BOOK REVIEW OF- Quinsilera
BY TARUN TEWARI
Paperback: 150 pages
Publisher: HALF BAKED BEANS (2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9384315745
ISBN-13: 978-9384315740
THE Plot IN BRIEF-
She stood at the edge of the cliff with her arms straight, her fingers stretched outwards. The sun now began to set displaying an exuberant orange and her mind lost in the infinite colours that once adorned her life. It’s been a week since she has stood at this same spot at the same time waiting for his return. Just as she was about to turn the half bridge from the cliff extending towards the horizon trembled as if shook by violent winds. From amidst the clouds he appeared, disembarking from the boat that glided amongst the clouds. His face was concealed behind a mask. He removed his mask showing his face adorned by the devilish smile. He was neither from heaven nor from hell, he from an altogether different world. “Come with me “, He said.”No I can’t “, She said with restraint.”I’ll wait”, he said before vanishing in the darkness. Milisha now stood there looking into the abyss. Now she was the Queen and he was the Ghost and their lives was not theirs anymore.
THE TITLE-
The title was perhaps inspired from quinceañera. In Mexico, a girl who is having her 15th birthday is called a quinceañera. It is a combination of the Spanish words quince “fifteen “and años “years”. The term may also be used to refer to a girl’s 15th birthday party, although this is more often referred to as a “fiesta de quince años” or “fiesta de quinceañera.”In many countries in Latin America, it is customary to celebrate a girl’s fifteenth birthday party in a very lavish manner. This celebration traditionally marks a girl’s coming of age and afterwards she is considered a mature person who is ready to assume family and social responsibilities. It is somewhat equivalent to a debutante ball or a coming-out party though these tend to be associated exclusively with the upper class whereas a quinceañera may be celebrated by people of all social strata. In this particular occasion, the girl is dressed up as queen and so the author rightly describes Quinsilera as “a sacred title for the queen”. I really loved the title not only because it suits the plot but also because it has a magical backdrop attached with it.
REVIEW OF THE BOOK-
Magic does play the major aspect of the plot. The word “Quinsilera” itself introduces the theme of magic within us. The plot very beautifully describes that there is a relationship between the eye contacts we make and the perceptions that we create in our heads, a relationship between the sound of another’s voice and the emotions that we feel in our hearts, a relationship between our movements in space all around us and the magnetic pulls we can create between others and ourselves. All of these things (and more) make up the magic of every ordinary day and if we are able to live in this magic, to feel and to dwell in it, we will find ourselves living with magic every day. These are the white spaces in life, the spaces in between the written lines, the cracks in which the sunlight filters into. Some of us swim in the overflowing of the wine glass of life, we stand and blink our eyes in the sunlight reaching unseen places, we know where to find the white spaces, and we live in magic.
An important aspect which was conveyed through the characterization of Milisha was faith. The quote-.”I’ll wait”, he said before vanishing in the darkness” made me realize that When you believe in an image; an ideal; a supreme being or figure and you stand in the sunshine and you feel the warmth as it spreads through your body. And with that warmth arrives a smile and a knowing that you were right to believe in the first place. That is what having faith is. It’s regardless of which religion you belong to, because faith is universal. That is why it is magical and the sooner we put away our differences and start to believe in each other then that is when we truly start to use faith as it was intended to be used.
The book was very beautifully described with each and every element starting from magic till emotion. It portrays that the unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think. The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. You can change the way people live their lives. That’s the only lasting thing you can create.
RATINGS-
Overall I would like to rate the book 42 on a scale of 50.
4 stars out of 5
Originality of the plot and sub plots- 9/10
Net emotions in the story- 8/10
Usage of words and phrases-8/10
The title, cover and the illustration-8/10
The net impact on the readers- 9/10
Reviewed by-
Sayan Basak
Kolkata
