Kari by Amruta Patil - A classic in Indian Graphic Novels
Kari gives a new voice to graphic fiction in India
Author
Amruta Patil
Publisher
HarperCollins
Genre
LGBT - Graphic Novel
Number of Pages
120
“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Goodreads Blurb
They were inseparable – until the day they jumped. Ruth, saved by safety nets, leaves the city. Kari, saved by a sewer, crawls back into the fray of the living. She writes ad copy for hair products and ill-fitting lingerie, falls for cats and roadside urchins, and the occasional adventuress in a restaurant. As Danger Chhori, her PVC-suit-clad alter ego, she unclogs sewers and observes the secret lives of people and fruit. And with Angel, Lazarus, and the girls of Crystal Palace forming the chorus to her song, she explores the dark heart of Smog City – loneliness, sewers, sleeper success, death – and the memory of her absentee Other.
Sensuously illustrated and livened by wry commentaries on life and love, Kari gives a new voice to graphic fiction in India.
My Review
Although the illustrations were beautiful no doubt, I had difficulty understanding this novel. It was abrupt in places. But the beauty of the characters and the main characters expressions has been illustrated beautifully.
A landmark book for gender history in India.
Amruta Patil
Amruta Patil, is an Indian graphic novel author and painter.
Patil spent her childhood in Goa. She has a BFA from Goa College of Art (1999), and Master of Fine Arts degree from Tufts University, School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (2004).
She worked as a copywriter at Enterprise Nexus (Mumbai) in 1999-2000. She was the Co-founder, Editor of the quarterly magazine, 'Mindfields' (2007-2012). She was awarded TED Fellowship in 2009.
Her debut graphic novel, Kari, commissioned and published by VK Karthika at HarperCollins India, explored themes of sexuality, friendship and death; and heralded Patil as India's first female graphic novelist.
She was awarded the Ministry of Women and Child Development's Nari Shakti Puraskar in March 2017 at the hands of the 13th President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.
- Top Quotes from Kari -
- “I guess everyone has a bird urge when they look down heights, a desire to jump, without wing or buoyant sail. Fear of heights is fear of a desire to jump.”
- “In a faraway city where the palette was pure and bright, Ruth stirred in her sleep, and smiled”.
- “Whatever love laws have to be broken, the first few seconds suffice. After that everything is a matter of time and incident.”
- “There are settling girls, and there are unsettling girls. The ones who seem to have it in them to be flyers are the ones who want to snuggle into settling. The ones who look as settled as old housedogs want to twist their way into flying. Necessarily, you must be defensive about being a settling sort of girl.”
- “She wasn't my kind of woman and that's why, that night she was. This wine is the Blood of Christ. Brings the truth out of a woman sooner than any confession box does. Makes you trust a stranger with your life, your car keys, your best-guarded secret.”
- “On a slightly unconnected note, I am sorry to report that babies, as a collective species, are largely oblivious to my charms.”
Books Similar to The Memory Police
This post contains affiliate links. Read my Disclosure Policy.