” This wonderfully sapient insight springs somewhere in the middle of this book and almost gives away the rationale behind McEwan’s choice of protagonist - a fetus.
Yes, this 200-odd pages of murder scheme is seen through the eyes of a fetus from the womb of his mother, who is a part of the murder hatching game. The other person involved in it is her lover, who is also her husband’s brother. They live together in the former’s house and conspire to kill the husband. Sounds familiar?

Those who have read Hamlet can clearly see the similarity of the plot, but that's about it. In this novel, McEwan dons his shrewdest hat to undertake this onerous task of retelling the Shakespearean spell-binder. In the process the author produces a cunning, stylized, original yet deep version of it.
The fetus has keen sensorial abilities and McEwan grants him an endearing, occasionally hilarious, narration to describe his observations. For instance with the musty air whooshing past him, he senses that his mother has opened a window to an overcast sky; from the soft thuds of her arm muscles he envisages her to be slowly getting down the stairs. Her night walks, her lovemaking, her alcohol binge, her brave facades-- they all find a delightful reflection on the fetus’ world. It feels as if there is a clear mirror that reflects the mother’s acts and thoughts to the fetus.

But being the obedient son with the responsibility to reunite his parents, he has sworn to stop the heinous crime from being committed despite being restricted to a womb. But should that be underestimated?

While McEwan earns many brownie points for rendering a refreshing point of view, he should also be credited for holding the storyline taut. The scheming of murder, the attempting of its execution, the aftermath-- they throw some truly pertinent nuggets of wisdom. There is a brutal dig on blind faith and the consequences that it can lead to in the story. Keeping the number of characters to just about five, the author imparts them strong personalities that remain coherent throughout the work.

This tale which opens with the fetus complaining of shrunk space due to the mother’s advanced stage of pregnancy, effectively culminates with him making his way out. But boy! What a journey does he have! One should experience (read, ‘read’) this ride first-hand, in a nutshell.

(Text By: Seemita Das)

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