The Siege of Krishnapur

Jul 04, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-books

This book totally fooled me - I thought it was written ages ago in times gone by, days of yore etc. but nope, JG Farrell rattled it out in the 1970s. Very tricksy in a EM Forster representation of Brits in a colonial setting kind of way.

You might want to keep a cup of tea handy or perhaps a G & T as you will want something to dunk this book in - it can be a little dry . The petty tribulations of life in colonial India are really brought to the fore with delicate lay-dees overcome by heat/ bo...more

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Mar 08, 2009 Logan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-list, fiction, imperialism, india

You know those books that you think you know even before you read them. Those books that seem to strike those happy chords in your heart and call out to be your bosom buddies based on nothing more than an impression of their cover? That's how Krishnapur and I were for those months it sat on my shelf before I got around to it. Yet when I recently got around to actually cracking the spine on this Booker winner, I found that I had no clue what I was in store for.

Rather than a brutal retelling of co...more You know those books that you think you know even before you read them. Those books that seem to strike those happy chords in your heart and call out to be your bosom buddies based on nothing more than an impression of their cover? That's how Krishnapur and I were for those months it sat on my shelf before I got around to it. Yet when I recently got around to actually cracking the spine on this Booker winner, I found that I had no clue what I was in store for.

Rather than a brutal retelling of colonial history, of the harsh realities of life under the British yoke, this was more of a look at the psychology of imperialism- of the justifications that the Brits (and currently the Americans in Iraq) threw up in order to shield themselves from the guilt of their repression of the indigenous peoples. These excuses range from the glory of spreading Christianity among the dark heathens, to developing a better understanding of the pseudoscience of phrenology, to the bringing of rational science to a people who would rather sacrifice a goat than build their dikes higher and prevent flooding. That Ballard can compose such a story while avoiding having any actual native characters (aside from the faceless masses waiting to storm the building that forms the titular Siege) is a tribute to his skill as a writer. Better than anything, Ballard drives home just how banal this evil was and how unwittingly it was perpetrated upon their Indian subjects in the name of progress.

The time is the early 1860s, the setting is a fictional cantonment in a Hindustan still ruled by the East India Company. The Indian army is in revolt because the new bullets they were issued are greased in animal fat to allow for easier loading. The military can not understand why this is upsetting for their Hindi soldiers, because loading the weapons entails using ones teeth which is a violation of their vegetarian ways. So the sepoys (Indian soldiers) revolt and trap the Brits in the local government headquarters and begin a months-long siege.

Over the next several hundred pages, Farrell unravels the various foibles of these ladies and gentlemen, who have relied for so long on their servants for everything that they can't even fathom a reality where they must do their own work. Things swiftly devolve into a miasma that reminds me of nothing so much as Pride & Prejudice with Lord of the Flies (which is fitting, given the recent popularity of Austen adaptations such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies or Pride & Predator).

Farrell's style is long-winded and occasionally a bit too pedantic to allow me to give it that ever-elusive fifth star, but the stunningly complex characters that he weaves together into an increasingly chaotic rabble all, at one point or another, manage to get you invested in their continued survival. It's odd to see that, no matter how willfully blind they are to the native's complaints or how unconsciously racist these people are, I still care about whether they survive to return to England and feast upon the Queen's crumpets or whatever it is that Brits do in their spare time (I imagine that it has something to do with dog's bollocks).(less)

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Jul 06, 2011 mark monday rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: into-the-past

enjoyable overall; in particular, the period details are fascinating. unfortunately something left me cold about this novel. perhaps it was the lack of old-fashioned adventure in what was a tale of, well, a very bloody and very lengthy siege. perhaps it was the constantly ironic and semi-comic portraits of the characters, both english and indian. although a rather unique way to approach an historical adventure steeped in commentary on the nature of humanity, rationalism, religion, etc...it seeme...more

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May 18, 2008 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

I consider myself lucky that I ended up reading this book after the other two in Farrell's empire trilogy, Troubles and The Singapore Grip. Farrell captured me when I picked up Troubles on a free table at my old Job. It was a supremely clever book, and I couldn't wait to find more by the author. The Singapore Grip was compelling as well, but seemed unwieldy. I don't thing Farrell had complete control of the plot and message, and the book suffers from the lack of direction. Perhaps it was the pre...more

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Apr 07, 2008 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: india-and-bollywood-related

So, so good. Plotwise, it's kind of Camus' The Plague meets Gunga Din or something -- Brits end up holed up in the administrator's residence in a remote Indian town during the Sepoy mutiny, and you get to see everyone's personality under pressure. It seems to me that I have read a lot of books about groups of people trapped somewhere with the food running out and the pressure on, and what becomes of them -- so, it's not very original on that level, but the people themselves are fascinating, the...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Judith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lists-bloom-s-western-canon, fiction, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, award-booker-prize, historical-fiction, literature-british, lists-guardian-s-1000-best

Though some sections of this novel were hard to get through, and I was often stumped by antiquated English terms and Indian vocabulary as well as my ignorance of the terrain at the center of the story, I think it is one of the best I have ever read. I was captivated by the different philosophies; the history; and the realism of the characters, events and circumstances. I was fascinated by the evolution and devolution of the characters as they passed through the different stages of their ordeal....more

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Aug 14, 2008 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Great book. So well-written that though you know it's a satire (which comes across without authorial comment), you still end up caring about the characters and their outcome. Also amazing in that much of it is funny (despite the subject matter) with a purpose -- hard to pull off, but he does.

Also well-done are the handling of its themes, such as what is civilization and who gets to decide it, and the notion of superstition within religion. The whole story is a metaphor really; but done so subtl...more

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Jun 08, 2008 Karlan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all readers

This extraordinary novel was selected for the short list of novels which won the Booker prize during the past 40 years. I hadn't read all the books, but I had heard of all except this one. The 1973 winner is the middle title of a trilogy but stands alone easily. It concerns a mutiny in 19th c. India where very Victorian characters endured a terrible siege for months before help arrived. The style is unusual for a modern novel and takes one back to 19th c writing styles. It is exciting, romantic...more

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Jun 05, 2008 Trevor rated it 5 of 5 stars

So far, this is my favorite of this year's Best of the Booker shortlist (I still have to read Midnight's Children and The Conservationist). It was a great story with a lot of subtle characters and themes. And the writing was excellent. I wish that Sacred Hunger could have been written in language this good and meticulous--it is poetic yet simple and does an excellent job setting the overall feel for a deep historical novel.

The novel itself, as the title says, is about a siege that happened in 18...more So far, this is my favorite of this year's Best of the Booker shortlist (I still have to read Midnight's Children and The Conservationist). It was a great story with a lot of subtle characters and themes. And the writing was excellent. I wish that Sacred Hunger could have been written in language this good and meticulous--it is poetic yet simple and does an excellent job setting the overall feel for a deep historical novel.

The novel itself, as the title says, is about a siege that happened in 1857. A British community in Krishnapur is attacked by Muslim soldiers. On that level, it is a great adventure novel. The action is great; Farrell manages to express the excitement and fear at the same time as he relays the strategies of the defense. It was both interesting and entertaining.

The true beauty of this novel, however, lies in its discussions about civilization, colonialism, and "ideas" of progress. All of the characters, at one point or another, have to examine how they feel about their position in both India and in the greater construct of "civilization." There is a lot of pride, of course. Farrell does an excellent job displaying that pride with ironic undertones. For example, when one soldier dies:

"Providence has denied his country the privilege of decking his youthful brow with the chaplets which belong to the sons of victory and of fame, but his deeds can never die. The pages of history will record and rehearse them far and wide, and every Englishman, whether in his island home or a wanderer on some foreign shore, will relate with admiration what George Foxlett Cutter did at the siege of Krishnapur!"

Since the book takes place soon after the Great Exhibition, that event provides a nice backdrop to the conversation. However, much of the book felt disconnected from its history, and I felt a strong desire to get more of an epic feel. Then again, the book is about an isolated siege that has turned out to be rather insignificant even in its own time. This feeling of isolation fits nicely with that.(less)

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Nov 12, 2007 Quinn Slobodian rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's Madame Bovary meets The Dawn of the Dead. The backdrop is a British outpost during the 1857 Indian Rebellion, or "Great Mutiny", of Indian soldiers against their British leaders which left tens of thousands dead in fighting and retribution and led to the formal annexation of India into the British Empire. The besieged outpost acts as the shopping mall in the zombie movie. With a set number of characters forced to interact with one another under steadily deteriorating living conditions, we w...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Russell George rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I absolutely loved J. G. Farrell’s ‘Troubles’ so was really looking forward to this. But it’s almost like reading the same book. Whilst ‘Troubles’ was constantly surprising and darkly surreal, this is essentially about the same scenario – pompous colonial Brits besieged by majorly pissed off locals – which meant I knew what the author was trying to achieve, and made it feel like he had simply replaced Ireland with India. I’m probably being a bit harsh because I was expecting so much, but the fee...more

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Nov 30, 2008 Adele rated it 3 of 5 stars

As with "Troubles" the first in the Empire trilogy, the extreme depressing nature of "The Siege of Krishnapur" creeps up on the reader. I expect this would have been even truer if I'd read the book during the current sieges in Mumbai, but I read it about a month ago, so any parallels I might draw are retroactive. The scene of the story is nineteenth century colonial India. We begin in Calcutta, meeting high society Brits visiting India for the first time, as well as expats born and raised in col...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Tiny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book. It is set in colonial India, at the time of a sepoy uprising that spread across the country, finally reaching the outpost where the cast of colourful characters live, terribly terribly British for the most part, a little condescending of course, but often genuinely interested in the future of 'their' India. One of these is Mr Hopkins, the Collector, who first senses danger and organises the defence of the British residency against possible attack by the local population or spi...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Alex Rendall rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sieges are often thought of as events that took place long ago and far away, in Medieval castles in foreign lands. The Siege of Krishnapur is certainly geographically remote from Farrell’s own birthplace of Liverpool, set as it is in the fictional town of Krishnapur in the British Indian empire, but it is not historically removed from the present day. Having based the fictional tale upon the very real events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Farrell explores the concept of the siege and uses the...more Sieges are often thought of as events that took place long ago and far away, in Medieval castles in foreign lands. The Siege of Krishnapur is certainly geographically remote from Farrell’s own birthplace of Liverpool, set as it is in the fictional town of Krishnapur in the British Indian empire, but it is not historically removed from the present day. Having based the fictional tale upon the very real events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Farrell explores the concept of the siege and uses the novel as a metaphor for the assault on the ideology of colonialism, which was well advanced by the time he was writing.

Krishnapur is a quiet outpost of the British Indian Empire, where the class system is rigidly enforced and the British subjects attempt to recreate a “Little Britain” in India. The Collector is the de facto chief of the colony and becomes concerned that the Indian sepoys may be planning a mutiny, much to the ridicule of the British military around him. The Collector’s fears are proven to be justified however and the residents of the garrison quickly barricade themselves in to the compound. They have to cope with ever increasing privations, as a result of dwindling food and other supplies, which leave them squabbling among themselves as they attempt to maintain their petty social hierarchies. It isn’t just the residents who are under siege – the British class system is as well. Farrell ridicules his characters for trying to preserve their class structures while they have nothing to eat but at the same time displays little sympathy for alternative societal structures: he portrays the Chartist Magistrate as unsympathetic and callous towards his fellows. Farrell seems to convey little in the way of empathy for any of his characters and consequently it is hard for the reader to like them; Fleury the poet is uselessly detached from reality, Dr Dunstaple is more concerned about his professional rivalry with Dr McNab than he is with curing his ever-increasing list of patients and Lucy, the colony’s “fallen woman” is ridiculous as she holds a tea salon in the rubble of the garrison’s dining room.

There are a number of metaphors for the destruction of supposed progress; the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London is frequently mentioned as a beacon of civilisation and modernity. The Collector owns a number of gadgets and prototypes that he acquired there of which he is extremely proud; however these all ultimately end up being used as ballast to shore up the siege defences or as ammunition for the garrison’s cannons. In this Farrell suggests that for all the supposed intellectual superiority of the British and for the technological progress that they attempted to impose on their Indian subjects, none of this would ultimately leave a meaningful legacy.

Farrell’s war saga is darkly humorous in places; the ridiculousness of the women of the garrison fighting over where they will sleep in the former billiard room, the absurdity of Fleury attempting to demonstrate his military prowess in order to impress the attractive Louise Dunstaple and the description of the ephemera loaded into the cannon would be inherently ridiculous if the situation for the garrison wasn’t so bleak. Farrell revels in the absurd processes and protocols of the Empire, exposing its pretensions and making them appear ridiculous. Even the ending demonstrates just how ignorant and out of touch the British are in their rule over their Indian subjects.

Farrell was posthumously awarded the Lost Booker Prize for Troubles in 2010, a novel that was published three years prior to this one, and The Siege of Krishnapur can be seen as another work that discusses the disintegration of empire. Farrell wrote at a time when many former British colonies had either gained their independence or were emerging from postcolonial struggles and the novel is undoubtedly a product of a time when the British Empire was being thoroughly re-examined by people who were uncomfortable with its questionable past. The Siege of Krishnapur is, for me, shocking in the portrayal of the complete confidence of the British protagonists in their right to oppress and rule over their Indian subjects; the Magistrate, for example, although a Chartist and sympathiser with the rights of Workers, does not believe that these rights should be extended to Indian citizens.

As a novel, The Siege of Krishnapur is gripping and entertaining in equal measure, a good war yarn for those who like that sort of thing, but is also a darkly humorous and very sad story with a strong message. Like a number of the other Booker winners I’ve read so far, it demonstrates the dreadful consequences of one people’s attempt to subjugate another and the unravelling of imposed social structures as these consequences play out. The novel uses the siege as a microcosm of the besieged concept of empire and the notion that it is acceptable for one people to impose their norms, values and beliefs upon another. As we continue to see British troops dying in far-flung corners of our world, Farrell’s message is as relevant today as it ever was.(less)

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Mar 02, 2013 Hope rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book has taken me an inordinately long time to read, I first started reading this for a book club at my school in November. But, I couldn't go to the other book club meetings and this has sat beside my bed waiting to be read, but finally I have completed it (yay!) and here it my review:

I think the reason it took me SO long was because, well, it's not the most gripping book I've ever read. I enjoyed the book (hence the four stars) but it didn't captivate me. So, maybe the fact it isn't a pag...more This book has taken me an inordinately long time to read, I first started reading this for a book club at my school in November. But, I couldn't go to the other book club meetings and this has sat beside my bed waiting to be read, but finally I have completed it (yay!) and here it my review:

I think the reason it took me SO long was because, well, it's not the most gripping book I've ever read. I enjoyed the book (hence the four stars) but it didn't captivate me. So, maybe the fact it isn't a page-turner made my review for this book slightly biased because my memory of the story-line is slightly disjointed.

This book is also the winner of the Booker prize and despite having never read anything else that has won this award I set my expectations high. I have to admit, I wasn't amazed by the writing. I'm not saying that the communication was poor, just that I expected skilfully constructed prose. The kind of writing that makes you want to read it again just to appreciate it's beauty and while The Siege of Krishnapur wasn't badly written, its language wasn't memorably brilliant.

However, I can completely understand the reason this book won the Booker prize, it really captures the essence of the human condition (do I sound like a stuffed shirt saying that?) What I mean is that J.G. Farrell captures the nature of human beings, he presents all his characters in varying shades in the spectrum between good and evil. Even the natives, who are attacking Krishnapur, can easily be identified with. I'd probably want to attack the residency if everyone inside was trying to destroy my whole way of life too.

That's another thing I enjoyed about this book was the idea that it questioned the English, it is interesting to separate from the patriotic ideals that are often presented of Britain. Here, while ultimately you are rooting for the British you also have to realise that they were in the wrong. The British colonisation of India seems appalling, which is scary considering this novel is based largely in fact.

Ultimately, the reason I think I liked this book was due to the fact it made you think. I liked it because it proposed the questions but let you, as a reader, determine the answer. Unlike with some books, I felt I gained something from reading this.(less)

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Oct 26, 2012 Darrell Delamaide rated it 4 of 5 stars

J.G. Farrell's epic of the East India Company's rule on the subcontinent and the 1857 mutiny is a compelling action story, but it is above all a savage satire and a novel of ideas. His success at combining these genres into a literate masterpiece won him the Booker Prize in 1973.

Farrell depicts in biting detail the fatuousness of British rule in India as the colonialists preserved their Victorian preoccupations in a fundamentally hostile environment. They were largely clueless -- as Farrell's pr...more J.G. Farrell's epic of the East India Company's rule on the subcontinent and the 1857 mutiny is a compelling action story, but it is above all a savage satire and a novel of ideas. His success at combining these genres into a literate masterpiece won him the Booker Prize in 1973.

Farrell depicts in biting detail the fatuousness of British rule in India as the colonialists preserved their Victorian preoccupations in a fundamentally hostile environment. They were largely clueless -- as Farrell's protagonist, the Collector, observes -- about the culture around them and smugly disregarded how their new subjects chafed under their rule. Still, the mutiny itself was not really a surprise. The only surprise was that it took so long to put it down and the cost was high.

The physical environment was also hostile. Farrell relentlessly pictures the unrelenting heat, the blistering weather of India's northern plain, where the fictional Krishnapur, like the Lucknow it is based on, is located. During the siege itself, the role of the heat in amplifying the ever increasing hardships is almost nauseating -- the rot, the smell, the cholera, the death. The horrifying invasion late in the siege of the cockchafers -- little black bugs who descended on the Residence by the million -- matches anything Hollywood has put on the screen. Even in this scene, however, Farrell manages a hilarious take on Victorian prudishness.

The precision of the language and description, ranging from a discussion of German rationalism to details on gunnery, makes the novel so tangible the reader has no trouble inserting himself into the scene. Especially the terminology to describe British life in India, with its assortment of servants and privileges, transports the reader back to this time.

As brutal as he is in satirizing the motives and values of the imperialists, Farrell nonetheless depicts the casual courage and residual integrity of some of the characters. The fact is that some of them survive the five-month siege in the face of long odds and as a rule recover from the ordeal to resume an ordinary life back home.

Farrell says in a brief note that he relied on numerous firsthand accounts from the Lucknow siege and the details of the hardships have as a result a terrifying authenticity.

As Pankaj Mishra notes in an introduction to the edition I read, Farrell keeps the Indians themselves largely offstage. The one Indian character, a local maharajah, is a weak and puzzling addition to the narrative. The introduction, by the way, reads better as an afterword because it offers so many details of the plot it is in some ways a spoiler.(less)

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Oct 23, 2012 Justin Evans rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Towards the end of SoK, the once-sanguine Collector meets the once-romantic Fleury. Fleury asks him about his collection of art; the Collector says that "Culture is a sham. It's a cosmetic painted on life by rich people to conceal its ugliness."

I enjoyed Farrell's 'Troubles,' but something about it was a bit off. In part, it just wasn't as streamlined or controlled as SoK is. I was worried that SoK would end up as unsatisfying as T through the first 100 or so pages. But by the time the Collecto...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Paul Culloty rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't previously familiar with the works of this author, but Krishnapur proved most enjoyable, on one level a fictionalised recounting of a historical incident of the Indian Mutiny, on others, the writer's own meditations on class, race relations, imperialism and religion are all invoked. The main character, Collector Hawkins, is a Cassandra figure, mocked for his correct forebodings, yet his cultural leanings obscure him from local politics. Various other figures represent the haughtiness of...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Courtney H. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookers

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Before I go any further, I should say this review is riddled with spoilers; though I try to stay away from the details, I remembered being struck with how unexpected so much of the book was, even though it progressed exactly as you'd think a siege might progress. The best way to read this book is, I think, to read with no more knowledge than of its title, and go from there. It is a fantastic read.

This book is absolutely brilliant. It is Farrell's second book of his Empire Trilogy, and the first...more Before I go any further, I should say this review is riddled with spoilers; though I try to stay away from the details, I remembered being struck with how unexpected so much of the book was, even though it progressed exactly as you'd think a siege might progress. The best way to read this book is, I think, to read with no more knowledge than of its title, and go from there. It is a fantastic read.

This book is absolutely brilliant. It is Farrell's second book of his Empire Trilogy, and the first to win a Booker (though Troubles, the trilogy's first, ended up winning the lost Booker Prize for 1970, years later). It is a masterful book. It takes a tact not dissimilar to Troubles; the book features a cast of ridiculous, oblivious colonialists living in a world of British colonial good and dominance despite the fact that uprising, with its terrible, acute violence and slow deaths by starvation and illness, banged down their doors -- which are, of course, the doors of that purported good and dominant empire. The difference is that the stakes have been significantly raised here. While in Troubles, it was conceivable that the characters could create a cocoon for themselves in the decaying Majestic Hotel as the uprising heated up elsewhere in Ireland, here (spoilers! -- though I'm guessing you've seen the title of the book) the colonialists were cloistered in a colonial fortress under months-long, up-close siege by Indian rebels. Farrell does an incredible job of writing a scathing review of the colonial empire -- not by showing us its impact on the local peoples under Britain's thumb, but rather by showing us the colonialists themselves: insipid, intolerant, out of touch, oblivious to the gap between the idea of the empire and the empire itself.

Farrell forces you to see the greater story being told from the view of ineffectual people that you do not like very much, and whose weaknesses are great and self-absorption high. They are too shallow even to be anti-heroes, yet they are utterly sure of their moral superiority and the superiority of their own culture (even as they hold hostage and eat bugs as the siege wears on). Yet Farrel paints them and their decay so convincingly that you find yourself rooting for them, strangely enough. At least I found that I wanted these people to survive, even though I didn't want them to succeed (as they stood for the British colony that would necessarily be in place nearly another 100 years), and even though I knew, as the siege continued and the supplies ran to nothing, that their survival would necessitate the routing of the rebels; and clearly I did not want that. I will not give away spoilers about how this all plays out, but it is worth applauding Farrell's ability to make wholly unsympathetic, unlikeable characters somewhat sympathetic; and to recognize that it makes the comedy and the tragedy, and especially frustration at the characters' choices, that much more sharp and poignant.

Farrell guides us through the slow, inevitable slog of an outpost under siege, and he does so convincingly and without falling prey to that slog himself. He maintains an almost fanciful, comedic air as the walls literally crumble around his character. The story of the battle between cholera treatments is a great example of this: the self-assured elder doctor, assured of his own superiority, drags himself and so many of the survivors with him because he is so sure of his worldview that he cannot comprehend a newer and possibly better interpretation of the same facts; it is comedic, ultimately and unrelentingly tragic, and incredibly frustrating. Then there was the arc about the priest, the pastor, and wrangling over who they can claim as members of their respective religions, even as the bodies piled up. And of course, there was Lucy, who Farrell carefully painted as a person and yet an object, rescued by the colonizers in large part because against her they could assert their own superiority (over the 'fallen' woman -- who of course, was more victim than fallen). And of course there was the development of Fleury; in so many other books, his arc from dandy to soldier would be the arc of a hero, but Farrell's portraits were not nearly so simple.

Farrell's careful details and absurd scenes lend a surreal quality to the landscape, and somehow manages to deepen and bring closer the tragedy. The surrealness of day-to-day life inside the walls under siege make those days more painful, more real. You want the characters to survive, though you know it comes at a great expense -- the failure of the revolution and the survival, not only of those characters, but of the flawed and awful empire itself.

[SPOILERS FOLLOW] Which is what makes the ending the greatest tragedy of the book. The characters/survivors do what Farrell never promised us they wouldn't: they learn nothing. They are touched permanently by their months under siege, of course. They are the refugee victims, starved, emaciated, disheveled, unwashed versions of their former dandified selves: contrasted sharply against their rescuers who seem utterly disgusted by the survivors. Those rescuers are as oblivious as the survivors were when the book began (and as they were well into the siege): entirely convinced by England's superiority, sheltered from the ugly realities of colonialism to the point that one rescuer/past suitor was disgusted that the survivors -- one of whom was a sweet-smelling socialite -- smelled badly. And then those characters betray us -- those who gained our sympathies even when they stood for the empire -- by disappearing back into the empire itself. No one learns, nothing changes. It is maddening and that is part of the book's brilliance -- and one of many reasons that it lingered with me long after I finished reading.

I should note that with a lesser writer, the fact that none of the Indian rebels warrant a name, an afterword, a eulogy of their bravery, or a comment on their fate, would have struck a nasty cord with me. But here, Farrell's refusal to give us that simply made the book stronger. He never gave an inch; he was unrelenting in keeping his reader locked into the colonizers' viewpoints, as limited and blinded as those viewpoints were. It is not obliviousness on Farrell's part as much as it is obliviousness on theirs.

As with Troubles, there is much about this book I haven't figured out how to lay out in a review. Suffice to say that it is absolutely worth reading.
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Jan 22, 2012 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am not one to set herself reading projects (it was bad enough at uni, having to read A Journal of the Plague Year), but I intend to read the full Empire trilogy by Farrell. Now I only have The Singapore Grip to go, but not quite yet, as I love the feeling of looking forward to something so greatly enjoyable.
And yet the topic is grim. I understand all three novels focus on a moment when hold of the British over one of their colonies begins to weaken. His trilogy doesn´t tell us the story of the...more I am not one to set herself reading projects (it was bad enough at uni, having to read A Journal of the Plague Year), but I intend to read the full Empire trilogy by Farrell. Now I only have The Singapore Grip to go, but not quite yet, as I love the feeling of looking forward to something so greatly enjoyable.
And yet the topic is grim. I understand all three novels focus on a moment when hold of the British over one of their colonies begins to weaken. His trilogy doesn´t tell us the story of the natives rebelling or taking control over their destiny; the protagonists of his books are the British rulers: the wiltering British Ascendancy in Ireland, and here, the employees of the East India Company, the Collector, the railway engineers, the soldiers and all their families, wives and chidren who often have never set foot in Great Britain, being born in the colony.
The Siege of Krishnapur is set at the time of the Great Mutiny of the sepoys in 1857 and starts in a familiar way: while most of the British refuse to feel threatened by the rumours of trouble coming, the Collector feels uneasy and starts building up some defenses in Krishnapur, only to be considered as an excentric. But trouble does indeed come and the Residency of Krishnapur is sieged by fighting sepoys.
The novel is a magnificent portrayal of the British upper classes in India: their apparent superficiality and snobbishness at the start, during the Season in Calcutta, where women are set on the hunt for a husband; their resiliance and resourcefulness during the siege, perhaps akin to that displayed in the homefront during the Second World War. The experience of the siege unsettles the beliefs and manners of many of the inhabitants of the Residency. And yet when everything is over, generally speaking, they all return to their previous lives with apparent ease. I do admire in the British their ability to "keep calm and carry on", and in this novel, like in my daily life, I can see many examples.
It is a very philosophical novel, in a Shakespearean sort of way. In one particular scene, the Collector digs graves with the priest while musing on the sense of it all, just like Hamlet. Illness and death are a continuous subject and undercurrent, a practicality to deal with as much as grounds for meditation and despair. The characters often talk about the Great Exhibition, the advances of industry and the power and responsibility of the Empire to civilize their colonies. But they also find trouble to reconcile this with religiousness, morality or a more personal way to relate to God.
It may seem that because of the topic the plot would feel stagnant and slow, but Farrell is a master at narration and his tale of the siege shows various stages and developments that, small as they may seem to be, move the events forwards, such as losing part of the residency to the sepoys, the onset of cholera, or running out of drinking water. All this had an effect on the people besieged, in their personality, ideals or health, in a way linking them to one another, making them a group. This becomes especially clear when relief finally arrives, and there is such a strong contrast between the famished remaining population of the Residency, and the fresh, healthy, well-fed soldiers, for whom life as it used to be, has continued as normal. The rescuers even feel repelled by their dirtiness or "indecent" tattered attire. Luckily, things are soon restored to normal.
Although focused on the British, there are some interesting glimpses of the native population: the determined sepoys, the onlookers, or the Anglicized young prince held captive for a while at the Residency, as well as some other people who remained loyal to the British, such as the Sikhs. There is a beautiful love story too, where an insecure, apparently unmanly upper class youth reveals his tenderness in sacrificing his ration in order to make something similar to a birthday cake for the lady he loves.
And the dogs, let us not forget the dogs.(less)

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Dec 19, 2011 Steven Langdon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Farrell trilogy on the decline of the British Empire is an excellent series of novels. This novel is in historical timeframe the first of the set, and the first I read, and it captured me quickly, despite the quite frustrating set of characters that play out the major roles in the book. That is part of what Farrell is on about, of course -- the unheroic human material from which supposedly great historical moments are made. In many respects, the siege of Krishnapur can be thought of as one o...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Jennyreadsexcessively rated it 4 of 5 stars

A siege always makes for good storytelling. How long will the fortress's inhabitants hold on? Will they run out of food and amunition before the rescue party arrives? And most interestingly, how will characters develop and change as they are faced with such terrifying odds of survival?

J. G. Farrell's novel is based on the true story of the Muslim Sapoy uprising in British Colonial India in 1857. The author makes the decision (and to my mind, mistake) of not introducing any native Indian characte...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Cyndie rated it 4 of 5 stars

In 1857, the Victorian Era of empire building is in its ascendance. The nearly 200 year old British East India Company has long controlled India with its military and administrative presence. Just as they are dealing with China’s efforts to stop the lucrative opium trade the first of India’s rebellions seeking freedom from these Europeon interlopers erupts in the Gangetic Plain. Farrell reveals a world of British privilege besieged by Sepoys, the Indian military that had grown dissatisfied with...more

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May 26, 2011 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: desert-island, read-2011

Farrell was a genius. _Troubles_ had me thinking it, this book confirms it. Watching him juggle the horrifying and the hilarious for over 300 pages is amazing. This is a much more suspenseful, harrowing read than that equally great study of disintegration and the End of Empire. But taken together they're a wonder. (I took some time off after Troubles, knowing I wanted to be able to savor rather than gulp Farrell's other great works. I will, again, now take some time before finishing the trilogy....more

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Nov 04, 2010 Tony added it

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

Farrell, J. G. THE SIEGE OF KRISHNAPUR. (1973). *****. This is the second novel in Farrell’s trilogy dealing with Britain during the Empire. This time, as you might guess, the location is India, at a small outpost named Krishnapur, where the offices of the East India Company were manned by the necessary officials overseeing the production and sales of two of their most important commidities, opium and salt. The year is 1857, the year of the Indian rebellion, also known as the Sepoy Rebellion. Th...more

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Aug 05, 2010 Denerick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Farrell is rapidly becoming my favourite author. This is the second installment of the 'Empire Trilogy', 'Troubles' being the first, and 'Singapore Grip' being the last. The series examines the decline of the British Empire, this based during the Great Indian mutiny of 1854. In the enclave of Krishnapur, surrounded by angry mutinous Sepoy soldiers, a small force of British colonials, soldiers, their wives and relatives, loyal natives, Shiekhs, and some other strange characters eke out an existan...more

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Apr 12, 2010 Arukiyomi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-books

Back in early 1995, I was walking up a path in the Himalayan foothills with an Indian friend. I mentioned that I’d recently read Christopher Hibbert’s fantastic book The Great Mutiny: India 1857 and asked him what his perspective on the Indian Mutiny was. “Oh,” he replied coolly, “You mean the First War of Independence.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson in historical perspective. Farrell gives us another lesson with this remarkable novel.

Farrell’s written a great book here. It deals with the hum...more Back in early 1995, I was walking up a path in the Himalayan foothills with an Indian friend. I mentioned that I’d recently read Christopher Hibbert’s fantastic book The Great Mutiny: India 1857 and asked him what his perspective on the Indian Mutiny was. “Oh,” he replied coolly, “You mean the First War of Independence.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson in historical perspective. Farrell gives us another lesson with this remarkable novel.

Farrell’s written a great book here. It deals with the human condition so very well against a startlingly vivid backdrop through a medium of wit, irony and deep insight. It seems a very worthy winner of the Booker. I enjoyed it immensely and found it a much more satisfying read than The Singapore Grip.

It’s the characterisation that makes Siege an improvement on Grip, principal among the nameless Collector who oversees a residency under siege. He is rendered exceedingly well as a man whose religion of rational culturalism is, as we know from our perspective, doomed. Farrell tells the story with pathos, wit and with some wonderfully ironic passages scattered with healthy doses of cynicism.

To illustrate this, take The Collector’s pride and joy: his hoard of cultural artifacts brought over at great expense from Europe in the hopes that some of their beauty will rub off on the natives and thus raise them from their morass. In desperation however, The Collector ends up ordering them to be used either as shot for the cannon or to shore up the earthen ramparts. In other words, he uses his art to either kill the natives or to hide behind. Fantastic imagery.

There are some great passages about religious and scientific discussions of the day which, as they would have done in reality, polarise the community under siege. Towards the end, the two doctors end up at loggerheads over how to treat cholera and throughout the Padre demonstrates the inanities of religion in various forms. Hardly anything isn’t dealt with: religion, sexuality, culture, science, civilisation, relationships… Farrell weaves them all in seamlessly. I’m very glad I read it.(less)

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Dec 23, 2010 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Set in India in 1857, the story focuses on the siege of a British (East India Company) outpost. The author has a nice, sardonic, often humorous way of writing. It beings with clueless English persons. They are more or less unaware of Indians, indifferent too them, and foppish. They are concerned with fashion, etiquette, civilization, material progress, and many seem to believe they are bringing these White virtues to the Indians. But, during the siege, some of these English grow and change and...more Set in India in 1857, the story focuses on the siege of a British (East India Company) outpost. The author has a nice, sardonic, often humorous way of writing. It beings with clueless English persons. They are more or less unaware of Indians, indifferent too them, and foppish. They are concerned with fashion, etiquette, civilization, material progress, and many seem to believe they are bringing these White virtues to the Indians. But, during the siege, some of these English grow and change and others don’t.
The book is not only a stinging indictment of the Company and its English workers, but it is also a story of how some people change for the better (not completely) in dire circumstances, and others don’t.
Dr. Dunstable, Lucille and Harry are a family. The doctor sticks to his belief that a miasma causes cholera, and he eventually dies in this belief. Lucille, who was initially only concerned with her beauty, and attracting men’s glances, becomes resourceful when necessary. Harry, who is a silly adventurer, turns in to a good fighter and soldier. He does what has to be done.
The Collector runs the entire compound. He believes, in the beginning, that English material progress can be brought to everyone, and this is for the good. Over the course of the siege, he become less enthused, and by the end, he is skeptical and cynical.
Dr. McNabb is the scientist doctor. He knows what he is going, and he understands what causes cholera.
Fleury is a completely foppish person at the start. He so admires Lucille. Over the course of the siege, he actually learns to do some things (although often with funny false starts) and by the end of the siege he is carrying more than his fair share of the load. He believes that the key to civilization is the spirit and the enlightened soul, and that materialism serves these ends. And, he is willing to lecture on this at the drop of a hat. He continues with these attitudes, but as things move on, he is resourceful. After the siege, he marries Lucille.
Lucy is the fallen woman. She apparently had a child of wedlock. She is ostracized at the beginning, but in due course she does her part, and she becomes part of the group. Harry eventually marries her.
The magistrate is the cynical atheist.
The opium producer is the worst person. Not only does he, as a matter of fact, make his money in drug trade (and sees nothing wrong with this), but he also tries to buy all the food stuff at an auction to resell to his comrades. The Collector prohibits this.
The pastor is a silly person, and he believes that it is sin that has brought this on. He grows very little.
Some of the funnier parts are when there is a document snowstorm, and when they have to use all their prized items of culture and civilization to use as cannon fodder.
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Mar 14, 2013 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-books

I loved this, its the best book I've read in ages, maybe helped by being an era I'm interested in anyway.
It'a a fictionalised account of the Seige of Lucknow during the Indian mutiny of the 1850s. It's a story of the follies of British Imperialism at the height of Victorian supremacy. They were a funny lot the Victorians, never mind oppressing other people, they were very good at oppressing themselves – wearing starched uniforms and pith helmets in the extremes of Indian heat, the women in full...more

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Oct 11, 2011 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Siege of Krishnapur is nearly a 5 star. It is rich in almost everything I love in a book; delicious ironies, delightfully flawed characters, historical interest and an endlessly thought-provoking sub-text. What is missing is narrative drive, that relentless quality whereby a book colonises the imagination and clamours for attention when you should really be thinking of other things.

Krishnapur is a fictional town, although the events that take place are based on actual events during the Sepo...more The Siege of Krishnapur is nearly a 5 star. It is rich in almost everything I love in a book; delicious ironies, delightfully flawed characters, historical interest and an endlessly thought-provoking sub-text. What is missing is narrative drive, that relentless quality whereby a book colonises the imagination and clamours for attention when you should really be thinking of other things.

Krishnapur is a fictional town, although the events that take place are based on actual events during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, and in particular during the Siege of Lucknow. It is important to the novel that the setting is fictional, because it is very much not an attempt at realism; those hoping for a tale of military derring-do, or a feel of "what it was really like" to be besieged would probably be disappointed. The siege is instead a vehicle for exploring the absurdity of the British in India; it is absurd that these palid ladies and gentleman from a small wet island, in their layers of wool and velvet, took it upon themselves to exploit and rule this vast, broiling continent; it is absurd that they did so in the belief that they were doing the Indians a huge favour in giving them what the British saw as the unquestionable benefits of European religion, science, administration, art and culture. However as the besieged Britons in Krishnapur, or the more thoughtful amongst them, come to realise many of those ideas are in fact questionable, and dogmatic adherence to them self-defeating. It is their ideology which is under siege. The main components of their belief system are personified in the Collector, the Magistrate, the Padre, Dr McNab and Fleury, the poet. Although they disagree with one another on many points, one thing they all agree on is the role of the ladies, ie that ladies have no role other than to please the gentlemen (but in only the seemliest of ways, of course). As the siege gets under way, the sole contribution it is thought the ladies can offer is to attempt to make roly-poly puddings; but as the siege continues, they are to be found making cartridges for the guns and working tirelessly in the grimly bloody hospital - their supposed weakness and inferiority just one of the many sacred cows the gentleman find dead or dying at their feet. However, though we may chortle at these laughable Victorians, Farrell’s theme is very much that we should look to ourselves, whoever we are; are not our own assumptions and prejudices as likely to be judged as absurd and misguided by future generations?

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The Siege of Krishnapur (Empire Trilogy #2)

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