However, a deeper reading would prove to be a letdown, for in his haste to include a wide range of subjects, the author has exemplified the adage of too many topics spoiling the book.[break]
The author has wisely divided this collection into four sections: his literary criticisms, political commentaries, interviews and speeches, and finally essays dealing with insurgency, ethnic and Gurkha issues.
It is, unclear, though, why he has bothered to differentiate between the second section and the last, for the same issues are recycled in both of them.
The first segment is a disappointment, to put it kindly.
It contains more than a dozen of book reviews, which are quite intelligent and in-depth ones but lack fluency. Gurung is fond of using sentences that are so roundabout that vagueness meets them midway. Or else he uses empty words that make noise but carry little sense.
Even though the author candidly admits that he has been asked to “lay off using ten-dollar words, sixteen-dollar sentences and hundred dollar sentences” by a well meaning advisor, he obstinately continues to do so.
If the author is aware of this phenomenon, pray why doesn’t he apply it to his own writing? Why does he insist on littering the pages with bombastic words such as firmament, laconically, leitmotif and proclivities, or wretched combinations like “squealing components of the book” or “run of chill”? In addition to this, there is an overdose of quotes and references.
On the other hand, parts of the criticism are straight out of student essays, as in, “The wounded speaker here can be assumed to be an invented persona.” The author offers too much background information rather than actual analysis of the work.
And he also tends to be inconsistent in his review, trashing the work to its limits, before abruptly and quite unconvincingly claiming that the text is among his “favorite ones.”
However, the quirk that works in the author’s favor is that he writes boldly on any topic, and does not compromise on his ideals. He does
not shy away from handling controversial to potentially dangerous topics, which is commendable.
This very same audacity is displayed wholly in the next section, which the author has termed “political commentaries.” Politics is clearly the author’s forte, for his writings become much more lucid and comprehensive at this point.
He lashes out fearlessly the shameless political parties and personalities in the way that we have always wanted to but never dared or cared enough to do so, thus truly becoming the “voice of the voiceless”.
The ‘interviews and speeches’ section, the questions are mostly interesting and varied, and the answers start off really well too, but often they diverge and lengthen so much that one forgets the issue at hand. But as stated earlier, Gurung is staunch in his beliefs and this is a refreshing change from hypocritical interviewees.
The final section deals with the hot topics of the day like insurgency, ethnic and Gurkha issues. It shows the author’s straightforward and un-muddled political vision. In the write up “National integration and peace through federalism” he provides practical options available for marginalized groups, before meticulously analyzing each of them.
The most enlightening piece, though, is “Factors behind the Maoist People’s War”, in which he accurately pinpoints the socio-cultural and economic factors behind the gruesome People’s War.
He is a keen observer, researcher and reporter, as exemplified in his succinct prediction, “Unless conflicts in Nepal are managed positively for the benefit of society, they can turn violent if the neglected groups become frustrated and embark on extreme measures.”
At the end, in terms of informative, knowledge and analysis on a variety of topics, this work is a virtual treasure trove, but it can be summed up in a sentence the writer has himself used in page 58, “... has written with much ambition, nevertheless, he has need of craft.”
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