The Librarian (2017)
Author: Kavitha Rao
One of the problems identified to have inflicted the vast majority of people of the 21st century is their over-attachment to their mobile devices. They seem to be engrossed in their gizmos that it is sometimes comical to see them walking like zombies. They appear as if they are talking to their imaginary friends, all complete with hand gestures and explosive curses. Sometimes they become oblivious to their surroundings, walking through glass-doors or moving vehicles. They seem so engrossed in their gadgets that I would not be surprised if they are unaware if somebody jocularly strips them down.
Well, it is not much different than how it used to be when I was growing up. An acquaintance of mine, while immersed in his spy-thriller novel, had his house burgled right under his nose (not really under his nose but rather with his presence). Amma also used to complain my sister and I were too buried in our books. She accused us of using the need to study as an excuse not to do what is expected from us, children, to help around the house doing simple chores. We have to confess. We were sometimes engaged in leisurely readings.
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| Kavitha Rao, Lucknow; 2018. |
In Amma's eyes, we were sometimes too engrossed that we lost track of the ground we stood on -- no different from the 21st-century zombies who live in alternative universes.
At what level do we lose the ability to differentiate what is important and what is not? Sometimes we are so passionate about something that we lose our bearings and fail to appreciate something so important as life itself. This novel tells the tale of a bibliophile with her dream job at the library. It narrates her struggle to satiate her appetite for books and, perhaps, live in her make-believe world of fictions and the characters from those books.
She works in an ancient library which had seen better times and faces the risk of being shut down due to lack of funds and readership.
The book is an interesting and descriptive one that manages to keep the interest of the readers right till the end.
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