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Title: The Siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrell ISBN: 0-7867-0484-5 Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: December, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.83 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: One of best books of the 70s
Comment: The Siege of Krishnapur is one of the best books about colonial India. Written about the times of the Sepoy Mutiny, it shows it in the light of three angles, the British Raj, the Indian Princes and the Soldiers. It presents an unbiased opinion of all the three and though the English are supposed to be civilized, one wonders about it in the end. Farrell is an author of extraordinary capabilities in combining wit, historical detail, and character. Every person portrayed in the book is done in a unique manner starting from the collector to the majistrate. His presentation of the Krishnapur Poetry Club is hilarious.
As the story gradually turns morbid and sad, one notices the change in character typical in all humans, which is brought out beautifully in the book. This is one of the best Booker winners. It is sad that the author died at an early age in a fishing accident. He combines a lyrical style, eclectic prose in this book as in all of his books such as Troubles and the Singapore Grip. He traveled to India for doing research for this book and said that he was more intrigued about India after being there than before. This is an outstanding book for anyone who loves a good yarn and who loves historical fiction.
Rating: 5
Summary: My greatest 'find' of the decade
Comment: I had never heard of J.G. Farrell or The Siege of Krishnapur until one day I was scanning a list of winner of England's Booker Prize and I noticed that Siege was out-of-print in America. I was so intrigued I sent off to England for it, but it is now also available in the U.S.
The novel narrates the story of the British community at Krishnapur during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, when the entire community holed up in the Residency (like a governor's palace) for months under siege. Farrell's style is highly cinematic, reminiscent of great movie epics about that era, such as "The Man Who Would Be King," - lots of scope, majesty, explosions, and bright-red uniforms, added to the day-to-day domestic squabbles of the community. Farrell's take is not a shallow war novel though; he is witty, ironic, inspired, and sad in turn.
The book features remarkable turns of fortune and engaging details on every page, all of which were dramatically motivated and apt. (Examples: When the besieged run out of ammunition, they create canister shot by stuffing ladies' stockings with silverware. There's a sudden infestation of flying bugs that will make you jump right out of your chair. Two doctors have an argument about the cause of cholera with dramatic consequences. A lucky shot by a Lieutenant....well I won't spoil it for you.)
The main character, the Collector, seems to stand in for all of Britain as he is transformed by his Indian experience: first arrogance and a passion for bringing British 'civilization' to the uncivilized, then bravado as he stands up to the initial assaults, then despair as he watches the failure of mere ingenuity to overcome the natives. In a wonderful little coda at the end of the book you can see how he has been utterly transformed by the experience.
A wonderful find, a 'must read'! I'm off to read the rest of Farrell's novels!
Rating: 5
Summary: A Prize-Winning Novel Filled With Wit & Irony! Superb!!
Comment: The Indian soldiers, called sepoys, in the Bengal army of the British East India Company rose against their British rulers in Meerut in May 1857, and the violent uprising quickly spread throughout British ruled India. The action in J. G. Farrell's Booker Prize winning-novel revolves around the bloody siege of Krishnapur. Farrell's point of view is unusual because, instead of focusing on the uprising as a whole, or the siege in particular, he homes in on the British colonialists who administered and inhabited Krishnapur. Mr. Farrell did not need to contrast the English with the Indian population to illustrate the colonials' narrow-mindedness, absurdity or their attitudes which made the rebellion all but inevitable. Using superb wit, irony and satire Farrell clearly portrays his characters with their pretensions of cultural and religious superiority and their narrow focus on life.
Krishnapur's chief administrators, like those throughout the Empire, were seemingly impervious to warnings of the upcoming upheaval - and there were many. Even when news was brought to Krishnapur's Collector, Mr. Hopkins, of the savage rebellions in other parts of India, he remained almost surreally calm and detached. "There was no cause for alarm and, besides, now that everyone had finished eating, a game of blind man's bluff was being called for."
Preparations for a long siege were finally made and all British subjects and Eurasians were offered shelter at the Residency. When the sepoys finally take-up arms and attack, Farrell's characters find themselves under siege from within and without as the long period of confinement, terrible heat, dwindling food and water supplies, disease and death take their toll. These besieged middle class English men and women are given the opportunity to show the stuff they're made of in this extreme situation and some, remarkably, rise to the occasion, surprising even themselves.
"The Siege of Krishnapur" has become on of my favorite novels. Farrell's extraordinary writing, his imagery, eye for detail, dark humor and ability to maintain suspense are outstanding. He creates and develops characters as individuals and portrays their growth and/or decline with the eye and intensity of an artist. Above all, Mr. Farrell's view of the British middle class, who ruled an empire and were confronted with history in the making, deeply effected me - and made me laugh too. Most highly recommended!
JANA
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Title: The Singapore Grip by James Gordon Farrell ISBN: 0394504836 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: May, 1979 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Troubles (New York Review Books Classics) by J. G. Farrell, John Banville ISBN: 1590170180 Publisher: New York Review of Books Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Zemindar by Valerie Fitzgerald ISBN: 0553228455 Publisher: Bantam Books Pub. Date: August, 1983 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
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Title: Staying on (Phoenix Fiction Series) by Paul Scott ISBN: 0226743497 Publisher: University of Chicago Press (Trd) Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Elected Member by Bernice Rubens ISBN: 0349130221 Publisher: Little Brown Uk Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.99 |
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