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The Town That Laughed
Change is coming to the tranquil town of Karuthupuzha, nestled deep within the lush Kerala countryside. The mighty black river, after which the town is named, is now no more than a trickle. People have begun to listen to weather forecasts on the radio rather than looking out of the window to see if it’s going to rain. The jackfruit tree in the middle of town has suddenly started fruiting. And, most seismic of all, Paachu Yemaan, the Inspector of Police, who has terrorized the town for decades has retired. Desperate to find him something to do, his wife, Sharada, and the good-hearted Barber Sureshan decide that ex-Inspector Paachu’s post retirement project will be the reforming of the town drunk, Joby. What the two good Samaritans haven’t counted on is the chain of extraordinary events that their project is about to set in motion.
262 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2018
9 people are currently reading
296 people want to read
About the author
Manu Bhattathiri
4 books15 followersManu Bhattathiri is a writer from Kerala, currently settled in Bangalore. He has worked as an advertising copywriter, a journalist and a college lecturer. At present he co-owns a small advertising agency.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 28 reviews
August 13, 2018
In Karuthupuzha, the fictional town of Manu Bhattathiri's novel The Town That Laughed, no one owns a smartphone. There is no mention of the internet, that ever-ready, inexhaustible source of distractions. Of the two cars mentioned, one is a Jeep and the other an Ambassador. Also, radio seems more favored than tv.
Smartphones and new car models and television are prominent in non-urban India today, so it figures that we are not to think of Karuthupuzha as a contemporary place. In fact, it helps to imagine it as sometime in the 80s, say, when the only channel on tv was Doordarshan; or in the 70s, when radio ruled; or in the 60s, even.
Also, the town is ahistorical. In their idioms and phrases and common talk, the townsfolk don't mention any world-historical figure or event. Caste and religious difference are hinted at, but these remain firmly incidental.
In such a town, beset with a timelessness that is both its charm and its malady, Bhattathiri begins with the gambit of change. "Over the past few years much has changed in the small south Indian town of Karuthupuzha," his narrator declares in the very first line of the novel. But these changes can neither be technological nor political, for a stasis on these fronts is essential to Bhattathiri's project. The first change we learn about is that the only bus to Karuthupuzha has been repainted. But where the reader's attention isn't drawn to is the fact that the bus remains the only bus to Karuthupuzha, which is to say that the town's connectivity to the city is unchanged in frequency. A little further, the narrator tells us that now in Karuthupuzha there are "heated discussions on technology and foreign cities and the youth of other lands". But what exactly the townsfolk are discussing isn't revealed. Instead, we learn that these discussions are happening "under banyan trees and behind rustling newspapers." The only hint of contemporariness early on in the novel is when the people arguing "about Western clothes versus Eastern culture" are said to be "growing steadily violent", for somehow this growth seems to the reader as belonging to her own historical moment. But it's a false signal if it is one. All in all, Bhattathiri's enumeration of the changes in Karuthupuzha, including a spectacular segue into a jackfruit tree's sudden fertility, makes for a flourishing opening to the novel but deftly evades any specificity. We are in the hands of a very clever writer.
In the midst of such commitment to timelessness, what change can really be allowed to take place? The answer is generational change: new people taking up the roles occupied by superannuating members of society, who have to slowly and graciously fade away. This change -- the most permanent of changes there can be in the life of a small-town -- is at the heart of Bhattathiri's novel. Paachu, the police inspector of Karuthupuzha, has retired and has been replaced by a new inspector. His privileges, including the police Jeep, have been taken away. From being the terror of a small town, he has become a part of its senior citizenry. His transformation, from the self-centered, conceited individual who practices his anger in front of a mirror to a man who cries copiously and even comes to empathize with the inveterate town drunk named Joby, is one of the big concerns of the novel.
The other big concern is Joby's health, whose liver is beginning to show signs of damage. To keep Joby off the drink, his friend, Sureshan the barber, looks for a regular job for him. That job is reluctantly granted by Paachu. What does it entail? To accompany Paachu's beloved niece, Priya, to and from school.
Readers of Manu Bhattathiri's brilliant short story collection, Savithri's Special Room & Other Stories, which was also based in Karuthupuzha, might remember Joby and Paachu from that book. They were arguably the most caricaturish characters there (which, for this reader, isn't a bad thing in itself), only sparsely filled with redemptive features, if at all. Joby was the quintessential town drunk who acted like a buffoon and about whom the most generous suggestion was that he had a good heart. Paachu was the monster-like inspector who liked to rule with an iron fist and who, faced with retirement, was assailed by the problem of a stubborn tuft of hair on his balding head, a tuft that would stand erect whenever he exerted himself, making him look ridiculous, though no one in Karuthupuzha could dare laugh at him, no one except his niece Priya.
In The Town That Laughed, Bhattathiri attempts to turn these two into well-rounded characters, for it is only after that that they can believably begin their quest to be well-adjusted. The result is delightful in the case of Paachu who, post-retirement, has become the laughing stock of the town. Increasingly self-aware, it is as if the caricature that was Paachu slowly realizes that he had been missing an entire dimension. This realization, carrying quite a bit of tragic load, makes Paachu wallow in self-pity before he finally shows signs of using this fullness to improve his relationships with others.
In the case of Joby, though, the results are mixed. He is given a backstory: unrequited love. But that story never acquires the urgency that a reader might come to completely care for. Joby's married life, on the other hand, is a taut wire which is surprisingly never plucked. A portrait of his wife, Rosykutty, in which the narrator describes her befuddling compulsion of placing things on edges (literally, like placing a teacup on the edge of a table), is the strongest passage in the book. Not enough attention is paid to Rosykutty, alas, who remains an enigma, and the novel is the weaker for that. But the glimpses we have of Joby's marriage with her do suggest that their intimacy issues might have been related to their traumas (Rosykutty was an orphan). If that be the case, it is unfortunate that Joby finds himself in a Bhattathiri fictional universe, where psychological exploration can't become too harrowing, where the aesthetic precludes an entry into the darker aspects of interpersonal relationships, where traumas have to remain palatable, where, like technology and politics, sex has to be somewhat in abeyance.
Which transports us to the landscape of larger questions: what is truly at stake in a Bhattathiri story? Is the aesthetic really capable of exploring the convolutions of human nature in Indian small towns in this century?
The answer to the second question is most likely a no, for Bhattathiri's Karuthupuzha is not a harkening to a small town that exists beyond the metropolis today, like Malgudi might have been in its time, but an anachronism. To that extent, its ability to speak to the current times cannot, and perhaps should not, be a prerequisite to its success. So let it be said that The Town That Laughed succeeds on its own terms. It is a very good, very entertaining novel, one that will keep you interested at every page and never let your attention slip; a novel that has an ending that will tug at your heartstrings, one that will evoke a spike of laughter here and tear of sadness there. Yet, if at any time you feel that Paachu's problems in life would go away if he simply connected with old friends over WhatsApp and revelled in dirty / hyper-nationalistic / Islamophobic jokes (like old uncles are prone to doing these days), then the reminder that such connectivity is not available to Paachu, or that such impulses are muted in his personality, might be an adjustment that you have to make. Similarly, if at any point it seems frustrating that Joby's well-wishers, upon seeing him hurtling towards death, would not take him to a hospital but go to great lengths to find a physically-intensive job for him, then you will need to somehow go along with the flow and attribute their actions to the general quirkiness of the place.
With two works set in Karuthupuzha, Bhattathiri has no doubt reanimated a relic, that of the fictional Indian small town, and made space for himself at the top table of Indian writers in English. Rendered in his effortless style that comes with quirky personalizations, Karuthupuzha has the makings of a blessing that can keep on giving. The clever thing, as pointed out above, is that this fictional universe's real-world connections are pliable, such that they are capable of housing a variety of situations and many, many kinds of conflicts. Till now, the conflicts Bhattathiri has chosen are small, and in his two books, he has portrayed them successfully. At some point, though, this reader hopes that he will aim higher and fail.
Smartphones and new car models and television are prominent in non-urban India today, so it figures that we are not to think of Karuthupuzha as a contemporary place. In fact, it helps to imagine it as sometime in the 80s, say, when the only channel on tv was Doordarshan; or in the 70s, when radio ruled; or in the 60s, even.
Also, the town is ahistorical. In their idioms and phrases and common talk, the townsfolk don't mention any world-historical figure or event. Caste and religious difference are hinted at, but these remain firmly incidental.
In such a town, beset with a timelessness that is both its charm and its malady, Bhattathiri begins with the gambit of change. "Over the past few years much has changed in the small south Indian town of Karuthupuzha," his narrator declares in the very first line of the novel. But these changes can neither be technological nor political, for a stasis on these fronts is essential to Bhattathiri's project. The first change we learn about is that the only bus to Karuthupuzha has been repainted. But where the reader's attention isn't drawn to is the fact that the bus remains the only bus to Karuthupuzha, which is to say that the town's connectivity to the city is unchanged in frequency. A little further, the narrator tells us that now in Karuthupuzha there are "heated discussions on technology and foreign cities and the youth of other lands". But what exactly the townsfolk are discussing isn't revealed. Instead, we learn that these discussions are happening "under banyan trees and behind rustling newspapers." The only hint of contemporariness early on in the novel is when the people arguing "about Western clothes versus Eastern culture" are said to be "growing steadily violent", for somehow this growth seems to the reader as belonging to her own historical moment. But it's a false signal if it is one. All in all, Bhattathiri's enumeration of the changes in Karuthupuzha, including a spectacular segue into a jackfruit tree's sudden fertility, makes for a flourishing opening to the novel but deftly evades any specificity. We are in the hands of a very clever writer.
In the midst of such commitment to timelessness, what change can really be allowed to take place? The answer is generational change: new people taking up the roles occupied by superannuating members of society, who have to slowly and graciously fade away. This change -- the most permanent of changes there can be in the life of a small-town -- is at the heart of Bhattathiri's novel. Paachu, the police inspector of Karuthupuzha, has retired and has been replaced by a new inspector. His privileges, including the police Jeep, have been taken away. From being the terror of a small town, he has become a part of its senior citizenry. His transformation, from the self-centered, conceited individual who practices his anger in front of a mirror to a man who cries copiously and even comes to empathize with the inveterate town drunk named Joby, is one of the big concerns of the novel.
The other big concern is Joby's health, whose liver is beginning to show signs of damage. To keep Joby off the drink, his friend, Sureshan the barber, looks for a regular job for him. That job is reluctantly granted by Paachu. What does it entail? To accompany Paachu's beloved niece, Priya, to and from school.
Readers of Manu Bhattathiri's brilliant short story collection, Savithri's Special Room & Other Stories, which was also based in Karuthupuzha, might remember Joby and Paachu from that book. They were arguably the most caricaturish characters there (which, for this reader, isn't a bad thing in itself), only sparsely filled with redemptive features, if at all. Joby was the quintessential town drunk who acted like a buffoon and about whom the most generous suggestion was that he had a good heart. Paachu was the monster-like inspector who liked to rule with an iron fist and who, faced with retirement, was assailed by the problem of a stubborn tuft of hair on his balding head, a tuft that would stand erect whenever he exerted himself, making him look ridiculous, though no one in Karuthupuzha could dare laugh at him, no one except his niece Priya.
In The Town That Laughed, Bhattathiri attempts to turn these two into well-rounded characters, for it is only after that that they can believably begin their quest to be well-adjusted. The result is delightful in the case of Paachu who, post-retirement, has become the laughing stock of the town. Increasingly self-aware, it is as if the caricature that was Paachu slowly realizes that he had been missing an entire dimension. This realization, carrying quite a bit of tragic load, makes Paachu wallow in self-pity before he finally shows signs of using this fullness to improve his relationships with others.
In the case of Joby, though, the results are mixed. He is given a backstory: unrequited love. But that story never acquires the urgency that a reader might come to completely care for. Joby's married life, on the other hand, is a taut wire which is surprisingly never plucked. A portrait of his wife, Rosykutty, in which the narrator describes her befuddling compulsion of placing things on edges (literally, like placing a teacup on the edge of a table), is the strongest passage in the book. Not enough attention is paid to Rosykutty, alas, who remains an enigma, and the novel is the weaker for that. But the glimpses we have of Joby's marriage with her do suggest that their intimacy issues might have been related to their traumas (Rosykutty was an orphan). If that be the case, it is unfortunate that Joby finds himself in a Bhattathiri fictional universe, where psychological exploration can't become too harrowing, where the aesthetic precludes an entry into the darker aspects of interpersonal relationships, where traumas have to remain palatable, where, like technology and politics, sex has to be somewhat in abeyance.
Which transports us to the landscape of larger questions: what is truly at stake in a Bhattathiri story? Is the aesthetic really capable of exploring the convolutions of human nature in Indian small towns in this century?
The answer to the second question is most likely a no, for Bhattathiri's Karuthupuzha is not a harkening to a small town that exists beyond the metropolis today, like Malgudi might have been in its time, but an anachronism. To that extent, its ability to speak to the current times cannot, and perhaps should not, be a prerequisite to its success. So let it be said that The Town That Laughed succeeds on its own terms. It is a very good, very entertaining novel, one that will keep you interested at every page and never let your attention slip; a novel that has an ending that will tug at your heartstrings, one that will evoke a spike of laughter here and tear of sadness there. Yet, if at any time you feel that Paachu's problems in life would go away if he simply connected with old friends over WhatsApp and revelled in dirty / hyper-nationalistic / Islamophobic jokes (like old uncles are prone to doing these days), then the reminder that such connectivity is not available to Paachu, or that such impulses are muted in his personality, might be an adjustment that you have to make. Similarly, if at any point it seems frustrating that Joby's well-wishers, upon seeing him hurtling towards death, would not take him to a hospital but go to great lengths to find a physically-intensive job for him, then you will need to somehow go along with the flow and attribute their actions to the general quirkiness of the place.
With two works set in Karuthupuzha, Bhattathiri has no doubt reanimated a relic, that of the fictional Indian small town, and made space for himself at the top table of Indian writers in English. Rendered in his effortless style that comes with quirky personalizations, Karuthupuzha has the makings of a blessing that can keep on giving. The clever thing, as pointed out above, is that this fictional universe's real-world connections are pliable, such that they are capable of housing a variety of situations and many, many kinds of conflicts. Till now, the conflicts Bhattathiri has chosen are small, and in his two books, he has portrayed them successfully. At some point, though, this reader hopes that he will aim higher and fail.
September 19, 2025
A Deceptively Simple Tale with a Dark Heart
The story begins with all the warmth and familiarity of a typical village story. Set in the fictional town of Karuthupuzha, filled with "eclectic and eccentric characters,". The narrative initially feels harmless—a gentle exploration of small-town life where everyone knows everyone, reminiscent of the cosy intimacy we associate with village communities.
The Illusion of Harmless Fun
What starts as seemingly innocent village banter gradually reveals itself as something far more sinister. Bhattathiri masterfully shows how the villagers, perhaps unconsciously at first, begin to gang up on the community's designated black sheep. The protagonist becomes the target of constant mockery and ridicule, with fun being made of him at every turn. What the community dismisses as harmless jest becomes a relentless campaign of psychological torment.
The novel's true strength lies in its unflinching examination of collective mentality and mob psychology. Bhattathiri captures how easily a community can unite in their treatment, each individual perhaps believing their contribution to be minor, but collectively creating an overwhelming force of social exclusion. The author drives his character to the point of no return—a state of hopelessness that inevitably leads to his downfall.
The book serves as a stark reminder of how this collective targeting operated in simpler times—before mobile phones and television, when gossip, laughter, and mockery were the primary forms of social entertainment and control. People gossiped, people laughed, people made fun of certain individuals as a way of defining community boundaries and social hierarchies.
Though the mechanisms have evolved, the author's observations remain disturbingly relevant today. While we may no longer gather at the village square to mock our chosen targets, the same dynamics persist in family circles, among friends, and on social media communities. There's always someone who becomes the designated black sheep, always someone who bears the brunt of collective ridicule, sadly often unconsciously perpetuated by those who participate.
A Painful but Necessary Lesson
You cannot always stop this collective targeting, but you can—and must—remove yourself from such toxic circles for the sake of your mental health and sanity. The book serves as both a cautionary tale and a survival guide, suggesting that sometimes the only way to preserve one's dignity is to walk away from communities that thrive on scapegoating.
Final Verdict
"The Town That Laughed" is deceptively titled—while the town may laugh, there's little joy in this laughter. Bhattathiri has crafted a powerful social commentary disguised as a simple village tale. This novel forces readers to confront uncomfortable truths about human nature and community dynamics. It's a book that will stay with you long after you've finished reading, making you question your own role in the social circles you inhabit.
This is essential reading for anyone who has ever been the target of collective ridicule—or, perhaps more importantly, for those who have participated in it without fully understanding the devastating impact of their seemingly innocent fun.
The story begins with all the warmth and familiarity of a typical village story. Set in the fictional town of Karuthupuzha, filled with "eclectic and eccentric characters,". The narrative initially feels harmless—a gentle exploration of small-town life where everyone knows everyone, reminiscent of the cosy intimacy we associate with village communities.
The Illusion of Harmless Fun
What starts as seemingly innocent village banter gradually reveals itself as something far more sinister. Bhattathiri masterfully shows how the villagers, perhaps unconsciously at first, begin to gang up on the community's designated black sheep. The protagonist becomes the target of constant mockery and ridicule, with fun being made of him at every turn. What the community dismisses as harmless jest becomes a relentless campaign of psychological torment.
The novel's true strength lies in its unflinching examination of collective mentality and mob psychology. Bhattathiri captures how easily a community can unite in their treatment, each individual perhaps believing their contribution to be minor, but collectively creating an overwhelming force of social exclusion. The author drives his character to the point of no return—a state of hopelessness that inevitably leads to his downfall.
The book serves as a stark reminder of how this collective targeting operated in simpler times—before mobile phones and television, when gossip, laughter, and mockery were the primary forms of social entertainment and control. People gossiped, people laughed, people made fun of certain individuals as a way of defining community boundaries and social hierarchies.
Though the mechanisms have evolved, the author's observations remain disturbingly relevant today. While we may no longer gather at the village square to mock our chosen targets, the same dynamics persist in family circles, among friends, and on social media communities. There's always someone who becomes the designated black sheep, always someone who bears the brunt of collective ridicule, sadly often unconsciously perpetuated by those who participate.
A Painful but Necessary Lesson
You cannot always stop this collective targeting, but you can—and must—remove yourself from such toxic circles for the sake of your mental health and sanity. The book serves as both a cautionary tale and a survival guide, suggesting that sometimes the only way to preserve one's dignity is to walk away from communities that thrive on scapegoating.
Final Verdict
"The Town That Laughed" is deceptively titled—while the town may laugh, there's little joy in this laughter. Bhattathiri has crafted a powerful social commentary disguised as a simple village tale. This novel forces readers to confront uncomfortable truths about human nature and community dynamics. It's a book that will stay with you long after you've finished reading, making you question your own role in the social circles you inhabit.
This is essential reading for anyone who has ever been the target of collective ridicule—or, perhaps more importantly, for those who have participated in it without fully understanding the devastating impact of their seemingly innocent fun.
November 28, 2020
Stunning. This wasn't what I was expecting when I started reading. Bhattathiri is a special writer, not because of the seemingly effortless flow in the storytelling and the character portraits that fill The Town That Laughed, which are both superlative, but because of the sheer mood of the novel. It's pitch perfect, and I'm not exaggerating at all. I've always thought narrative can be controlled to a certain extent, but mood and atmosphere is so, so difficult to maintain, even for otherwise extraordinary writers. Bhattathiri nails it in this novel in a way I've seldom experienced.
And I've not even started talking about the novel's goings-on at all, reminiscent of, and I'm sure the comparison must have been made before, and will be made later: OV Vijayan's Khasaakinte Ithihaasam. Again, I'm not exaggerating: It is that good. God's own country has a new chronicler.
And I've not even started talking about the novel's goings-on at all, reminiscent of, and I'm sure the comparison must have been made before, and will be made later: OV Vijayan's Khasaakinte Ithihaasam. Again, I'm not exaggerating: It is that good. God's own country has a new chronicler.
February 10, 2019
The Town that laughed - Manu Bhattathiri
The town that laughed is Manu Bhattathiri's first Novel. Prior to this he wrote "Savithri's Special Room and Collection of Stories", a widely praised collection of short stories.
This Novel is set in a village called
"Karuthupuzha". Those of you who would have read Manu's previously published collection of short stories would recognise the name as the same village was part of his first publication as well.
In this novel, the author starts by saying that the village has changed much over the time. This I believe, is to inform the readers that the village has gone through much changes with time after the events of the previous story. Eventhough the timelines are not clearly mentioned it is safe to assume that the present story is happening in today's society.
The story revolves around two characters mainly:
1. Paachu Yeman- A retired police officer who once ruled the village and made the villagers dance in his finger tip. Today he is struggling to cope up with his post retirement life, finding it difficult to digest the fact that the same people who was once scared of him is now finding each and every chance to mock him and make fun of him.
2. Joby- A full time drunkard who is seen sprawled at various spots of the the village along with his little dog Lilie.
The mystery behind his current state and also about the days when he was not drunk gets unfolded when Paachu Yeman bestows Joby with the duty to pick and drop his niece to and from school.
The friendship between Joby and the little girl slowly increases as the story progresses.
Other main characters whose presence are felt throughout the novel includes:
*Sharadha: Paachu Yeman's Wife
*Rosy kutty: Joby's wife
*Priya: Paachu Yeman's niece
*Sureshan the barber: Joby's friend
*Babru: The policeman
Fictionally set up, this novel, can also be considered as a satire, where the author portrays a clear picture about today's society where "judging others and putting nose into other people's life" is weighed more than humanitarian values.
The town that laughed is Manu Bhattathiri's first Novel. Prior to this he wrote "Savithri's Special Room and Collection of Stories", a widely praised collection of short stories.
This Novel is set in a village called
"Karuthupuzha". Those of you who would have read Manu's previously published collection of short stories would recognise the name as the same village was part of his first publication as well.
In this novel, the author starts by saying that the village has changed much over the time. This I believe, is to inform the readers that the village has gone through much changes with time after the events of the previous story. Eventhough the timelines are not clearly mentioned it is safe to assume that the present story is happening in today's society.
The story revolves around two characters mainly:
1. Paachu Yeman- A retired police officer who once ruled the village and made the villagers dance in his finger tip. Today he is struggling to cope up with his post retirement life, finding it difficult to digest the fact that the same people who was once scared of him is now finding each and every chance to mock him and make fun of him.
2. Joby- A full time drunkard who is seen sprawled at various spots of the the village along with his little dog Lilie.
The mystery behind his current state and also about the days when he was not drunk gets unfolded when Paachu Yeman bestows Joby with the duty to pick and drop his niece to and from school.
The friendship between Joby and the little girl slowly increases as the story progresses.
Other main characters whose presence are felt throughout the novel includes:
*Sharadha: Paachu Yeman's Wife
*Rosy kutty: Joby's wife
*Priya: Paachu Yeman's niece
*Sureshan the barber: Joby's friend
*Babru: The policeman
Fictionally set up, this novel, can also be considered as a satire, where the author portrays a clear picture about today's society where "judging others and putting nose into other people's life" is weighed more than humanitarian values.
December 17, 2018
Vaguely reminded me of Malgudi days. But it will be wrong to compare it with a masterpiece. I picked this book because of its colourful cover.. I think I was wrong in judging a book by its cover.
The cover suggested it to be funny book. It was more of a satire on how society works.
The cover suggested it to be funny book. It was more of a satire on how society works.
December 5, 2019
Post retirement is a stage when there is a possibility for a person to change; sometimes subtle and sometimes contrast. The Town That Laughed is the story of such a police inspector, Paachu, who changes from a town fearing, ferocious being to a doll buying uncle.
Change is inevitable and Karuthapuzha is experiencing it. Karuthapuzha, a small town in Kerala is set as stage for this amusing story. It all starts when Sureshan decides to take take the help of Paachu Yemaan to convert Joby, the town drunkard, to a better person. Sureshan allies with Paachu's wife, Sharada, and device a plan. For Sharada, this was the best opportunity to change her outwardly unfeeling husband to expose his inner softness. Thus Joby is given the job of ferrying Priya, Paachu Yemaan's niece, from and to school. However, there are elements who do not want this to happen. What ensures is an enjoyable story of Paachu's waning anger, the endearing relationship between Joby and Priya and the reactions of Paachu's adversaries. Will Paachu Yemaan change? Will Joby turn against drinking? Will Sureshan and Sharada accomplish their missions? The answers don't matter much; what matters is the way the answers are told. And that is what makes the book stand apart.
A satire in the making, The town that laughed is a quirky story which resembles the meandering trickle at the beginning, gains the beauty of a vast and magnificent river as it follows, before eventually joining the ocean mass. Manu deserves full marks in exploiting the charm of an Indian village for engaging the readers. Manu's style of presenting an ensemble of short stories rather than harping on a single character, gives the story a rawness which is unique to Indian writing.
Manu's book is a charming and amusing one, which takes on common issues of a village, abstains from dramatizing it, but gains audience by spinning a tale around the same. It is a good book to read to keep you genuinely light, leaving you with no heavy heart at the end.
Change is inevitable and Karuthapuzha is experiencing it. Karuthapuzha, a small town in Kerala is set as stage for this amusing story. It all starts when Sureshan decides to take take the help of Paachu Yemaan to convert Joby, the town drunkard, to a better person. Sureshan allies with Paachu's wife, Sharada, and device a plan. For Sharada, this was the best opportunity to change her outwardly unfeeling husband to expose his inner softness. Thus Joby is given the job of ferrying Priya, Paachu Yemaan's niece, from and to school. However, there are elements who do not want this to happen. What ensures is an enjoyable story of Paachu's waning anger, the endearing relationship between Joby and Priya and the reactions of Paachu's adversaries. Will Paachu Yemaan change? Will Joby turn against drinking? Will Sureshan and Sharada accomplish their missions? The answers don't matter much; what matters is the way the answers are told. And that is what makes the book stand apart.
A satire in the making, The town that laughed is a quirky story which resembles the meandering trickle at the beginning, gains the beauty of a vast and magnificent river as it follows, before eventually joining the ocean mass. Manu deserves full marks in exploiting the charm of an Indian village for engaging the readers. Manu's style of presenting an ensemble of short stories rather than harping on a single character, gives the story a rawness which is unique to Indian writing.
Manu's book is a charming and amusing one, which takes on common issues of a village, abstains from dramatizing it, but gains audience by spinning a tale around the same. It is a good book to read to keep you genuinely light, leaving you with no heavy heart at the end.
March 25, 2021
Really nice to discover such great books, very very engaging from start to end.
While reading this book, I hope almost everybody would be reminded of R.K.Narayan, not because of any inspiration, but due to the fact that another Indian writer has succeeded in narrating a beautiful & interesting story about a imaginary town full of interesting/ funny characters, whom we remember long after we put down the book after reaching the end of the Novel.
Each character has a role to play in the story and Manu has developed characters nicely.
Hope that Manu continues to write more.
Already scheduled his short stories collection (with reference to the same imaginary town there too).
I guess considering the fact that he is from Kerela, such characterizations come to him naturally as he would have seen or heard about such stuff from his hometown or in the movies.
One would also be reminded of some of the characters in the famous Malayalam comedy genre movies (the drunken buffoon of the town, the rich guy who harasses the poor masses of the town, the town barber, the town grocer etc.).
Overall, I had a great time reading this book in no time.
While reading this book, I hope almost everybody would be reminded of R.K.Narayan, not because of any inspiration, but due to the fact that another Indian writer has succeeded in narrating a beautiful & interesting story about a imaginary town full of interesting/ funny characters, whom we remember long after we put down the book after reaching the end of the Novel.
Each character has a role to play in the story and Manu has developed characters nicely.
Hope that Manu continues to write more.
Already scheduled his short stories collection (with reference to the same imaginary town there too).
I guess considering the fact that he is from Kerela, such characterizations come to him naturally as he would have seen or heard about such stuff from his hometown or in the movies.
One would also be reminded of some of the characters in the famous Malayalam comedy genre movies (the drunken buffoon of the town, the rich guy who harasses the poor masses of the town, the town barber, the town grocer etc.).
Overall, I had a great time reading this book in no time.
January 14, 2019
Lately am drawn to fiction by Indian authors and especially of the descriptive style and The Town That Laughed was an excellent read. The story transformed me to Kerala and I can almost visualize the whole set up in front of me. I fell in love with almost all the characters from the drunk Joby to the self conscious Pachu Yemaan. It was a terrific read, fit for a quick re-read later!
October 22, 2018
The Town That Laughed is Manu's second book. I hadn't read his earlier book. I am given to understand that he has taken the Karuthapuzha from his first book as the setting of this one. I quite enjoyed the easygoing flow of the book. The story is set in a fictional village called Karuthapuzha, where everybody knows everybody - pretty much like the villages some of us might have grown up in or have visited as a part of our annual school leaves. The characters are rustic, well crafted, and to me, they are reminiscent of Mukundan's Mayyazhi and Daivathinte Vikruthikal. I even see a bit of Malgudi in there. I also see some strains of a very famous and beloved little Gaulish Village, reminding us of Fulliautomatix fighting with either Unhygenix or Cacofonix. (Recycler Abu who has a cynical parody of everything, much to everyone's irritation or Joby, the village drunk who is one of the protagonists of the story, and the others.) Manu creates an image of Karuthupuzha being a village tucked somewhere in the deep recesses of Kerala, untouched by change and development. The only clue he has left about the timeframe is the time he speaks about the photographer Varkey changing his camera.
The story is an easy read, until about midway when it takes a turn, and then it becomes a little more interesting. I loved the way Manu has crafted the story, without indulging in over-descriptiveness. However, I do wonder, would non-Malayalees enjoy the book as much as I did, because of a lot of the local flavour, smilies, usages, metaphors and so on in it. Maybe it is not a valid question, as I do enjoy books from other geos and languages. With so many books written about a village set in India, the most notable ones being Malgudi, Mayyazhi and so on, it is a tough task for the author to keep the reader involved. The story may have benefitted if he had attempted to add a few more layers to the characters or story. For instance, I do wish he had paid attention to the two women in Joby's life - his wife Rosy and his unrequited love - Sarawathy teacher. If he had been able to develop those characters, the story might have acquired a lot more of layers taking it much ahead from where it currently is.
The story is an easy read, until about midway when it takes a turn, and then it becomes a little more interesting. I loved the way Manu has crafted the story, without indulging in over-descriptiveness. However, I do wonder, would non-Malayalees enjoy the book as much as I did, because of a lot of the local flavour, smilies, usages, metaphors and so on in it. Maybe it is not a valid question, as I do enjoy books from other geos and languages. With so many books written about a village set in India, the most notable ones being Malgudi, Mayyazhi and so on, it is a tough task for the author to keep the reader involved. The story may have benefitted if he had attempted to add a few more layers to the characters or story. For instance, I do wish he had paid attention to the two women in Joby's life - his wife Rosy and his unrequited love - Sarawathy teacher. If he had been able to develop those characters, the story might have acquired a lot more of layers taking it much ahead from where it currently is.
April 3, 2019
Wonderful peppy work. Author has painted the village which reminds and gives one the feel of the fictitious Malgudi. However, there is a exciting distinctness in the author's writing style and he paints the images very well in simple language. The reader is transported to the scene of description silently observing and absorbing the comical scenes vividly. This author has a rare talent in delivering comic content with subtlety. There are no atrocious over-the-top comic moments but a general flow in the language and presentation of characters makes one feel light hearted throughout the read. The story drives our imagination to a believable truth with the author's description being humorous, with the grim undercurrents of human mob-behavior indulgences.
The magical trivial moment of the wife breaking through the barriers of insecurities of her helpless macho husband is a simple sharp cry of all men wanting to be rescued from the world of expectations and pretense, but being unable to do so because of their own chains. The stark contrast of the stoic policeman and the village buffoon to the consequent realization of their similarities is a smacking philosophy of the seemingly abandoned, the social written-offs, the defeated and the ruined, waiting to be pranced naked to numbed carelessness - reflecting the insecure and bold dual nature of all humanity. The book ends gracefully leaving the reader smiling and contemplating in a wonder-struck awe of the punitive feeling of humans in the larger scheme of lifeless society. A great book and a great author. I look forward to many such narrations from the author.
The magical trivial moment of the wife breaking through the barriers of insecurities of her helpless macho husband is a simple sharp cry of all men wanting to be rescued from the world of expectations and pretense, but being unable to do so because of their own chains. The stark contrast of the stoic policeman and the village buffoon to the consequent realization of their similarities is a smacking philosophy of the seemingly abandoned, the social written-offs, the defeated and the ruined, waiting to be pranced naked to numbed carelessness - reflecting the insecure and bold dual nature of all humanity. The book ends gracefully leaving the reader smiling and contemplating in a wonder-struck awe of the punitive feeling of humans in the larger scheme of lifeless society. A great book and a great author. I look forward to many such narrations from the author.
August 11, 2018
The make-believe village, Karuthupuzha, which Manu Bhattathiri created in his debut Savithri’s Special Room and Other Stories was a meticulous tapestry, a vast canvas with diverse characters. As the writer forays into further non-adventures of the languorous kind in his next book, The Town That Laughed, the Karuthupuzha we were introduced to is almost intact. The novel revolves around Pachu Yeman’s retirement and his life afterwards, depicting how an entire small town conspires to make it worthwhile in terms of entertainment for themselves. Karuthupuzha is a veritable microcosm of small-town life in Kerala as presented in feel-good Malayalam films directed by Sathyan Anthikkad, with the tea shop and the barber shop being the centre of grapevine county.Bhattathiri has one advantage over Narayan in the time period he documents – the contemporary settings serve the reader who is familiar with, and hungry for, for just this. And just as we read Narayan now for reasons very different from those of earlier readers possibly, Bhattathiri too may be identified as the writer who documented the small-town life of his time.
My full review is at Scroll.
https://scroll.in/article/889995/manu...
My full review is at Scroll.
https://scroll.in/article/889995/manu...
September 11, 2018
"The Town That Laughed is a highly original work, composed using elegant, accessible diction and presented in clear syntax, making for a delightful read. Revolutionary poets like Pablo Neruda may exhort us to “come and see the blood on the streets” but it takes an unpretentious writer like Bhattathiri to show us what actually happens in the ordinary streets of our ordinary towns, populated by ordinary minds—which means most of us, naturally—seeking the banal glories of a given, and inexorably perverse, world. As with most original works, it’s hard to say where we have arrived after the enjoyable, illuminating ride through the fascinating environs of Karuthupuzha. It’s a question that is perhaps best left to the accretions of our literary future."
https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/Nyou...
https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/Nyou...
August 30, 2018
Prior to picking up this book, I was suffering from what one might call a reader's block. It seemed as if any book I picked up was either not really interesting, not well written or I was just exhausted and didn't feel like finishing up anything I started to read. "The town that laughed" broke all those barriers as I picked it up on a flight back home and managed to finish it by the time I landed.
I am sure that I won't be the first or the last guy to draw its comparisons with some of the works by R.K.Narayan, but just like the late author , Manu Bhattathiri does have a strong knack of creating some very strong characters while making them do daily mundane chores and weaving life's tragicomedies into simple narratives.
I am sure that I won't be the first or the last guy to draw its comparisons with some of the works by R.K.Narayan, but just like the late author , Manu Bhattathiri does have a strong knack of creating some very strong characters while making them do daily mundane chores and weaving life's tragicomedies into simple narratives.
December 30, 2018
I started writing my own review and then found something else that was way too accurate.
So, I'll put the link here instead.
The story ascends from a gentle feel-good tale to a much more intense and layered narrative as the characters start exhibiting different traits and influencing the people around them. There aren't many dramatic events that shape the story - rather an interplay emotions coming out of people's imaginativeness that lends more depth to the story. That I think makes the book effortlessly engaging. Brownie points for keeping the details vivid and personified at times.
So, I'll put the link here instead.
The story ascends from a gentle feel-good tale to a much more intense and layered narrative as the characters start exhibiting different traits and influencing the people around them. There aren't many dramatic events that shape the story - rather an interplay emotions coming out of people's imaginativeness that lends more depth to the story. That I think makes the book effortlessly engaging. Brownie points for keeping the details vivid and personified at times.
April 26, 2019
Men do things most unexpected and inexplicable, belying all the theories of human behaviour. We laugh at the expense of very trivial things. We cry on the very surreal ones. The novel captures it all wonderfully
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January 5, 2020
Gave a very good vibes about a fictional town that is having its laughs on people. Judged for what they do & taking every moment to mock & people trying to hold on to humanity. Lovely read
Gave me a unique old malayalam movie something like a Santhyan Anthikan 90s movie feeling
Gave me a unique old malayalam movie something like a Santhyan Anthikan 90s movie feeling
September 24, 2020
Picked this one up on a whim, to take a break from a series of serious books. Had never heard of the book or the author. Expected a light read with a few laughs but was I wrong or was I wrong. It's a beautifully written satire on society and group think. Give it a shot.
January 27, 2021
A simple story that reflects on the fact that the falsity nourished by man through his lifetime continues, like a train that runs on its tracks for a while, despite the locomotive shutting down, mainly due to his bloated ego!
December 26, 2021
'Karuthupuzha' is now a place I'd love to stay! Simple humans, simple actions, even simpler reactions, a lovely country story!! Now, gonna pick other two Karuthupuzha novels too..
Thanks to ManuBattathiri:)
Thanks to ManuBattathiri:)
November 24, 2022
Picked this up in Kochi on a whim and I'm so so glad I did. Bhattathiri is a fantastic storyteller who would remind you of R. K. Laxman. I wanted to pick up a 'light read' but The Town That Laughed was so much more.
September 16, 2019
A casual flip through induced me to buy this book. Started rather well but lost its' way half-way through. In brief, a good book to read but not good enough to re-read
August 11, 2020
A dragging tale which didn't seem to know where it wanted to go
August 19, 2020
Malgudi days in a darker form
The book gives the story of a nice Kerala town with an ironic twist of police brutality. Worth a read
The book gives the story of a nice Kerala town with an ironic twist of police brutality. Worth a read
October 17, 2020
Good and different narration
Simple but lengthy read. Stories not much gripping as expected though enjoyed reading this book. Like character build-up for different narrations.
Simple but lengthy read. Stories not much gripping as expected though enjoyed reading this book. Like character build-up for different narrations.
August 17, 2024
It starts off a little slow, is quite boring in the middle, but closes off very nicely. The characters are rather bland and simple at first but I fell in love with them at the end.
December 1, 2025
A well written novel. I would rate it 5+ . Beyond the narrative story it uses an abundance of similies and metaphors which enhances the inherent humor in the novel. A touch of pathos underlines the well brought out emotions among the main characters .
I look forward to reading his other writings.
I look forward to reading his other writings.
August 14, 2019
I was a bit hesitant to pick out this book but I am kind of glad that I did.This book gave me Malgudi-ish vibes.The cover looks very funny but the story in itself isn't hilarious.It's more of a satire on society and the characteristics of it's various people.A quick one time read.
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