Monday, May 16, 2005

 

The Hungry Tide - Amitava Ghosh

I had tried to read Amitava Ghosh some years ago and had not enjoyed his book or whatever I did manage to read of his. So even after he won the Crossword Hutch Book Award and the book constantly crept up in conversations, I was not sure of the book.

An afternoon in the bookstore below my office and one chapter later I was hooked. Its one of the those few books that constantly beckon to come back and explore it further. Its been ages since I read a book I could not bear to leave - constantly want to listen to the characters talk amongst themselves, read aloud descriptive passages or generally dream of being there myself.. as a part of the story.

Its a story set in the tide country or mangroves or to be more specific the mangroves at the delta of the Ganges, also known as Sunderbans. Set in an imaginary Lusibari, it revolves around people who come there, make it their home and then give up a lot more for their adopted homes.

Told through a narrative of a diary, the story unfolds in two time periods, giving it an element of dreaded certainty that makes you want to continue reading ahead because of our innate fancy for anything even remotely sad. Being right about anyone's misery somehow makes us want to rejoice.. I wonder why?

Kanai, Pia, Fokir, Tutul, Moyna, Mashima, Nirmal, Horen.. I could go on.. it must be Bengali names that make them so musical to say. The story is a love story on one level, a fight to demand freedom on another, different generations making a picture with memories and snatches of conversations.

Its about Kanai trying to find the mystery about his uncle Nirmal's death, Pia's search for the Oracella Dolphins, the language barrier and how it ceases to matter in duress, the small victories in progress and education, the beauty of Sunderbans and how it is all interwoven coming together in the last few chapters.

As the story comes close to an end, it crescendoes with a storm (literal and figurative), keeping up the pace of the story in a similar high and razzy end.

I cant compare it to his other books because I have not read any as yet (but will definitely read at least more). But this one is written fluidly and is in places, dark, surreal and warm and liquid in others.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

 

Bookless in Baghdad - Shashi Tharoor

Wanted to write about this book and another Tharoor compilation but other books sidetracked me and could not bear to go through another monologue-ish book.

Shashi Tharoor is a favourite of mine - make that all time favourite- writer but have to even add that its primarily
The Great Indian Novel that has bent the scale in his favour. And in all honestly none of his subsequent books have lived up to the expectations set in The Great Indian Novel.

This book is a collection of his writings from various publications, his speeches and such - about reading. But it totally fails to impress. The first impression is that of a slightly askew thought process. Like he was not sure whether or not to go ahead with the publishing of this collection. Since most of his essays published here have been published there, there was scant novelty, if you have been trying to keep up with his columns and others.

It feels like a repetitive process, the essays. By the end of the book, I was sure I had read each quotable quote at a couple of times and could now tell you verbatim why he chose The Mahabharata or
Bollywood as inspiration or why he wrote The Riot.

Very loosely divided on the various phases of his life or perhaps how his writings evolved.. the book begins with essays on the why for most of his successful attempts, followed by his writings on hallowed writers of the English speaking world, with other meanderings on his views on critics, criticisms and therfores. Of course more follow but by this point I was feeling 'What's the point, really?' Perhaps a little more original content would have been welcome than just a compilation of his already published stuff...

My first novel The Great Indian Novel, as a satirical reinvention of the Mahabharata, inevitably touches Indians in a way that foreigners will not fully appreciate... My second Show Business, did extremely well with American reviewers and readers...With India:From Midnight to the Millennium, an attempt to look back at the last fifty years of India's history, I found an additional audience of Indian-Americans seeking to rediscover their roots;.. In Riot, for the first time, I had major non-Indian chanracters, Americans as it happens...

The basis of all of his novels are citied in numerous styles across many essays. Many such similar instances allude to Indians, Americans, their publishers, their covers, their knowledge of markets.. phew.. like I said.. one keeps seeking for a point.

Of course there is the mindset that though speeches and columns sound similar when put together, they are usually for different audiences everytime, removing the feeling of repetition. But cannot say that is the case for this particular book.

Nehru: The Invention of India
lies waiting on my shelves and while I get to it... here is another superb review of the book.

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