Review from OnlineBookClub.org
I appreciate the dark-adapted characters I have met in these stories. Characters that may easily be perceived as pure evil and malevolent until you get to know them more and realize how capable of goodness even these people can be. One example I can think of is Harry. The nature of his work alongside his cousin, Antoine, is too despicable for words. Their job is to transport a Chinese kid they had just picked up from a ship. On their way to deliver the girl, they get into an argument that leads to an accident. The car is smoking. Antoine runs for his life while Harry goes back for Suchin who is taped and without a chance to go out. I’d like to think that Harry’s decision of saving Suchin is not driven by business matters but by his sympathy for another human being. I find the ending beautiful, the way Harry achieves redemption through Suchin’s Escape. There is a technique in painting which I will liken to the theme of this story; for a light color to stand out, one must paint it over the darkest shade. Of such is the nature of these narratives wherein the characters’ light, however faint, is made visible through the darkest shadow of imperfect situation brought about by adversity and unhappiness.