Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Reading

Reading has been restricted to the Sports page on Hindu for half a year now. The last book I read was somewhere in last July -(dont remember the time exactly) - It was the Sea of Poppies by Amitabh Ghosh.
I enjoyed reading it for the first time. But then I have this habit of immediately re-reading a thing I like. This book didnt allow me so.
The language with Amitabh Ghosh becomes too English. And though this book has a contextual relation to Britons, still I would have relished a different flavor. When I say - English - I do not intend to mean that the language is something like how writers from England would script - but rather as something of an Indian writer who overtly owes his allegiance to all that the word ENGLISH encompasses. Ghosh's affinity to the traditional English lingo (may be academic jargon terms it more Oxfordian) is apparent throughout the book despite using a much researched vocabulary on Indian colloquials on nautical terms.

Having said that - I recommend it a 'should read' for all. Especially for the story telling and for some fortunates like me who have quite recently come out of opium addiction.

3 comments:

Runa said...

true about the fact about Indian authors over-showing their commitment to write in english...almost gives me a subservient effect

Anonymous said...

Dont know abt Fiction ..bit I read this book called "Curfewed night " by Basharat Peer .I thought the author has written Kashmiri in English :) . Pakistani authors are worth a read ..Mohsin Ahmed ( Reluctant Fundamentalist , Moth smoke), Mohd. Hanif (A Case of Exploding Mangoes) come to my mind instantly...I am reading The order of light by Haroon Moghul presently ..

Sid @ Blore

Anonymous said...

Finally, there shouldn't the transformation of the subject and meaninig of the stuff needs to be same. The way we see a thing from diffrent angle will not change its defination after all.