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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
An excellent piece of writing. It blows my mind that this is a translation. It almost feels like Srinath Perur who translated it is an alter ego writer of Vivek Shanbhag. Not that I've read the Kannada version, but one can tell.
The character sketching is top notch to the point that one can visualize all of them, and if you grew up in a struggling middle class family in South India, you could quickly find someone in your past who would be exactly like a character from the book. The story is simple, it's the narration and story telling that draws us in.
What I especially loved are the nuances. A book so simple in its premise and story, but so interwoven in words and what it conveys in the unsaid, that we could use multiple readings to enjoy it.
One of those books that will be heavily appreciated by someone who loves story telling and words.
Others would appreciate it.
Am glad I bought the book :)
The character sketching is top notch to the point that one can visualize all of them, and if you grew up in a struggling middle class family in South India, you could quickly find someone in your past who would be exactly like a character from the book. The story is simple, it's the narration and story telling that draws us in.
What I especially loved are the nuances. A book so simple in its premise and story, but so interwoven in words and what it conveys in the unsaid, that we could use multiple readings to enjoy it.
One of those books that will be heavily appreciated by someone who loves story telling and words.
Others would appreciate it.
Am glad I bought the book :)
Gharchar Ghochar is a Kannada novella written by Vivek Shanbhag and translated by Srinath Perur.
"It's true what they say- its not we who control the money, its money that control us."
Story is narrated by young man sitting the a coffee shop, which happen to be his only refugee from outer world. He wants to unburden his worries and issue with the Waiter Vincent and hence ponders upon how to open up himself and the changes his family been through.
The story goes on from living in a small confined, ant haunted house to spacious house in one of the rich neighborhood. Book takes you through the life dysfunctional middle class Indian family comprising Appa, Chikkappa, Amma, Malati, the narrator and his wife Anita. Author also describes how the equation and the bond between each other changes when family's overnight transformation of wealth and status due to Chikkappa's flourishing the Spice business.
Ghachar Ghochar is simple tale of middle class family who climbs the ladder of richness and high social status with their new found wealth. Growing up in middle class family i could easily relate to especially with the ant hunting and dinning part.
Its great and quick read it also got me out of my reading slump.
Highly Recommend.
"It's true what they say- its not we who control the money, its money that control us."
Story is narrated by young man sitting the a coffee shop, which happen to be his only refugee from outer world. He wants to unburden his worries and issue with the Waiter Vincent and hence ponders upon how to open up himself and the changes his family been through.
The story goes on from living in a small confined, ant haunted house to spacious house in one of the rich neighborhood. Book takes you through the life dysfunctional middle class Indian family comprising Appa, Chikkappa, Amma, Malati, the narrator and his wife Anita. Author also describes how the equation and the bond between each other changes when family's overnight transformation of wealth and status due to Chikkappa's flourishing the Spice business.
Ghachar Ghochar is simple tale of middle class family who climbs the ladder of richness and high social status with their new found wealth. Growing up in middle class family i could easily relate to especially with the ant hunting and dinning part.
Its great and quick read it also got me out of my reading slump.
Highly Recommend.
so much of indian society is complacent to a pre-determined hierarchy. and continues to function within it while taking comfort in the knowledge that it will not (and can not) be dismantled. it has made us cruel and apathetic, devoid of a moral compass simply because others have said “this is how the world works” with not an inkling to fight for a better option.
i feel that the author has tried to illustrate this part of indian society within the dynamics of this family. especially in our protagonist who is initially introduced to us as a wise man who we go on to learn is nothing of the sort, he is more meek and a pushover than anything close to confident. we follow him recounting the story of their lives with each chapter dedicated to a family member.
it starts to get really compelling once our narrator’s chapter rolls up. i think the entire dynamic of the family fell into place when i read that chapter. the ‘meekness’ of our narrator and the extent of his obedience to his family’s wishes is made apparent.
i liked the motif of the ants, i didnt get it much at first, but i think it could be indicative that the rot in the family has existed from the very beginning, money just pronounced it more. gave them agency and power to enact their brutality on creatures bigger than ants just because now they can!
i feel that the author has tried to illustrate this part of indian society within the dynamics of this family. especially in our protagonist who is initially introduced to us as a wise man who we go on to learn is nothing of the sort, he is more meek and a pushover than anything close to confident. we follow him recounting the story of their lives with each chapter dedicated to a family member.
it starts to get really compelling once our narrator’s chapter rolls up. i think the entire dynamic of the family fell into place when i read that chapter. the ‘meekness’ of our narrator and the extent of his obedience to his family’s wishes is made apparent.
i liked the motif of the ants, i didnt get it much at first, but i think it could be indicative that the rot in the family has existed from the very beginning, money just pronounced it more. gave them agency and power to enact their brutality on creatures bigger than ants just because now they can!
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
I enjoyed this brisk novel a great deal!
It opens in a coffee shop as our narrator reflects on the relationship he has with the employee who works there, a mixture of guru and confidant. We then backtrack as we are told about his family and their rags to riches story, and how the newfound wealth impacted their values, dynamics, and behaviors.
We do eventually learn the meaning of the title, but it's such a lovely and interesting discovery that I feel like it would be wrong to disclose anything, as it is thematically important and a clue as to how the entire story unravels.
There are several ambiguities to the tale that ask the audience to draw its own conclusions, some of which work and others feeling more like loose threads rather than intriguing omissions, but the pace of the story is brisk, the characters are interesting, and it overall works as a parable of an Indian family coming into money and how it transforms them all.
It opens in a coffee shop as our narrator reflects on the relationship he has with the employee who works there, a mixture of guru and confidant. We then backtrack as we are told about his family and their rags to riches story, and how the newfound wealth impacted their values, dynamics, and behaviors.
We do eventually learn the meaning of the title, but it's such a lovely and interesting discovery that I feel like it would be wrong to disclose anything, as it is thematically important and a clue as to how the entire story unravels.
There are several ambiguities to the tale that ask the audience to draw its own conclusions, some of which work and others feeling more like loose threads rather than intriguing omissions, but the pace of the story is brisk, the characters are interesting, and it overall works as a parable of an Indian family coming into money and how it transforms them all.
It's an interesting read about socio economic changes and how that impacts a family dynamic. The ending is interesting but not in a positive way, I understand it's supposed to be open ended so we can guess what happened but the lead up is not enough for that. It fell a bit flat to me and left me feeling "what??" instead of "woah that's crazy"
I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately it felt more like a first draft rather than a fully realized story. The audiobook was only 3 hours when I think it really could have been double the length had it been properly fleshed out. At its best, it read like a parable and was incredibly compelling, at its worst, it had underdeveloped characters and writing that fell flat. It truly had so much potential and I think it is worth the quick read, but I would have loved to have it beefed up in sections, especially the backstory of Anita and her inner thoughts. The narrator was SO boring and seemed to have no inner world. I wanted so much more from this but its basic premise and the lyrical writing still compelled me!