Summer 2011 Reading

8/4/2019 Summer 2011 Reading

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Summer

Books

From a princess in hiding to a murder in aboarding school and from an intimate portrait

of a nations remaking to harnessing ourpower to change the world, readers have a

exciting array of characters and plots to enjoythis summer. Whether it is the biography of

Subhas Chandra Bose or Mahatma Gandhi, oran examination of female culture in India, the

narratives aim to entertain and enthrall.The South Asian literary scene has always

been a colorful one, and this summer is noexception. There are at least a dozen books

that are definitely worth devouring. Here is abrief overview of the dynamic dozen.

Looking for an engrossing summer read?

From suspense to biography,

Visi Tilaklists 12 books with

distinct Indian themes

TheSummer

Dozen

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hortlisted for the 2003

Man Booker Prize for her

Brick Lane, Britain-

based Monica Ali fiction-

alizes the life of Diana,

Princess of Wales, had

she not died so tragically.

What would have happened to her,

where would she be living if she were

alive today these are the imaginings in

Untold Story.

This book launches on the anniver-

sary of Dianas 50th birthday. In this

story, a fictional princess, believing that

the establishment is plotting her assassi-

nation, fakes her own death and begins a

new life under an assumed identity.

After a period of intense upheaval, she

settles in a small Midwestern American

town and over a period of 10 years starts

believing that her life is finally her own.

A chance encounter with a member of

the paparazzi robs her of that certainty

and leads up to a very dramatic end.

Untold Story is Monica Alis fourth

novel and has resulted in intense contro-

versy in the United Kingdom. publi-

cation of this novel could seem as a

shoddy cash-in, but it is a thoughtful,

compassionate and utterly untrashy

piece of work. It is also, in the last third

especially, a suspenseful and gripping

read, the Financial Times notes.

Untold StoryMonica AliScribner, $25

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ts impossible, reading Bhattacharya, not to be

reminded of V. S. Naipaul, even if he werent

referred to several times throughout the story.

Naipaul defined the lonely, empty middle

ground occupied by the descendants of Indian

immigrants living in Africa and the Caribbean

who no longer belong to any nation, The New

York Times says.

This debut novel is the adventure story of a 26-year-old

Indian cricket reporter who has left Bombay to explore

Guyanas exotic landscape and people. Life as we know it, is a

living shrinking affair, and somewhere down the line I became

taken with the idea that man and his world should be renewed

on a daily basis. Thus begins this novel whose prose is filled

with local voices and culture.

In vigorous yet lyrical prose employing a pungent vernac-

ular, Bhattacharya describes Guyanas horrid heat and thun-

derous rain in sensuous detail. Bhattacharyas distinctive

voice, which incorporates both Guyanese and Indian dialects,

results in an authentic and sybaritic tale, a starred review in

Publishers Weekly says.

The Sly Company ofPeople Who Care

Rahul BhattacharyaFarrar Strauss Giroux, $26

et during the monsoon of 1974, Miss Timmins

School for Girls is an intense, irreverent love

story and a dark murder mystery. A debut novel

by Nayana Currimbhoy, who attended an all-girls

boarding school, it is set at the confluence of three

cultures the conservatism of the heroines mid-

dle-class Brahmin family, the colonial mindset of

the boarding school officials and the rock n roll, drugs and freelove culture of the 1970s.

Charulata Apte, the protagonist, arrives at Miss Timmins

School three weeks before her 21st birthday. By day, she shares

Shrewsbury biscuits and tea with the schools British missionar-

ies and teaches Shakespeare to a bunch of privileged Indian girls;

by night she finds herself drawn to the troubled and charismatic

Moira Prince, a colleague with secrets of her own, and her pot-

smoking hippie friends.

One monsoon night, a teacher is murdered and Charu is

implicated. Suddenly, her real education begins. The book is an

engaging read and a page-turner one that is sure to keep the

summer thrilling.

Miss Timmins Schoolfor GirlsNayana CurrimbhoyHarper Collins, $14.99

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y the time you read this, I will be flying overthe Atlantic on my way to India. You will

have woken up alone and found the dia-

mond ring I left on the bedside table and

beneath it, this stack of papers that you

now hold. But for the moment you are

sleeping peacefully. Even when I lean

down, touch my face to yours, and inhale your scent, you do

not stir. Watching you sleep my heart aches. I have done a

terrible thing. Thus begins the The Girl in the Garden.

This debut novel by Kamala Nair is the redemptive jour-

ney of a young woman, unsure of her engagement, who

revisits in memory the events of one scorching childhood

summer. Her beautiful yet troubled mother spirits her away

from her home in the United States, to an Indian villageuntouched by time, where she discovers in the jungle behind

her ancestral house, a spellbinding garden that harbors a

terrifying secret. Written in expressive prose, this novel has a

fairy-tale quality to it. It uncovers surreptitious events, yet is

culturally mystifying.

The Girl in the GardenKamala Nair

Grand Central Publishing, $24.99

n rich lyrical prose, Sarita Mandanna narrates this

sweeping saga. The story is set in the southern Indian

region of Coorg between the late 19th century and the

Second World War.

The novels heroine is Devi, a girl so willful that, at

age 10, she declares to her mother that she will marry

no one other than Machaiah, a handsome local hero and

famed tiger hunter. She has no idea that her lifelong friend, the

shy, sensitive Devanna Machaiahs younger cousin harbors

his own hopes of marrying her. And so Tiger Hills seems bound

for territory already well trod by Jane Austen and Jennifer

Aniston, The New York Times review notes.

Written very elegantly, Mandannas debut novel is a triangle

involving Devi, the first girl to be born into the Nachimada fami-ly; Devanna, a boy whose mother has died under tragic circum-

stances; and Machu, a handsome young man regarded as a local

hero for killing a tiger a near impossible feat.

The Independent sums it up fittingly, The up-and-down

intrigue that binds the longed-for daughter Devi, her childhood

sweetheart Devanna, and the intrepid tiger-slayer Machu, may

come from familiar stock. But this novels strength stems from its

close and colorful attention to place and epoch. Change and con-

flict shake the fragile equilibrium between the local coffee-grow-

ing dynasties and European settlers in these sumptuous highland

landscapes. Sarita Mandannas spectacular fusion of history and

romance makes for an aromatic blend.

Tiger HillsSarita MandannaGrand Central Publishing, $24.99

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ccent neutralization and accent enhance-

ment courses abound in a country likeIndia where call center outsourcing is one

of the most lucrative fields for young grad-

uates. This new generation of twenty-

something Indians is the new face of India.

With this as the milieu, Bharati Mukherjee

presents Anjali Bose, a character who encapsulates a

moment in time.

Miss New India is the story of Anjalis rebirth. Born

into a traditional lower middle-class family in Gauripur, a

backwater town, she is faced with an unpleasant arranged

marriage. Armed with ambition, moxie and a gift for lan-

guage, she walks out of her parents home one night and

heads for Bangalore. She falls in love with an audacious and

ambitious crowd of young people who have learned to soundAmerican to get jobs as call center service agents, to quickly

outearn their parents. In this distinctly modern and urban

landscape, Anjali is able to confront her past and reinvent

herself. She is the epitome of Miss New India.

Miss New IndiaBharati Mukherjee

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25

ugata Bose is Gardiner Professor of History at Harvard

University. He is also the great grand nephew of Subhas

Chandra Bose, a contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi and a

prominent Indian freedom fighter. Subhas Chandra Bosewas also a highly controversial personality who advocated

for armed resistance to end British rule in India and sought

to join forces with the Nazis and other militarist regimes at

war with Britain. He is presumed to have died Aug. 18, 1945, in a plane

crash in Taiwan, though evidence of his death has not been universally

accepted. In fact, there have been several conspiracy theories about his

death, and claims that he actually survived the crash but feigned his death.

Sugata Boses biography claims to solve the mystery surrounding the death

and end many of the controversies about Subhas Chandra Bose.

Whether it does that or not, this book is very fascinating not just for

those who love history and politics, but for anyone who loves to read an

illustrious story about a famous person.

His Majestys Opponent:Subhas Chandra Bose andIndias Struggle AgainstEmpireSugata BoseBelknap Press, $35

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ho does not want to be a superhero, or figure out how to

harness power to change the world? Even for those who

are not fans of self-help books, this one happens to be an

intriguing read. The father-son duo reveals seven princi-

ples for rising to our potential and discovering the super-

hero within: balance, transformation, power, compas-

sion, intuition, creativity and transcendence. Together

these offer the potential to improve our lives and the world around us.

Superheroes have been part of the worlds culture since long before

Superman and Spider-Man. In this remarkable book, the insightful Deepak

Chopra probes the amazing origin of superheroes dating back to Buddha and

Lord Shiva a reading experience not to be missed, says Stan Lee co-creator of

Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, The Avengers, Thor and The Hulk.

Some may laugh off the concept and find it hard to believe that they can

exploit their own latent superpowers, but others believe that each one of us has

at least one secret force that we have to discover and harness. That is what makes

each of us unique and special. Read, analyze and implement, and this book may

actually make you a superhero before the summer is out.

The Seven Spiritual Lawsof Superheroes:

Harnessing Our Power toChange the World

Deepak Chopra withGotham Chopra

HarperOne, $25.99

very Indian-American experiences a feeling of lost

identity. In Western society, ones Indian roots

are easier balanced in language than in reality. In

this book, Anand Giridharadas explores his own

past, narrating the story of his parents marriage

and emigration, his own choice to move back to

India and the resistance he felt as a latecomer to

the Indian party. Torn between his Indian roots and American

upbringing, his own transformation through this book is as com-

pelling and complex as his intimate portrait of a nations remak-ing.

Giridharadas, a journalist and columnist for the New York

Times and International Herald Tribune, depicts a country

gripped by powerful forces of transformation. Besides business,

foreign investment and global politics, he also scrutinizes individ-

uals seeking to reconcile old traditions and customs with new

ambitions and dreams. India Calling is a wonderfully written

book.

India Calling: AnIntimate Portrait of a

Nations RemakingAnand GiridharadasHenry Holt & Co., $25


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ow can we best understand the India of today? It

is the seventh-largest country geographically, the

second-most populous and the most populous

democracy in the world. Perhaps, we should look

to the people specifically some of those respon-

sible for the making of the modern state.

In Makers of Modern India, the first major

anthology of Indian social and political thought, Ramachandra Guha, an

established historian, brings together writings and speeches from 19 key

political figures of the 19th and 20th centuries to highlight the range and

diversity of ideas about the forming nation.

Guhas selection of writings includes a broad ideological spectrum lib-

eral, socialist, lower caste, feminist -- and also encompasses Indias diverse

linguistic cultures. He acknowledges the writers perspectives are sometimes

complementary and, more often, competitive, yet he manages to give a

coherent shape to the wide range of views assembled. He selects works from

well-known figures Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath

Tagore and lesser-known figures Raja Rammohan Roy, Bal Gangadhar

Tilak, E.V. Ramasamy and for each one, he includes passages that express

some of the writers central ideas as well a sense of their language and local

interests. Makers of Modern India begins with an extensive introduction

and includes biographical sketches of each figure and guides for further

reading. Guha is a learned historian whose writing and subject matter do

not fail to captivate.

Makers ofModern India

Ramachandra GuhaBelknap Press, $35

his is an incisive and witty memoir that explores

the female culture in India. It is a cultural exami-

nation that peels back the stereotypical image of

India as a land of call centers, yoginis and

Bollywood to reveal an ancient place where,

Miranda Kennedy claims, womens lives have

scarcely changed for centuries.

Sideways on a Scooter is a personal account of Kennedys

experiences during her time in India as a reporter for National

Public Radio. As she settles and builds a life for herself, she is

pulled closely into the lives of several Indian women, six of whom

play a key role in this memoir. Kennedy is immersed in their

lives and to an American whose cultural background of India is

next to nothing, most daily things seem very unique and differ-

ent.

This is not Eat, Pray, Love. This is someone who is looking,

experiencing, absorbing, analyzing and reporting. Looking at the

daily lives of Indian women from the perspective of an American,

especially one whose writing is masterful, makes for excellent

reading.

Sideways on a ScooterMiranda KennedyRandom House, $26


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hen Joseph Lelyveld decided to pen Mahatma

Gandhis biography, it is highly unlikely he

anticipated the outrage it has generated. In the

West, the book was well received, but in India,

many claimed it portrayed Gandhi as a bisexu-

al with a relationship with one of his disciples,the German-Jewish architect and bodybuilder

Hermann Kallenbach, a charge that Lelyveld insists is incorrect.

It is a responsible book, it is a sensitive book, it is a book that is

admiring of Gandhi and his struggle for social justice in India and

it's been turned into as if it is some kind of sensationalist potboiler.

It is not, he says.

Lelyveld was executive editor of the New York Times from 1994

to 2001. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author and a

frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books. In his rigor-

ous biography of Gandhi, he offers an unexpected perspective one

that focuses more on the Mahatmas failures and vexations than his

triumphs.

Gandhis story is one of the most inspiring in history, and

Joseph Lelyveld proves himself equally inspiring in telling the story.This book is a brilliant and glittering match, brimming with well,

souls, Nicholas D. Kristof, columnist for the New York Times,

writes.

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen describes the book as a deeply

insightful analysis of perhaps the most intriguing political leader of

our time. A marvelous book.

Though it is not a light read, it is a must-read

Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhiand His Struggle With IndiaJoseph LelyveldKnopf, $28.95


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