| Summary: | Late at night, Kumarasurar's phone rings shrilly. His teenage son is calling. What could he want? A seemingly simple demand torments Kumarasurar, who fears it might put his finances--and perhaps his son's life--in jeopardy. As a father's anxieties unravel, his memories undermine his self-worth and imaginary scenes of damnation taunt him. Estuary brings alive the different ways--absurd and endearing by turns--in which a man and his young son navigate the contemporary world. In the process, it peels back the layers of Kumarasurar's loneliness: the hurt of a married man whose wife cares only for the happiness of their child, the endless monotony of an office job, and the struggle of the salaried middle-class to give their children the best chance of success. Perumal Murugan's latest novel, his first in an urban setting, is also a razor-sharp parody of everything from e-commerce to the fitness industry, art appreciation to political manipulation, cram schools to social networks. Through a meditative exploration of a father's emotional landscape, Murugan tells of a world wrecked by unchecked consumerism and an obsession with growth, where technology overrides common sense and degrees don't guarantee education. And, with characteristic tenderness, he also weaves in a way to redemption. --Goodreads summary
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