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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
This was the first good mystery/detective novel I've read in a while! For a reason I can't explain, I was completely hooked from the first page; the historical setting, the author's writing style, the main character's voice, it really just "did it" for me. This book was the kind that I would find ways to "sneak in" reading even just a few pages whenever I could. I am extremely happy to learn that this is the first of a series and can't wait for the next one.
For the most part, I enjoyed A Rising Man. Sam, the main character, while not without flaws, was a good guy and an able detective. The mystery is very solid, but which I mean the clues were laid out fairly and it was a good puzzle to work on, and I greatly enjoyed the historical details. But, wow, was this book slow. Despite the fact that the book takes place over a relatively short period of time, I felt like we were just meandering toward the solution of the mystery. I hope that some of the pacing issues are due to this being the first book in a series and that the pacing will feel more natural in future entries in the series. The writing was excellent and I have high hopes for the series.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A really great mystery set in 1919 Calcutta and dealing directly with colonialism. The characters were all so good, and I got very deeply invested in their lives.
Set amidst pre-independent Kolkata, rife with palpable racial, colonial and existential tensions this is a splendidly told murder mystery. Cleverly interwoven historical incidents with fictional characters gives this story a more atmospheric and realistic feel (something that I haven't come across in many Indian historical fictions and have been desperately missing, other than Amitav Ghosh's works tbh).
Most impressive was the extensive visual imagery of the places and locations that the author is able to pull off with his writing. Having visited the city recently, I was able to clearly imagine how it must have looked in those times. Definitely recommended!
Most impressive was the extensive visual imagery of the places and locations that the author is able to pull off with his writing. Having visited the city recently, I was able to clearly imagine how it must have looked in those times. Definitely recommended!
Really enjoyable with a vivid setting. Even though it's another one of those worlds without women (barring love interest and landlady).
Intriguing debut to a series I now get to read more of. Decaying British Raj in 1919 Kolkata provides plenty of scope for exploration. Mukherjee eschews a convention of this genre by having a protagonist more focused on doing his job within the Raj than critiquing the society around him. The provision of a Brahmin sidekick in Sergeant Banerjee provides a nice counterpoint of experiences, which means that the author can explore less polemically or pointedly the world of the Raj than if there was a mouthpiece character. It didn't always work, some passages were much clumsier than others, but the research and passion Mukherjee has for this period really shone for me, the plotting was above average, the characters were alive and I have very high hopes for this series into the future.
**2019 Reading Challenge read #25. A debut novel.
**2019 Reading Challenge read #25. A debut novel.
I really enjoyed this. I’ll definitely continue the series. Mukherjee creates a flawed by likable protagonist in Captain Wyndham and a great side character in Banerjee. I love seeing Wyndham’s reflection on his own biases and how his experiences are helping him to see the devastation caused to the native Indians by British colonization. The mystery kept me guessing as well. Overall, the character development and setting are top notch; the mystery is intriguing and well developed. However, I’d keep reading the series even without the mystery aspect because it’s just that well done.
A wonderful novel set in post-WWI India. India is still part of the British Raj and Sam Wyndham has just moved to Calcutta. A previous detective of Scotland Yard, who came home injured from the war only to find his wife has passed away, Sam moved to Calcutta for a different change of pace. He was thrust into the murder of a high-ranking government official, who is close to the Lt-Governor. They suspected Indian separatists and so the adventure begins. I love that we see an India in the midst of change. Sam is a complex character. He's a great policeman but has a weakness for opium and morphine. He finds himself working well with an Indian junior, Sgt. Surendranath (the Brits call him Surrender-Not), who is British-educated and is conflicted about his role in working for the colonizers. Along with the puzzling murder, we see the British Raj near the end of its glory. We also get incisive commentaries on racial prejudice and the business and politics of colonization. I would certainly read the next books, if only to spend more time with Sam and Surrender-Not.
Reviewed for Books and livres
One of the good things about writing reviews a day or two after you've finished a book is that you find out if it stays on your mind or not. I had first rated this book 4 stars, but I bumped it to 4.5 because I kept thinking about it, not particularly the murder per se, but the atmosphere and the violence of this part of history.
It also made me wonder (again) how I love British literature so much, almost everything British actually, when you find so much racism, so much violence, so much moral superiority, so much self satisfaction with a clear conscience. If so many people around the globe, including me, speak English, it's for a good reason : the British Empire was ruthless and dominating. And think about the Brexit, they're setting themselves apart again.
Hem, back to the book !
Captain Wyndham is a damaged man after having gone to war, the devastating first World War, a period where he saw so many horrors, barely escaped death, lost his brother and lost his beloved wife. When he comes to India, he has a weakness for morphine - it does not control his life (yet), but it's there, in the background, and might come back to bite some part of his anatomy later. But don't think everything is gloom and misery in this novel, the bigger part of the plot centers around the British domination over the Indians. There is some humour, even, like for instance in chapter 21 when Sam thinks about British birds and compares them to Indian birds.
On some buildings, there are signs : "Forbidden to dogs and Indians" (that reminded me so very much of the "défense de cracher par terre et de parler breton" - forbidden to spit on the floor and speak Breton - that were everywhere in French Brittany.)
The author turns it differently (sorry, rough translation here, I read the book in French) :
In front of a Forbidden to dogs and Indians sign :
"Banerjee noticed my disapproval.
"Don't worry, sir, said he. We know where our place is. Moreover, the British have realised in one century and a half things that our civilisation hasn't in more than four thousand years." (...) "We never could teach dogs to read."
I found it interesting that the British author Abir Mukherjee chose a British military man as main character in this story and that he chose not to condemn all British people : as he says, when the British first arrive in Indian, they're not all that bad, racists and loating native people, it's worse : they become so. And it might happen to Captain Wyndham too, he noticed some signs here and there.
This books has so many good points : Miss Grant and the look upon mixed bloods, on women, violence and non-violence, the slaughter of Amritsar. The period is thoroughly researched and the writing very evocative.
A very, very good beginning.
One of the good things about writing reviews a day or two after you've finished a book is that you find out if it stays on your mind or not. I had first rated this book 4 stars, but I bumped it to 4.5 because I kept thinking about it, not particularly the murder per se, but the atmosphere and the violence of this part of history.
It also made me wonder (again) how I love British literature so much, almost everything British actually, when you find so much racism, so much violence, so much moral superiority, so much self satisfaction with a clear conscience. If so many people around the globe, including me, speak English, it's for a good reason : the British Empire was ruthless and dominating. And think about the Brexit, they're setting themselves apart again.
Hem, back to the book !
Captain Wyndham is a damaged man after having gone to war, the devastating first World War, a period where he saw so many horrors, barely escaped death, lost his brother and lost his beloved wife. When he comes to India, he has a weakness for morphine - it does not control his life (yet), but it's there, in the background, and might come back to bite some part of his anatomy later. But don't think everything is gloom and misery in this novel, the bigger part of the plot centers around the British domination over the Indians. There is some humour, even, like for instance in chapter 21 when Sam thinks about British birds and compares them to Indian birds.
On some buildings, there are signs : "Forbidden to dogs and Indians" (that reminded me so very much of the "défense de cracher par terre et de parler breton" - forbidden to spit on the floor and speak Breton - that were everywhere in French Brittany.)
The author turns it differently (sorry, rough translation here, I read the book in French) :
In front of a Forbidden to dogs and Indians sign :
"Banerjee noticed my disapproval.
"Don't worry, sir, said he. We know where our place is. Moreover, the British have realised in one century and a half things that our civilisation hasn't in more than four thousand years." (...) "We never could teach dogs to read."
I found it interesting that the British author Abir Mukherjee chose a British military man as main character in this story and that he chose not to condemn all British people : as he says, when the British first arrive in Indian, they're not all that bad, racists and loating native people, it's worse : they become so. And it might happen to Captain Wyndham too, he noticed some signs here and there.
This books has so many good points : Miss Grant and the look upon mixed bloods, on women, violence and non-violence, the slaughter of Amritsar. The period is thoroughly researched and the writing very evocative.
A very, very good beginning.