Rachel Reviews: Igi by Jemal Karchkhadze

I'm always keen to read books from other cultures and so, it was with delight that I received this book from Lana V Lynx via Raymond G. Taylor to read as part of her travelling book club.

The book is written by a Georgian author and is a curious read. It tells the story of Igi, who is a prehistoric male. Whilst it deals with adults, this novel has a caveman Lord of the Flies feel as Igi discovers that he is different to the others and this singles him out for potential persecution. It opens with the Old Chief being accompanied by the tribe up the Big Sleep. The reason for this? He has been usurped by someone younger and stronger and this is his fate - to jump into what I can only think must a volcano. Igi, along with the other tribe members, stops at a halfway point marked by a tree and watches as the Old Chief disappears. All very primal.

Igi is our hero and really what happens in this book is his evolution from someone trying to fit in and failing into someone who knows who he is and is willing to accept it. I think it's clever. The illustrations throughout the book are simply drawn and have a cave drawing feel to them which compliments the text. Also, Karchkhadze's style is a combination of authorial description bringing the action alive juxtaposed with the simplicity of Igi's cognition, shown through Igi's referral to himself in the third person and his simple vocabulary and syntax.

We spend a lot of time with Igi and I liked the way that Karchkhadze builds sympathy for him. Everyone wants to belong and Karchkhadze conveys Igi's desperate need to fit in so well. He also creates tension from the way that the book starts and from Igi's fear of what might happen to him if he isn't more convincing. He doesn't want to go the same way as the Old Chief but it feels like no matter what he does, he is in danger of it becoming his destiny.

The ending is apt, I think and left me thoughtful with mixed feelings about man and our evolution and whether or not, despite millennia having passed, we're still dealing perhaps with the same issues as we always have but we are wearing more sophisticated clothing.

Rachel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars