Book Review: Black Narcissus

I have been dying to read this book ever since I found out it was the basis for the amazing film of the same name by Powell and Pressburger - 2 giants in the British film industry. It was beautifully filmed, and the plot was extensive and excellent. A group of nuns trying to form a convent in an isolated region in the Himalayas, their interactions with the locals and the attractive Mr Dean, coupled with their isolation, draw out hidden desires and temptations. Ooo, I know this would be a goodie!

But there are a few bits and bobs to consider. For one, this book was written in the 1930s. Britain still had an empire, war was about to break out, and racial equality was pretty much nonexistent. So as you can imagine, radium and bigotry were rife. And it shows—big time. When you call the locals ‘monkey-faced’, it was telling of the Godden’s attitudes and the attitudes of her peers. Whilst convents around the world are pretty much commonplace, they were born out of colonial attitudes and to “save the souls of the savage”, whatever that means. Essentially, these nuns have a white saviour complex with little regard for the culture and people they are supposed to be “saving”.

There are some excellent parts of the book; the portrayal of hidden and undercurrent sexual desire is very well written. Sister Philippa’s garden is slowly taking shape and conspicuously coming into bloom; her demands for more flowers, herbs and other flora and fauna are met with disbelief. The garden is supposed to be functional, not an indulgence into vanity and yet the list of flora and fauna overwhelms Sister Phillipa, her face flushed with excitement. The book is decidedly gothic, the otherness of the setting and its underlying sexual connotations, the ‘otherness’ of the people, language and culture and the isolation of the sisters so far away from home are all set to unnerve the reader. It is unlike any other Gothic novel, most resonate with Victorian attitudes, morals and elements of the supernatural. In the book, ‘otherness’ is found in the clashings of culture and the separation of one's wants from one's purpose.

This book is very well written, but there were moments when my attention was straying from the words on the page, which is never a good thing. Perhaps there is only so much piety and ignorance a girl can take. The abject racism was frustrating; Mr Dean was the only sensible character in the book, bordering on misogynistic, because the big, strong man will come and save the day! But I guess internalised misogyny was strong in Rumer Godden. On the flipside, Godden grew up in India and therefore you could see Mr Dean as being a reflection of her understanding of local customs, but I stand by the internalised misogyny.

I wouldn't exactly come to read this book again… I’m glad I did, it's made me miss Asia. The real Asia, one without colonialism and misguided attitudes.