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Shrill Mist is a
small novel of epic proportions set in the hill country of Nepal
during recent decades. The story centers upon a mother and daughter
who leave brutalizing lives in their village to start over in a
provincial town. The mother becomes a scribe and teacher, the daughter
a lawyer. Courageous and generous of spirit, they and the small
coterie of intellectuals who cluster around them are swept up in the
tragedy of contemporary Nepal.
Shrill
Mist evokes the
natural beauty of Nepal while starkly exposing a society in crisis
where the struggle between consciousness and ignorance is taking on
Vedic dimensions. The author writes with a deep love and far vision,
but also with a dark foreboding about the historical moment:
"A shrill
mist was gradually covering every creek and corner of the valley,
falling like a net of sour smoke upon the village. The mist smelled of
sadness and fear, corrosive, or at least so said the reports in
different newspapers...."
Nepal does
not have a strong literary tradition. This is a rare book. Ram Krishna
Bantawa is a well-known Nepali songwriter.
Shrill Mist
evolves from his first novel, Mother and
Daughter, written
in Nepali.
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Extract
Copyright © Ram
Krishna Bantawa
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