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A review by atharvg
Immigrant, Montana by Amitava Kumar
3.0
3.5 Stars
I definitely enjoyed this book more as it went along. The author explores a lot of interesting issues (such as communism, colonialism, and poverty) and themes (like migration, isolation, and relationships) while recounting the thoughts and personal life of a grad student in 1990s New York. This book really read more like a meditation on these themes and issues than a straightforward novel. Unlike most of the novels I read, this one didn't rely on its writing style, a plot, or its characters to propel it forward. Instead, connections were drawn through world events and the various texts, global events, and cultural contexts that the narrator encountered as an immigrant, but also as a young boy in India.
I haven't read much "autofiction," but one thing I find is that these types of novels do not feel quite as cohesive to me. Perhaps it is because they imitate real life much more than other novels. While this book read like an interesting thought exercise, it didn't really fulfill what I look for when I choose to read novels in particular.
I definitely enjoyed this book more as it went along. The author explores a lot of interesting issues (such as communism, colonialism, and poverty) and themes (like migration, isolation, and relationships) while recounting the thoughts and personal life of a grad student in 1990s New York. This book really read more like a meditation on these themes and issues than a straightforward novel. Unlike most of the novels I read, this one didn't rely on its writing style, a plot, or its characters to propel it forward. Instead, connections were drawn through world events and the various texts, global events, and cultural contexts that the narrator encountered as an immigrant, but also as a young boy in India.
I haven't read much "autofiction," but one thing I find is that these types of novels do not feel quite as cohesive to me. Perhaps it is because they imitate real life much more than other novels. While this book read like an interesting thought exercise, it didn't really fulfill what I look for when I choose to read novels in particular.