Extremely Rare Out-of-Print Original 1998 First Edition. SIGNED by the Author with dedication. The lightest shelf/edge wear from warehouse handling. No tanning of the pages. A hint of tanning on the outer pages as expected from time. Images on listing, are of this book. PAPERBACK ______________
Set
against the backdrop of a crumbling matrilineal tarawad system of the
Nairs in Kerala with its petty rivalries and jealousies, its sambandhan
system of contractual marriage, its conflicts and problems, and the
changes in land legislation which sharply erode the feudal order, Kaalam
is the story of sethumadhavan Nair who starts out as an ambitious and
confident adolescent—but in his journey towards adulthood, where
material and social success go hand in hand, he is faced with an
overwhelming sense of disillusionment. The river of Sethu's village, a
mute witness to every crisis in his life, mirrors this journey, its
sensuous beauty transformed to dry sand. MT’s lyrical prose captures the
changing moods and seasons of the landscape of his own childhood in a
novel that, though not strictly autobiographical, shares some of the
emotional experiences of the protagonist. In a finesse characteristic of
Nair's profound, yet minimalist sense of expression, the starkness of
reality found in this story is touching and insightful.