Warning: Once you read this book, the existence of water will leave a lifelong impression, and there are chances that your perception of the mortality of water will begin to shift. At least for me, now, after humbly accepting the foreverness of books and the stories they embody, I am deeply honoured to know that water’s imprints are forever.
This recent read, titled "There Are Rivers in the Sky" by Turkish-British novelist Elif Shafak, is unique and vibrant. The story begins in the ancient city of Nineveh, on the banks of the River Tigris, with the erudite but ruthless King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia.
We meet the first raindrop when it falls on this Mesopotamian king, and it resurfaces again in the lives of our three storytellers: Arthur, a slum boy born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames in Victorian London; Narin, a Yazidi girl who travels to war-torn Iraq in 2014; and Zaleekah, a newly divorced hydrologist in 2018 London, a miserable woman who has moved into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband.
The novel uniquely and brilliantly brings together the stories of these three very different people through a single droplet of water. The water transforms into rain, into snow, and travels through each story, from the River Tigris to the Thames and back, remembering all the lives it has touched.
Much like a river, this book carries readers on an epic journey. Brimming with emotion and heart, it is almost impossible not to lose oneself in this novel, its characters, and their intertwined stories .
The book has now made me believe that water has memory, water remembers!
Quotes from the book-
The novel uniquely and brilliantly brings together the stories of these three very different people through a single droplet of water. The water transforms into rain, into snow, and travels through each story, from the River Tigris to the Thames and back, remembering all the lives it has touched.
Much like a river, this book carries readers on an epic journey. Brimming with emotion and heart, it is almost impossible not to lose oneself in this novel, its characters, and their intertwined stories .
The book has now made me believe that water has memory, water remembers!
Quotes from the book-
“Better to be a gentle soul than one consumed by anger, resentment and vengeance. Anyone can wage war, but maintaining peace is a difficult thing.”
“The world would have been a much more interesting place if everyone was given a chance to meet their ancestors at least for an hour in their lifetime.”
“That’s the thing about failing: either it makes you super-afraid of failing again or, somehow, you learn to overcome fear.”
“Water remembers. It is humans who forget.”“Everyone in this world has some bent or inclination which, if fostered by favourable circumstances, will colour the rest of his life.”
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Thanks. Keep reading. And keep sharing