Sam wakes up chained in a basement. He rails against his captor and the injustice of his imprisonment? Why? Why?
| Dukkha by Martin Hyde | |
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| Category: Horror | |
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Reviewer: Jill Murphy
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| Summary: A story that unflinchingly looks at the human psyche and how it reacts under the influence of drugs and trauma. And a meditation on regret and revenge. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 198 | Date: October 2022 |
| Publisher: Independently published | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-8355688462 | |
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But of course, he knows why. Sam is an erstwhile drug dealer who escaped this down and dirty life by going to a retreat and emerging as a neophyte Buddhist monk. Recently returning to join the community in his old neighbourhood, he knew his past would be hard to escape but he hadn't imagined it exploding into this new life in quite such a violent fashion.
Sam knows why. And so does the reader, very quickly into this book. It's not a spoiler to tell you that Sam's imprisonment is a direct result of the death of a girl from drugs; a girl he was connected to both as a dealer and a sort of friend. And his captor is out for revenge. But this story isn't really about revenge. It's about states of mind.
Sam very quickly becomes lost in his own mind. He remembers his encounters with the dead girl, most of which were under the influence of drugs, he remembers his own over-indulgences. He experiences a lot of pain but which parts are memory and which are real, applied by violence in captivity? He tries to apply his hard-learned Buddhist practice to his imprisonment and attempts to meditate. But his mind wanders. Are the things happening to him actually happening or is mind predicting narratives of what will happen? And what of his captor? What is he thinking? Is his mind clear?
Dukkha is a surreal and often oppressive book to read. It asks a lot of its readers. But it's a fascinating journey through the human psyche and how it reacts to trauma. Sam has great grief and regret and he spends a lot of time in self recrimination and yet.... he wants to survive, even as he can't quite be sure he has a solid handle on what surviving would look like. There are many layers of altered consciousness for the reader to travel through - from drugs, from trauma, from delirium - and it's not always easy to work out which is which. But that is rather the point.
I'm not sure it would be appropriate to say that I enjoyed Dukkha. It's hard-going and distressing at times. But it's also fascinating and asks as many questions as it answers. It's quite the experience. So what I can say is: yes, I am glad I read it.
It's hard to recommend further reading because Dukkha is a bit of a one-off. But The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks is a YA novel that also looks at the psychological aspects of captivity.
You can read more about Martin Hyde here.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Dukkha by Martin Hyde at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Dukkha by Martin Hyde at Amazon.com.
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