http://desicritics.org/ Superior South Asian bloggers on Culture, Media, Politics, Sport, Business, and Technology. en Copyright 2006 by the authors Mon, 25 Sep 2006 05:08:08 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss BC custom software http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-22861 Another great Bombay novel: The Moor's Last Sigh by Rushdie. 22861@desicritics.org Mon, 25 Sep 2006 05:08:08 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21413 enjoyed the sparring..spurred enough into reading the book. 21413@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 05:25:08 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21405 Ashok, the review will be for some other time. Right now I'm just honing up my rebuttal. Smile. 21405@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 04:12:22 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21404 True, although it was a Hyderabad professor who first clamoured for the fatwah. The book review made it redundant for said professor--and most who followed in his fanatical path--to actually read the book. Which prompted me to comment in a column back then (I was a prolific columnist at the time) that there are two kinds of readers: Those who read books, and those who read book reviews. Look forward to your reviews then, Mayank. And let me sayy, I've often found that coming back to a after a while can change one's perspective completely. If you write a revisitation of your views on A Suitable Boy, I would be more than willing to reread the book in light of those comments and reconsider it accordingly. I don't think in fixed and unmoving ways, especially when it comes to books. Although I always reserve the right to state my own opinion strongly and clearly. Vive La Difference! :~) 21404@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 04:05:08 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21400 Ashok, considering that how much contempt I hold for people like Bal Thackeray, Narendra Modi and LK Advani, I can only share your apprehensions regarding fascist intolerance. Different opinions, on the other hand, only enrich the debate and make all of us a bit wiser. As to whether book reviews can lead to dangers of Nazism: Those who wish for it are always in quest of excuses. And book reviews come quite handy. Remember, Salman Rushdie fatwa started after the publication of journalist Madhu Jain's review of 'The Satanic Verses' in the India Today magazine in 1987. Clearly, danger and its opportunities lurk everywhere....smile.... 21400@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 03:34:46 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21398 Mayank, I think Aaman and The Buddha Smiled say it well: Book reviews are wide and varied. But just to clarify one point: When I say I read A Suitable Boy in 'short bursts', I meant short bursts of about 300-400 pages at a time! I read Sacred Games the same way. Aaman is right, your comments are interesting enough to expand to a post in its own right. Your call, of course. I enjoy dissent and am always open to differing points of view. I like two of the books you mention, but would hesitate to include GOST in that shortlist--or even to categorically list just three books. When I refer to Sacred Games as the Great Bombay Novel, I don't mean it's the ONLY great Bombay novel, that's a phrase one uses--the Great American Novel, the Great New York/Bombay/London novel, etc. You really can't rank writers, artists, books, etc, with numbers, IMHO. The beauty of our age is that all works can co-exist simultaneously--there is no 'competition' either in terms of sales or choice. We can read two widely differing works and love both, hate both, or any combination thereof. My only intent in comparing A Suitable Boy with Sacred Games was due to their length and international hype. I welcome your comments and respect your opinion--there's more than enough room in this world for all opinions, and no one (or two, or three) are the 'right' ones. That way lies fascist intolerance, and I don't think book reviewing lends itself to Nazism! :~) 21398@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 03:10:12 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21397 No. That would be a different ballgame alltogether. This post would only be a rebuttal to Mr Banker's opinions on 'A Suitable Boy'. 21397@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 03:04:56 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21396 Sure, you might want to expand it to a larger analysis of the nature of book opinions, or perhaps a fuller review of Suitable Boy - your call 21396@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 03:02:55 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21394 Aaman, should I sumbit it as a seperate post than? And The Buddha Smiled: Vikram Chandra is a very good writer. His sister is also good. Book opinions are varied. That is also true. Good luck with your tube reading. 21394@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 03:01:18 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21392 Mayank, I'd have to agree with Aaman on this one - especially since I'd have to take violent exception of your inclusion of GOST (a novel I cannot stand!) and the absence of "The Shadow Lines"... so let's agree to disagree on this one... As an aside, I just picked Sacred Games this weekend - it will be my Tube reading for the next few days as I heft it back and forth between home and work...am looking forward to it, especially since I liked Red Earth & Pouring Rain so much... 21392@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:51:04 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21391 Mayank, that can be a full post in it's own right. Book opinions are wide and varied, as any reader would aver. 21391@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:41:42 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21390 Ashok, I'm pleased that you seemed to have such a pleasant time reading the latest Vikram Chandra. But your opinions of Mr Seth's 'Suitable Boy' have left me mildly agitated. It is amazing that a same book could leave such different impressions on different readers. When I read 'A Suitable Boy' for the first time, which was around five years back, I was completely captivated by its characters, its setting, its numerous and richly described themes - sometimes Jane Austenish and sometimes Dickenisan. I believed that the novel did not leave a scope for any improvement. It was perfect. Yes, the book did tax my wrists, but at no point did it sprain my brain. I read the book for the fourth time early this year and am still extremely fond of it. Besides, unlike you, I can not savor 'A Suitable Boy' in 'short bursts'. While I recognize that the chief families in the novel belonged to the upper class society of post-independent India (North India that is) who lived a British-influenced life, I never imagined the book to be too 'perfumed and powdered'. I also fear that you are wrong in suspecting the titular character as a thinly veiled alter-ego of Mr Seth himself. If we understand 'A Suitable Boy' as the character who gets to marry the heroine - Lata Mehra - in the end, then it was Haresh, the shoe company executive. The character which Mr Seth sketched on himself was actually Amit Chatterjee – the England educated poet of Calcutta, who was in love with Lata but was rejected. Hardly a suitable boy (the titular character) than! Further, you have described 'A Suitable Boy' as a romance 'grotesquely transplanted to post-Independent India'. I was pained reading such a fiercely negative description. I fear that reading the novel in 'short bursts' did not do you credit. The novel was hardly a romance. It was true that Lata had a short-lived romantic entanglement with a Muslim boy - Kabir - but she had swiftly dissociated herself following her mother's objections. After that romance fizzled out from Lata's life. Later the chief theme centered on the proceedings of rituals that serve as a countdown to a traditional Indian arranged marriage; and not to romance. As a matter of fact Lata never even falls in love with Haresh – the winning suitor. He just seemed the most stable and sensible guy to spend the rest of life with - hardly the stuff romances are made of! In 'A Suitable Boy', there was no romance and it did not really have a romantic ending. Though there was much comedy, tragedy and despair running throughout the thick novel. Lastly, you accused Mr Seth of being too sugary and having too much of ambition while writing this epic. These are, of course, strictly your opinions. As of me, I feel there are only three great novels, so far, that define the literary milestones of modern Indian literature in English: Midnight's Children A Suitable Boy The God of Small Things As for Mr Chandra's new novel, I'm now hesitant to trust in your generous recommendations. Thankyou. 21390@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 02:38:07 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21380 The great Bombay book will always remain 'The Moor's Last Sigh'. Period. 21380@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 01:45:19 EDT http://desicritics.org/2006/09/11/012315.php#comment-21378 How many Great Novels does Bombay need, or have? I'm still waiting for the Great Bangalore Novel:) Haven't bought this one yet, plowing through so many others that I've deferred it for the nonce, but the temptation is strong... 21378@desicritics.org Mon, 11 Sep 2006 01:40:09 EDT