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Rahul Bhattacharya

Forfatter af The Sly Company of People Who Care

3 Works 168 Members 4 Reviews

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Includes the name: Rahul Bhattacharya

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Fødselsdato
1979
Køn
male
Erhverv
journalist

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This book would not appeal to those who do not know the game of cricket. But again it may. As this book is not a typical tour diary. It talks about the game and not in terms of statistics but that of a viewers observations. And what an observation. It adds humour, fun and imbues the whole narrative with the fragrance, taste and ethos of the city and its people. How in this divided subcontinent (it's tour of Inda to Pakistan after ages) we still love the game, have same pallete and shared way of celebration. The food, the vistas are so much part of shared past.

This book stands out in that respect. Its a tour diary at the same time a time of discovery of lands and places, which still resides in our memory, our cuisines, our culture ; all made distant by the politics of time current and past. It was like visiting cousins during summer holidays and enjoying each and every moment of it, including ofcourse the games and the performances of the stars. I highly recommend this.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
RaVini | Aug 14, 2020 |
Guyana had the feel of an accidental place. Partly it was the epic indolence. Partly it was the ethnic composition. In the slang of the street there were chinee, putagee, buck, coolie, blackman, and the combinations emanating from these, a separate and large lexicon. On the ramble in such a land you could encounter a story every day.

The twenty-something Indian narrator returns to Guyana, where he once spent a week, seeking relief from his restlessness. He plans to spend a year there and then return to India. He doesn't have a goal other than to observe the culture and see as much of the country as possible. Over the course of the year he forms loose partnerships with a string of individuals who become short-term traveling companions.

Parts of the book are very good, and the rest is either over my head or ineffective. Most of the conversations are written in Guyanese street slang and it makes very difficult reading. There are frequent references to alternative music genres that are completely unfamiliar to me. The book has won some literary prizes and been shortlisted for others, so maybe it's just me. I know I'm not the right audience for the book. However, I'm having trouble deciding who would be in the target audience. I'm not certain that even readers who read mostly from among the short- or long-lists for literary prizes will have the patience for this one. I stuck it out because of its descriptions of Guyana, which is why I wanted to read it in the first place. I couldn't help wondering why the author chose to write this as a novel when it would have made a very good literary travel book. Guyana is a very small nation, with a population of less than 1 million. Perhaps the author thought it would be safer to distance himself from his Guyanese acquaintances through fiction.
… (mere)
½
 
Markeret
cbl_tn | 2 andre anmeldelser | Oct 30, 2014 |

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Statistikker

Værker
3
Medlemmer
168
Popularitet
#126,679
Vurdering
½ 3.5
Anmeldelser
4
ISBN
15

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