Book – The Artist
Author – Deep Datewas | Price – ₹150/- | Publisher – Sahib Deep Prakashan, Bhikhi (Mansa)
Although “The Artist” is the debut novel of young author Deep Datewas, the beautiful blend of experience and expression within it signals a promising future for the novelist in this field. The social backdrop of this novel is not his own country, but rather the western nation of Britain. His reliable knowledge of the social, cultural, economic, and geographical conditions of England before the third decade of the twentieth century testifies to his extensive capacity for study and research. The characters of this novel endure extremely difficult stages of struggle to maintain their continuous competence and activity in life. Even though these characters face hardships at every step, they do not let their dreams die until their last breath.
The novel’s story depicts the era of western theatre in the final decades of the twentieth century — when stage plays were the primary nourishment of people’s souls. The novel portrays the emotional sensitivity of those stage actors who, despite winning the hearts of millions with their performances, remained failed characters in the real-life drama. The novelist lifts the veil on the personal failures, helplessness, and compulsions hidden behind the widespread stage success of the renowned actress Alena Cyrus — and the reader’s sympathy naturally attaches to this character. Her selfish, cowardly, and brutish husband Robish Cyrus not only sells her body to other men every night but also inflicts various other forms of mental and physical torture upon her. When Robish’s tyranny reaches its peak, she, along with Darwin Hax, murders her husband and begins living secretly in the distant town of Newlyn. The story of Brittney — who takes Alena’s place in stage acting — is no different from hers. Even this artist, who reached the heights of fame, meets her end while enduring inhuman suffering in jail.
The novel also searches for the peak of a mother’s sacrifice for her son’s future. Alena Cyrus, in her desire to see her son D Cyrus become the finest stage artist of the future, first tries to earn a great deal of money by selling her own body. She does not want the shadow of her notorious life to fall on her son’s future — so she keeps this secret until her death: that she herself is the Alena Cyrus of the past.
Although due to the conspiracies of his stepfather Darwin Hax, D Cyrus — despite possessing extraordinary artistic talent — ends up becoming an infamous and failed actor, the love between mother and son emerges as a singular and incomparable example for the reader. The sacrifice of Jessica — who became his wife from his beloved — also presents such an extraordinary example on an idealistic level that it would perhaps be difficult to find even in Eastern social life. Although the novel does include some dramatically coincidental and idealistic episodes, the hard work of this new novelist is nonetheless praiseworthy.
— Niranjan Boha
Original Text
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