An unusual investigation into the proof of god | Review of ‘The Coincidence Plot’ by Anil Menon

Anil Menon's novel, The Coincidence Plot, investigates philosophical ideas of determinism and blessedness. Artur Alexanian's journey to find the mathematical existence of god is the central point of tension. Multiple threads of coincidence are explored, and characters are placed across settings and time periods. The author's craft is evident in the neat strokes of serendipity. The existence of god is left for readers to interpret.

Refuting the Epicurean argument of the probabilistic, haphazard path of atoms, Spinoza, the Portuguese-Jewish philosopher, believed in determinism — that all that happens is not a mere set of coincidences, but underpinned by strong and stout reasons. Belittling ‘free will’ or ‘freedom’, he believed in the existence of a masterful manufacturer god who dictates the actions of mortal beings.

Banking on Spinoza’s ideas of blessedness — the state of completeness, which he reasons as the state of god, and thus cannot co-exist with reality — mathematician Kurt Godel proposed his incompleteness theorems, according to which true statements that can’t be proven in a reasonable system will always exist.

Anil Menon’s latest novel The Coincidence Plot goes on an unusual investigation of these philosophical ideas. When Artur Alexanian gets his hands on thesis advisor Godel’s abstract, he reads, “We want a mathematics that is consistent and complete… you can’t have both. One had to choose.” Artur, guided by Godel’s experience, goes on a journey to find the mathematical existence of god.

Artur’s ontological proof of god becomes the central point of tension in this story as Xan Bharuch — his grandson and a successful genre writer — and his ‘chaddi buddy’ Rama Rao, a hardcore Spinozan and academic, try to write a novel, The God Proof. The men are married to Farzana and Uma, respectively, who themselves are bosom pals. To add another layer of coincidence, Artur’s manuscript rests with Devyani, Uma’s ammai, who isn’t acquainted with Xan at all.

If that was not enough, Menon pokes out multiple threads, further revealing layers of coincidence in subplots. For instance, when Farzana, guilt-trapped by her debauchery with a foot doctor, thinks of the birth of her child as emancipation, she is caught off-guard by life’s randomness, leading her to be injected with Prostin, an abortion-inducing drug, instead of Prolin. Her child plops dead between her thighs. She repents, “If Ellen hadn’t fallen, if Patel had written more legibly, if the pharmacist had done their work more carefully… if nothing had been left to chance, then.”

Each chapter consists of two characters randomly picked from the lot, and placed across settings and time periods. In a language that is both playful and profound, Menon carefully constructs his characters and skilfully explores their interests and conflicts. The strokes of serendipity never go haywire and remain neatly tucked together, revealing the finesse of Menon’s craft.

One witnesses the author’s long-term preoccupation with the expansive, subversive idea of a story — just like in his earlier work The Inconceivable Idea of the Sun — as Xan battles repeated bouts of self-doubt and anxiety. This is where The Coincidence Plot shines brightest. Even the concoction of grief and guilt in the husband’s head as he adjusts to his wife’s death, feels very real, luminous even.