Book Review: Exquisite Cadavers by Meena Kandasamy

I spent the better half of last week reading this book. A small volume of a mere 112 pages, Exquisite Cadavers is a novella that has been presented in a unique sort of way. Written by Meena Kandasamy, this book was my second book of 2020. I picked it up considering the fact that I had loved Meena Kandasamy’s earlier book When I Hit You. The earlier book When I Hit You came with a narrative that was so powerful; a tale that was so well told with emotions, love, trust , egos and violence expressed perfectly. However I really would not be able to say the same thing about Exquisite Cadavers. Let me make it clear here. Exquisite Cadavers isn’t a bad book(In fact I wouldn’t call any book bad). Its got a lovely flow in its language. Its the kind of book that may entirely work for you or, totally not work. The book just didn’t work for me.

The Story within

The book comes with a dual narrative. The primary story is of Karim, a Tunisian immigrant, and his wife Maya from England. The couple live a life strewn with differences between them. They struggle to make ends meet amidst political and racism concerns in a Brexit era London. Karim possesses his own dreams of making it as a film maker and Maya battles her own issues such as an errant father, an unstable job, a chain smoking habit and a sudden pregnancy. It is when Karim’s brother disappears in Tunis, Maya finds herself in a bigger turmoil. Must she follow her partner who wants to go after his brother or must she stay in her home city , her place and think about her future. Meanwhile the margins of the book speak another narrative-another story- of Meena’s own personal thoughts. She speaks of her journey in writing the book. She reflects on her life and touches upon the way women are treated in the society we live in.

The presentation of the book

As mentioned, the book runs two parallel stories at the same. time. Where the margins speak her own personal story, the other portion tells a fictional tale. The two portions are separate, yet as one moves towards the end, you realize that the emotions behind the fictional tale and the personal tale aren’t really as distinct as they seem to be initially. This way of writing or presenting a book was unique. I haven’t read or come across a book with this format. I actually did a bit of Google research to understand this form of book writing( apparently its a Bricolage- In the arts, bricolage is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available).

Further thoughts on the book

Meena Kandasamy is indeed a brilliant writer. Her choice of words are almost near perfect and communicate the intended thought well. The messages were profound with a deeper meaning. But that is where I had a problem. I felt it was a bit too profound to my liking. Whether it was her personal domestic story or her rage filled fictional tale, it seemed to me as though she was trying to prove and push down a thought in every word of hers.  Despite the two parts uniting at the end, the dual structure of the book felt remotely connected through the pages. I just could not follow two stories separately. This acted as a big setback in my reading.

But this doesn’t mean Exquisite Cadavers is not a worthy read. The format just didn’t work for me. The simple story told with so much profoundness failed to leave a mark.

Try it if you want to experiment with a book of a different kind.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
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