Nayantara Sahgal

This book took me an awfully long time to finish. But it was worth the long read- the language is very relatable to a native Hindi speaker, though I wonder someone who can't easily translate 'ashes on their head' to the colloquial meaning may find this book tiresome. The book is steeped in contemporary world happenings as the story of Bhushan slowly, very slowly unfolds. The Caliphate is abolished, the Khilafat movement is going on, Turkey is modernising with Ataturk and finally the Lahore conspiracy happens & of course, the Bolsheviks are always coming. The book is an interesting perspective of the upper class privileged folks under the British rule to the freedom struggle, to Gandhi. Bhushan is an interesting character- dull and insipid- it must take a lot of patience to paint this character and make a story for him. His slow story during his imprisonment is made up for by elegant characters around him- the comrades. I loved the end of the story, just when the slowness and drudgery of the story was beginning to get to you, Nayantara comes up with a charming end-game.… (mehr)

Deze roman geeft en veelklerig, fascinerend en vaak ontluisterend beeld van de recente geschiedenis van Inda. De lezer is getuige van korruptie en diktatuur onder het bewind van 'Mevrouw', een op Indira Gandhi geïnspireerd personage. Het is zowel een meeslepende familieroman over Indiase upperclasse als een onthullende politieke roman.

fragment:
Hun vrouwen, goed doorvoede leeuwinnen, die zaten te knipogen in hun bier , kregen slaap en raakten de draad kwijt van al die heldendaden die om hen heen als breiwerk uitgerafeld werden^p 204… (mehr)