In Ben Lerner’s 10:04, a theme I’ve seen recurring within it is the intricacies of love and relationships. The protagonist of Lerner’s novel is shown to have complex relationships, especially as it deals with love. Sexually/romantically, this revolves around Alex and Alena.

Alena, as the novel progresses, is shown to be his steady girlfriend. From what I’ve read and discerned in 10:04, their relationship is mostly casual, as is shown in his comments to his married mutual friend Sharon: “I’m the one having casual sex with a woman who probably doesn’t care about me.” [pg 30].  They seem to have a foundation for a good friendship, as seen with the underpinnings of their dynamics, such as spending time with each other outside of sex (him with her discussions of her own artwork/his commentary on them, as well as her liking his poetry and being attentive to his discussions). 

Alex is a 180 of that dynamic. Alex and the protagonist have a deep, close friendship, as is evident through her trust in him (as is seen in her telling him about her want to have a child and wanting him to be the dad), as well as them staying over at each other’s place and hanging out. As the story progressed to the end, I noticed we were left with loopholes left in the story (as like whether or the protagonist would end up staying with Alena because he made out with her on their final meetup or he would end up being with Alex for good; the novel abruptly ended with him and Alex walking down Manhattan and into Brooklyn during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy). 

I wondered as I read the novel that whether the protagonist’s propensity to procrastinate (as was with his book and poems) was also indicative of his love life. He hesitated ending up with Alex and breaking off his relationship with Alena, as well as the sperm donation appointment. I think it’s somewhat indicative of him not being sure of what he’s getting into and the anxiety that comes with it (such as him imagining his future daughter with Alex asking him about her origins and him not really being able to cough up a straight answer). I think we can all relate over agonizing over big decisions such as conceiving a child and getting with someone. 

What made this all really confusing at times was the going back and forth with the present and the past and the fictional world of his book. I felt all over the place with this book at times because of this, of not knowing if the fictional world events have actually happened and vice versa. Things blend into each other like granules of sand, sometimes being indiscernible from other granules. 

I think, in retrospect, the author wanted kids because in a basic/primal sense, they want to leave something behind. I remember him connecting the idea of having kids as a part of their “legacy” of something greater than himself. He has feelings of self doubt about his ability as a writer and I think probably feels leaving behind a child is something more concrete, more impactful because of what it represents (him and Alex’s DNA and by extension characteristics fused together, serving as a harbinger of memories of him and her, continuing on even after things might fizzle out between them). 

Overall, this was a provocative, insightful/amusing/funny and interesting book. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something new to read. It’s all over the place, but perhaps, that is part of what makes it unique.

 New Research Question:

   “What is the significance of folklore within The Hungry Tide?” 

Gosh, Amitav. “The Hungry Tide.” Houghton Mifflin Corporation.

• Amitav Gosh’s The Hungry Tide is about the story of Piya Roi, an Indo-American researcher traveling to the Sundarbans and the intertwining romance/conflict that develops between her and Kanai Dutt (an upper class Indian businessman), within a backdrop of her adventures/misadventures within the tide country, as well as the forces of climate change and its causation/effect on by the humanity that inhabits it. I plan on using the book as a source of reference.

Tasnim, Zakiyah. “Transformation of English Language in Amitav Gosh’s The Hungry Tide.” Advances In Literary Studies, 2018, Vol. 9 (3), p. 145. Footscray: Australian International Academic Centre PTY. Ltd (AIAC)

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2188079590?accountid=27495&parentSessionId=Q%2FGmgSfCB5B0IehfM7qhkh9z%2FPWY4tmm2bc3Jflt8QA%3D&pq-origsite=primo&parentSessionId=PzAgVhkZqA14a 

• The author in the author article discusses how English has been modified and adapted by the peoples it has touched (such as in the Caribbean and in Africa), with various cultures infusing it and turning it into their own variations, turning it into something that has various ownerships, as well as writers writing in English but widen its scope w/cultural references and idioms to tap into the soul of the native language, thus help express native ideas. They then talk about how Gosh does the same thing in The Hungry Tide, using native Bengali words interwoven within the text, which are able to be discerned within the context of it. The author continues to talk about how language is both used in spoken form and silence to convey meanings. I intend to use this to show the ways in which Gosh uses language as a means in which the ideas of Bon Bibi and the people of the Sundarbans are allowed to be expressed through different cultures and the impact it thus has on characters.

Anand, Divya. “Words on Water: Nature and Agency in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide” Nature and Agency in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide, March 2008

http://www.concentric-literature.url.tw/issues/Water/2.pdf 

•   Anand talks about Fokir’s connection to the folklore of the tide country and Bon Bibi and its effect/advantages upon him; through the myths he has intimate knowledge of the tides and the creatures within it, causing Piya and co. to be dependent upon his skills to guide them. I plan on using it to illustrate the effect the folklore has upon the characters.

Mohammed, Niveen Samir. “A Spatial Study In Arundhati Gosh’s The Hungry Tide.” April 2022.

 https://ssl.journals.ekb.eg/article_235101_e837730347d1569f8779272d2c727584.pdf 

•  Mohammed within the articles discusses the myths that are told and spread around within the novel, reflecting the influence of the Sundarbans. He points out how Nirmal is dismissive of the folklore at first, but then gradually comes around to it with the aid of Fokir. I plan on using this source to illustrate the ecological effect the surroundings have on the myths and vice versa. 

DasGupta, Amrita and Tathagata Dutta. “Amitav Gosh and the Pizza-Effect: Re-discovering Shared Littoral Literature and Heritage.” HyperCultura, vol.9, 2020

http://litere.hyperion.ro/hypercultura/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/DasGupta-Amrita-_Tathagata-Dutta.pdf 

• This paper delves into the connection of the tale of Bon Bibi and the consciousness/fear attached to the stories. The authors afterwards go in depth about said “Pizza Effect” and how the stories dig and rediscover Kanai’s roots. I plan to use this source in explaining the impact folklore has on the characters.

Kaur, Gurpreet. “Amitav Ghosh’s Entwining of Threads from History, Facts, and Myths in The Hungry Tide”. Journal Of Teaching and Research in English Language. Vol 9, July 2018.

http://jtrel.in/archive/JTREL090305.pdf

• Kaur talks about the impact of folklore upon Fokir and how it gets passed down to Tutul; cultural narratives/stories are inherited like heirlooms. The significance of the folklore allows the natives to be one with nature due to the trust they place within it and their senses. Kaur delves into how Piya believes Fokir embodies the spirit of Lusibari. I plan on using this source to show how the folklore imbedded itself into the overall society and unto the characters as well as a result. 

• Tasnim, Zakiyah. “Transformation of English Language in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide”.  Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 2018, Vol. 9 (3), p. 145.  Footscray: Australian International Academic Centre PTY. Ltd (AIAC). https://www.proquest.com/docview/2188079590?accountid=27495&parentSessionId=Q%2FGmgSfCB5B0IehfM7qhkh9z%2FPWY4tmm2bc3Jflt8QA%3D&pq-origsite=primo

• Pradittatsanee, Darin. “Conditionality, Non-Self, and Non-Attachment in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide: A Buddhist Reading”. Manusya: Journal of humanities, 2018, Vol. 2018 (2), pg 1-26. The Netherlands: BRILL. https://brill.com/view/journals/mnya/21/2/article-p1_1.xml 

• Some, Anjan. “A Search for Ontological Identity Through The Characters of Nirmal and Nilima in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide”. Vol. 8, Issue-I (Feb. 2017), pg 1-9. The Criterion: An International Journal In English. https://www.the-criterion.com/V8/n1/002.pdf 

• Kalaiarasan, M and R. Sowmiyalatha. “Trans-Cultural Communication in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide”. Language in India, Vol. 19, no. 7, 2019, pg. 323. Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA). https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=a100423b-88c9-4b1b-943e-c29a972f7995%40redis    

• Chowdhury, S. “Women In Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide: Their Struggle Against Norms And Desperate Attempt To Transgress Gender Roles”. Vol. 6, Issue 4 (2018), pg 54-58. Quest Journals: Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science. https://www.questjournals.org/jrhss/papers/vol6-issue4/J06045458.pdf 

 In trying to make this simple bibliography, I used both Hunter College’s online library page and old reliable Google. In both cases I typed in keywords such as “Ghosh” and “The Hungry Tide”, as well as “languages”, which gave me some results such as the first two and the fifth source(s) stated above. I also looked at some of the bibliographies that people posted that seemed to have similar themes as the research question I posted, which led me to the Anjan and Kalaiarasan articles. 

Ben Lerner’s 10:04 is an interesting novel to say the least, as well as an interesting insight into the world of writing. The basic premise of 10:04 is about our protagonist (an unnamed author) who discovers, shortly after agreeing to do a book deal, gets hit with a potentially harmful medical diagnosis through going to the dentist, as well as navigating the intricacies of love and friendships as a middle aged man living within the worlds of NYC; (his best friend, named Alex, confessing to him her want of having a child: “Not a day has gone by in six years when I haven’t wanted a child. What if you donate the sperm? I know it’s crazy.” [9] ). 

What I love and admire the most about Lerner’s 10:04 so far is the way he writes. Lerner has a stream of consciousness type of feel about with his work and the way he constructs sentences, namely, through the usage of run on sentences as the following: “after two quick glasses of Sancerre, the distinguished male author started holding forth, periodically tugging at his salt and pepper beard, his signature gesture, moving from one anecdote about a famous friend or triumphant experience to another without pausing for the possibility of response..” [pg 117]. What makes this unique is that I haven’t encountered many other writers who have done this, especially in a novel, but that also makes it disorienting and hard to read b/c it seems all over the place with its over detailedness. It’s almost like a podcast, in the frank way he talks about stuff (like parties and the mundanities of life, like when he went back to his apartment to cook for the protestor and had that inner voice in his head talking to him and then to us how he barely cooks but rather helps; like we all do to a degree). 

The concept of time and space become muddled in this book. He keeps on going back and forth between the present and past (like the part with Noor and her telling of the story, intersected with him talking about his beginnings at the Co-Op and the shopping he’s doing). He narrates within the narration of Noor herself narrating the story of her Lebanese dad not being her biological father and the shock and after effects of that. This was confusing as I read it because one, Lerner doesn’t put quotation marks around either what he’s saying or Noor, so everything becomes this one great disjointed and at the same time jointed mess. 

It’s a pretty interesting book and I wonder what will happen next. Will he get together with Alex? That kinda lingers in the back of my mind right now. 

How does Gosh utilize dualities to highlight differences & similarities between people of different societies and languages/worlds?