Dear Editor,
The name of Dhanpaul Narine’s recently published book may not sit well for some, but for me, being not one to jump to conclusions without gathering more, pertinent information, the name piqued my interest; and based on what I read on Amazon.com, I came to some understanding about what may have led the author to choose such a name.
Set in the village of Vergenoegen, on the east bank of the Essequibo, Guyana’s largest river, a short distance from where the river meets with the Atlantic Ocean, the book depicts life in the shanty surroundings of Sookoo Yard, a collection of ramshackle and cramped living quarters, made out of discarded lumber, plastic, tins, and corrugated zinc sheets, with flooring made simply of the good old natural ground of Mother Earth. It chronicles the life of its protagonist, Raj, from his infancy to teenage days, in the squalid surroundings of their ‘complex’ of primitive dwellings called logies, owned and operated by an unscrupulous landlord named Sookoo – unscrupulous, because of his penchant to resort to draconian measures to punish any tenant for even simple ‘infractions.’
Raj, in his infancy, was entrusted by his teenage, immature, and financially strapped parents, to the care of his grandmother, whom he lovingly called Ma throughout the book, and his grandfather, Johnny, a confectionery salesman mostly away from home. Raj is depicted as a young lad exhibiting tremendous maturity for his age, and was the one on whom his Ma could rely as she managed the family’s daily affairs in their humble, logie abode. Perhaps the most striking quality of the book is its authenticity. The author boldly, with a no-holds-barred approach, portrays the miserable quality of life logie folks had to endure, with constant flooding, both from rainfall and overflowing streams covering the earthen floors, and raw sewage floating around in the living and eating quarters of the units; with a stench that would linger around long after the water has receded, giving rise to the residents being referred to as ‘shitty people,’ hence the title; and with a slumlord whose only priority was collecting the weekly rent, and who would resort to unorthodox, if not illegal means to penalize any tenant falling short of the full rent.
Raj’s dear Ma may have been illiterate but she exuded a wealth of virtues, including patience and her constant mentoring of her grandson to always live by, and not veer away from, the truth; and her daily advice on how to respect others despite their shortcomings, some directed and sometimes causing physical harm to Raj. Also, because of abject poverty, Raj had no text books in school, not to mention his constantly soiled clothing and lack of footwear; and he had to resort to sharing books with his desk companions, often ‘bribing’ them with sweets made by his grandpa. Also, Ma would go to a nearby store and get old newspapers from the proprietor before the papers were thrown out; and the newspapers would serve the dual purpose, when pasted on the logie walls, of covering holes punched by their inquisitive, peeping-tom neighbours, and giving Raj material, in the form of the new ‘wallpaper’, to improve his reading skills and bring him up to par with domestic and world affairs.
On the educational front, Raj’s performance in school did not reflect his true abilities, his mind preoccupied with myriad issues, not the least of which was his dedication to help in finding food for the household, and his penchant to take risks by skipping classes to fish by the seaside to raise funds not otherwise available to the family. One bright spot in this otherwise heart-rending narrative is the teenage love affair between Raj and his high school sweetheart, Seema, and the lengths to which he was prepared to go to win her hand and eventually take the relationship to another level. But will he succeed and ride off into the sunset?
Not at liberty to give away too much in this essay, let me say that the book, written in the first person, is largely based on the personal experiences of its author, Dr. Dhanpaul Narine, a graduate of the University of Guyana (BA) and the London School of Economics (BSc Hons, MSc, MPhil, PhD).
It certainly gives new meaning to the maxim, per ardua ad astra (through adversity to the stars). Its absorbing prose is interspersed with memorable colloquialisms, such as chul chul, chunkay, bunjal curry, bisi bisi bush, pookney, and moco moco bush, to name a few; and this, plus the unique subject matter, grabs the reader’s attention to go on and on. I may not be quite a fast reader, but I was able to coast through the book in record time, for me at least! I applaud Dr. Narine for a fine piece of literature and highly recommend this first novel of his to all, especially my fellow Guyanese.
Sincerely,
Abel Peters
