Book review: The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

From BBC radio 4 – Book at Bedtime:
It is the 1960s, and violent revolution has come to India and America. Two brothers, Subhash and Udayan, born in Calcutta just fifteen months apart, have been inseparable since birth, but their paths are diverging. Udayan – charismatic and impulsive – finds himself drawn to the Communist movement sweeping Bengal. He will risk all for what he believes. But Subhash, the dutiful son, doesn’t share his brother’s political passion, and leaves home to pursue a life of scientific research in a quiet corner of America. But when Subhash learns what happened to his brother in the lowland outside their family’s home, he returns to India, hoping to pick up the pieces of a shattered family, and to heal the wounds Udayan left behind.

Episodes:

1/10. It is the 1960s, and revolution is in the air. Brothers Subhash and Udayan have been inseparable since birth, but their paths are diverging.

2/10. As Subhash tries to make a new life in the US, a letter from his rebellious brother still has the power to shock.

3/10. As Subhash finally starts to make a life in America, tragic news arrives from Calcutta.

4/10. As Subhash learns of his brother’s death, he becomes further troubled by the life now open to Udayan’s widow Gauri.

5/10. Subhash hopes that the arrival of Gauri’s baby will bring them together. But might his mother’s prediction come true?

6/10. A trip to Calcutta threatens to unearth deeply-buried family secrets.

7/10. Subhash and Bela return from Calcutta, to shocking news.

8/10. Bela returns home with shocking news, and Subhash musters the courage to tell her what she deserves to know.

9/10. Gauri is forced to confront her past after an unexpected letter from Subhash.

10/10. After decades apart, mother and daughter finally meet.

Book review: A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

This is the second novel by Rohinton Mistry.

During the period from 1976 until 1984 of , the lives of the main four characters are entwined having The Emergency as a historical background.

Dina Dalal is a daughter of a medical doctor who died when she was twelve years old. Since her mother was enabled to take care of her, this task is given to her older brother Nusswan. Due to his abuses with the whole housework, Dina managed to escape from his household by marrying a chemist, Rustom Dalal. In order to fight against her destiny, Dina became a tailor by working for a company called Au Revoir Exports by being ready-made dresses in patterns. However, her poor eyesight make Dina hires two tailors, Ishvar and Omprakash.

In one of their way to Dina’s house by train, these two tailors met Maneck Kohlah, a college student, who by coincidence is going to rent a room in Dina’s flat.

The author explores the difference in caste and education among these main characters, giving us a vivid portrait of Bombay during this tumultuous period of time in India.

In spite of the heavy emotions that comes up during the narrative, Mistry wrote another great, poignant and magnificent masterpiece.

The cover of this book, Savita, is a photograph made by Dario Mitidieri, showing a two and a half years girl from North Bombay, who performs for Arab tourists near the Taj-Mahal Hotel. (From the Children of Bombay series, 1992).

An interesting link should be mentioned here: A Fine Balance – Let’s talk about Bollywood!

4* Family Matters
5* A Fine Balance
TR Such a Long Journey

Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just arrived from Israel through BM.

This is the first book written by Rohinton Mistry that I’ve read and I really liked it.

The story is about the family of Nariman Vakeel, a 79-year-old Parsi widower who suffers from Parkinson’s disease. To worsen his physical health, he ends breaking his ankle, getting unable thus of getting around. Even living with his step-children, Coomy and Jal, they weren’t able to take good care of their father.

By forcing the circumstances, Nariman is forced to move to the flat of his younger daughter Roxanna and her family in a very tight apartment. By consequence, Roxanna’s family will face with new challenges, from economical point of view and her children’s education as well.

Some religious and social issues are raised by the author along the narrative, specially concerning the Parsi’s heritage after the Partition of India.

A very realistic story written by some sense of humor. In any case, a magnificent and unforgettable book. Now, I must read A Fine Balance.

A Division of the Spoils by Paul Scott

The Raj Quartet (2): The Towers of Silence, A Division of the Spoils by Paul Scott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The review of The Towers of Silence you can read here.

The title of the last part of The Raj Quartet series comes from Isaias’ proverb:

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.

The story describes the decamping of the British from India in the period of 1947-48. The main character is Guy Perron who became an observer of India on the eve of Independence.

There is a tragic event which describes the turbulent India-Pakistan partition thus ending this magnificent saga written by Paul Scott.

Only the first book of this series was dramatized at TV, The Jewel in the Crown (1984).

Related articles

• The Towers of Silence by Paul Scott (lnatal.wordpress.com)

 

The Towers of Silence by Paul Scott

The Towers of Silence by Paul Scott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is the third one of the series The Raj Quartet.

Some historical background which is important in order to follow the plot:

Pankot, Barbie Batchlor’s new home:

Page 50:
Gandhi’s quit India resolution (Quit India Movement), August 14th, 1942.

Page 100:
Subhas Chandra Bose takes the leadership of the Indian National Army.

Page 284:
…the defeat of the Japanese attempt to invade India at Imphal…

The plot is set in Pankot which is a “second class” hill station in the province which serves as a headquarters for the 1st Pankot Rifles, an important regiment of the Indian Army, who fought the Axis (the alignment of nations that fought in the Second World War against the Allied forces) in North Africa.

This is the story of Barbie Batchelor, an old missionary schoolteacher, who, after years of service to the church, decides to take her pension and retire. She finds a place as a paying guest with Mabel Layton, a member of the aristocracy of the English in India, at Rose Cottage in Pankot. Barbie and Mabel become close. Late one night, Mabel tells Barbie that she will only go to Ranpur when she’s buried, which Barbie interprets to mean that she wants to be buried in Ranpur, next to the grave of her late husband, James Layton.

Barbie is proud of her working class background and her simple Christianity, but she does her best to behave in a manner that makes upper-class Pankot comfortable. Unfortunately, they will never accept her as one of their own, treating her as a peculiar and unwanted intruder.

This book’s title is related to the Parsee’s Tower of Silence which is a circular, raised structure used by Zoroastrians for exposure of the dead, particularly to scavenging birds.

The sequel of this book is The Division of Spoils and is the final part of the Raj Quartet.

 

Nightrunners of Bengal by John Masters

Nightrunners of Bengal by John Masters My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Page 199:

It was not even yet an exact word, but a curse and a warning: This is the night. The word ran across the plains, leaped wide rivers, and raced through the jungles as a fire races under dry leaves. A woman tapped on a city wall and whispered it to her neighbor. One man cried it to another as their bullock carts passed in the fields. It set out at sunset from every place where sepoys were stationed; it traveled in every direction; and before the morning of Sunday, May 10, 1857, it had crossed and recrossed itself many times. People hurried home when they heard it, or bolted their doors, and waited. They did not know who was threatened this night, but it might be they. Some prayed; some shrugged; few went abroad.

Page 215:

“Remember Mangal Pande! Mangal Pande! This is the night of the raw flesh…Kill! The guns are coming. Kill them all! Kill or be hanged! Remember!”

Page 269:

A hundred years hence the inscriptions must be there to read on the memorials: Here English children were burned alive in theirs cots, and English women cut in pieces by these brown animals you see around you. DO NOT FORGET.

After have listened to the BBC dramatization based on this book, I decided I MUST read its printed version.

From those readers whom are interested on The Siege of Krishnapur, I do recommend Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell.

And not to forget Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald.

A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi

A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

This is the story of Anjali telling the story of her two marriages to Sandeep and his previous husband Prakash.

The central plot concerns Prakash had forgotten to pick up Anjali in the railway station to take her home which was the night of the Bhopal gas tragedy (December 3, 1984) – the gas explosion from the Union Carbide factory.

Both Anjali and her son Amar will suffer the consequences of Prakash’s irresponsible act.

This is a very touching story told by 4 narrators which are the main characters (including Indu, the second wife of Prakash) showing how their relationships interfere with their own lives.

Since the plot takes place during the 70’s and 80’s years in India, the author also mentions the social disapproval of a divorcee woman, a fact not so well accepted by her own relatives.

The assassination of Indira Gandhi by the Sikhs is also mentioned in the narrative.

 

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

This is the first book of the Ibis trilogy.

The story tells the saga of Ibis when traveling from America to India.

The saga of several characters are entwined in the plot, such as Deetie, a widow of a opium factory worker; Paulette, the daughter of a French botanist; Baboo Nob Kissin, a company’s accountant.

It took me a while until I managed to fix the narrative’s development due to the many existing of idiolects even if the author provided an extensive Chrestomathy by the end of the book.

The next volume of this trilogy is The River of Smoke.

Olivia and Jai by Rebecca Ryman

How to describe such magnificent book except by saying that : it MUST be read.

It is not a love story in the strictu sensu, on the contrary, it shows how love is close to hate.

The plot engages us into the story of India still under British rule where a lot of social conventions and prejudice among other factors.

The end still brings big and unexpected surprises, I won’t spoil this fabulous end.

There is sequel to this book, The Veil of Illusion.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

In my opinion, the main issue of this book is not about the proper choice (or not) of a child’s name by his parents when they try to keep a Bengali tradition.

The author’s challenge was to show how different cultures can collide to each other in very simple questions. First, Gogol denies his background by refusing his father simple explanation for their name’s choice. Only when he reaches his full maturity, he finds the real motivation for his namesake.

I personally didn’t like the character of Moushumi Mazumdar who is totally disconnected to her own identity.

A magnificent book, no doubt about that.

A very interesting movie The Namesake (2006) was adapted to this book.