In celebration of old friends…
- aksmith304
- May 8, 2023
- 2 min read
I have a book event this Saturday. My friend and colleague, Ines Gregori Labarta will be asking the questions and I get to talk about The Solace of the Common People. Even better, I will share the platform with another friend and colleague, Arun Sood, who will also be talking about his wonderful debut novel New Skin for the Old Ceremony.
Our books could not be more different. New Skin for the Old Ceremony explores the joys and the challenges of old friendships as four friends, Raj, Viddy, Liam and Bobby reunite after fourteen years to recreate a road trip they spent together in India. Although I say recreate, this time they head not East, but North to the Isle of Skye. While the friends, their landscapes and experiences may be different, their mode of transport remains the same: Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycles.
Of course, other things are also unchanged. While each character brings the baggage of their past and present to this reunion and all are challenged in different ways by experiences of their lives, the core of their youthful selves remains powerful. Many of us are fortunate enough to have this kind of experience. The friends of our youth ensure that some part of us will always be young, even while, perhaps, showing us the aging process more vividly. Arun’s characters speak to us because they are real. We know them or versions of them, so it is impossible not to be drawn into their story.
As they take us back to the landscapes of India, then forward to the landscapes of Skye, we share two physical journeys. But these friends invite us to contemplate so much more: Identity, belonging, race, spirituality, parenthood, loss and grief are all woven through the pages. This ride is emotional as well as physical, shored up by Arun’s thoughtful and often poetic prose.
I’m not sure how I would categorise this book, which is both familiar and unique by turns. But then I don’t need to. Perhaps the most interesting novels are those that cannot be neatly pigeonholed into one genre or another, but instead ask a range of questions that make us think in different ways about ourselves and others, and the old friendships that helped to craft us into the people we are. I would highly recommend New Skin for the Old Ceremony for when you fancy going on a real journey without leaving the comfort of your sofa.
This book sounds like an adventure , hope the event goes well . You nail old friendship (old friend) with : ‘The friends of our youth ensure that some part of us will always be young, even while, perhaps, showing us the aging process more vividly‘