The Old Man and the Sea,
Moby-Dick, Life of Pi – these are some of the novels you might have read. Man
vs Nature and Man vs Wild tales have always entertained, excited and inspired
us. In Venom, things have gotten far worse though – the confrontation is
more headlong, real and inescapable.
A ten-year-old boy from
Praeknamdang (a fictional village that appears in Sangsuk's work), with an
atrophied right arm, dreams of becoming a shadow puppeteer. During the day, he
takes his beloved oxen (whom he has even named) to the grazing field. He mimics
the performances of shadow puppeteers and performs for his friends – he is able
to recite numerous songs, poems, and gags from different shadow plays by heart.
But who can hold grudge against
this boy?
Claiming a spiritual connection
to the Patron Goddess of Praeknamdang, Song Waad holds considerable sway in the
village. He has captured lands, ponds, and people fear or revere him. But the
boy and his family are quite the contrary; they think he's a conman or treat
him with indifference. Song Waad harbors hatred toward the boy and his family, especially
after an event, and even calls the boy "Gimp."
The boy with the bad arm headed towards the big trees that lined the pond on the shrine side. Like an invitation, the fresh, moist air from the water and surrounding trees wafted over to him. He felt as though he were being drawn into a sanctuary of calm the nearer he went. The only sounds came from the wind brushing through the trees, from the bamboo creaking as its culms rubbed together, or from the hiss of rustling leaves. On the ground, dry leaves from that same bamboo lay scattered; beside them, there was nothing but the remains of a tamarind tree, about two armspans in girth, lying fallen and bare and rotting among the brown foliage. The boy sat down on the base of that dead tree and regarded the shrine for a while.
Away from this silent feud, and
less concerned with the rich imagination and aspirations of the unnamed village
boy, a snake lurks in the field.
The struggle in the story begins
when the two entities – the boy and the king cobra – confront each other, yet
are unable to kill one another: one, not with its venom; the other, not with
his tiny grip. The snake coils around the boy, who can barely keep the
reptile’s head away from his body – its fangs pausing a hair’s breadth from
sinking into his throat. The story moves as the boy, bearing the weight and
clutch of the snake takes a journey back to his village to get help. The raw
description of the setting makes thing palpable.
The curious stories of
confrontation and revenge involving snakes told to the boy, the vivid
descriptions of the snake’s body and movements, the boy’s inner thoughts as the
two forces struggle to outdo each other, and the evocative portrayal of the
environment all contribute to the story’s simple and classic style of story-telling.
The giant snake was exceedingly close to him. He’d never imagined his face and a snake’s would ever be within such an intimate distance. There had been no portents: not in waking life, not in a dream. Where was its heart? Why couldn’t he feel its heartbeat at all? What colour might its venom be? White like milk or yellow like amber?
The other characters in the story – the boy's father, mother, Grannie Pluppleung, the midwife, and Luang Paw Tien – are either mentioned in passing or make only brief appearances. Since this is a short novella, the characters aren’t fully developed, yet their presence still carries weight.
The story centers on the snake
and its host, who refuses to give in. But for how long? Will there be a close
shave with life-and-death situation? Seems to be, but how? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out.
Innocence, superstition, love,
aspiration, a slice of village life, and the cost of hope – these are some of
the key elements of the story. Not to mention, the passing moments of time and
vivid physical descriptions are rendered so well that the story remains
gripping until the very end. As we wait for the boy to escape the clutches of
death, we become both engaged and unsettled by this tale of innocence,
struggle, and absence. The ending is dramatic, tragic, beautiful, yet dark. What
if the righteous fails? What becomes of the dreams? I was left with these
questions. Yours might be different.
To sum up: Venom is a short but
engaging read.
Mui Poopoksakul has done a
fantastic job translating.
Translator: Mui Poopoksakul
Publisher: Deep Vellum https://store.deepvellum.org/products/venom
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