Book Review: Life in the Clock Tower Valley by Shakoor Rather
1 min read
Poet & Critic Gopal Lahiri reviews Shakoor Rather‘s Life in the Clock Tower (Speaking Tiger, 2021) stating how this well-crafted and delightful novel is lean, articulate, and succinct.
- Published by: Speaking Tiger
- Price: INR 350/-
- ISBN: 978-93-89958-84-3
If there is a heaven on earth
It’s here, it’s here, it’s here.
Amir Khusrau
Shakoor Rather’s debut novel titled ‘Life in the Clock Tower Valley’ explores the complexities of life in the valley, giving an insider’s view and also evokes different emotions in the readers’ mind. It provides a glimpse into the life of the people in Srinagar. But the favourite moments in the book have little to do with the reality it depicts, and everything to do with individual human experiences like the ironic and tender portrait amidst a scenic locale, marked by the simplicity of dialogue and the importance of little things in life.
The book is always animated, full of energy, change, memory, and boldness. The deprivation and the denial are all-encompassing. Describing in beautiful symphonic prose, the novel depicts an unfulfilled love story of resilience and forgiveness that offers readers to travel from the valley’s primeval past to the conflict-ridden present.
