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blearywitch's review against another edition
3.0
It was hard to visualize at first possibly because I have never really focused on or have experience of Indian government services. I tried to imagine what I observed in movies, which is not plentiful. Halfway through I got the hang of it and it became more interesting. I think the descriptions are too technical and the target audience is specifically those who understand the Indian government atmosphere. As it is a satirical novel, I understood that one needs to have a strong grasp of the reality in order to laugh at the satire, which I did at some but not all of it. It was interesting in a sense, because you know... imagination!
sam12345's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
vanjr's review against another edition
2.0
Juvenile. Puerile. It gets two stars for its illumination of life in India. The protagonist gets negative 5 stars for being a total slacker except for one positive episode. I have worked with many people from India and found their work ethic generally exemplary. Not one of my recommended reads.
rubal_mittal's review against another edition
2.0
English, August has all the feels of Catcher in the Rye of a lost protagonist, hatred towards surroundings, alienation as a means to self protect etc. And I have the perfect hate-love relationship with the latter. But somehow still I am not yet able to love this book by Upamanyu.
The humor in this book is dark, but it is still not a page turner. I had trouble getting through Agastya's character, at a point he becomes predictable and honestly unbearable.
Maybe I was looking for a silver shining and I didn't get it. So though it's an interesting read about the shackles of bureaucracy, finding oneself, ground level reality of Indian hinterlands - I will wait for the similiar epiphany which made me love catcher in the rye finally.
The humor in this book is dark, but it is still not a page turner. I had trouble getting through Agastya's character, at a point he becomes predictable and honestly unbearable.
Maybe I was looking for a silver shining and I didn't get it. So though it's an interesting read about the shackles of bureaucracy, finding oneself, ground level reality of Indian hinterlands - I will wait for the similiar epiphany which made me love catcher in the rye finally.
drewbios's review against another edition
4.0
A fun read. Where are more books like this? I feel inundated with Westerners' experiences of India; the incongruities of India are so much richer for those raised there...
ashwinn's review against another edition
5.0
A brilliant satire and meditation on the absurd existence and functioning of the Indian government machinery in small towns. And oh, also a journey of finding himself for the protagonist. Brilliant work that can only be Indian.
Full review:
https://daariga.wordpress.com/2014/12/28/english-august-an-indian-story/
Full review:
https://daariga.wordpress.com/2014/12/28/english-august-an-indian-story/
mcbugger's review against another edition
4.0
Very well-written, at times mundane but that only makes it more atmospheric. Disarmingly funny at times. Not much in the way of a plot, but worth reading for the main character alone. Leaves you thinking that if only some of the misanthropes were at least funny and less self-serious, they'd be better company than our current lot.
ayushinayak's review against another edition
5.0
http://www.amazon.in/English-August-Upamanyu-Chatterjee/dp/0571218768?tag=indi08-21
tbr_the_unconquered's review against another edition
5.0
A fresh recruit to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and his friend sit in their car, totally stoned and deliberating the relative merits of being a bureaucrat. Of top importance here is genuine concern of our protagonist's capability in being an efficient administrator. Here is how the conversation goes :
Friend : Out there in Madna quite a few people are going to ask you what you're doing in the Administrative Service. Because you don't look the role. You look like a porn film actor, thin and kinky, the kind who wears a bra. And a bureaucrat ought to be soft and clean shaven, bespectacled, and if a Tamil Brahmin, given to rapid quoting of rules. I really think you're going to get hazaar fucked.
Protagonist : I'd much rather act in a porn film than be a bureaucrat. But I suppose one has to live.
Friend : Let's smoke a last one, shall we ?
It was an excellent introduction to a novel character Agastya Sen who finds his befuddled way into the labyrinth of the administrative hassle of the Indian sub continent. His first posting as the lines above depict is to a place named Madna which is literally like saying it is in the middle of nowhere. The town is like an armpit for a city-bred, sophisticated youngster like Agastya and the government machinery in which he is now a part appears to him as the peak of inefficiency and complacence. Coupled with this is the mounting sense of loneliness and the absurd way in which the occupants of this small town appear to him. They are all caricatures and never fail to have him ( or us the readers) cracking up in silent mirth !
Agastya finds his relief in three things : marijuana, masturbation and loneliness. It is a slow slide into insanity for him and the only two things to keep him company are two books : a copy of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations and the Bhagavad Gita. In the rare moments when his mind is not clouded by the blue smoke of marijuana, he finds intellectual solace in these works. The tale makes you feel an almost overpowering feel of dislocation for not one of the main characters are where they wanted to be in life. August has a huge differentiating factor from all of them in the sense that he has absolutely zero ambition in his life. Now I know someone like this personally and the person lives life each day at a time and never worries about his career at any point. He switches off his mind after office hours and goes home. The end result being that he climbs the steps of the corporate ladder much more easily than all the other rats who run as if their tales are on fire. Agastya is of the same breed for all that he can feel is a disjointed state of mind with the rest of the world. He is quite happy to let the world pass him by and will perhaps wave at the world halfheartedly if pressed to do so. Unfortunately, the world never gives him the peace of mind he so craves. His reflections and mental dialog in times of solitude at points was so engrossing to me personally that I could not discern where my thoughts ended and the character's thoughts began !
The book is extremely hilarious and at many a point had me collapsing in laughter. The sarcastic answers by August to the middle aged colleagues are simply a treat ! But beneath this sheen of comic relief lies a bare-bones look at the stranglehold that bureaucracy has on rural India. The lethargy and inertia of the Sarkari Babus ( read as officials) is the punching bag on which Chatterjee lands his most powerful blows. As a reader, I however felt that the author did not give corruption among this mass it's due attention in this tale. Lethargy will only win the second prize when compared to how much corruption has rusted the machinery of Governance in India.
I never did know that this was a debut novel for such is the flair with which Chatterjee has written this novel.
One of the best reads in 2012 and very highly recommended.
Friend : Out there in Madna quite a few people are going to ask you what you're doing in the Administrative Service. Because you don't look the role. You look like a porn film actor, thin and kinky, the kind who wears a bra. And a bureaucrat ought to be soft and clean shaven, bespectacled, and if a Tamil Brahmin, given to rapid quoting of rules. I really think you're going to get hazaar fucked.
Protagonist : I'd much rather act in a porn film than be a bureaucrat. But I suppose one has to live.
Friend : Let's smoke a last one, shall we ?
It was an excellent introduction to a novel character Agastya Sen who finds his befuddled way into the labyrinth of the administrative hassle of the Indian sub continent. His first posting as the lines above depict is to a place named Madna which is literally like saying it is in the middle of nowhere. The town is like an armpit for a city-bred, sophisticated youngster like Agastya and the government machinery in which he is now a part appears to him as the peak of inefficiency and complacence. Coupled with this is the mounting sense of loneliness and the absurd way in which the occupants of this small town appear to him. They are all caricatures and never fail to have him ( or us the readers) cracking up in silent mirth !
Agastya finds his relief in three things : marijuana, masturbation and loneliness. It is a slow slide into insanity for him and the only two things to keep him company are two books : a copy of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations and the Bhagavad Gita. In the rare moments when his mind is not clouded by the blue smoke of marijuana, he finds intellectual solace in these works. The tale makes you feel an almost overpowering feel of dislocation for not one of the main characters are where they wanted to be in life. August has a huge differentiating factor from all of them in the sense that he has absolutely zero ambition in his life. Now I know someone like this personally and the person lives life each day at a time and never worries about his career at any point. He switches off his mind after office hours and goes home. The end result being that he climbs the steps of the corporate ladder much more easily than all the other rats who run as if their tales are on fire. Agastya is of the same breed for all that he can feel is a disjointed state of mind with the rest of the world. He is quite happy to let the world pass him by and will perhaps wave at the world halfheartedly if pressed to do so. Unfortunately, the world never gives him the peace of mind he so craves. His reflections and mental dialog in times of solitude at points was so engrossing to me personally that I could not discern where my thoughts ended and the character's thoughts began !
The book is extremely hilarious and at many a point had me collapsing in laughter. The sarcastic answers by August to the middle aged colleagues are simply a treat ! But beneath this sheen of comic relief lies a bare-bones look at the stranglehold that bureaucracy has on rural India. The lethargy and inertia of the Sarkari Babus ( read as officials) is the punching bag on which Chatterjee lands his most powerful blows. As a reader, I however felt that the author did not give corruption among this mass it's due attention in this tale. Lethargy will only win the second prize when compared to how much corruption has rusted the machinery of Governance in India.
I never did know that this was a debut novel for such is the flair with which Chatterjee has written this novel.
One of the best reads in 2012 and very highly recommended.