Soft Animal by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan has a kick-ass opening line. Yet, the book bored me for the first 100 pages as it chronicles the collective lived experience during the covid lockdown. And I wonder if boredom was deliberately written in, considering the lockdown birthed a boredom humans hadn't known before. All in all, I think I'd best describe Soft Animal as a glass of plain water, but with a dash of jeera¹– mundane, but so good.

“I realized yesterday that I don't like my husband any more. It was an odd sort of realization, like when you lose something you don't use very often... When did you misplace it? Does the loss begin when it first went missing, even if you didn't notice it as it slipped away? Or did the act of looking for it cause its loss?”

With segues disguised as footnotes plenty, just like the human mind very much in its true fashion, Soft Animal ultimately makes for a lovely read. It just takes a little coming around to. It's disruptive in its genre, experimental in its structure, and keen in its observations. The social and political commentary is whip-smart and the writing is accessible.

Happy reading!

¹. ᴬˡˢᵒ ᵏⁿᵒʷⁿ ᵃˢ ᶜᵘᵐⁱⁿ. ᶜᵘᵐⁱⁿ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ⁱˢ ᶜᵒᵐᵐᵒⁿ ⁱⁿ ᴵⁿᵈⁱᵃⁿ ʰᵒᵘˢᵉʰᵒˡᵈˢ. ᴱᵛᵉʳʸ ᵐᵒʳⁿⁱⁿᵍ ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵒᵐᵃⁿ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʰᵒᵘˢᵉ ᵇᵒⁱˡˢ ᶜᵘᵐⁱⁿ ⁽ᵒʳ ʷʰᵒˡᵉ ˢᵖⁱᶜᵉˢ ᵒᶠ ʰᵉʳ ᶜʰᵒⁱᶜᵉ⁾ ⁱⁿ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ. ᴰᵉᵖᵉⁿᵈⁱⁿᵍ ᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ᵏⁱⁿᵈ ᵒᶠ ʰᵒᵘˢᵉʰᵒˡᵈ ᵒⁿᵉ ⁱˢ ᶠʳᵒᵐ, ᵗʰᵉ ᶠˡᵃᵛᵒᵘʳᵉᵈ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ⁱˢ ᵗʰᵉⁿ ᵗʳᵃⁿˢᶠᵉʳʳᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ᵃ ˢᵗᵉᵉˡ, ᶜᵒᵖᵖᵉʳ, ᵒʳ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠᵃᵐᵒᵘˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵉˢˢᵉⁿᵗⁱᵃˡ ʳⁱᵇᵇᵉᵈ ᵍˡᵃˢˢ ʲᵘᵍ. ᵀʰᵉ ʷᵃᵗᵉʳ ⁱˢ ᵈʳᵘⁿᵏ ᵗʰʳᵒᵘᵍʰᵒᵘᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ᵈᵃʸ.