The Mystic Masseur

Rating:

The first thing that is truly amazing about this short funny book is that it is Naipaul's first; no wonder he went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The second that he is barely 25 years old; it is amazing that someone so young can write such a witty book that has so much to say about religion, politics, colonialism, education, and the island as a society. The third that he is a native-born Trinidadian; yet he writes the kind of concise descriptive English, the type that brings people and places directly to life for the reader, that so many other authors can only dream of.

I found both his use of dialog and native dialect absolutely amazing, making me feel as if I was listening to real people speaking as they might, though in a somewhat comic fashion, in the 1940s in Trinidad. Be warned that there are a few "n-bombs", but this was a multi-pluralist society (in race, color, and creed).

It is also refreshing that the British colonialists and the WWII Americans are mainly just a mere presence throughout the book. We know Trinidad is a colony, but we experience it entirely through the eyes, ears of native Trinidadians, who, most thankfully, are neither perfect nor perfectly awful. They are just human beings trying to live out their lives in a rather difficult if difficultly ordinary situation. And it is most interesting that without hardly disparaging either the natives or the colonizers, the protagonist ends up becoming a thoroughly westernized and pro-western politician, one who embraces the colonial situation.

While reading it the one other book that came to mind, at least in a general sense as to the rise to greatness of a rather non-great man, is Jerzy Kosinski's great work, Being There (1971), which was made into the marvellous movie with Peter Sellers. Naipaul's character's rise seems more believable and a bit funnier.

This is the first book by Naipaul I've read. It won't be the last. I can't wait to read his other early books describing Trinidadian society! Where RK Narayan, who started writing in the 1930s, brings his beloved rural India to life, Naipaul brings forth his beloved Trinidad. Both write some of the finest modern English anywhere in the world. Interestingly, one of Naipaul's antagonists to the hero Ganesh is named "Narayan"!

Rating:

The Mystic Masseur was Naipaul's first novel. And indeed it looks so. One could not think of so great a writer to begin so humbly. This is not a novel with a grant theme, or an aim or mission. Yet it is not like the modern novels which take their main aim to be aimless.

What strikes us is the genuineness of Naipaul in accepting his humble subject. He takes his Trinidad, his birthplace as his subject. The intellectual honesty, which later became the hallmark of Sir Vidia, was not an attribute which was acquired or which evolved over the course of time. It was there from the very beginning of his career, from his very first novel, The Mystic Masseur, from his very first book of non-fiction, The Middle Passage.

In his last book of non-fiction, `A Writer's People', he discusses about his initial quest for a subject. When he reached England, in 1950s, he had to choose his subject. Having chosen writing as a vocation, the choice of his subject was yet to make, not only the subject, but also the style of writing. After looking for inspiration to many writers, one day he came to a conclusion which would make him, the V S Naipaul, we know:

"I bought a copy of The Painted Veil from a W H Smith news-stand, read some pages standing up, and soon came to the conclusion that Maugham was not a writer I could go to for instruction. Not because Maugham was bad. My material was too far away from his; it was my own; I had to adhere to it and do the best I could with it, in my own way."

We can see our future writer coming into his own. He chose to imitate nobody. He chose to go for what seemed to him his own, original, not yet written, however simple that maybe.

This is what we see in `The Mystic Masseur'. It is not concerned with global politics, not specifically with politics, religion or society. It speaks in small but honest way about the small society of Trinidad. In effect it speaks about smallness, the smallness which pervades the Trinidadian society so completely.

The hero Ganesh gets an idea into his mind of writing a book about, India, Hinduism and his heritage. He takes upon himself the enormous task to write a book explaining everything about Hinduism, `101 Questions and Answers on the Hindu Religion'. The book itself is quoted, which heightens the comedy of the whole episode.

You get a sense of boredom while reading the novel, a boredom of a people who have nothing much to do, nothing much to think about. They have no history, a past only vaguely memorable, a religion remembered only in rituals. They have no native writers. Ganesh earns his fame by becoming a masseur. He then discovers that a little taste of mysticism adds to its charm, and so he becomes a mystic masseur. But the wish of his life is fulfilled only when he writes the book and becomes famous.

But then he engages himself in politics, and later on leaves his job of massage.

This is a world which Naipaul chooses as his subject. True it is small, but it is real and honest. It reflects the people of Naipaul's world at that time.

"I myself believe that the history of Ganesh is, in a way, the history of our times; and there may be people who will welcome this imperfect account of the man Ganesh Ramsumair, masseur, mystic, and, since 1953, M.B.E."

We read in `The Mystic Masseur', of a world, which is half and small, forgotten and poor in ideas. A land where there is no intellectual life, where people just try to live up to some social success, trying everything which comes into their way.

The reader doesn't need to know the geography in order to sense the smallness of Trinidad. It is too pervading in the novel.

From his very first novel, Naipaul conveys his tragic-comic style. This is not to refer to the classical Shakespearean one. There is no Shylock in `The Mystic Masseur'. The tragic sense of Naipaul is not concerned with characters, but with history, with geography and with life itself. Naipaul's is a sneer of man who sees life as on outsider, who sees the world as it is, accepting all its faults and drawbacks. But the final sense is not one of despair, but of true detachedness, objectivity. This paragraph illustrates it well:

"It was their first beating, a formal affair done without anger on Ganesh's part or resentment on Leela's: and although it formed no part of the marriage ceremony itself, it meant much to both of them. It meant that they had grown up and become independent Ganesh had become a man; Leela a wife as privileged as any other big woman. How she too would have tales to tell of her husband's beatings; and when she went home she would be able to look sad and sullen as every woman should."

Even in this early novel, he takes a dig at Gandhi. Discussing a difficult situation, Ganesh says:

"What would Mahatma Gandhi do in a situation like this?"

Then answering himself:

"Write. That's what he would do. Write."

The language itself conveys a very comic sense, at least to a person who is either native English speaker or comes for the subcontinent. Naipaul remains honest even to the grammar of Trinidadians, which is appalling. I was afraid of imbibing some wrong English from these novels of Naipaul.

Rating:

What a strange (but fun) little book. Naipaul's intermixing the patois with normal Brit-speak was fascinating. Since education, or lack thereof, is a recurring theme, you never knew who fit where on that spectrum. The characters are a hoot. Though the story takes place in Trinidad, their interactions could be taken from Small Town Anywhere.

This is a quick read and there are many laughs in store for you.

Rating:

My review of this book probably reflects more negatively on the reviewer than it detracts from the Nobel prize winning author, but 3 stars is all I could squeeze out. It was a nice low key whimsical tale, with pretty good character development, acquainting us with the simple, humorous, pretentious characters making up Trinidad Indian society. Ganesh's rise from a bumbling boy, to a sought-after mystic, to an important polititian, has some lessons in it I suppose (value of education, power of and hunger for spirituality, and the dulling of the spiritual by world, wealth, and fame). But this book did not leave me crying out "Nobel Prize!" (as did Pramoedian Ananta Toer's recently released books). A quick read, view of Trinidad culture, and a few chuckles. So not bad - maybe 3 1/2 stars.

Rating:

This novel tells the story of Ganesh Ramsumair in Trinidad. There is not much mystical or magical about this fellow, except, perhaps, that he is unique from all the others in the community. These are the trials and tribulations of someone not in a first world country but who knows that he wants more than the status quo. The way to go about this is to be a writer. Writers, he's told, are important and special.

A hefty portion of the novel describes how Ganesh goes through encounters with his father-in-law, his wife, his neighbor, his Aunt and others while insisting that he is a writer (although his writings are.... sparse... to say the least). The humor of the novel appears matter-of-factly during the conversations with Ganesh's friends and family and in the convoluted conclusions Ganesh reaches. The idea is to not take the book too seriously, although there are parts which depict the inauthenticity of Westernizing Eastern cultures.

Some readers too steeped in a rigid Western mindset might become frustrated with the novel. The characters are not 'dumb,' they are colorful and robust - willing to accept life as it comes and complaining only when complaining seems the right thing to do. Also, the inherent connection between Ganesh (as an individual) and his community is very clear. This is something else that might be challenging for some readers, since it is a somewhat diminished phenomenon in some cultures.

Overall, about 30 pages less and I would have given the book another star. The middle of the book bogs down a bit and stalls out. But I think this is Naipaul's first effort and as such it is very worthy. Readers who enjoy books about culture should be pleased.