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15th out of 19 books
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4 voters
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The Immortals
The award-winning author of A New World now gives us an incantatory novel—at once plaintive and comic—about the powerful undercurrent of cultural and familial tradition in a society enthralled with the future.
Bombay in the 1980s: Shyam Lal is a highly regarded voice teacher, trained by his father in the classical idiom but happily engaged in teaching the more popular songs...more
Bombay in the 1980s: Shyam Lal is a highly regarded voice teacher, trained by his father in the classical idiom but happily engaged in teaching the more popular songs...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
August 25th 2009
by Knopf
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The Immortals is a tale of two families: one luxuriating in a new world of corporate affluence and the other getting by on the old world of musical tradition. Together, they are joined by a “common, day-to-day pursuit of music.”
Music is the thread that ties this book together, and Amit Chaudhuri knows his stuff. He is, himself, a composer and musician and the meticulous detail and grand amount of exposition is clearly written by a man who has inhabited the world he creates.
...more
Music is the thread that ties this book together, and Amit Chaudhuri knows his stuff. He is, himself, a composer and musician and the meticulous detail and grand amount of exposition is clearly written by a man who has inhabited the world he creates.
...more
Being a classically trained Indian musician myself, I thought reading a book about the subject by an actual musician might be right up my alley. And Amit Chaudhuri's The Immortals could have been very compelling if it weren't for a few teensy issues.
The Immortals tries to tackle the guru-student relationship along with complexities of caste, socioeconomics, and education. Some of the characters are more fleshed out than others: Mallika Sengupta and Shyamji are by far the most devel...more
The Immortals tries to tackle the guru-student relationship along with complexities of caste, socioeconomics, and education. Some of the characters are more fleshed out than others: Mallika Sengupta and Shyamji are by far the most devel...more
'The Immortals' seems to have been written for the Booker judging panel, meticulously adopting one of the standard Booker styles: Indian subcontinent coming-of-age family saga (known for short as the Rushdie Template).
Unfortunately it wasn't written for you, dear reader, so I advise you not to read it.
Amazon reviewers are occasionally castigated for 'spoiling': giving away the plot of a book. There is no danger of that here because 'The Immortals' has no plot. Or, if it does ...more
Unfortunately it wasn't written for you, dear reader, so I advise you not to read it.
Amazon reviewers are occasionally castigated for 'spoiling': giving away the plot of a book. There is no danger of that here because 'The Immortals' has no plot. Or, if it does ...more
This feels like the most thorough book by Chaudhuri; it's probably his longest one to date. I really enjoyed his close depiction of the world of music teachers and their bourgeois amateur-students in Bombay of the eighties. Chaudhuri manages to write about class (and caste) interaction without either aestheticized delusion or revolutionary sentimentalism. Young bookish protagonist who will go to study in London (an annoying ethnic cliche, can we for once have books about young plumbers or gar...more
A languid, melancholy book - even sort of depressing - and yet, in my opinion, a fairly accurate portrait of how art and artists survive in a rapidly growing and changing city, in this case music/musicians in India. Not so different from artists in this country, in the daily scramble to keep the art alive while trying to survive in a world bent mostly on business. Very believable characters, but not an easy read because the author uses a great many untranslated words from an unfamiliar (to an A...more
I started this book a few months ago. Just could not get into if, even after 50 pages. Then put it down and tried again.
I normally love books about Indian written by Indian authors, but this is not for me.
I can not recommend it, sorry.
I normally love books about Indian written by Indian authors, but this is not for me.
I can not recommend it, sorry.
I'm reading the reviews below me and they're answering my question: I can't imagine this book gripping a reader who doesn't have a good grasp of Indian music and the student/guru tradition. I enjoyed the book, and it does make me want to track down more by this author (including his music).
I have to say I was disappointed with this book. I wanted to stop reading it, but I never stop reading a book once I have started. I kept thinking there would be a redemption at the end, but there wasn't. I didn't care about the characters. I wanted to care, but I didn't. I can not recommend this. This was the first book I read by this author, not sure I would read another
I couldn't continue reading it. I got to p 23. About a Bombay music teacher.
12/22/2009 : Saw this on the NEW shelf at the library today.
Tedious and unsatisfying.
I thought this book was tedious and not interesting.
Couldn't get through this one. Read about a third and gave up. It went no where and was very confusing with all the Indian names.
Sorry, I got about 50 pages in... another reviewer calls this book "languid". I agree.
But it would be interesting to those who grew up in India and are familiar with the music-teaching milieu.
But it would be interesting to those who grew up in India and are familiar with the music-teaching milieu.
Written with Chaudhuri's characteristic delicacy and nuance, but because this book is more commodious than his earlier ones, it's also a bit too languorous.
As seen in NYT Book Review.
Janie
marked it as to-read
Vindi
marked it as to-read
Marielle
marked it as to-read
Hippiemouse420
marked it as to-read
Summeet
marked it as to-read
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