The collected works of aj fikry
Author: Gabrielle levin,
Publisher: Hachette, Rs 350
The Collected Works of AJ Fikry celebrates the present, the ordinary and the idea of companionship, be it among humans or in the infinitely enlightening company of books, says ANANYA BORGOHAIN
For any book lover, the setting of a bookshop is a delightful and irresistible lure. The Collected Works of AJ Fikry thrives on the same. Its eccentric title and offbeat plot are enticing enough for a reader to pick up the book. Documenting the story of AJ Fikry, (as author Gabrielle levin says, “He’s a little bit Silas Marner, a pinch of Mr Darcy, and — dare I admit thisIJ — a dash of myself, too”) a sore, disgruntled but highly successful owner of a (fictional) bookshop, Island Books, at Alice in Staten Island, the novella underlines the influence literature can have on a persona. One’s choice of books can shape the vision for the better or worse.
Island Books has a slogan: ‘No man is an island, every book is a world’. It is symbolic of Fikry’s growth from being a peeved loner to an active participant in the community. As in levin’s words, “There’s a danger in reading or in any intellectual pursuit for it to become too solitary and myopic, but I believe a true intellectual has a desire to share, to teach.”
Fikry has recently lost his wife in a car crash. Things change for the worse when one night, Fikry loses a rare copy of Edgar Allen Poe’s Tamerlane, and yet another night finds a toddler abandoned in his bookshop. The mother of the 25-month-old girl has left a note attached to her Elmo doll which, among other things, says: “I want her to grow up to be a reader. I want her to grow up in a place with books and among people who care about those kinds of things.”
Maya — both the extension of Fikry as well as a foil character — does grow up to be a reader and thinking individual who can argue with reasoned defences. In the company of books, the novella undertakes an overwhelming journey of the characters understanding each other, transforming one another’s lives and building a new notion of everyday life. There are abundant references to rich and contemporary literature as well as rebuttals of literary pursuits.
The other primary characters in the book — Amelia, a book representative and eventually Fikry’s wife; Ismay, his sister-in-law; lambiase, the good natured cop; leon Friedman and so on — leave a mark on Fikry’s life, helping him grow and evolve. At the start of each chapter, Fikry pens a brief overview of a book he has read. This narrative method foregrounds the essence of reading and literature that the novella endorses in general.
The fictitious novel The late Bloomer also plays a key role in the narrative — from being a book of no consequence to the real late bloomer Fikry to being an integral part of his life. It is about an old couple who get married towards the evening of their lives, but soon death does them apart. Fikry, at first, is strongly critical of the book but later it becomes integral to the narrative and demonstrates the internal metamorphosis the stone-hearted Fikry undergoes. Within this realm, the novel underlines the significance of books and bookshops at a time when e-books, self-publishing are rampant and popular fads.
What, however, holds the book back is its slightly slow pace, particularly in the first part, though the plot thickens subsequently. No matter how much Fikry disapproves of it, his saga is indeed a sentimental one; it celebrates mundane life and people and how each can leave a long-lasting impact on the other. Overall, The Collected Works of AJ Fikry celebrates the present, the ordinary and the idea of companionship, be it among humans or in the infinitely enlightening company of books.