Latitudes of Longing - Faultline, Valley, Snow Desert and Whole Book (Spoilers)

[Hugh]

This thread is for free discussion of the last three parts of the book and the book as a whole.

[Hugh]

Five days after finishing the book, I am still finding it a little difficult to judge. I admired the ambition and liked a lot of the writing, but some of the caricaturing feels a little lazy, and there is a bit of a Rushdie wannabe element to it.

[Tamara]

I reviewed it when I read it in December, and I gave it a 3-star rating. I haven't read Rushdie, so I can't comment on that.

I thought the first section showed a lot of potential but it lost steam after that. The remaining sections rambled and became increasingly incoherent. She is capable of writing strong prose, but I think she overreached, tried to do too much. Her scope was too broad, too ambitious. It just didn't work well for me.

[Pamela]

Just finished this, and overall I was impressed, especially as this is a debut novel. There was a lot to enjoy, particularly the descriptions of the Andaman Islands, and the rather touching love stories (Girija Prasad and Chandra Devi, then Apo and Ghazala).

I would agree that it lost some impetus after the first section. I appreciate it isn’t possible to maintain that bright and playful tone when dealing with political repression and torture, but I found the change too abrupt and it took me a while to reset my expectations and engage with the rest of the book.

I also admired her ambition - the ideas and scope were excellent, but at times I felt it needed to be drawn together more tightly. Really glad to have read this, and would definitely read more from this author in future.

[Mark]

After the fairy-tale like "Islands," "Faultline" came as quite a shock. Hearing about Myanmar's brutality is one thing, living along with a character through it is very much another. I still trust the author. My first entrance into "Valley" seemed hallucinatory. I had to look back at a map to make sure I knew where Katmandu was. (At the same time, I learned that Thamel is a real place: old town Katmandu.) On the second reading of the first section, it made perfect sense.

I suppose some readers might be disoriented by the occasional extension into Long Time. First she softens the reader up by coy forays into colonial exploration or the Japanese occupation. Next comes geologic upheavals. Finally (so far) she reaches into solar death. My feeling is that, a) the characters might very well be thinking about those extensions of time, and b) it gives the reader a perspective on the brutality and squalor the characters face.

[Mark]

My feeling of being graciously introduced (by the author, perhaps not so much by the characters!) to her corner of the world persists. I am glad to have read this. -- I still don't know what provoked the vitriol in The Scotsman's review, on in many of the other reviews either, for that matter. When one goes into a stranger's house, one is sure to find much that seems alien. It won't feel as comforting as returning to one's home. BUT THAT'S ALL RIGHT! Learning about those other possibilities of living is WHAT traveling is for.

>>> I have spent many pleasurable hours gazing at maps; "Where does that stream lead?" "What could I see from that point?" "How would I live there?" "What would I think of if I was there?" Ms. Swarup traces one arc through South Asia and shows her readers a selection of human (and other) lives along that arc. Sure it's not War and Peace, but then neither is The Great Gatsby.

>>> I've read two books that introduced me to the northern end of Swarup's arc: Matthissen's The Snow Leopard and it's companion piece, Schaller's Stones of Silence. They show substantially the same world that "Valley" and "Snow Desert" do. Thanks for choosing this title!