Across the Black Waters

by Mulk Raj Anand

'Across the Black Waters' is an English novel by the Indian writer Mulk Raj Anand first published in 1939. It describes the experience of Lalu, a sepoy in the Indian Army fighting on behalf of Britain against the Germans in France during World War I. He is portrayed by the author as an innocent peasant whose poor family was evicted from their land and who only vaguely understands what the war is about. The book has been described as Anand's best work since the Untouchable.

Genres: India, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Indian Literature, World War I

Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Mulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer in English, notable for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, together with R.K. Narayan, Ahmed Ali and Raja Rao, was one of the first India-based writers in English to gain an international readership. Anand is admired for his novels and short stories, which have acquired the status of being classic works of modern Indian English literature, noted for their perceptive insight into the lives of the oppressed and their analyses of impoverishment, exploitation and misfortune. He is also notable for being among the first writers to incorporate Punjabi and Hindustani idioms into English.

Reviews

[Arun · Rating 5 out of 5]

To assist the British in their war against Germany, presumably World War I, Indian sepoys, who were ruled by British back then, were sent "across the black waters." Stationed at various places in France, the sepoys fight bravely in response to the "Sarkar salt" they have eaten, displaying their loyalty to the British. The English, throughout, lack guns and the sepoys were destined to fight with their old-fashioned bayonets against the German's machine guns (they also possess the wonderful "steel birds"). The resentment in such cases among the sepoys were pictured perfectly.
The protagonist Lal Singh, called Lalu, was an educated - actually, only educated - sepoy in their regiment. He grow relationships between various people and become close to Kirpa Singh, whom he address as Uncle Kirpu; and Danoo Singh, or Daddy Danoo, both of whom die eventually in battle. His friend Subah Singh, who was a peer when they came to France, was promoted to Jemadar by his father who was a Major (Arbel Singh). The very good Havildar Lachman Singh dies in the very 1st offensive which promotes Uncle Kirpu to Lance-Naik, while Lance-Naik Lok Nath gets promoted to Havildar. Under Subah Singh and Lok Nath's autocracy, the whole regiment, especially Lalu, suffers.
The novel depicts in accurate details the bloodshed; the gory face of battle. It brings before you the entirety of the imagery of a war. Jealousy, anger, pride (vanity), love, despair, spirituality, and what not - every emotional element of humanity was so aptly introduced into the plot without philosophizing to the reader. Throughout the novel, we see Lalu's despair; his agnosticism; his pragmatism; and his love of life. He wanted to live, yet seeing each and every one of his associates die, he was soaked partly in sorrow and partly in determination to live. Such an endearing portrayal of the protagonist, who remain a sepoy until the end of the novel. Germans throughout the novel were defined as demons and the English as the "fair side" with booming praise for the civility and hospitality of French people, who were the English's ally and on whose grounds the fight took place.
In the denouement, every superior of his battalion die before his very eyes, while they were ordered an offense on the incredibly stronger Germans. The climax is unbelievable. I never thought the author would end the story in such a way. The climax leaves the reader in utter restlessness; incredibility; and annoyance (in a lovelier way).
This is one of the best novels ever written. Had the closure been not the way the author had written, this novel would have remained just another "casual read."
Will the protagonist live? Or will he die in the battlefield? Read on!
A MUST READ!

[Kookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrowing and claustrophobic, it really gives you a feel for what it would have been like to be in the trenches of WWI. Add to that the disorientation of being a young man from a small village in India suddenly awash in European culture and this book is unlike any war book I've read before. Recommended.

[Rajiv Chopra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came upon this book when I read another book called "If I Die Here, Who Will Remember Me?". That book, by Vedica Kant, is a brief history - with lots of photographs - of the Indian soldiers who lived and died in World War I. I had said then, that it is a book that is well worth reading because it chronicles the history of these little known soldiers.

Mulk Raj Anand's book is also based on the events of World War I, and it follows the lives of a fictional battalion as they cross the "Black Waters" into France. It speaks of the incessant sound of warfare; the more liberal attitudes of the French to Indians, as compared to the British, who instilled a sense of inferiority in Indians; the petty attitude of the Indian NCOS and a bit more.

It follows, largely, Lal Singh into battle, until his final capture by the Germans. His fate is left for us to imagine.

It's a very good book. It's a very good book indeed. There is a sense of pathos, anger, and sadness in the book. Why did we have to send people to fight the war of another nation?

[Victoria]

A very moving and compelling book. It gives you a very sharp feel for what the Indian soldiers traversing the ocean to fight in WWI went through, from the boredom and fear and cold in the trenches to the street parades and the days spent in the towns and countryside of France. Anand captures the social codes and the shared experiences that alternately divide and connect the characters, and he writes with insight about the sepoys, the French civilians, and the British soldiers and the relationships between them all. Lalu is an unforgettable protagonist, and the novel takes you into his experience of WWI with compassion and humor for him and the other characters he meets.

[Anil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a real fiction.if you realy want to feel the brutality of war go for this book."GUNS will not going to offer a solution even the soldier in the battle field knows that"

[Dave Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The surreality of WW1 has never been more intense than when seen through the eyes of Indian soldiers brought over to fight for the British Empire. It's fascinating to see the Indian soldiers' complex reaction to Europe - the Sahibs they privately sometimes call "rape-daughters" while at other times being respectful or even in awe of them. The clash of gentle rural mindsets with horrible violence. The awakening of sexuality alongside the threat of imminent death. The way that monumentally unsettling developments (such as a humiliated soldier's suicide) are washed away by the sheer onslaught of impressions and experiences. It's one of those war stories that's about all human existence, intensified in a crucible of monstrous events.

Points to note: "rape-daughter" and "rape-mother" confused me as insults until I realized they'd be better translated as "daughter-rapist" and "mother-rapist". It was a surprise that the Indians (from the north) thought the Germans were a proper size but the British infantrymen were small.

There are dozens of typos, often obscuring the meaning. If I read it again I'll get a different edition.

[Siddhartha Das · Rating 3 out of 5]

A war story and the helplessness of the lower ranks in such a war is beautifully displayed. The kind of conversations that a normal sepoy has with oneself.

[Pushkar Mankar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully edifying and intimate portrayal of life of an Indian soldier fighting in WW1.

[Melanie]

I found this difficult to follow. A sad commentary on the horrors of war. DNF

[Hitesh Singhal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. One of the rare gems that talks about the life and challenges of the Indian soldiers who fought in WW1. An absolutely must-read.

[William Kirkland · Rating 4 out of 5]

That British, French and German soldiers fought and died in their millions on the Western Front in WW I is well known. That Punjabi, Pashtun, Baluchi and Gurkha Indians, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh, added their tens of thousands of bodies, hardly at all. But they were there, some two army divisions (about 24,000 men) arriving in Marseilles late September, 1914, with many thousands to follow, 140,000 to France by war’s end. So it’s a treat to find an eye-opening and compelling novel of such men written by one who knew a great deal of what he wrote.

Across the Black Waters (1939/1980) by Mulk Raj Anand, follows the experiential arc of many soldier-written novels of that war: arrival -- excitement, bewilderment; first combat --fear, courage; a rest behind the lines and daily life --washing, lice picking, talking about women, talking about military stupidity; return to battle, grotesque deaths and injuries; departure. As others of this particular war novel genre, the deeper backgrounds of familial relationships, love interests, place and history, of Stendhal or Tolstoy are not present. Nor are the minute accounts of battle and human psychology we read in later novels, from Norman Mailer and James Jones to say, Karl Marlantes (Matterhorn,) or Tim O'Brien (The Things They Carried.) The deep questions of God's goodness or malevolence, death, duty, cowardice and conscience appear but are not weighed and measured man by man.

Which isn't to say these novels have little to share with us. In fact, much. And Across Deep Waters, more than many.

- See more at: http://www.allinoneboat.org/2016/04/0...

[Manish · Rating 3 out of 5]

India contributed close to a million men in different capacities during the Great War. But inspite of this, the subject has never captured the imagination of our writers and historians. Search for Indians and the First World war and all that you get are some Wikipedia links, Dr. Santanu Das' work on the subject and a smattering of non fiction books that deal with the topic.Amitav Ghosh, in his blog has heroically translated a large section of one of the few first personal memoirs of an Indian soldier – “On to Baghdad”, written by Sisir Sarbadhikari who saw action in the Middle East during the siege of Kut. Read more at: http://amitavghosh.com/blog/?p=4404

It was only after some intense internet search on the topic that I chanced upon Mulk Raj Anand’s "Across the Black Waters' that deals with the Indian experience in the battlefields of France – Ypres to be more precise. “Across the Black Waters” is the second part of a trilogy and is an exhaustive account of the experiences of a bunch of Indian sepoys who find themselves bewildered in the land of the ‘goras’. Their attitudes, conflicts and confusion over the meaninglessness of the war of the sahibs definitely made for some interesting reading. Personally, I’m now atleast able to imagine what it must have felt for the folks of Punjab, Uttaranchal and Madras to be confronted with the misery of the trenches during that fateful period.

[Nallasivan V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only Indian English novel set during the world war I and deals directly with the role of Indian army in WWI. Just the importance of the subject itself should have made the book hugely popular in India. But it is rarely known. This should be more widely read. Should probably be read in schools instead of books like the scarlet pimpernel and the count of Monte Christo!