false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172277964m/159258.jpg 159258 7 Readers opening this first novel from Akhil Sharma find themselves face to face with a wildly unappealing main character. Ram Karan is a corrupt civil servant, chubby and self-hating. "I had been Mr. Gupta's moneyman for a little less than a year and was no good." Ram has no illusions about his failings: "My panic in negotiations was so apparent that even people who were eager to bribe me became resentful." Things at home aren't so hot either: Ram's wife has recently died, as has his son-in-law, and so his daughter Anita and granddaughter, Asha, have moved in with him. The first chapter of <I>An Obedient Father</I> is lugubrious and oily and awkward, like its narrator; then suddenly the whole thing breaks wide open. Drunk one night, Ram touches Asha with his penis. Anita walks in, and the family's secret is out all at once, like a just-freed, very angry cat: Ram forced Anita to have sex with him repeatedly when she was 12.<p> Sharma, a Delhi-born New York investment banker, has written a novel that's satisfyingly ambitious and full of really lovely imagery (tulips, for instance, are "heavy-hearted"). He squares Ram's downfall in the context of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. As India descends into political turmoil, Ram is made accountable for corruption both at work and at home. What gives the book its engine is its even-tempered handling of Ram himself: he is always complex, never a moral lesson or a villain. By the time Anita exacts her quietly devilish revenge, we feel neither glee nor pity, just sadness. Sharma doesn't have perfect control of his material--the transitions between personal and political can be abrupt, the tension between father and daughter unravels sloppily. Still, this is a new voice of great subtlety and care. <I>--Claire Dederer</I> 153715 5 11 2000 An Obedient Father total:115|5:17|4:31|3:43|2:17|1:7| 115 379 313 25 3 0 false false Sun Sep 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 22 09:32:16 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 13:50:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 27 05:14:42 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 06 08:43:20 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 1 0 false false Wed Dec 31 15:07:28 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 15:10:06 -0800 2008 I just want to say ONE THING.
In the way that I am against gratuitious sex and violence on stage as it is jarring---
I feel that same way about written descriptions of molestation.
There is something good I am ...more...]]> 0 0 true false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu May 17 06:42:55 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 02 08:37:56 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jul 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 16:08:13 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 16:08:37 -0700 2009 4 0 true false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 19:06:04 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 03 15:10:11 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 15 14:07:58 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 11:54:49 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 14:07:58 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Jul 19 13:18:54 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 19 13:19:34 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Wed Jul 11 22:35:33 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 11 22:37:58 -0700 2007 4 0 true false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Mar 14 07:31:56 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 14 07:33:06 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Mon Aug 06 19:44:41 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 06 19:44:41 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 16:27:03 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 01 16:30:28 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sun Sep 21 15:55:25 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 04 13:40:56 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sat Jan 26 09:42:25 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 26 09:52:52 -0800 2008 1 0 false false Sun Sep 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 12:29:53 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 21:48:32 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Wed Nov 12 11:52:40 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 12 11:52:40 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Tue Sep 16 20:03:32 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 16 20:04:01 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sat Jun 09 08:06:13 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 09 08:08:30 -0700 2007 3 0 true false Sun Dec 02 15:58:19 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 02 16:00:36 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Tue Sep 11 11:55:05 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 11:55:28 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=159258