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Print pick

Sea of Poppies Amitav Ghosh Penguin Rs. 599

Set in Calcutta of the 1800s, “Sea of Poppies”, the first of a planned trilogy, has all the lush unpredictable, activity of the historical novel, grounded in vast amounts of research, but Ghosh’s plot ensures that readers are not told more than the tale requires them to know.

“Sea of Poppies” opens in Bihar, with the opium-cultivating Deeti, soon to be widowed, who will escape sati by running away, and as it progresses, we meet several intriguing characters including landlords, an American sailor, a Frenchwomen, a British merchant, and several Bengalis.

The lives of each of these characters and their encounters with each other are written with an unusual degree of care and one is constantly surprised by a new turn of events, by something a character does and what it brings on.

Since a significant part of the story-time is on the Ibis, on its way towards China with the Indian opium, there is a liberal sprinkling of ship pidjin, and you will find yourself constantly breaking into a smile as at “Malum Zikri! Captin-bugger blongi poo-shoo-foo... No can chow-chow tiffin. Allo tim do chhee-chhee, pee-pee. Plenty smelly in Captin cabin.”

Good reading.

Kari

Amruta Patil Harper Collins Rs. 295

Amruta Patil’s Kari may not make it to the list of great graphic novels – the graphics and text are interesting but rarely sparkling – but both the artist and her work will always have a special place in the world of the Indian grap hic novel; Patil ranks among the pioneers.

Kari is about Kari, a dyke advertising professional and her housemates, colleagues, the love of her life – Ruth – and the dying Angel.

First Among Sequels Jasper Fforde Hodder & Stoughton 6. 90 Pounds

The fifth in the Thursday Next series, “First among Sequels” is often cited as one of Fforde’s best. All the usual Fforde devices are here, and Thursday is again involved in the work of keeping works of literature as they should be, and strange things are happening all the time, in the world of these books, so there’s always something for Thursday to do.

It’s good reading – imagine being able to “go into” a book and meet all the characters that you’ve read about, imagine being part of a book “coming alive”…and yet, on a bad day it’s not impossible to feel that if you’ve read one Fforde, you’ve more or less got them all….

Goodnight and God Bless

Anita Nair Penguin Rs. 399

I began Anita Nair’s latest, “Goodnight and God Bless” on the wrong note; the sub-title: “On Life, Literature and a Few Other Things, with Footnotes, Quotes and Other Such Literary Diversions” embarrassed me, making me want to turn away and pretend I wasn’t holding the book.

I guess as far as sub titles, go, this one’s not too bad, so I guess the embarrassment came of knowing that Ms. Nair’s writing on literature is fluffy, self-indulgent and with a laboured lightness. “Goodnight and God Bless” is all of those things; and one tends to dismiss the entire mode, which is a pity, because in those rare flashes where the writer seems to forget herself, one can see how this might have been a better book!

As I’ve said before, it could be just me; I have heard that there are people who can read Anita Nair with enjoyment.

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