K. Kumar's "Love and Tumult"

Title: A Novel of the World

“Love and Tumult” by K. Kumar

Reviewed by A. Anthony

10/29/2015

10:05 p.m.

Traveling from such African countries as Namibia and Rwanda, to various locales in Colombia and Brazil, K. Kumar’s Love and Tumult is truly a novel of the world.

Kumar establishes this sense of worldliness through intimate portraits—of rural South American villages, of bustling African metropolises—painted with beautifully descriptive language. Our imaginations are so enlivened that we feel we are traversing the streets alongside the novel’s protagonist, Vik Murthy.

Vik undergoes a sensation that afflicts many: when one looks at one’s life and realizes one’s dissatisfaction, followed by a compulsion to seek out an electrifying change. Vik decides to transition from working as a civil servant in Washington, D.C. to working as an auditor for the American Development Agency, a position for which he must travel the globe in order to assess the organization’s many humanitarian programs.

Now, it is true that no matter where we are in the world, Cupid’s arrow may strike; so it is with Vik, who endures love and its tumultuous consequences, as the title denotes he must. But love does not define the novel, nor does it become Vik’s primary narrative; the passion present in his life is for his work, and for the novel experiences it brings about.

Concerning that work, the reader may find the meticulous details of the many audits Vik performs to be slightly dull, though Vik’s work is admirable. Furthermore, there is a flatness in the dialogue which is sometimes indistinguishable between different characters. Though the author’s well-traveled intellect reconstructs places that may be appreciated for their splendor, this extraordinary development of scene tends to dwarf not only Vik’s development (it seems that his characterization ceases halfway through), but also eliminates the uniqueness of the very people that make those places splendid, as they are primarily defined by their place of birth.      

I give “Love and Tumult” 3 out of 5 stars.     

Until Next Time,

A. Anthony