About
Author: Anita Desai (India)
Genre: Social
Setting
Place: Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand
Time: 2000s
My Rating (see what this means)
My Subjective Rating: 3
My ‘Objective’ Rating: 2.71
Introduction
The art in each of the stories in Anita Desai’s collection ‘The Artist of Disappearance’ is, whether by design or happenstance, meant for a restricted audience, if at all any and begs the question “If no one sees a piece of art, does it still exist or have any meaning?
Each of the protagonists – an unnamed civil servant, an uninspiring English teacher Prema, and a recluse Ravi, in the 3 stories that form this collection, when confronted with this question find themselves unable or unwilling to answer it. Not because they don’t recognise good art – but because they don’t know what to do with it.
Each of these stories takes us deep into the poignant lives of three protagonists and make for a pleasant, if occasionally jumpy, read.
Review
Only in one of the stories ‘The Artist of Disappearance’, is the artist Ravi also a co-protagonist. In both the other stories – the original artists are either not around (The Museum of Final Journeys), or did not speak an widely accessible language (Translator Translated).
The protagonists rather were people who stumble upon these pieces of art and/or find themselves custodians of it. These stories explore what the mediocre can do when dealing with the exceptional.
Do these stories answer the central question? Perhaps not. Perhaps the question is unanswerable. Unnecessary even?
He began to look out for empty matchboxes. Each offered a world of possibilities for the minute objects and the patterns he could make of them, patterns that he could alter endlessly as pieces of coloured glass can be shifted in a kaleidoscope. Lying open, they revealed themselves like constellations in the night. Shut in a box, they became invisible. And he could carry them on him, keep them to himself; no one would know.
If what I write in the book of travellers can, when read by others at some future date, also entertain them on their journey, then fine. If they don’t read it, or are not entertained, that’s fine too.
– Bernando Soares, The Book of Disquiet
Picture Credits:
- Cover Picture: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230404-indias-10000-forgotten-mansions
- https://www.thebeliever.net/a-cold-in-the-soul-reading-the-book-of-disquiet-in-apartment-62/