Nghìn khuôn mặt của đêm

by Githa Hariharan, Nguyễn Bích Lan (Translator)

Nghìn khuôn mặt của đêm, tiểu thuyết vào năm 1993 được trao giải tiểu thuyết đầu tay hay nhất dành cho các nhà văn của Khối Thịnh Vượng Chung, kể về ba người phụ nữ thuộc ba thế hệ kế tiếp nhau, mang tên ba nữ thần được người Ấn Độ tôn thờ Devi, Sita, và Maya. Devi, người phụ nữ thuộc thế hệ thứ ba, với tâm hồn được chăm bồi bằng những câu chuyện tưởng tượng mà bà cô kể cho nghe suốt những năm thơ ấu, mơ ước một cuộc sống gia đình hạnh phúc, khao khát được làm một người đàn bà theo đuổi lý tưởng và đam mê của mình chứ không phải chỉ là giới thứ hai đối với đàn ông. Cô được học hành tử tế, thậm chí được cho đi du học ở Mỹ. Nhưng mơ ước cùng sự giáo dục kĩ lưỡng mà cô tiếp nhận chẳng giúp gì được cô khi cô trở về Ấn Độ để rồi sau đó gật đầu trước một lời cầu hôn làm hài lòng mẹ cô hơn là chính bản thân cô. Khi cô hỏi chồng cô rằng tại sao anh lại cưới cô, người chồng đã trả lời rằng anh cưới cô vì bất cứ lý do nào khiến người ta cưới nhau nhưng anh nói thêm: “Ơn trời, người Ấn Độ chúng ta không bị ám ảnh bởi tình yêu”.

Sita, mẹ của Devi, đã tự mình dứt dây của cây đàn veena bà đã gắn bó suốt nhiều năm, tự mình nhổ rễ đam mê của mình trong quyết tâm trở thành một người vợ không chê vào đâu được. Nhưng trong kết quả của những nỗ lực và sự hy sinh của bà chẳng thấy có bóng dáng hạnh phúc. Cách Sita một thế hệ, Maya, một người phụ nữ lấy chồng từ năm mười hai tuổi, phải sống những năm tôi đòi, bị chồng, mẹ chồng, và chính con trai hành hạ, lủi thủi đi đến cuối đời chờ đợi cái chết. Nhìn vào cuộc đời của ba người phụ nữ này chúng ta thấy những dấu ấn đẹp đẽ nhưng cũng thấy cả những vết trói mà những phong tục và truyền thống của người Ấn Độ hằn in lên những mảnh đời phụ nữ.

Nữ tác giả Githa Hariharan có lối viết lạ, đủ hấp dẫn để đưa người đọc đi đến hết câu chuyện bà kể. Bà viết về nỗi buồn của người đàn bà trong cuộc hôn nhân tẻ lạnh: “Nỗi sầu khổ bám nhằng nhẵng như những cái móc nhỏ móc vào từng lỗ chân lông trên da tôi. Những cái móc ấy yêu tôi say đắm. Tôi đợi chúng nuốt tôi đi, đợi bị nghẹt trong cái ghì xiết của chúng. Hoặc đợi chúng teo đi, chết rơi chết rụng, để tôi được tự do mà thở.” Bà viết về nỗi đau đớn của người mẹ bị đứa con mình dứt ruột đẻ ra lãng quên: “Quên tên bà ấy, quên tất cả những đêm mẹ mình ôm mình, ôm đứa con thơ trong vòng tay âu yếm. Thôi tôi xin! Đừng có nói với tôi về những đứa con trai dũng mãnh trong lá số tử vi của tôi.” Và bà tổng kết cuộc đời của một người phụ nữ bất hạnh: “Mayamma đã bị ném xuống dòng xoáy của đời đàn bà trước khi bà học bơi. Bà đã biết thế nào là thói dâm ô, là khả năng tiềm tàng của sự độc ác đầy thú tính ẩn náu bên trong một con người, biết một cách trực tiếp. Bà thực sự không có những lựa chọn. Bà khao khát sinh nở, chịu đựng cuộc sống, ấp ủ cái chết. Và bà đã dành được thắng lợi nho nhỏ - nếu bạn có thể gọi nó bằng một cái tên hoành tráng như thế - nhờ niềm tin xác xơ mà bà mang theo trong mình”. Bằng cách dẫn dắt và cách kể chuyện tài tình của mình Githa đã khắc họa được gương mặt của hạnh phúc ở những nơi thiếu vắng nó và khiến người đọc xúc động đến tận đáy lòng trước những cuộc thử nghiệm đầy tổn thương vì nó!

Nghìn khuôn mặt của đêm còn là một mạch văn gần như chảy xuyên suốt những câu chuyện thần thoại huyền bí và đầy cuốn hút của đất nước Ấn Độ. Nó là một cuốn tiểu thuyết đáng đọc và đáng nhớ.

Genres: India, Fiction, Indian Literature, Literature

248 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Hariharan was born in Coimbatore and grew up in Bombay and Manila. She obtained a BA (in English) from Bombay University and a MA (in Communications) from Fairfield University (U.S.A.).

Hariharan first worked in the Public Broadcasting System in New York and then with a publishing firm as an editor in India. She currently works as a freelance editor.

In her personal life, she, along with her husband, won the right to have the children named after her (instead of carrying the father's name); in this famous case argued by Indira Jaising, the Supreme Court agreed that the mother was also a "natural guardian" of the child.Template:AIR 1999, 2. SCC 228

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing is quite flowery for me to start with. It's been a long time since I read a book in such a writing style. Not even the few classics I read this year so far.

But then I was quite enjoying the writing by the time I reached the next few chapters and I was deeply engrossed until the last page. The writing is mesmerizing.

The story describes the journey of a woman who has lived in America for a while and has to adjust living in Madras, India, and experience what most women in the country live as wives.

The book has three sections.
The first section describes the dilemma of the cultural differences and the same for growing up in a less discriminated world but nevertheless feeling discriminated. I can feel the main character for her thoughts on getting married and her idea of womenhood, marriages and family life.

This story has parts which have different stories to tell. It's depicted in the form of memories in which the grandmother tells stories from the Mahabharata and old tales as answers to the puzzled teen's questions about real life and relationships.

These stories tell the tales of women from mythogical epics (stories of Gandhari, Amba to the present scenario in which women suffer silently or getting mocked for choosing life for themselves.

The second section deals with marital life and the dilemma of being married to almost a stranger due to a certain arranged marriage; also women of the older generations suffering because of being unable to give birth while their in-laws make their lives miserable and there's no one to rescue them except themselves from all the loneliness, for being made mum, for being forced into beings which they couldn't recognise anymore.

My favourite were the second and the third sections. I cannot describe in words what I felt for each sentence I read about the three women of three different generations suffering in their own ways, trying each day to identify with their beings and bearing the burden of what was made of them to believe.

There are parts which shame women for being who they are, about their natural bodily changes, being discriminated for being a woman and rediscovering their lives.

Content warnings for domestic violence, assualt, substance abuse

The writing reflects much on how we perceive women - both by men and women, from the stories we are told to believed in, the tales of the gods and goddesses, the mythogical women - both lauded and hushed to those in the modern society who are silenced for life and those who give up everything to give meaning to their lives. It also challenges our obsolete beliefs yet it also tries to showcase what we can learn from them.

Definitely not a book for the beginners, this book will be well loved by those readers who want to see a world of women basking in their life stories, sad and uplifting alike; those who want to know how far women have come still struggling and suffering like their gone great-great grandmothers. Both from the perspectives of men and women.

This book is just 144 pages long. However, let's take our time to listen to the voices of these women and be ready to be surprised, hold them praying for them and applaud them when they become the version they see of themselves.

This story describes at its best the fine line between the society and the dilemma of being born a woman.

[Shanmugam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had my prejudices even before I opened this book, however, got bowled over in the first paragraph itself. Githa Hariharan started the first chapter with such a intricate prose, even some of Nabakov fans would approve of.

Compared to run of mill mediocre desi novels, it had such a refreshing plot. Overtiring descriptions, too much mythical connections, plethora of back stories ended up spoiling the experience. It is a shame when a 139 page short novel makes you yearning to get over.

[Veena Soujanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gita Hariharan's novels are a bit complicated. I have familiarity with her writing, in her book "When Dreams Travels", a fictional continuation of 1001 Nights. Her language is flowery and intricate and never paves way for fast reading. Though I actually loved that book and the stories, this one couldn't spark my interest.

" The Thousand Faces Of Night", is the story of Devi, a Brahmin girl who returns to her native, Madras after getting a degree from America. The novel progresses further with the marriage of Devi arranged by her mother, her suitable but unsatisfying marriage, her brief escape from reality with a lover and finally her coming back to her mother. The basic flaw, I felt was the characterization of Devi. She is neither strong nor weak. The author never tells the reason for her disinterestedness in life. Devi herself doesn't know and neither the readers are made aware the reason for her bouts of loneliness. From the start of the story till the end I felt the protagonist to be in constant depression for reasons unclear.

Devi's life is influenced by many women. Her grandmother who told her stories of great heroes but subtly reminded her that women always have to fight their own war; her mother who was mentally strong and made sure Devi had a comfortable and secured life; the old caretaker of her husband's house Mayamma who learned to survive against all odds and becomes her companion; and finally her missing mother-in-law Parvatamma, whose story gives her inspiration. The men too played a prominent part in her life. Her weak but lovable father, her husband who could give her everything except time, her father-in-law who teachers her good virtues of a wife but also argues that a wife should always be honored and respected and her lover Gopal who treats her as his inspiration and whose music makes Devi's soul soar in the skies. All these people play a substantial role in Devi's life and she flows along with the situations neither fighting nor facing.

The tough and also the best aspect of her books is her choice of words. Hariharan doesn't simply write words. She weaves them like a web and if we don't absorb them properly, we are stuck in a tangled mess. Her words are beautiful, poetic and make us flow along with them; also making it difficult to grasp the meaning. Too many metaphors, too many similies, and the actual story is lost somewhere. Between the pages along with the character depth of the protagonist, the reader's interest also vanishes.

A book to be cherished for its sublime style and exquisite texture of words but not for the story and characters.

[Zoya Tanveer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know how i feel about this book tbh. It started off so good and i got my hopes up but by the middle of Part two it started going downhill and became extremely boring.

Nevertheless, it is beautifully written and the characters are very well-developed. I enjoyed reading the back-stories.

Other than that, the reference to hindu gods and goddesses and my absolute zero previous knowledge regarding the topic made it kind of hard to read.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mythology was so new to me, kinda cool tho. It brought up some topics in a really well-written poetic thinky way, topics that make me so mad at Indian mindsets. Accha tha lekin, gotta go read the next book now.

[Gayathri Krishnan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few quick thoughts:
I should probably 'think' about this book before I write a review.
I'm sure this would make a good choice for literary criticism, especially from a feminist perspective.
Maybe I'm being uncharitable and ignorant in not rating it higher. I did like the book, but I did not enjoy it as much as I expected to.
I'd love to see this as a film. But I fervently hope that bad actors and direction don't spoil it (further).

[Atula Kapoor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite having strong women around her throughout her life, and a good education in America, Devi doesn't do anything to change her situation. She seemed to me,intrinsically dull and lackadaisical. Nothing excites her. Blaming her husband for her boring existence, running away with her neighbour, then getting bored with him too, and returning to her manipulative mother?.... what's that? Even God helps those who help themselves. Not sure what was the point of this book.

[erys · Rating 3 out of 5]

fantastic, although sometimes hard to understand prose. my english professor gave this book to me to read it, and on the last page she wrote with a graphite pencil: this novel is structured with delicacy and precision of a piece of music.

[Alka · Rating 3 out of 5]

interwoven stories, some mythical, some contemporary, all from perspective of women...interesting but not very cohesive...sweetly short

[Sankar Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is her first novel.Although interesting the books tires one out. It tells the story of three women Devi,Sita and Mayamma. It is written from the feminist perspective

[Munmun Samanta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book: The Thousand Faces of Night
Author: Githa Hariharan
(https://githahariharan.com/)
Publication: Penguin India
Pages: 144
Price: Click the link below


Introduction:
"Her hand seemed to turn me away from the indecisive confusion of my last months in Amery; she seemed to have silently articulated the pattern she had perceived in the jigsaw puzzle that confronted me.”
This is the debut novel of Githa Hariharan and the winner of the 1993 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for best first book.
The Plot:
The story intertwines three women characters from different panorama of life and latitude - Devi, her mother Sita, and her maid Mayamma. Each one carries different story of their life in different way and significance.
Debi returns her hometown Madras after completing her education in America. Her mother started her matrimonial election. After meeting five or six prospective bridegrooms in three months Debi accepted Mahesh.
She gets married with Mahesh, who is a corporate man mostly flying here and there in business matter. He does not care for Debi’s feelings or thoughts. He is a man of utmost practicality. Debi feels trapped and depressed in her loveless conjugal life. She left her husband's house with a vocalist, Gopal. But soon enough she realized her role in Gopal's life - a little more than an object. She realized all through her life she had tried be a good girl that society demands and never prioritized her own wishes.
She got lost in the maze of stereotypes, all the definitions of womanhood. She teetered in her way to life. Finally, she rebelled and steered her track herself.
Introspection:
“Whatever is dependent on others is misery; whatever rests on oneself is happiness; this in brief is the definition of happiness and misery.”
The book is a deep debauch on women's desperate exploration of identity in a patriarchal labyrinth.
Hariharan projects her fragmented feelings circulated in the heart of each character like the chords of music tying together in perfect symphony. Even the inherent meaning is highly tangible oscillating between denotation and connotation. What the characters do and what they think clashes in confusion. Though the story line is simple but the narrative layers are multiple.
Each character is dig deep from their past and traces up in their present.
Patriarchy:
"A woman without a husband has no home."
The male figures of this novel portray women as suitable for their patriarchal rule. Mahesh wanted a meek submissive housewife and fit to bear kids. Perhaps he inherited this from his father who echoes the same tone in his early day of marital prospect:
"But I don't like the names of Hema and Mohana. They are too frivolous. They sound like back-chatting, tantrum- throwing, modern girls."
“So they were looking for an accomplished bride, a young woman who would talk intelligently to her scientist husband's friends, but who would also be, as all the matrimonial ads in the Sunday papers demanded, fair, beautiful, home- loving and prepared to 'adjust'.”
Pamphlet of women freedom:
In spite of their mute submission and silent confirmation each women character speaks up their voice in their own way. Each one with their survival strategy etches their position in the plot.
Debi trapped in her marriage and wish to cut the shackle,
“I looked in the mirror and saw a pale, drooping figure, almost as lifeless as the stuffed bird, a grotesque study in still life.
That night I dreamt of flying again. I flew swiftly, the globe of green and brown and blue maps whizzing past far below.”
Alvina’s verdict:
The prose style is intricate and elaborate. Even sometimes it seems boring and extraneous. It becomes very difficult and complicated for me to catch up with too much mythological allusions and digressions. Language is highly classical and word coinage is portentous. Every now and then I lose the thread of plot that shifted here and there with utmost incoherency.
Anyway, this is the style of Githa Hariharan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Githa_H...) and I must acknowledge that the intricacies of human psyche in the pens of the author cannot be captured in more artistic way. Ultimately it will be a contemplative journey for the readers with a bit patience.

[Tanvi Kulkarni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I didn’t read it the way it should’ve been read, perhaps, but nevertheless, the book somehow failed to make me feel anything much. In the beginning, I tried to connect with it, but except for the last 30 odd pages, so much of the book just didn’t do it for me. It could’ve been the fact that I was reading it for my academic course, but I felt like I was absorbing the story from a very distanced and passive narrative, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t actively involve myself with the book. Devi’s story, till the very end, seemed incomplete to me, and the broken narration, although very significant if analysed from a literary lens, seemed incoherent at some points. The writing is stellar, however, and although several times I felt like the writing in itself was why the book didn’t feel grounded to me, it was also the way the words were weaved together that made it feel very exquisite.

[Siva Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

A novel, if you can call this one, for a novella would suit it better considering the length, in spite of the genuine struggles faced by Indian women and the different ways they cope with it attempts to express, it loses its way in the lyrical language bordering on pomposity and telling it through characters whose lives a common reader can hardly relate to.

Filling it with stories from the Hindu Mythology in an attempt to draw parallels often becomes tiring and makes the reader wonder if the author is trying to fill the pages with borrowed stories.

Can be read for the reality it tries(and struggles) to express.

[Akanksha B · Rating 3 out of 5]

One can get an idea from the book blurb given at the back that the story portrayed in this book is quite realistic to begin with .
However for me atleast reading the book till the very end needs some sort of motivation which is provided by the language and flow of words used by the author ..
The words and phrases used in this book right from the beginning are quite difficult to decipher and understand and hence it becomes a bit hard to read this book through with the same amount of interest!

[Veena Krishnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three women, three lives. One an older woman, practical with her own brand of philosophy, the middle-aged woman, who controls everyone around her and finally finds her passion and the youngest who seems to just accept what is planned for her by others and is not sure what she wants. However, the book ends with her coming back to her roots and hopefully with an understanding of what she wants. The language is very descriptive and rich in imagery.

[Aditya Mandhane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a complex book to review. It has vivid visuals, and grand ideas. And a gripping premise. But all that is wrapped in some very verbose prose which makes it harder to get by. Nonetheless, it evoked a lot of thoughts within me, and for that I'll always be grateful.

[Y Diên Vĩ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Không phải mình coi thường nỗi đau khổ, chỉ là tác giả miêu tả nó quá trần trụi và mình tin là có cuộc đời xảy ra như vậy

Mình cũng đọc những tác phẩm của Việt Nam, người phụ nữ cũng khổ như vậy đấy

[Chethana Ramesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on my blog:

http://chethanaramesh.blogspot.com/20...

[Ashwini Mandal · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a little time to get into the flow of the story. Some parts were really good!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where can a woman find her true path within Indian culture, family values, and related expectations towards her? And can she choose?

The Thousand Faces of Night is a very well told story. I doubt I will ever re-read this book, but it is definitely worth reading. With all my westernized knowledge (more like - not knowing) I felt welcomed in the inner world of Devi, the main character – and Indian girl that has reached her womanhood and corresponding duties. The author lets us in Devi’s feelings and thoughts. Additionally, she decorates the story with some insights of other Indian women and their choices. These sub-stories are the ones that influence if not define Devi’s decisions.

It is more than a one woman’s story. It takes us through generations and different social groups. Not sure how much emotional depth it touched in me, but I definitely widened my horizons.

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely one of the most beautiful novels I've ever read. I especially love the relationship between Devi and her grandmother--the stories from the Mahabharata she tells her, the way she responds to them, and how they shape her understanding of what it means to be female in her world. Equally wonderful is the relationship between Devi and her mother, Sita, with her father-in-law, Mayamma, the woman who works as a maid in Devi's husband's home. The way these relationships, and these women's lives, unfold is so deeply moving. It is gripping and hard to put down. It's also a powerful tale that reveals some of the limitations of women's lives in a society governed by patriarchy.

[Abhaga · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts with a bang of a prelude, draws you in with the first part, keeps you hoping through the second but by the middle, let's you know that it is not going anywhere too far. Then it meanders through the familiar territory to come to a whimpering end. At barely 140 pages, it manages to feel longer than it should have been. Indulgent prose, lots of descriptions, not much story.

[Sita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I hyped myself up way too much for this. I enjoyed her short story, "The Art of Dying" so much more, which I stumbled upon in an anthology and I'm looking forwards to purchasing the short story collection of the same name.

[Sukla Chakraborty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book....i think specially women will liked this book...

[Urbi Chatterjee · Rating 1 out of 5]

One line only: DON'T TRY TO READ IT, YOU WILL GAIN NOTHING BUT A HEAD ACHE. I didn't force myself to finish it, thank goodness.

[Sugandha Garg · Rating 2 out of 5]

3rd part of the book was readable because the story picked a lil momentum.

[Kim Shively · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over-written, hyper-exoticized, disappointing.

[Adam]

I probably shouldn't marry people like that

[Nandpants · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stellar writing. On point observational skills.