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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
An excellent, old-fashioned historic fiction book that sets a tale of adventure, war, intrigue and love against a very accurate panorama of 19th-century British India. A book, published in 1978, that carries eerie warnings to the current feringis in Afghanistan.
I can’t rate this book because I find it a bit dull and too speechy for my liking. It reads too much of dusty historical tomes and is one. To someone who has lived in the Himalayas (Nepal) it was ok.. I just felt like I was being put to sleep. Not impressed.
Magnificent book, telling the story of Aston and Anjuli ant the India struggle against Afghnistan.
The movie is available at You Tube. It is as good as this book, it's worth watching.
The movie is available at You Tube. It is as good as this book, it's worth watching.
What an adventure it was reading this book! I'm so proud of myself for getting through it (I think it's the longest book I've ever read) but the author made it easy.
The greatest thing and the worst thing about Far Pavilions are the characters. Certain of them are fascinating, like Wally (who now has a coveted spot on my very short Paragons of Men list), and finishing the book felt like saying goodbye to a friend. Other characters were less engaging; the protagonist, Ash, was interesting at the beginning, but as the story progressed and focused less on him, he became a shadowy background figure and it was hard to maintain interest in his life and motivations. Juli, as well, starts out much more interesting and eventually becomes a Luthien--beautiful, perfect, devoted, and two-dimensional.
The character that captured me the most, however, and made the book worth reading, was India herself. I know very little about the country and I've never felt any particular desire to go there until I read this book. The love and attention paid to every detail of the country, from snowy peaks to dust-choked plains, is astounding; throughout all 1200-odd pages of this book, the culture and character and beauty of India is the real attraction. I would love to travel there and see her as the author sees her, although that's impossible.
I'm very glad to have read this book and got to know India a little better. This romanticized account of her people and history may be the impetus for me to begin learning more about who she was and who she is now.
The greatest thing and the worst thing about Far Pavilions are the characters. Certain of them are fascinating, like Wally (who now has a coveted spot on my very short Paragons of Men list), and finishing the book felt like saying goodbye to a friend. Other characters were less engaging; the protagonist, Ash, was interesting at the beginning, but as the story progressed and focused less on him, he became a shadowy background figure and it was hard to maintain interest in his life and motivations. Juli, as well, starts out much more interesting and eventually becomes a Luthien--beautiful, perfect, devoted, and two-dimensional.
The character that captured me the most, however, and made the book worth reading, was India herself. I know very little about the country and I've never felt any particular desire to go there until I read this book. The love and attention paid to every detail of the country, from snowy peaks to dust-choked plains, is astounding; throughout all 1200-odd pages of this book, the culture and character and beauty of India is the real attraction. I would love to travel there and see her as the author sees her, although that's impossible.
I'm very glad to have read this book and got to know India a little better. This romanticized account of her people and history may be the impetus for me to begin learning more about who she was and who she is now.
I'd never even heard of this book till recently, but it is an instant favorite.
You will not believe how many THINGS happen in this book. It's almost 1000 pages and breathlessly exciting on every one.
You will not believe how many THINGS happen in this book. It's almost 1000 pages and breathlessly exciting on every one.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Far Pavillions – M.M. Kaye
4 stars
Audio performance by Vikas Adams
“Ashton Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn was born in a camp near the crest of a pass in the Himalayas, and subsequently christened in a patent canvas bucket.”
It’s an unconventional name for an unconventional child born during the height of the British Raj in Victoria’s reign. It’s the coming of age saga of a boy who grows up straddling the diverse cultures, religions and political powers that exist uneasily in the Indian sub-continent. As a rags-to-riches adventure story with plenty of action, blood, and even a distressed princess to be rescued, the book is a complete success. The various Indian settings are appropriately exotic and beautifully described. I loved it. I listened and I read, and I had a hard time putting it down, until I got to the last of the 995 pages.
But there were just a few things that I found wanting.
In general, I think the female characters were treated poorly. Kaye does a great job of depicting the restricted, precarious lives of the female Indian characters. I do realize that this was Ashton’s story and it was important to make him the rescuing hero. But, for all the strength and courage that Kaye imparts to Anjuli throughout the story, I was disappointed the Juli basically ends up in a Bourka passively following Aston on an obviously doomed assignment.
One of the best parts of the story was Ashton’s friendship with the Moslem Zarin and Zarin’s old father. One of the most disappointing parts was the division in this friendship. It made sense as a symbol for the division that would occur in the next century, but I didn’t feel that there was any good reason for it to occur between these two characters as it did. The division in the friendship gave Kaye an opportunity to comment on religious intolerance, but I felt it was dropped into the story a bit arbitrarily.
One more quibble… it’s about the ending. Oh, my! Ashton and Juli, heading off into the sunset. I was sure I could hear mixed-up strains of ‘There’s a Place for Us’ and ‘Climb Every Mountain’. I’m sure I would have loved it when I was 16. Maybe I’m just too much of an old lady to appreciate the romance of it. But it was a bit over done.
4 stars
Audio performance by Vikas Adams
“Ashton Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn was born in a camp near the crest of a pass in the Himalayas, and subsequently christened in a patent canvas bucket.”
It’s an unconventional name for an unconventional child born during the height of the British Raj in Victoria’s reign. It’s the coming of age saga of a boy who grows up straddling the diverse cultures, religions and political powers that exist uneasily in the Indian sub-continent. As a rags-to-riches adventure story with plenty of action, blood, and even a distressed princess to be rescued, the book is a complete success. The various Indian settings are appropriately exotic and beautifully described. I loved it. I listened and I read, and I had a hard time putting it down, until I got to the last of the 995 pages.
But there were just a few things that I found wanting.
In general, I think the female characters were treated poorly. Kaye does a great job of depicting the restricted, precarious lives of the female Indian characters. I do realize that this was Ashton’s story and it was important to make him the rescuing hero. But, for all the strength and courage that Kaye imparts to Anjuli throughout the story, I was disappointed the Juli basically ends up in a Bourka passively following Aston on an obviously doomed assignment.
One of the best parts of the story was Ashton’s friendship with the Moslem Zarin and Zarin’s old father. One of the most disappointing parts was the division in this friendship. It made sense as a symbol for the division that would occur in the next century, but I didn’t feel that there was any good reason for it to occur between these two characters as it did. The division in the friendship gave Kaye an opportunity to comment on religious intolerance, but I felt it was dropped into the story a bit arbitrarily.
One more quibble… it’s about the ending. Oh, my! Ashton and Juli, heading off into the sunset. I was sure I could hear mixed-up strains of ‘There’s a Place for Us’ and ‘Climb Every Mountain’. I’m sure I would have loved it when I was 16. Maybe I’m just too much of an old lady to appreciate the romance of it. But it was a bit over done.
DNF for now. I will come back to this. I was listening to the radio drama and it just wasn’t working for me.
This was an epic read. Not just because of its size but the detail explored on each page. You walk away with a vivid picture of all the characters as well as India and Afghanistan. The fact that you are absorbing history which explains today’s circumstances is also compelling. This adventure novel has all the emotions and never feels manipulative. Still can’t believe that the author was 70 years old when she penned this little known gem.