Lately, there’s been a cultural love affair with India. From Slumdog Millionaire to sari-inspired fashions on the Ports 1961 runway, India’s religion, décor, and food has become a subject of intrigue to popular culture. So there’s no doubt that fascination has extended to the literary realm. Books for years have tapped on the unique culture of one of the most populated countries in the world, one which has existed through centuries of empires, ornate architecture, trades with the Western world, Bollywood, and cutting-edge technology.
Author John Shors wrote one beloved book about India, a novel about the building of the Taj Mahal. The story, Beneath a Marble Sky, is a love story, both gruesome and endearing, that sweeps readers away into a world of war, passion, oppression, art and Hinduism. Robin said the book “made me want to travel to India and the Taj Mahal” and it “kept me turning the pages.” Sara describes it as “disturbing, painful, yet utterly beautiful” and Kaitlin was impressed with the book’s “really inventive spin on what happened during the time” a historical fiction that could define the genre with its ability to fuse plot and historical accuracy.
Set in New England rather than India, The Namesake, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, follows a Bengali boy into manhood and his struggle to accept his Indian heritage and newfound Americanism. A gripping story with elegant, descriptive writing, The Namesake gives readers a peek into the strict traditions of Indian culture and the balance first-generation Indian Americans must find to succeed in both worlds. Jason says it “really brings home the immigrant experience, both good and bad, across multiple generations” and Douglas cited that there are “beautiful comments on the nature of being a foreigner.” The prose here, however, really sets the book apart. As Joseph explains, “It’s clear that [Lahiri’s] strength lies in compact and incisive observations about characters in flux. In just a few short lines, she paints fully developed figures with rich pasts and heading toward and uncertain future.”
You can hardly talk of the Indian love affair without including Salman Rushdie and his novel, The Enchantress of Florence. Following a European traveler to the Mughal emperor’s court, the plot involves power, desire, treachery, and self-discovery, the type of story you can’t put down, especially with Rushdie’s writing. Jessica was delighted by “Rushdie’s clever, humorous style” and Cristoforo appreciated his “seamless incorporation of real world historical figures with an elaborate fiction of epic proportions.” Kailash rediscovered her love of Rushdie, calling him a “magician of words” and it made her “marvel at the heights to which human imagination can reach when at its inspired best.”
PS - the bold names of those quoted are just names of LivingSocial: Books members.
1 comment:
hey, all of those books sound good! haha. i think i remember you telling me about The Namesake. Maybe that's where i need to start with this whole India thing :)
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