Synopses & Reviews
In
Suki, Suniti Namjoshi weaves a witty and delightful tapestry from threads of longing, loss, memory, metaphor, and contemplation. Taken as a whole, the picture she draws is a stunning evocation of the love and friendship shared between herself and her super cat, Suki, a lilac Burmese. Suki suggests that she could be a goddess, and Namjoshi her high priestess. Namjoshi declines, but as they discuss the merits of vegetarianism, the meaning of happiness, war, morality, or just daily life, it becomes clear that the bond between them is a deep and complex one. Namjoshi figures the days of Sukis life as leaves, which fall vividly but irrevocably into times stream and are recollected with a wild tenderness by a grieving Namjoshi, who learns through the discipline of meditation how to lose what is most loved.
One of the most distinctive lesbian-feminist voices of the late twentieth century, Suniti Namjoshi, best known for her many poems and fables, is highly respected as one of the pioneers of womens writing in India. This beautiful narrative, both memoir and elegy, offers solace and celebration to everyone who has felt the trust that passes between a person and a beloved creature.
Review
"[O]ne of this summers most affecting pieces of writing..."
Synopsis
In this delightful book, the reader is invited to overhear a series of playful, sharp philosophical debates between the author and her beloved cat. To Sukia sulky, silky feline who believes she is a goddessher owner is simply her high priestess”, there to do her bidding. To Sunitia writer, poet, fabulist and feminist iconSuki is a stroppy cat who talks too much.” But as they discuss the merits of vegetarianism, or the meaning of happiness, or war, or morality or any topic under the sun, it soon becomes clear that the bond between human and animal is a deep, complex and loving one. Far more than a personal memoir about a dearly departed pet, Suki is a philosophical novel, full of tender wisdom. It is a unique exploration of the relationship between human and animal.
Readers who have enjoyed J. R. Ackerleys My Dog Tulip, Nilanjana Roys The Wildings, or Paul Austers Timbuktu, will fall in love with the maddening, lovable, unique character that is Suki as seen through the eyes of Suniti Namjoshi, her companion, fellow-traveller and one of the foremost women writers of her generation.
About the Author
Internationally acclaimed author Suniti Namjoshi is an important figure in contemporary Indian literature in English. Born in Mumbai in 1941, she first wrote and published in India, then moved to Canada before settling in a small seaside village in the southwest of England with her beloved cat Suki and
Table of Contents
Part I: A Memoir 1. A Fearful Wight
2. Days
3. Rules and Commandments
4. A Moral Animal
5. The Spaceship
6. Darwin
7. Analogies
8. The Summit of her Ambition
9. Renaissance Entity
Part II: The Vipassana Trek
10. The Menagerie
11. Gambolling on the Grass
12. The Mouse Hole
13. Fleas
14. An Indian Story
15. Clever Monkey
16. The Story Fest
17. The Return