Beatrice and Virgil

Silence and Words

I always felt that words are so strong that they can shatter the silence and scream the truth hoarse... but this book just makes me believe that nothing is more powerful than silence... it can be killing, tormenting, poignant, threatening, claustrophobic, haunting, scary and so deep that words can never describe it... Words are black or white but silences are the Grey they can be represented as everything and nothing...

Only picture that came to my mind was Van Gogh's Scream

Reading this book was like watching an abstract work of painting, screaming a deathly silence... an abstract poetry, moistening your eyes and clogging your throat without you realising... a painful animal sculpture broken, cut, bruised, slashed and then joined together to look perfect and beautiful... The story so simply said but so dark that all it screams is fear and pain. The past acts, the regret that eats you inside, running from life but finding the past everywhere.. the shame that you want to hide... the forgiveness, the salvation you seek... all you ask is - Is it irony or destiny?


‘Beatrice and Virgil’ a poignant story which imbibes silence and words to create horrors of cruelty. It creates an abstract analogy between animals and humans and how cruelty, pain, fear, remorse and regret is understood or misunderstood. There is no visible or structured story but there is this strong undercurrent of a theme, a message that can be debated and felt throughout the book.


Some of my faviourite lines from the book:


To my mind, faith is like being in the sun. The shadow is doubt. And it goes wherever you go as long as you stay in the sun.”


“We overvalue words, they are just refined grunts.”


“Words are cold, muddy toads trying to understand spirits dancing in a field."