[8NH]≡ PDF Gratis Land Where I Flee Prajwal Parajuly 9781780872971 Books

Land Where I Flee Prajwal Parajuly 9781780872971 Books

Download As PDF : Land Where I Flee Prajwal Parajuly 9781780872971 Books

Land Where I Flee Prajwal Parajuly 9781780872971 Books

I found the book had well-chosen characters. The story-line was believable and thought-provoking. A family reunion brings about many trials and tribulations surrounding their sense of identity.


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Land Where I Flee Prajwal Parajuly 9781780872971 Books Reviews

The characters in the book are unlikable, that makes them fascinating. You don’t like any of them but you also root for them. Overall, a fun and energetic book.
My grateful thanks to Quercus for the lovely review copy.

To commemorate Chitralekha Nepauney’s Chaurasi – her landmark 84th birthday – Chitralekha’s grandchildren are travelling to Gangtok to pay their respects. All three harbour the same dual objective to emerge from the celebrations with their grandmother’s blessing and their nerves intact a goal that will become increasingly impossible thanks to a mischievous maid and a fourth, uninvited guest.

So I really enjoy a good bit of family drama, especially when it is well formed and often hilarious as is the case right here.

An eclectic mix of brilliantly portrayed characters come together and over the course of a funny, insightful and often emotional story we learn more about them and where they have come from.

It is a cultural soundbite about an area and a people I know little about -or knew little about until I read this book - the background is fascinating, covering many little rituals and observations on life that are endlessy intriguing. Set against the backdrop of the Gorkhaland movement I learned a lot as I went.

My favourite character was Prashanti,without a doubt, but they are all marvellous people to reside with for a while, some of them formidable indeed.

An absolutely captivating tale. Recommended.

Happy Reading Folks!
This is a debut novel from Prajwal Parajuly which brings several strands to the reader’s attention. It is set in Gangtok, a Nepali-speaking area in the Himalaya of India – people originally ousted from Bhutan. The author’s passion for this area of the country and its history is truly palpable.

Grandmother Chitralekha – Amaa to her grandchildren – is about to celebrate her landmark 84th birthday, the Chaurasi, and she awaits the arrival of 3 grandchildren. The fourth grandchild is not invited. This is very much a story about belonging, about resettlement and dislocation, and what it is like to live far away from indigenous and familiar country and culture. For granddaughter Bhagwati, caste issues have literally cast her out – she married her husband Ram in haste, who is a Damaai, an untouchable. In Boulder, Colorado where they have settled after several years in a refugee camp, they hardly give it a second thought, but it will be a huge factor when she re-enters her Grandmother’s house; Agastaya is a doctor in New York and he is with Nicky, male, an unacceptable liaison in his Grandmother’s small town; Manasa, foul-tempered and cutting, has despatched her husband and paraplegic father-in-law to a different location, whilst she endures the reunion. The interactions and dialogue amongst the characters are vivid, and one can almost hear them speaking to each other in vociferous and raucous chatter.

Prasanti, (originally Prasant) the eunuch who tends Grandmother, is always present and always good for an invidious jibe or some histrionics. To all intents and purposes, she is treated as the true granddaughter.

This is a book full of Indian experience, colour and observation, it is full of vernacular, Manas sharply correcting Nicky that it is not Diwali for the Nepali speaking people, but Tihaar. There are lots of colloquial words punctuating the prose with the intention, I believe, to make the story feel more authentic. But it has the opposite effect, it starts to alienate because there is no glossary to assist. This, no doubt, serves to mirror the experience of dislocation that perhaps Bhagwati and Ram experience in Boulder as refugees.

Parajuly has is an original voice but in this novel he has struggled to keep the story cohesive. Is this a story about a family reunion, or is the story of Prasanti the overriding focus? Are the politics of the region – and the region itself – what truly motivate the author? The focus is loose, the squabbling amongst the family becomes enervating and depressing at times, and the opportunity is lost to really aid understanding of the history of this small part of India; and yet.. it is a very interesting novel that insightfully transports the reader to a little known area of India.

And what an eye-catching cover! Really drew our eye to it, colour, exoticism and travel captured in one photo!

http//www.tripfiction.com/novel-set-in-gangtok/
I had expected to enjoy this book as I'm a great fan of Indian fiction, but unfortunately, I couldn't settle into the author's style and felt the book needed considerable editing.

Three of Chitralekha's four grandchildren are flying in from overseas to celebrate her 84th birthday; a momentous occasion in Nepalese culture. With them they bring resentments, aspirations and family history.
The elderly Chitralekha was quite a character, but she didn't seem to really like any of her grandchildren, none of them was quite good enough for her. The only person she appeared to have any affection for was her maid, Prashanti, a eunuch with an interesting story.

I was very confused about the ethnicity of the characters and had to refer to Wikipedia to establish precisely where Gangtok was situated and how it was related to Bhutan and Nepal. As a Western reader I felt this was a missed opportunity for the author to educate his readers. There was background but it needed a clearer explanation.
There were also a lot of colloquialisms that needed translation and even some unnecessary language ( loc 2298 and 2300 for example).

I finished the book but I was disappointed. I didn't much like any of the characters, all of whom were unbelievably self-centred. Not a book I'd recommend in spite of the high ratings of others.
I loved the cover though )
Nice story and lots of fun too
I found the book had well-chosen characters. The story-line was believable and thought-provoking. A family reunion brings about many trials and tribulations surrounding their sense of identity.