The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell - 4 stars

[Joy D]

The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell - 4* - My Review

Set in northern India, The Siege of Krishnapur is the second novel in J.G. Farrell’s Empire Trilogy. Each volume explores the decline of the British Empire, is set in a different country (Ireland, India, Singapore), and can easily be read as a stand-alone. This book introduces the characters and provides the necessary background, then plunges into the chaos of the Rebellion of 1857, in which the local Indian troops (employed by the British East India Company) revolted against colonial rule.

The narrative follows a group of British officials, soldiers, and their families as they endure the siege in a (fictional) colonial outpost. A primary character is the Collector, a British bureaucrat who clings to Victorian ideals as his world collapses around him. Another central figure is George Fleury, a well-meaning but naïve young man who is ill-equipped to become a soldier. Surrounding them are women and children from various social classes, an ostracized "fallen woman," and a few prominent Indian characters whose interactions underscore the cultural obliviousness of the British colonials.

Farrell employs satire, though I would not call the content funny or humorous. The novel critiques racial and class hierarchies while portraying the physical and psychological toll of the siege with brutal realism — gruesome injuries, cholera, starvation, and many deaths are all rendered vividly. It starts slowly and builds to a dramatic climax. I found it a well-crafted and unsettling book that calls attention to imperial hubris, and deserving of the Booker Prize it won in 1973.

[Booknblues]

I read this aeons ago, when I used to buy paperbacks with their covers torn off for 10 cents. I'm surprised by the variety and quality of book I was able to read at that time and many of them have stuck with me over the decades. The Siege of Krishnapur is one which stuck.

[Joy D]

I am sure I'll remember it too.