Take a photo of a barcode or cover
claudia_is_reading 's review for:
A Rising Man
by Abir Mukherjee
Well, it looks like I just found a new series to lose myself in :P
The atmosphere of the whole book is fascinating; the sense of time and place, spot on. The main character is a complex one, a broken, cynic man who still believes that justice must be served.
There is a realistic depiction of social attitudes of the time, so be aware that racism is an ever-present theme during the story. Bigotry, misogyny and corruption are also very present. And drug use, so be aware.
But oh, the story is so very good! And the characters, all of them are so vivid and interesting! Sergeant Surrender-not Banerjee (whose real name is Surendranath, but you know these old boys, they can't pronounce his name, so they change it) is particularly engaging: really smart, Harrow and Oxbridge education but a Bengali at his core, he acts as a cultural translator for Sam, but he's also an excellent investigator.
And Annie Grant is also a very compelling character.
So yes, I'm going to keep listening to this series ASAP.
The atmosphere of the whole book is fascinating; the sense of time and place, spot on. The main character is a complex one, a broken, cynic man who still believes that justice must be served.
There is a realistic depiction of social attitudes of the time, so be aware that racism is an ever-present theme during the story. Bigotry, misogyny and corruption are also very present. And drug use, so be aware.
But oh, the story is so very good! And the characters, all of them are so vivid and interesting! Sergeant Surrender-not Banerjee (whose real name is Surendranath, but you know these old boys, they can't pronounce his name, so they change it) is particularly engaging: really smart, Harrow and Oxbridge education but a Bengali at his core, he acts as a cultural translator for Sam, but he's also an excellent investigator.
And Annie Grant is also a very compelling character.
‘And what about you, Miss Grant?’ I asked. ‘Are you British or Indian?’Yeah, she's a very interesting woman.
She gave a hollow laugh. ‘If an Indian doesn’t see me as Indian and an Englishman doesn’t see me as British, then does it really matter what I think I am? To be honest, Sam, I’m neither. I’m just a product of that first doomed flowering of British and Indian affection a hundred years ago, when there was nothing wrong with Englishmen marrying Indian women. Now we’re just an embarrassment; a visible reminder to the British that they didn’t always think of themselves as superior to the natives. You know what they call us, don’t you? Domiciled Europeans. That’s the official term. It sounds almost dignified until you consider what it actually means. We’re acknowledged as European but we have no home in Europe. You see, that fraction of Indian blood condemns us as outsiders, generation after generation.
‘And as for the Indians, they look upon us with a mixture of loathing and disgust. We’re the symbol of their precious Indian womanhood abandoning its culture and purity, and the inability of Indian men to stop it. To them we’re out-castes, quite literally; the physical embodiment of their impotence.
‘The worst of it is the hypocrisy. To our faces, both the English and the Indians can be perfectly pleasant, but in their own way, they each despise us. But then, this is a land of hypocrites. The British pretend they’re here to bring the benefits of western civilisation to an ungovernable bunch of savages, while, in reality it’s only ever really been about petty commercial gain. And the Indians? The educated elite claim they want to rid India of British tyranny for the benefit of all Indians, but what do they know or care about the needs of the millions of Indians in the villages? They just want to replace the British as the ruling class.’
So yes, I'm going to keep listening to this series ASAP.