"Igi" by Jemal Karchkhadze

I don't remember when I last read a short book packed with deep philosophical meaning. Perhaps Camus' "Stranger" or Nietzsche's "God is Dead" back in my university years. Igi will stay with me for a long time, I'm sure.

Defined by the Georgian non-conformist writer Karchkhadze (1936-1998) as "a prehistorical short story," it follows the inner world of Igi, a prehistoric man that was different from his tribe's men and women in both the physical appearance and mental abilities (he was able to draw on stone and create or as Igi would say, call up from the nature, the words when the tribe's communication was primitive and limited).

I suspect that the story was inspired by the Dmanisi discovery, placing the first Europeans to Georgia and completely changing the theories of where our ancestors came from. Igi is probably one of those first Europeans, and Karchkhadze gave us a glimpse into his inner world through both his thoughts and behavior.

Another inspiration for Igi is most certainly the fact that Georgian (Kartuli and its pra-Kartvelian language) is one of the oldest languages in the world going back to the Copper Age, which formed its own completely isolated group.

Written in a primitive stream of consciousness language, the novella will grip you and keep you enthralled. It addresses so many issues of a developing human -- the language, the tribe rules, the courting and competition rituals, the struggle of an individual vs the society (the tribe), of an individual vs individual (the tribe's Chief), and new love that has no words to express itself yet -- that you would be amazed how much can be packed into one short piece.

To me personally, the most important issue of the story was Igi's struggle with solitude. Being different, he put himself into voluntary isolation and was overcome with sadness of being alone. There's a whole 2-3 pages passage describing how sadness affected Igi, but when he returned to the tribe his life did not become easier. I will leave you with this striking quote:

Solitude could be likened to when a captured animal gets away from a hunter who then follows it hopelessly with his eyes.

Igi did not feel solitude when he was alone; he felt it when he was with others.

The book also has beautifully primitive and evocative illustrations by Kote Sulaberidze, such as this one:

On a recent flight, I was lucky to sit next to a young Georgian man who saw me reading the book and asked about my impressions. When I gushed about it, he said that he'd read it as a part of his high school literature curriculum. I'm glad young Georgians are exposed to this work early as it will make them think about the destiny of their own people and feel proud of their cultural heritage. I only wish I could read it in the original Kartuli language.