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atgerstner's review against another edition
challenging
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
melnee's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? Yes
3.0
vaibhavsh2624's review against another edition
5.0
Journalist and Educationist Shubhangi Swarup's Debut Novel 'Latitudes of Longing' is as magical a reading experience as it gets. Longlisted for DSC prize 2019 and JCB Prize 2018 (which was how I discovered the book) the sparkling novel raises the bar quite higher for future novelists of India.
What's it about? That is a question difficult to answer without giving away most of the book, I'll still try to entice your imagination. The book opens with the following line,
"Silence on a tropical island is the relentless sound of water."
.
If I were you, I'd go grab the book now because that first line is all it took to get me hooked.
As the book opens we meet the newly married couple Girija Prasad and Chanda Devi, living on Andaman Islands and navigating the waves of marital life. Girija Prasad, a scientist trying to figure out the way fault lines work under the islands in the early years of Independent India.
But that's just the beginning and there's certainly much more to keep you turning the pages, a clairvoyant who talks to trees, ghosts of British Aristocrats and Indian soldiers, octogenarian lovers, a geologist, a superstitious dictator, a mother struggling to get her revolutionary son released etc.
The writing is fluid, yet keeps the narrative strong and binds the reader, one is never tempted to look away from the pages. The story travels through India, Burma and Nepal reaching the remotest and touching the deepest reaches of your heart, leaving one with a longing so profound that you won't be able to stop thinking about it.
It's storytelling at it's best and I can go on and on, but one must take the first hand experience of being mesmerized by this gem. Don't believe my words, just pick it up yourself and you will be grateful to the author (I certainly am). Highly Highly recommended, if you only read one book this year, make it Latitudes of Longing, a true Masterpiece.
What's it about? That is a question difficult to answer without giving away most of the book, I'll still try to entice your imagination. The book opens with the following line,
"Silence on a tropical island is the relentless sound of water."
.
If I were you, I'd go grab the book now because that first line is all it took to get me hooked.
As the book opens we meet the newly married couple Girija Prasad and Chanda Devi, living on Andaman Islands and navigating the waves of marital life. Girija Prasad, a scientist trying to figure out the way fault lines work under the islands in the early years of Independent India.
But that's just the beginning and there's certainly much more to keep you turning the pages, a clairvoyant who talks to trees, ghosts of British Aristocrats and Indian soldiers, octogenarian lovers, a geologist, a superstitious dictator, a mother struggling to get her revolutionary son released etc.
The writing is fluid, yet keeps the narrative strong and binds the reader, one is never tempted to look away from the pages. The story travels through India, Burma and Nepal reaching the remotest and touching the deepest reaches of your heart, leaving one with a longing so profound that you won't be able to stop thinking about it.
It's storytelling at it's best and I can go on and on, but one must take the first hand experience of being mesmerized by this gem. Don't believe my words, just pick it up yourself and you will be grateful to the author (I certainly am). Highly Highly recommended, if you only read one book this year, make it Latitudes of Longing, a true Masterpiece.
soaringskies's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful and lyrical.
Can't wait to read more by the author.
Can't wait to read more by the author.
bioarla's review
2.0
Latitudes of Longing tells a multigenerational story where the lives of the characters are interconnected with each other, and interwoven with different landscapes of the Indian subcontinent. The novel starts in the Andaman Islands with Girija Prasad and Chanda Devi, his clairvoyant wife, and then moves to Burma with Mary and her convicted son Plato; to Nepal with Thapa and Bebo and finally we arrive in the “snow desert”, with Apo and Ghazala in a lost village in the no-man’s-land between India and Pakistan. Each story describes a different type of longing and desire of intimacy affecting the characters; yet room is given for more abstract feelings and considerations where the surrounding landscapes are more than just a mere background. The descriptions of the different locations, particularly the Andaman Islands and the Karakoram glaciers, are gorgeous and lyrical. Permeated by magical realism, the novel is however characterized by an extremely slow pace and is quite uneventful except for a couple of major events, making it hard for the readers to maintain their focus and interest.
Thanks to Hachette Australia/Quercus and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange of an honest review.
Thanks to Hachette Australia/Quercus and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange of an honest review.
jenrkeeling's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
3.5
miap09's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book is a story about love and family connection and about how the spirit of water in its many forms have shaped their lives. Take your time reading, this book is written too beautifully not to.
l_walkes's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
eeellieee's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i feel so cool having this as my first book of the year. big improvement from where i left off last year (the entire magic treehouse series). had to stop 2/3 of the way through because it got too dark but i was very brave. includes goat ghosts and talking trees and science (but some of it is wrong) so really where can you go wrong??