The Lizard Cage

Whilst we are on the subject of lizards and all other things reptilian, I just happened to finish reading The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly. Weird title aside, this book is probably one of the most intriguing pieces I've read in the last few months. (In case you're wondering, I average about 3 books a month, most of which are purchased from Borders, thus resulting in a hole in my wallet. At last count, I house 120 books in my matchbox of a room.)

Set in civil war-torn Burma, Connelly explores the life of political prisoners and their lives within what is referred to as 'the cage'. The story is narrated through the voice of the Songbird, or Teza as he is actually called. The introduction the Songbird's character is mild in comparison to the rest of the book. Stuck in solitary confinement, Teza is contemplating his cellmates - ants, a spider spinning an intricate web at the corner of the air vent, oily and opportunistic cockroaches and the lizards that scurry from wall to wall in search of a meal. Apart from starving from companionship, the Songbird is starving literally as a result of being fed three servings of mushy rice peppered with gravel and murky water masquerading as curry. Unable to ignore the constant gnawing in his stomach, Teza resorts to catching the lizards that roam around his cell by baiting them with a moth or snatching them off the walls as they lunge towards their prey.

Even as Teza supplements his diet with the occasional lizard, he struggles with his humanity and wrestles with the idea that he is nothing more than an animal himself as he battles with his ever pervasive hunger. He paces his cell back and forth, back and forth holding intense conversations out loud with himself as he remembers his mother May May and his younger brother Aung Min who had turned into a Burmese Che Guevara and fought the Burmese army at the border between Burma and Thailand with the aid and support of all the other guerrilla freedom fighters.

If asked to describe this book in one word, the adjective of choice would be INTENSE.
There are books that attempt to be intense and usually end up being unrealistic. To Connelly's credit, her writing is fluid enough to help the reader re-create the atmosphere and the emotional ups and downs of the characters in the book without feeling overly cliched. Mind you, the plot of the book is thick and peppered with intrigue. The subject of civil war, especially inspired by icons like Bogoyke Aung San and his irrepressible daughter, the iconic Aung San Suu Kyi is not an easy topic to handle. But Connelly pulls it off even if at some points, it seems like she's about to lose her focus and fall clumsily off the boat.

There are other characters in the book that add to the overall intrigue. There's a hepatitis infected jailer who empties the Songbird's latrine pail and Handsome, a diabolical prison warden whose approach to dealing with every situation is through inane violence. There's also Nyi Lay, the unlikely hero who eventually serves as Teza's way out of prison and jailer Chit Naing who displays an unabashed soft spot for Teza.

This is a relatively long book but kudos to the author for the amount of research that was put into pulling the characters and the plot of the entire tome together. The novel's unexpected ending is another illustration of Connelly's ability to pull back from the brink of losing focus although I do suspect that the author did struggle with picking an appropriate finish. Mid-way through the book, most of the key players were already substantially developed and I found myself questioning how the author was planning to maintain such a high level of detail whilst weaving an ending that involved all the key characters.

My only dislike about this book is the weird way in which some characters seem to fall by the wayside and disappear towards the end. Though the ending itself had nothing wrong with it per se, it felt a wee bit like butter spread very thinly over too much bread, almost as if the editors took a huge chunk out because the story was starting to pall.

It's a book worth reading but you might want to either get it from the library or borrow it off someone who has a copy.

Hello, hello, hello.

Shalom.

Pardon me, I'm not Jewish - I'm just a resurrected blogger. I have commitment issues with writing but now that I'm older, maybe I'll turn kosher. In any case, welcome to the blog. Before the lizard activists around the world come banging down my door with pitchforks, torches and the odd crucifix, let me just state for the record, that the Gecko Vendetta has nothing to do with my intense desire to wage war against my reptilian friends. I'd be lying if I said I didn't mind geckos taking up permanent lodgings in my flat so in short, I do mind, but I'm not out to kill them. We usually give each other a pretty wide berth spanning several walls so it's quite a peaceful co-existence. I only wish they would learn how to go potty properly.

There's a lot I would like to achieve with this blog. However, to list those aims would be a) too serious, b)dementedly geeky and, c)utterly pointless because I'm just one of those people who has severe listrophobia. Imagine a toe cramp and multiply it by the total number of toes that you have. It's almost like Chinese water torture, just without any dripping.

And so, I aim to entertain with the thoughts that meander through my somewhat befuddled and some may say, strange brain. You're welcome to be part of this experience if you have an open mind and it would probably help if you have a warped sense of humour.

Well it's time for me to go find my inspiration (known as dinner). If you'll excuse me, I need to go rent an ass and get my butt on the road to my literary Damascus.