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Anjali Joseph

Forfatter af Saraswati Park

4 Works 171 Members 11 Reviews

Værker af Anjali Joseph

Saraswati Park (2010) 126 eksemplarer
Another Country (2012) 25 eksemplarer
The Living (2016) 14 eksemplarer
Keeping in Touch (2021) 6 eksemplarer

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I very much enjoyed this author’s previous novel Saraswati Park but admit to being a little disappointed in this one. As Leela fails to engage in her own personal life, I too, failed to feel engaged in hers. Although appreciating that it maybe a fair rendering , I struggled to empathise with her and found the ending unsatisfactory.
½
 
Markeret
HelenBaker | 1 anden anmeldelse | Jun 6, 2021 |
I really didn't connect with this book in any way. We first meet Leela in Paris, where she is working as a teacher (subject unclear) and having various unsatisfactory relationships with men. Then we find her in London, working in publishing and in an unsatisfactory relationship with another man. I don't understand why this book needed writing, no woman should be defining herself in relation to men in the way Leela. She felt very immature, even though by the time of the end of the book she must have been late 20s. Possibly there's a cultural influence here, in that Leela is Indian and it's possible that imparts a certain cultural sense in this definition of sense. Felt to me that she needed to work out what she wanted, rather than trying to fit in everywhere. Not convincing, not terribly enjoyable and i fail to see why a book like this needs to be written in the 21st century.… (mere)
 
Markeret
Helenliz | 1 anden anmeldelse | Jun 11, 2020 |
"a lovely quiet come off the page, it was rich and held shards of past experiences."

This book is set in a fictional quiet suburb of Bombay (now Mumbai), Saraswati Park, and centres around a middle-aged married couple Mohan and Lakshmi. Their lives are settled, mundane and unexciting until one day Mohan's nephew Ashish comes to live with them for a year when work compels Ashish's parents have to leave the city. As Ashish struggles with school and relationships Mohan and Lakshmi must also confront the quiet little discontents that have grown and been left unspoken between them during many years of marriage.

Mohan belongs to a vanishing trade as a writer, spending his days sitting in the middle of the bustling city writing letters and money orders for the illiterate but he still manages to find peace and quiet in the chaos. He loves the sound of the pigeons overhead and to huddle with his fellow writers around cups of hot tea. Books are his passion and at home he sits quietly, drifting in and out of the novels he is reading barely aware of his surroundings. Lakshmi has no interest in books preferring TV soaps for her entertainment and now that their own children have flown the nest find their lives are slowly almost imperceptibly drifting apart.

When Ashish comes to stay with them, things start to unravel. So when Laksmi’s brother dies her underlying frustrations become apparent and she leaves the city to stay with her family helping to look after an ailing relative. It soon becomes evident that both are disappointed with their marriage. Mohan's life has become sedentary but Lakshmi’s absence spurs him into starting to write about what he sees about him and his experiences. The first steps are very tentative but through Ashish’s influence he gets more confident and one of his stories wins a prize and is published.

Ashish is in many respects like Mohan. He is a quiet student, who has to repeat a year because of poor attendance, he appears passive rather than pro-active but there is also a deep sadness within him. He loses one boyfriend shortly after moving in with his aunt and uncle and although he finds someone else this relationship also ends abruptly. Finally he realises that to have any future he must not only leave the city but he also leave the country and sets off for America.

Saraswati Park is therefore about love,marriage and loss but also about the power of imagination and memories, the beauty and danger of reading and ultimately also about writing.

Overall given that this was the author's first novel I felt that that she produced an accomplished piece of writing. You could see the combination of the outside world and the pressures that it puts on interior lives, meaning that the portrayal of the three characters was very good. However, I also felt that it was missing something. The plot was polite rather than dramatic and whilst you got some colour from this vibrant, disparate city (I had the good fortune to spend 5 or 6 weeks there some 30 years ago) I felt she just skimmed over the surface of it. It felt like a homage to it rather than a true exploration and as such I felt that I learnt nothing new or compelling. Overall I felt that this was an enjoyable read whilst it lasted but a bit like a salad or McDonalds not one that will live long in the memory.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
PilgrimJess | 6 andre anmeldelser | Apr 26, 2020 |
Mohan is a 59 year old letter-writer in Bombay, an occupation which has been long respected but the need is now diminishing due to improved literacy and the availability of cheap mobile phones. He spends much of his day observing the passersby and imagining their lives. His sister asks if he and his wife, Lakshmi, will provide a home for his nephew, Ashish, as he repeats his final year of study. Ashish is confronting his own homosexuality and struggles to stay focused on his studies. When Lakshmi's brother dies suddenly, she starts reflecting on her life and marriage and seizes the opportunity to support another family member who is ill, leaving Mohan and Ashish to fend for themselves. Mohan starts writing short stories and becomes aware of his own failings in his married life.

I found this a quick but nonetheless satisfying debut novel. The characters are well-drawn and evoke the readers compassion. The author creates a vivid picture of contemporary domestic life in India.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
HelenBaker | 6 andre anmeldelser | Oct 15, 2019 |

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Statistikker

Værker
4
Medlemmer
171
Popularitet
#124,899
Vurdering
3.2
Anmeldelser
11
ISBN
25
Sprog
1

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