Trivandrum Twenty-Somethings
Review of the Serpent's Tail hardcover (July 7, 2022)

I have realized that books about twenty-somethings really don't touch me anymore. What I might have been able to identify with 50 years ago is now quite distant. I've noticed this earlier with the books of Sally Rooney which seem to be extremely popular in general but which leave me cold. Probably she is a good writer but her subject matter just doesn't hold much interest for me.

I had somewhat of a similar reaction to Aravind Jayan's first novel Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors. The book is well written and made for an easy read. But I just don't relate to the issues of the younger characters very well, even if I could sympathize with their situations. The couple of the title are Anita and Sreenath who are now in their early twenties. Unknown to themselves, a few years previously they were secretly filmed while making out at a supposedly secluded outdoor location but which was apparently a target site of voyeurs. The resultant video has now appeared online and its eventual discovery by the two extended families results in a crisis culminating in the distancing of the lovers from their parents.

The story is told from the point of view of Sreenath's younger brother who attempts to play a mediating role in the hope of reconciling the parents with the lovers. This doesn't play out as planned as Sreenath becomes even more resentful about the interference.

Probably the greatest attraction for me was that though the book is set in the city of Trivandrum, India, the theme of parents and the distancing of communication between generations is a universal issue which most can relate to.


Staff Pick blurb for 'Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors' from Shakespeare and Company, Paris. Image sourced from Twitter.

I read Teen Couple Have Fun Outdoors through its inclusion in the 2022 Year of Reading subscription from the English language bookstore Shakespeare and Company in Paris, France. ( )