Mist ; &, Creature of Darkness

by M. T. Vasudevan Nair

Description

This is a collection of two short novels Mist and Creature of Darkness. Mist is the story of a young, resident school teacher at a school on a hill station, waiting for the man who had befriended and deserted her during a tourist season nine years ago. Creature of Darkness is the heart wrenching story of a 21 year old man, regarded as a lunatic by everyone and treated abominably. The story reveals the insanity behind the civilised and supposedly sane world.

ISBN-13: 9788125010814

Publisher: Orient Blackswan

Language: English

Publish Year: 1997

M.T. Vasudevan Nair's collection "Mist ; &, Creature of Darkness" masterfully delves into the intricacies of human emotion, memory, and societal constructs through two powerful novellas. "Mist" (Manjuthullikal) presents a poignant exploration of unrequited love and the lingering presence of the past. It centers on Vimala, a young woman who revisits a hill station, Murinjapuzha, years after a formative encounter with a young man she tutored. The narrative is imbued with a deep sense of nostalgia and melancholic longing as Vimala confronts the ghost of a love that never fully blossomed. The misty landscape mirrors her internal state, blurring the lines between memory and reality, and highlighting the quiet acceptance of life's unfulfilled desires.

"Creature of Darkness" (Iruttinte Athmavu) is a searing psychological drama that critiques societal cruelty and familial dysfunction. It tells the story of Velayudhan, an intelligent and sensitive young man labeled as "mad" by his family and community. The novella meticulously details his struggle against this imposed identity, largely due to his unconventional thoughts, artistic inclinations, and a profound, perhaps overly sensitive, understanding of the world. M.T. exposes the narrow-mindedness, materialism, and superficiality prevalent in Velayudhan's village and family, illustrating how non-conformity is often met with ostracism, misunderstanding, and systemic oppression that can tragically crush the human spirit.

Together, these novellas exemplify M.T. Vasudevan Nair's exceptional ability to portray the complexities of the human psyche, the burden of memory, and the often-painful clashes between individual desires and societal expectations. Both works are characterized by their intense emotional depth, subtle psychological realism, and a pervasive sense of melancholy and introspection. They resonate with universal themes of love, loss, identity, and the search for meaning, all rendered with M.T.'s distinctive lyrical prose and a deep, empathetic understanding of human vulnerability and resilience in the face of life's relentless currents.

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