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Indlæser... Belejringen af Krishnapur (1973)af J. G. Farrell
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Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. A well-written historical novel which taught me about the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 and the Enfield Rifle and much of British behavior in the India of that era. I am enthused enough to go on to [b:The Singapore Grip|10800918|The Singapore Grip|J.G. Farrell|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417E2nDmblL._SL75_.jpg|1169290]. ( ) I enjoyed this book. Though a work of fiction, JG Farrell made extensive use of contemporary diaries and accounts written by English residents at the time of the Indain Mutiny, to enable him to write authentically about the imaginary siege which is the subject of this book. At times I found it hard to believe that he had not passed significant periods of his life in India. His account of day-to-day life, and specifically his feel for the lives of the British in 19th century colonial India seemed authentic (as if I know anything much myself!). Though his characters are drawn with affection, there is something of the feeling of caricature in many of them, and in particular for the very few Indians depicted in the book. Several of the personalities are at once heroic and near-insane, but the abiding impression is that The Empire doesn't come out of this at all well, though individuals may. Fantastic read... I had this book my kindle for about half a decade but could never manage to go beyond a couple of pages. I decided to persist and finished reading it in a couple of days. I loved it. The book has all the hallmarks that would one expect from British Raj era and it is also a treatise on the White Man's Burden. This is the only time I sided with the British despite being an Indian :)
Farrell is the funniest novelist in English since Evelyn Waugh, with the same eye for the absurd as Tom Sharpe. This is the fictitious account, hilarious and horrifying by turns, of a besieged British garrison which held out for four months in the summer of 1857, the year of the Great Indian Mutiny, against a horde of native Sepoys. Despite the omens, the young British cavalry officers continue to indulge their taste for galloping into the nearest memsahib's drawing room, jumping over the sofas and then filling their sola topis with champagne instead of water to quench their horses' thirst. It is left to the Governor of Krishnapur, a sensitive, cultured man with a collection of treasures in his residence, to prepare for the siege. By the end of it cholera, starvation and the Sepoys have done for most of the inhabitants, who are reduced to eating beetles and, in the absence of powder and shot, loading their cannons with monogrammed silver cutlery and false teeth. The final retreat of the British, still doggedly stiff-upper-lipped, through the pantries, laundries, music rooms and ballroom of the residency, using chandeliers and violins as weapons, is a comic delight. And so is the usually serious Tim Pigott-Smith, whose repertoire of characters, from petulant maharajas to pink-faced subalterns - "I say, may we come in, we've come to relieve you" - is dazzling. 1974-09-30 Farrell can write with a fury to match his theme. As spectacle, The Siege of Krishnapur has the blaze and the agony of a scenario for hell. But as moral commentary, it is overcalculated—and its ironies unsuitably neat. Indeholdt iIndeholder elevguideHæderspriserNotable Lists
Tør ironisk skildring af den engelske koloni i Krishnapur, en afkrog af Indien, i det dramatiske år 1857, da Sepoy-oprøret i blodig dramatik forstyrrede selskaberne og thedrikningen. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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