Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Suggested novels on contemporary South Asia

Laura asked me for alternatives to Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things, which I personally do not like.

One alternative is Intizar Husain's Basti, in a very fine translation by Frances Pritchett,
http://www.amazon.com/Basti-York-Review-Books-Classics/dp/1590175824/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372861446&sr=8-1&keywords=basti
This was published right after Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan, it's a wonderful read, high school students should be fine with it, and it's a wonderful point of entry for discussions about nationalism, history, memory ...

A second alternative is Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance -- set in 1975-76, during India's only non-democratic period, long but immensely readable
http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Balance-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/140003065X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372861778&sr=1-1&keywords=rohinton+mistry

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