Summary and My Review

Etchings of the First Quarter of 2020 by Sabarna Roy is a book containing letters, conversations, and poems. The first section on duality has three parts: the author’s letter to his step-daughter, then the author’s letter to his wife, and finally a nocturnal conversation with his step-daughter.

The second section consists of Winter Poems.

The book primarily discusses topics that aren’t a regular topic of conversation in families. Like in the first letter, Roy talks about his interpretation and feelings of being a step-father. In that letter, he pens a poem about duality; about how he feels jealous of Sandy and admits to violently killing it. At the end of the letter he invites his step-daughter, Tulip, for a coffee conversation on a future date.

The second letter, to his wife was of greater interest for me because the author discusses Lolita, a classic in it. The point he wants to make is that there is a scientific distinction between pedophiles and child molesters/violators of women. Later, he also discusses his candid view on the novel's characters and profoundly concludes that classics present a very amorphous reality that shows us extremes in which human life exists. I understood the context and the debate.

The third part, a conversation with his step-daughter over coffee was frankly confusing for me as they discussed multiple very dense themes. First, about the uncertainty of life, Roy quotes –

“In life, there are certain things that are within our control, and a lot many things that are beyond our control. The aggregate of determinate and indeterminate factors makes life indeterminate. Uncertainty is closely associated with indeterminateness as indeterminate problems are likely to have multiple solutions.”

Then he vociferously discusses Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Although the observations were valid, they abruptly switched to discussing Ghare Baire, a Bengali film. Then to duality and then to Schizophrenia and its myths.

Next, they discuss all things Marxism. Honestly, this particular section on Marxism was the longest, and I just skimmed through without really getting into its meaning. Because frankly, I had zilch interest in the topic. But I commend the author on his detailed study and clear views.

Then finally, they moved on to talking about Marine Conservation, which I gather was Tulip’s study area. This one seemed more like a factsheet than a conversation to me.

They then switch to talking about love through novels by Pamuk and T S Elliot's letters to his muse Emily. I enjoyed reading their observations and analysis.

Finally, they conclude the conversation –

“Everything is in a state of constant transition, and it is change which is constant?”

About the poems – the poems are titled by dates – a few days in January 2020. The first one is about the essence of death. Then one about the scent of fire. Then he describes winter's perception of different people and says that he cannot decide which group of people to join. The next poem is about his Travel memories. Then there is a duality poem. Followed by poems about love and healing. Poems of Jallianwala Bagh, commemorating 100 years and discussing its cruelty. Poetry in Hrishikesh, is about suicide, love for his mother, then about a book called The Plague.

To sum up the winter poems cover a wide variety of topics—poems about love, betrayal, marriage, and inspiration from movies. Then there are poems about a wrongful abduction, nostalgia. The most shocking poem was of an arsonist on the run dated 24th January. A poem about guilt, journal entries, wanderlust, regrets in life. My favorite was the wanderlust poem; it had the most positive of emotions.

I felt the book was random in its themes. I would have loved the book to be more cohesive. A common theme would, I think resonate better with readers looking to read about a specific topic rather than random musings. Categorizing these profound writings would better the chances of this book reaching the right audience.

And the poems generally had a lot of negative emotions about them like betrayal, adultery, abduction, arson, and death. I ended not feeling happy or somehow unsatisfied after I finished the book. Because of that and a lack of a common link to all the writings I rate the book 3 stars out of 5.

Who Should Read This

I recommend it to readers who like to read letters, or poetry or even journal entries.

Other books by Sabarna Roy