Book: Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer
Author: Cyrus Mistry
Pages: 248
Publisher: Aleph Books
Read On: Paperback
How Long it Took Me To Read: 2 days
Plot Summary: At the very edge of its many interlocking worlds, the city of Bombay conceals a near invisible community of Parsi corpse bearers, whose job it is to carry bodies of the deceased to the Towers of Silence. Segregated and shunned from society, often wretchedly poor, theirs is a lot that nobody would willingly espouse. Yet thats exactly what Phiroze Elchidana, son of a revered Parsi priest, does when he falls in love with Sepideh, the daughter of an aging corpse bearer...
Derived from a true story, Cyrus Mistrys extraordinary new novel is a moving account of tragic love that, at the same time, brings to vivid and unforgettable life the degradation experienced by those who inhabit the unforgiving margins of history.
General Thoughts: I've had this book on my bookshelves for a while, I got it because I loved the sound of it and books set in a Parsi household are always interesting. This book then went on to win the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015 and I kept telling myself I need to read this book soon! And I finally got around to reading this book earlier in the month.
Things I Liked:
1. The writing was absolutely wonderful and evocative. The author does a fantastic job of taking us inside this community of corpse bearers and their everyday lives and struggles. Also Mumbai and the 1930s and 40s comes alive in these pages.
2. The corpse bearers a group of people living on the fringe of the Parsi community make for an incredibly interesting read. Doesn't every fringe community make for an intriguing read? To see them eke out a life on the sidelines is always an enlightening reading experience and this book is no different. Their lives and the sense community amongst them just comes alive in these pages. Even their struggles and horrible working conditions, though hard to read was compelling at all times.
3. The time period in which this book is set is a point in time I always enjoy reading about, pre-independence India is such a interesting time period. A nation at the cusp of change and freedom and how this affected it's citizens.
4. Phiroze is so incredibly human and so real, he is incredibly well written and etched out. He is no one special. He isn't the brightest, smartest or deepest character. He is quiet, unassuming and going with the flow. Yet he is a compelling character. He is stronger than he seems. He forgives and forgets and tries the best to live his life the best he can. And it is hard not to root for him and wish him well.
5. The book is inspired by a true story and perhaps that is why it seems so real and it's melancholy just leaps off the pages. Not to say that it's very sad or anything, it won't bum you out, it will affect you, deeply affect you and some of it will linger on.
6. I personally love stories that show the swing of fortune from one end to another. Though in this book it isn't exactly fortune that swings wildly, it is just shows us how drastically Phiroze's life changes. From being a well-respected priest's son to being a corpse bearer and facing ire and discrimination at every step.
7. I love when books teach you something new, it is one of my favourite things about reading- learning something I knew nothing about. I had no clue this kind of discrimination existed in the Parsi community, the corpse bearers are treated worse than untouchables. I also didn't know that death and dead bodies were considered so unclean by the Parsis.
8. This book is part love story, only a small part. But this love, this love almost star crossed love is what completely changes Phiroze's life. We see glimpses of this love throughout the book and you can almost feel Phiroze's pain and longing for his wife- Sepideh.
9. Though a lot of the book is focussed on the life in and around the Towers of Silence, a considerable portion is spent in Phiroze's childhood home in the Fire Temple. I loved this portion of the book and getting to know Phiroze's family and his childhood and his explorations of Mumbai.
10. I loved that the book starts in the 1930s and ends in the 1990s and we get to see so much of the world and how it changed in these decades.
Rating: 4/5
I highly, highly recommend this book, I had the best time reading this book.
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