The House of Blue Mangoes - by David Davidar

[nirosha sen]

If there's ever a book that leaves you deflated with a bad taste in your mouth, this is it!!!! One is easily forgiven for calling it the book of dead ends!!

After an excrutiating read, it was more like reading a beginner's effort in essay writing! A very lo........ng essay, I must say!!!!!

[a.ratchasi]

Pulimed

Davidar's planters fall into 3 basic groups, that is, the usual sniggering Britons, the 'good ones' and lastly the 'I-will-go-against-the-system' kind.

Metaphors could have been handled better, except for the last one.

Verdict: Take it as how it was presented; as three separate books. It will be less strenuous and becomes a pleasant read then. Otherwise, .

[nirosha sen]

The finale of 1946 - I thought it was the end of a painful episode on earth's history???? An entire world war had just ended; the world is picking up the pieces of its devastation and what have we here in the ripe imagination of Mr David Davidar????? - A leap frog into the past of a very different and distant India, by a very yuppie Indian contemporary!!

They are celebrating Christmas with a horde of relatives near and far, right???? What fascinated was the ones that came home from abroad????!!!! You have people from Mississippi, Vancouver and even Burmingham with a slew of different accents to boot!! Isn't this bullshit or what????? When did they migrate by any chance???? Was it during a raging world war????

Sure, you would have had a trickle of Indians leaving the sub-continent but wouldn't they have exchanged it all for bomb-shelters during that period????? To say they had sailed home just for Christmas in India, doesn't it sound far-fetched???? Did they even have a sizable Indian populace living abroad during that time????

Anybody else's suspicions aroused like me?????

[malayalee]

Hi!
As a Keralite who worked at nagercoil before moving abroad this book came as complete surprise.
First I hadn't had a clue till then that David Davidar had any connection with Nagercoil area. I picked it up from local branch of Ottokars, a reputed book shop chain in UK, as it was an Indian Author's book. I hadn't even read any reviews on it!!
Two being familiar with the place it was sweet nostalgia going through the book.
Must say if you have lived in that area of Tamilnadu, what is written looks more like fact than fiction!
I have noted that you haven't exactly liked the book but somehow I just loved it.
I was happy that the author didn't try to anglicize the local lingo or descriptions, a pit fall for most Indian English authors, especially when it comes to local foods, customs and festivities.

Sorry I have a difference of opinion, it is good book!

[nirosha sen]

Glad to see at least someone enjoying the book based on familiarity of the soil alone.

But as for me, as stated earlier, I just cannot digest Davidar's meandering story-telling without a real plot in sight. It was choppy at best and I suspect it was largely due to the long interval the man took in completing the book!!

If one truly compares his style of narration on the rustic goings-on of rural Kerala alone, I'd pick The God of Small Things anytime, Pa!!

[malayalee]

Hi!
First a correction. Nagercoil is not Kerala. I am a Keralite and loved God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Her success was able to describe the Kerala milieu near perfect in English, a warp where most Indian English authors fall prey to and make a mockery of everything. The ending of Arundhati Roy's book though was trifle abrupt.. as if she suddenly ran out of idea. (Recently John Grisham's visitation in to non legal terrain "Painted House" also had the same malady, ending was sort of enforced).
I worked for close to eight years in Nagercoil (KK dist in Tamilnadu) and had travelled a lot in the interiors and met and made friends with quite a few. When I read the book, I was surprised by the parallels in historical, geographical and life there in the book. Later only I realized that David Davidar has roots in Nagercoil.
It's a book which covers a vast spanse of time and it is definitely not a quick read. But it does echo the rise in fall amongst the families in Nagercoil especially in Nadar community there.
It was not geographical reason alone that I liked the book!!
I am not saying it's a classic by any stretch of imagination, but not bad either!!