The Tyre

Captivating and enchanting! I loved this book and I highly recommend it. I’m actually hesitant to write a review; I’m concerned I won’t do it justice and I want you to love it, too. This book is charming and mesmerizing from start to finish- simple, yet complex, beautiful yet, real.

The story is presented as a fable, an imaginative tale with a moral. It’s like Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories, with the same power of observation and imagination. (I understand that Kipling was a great supporter of the British Empire, and he may not be popular now, but many have loved his books.)

The story is set in India. We meet simple and hardworking Ranji, his wife Meena, and their two children. They live in a hut on the side of a busy highway. For Ranji and Meena, untouchables, life is hard work so they can earn a few rupees to feed the family. “Once in a while Ranji allowed himself to squat down on his heels and dream.”

Ranji knew and accepted his karma and he was a devout Hindu. At one point, he discusses life and reincarnation with a friend and they decide that they should be like the cattle that pull the wagons, “they just go forward step by step.”

One night as Ranji is collecting wood scraps to sell, something amazing happens. Is it a gift from the gods? Is this gift the answer to Ranji’s prayers? Or will it become a burden?
Ranji and his family meet many interesting people and have many small adventures as they move forward step by step. The book is full of humor, love, challenges and beautiful word pictures of India. When the story ends, Ranji concludes that perseverance is always rewarded.

As you read the book, you will enjoy the lovely phrases, the richly -crafted characters, and the culture of India. You will be rooting for Ranji and his family. The ending is delightful and may surprise you. I look forward to reading more from the authors!

Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC. This is my honest review.

Truly exceptional, one of the most emotionally impacting book I have read in a long time. The storyline is a heart wrenching and harsh one, that gives an in-depth look into the eyes of poverty and it was not a very nice one. It touched me deeply and resonated with my soul. I was with Ranji from the beginning of his roadside scavenging all the way to the potter stall. A heartfelt tale of hope perseverance, resolution and determination, that no matter what your stage is in life, one must conduct oneself with respect, approach every disappointment as a new beginning to something greater. Ranji battled the elements, his fellow men and his living condition with wits and ingenuity, even in the face of being illiterate, while his wife Meena had to battle the demon called desire, and the temptation it present. They had a hard fight ahead of them which was compounded even more by the storm which brought the flood. Losing everything except their lives and his roadside find of the century, that huge truck tire, they set their minds towards starting over. His roadside find turned out to be the wheel of change that gave them a new direction and a renewed sense of pride and confidence. This book is an emotionally packed and intense read on all fronts, a truly liberating book on poverty and the way one chooses to embrace opportunities that are presented, being a bit pragmatic helps as well a beautiful well-written book.

The Tyre by CJ Dubois and EC Huntley.

This is a story of a family from India. Add on poverty, feelings of infidelity, and obsession.

Thank you Thistle Publishing, David Haviland, and Net Gallery for this engrossing page turner.

I was hesitate to read this book, the description didn't seem to interest me, however after the last page you are blown away. I know I was. I'm so glad to the Thistle Publishing and Mr. Haviland for asking me to read this for my honest review.

This poor family that is just getting by name Ranji, wife Meena and their two children shows what it is like to survive in the poor only surrounded by a hut for shelter and how when Ranji found a tire he grew obsessed with selling it to provide for his family. He encountered several buyers but insisted it was worth more money. Throw in a flood and the struggle for survival. Ranji's obsession with this tire tests his and Meena's marriage. She feels ignored and Ranji's obsession drives a wedge between them. This book teaches us a lot of lessons, as it is an emotionally read. Makes you ponder even without much in the world how even the smallest things can make you happy.

I love how this book is written, how the author put the words together is just beautiful.

I would read more by this authors. Thanks again.

Cherie'

#TheTyre #NetGallery

The Tyre is one of those extremely evocative stories that deal with the multiple and diverse elements at play in the rigid caste system in India. It is also a story of a family’s good luck and misfortune, how hopes are created and dashed, how survival is a struggle, and the ambition to save enough to buy a second-hand bike is a dream. A dream not for leisure but to work harder.

The caste system defines everything in Indian society – how men and women are treated, what opportunities will be open to them and what lifestyle they can hope to achieve. Ranji is a lowly Dalit (an untouchable), at the bottom of the class system and living below the poverty line. He lives in a hut at the side of the road with his wife Meena, son Santosh and daughter Surya. Ranji and his wife are illiterate but have been putting every rupee into educating their children. Santosh has reached a level where he can read and write but must now leave education to get a job in Thanjavur.

Ranji, as his daily routine goes, is foraging along the road-side for sticks and bits of wood to sell, when he finds a large, brand new, tyre - ‘Apollo Acelere M385 / R80’. Shortly after, he meets a Sadhu (holy man) who lets him know the tyre typically costs 5000 rupees (over 100 times more than he currently makes per day). The Sadhu also has this advice:

“But what you do not see, because you are already imagining how the sale of the tyre can change your life, is that this could be the start of problems for you. You will be afraid it will be stolen. You will strive constantly to find a buyer, you will feel acrimony and disillusionment. Until now you were content with your life, but now your contentment will be overturned and upset. Maybe one day you will regret having stumbled upon this heavy lump of rubber!”

This prophetic advice underpins the story, as Ranji and Meena see things slightly differently and the tyre becomes the catalyst for an examination of their relationship, how they become distant even critical of each other and every moment of hope and despair is attributed to the tyre. The story is enthralling as we watch Ranji and Meena deal with various adventures, issues and obsessions, and when the seasonal flooding comes they must come together along with friends and community in their hours of need.

A special book that looks at life’s struggles for an “untouchable” family and how they strive to overcome discrimination and prejudices to create the best quality of life they can. Be careful, because sometimes hardship can be disguised as opportunity.

Many thanks to Thistle Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC version of the book in return for an honest review.

Tamil Nadu. Ranji ekes out a subsistence living gathering wood from the roadside to support his wife and children. They are Dalits, untouchables, and in spite of new equality legislation, they are still outcasts. But then one day Ranji’s hardscrabble existence looks set to change – a brand new tyre falls from a truck and he manages to hide it away. If he can sell the tyre new opportunities will open out for the family. But cashing in the tyre is no easy matter and it’s not long before it dominates Ranji’s thoughts to the exclusion of all else. Perhaps the discovery is a curse not a blessing. This is an excellent novel, at one and the same time realistic but also a fable about expectations and dreams. It’s well-crafted, well-constructed and well-paced, charming and touching and an excellent evocation of life amongst the poor of Tamil Nadu. It could be a rather sentimental tale but the author cleverly avoids this, with his characters being well-rounded with faults as well as virtues. It’s a heart-warming tale of people trying to do their best and I found it an absorbing and compelling novel. The sub-plot concerning Ranji’s son who moves away to the town to find work is a welcome antidote to the difficulties of Ranji’s life, with the son actually doing quite well and advancing in the factory where he works. There is hope, after all, and perhaps there will indeed be a happy ending for them all.

Do you want to know what life is like for a poor untouchable who lives from the hand to the mouth and has to endure the monsoon every year? Hope, disappointment and acceptance of karma - it's all there in this little story of an Indian family. You'll feel with them, you'll wonder how everything is a sign and connected with the various gods, how little things can change a life and how full of dignity life with literally nothing can be.

This isn’t my usual type of read but boy am I glad that I did! I really loved this book about a poor Indian family and their hopes and dreams. I was quickly hooked as the story gently draws you in and you find yourself rooting for Ranji and his family.

Ranji and his family’s lives are dependent on what he can scavenge by the roadside each day. One day a tyre falls from a passing truck, is this a blessing and a possible way out for him and his family or will it prove to be a curse? As Ranji becomes obsessed with trying to sell the tyre he begins to neglect all that he holds dear, including his wife whose eyes start to wander.

This is a book about hope and perseverance and about how a life of poverty can be lived with respect and dignity.

Thank you Thistle Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book for an honest review.

Who would think finding a single rubber tyre would change a life? But that is what it does for Ranji and his family, and that is the plot of the story that Dubois and Huntly have created. And not only is it utterly believable but the writing is mesmerising. Ranji is a Dalit [ an untouchable ] who makes his living, in the Tamil area of India, collecting bundles of sticks along the busy main road that runs past the humble lean-to shed he and his family call home. The good news is that the tyre is worth a huge sum and could educate his daughter, buy him a bike and provide jewellery for his wife. The bad news is that he perpetually angsts about someone stealing it and he becomes totally obsessed with finding a buyer. Yet this piece of rubber helps his daughter make friends, gets him a job, saves his life and changes everything. Without doubt, you'll be entranced and uplifted by this novel-length fable. Immensely moving, incredibly intimate and beautifully written this is a totally different reading experience. I can't believe there shall be a more beguiling and original storyline this year.
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“The Tyre” by C.J. Dubois caught my attention with its brilliantly hued cover. But what made me decide to read it was the fact that it’s a book set in India but written by a Frenchman. Surely, that combination is bound to be very interesting. And it didn’t disappoint. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher I received an ARC for an honest review.

The story follows the life of Ranji and his family as they struggle to make a living by collecting wood to sell. But one day when a big tyre falls off a passing truck, Ranji is convinced that their fortunes are about to change.

That is the essence of this simple but well-told tale. The story is set in South India, “on the road to Kerala, between Radapakkam and Puttur” where Ranji, his wife Meena, son Santosh, and daughter Surya live in a small hut. Ranji spends his days collecting wood for a living while Santosh has left for a nearby city seeking a better job. But despite their poverty, the family leads a happy, relatively worry-free life. Until the tyre comes into the picture. Ranji becomes obsessed with it because a holy man tells him that he would be able to sell it for more than Rs 5,000 (~US$ 75), which is a princely sum to come by.

The tyre becomes a thread that strings all the characters together and their individual stories. We learn how Santosh manages to find work and be successful. We learn how Meena, although illiterate like Ranji, is a shrewd woman who finds independence and her own path in life. We see how Ashok, who lusts after Meena, is sucked into Ranji’s life in different ways and becomes a part of it.

All these interesting people are set against a canvas of larger themes that address the inequalities in caste, money, and education that India continues to grapple with. I enjoyed reading The Tyre with its cast of charming and endearing people. Ashok included. It’s an Everyman’s tale with all the hardships, joys, and conflicts that we face in daily life, and can identify with.

Admirably, Dubois seems to have got a lot of the details right in the overall picture of India. But there are many instances where a mix up between North and South India is evident although the story is set in the latter. For instance, names like Ashok Kapoor and Amresh Lal Nayar, the term “kheti”, which is used to refer to a field/farm, and the fact that Santosh’s mother packs pani puri (a snack that cannot be “packed” in the first place!) for him are all examples of Dubois getting the setting wrong. All of the examples above point to the culture of North India, and feels alien when the story is set in the South.

Some things, I felt, were just plain made up. Santosh’s full name is Santosh Firtavel, which is not an Indian surname at all as is the exotic sounding name Jaigin. Radapakkam does not exist but Kadapakkam does. And then there is a reference to festivals, which brings together the whole of South India into the picture.

“Almost every month offered an opportunity for some kind of observance: the celebration of Vishnu, Banashankari, Carnatic music festival, Pooram, Aradhana, the festival of chariots, Ararat festival, the snake-boat race of Kottayam…”

I might be nitpicking but for an Indian reader these misrepresentations stand out glaringly. Dubois seems to have drawn from his overall experiences living in India to build up these references. And while it was jarring initially, as Ranji’s friend Vicash says, “in the end you get so used to it that you almost forget about it.”

Dubois’ effort in writing an evocative novel about India is commendable and so is E.C. Huntley’s translation. I did find this book enjoyable and an easy read once I got past the details and focused on the larger story.

A simply amazing story of how finding a tyre can change Ranji's life! Whether a curse or a blessing, the finding of this tyre affects the life of his whole family, all bound by the Indian caste system.

This was kind of entertaining to me, it sort of reminds me of them movie The Gods Must Be Crazy! Not to say this is a comedy, it isn't, but it is a slice of life in India with a tough caste system and one small untouchable man doing the best he can to care for his family. It's pretty eye opening and informative. The characters are all richly written and interesting. The plot is very good. I thought it was a wonderful read and am sure others will enjoy it as much.