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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really tried to like this book. I read the first 250 pages before setting it aside to read something else for a book club meeting. And I just had no interest in returning to it. There is certainly a good story that could be told: the theme of a man being caught between cultures is a good one. Being caught between a colonial power and a subject people is a better than good theme. But the author hadn't addressed these themes in a meaningful way by the time my patience ran out.
A big saga about British colonialism in India and their attempt to take Afghanistan.
Ash is the son of two British citizens, who die when he is a small child. He is raised as the son of his Indian nursemaid and finds out he is English only when he is in his teens and his "mother" dies. He is unbelievably good and fair and because of his dual citizenship, able to see both sides of absolutely everything.
This book has everything, romance, battle strategy, political intrigue and strong characters.
Ash is the son of two British citizens, who die when he is a small child. He is raised as the son of his Indian nursemaid and finds out he is English only when he is in his teens and his "mother" dies. He is unbelievably good and fair and because of his dual citizenship, able to see both sides of absolutely everything.
This book has everything, romance, battle strategy, political intrigue and strong characters.
I may come back to it one day... I may not. It is beautifully written. But there are *multiple* places where I felt like the story could have come to a close... And then it didn't. And there was so much more to read.
Was given this by my GCSE English teacher after I had lent her Green City in the Sun by Barbara Wood (which is fantastic imo) and while I enjoyed much of it, it just felt... Dragged out.
I should give it another go perhaps and push through the last 100 pages or so.
Was given this by my GCSE English teacher after I had lent her Green City in the Sun by Barbara Wood (which is fantastic imo) and while I enjoyed much of it, it just felt... Dragged out.
I should give it another go perhaps and push through the last 100 pages or so.
Mixed reviews for this book. I love the sweeping saga of the story and the time period and setting, but was frustrated by the author’s tendency to “tell not show.” Some might say I should have expected this from a 900+ page book and they’re probably right. It was frustrating that the main character makes it through so many scrapes and that the author takes the time to explain why that would of course, occur. On top of that, the main character is held up to be a hero, but he has an abusive and controlling relationship with his wife.
It has been my Dad's favorite book for decades and I finally understand why. It is an enthralling story where you never know how the next chapter is going to end. Even though it is a longer book, it did not get tedious and twists and turns kept me unable to put the book down.
There's a lot to say about The Far Pavilions, but here's the crux of it for me: it's a decent book that has the potential to be a great book, but the protracted emphasis on a badly-developed romance takes a lot away from it.
Don't get me wrong, the book has merit. It's a gripping story right from the start--I felt immediately invested in the protagonist, Ash, and his surrogate mother, Sita, and could not put the book down until I knew what happened to them. Once the narrative gets its traction, it doesn't slow down (with one notable exception, which I'll get to later). It's a 955-page novel, and I finished it in a week.
It also beautifully evokes the time and place in which it is set. I think that's the novel's greatest strength: it brings the India of the 1860's - 1870's to life by weaving together fictional elements with historical events, cultural/religious traditions, and geographical details. It's the richness of those details and the complex portrayal of historical events that make this book worth reading. For example, I was surprised by how the novel treated the British colonization of India--how through Ash (who, because of his situation, has "one foot in each camp") we see the systemic violence and arrogance of colonization, the way in which it damages the colonized country/peoples; but we also see the inherent humanity of the colonizers. That same complexity is brought to bear on other historical events throughout the book, and that is the book's great strength.
That being said, the book also has a great and glaring weakness: the aforementioned badly-developed romance. If the rest of the book is complex, the romance is quite the opposite. And the problem is, the romance isn't just bad, it's lengthy. The narrative spends a good two-thirds of its time on "developing" this angst-ridden romance between Ash and his childhood friend, Anjuli ("Juli" for short). It's a shallow, melodramatic affair that would only be a minor drawback if it weren't so damn long. But because the book spends so much time on it, it's impossible to ignore it and focus on other (far more interesting) events. This is where the story dragged the most for me.
Worse than that, their relationship is... well, gross, for lack of a better term. At best it's highly unhealthy, and at worst it's downright abusive. In practically every scene they have together, Ash gets physically domineering and abusive with Juli (the number of times he's described as shaking her by the shoulders until her teeth rattle would actually be laughable if it weren't horrible). He thinks and speaks a great deal about how much he loves her, and then proceeds to treat her with little to no respect. Ash is definitely at his worst in his scenes with Juli, and their relationship marred my experience with the rest of the book. Individually, they're both interesting characters, but together... yikes.
As I said at the beginning, it's a decent book that, were it not for the badly done romance, could have been a great book. It's a worthwhile read if you can stomach the romance.
Don't get me wrong, the book has merit. It's a gripping story right from the start--I felt immediately invested in the protagonist, Ash, and his surrogate mother, Sita, and could not put the book down until I knew what happened to them. Once the narrative gets its traction, it doesn't slow down (with one notable exception, which I'll get to later). It's a 955-page novel, and I finished it in a week.
It also beautifully evokes the time and place in which it is set. I think that's the novel's greatest strength: it brings the India of the 1860's - 1870's to life by weaving together fictional elements with historical events, cultural/religious traditions, and geographical details. It's the richness of those details and the complex portrayal of historical events that make this book worth reading. For example, I was surprised by how the novel treated the British colonization of India--how through Ash (who, because of his situation, has "one foot in each camp") we see the systemic violence and arrogance of colonization, the way in which it damages the colonized country/peoples; but we also see the inherent humanity of the colonizers. That same complexity is brought to bear on other historical events throughout the book, and that is the book's great strength.
That being said, the book also has a great and glaring weakness: the aforementioned badly-developed romance. If the rest of the book is complex, the romance is quite the opposite. And the problem is, the romance isn't just bad, it's lengthy. The narrative spends a good two-thirds of its time on "developing" this angst-ridden romance between Ash and his childhood friend, Anjuli ("Juli" for short). It's a shallow, melodramatic affair that would only be a minor drawback if it weren't so damn long. But because the book spends so much time on it, it's impossible to ignore it and focus on other (far more interesting) events. This is where the story dragged the most for me.
Worse than that, their relationship is... well, gross, for lack of a better term. At best it's highly unhealthy, and at worst it's downright abusive. In practically every scene they have together, Ash gets physically domineering and abusive with Juli (the number of times he's described as shaking her by the shoulders until her teeth rattle would actually be laughable if it weren't horrible). He thinks and speaks a great deal about how much he loves her, and then proceeds to treat her with little to no respect. Ash is definitely at his worst in his scenes with Juli, and their relationship marred my experience with the rest of the book. Individually, they're both interesting characters, but together... yikes.
As I said at the beginning, it's a decent book that, were it not for the badly done romance, could have been a great book. It's a worthwhile read if you can stomach the romance.
Another great Indian saga, this one took place in the 1860s; particularly timely as it describes the British-Afghan war.