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Boulder, the name suggests something bold, large like a rock, impenetrable at the outset but gets smoothen with erosion . The book starts with an explosion as you are taken aback with the bombardments of razor-sharp literary bullets. You find yourself in the midst of a sweltering sea of turbulent waters which doesn’t settle throughout the story. Amongst the sea of turbulent emotions, we find a strong, independent, horny, chain-smoking cook working on a merchant ship off the coast of southern Chile- Boulder. The entire existence of the narrator- Boulder- strives for the fabulous freedom wherein she does not owe any explanations to anyone, to live among eyes which neither desire her nor rejects her, just let her be herself amidst her zone of absolute ‘true-zero�.





The process of reading of a book generally takes it course through it gradually getting under skin of the reader after overcoming the reader’s initial phase of apprehension but Boulder starts with explosion, straightway blowing the readers and their minds without any superfluousness as if it rides over a sense of utmost urgency on to a quest for the ultimate truth. The narrator of the story pulls in the reader, dwindling over the tumultuous and violent waves of the sea of emotions, to the vortex of the sea wherein the heart of matter may lie, without wasting many words. Boulder takes the reader on a hot and stormy ride of sex, passion, desires and lust to sacred emotion of love, wherein we meet Samsa, whom she loves passionately so much so that she moves to her place of strange and unfamiliar surroundings in Iceland.


What follows is the poignant struggle of Boulder to find a divine balance between the independent, free, strong-willed soul she is and her passionate love for Samsa, love pushes her outward only to meet the strong wall of solitude which always pulls her inside to be herself to embrace that fabulous freedom wherein no one can touch her soul. However, the humanly desire for Samsa who is one and whole like a god, gives in her freedom to assuage her wild and chaotic heart through the ardour of love. Her love compels and coerces her to accede to the unexpected motherhood brought in by the incessant desire of her lover. The things they used to love to do with each other, do not seem to bother them, and in fact, stretch away the fabric of relationship so much so that they become invisible to each other. Boulder becomes a troubled soul whose emotional wounds rots and seethe over the sea of turbulence, the flower which bloomed with life withered away as dry petals of anguish and pain.


The book is like a prose poem wherein the narrative comprises of short poetic ruminations as if the narrator has drunk life through soul, and throbbing & pulsating soul of her is now crying of life through these outbursts. The narrator is brutal and ruthless but honest with no veneer of morality to be socially acceptable. She is like a free wind which gusts over the untamed sea of human desires and passions. But the hurricane comes halt on encounter with motherhood and grapples to comprehend & accept it. While Samsa is completely at home with motherhood, Boulder feels as if it throws her away from her life of love, passions, and desires which she carefully has carved out through her independent and free will.


The emptiness of solitude fills her life as if her existence takes dive in the hell of nothingness, she looks for solace in the company of other casual hook-ups, but nothing brings consolation to her soul. However, their daughter-Tinna stimulates a new sense of intimacy in her Boulder, intimacy which is strange and afresh, as if the flower may bloom again on the anew feeling of love and affection. Boulder finds herself amidst the soup of her fire of independence and the newly felt feeling of endearment, she has to churn the froth with her soul to decide the fate of her life.





What transpires here is a complex, poetic but tenacious and turbulent depiction of the most revered human relationship and how does it cope up with motherhood. It is a poignant journey to the dark corners of humanity wherein we see a fierce and savage struggle between the desire to be loved and basic human inclination to be free and independent. The author writes with such a control and command that the entire book appears to be long tragic poem which dances on your consciousness to keep you on your toes through the end.