The mighty loneliness and the lost soul

　　Indian literature has gone through the Vedic period, the epic period, the classical period, and the flourishing period of modern and modern literature from ancient times to the present, and each stage has left a splendid literary heritage for mankind. With the pace of globalization in the new era, 7 batches of outstanding Indian English literature have emerged in the world literary world, and Indian writers such as Narayan, Naipaul, Rushdie, and Arundati Loy have shined brightly. They were born in India and lived in Britain and the United States. This multicultural background reflects their unique light in their works, and together with native Indian writers, they enrich the world of literature.
　　On the evening of October 10, 2006, a special reception was held in London. Six nominees for the British Booker Prize had no intention of tasting the food and wine, and waited anxiously for the results of the selection. In the end, the 35-year-old Indian-born female writer Kiran Desai won the crown as a dark horse with the book “Lost”, becoming the youngest female author in the history of the British Booker Award.
　　Kieran Desai was born in a small town near New Delhi, India in 1971. His grandparents and grandfather were both Indians. His grandfather studied in the UK, his grandmother was a German who came to India before the outbreak of World War II, his mother Anita, and Desai were Indians. A famous contemporary female writer, Kieran Desai moved to the UK with her family at the age of 14 and settled in the United States a year later, studying at Bennington College, Hollings University and Columbia University successively. The subtle influence of the writer’s mother and her special life experience made Kieran Desai have a talent and enthusiasm for writing since she was a child. As early as 1998, her first work “The Hustle of the Guava Garden” has been successful. .
　　The Hustle of Guava Garden is a witty and humorous novel. The story takes place in a small village in India. The protagonist, Saipas, was born during a long drought and rain, which was considered a good omen, thus pinning his parents’ hopes for their son’s future. After growing up, Sepas became stupid and cowardly. He became a postman in the village. At the wedding of his boss’s daughter, he got drunk and lost his job. Sepas was ashamed and fled the village and came to a guava tree. , He climbed up the tree and made it his home, and told some little secrets unknown to the villagers on the tree every day. These secrets were learned by stealing letters when he was a postman, but the villagers mistakenly told him He worshipped as a prophet who knew everything, and even attracted a large number of foreigners to “pilgrimage”. This time, Sepas’ father took the light of his son and set up a company, which was specially responsible for organizing tour groups and selling tourists coming soon. A gift to Sepas, and there were commercial billboards around the guava orchard. The business was getting bigger and bigger. The original estrangement between father and son turned into a naked money relationship. This absurd farce continued until The intervention of a group of monkeys came to an end. These monkeys continued to snatch the food in the village, wantonly destroying and playing in the homes of residents, disrupting the normal order of the village. Faced with this chaotic situation, the “sages” living in the trees had no choice but to reveal their true colors. , Sepas’ “prophet” veil was finally “debunked” by the ignorant monkey.
　　Kieran Desai completed the comedy story with a humorous and sarcastic tone, with bitterness in humor and sympathy in ridicule. The novel won the Virgo Award in 1998. The
　　Lost Legacy, which truly made Kieran Desai famous in the world literary circle, took 8 years to write. In January 2008, it was translated by Han Lifeng and published by Chongqing Press in China. The translated version, translated as “Lost” o The whole work has a broad vision and a well-balanced view. The lives of three generations run through three continents. The vertical and horizontal narratives alternate. Memories and reality are in harmony. Immigrants are still the young generation of Indians who have been westernized. They are all at the juncture of the collision of Eastern and Western cultures in the 1980s. At that time, India had long since got rid of the British colonial rule. Actively learn the embarrassing situation of the West.
　　The old judge Jembay had studied in England when he was young. His brown skin, curry smell and weird accent made him feel humiliated everywhere. The ugly white women on the subway were reluctant to approach him because they Recognize better than him, as a poor Indian, dare not talk to the white man, dare not see the sun, dare not smile, lest the British see his gums different from the white man, one of the shame of being an Indian. The heart keeps him at a distance from others, even strangers to himself. A few years later, Cembay returned home with a body of humiliation and the position of a judge in the Indian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Facing his new wife, whom he had only met once, he had long since lost his tenderness. In Cembay’s view, Indian wives can never be compared to British women. Decades later, the retired old judge came to this dilapidated manor in Kalimpong, isolated from the world. Even in the face of the cook who had served him for decades, he had no emotion except beating and scolding. A dog named Matt confides in tenderness. When he was young, Jembay was as eager to experience the advanced British culture as thousands of Indians at that time. After he arrived in the West, he was humiliated and rejected everywhere. Facing white people, he became inferior and ashamed. The feeling of inferiority” also disappeared because “inferiority” is the feeling of self, but Cembay has long since lost himself, he sees himself as a disgusting Indian who has nothing to do with him, his The soul voluntarily separated from the Indians, but could not be accepted by the British, and eventually became a squashed shadow, a ghost who was jealous of the British, hated the Indians and was nothing.
　　The cook’s son, Biju, came to the United States by fraudulently obtaining a visa, but because of his status as an illegal immigrant, he could only work in restaurants. He lives in a circle of people from the bottom who immigrated to the United States illegally. Green cards, but most people can only live in the dark, unable to return to China, without family and friends, 10 years, 20 years… until death. Whenever he thinks of this, Biju feels bitter, there are only two paths in front of him, or he abandons his beliefs and forgets his nationality like the Indians he hates, nods and bows to the United States in exchange for a green card, or packs his bags and goes back to India and chooses any path. It was pain for Biju, and he could only live in silence under the dual pressure of body and spirit alone.
　　The Nepalese turmoil in Kalimpong is the connecting point that affects the fate of the characters, and it is also the main thread that runs through the whole work. Several young men who participated in the riot forced their way into the manor where the judge lived, arbitrarily destroyed and robbed the judge’s only gun, Since then, the violence has intensified, changing the fate of the town’s residents. The judge’s pet dog was stolen by the homeless during the turmoil, and his last spiritual bottom line also collapsed. The Kalimpong turmoil also affected Biju, who was far away in the United States. After hearing the news, his longing for his father and physical pain made him choose this wrong time to leave the United States. Ironically, on the way home, Biju lost his life. Ju was looted by the rioters. His hard-earned money, gifts he bought, and his clothes were all taken away. He was only given a lady’s pajamas to cover his body. When the old father met, the two hugged each other and cried. Only the lost souls floated over Kalimpong. This is a group of people who have been affected by the process of globalization, and a group of people who have been lost in the fusion and collision of Eastern and Western cultures. .
　　Kieran Desai once said that although this novel is not autobiographical and the characters are fictitious, she was still influenced by her family environment and her experience of contacting Eastern and Western cultures, and actively explored the process of mutual penetration between the two cultures, realizing that The plight of the entire group, including Indians, in a globalized environment. The themes of globalization, economic inequality, cultural diversity and other themes involved in the novel give the work depth of the times. As Hermione, chairman of the Booker Prize jury, said, this is a combination of comedy softness and political sharpness. All in one. A wonderful novel that reflects the breadth and wisdom of human nature.
　　In 2007, Kieran Desai visited China for the first time. At that time, she had just gained a world reputation. Faced with an interview with reporters, she admitted that the award had completely disrupted her life. She had no time to devote herself to her normal work. Until May 21, 2008, at the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Kieran Desai came to China with his lover, the 2006 Nobel Prize winner for literature, Pamuk, and experienced the excitement and confusion when he first won the award. At this time, she seemed more low-key. Kieran Desai said that although she lived in the United States for many years, she felt more and more like an Indian. Compared with the United States, India had a mighty loneliness. It is this “loneliness” that makes Kieran Desai pay more attention to India and the group of people who are in a state of “silence”. She will continue to struggle and explore for this.