“The cuisine here is simple but tasty,” She said, squeezing a wedge of lime over Vincent’s food without being asked. “A little bit of heaven on your tongues.”
IN THE SHADOW OF TIME
Terrified to my core, I was shaking like a leaf. Someone was trying to make my blood run cold, trying to make my flesh creep. I was sweating. I was a panicky egg, an ovoid, ready to be pulverized by the hammer of dread.
This was a bad dream.
Friends!
Don’t reach a conclusion so quickly. I had not yet picked up this book. This dream was of the previous night. The next morning, after rinsing my body with the neem-oiled water, my mental grime too washed out and I came back to my senses that I was not an egg. It was just a nightmare. This sometimes happens when you decide at night to read a magical realism author the next day!
So, the next morning, with this newly acquired freshness, I was ready to time travel. As far as fiction is concerned, I have never read a book based on time traveling. The only mention of time travel I encountered was in one of the Bradbury stories, I read lately. That was too short to comprehend well, the concept of time traveling.
Through Kevin’s book, I was traveling in time, scientifically. Though I was expecting magical things in this book when I received it, and I indeed found some, I will still call the book a dramatic science–fiction. A well-written, histrionic science fiction! You can make a movie on it!
I will begin with the fact that when I started this book, which was launched in the Silkeborg Forest of Denmark, in 1970, where a dying couple is placing their baby daughter in the hollow of an oak tree wrapped in a rustic blanket of braided ivy, with a hope that after they die, their daughter must be found by a human first, rather than a wild fox, from this outset, I could not put this book down until that ‘big day’ in the end.
I never knew I was going to witness such a flamboyant and elegant prose writer. Highly British. Lovely positioning of phrases and meticulous use of words, without making the reading task of the reader strenuous in any sense! The writing, I loved the most in the book. The author’s sense of execution is also praiseworthy. He has not stretched any scene beyond the limit of a pleasurable reading experience. A conscientious storyteller, I was beholding in the book. The dialogues of the characters are lively and humorous and intense too.
The characters are amazingly crafted. Sofia, the astrophysicist is the brain with beauty, Hugo, the MI6 professional assassin is the swashbuckling macho man of the plot, Pablo, the sleek-haired shoeshine boy brought innocence, and Luna, the magical girl, her presence made the story magical. Vincent and Maria had their own chemistry going on behind the curtain. Scenes around the Pablo and that contemptible villain guy Ruben were framed very nicely and those parts of the book gave me Dickensian taste in the book.
The storytelling of the author is very captivating. He has assorted emotions and amusement together in a balanced manner and the concept of time travel has been used in an erudite way to give rise to the sentimental and suspense elements. In some scenes, a poignant effect has been created by this time lag technique, like in the case of Salazar’s brother and in the scene of vengeance taken against that rogue bully, Ruben.
Two minor things did not happen the way I was expecting.
First Luna, the girl who showed her magical pose every time she was present in a scene, yet she ended up too much worldly, as her final act was too mundane for her character, I was expecting a little more other-worldly, turn out on her part. But maybe that is what realism is all about. Second, is the character Mr. Salazar, the butler, his entry was the beginning of another monstrous impression, after the Ruben, in the plot. His dialogues and intentions were nefarious, those smoldering satanic eyes. Yet he could not do much and I think, the author could have developed this character a bit more fiendish. Both these points were just my expectations and, and did not at all affect my overall experience of the book!
I will highly recommend this book to all to see the storytelling, writing, and precision. The book has everything romance, humor, magic, reality, science, fight, and emotions!
Finally would thank Nilanjana for bringing me round and would thank Kevin for giving me such dazzling literary entertainment! Full Marks Guys!
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