Nishanth Injam, "The Best Possible Experience"

.

 

 

Nishanth Injam, (단편집) "The Best Possible Experience"

 

우리나라에 머무는 동안이나 출국하는 비행기 안에서 읽은 책들은 거의가 우리 단편집이었다. 그런데 여기(미국)서는 소설(fiction)은 보이는 게 novel(장, 중편 소설)이고 단편(story)은 좀처럼 눈에 띄지도 않다 보니 아주 가끔이나 단편집을 읽게 된다. 인도나 미국에서의 인도인 이야기들인 Nishanth Injam의 이 단편집을 읽으면서, 유난스레, 한국 단편집을 읽는 그런 느낌이 든 것이 특이했다. 이야기의 구성과 스타일에 비슷한 점이 있어서일까. 한국계를 포함해서 여러 나라 계통 미국 작가들의 단편을 읽었지만, 달리 그랬던 기억이 없다. 인도 사회의 옛(?) 카스트 제도에 따른 현재의 사람 차별을 두고 어떻게 인도의 문화를 말할 수 있는지 모르겠다.

 

Chicago Review of Books 서평

 

위 서평에서:

 

Many are American immigrants, new and settled. Others are firmly rooted in India but dream of a changing future at home or abroad. In all these stories, Injam’s sparse language and attention to detail render the subtlest conflicts with tenderness and care. As a result, these situations feel innately familiar, whether or not we have lived identical lives.

 

본문에서:

 

But the flies were also like memories. They had a mind of their own, they flew out of reach and returned uninvited. (p. 33)

 

In the cab, my parents will argue incessantly about the necessity of taking a cab. I cannot stand it. (p. 155)

 

Father meanwhile had come to the opinion that a life without a watch wasn't worth living. He said he didn't need an HMT. Ant watched that held his arm and buoyed across time would do. ...Often, I heard him say to my mother, "I had no idea my arm was this naked." If only his useless wife had brought some money from her family ... (p. 163)

 

Days later, when I told her about a man who had his wife dashed by a truck so he could get the insurance payout, she coughed and exclaimed that throughout history people have always been animals. ..."Never let a man insure you," she said. I laughed and waited for the follow-up, the second instruction, but it would never arrive. Her mouth stayed open, (p. 178)