Book Review
The King of the Sea by Nandan Gautam
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| The King of the Sea by Nandan Gautam |
Author: Nandan Gautam
ISBN: 978-9952834802
Genre: Spiritual Fiction
Length: 348 Pages
About the author:
Nandan Gautam grew up in Bangalore, India. He completed his
Liberal Arts degree from McDaniel College, Maryland, USA and worked at
newspaper USA Today for a few years. He returned to India to study yoga and
meditation for the next twenty years under spiritual master Bharat Thakur.
His journey of self-discovery led him back to his first love
– music, where he infuses his raw but ethereal vocals with hypnotic rhythms and
harmonies specifically designed to calm, heal and transform the self.
A Lie and a Truth, an anthology of conversations and life
experiences with his master, was his first book. The King of the Sea is his
first novel and music album. He lives in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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| Nandan Gautam |
REVIEW
The King of the Sea, a work of spiritual fiction, is the rawest composition of a fictional tale revolving around sailor of his life, the
King himself; narrated by different voices that deliver you the concepts of
metaphysics including existence and purpose, through the well-written proses
that emerge as exceptional quotes throughout the book.
The King of the Sea is a metaphysical novel, rhythmically written
as a part of the spiritual quest; which is also paired with two companion music
albums by the author. The book is further divided into 41 volumes, where the
author brings in light several topics related to love, death, knowledge, God and
so on. The author has kept the book as it was written rather than editing and transforming
it into the traditional form of storytelling. The story is narrated in both first
and third-person, by more than two different voices. The writing style
resembles more of a classic style, although it is very easy to interpret. I’ll
discuss more of this in the latter part of the review.
The very fictional part of this book contains many diverse
characters who drive the main character through the process of self-exploration.
Characters don’t have a name in this book, they are identified by their roles and
relationship with the main character. His father died in a forest fire and his
mother awaits for his return. He meets his half-brother and attends his
marriage. He finds love who loves him back, but of course, there are
complications. The main character can be seen working in farmland at the
beginning from where he escapes looking for magical land. He meets a Butcher,
Village Palm Reader and later he gets aboard the ship of desires along with
other 135 shipmen. Lead Shipman, the Captain, Winemaker. Boy with green eyes, Leaper,
Lute Player and Madman are some of the characters who play important roles in
the King’s spiritual quest.
The information I provided might not be accurate, given that
it is very hard to derive facts even after reading the whole book. It might
require a revision to completely understand the entire picture. Well, this fictional
journey is analogous to the author’s mental and spiritual process he goes through while
writing this book. At some instances, the author Nandan Gautam directly talks to the reader
regarding this book, which makes it self-referential.
Besides, each and every sentence, prose, poetry from this
book individually makes a lot of sense, which is quite incredible, for it’s a
reliable and unwavering source of knowledge. Whereas, if we consider the whole
text, it doesn’t really make sense. The reason may be the voices that speak in
riddles. There is frequent switching between these voices. The editor suggests
that you read this book without trying to connect dots until they connect
themselves. That’s what I did and it’s a pretty useful tip. The more you try to
make something out from the text, the more you get confused. How this text
assembles as a book is literally a secondary thing because there is a lot more
this book has to offer.
"White is the color of death, not black. For when you pass through this door, you will come out clean of everything."
The most important and compelling part of this book is
its content. Particularly, the abstract concepts that Nandan Gautam has adapted
in this musical odyssey are surprisingly effective and mind-blowing. I loved how the story progressed despite multiple narratives running simultaneously. There are
plenty of subjects addressed in this book that will simply fascinate you. After
spending significant time with this book and closely studying the story, I must
confess that every bit of this book ensures some value and is worth reading. Also,
the book contains several chapters in those 41 sections, which the author has
titled very aptly. The dialogues may be confusing, otherwise, the writing style
is what makes it stand out.
All in all, The King of the Sea is an exceptional, unique and quite fascinating piece of literature in the genre of metaphysical fiction with the touch of postmodernism.
Happy Reading!
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