BOOK REVIEW: "Thin Huvafen" by Dommu is a welcome slice of life from 90s urban Male'

This is not a typical novel that revolves around a major plot. Rather, it's a dip - or a deep dive at that - into the interesting dynamics of relationships both romantic and familial, as navigated by Mohamed Mamduh Waheed ("Dommu").

As with misunderstood human communication, "Thin Huvafen", literally meaning "Three Dreams", explores woes that affect the individual due to misinterpreted interaction - sort of like grappling with information error which is a feature of the curse in our contemporary era of texting.

But the story's premise is set in an era of no mobile phones but only land lines and bicycles which formed part of communication and socializing - in addition to television and radio without the internet of course.

The protagonists do try hard to understand the people they are connected with although it's sometimes a hit and at other times a miss.

There is a bit of existential outlook where the characters wonder about the intricacies of life and how best to deal with it. Perhaps it's most pronounced when Dommu ends the story with an open ended mystery, giving readers a bittersweet experience that leaves us to wonder how easily circumstances and situations can occur in creating confusion and souring of our relationships with people.

This is actually my second reading of the 193-page book which was originally published in 1998 by Riyaa publisher. However, I believe I was too young at the time to fully grasp the complexities of human emotions which Dommu had described brilliantly and I decided to read it again (this week) after a Maldivian writer friend (who had read it recently) pointed out that this book is "a remarkable effort considering he (Dommu) was just 22 years of age at the time he wrote it" and therefore demonstrated a maturity which may be rare in some youngsters.

My friend was right to point out that Dommu didn't objectify the women and was very sympathetic to their circumstances as they were fairly well portrayed.

"There are no descriptions of their curves," my friend quipped, adding that one of the protagonists, Ainthu, was a complex character torn between a good boyfriend, Aadhanu, and the narrator, Hassanu.

My friend also pointed out how Dommu jumps from first person to third person, creating a dreamlike feel.

Unsurprisingly, Riyaa's editor Anwary Ahmed, in a foreword, describes the book as a refreshing change from other Dhivehi literature and a pioneering narrative that demands serious thought and conscious reflection. She also expresses satisfaction that Dommu decided to step into the art of writing following in the footsteps of his literary great father, the late Abdulla Waheed ("Mandhu").

In a blurb on the back cover, Maldives' literary great Mohamed Waheed ("Madulu") writes that the changes sweeping the nation will result in alterations to thinking patterns of the youth, which Dommu tries to explore, that would demand improvements to the present status quo.

Born in Male' in 1973, Dommu also translated into Dhivehi the German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter Hermann Hesse's "Knulp" which I found engaging even years back when I had read it. Dommu's poetry have been published in the United States as well.

Both "Thin Huvafen" and "Knulp" are available for purchase at Ocean Library in Male'.