From the Bookshelf of Reading with Style…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
This book has been on my radar for a while so when it was longlisted for the Best Translated Book Award I was happy to pick it up on audio.
Ghachar Ghochar may be short, clocking in at 128 pages, but it packs a punch. The history and current circumstance of a rags-to-riches family is built in layers. Mosaic, non-linear chapters give the sense that something is going on here, and Shanbhag leaves spaces for your mind to fill with the most diabolical possibilities. I blew through the book and though ...more
Ghachar Ghochar may be short, clocking in at 128 pages, but it packs a punch. The history and current circumstance of a rags-to-riches family is built in layers. Mosaic, non-linear chapters give the sense that something is going on here, and Shanbhag leaves spaces for your mind to fill with the most diabolical possibilities. I blew through the book and though ...more
"Ghachar Ghochar" is a hidden gem written by the Indian author, Vivek Shanbhag. The narrator lives with his poor parents, uncle, and sister in a small home in Bangalore. After his uncle launches a successful spice distribution business, the family becomes economically dependent on him and they move together to a larger residence.
Changes occur in the relationships in the family after their finances improve. One perceptive line is "Wealth shouldn't strike suddenly like a visitation, but instead gr ...more
Changes occur in the relationships in the family after their finances improve. One perceptive line is "Wealth shouldn't strike suddenly like a visitation, but instead gr ...more
More like 5 - but minus half a star for the ending. It was too cryptic - I mean what happened??!!!! And I felt like this would have made a really good longer novel. The ending snuck up on me and I wasn't prepared for it. And I wasn't prepared to be left wondering.
...more
A tightly-written story focused on our young narrator's relationship with his family, and how his perspective shifts due to money and due to his relationships with an earlier girlfriend (?) and with his wife. There's some lovely writing and textured emotional landscapes that come across even (and sometimes especially) when the narrator cannot pin down his feelings.
It's always a pleasure to read a novella with a perfectly-sized story--there are novels with less depth than this short book, and Sh ...more
It's always a pleasure to read a novella with a perfectly-sized story--there are novels with less depth than this short book, and Sh ...more
Very tightly written. I loved the voice.
Quick thoughts... I think the money is a not the point. The narrator is never named. He doesn’t even know himself. He is shallow and lazy and that’s not the fault of money.
He doesn’t bother to get to know his own wife!
But all the characters are that way. All of them choose not to see what they don’t want to.
It’s quite late and I am rambling, but this was an interesting book.
Quick thoughts... I think the money is a not the point. The narrator is never named. He doesn’t even know himself. He is shallow and lazy and that’s not the fault of money.
He doesn’t bother to get to know his own wife!
But all the characters are that way. All of them choose not to see what they don’t want to.
It’s quite late and I am rambling, but this was an interesting book.
What a tidy/untidy book! Tidy--in that it is like a short story. One character sits down in Coffee House and relates the tale. Untidy--in that it is a family story of shifts and changes. Shanbhag does an excellent job of conveying the moods and tensions in the family.
The reader for this audio version is very good, although I had difficulty picking up Vincent's words. ...more
The reader for this audio version is very good, although I had difficulty picking up Vincent's words. ...more
Nov 03, 2016
Penny (Literary Hoarders)
marked it as to-read
Jan 29, 2017
Dave
marked it as to-read
May 11, 2017
Elle
marked it as to-read
Oct 02, 2017
Maia
marked it as to-read
May 31, 2018
Claire
marked it as to-read
Nov 15, 2019
Kate
marked it as to-read
