The Darkly Comedic Tale of Truth and Cover-up: A Review of Mahasweta Devi’s ‘Truth/Untruth’
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She Sight Magazine’s article focuses on the translation of Mahasweta Devi’s latest novel, “ruth/Untruth,” by Anjum Katyal. The article discusses the author’s contribution to Bengali literature and her unique style of writing. The article highlights Devi’s ability to address the injustice of her time consistently. The article then reviews the book and praises it for its ability to captivate readers and shake them out of a reading slump. The article also provides a summary of the book, which tells the story of Arjun Chakravarty, who impregnates his maid, Jamuna, while his pregnant wife is away. In a moment of decency, Arjun offers to take Jamuna to a doctor to terminate the pregnancy, but she ends up dead. Arjun, desperate to cover up the death, unwittingly ropes in more and more people in a darkly comedic tale of errors. The article highlights Devi’s terrific sense of humor and the way she describes the two Kolkata of the slum-dwelling maidservants and the affluent urban residents. The article also discusses how the novel addresses the injustices of the time and the way the poor servants rob the helpless, dependent rich homeowners of their money and belongings.
Re-reported from the story originally published from Scroll
