Love Burns
... I can't wait for him to go so that I can be alone and fall with my heavy load into the pit of despair and loathing and guilt, which is the only place where I feel at home.
Ilan, an astrophysics professor at Technion Institute of Technology, in Haifa is married to Naomi, almost half his age. It doesn't help his chronic insecurity that he feels Naomi is too pretty for him and things go into a a tailspin when Ilan follows Naomi on one of her secretive outings and realises that she is having an affair. Ilan, unable to handle the development head on, relapses into smoking and his dependence on Valium increases. When push comes to shove Ilan ends up killing Naomi's lover and enlists his strong-willed mother to help dispose off the body.
The feeling of guilt that envelopes Ilan from then on and Naomi's suspicion that her lover hasn't just left on a holiday makes for a funny yet sad dance of counter-moves. Oh, but it doesn't stop at that. Ilan's only confidant happens to be Anton, who works with the Criminal Investigations Department and in the midst of all this, Ilan finds out that one of his students has a crush on him! The stage is all set and Mazya spins an absorbing tale that depicts the idiosyncrasies of a tortured soul.
Ilan's mother Erna comes across as a very strong character. Ilan runs to her every time he has a problem that he can't handle. Her impersonal no-nonsense attitude to life in general begs the question - is she the reason for faults in Ilan's character?
At first glance the prose looks daunting mainly because of the paragraph-free format that Mazya has used. Each chapter is just one big paragraph! This gives the book a thick appearance but the writing is smooth and the flow of the story well paced. The comical air that surrounds the narratives even when the subject matter is as morbid as murder speaks volumes of Edna Mazya's ability to pull the readers in multiple directions. You feel pity for Ilan but it comes mixed with an equally powerful sense of aversion.
The day pass in relative cleanliness, but the garbage collects at night -- Anton's mother used to say that tears are the dustbin of the body and dreams are the dustbin of the soul -- and therefore in the morning I walk around half-fainting, I see Naomi dissolving in front of me, her sadness is moderate and steady, the first longings have turned into something which I can't yet put my finger on ....
"Love Burns" is a strange thrilling tale with just that right mix of twisted humour.
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