Sunday, April 8, 2007

Pankaj Mishra 'The Romantics'

What do you make of an auther who has THE NEW YORK POST to THE WASHINGTON POST eating out of his hands. Well almost . Pankaj Mishra is a well known figure among the Literary circles in US and UK. His fame is still a mystery to me. I suppose the Western press looks at him as an expert on Indian English writing.
I read Pankaj Mishra's 'The Romantics' and let me be frank , I was not much impressed. I would have bypassed him altogether but for a friend who pestered me into reading this book.
The story is about an Indian who meets some foreigners while living in the holy town of Banares , his fascination with the white skin and ultimate disillusionment . As I commented to my friend
"From a first book perspective , 'The Romantics' is more like an autobiography with elements of fantasy thrown in. Of course , 'butter chicken' doesn't count. But each one to his own. You are fascinated by romantics because you see some part of it reflecting yourself and your experiences. We all read the same thing but come away with our own interpretation of the experience . The issue here is empathy. You could connect with the 'Hero' at a deeper level , whereas I could not. I was kinda observer while reading while you were a participant. After all , the success of a novel depends on how many people it can touch base with. More the merrier."

The ending is rather facile and left me dissatisfied . It was as if the author had suddenly decided that enough was enough and put an end to a rather sordid drama. Though I must confess that the narrative in first person is haunting whith some deft touches to the background and setting.
The plot was also weak. Is plot important to a story? I will throw my views on it later.
Here is a free site with all the Literary agents and publishers . It is the best site for writers looking for agents. And Gerard Jones is hilarious and a great time pass. I am adding a link to the site .

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