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Chowringhee (Group Read, Aug 12)
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I have read it some 4 years back but dont remember some stuff...let me hunt it out to refresh my memory..
Mod
It's good. I read it couple of years ago. I'm sure you guys will enjoy it.
Mod
i will be offline till 15th of this month . will join later, happy reading guys:)
Although I haven't read the novel,neither I have watched the movie, but I am a huge fan of Sankar. I really admire his extensive research work on Swami Vivekananda.
In a recent interview, he lamented, saying that the only award CHOWRINGHEE ever got was for BEST BINDING. Sad, real sad knowing the praises THE GUARDIAN had heaped upon this book. He has been called a lot of things, including a ONE HIT WONDER, but he delivered and still continues to deliver.
One, really sad criticism he faced and still faces now, is that CHOWRINGHEE is a rip-off from Hotel by Arthur Hailey, which is almost like calling the tiger a vegetarian. While Chowringhee was a drama, Hotel was an outright thriller.
I wish the Group could also read his works on Swamiji, but sadly they are not translated. But, nonetheless he was, is and will remain one of my favorite Bengali author.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/...
In a recent interview, he lamented, saying that the only award CHOWRINGHEE ever got was for BEST BINDING. Sad, real sad knowing the praises THE GUARDIAN had heaped upon this book. He has been called a lot of things, including a ONE HIT WONDER, but he delivered and still continues to deliver.
One, really sad criticism he faced and still faces now, is that CHOWRINGHEE is a rip-off from Hotel by Arthur Hailey, which is almost like calling the tiger a vegetarian. While Chowringhee was a drama, Hotel was an outright thriller.
I wish the Group could also read his works on Swamiji, but sadly they are not translated. But, nonetheless he was, is and will remain one of my favorite Bengali author.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/...
its beautiful, especially the way it transported me back into time... and the characters are so vivid...it made me want to work in a hotel for a month or so...
Smitha wrote: "reached page 64, Just getting into the crux of the story. SO far, it seems ordinary"Smitha wrote: "was it good? just started it yesterday night - started in the sense, read the blurbs, turned the pages, read the intro etc. Yet to start on the real story"
It was quite ordinary :(
If I may just state my opinion, I think for a reader uninitiated with Sankar, it is better to start with the tighter and more provocative, 'Jana Aranya' (with its beautiful Arunava Sinha translation now available in English as 'The Middleman'). As good a job Satyajit Ray made of directing the adaptation ('Jana Aranya' remains a pivotal piece in Ray's Calcutta trilogy of the 70s), the book was greater, for it brought a pain that was nearer, more inelegant (almost clumsy) than the distant sophistication of Ray's cinema.In contrast, 'Chowringhee' is more voluptuous, rambling and most definitely, an acquired taste. I absolutely agree with Pratishtha that it weaves a rich tapestry and I love how rudderless it often gets and how the narrative swings between the characters, often unexpectedly but always charmingly, but I prefer the silent, screaming, tragic masterpiece that is 'Jana Aranya' (The Middleman).
Mod
This was the first translation I had read and Aruniva had done a good job of not adding complex words. For a story told from behind the desk at a hotel, it sounds so and hence more closer to the characters.
I agree with Anirban that it is a crime to relate to Arthur Hailey. While Hailey builds his characters and then build a story, Sankar tells us about the characters through stories. It's a warm read for a summer afternoon - read, smile, feel, move on.
As Kunal said, doesn't really make you want to say 'What happened next?'.
I somehow could not relate to the significance of statues. can anyone enlighten if they did have any?
Anirban wrote: "Although I haven't read the novel,neither I have watched the movie, but I am a huge fan of Sankar. I really admire his extensive research work on Swami Vivekananda.In a recent interview, he lament..."
While both the novels use a similar backdrop, i think the premise and maybe even the genres are different here and calling one a rip-off of the other is totally baseless as the Chowringhee is written 3 years before Hailey's Hotel
"Chowringhee" is the most acclaimed work of Shankar...but sadly, not the best of his works. Anyone who is interested in this gem of a author should start with "Jana-Aranya" (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68...). It is the most powerful and moving story of a society rotten to its core that I have ever read."Seemabaddha" is another fascinating tale of corporate life,but am not sure if it has been translated. Chowringhee in comparison is more like collage of pictures taken from the various lives of people of various category. It has its own flavor, but can hardly be called a gripping tale.But off course, the movie with ever charming Uttam Kumar in the lead did surpass the novel in quality.
Mod
i really dont think will be able to take part in the discussion for this group read. i am so busy in other works that their is no time for me to read the book and participate in the discussion. i request the mod to appoint some one else as the discussion leader. sorry guys for bailing out like this :(
I'll start reading it today. Got something to do for my Independence Day off.
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By a Bengali writer, this is a long, gentle account of life in a grand hotel in Calcutta, as narrated by one of its front desk clerks. I only read it because I was about to visit Calcutta. The book begins slowly, but does have the occasional dramatic highlights.
I am not sure that I learnt much about Calcutta, but it was a pleasant enough read.
I wouldn't recommend it highly.
I am hooked to this book. I will not refrain myself from saying that I am finding it unputdownable. I am done with almost 100 pages and like most of you said the description is rich with each character adding yet another colour to the vivid story. But did I miss out on the narrator's name. I realized it much later when he was addressed Mukherji at some point of time and it dawned upon me what is his first name?
Could I more stupid?? I just realized that the author is the narrator, Shankar Mukherji.Done with another 100 pages reading between breaks at offices and the book strategically placed in my lap to avoid attention. Gripping, nice, humorous-at so many instances I laughed out loud that others were musing at what fun lay in the code I was 'doing'!
Mod
i have read this a long time ago (Bengali version).Sorry, I can't join you all. As my copy is at my Native place :-(
I finished it this afternoon. Mesmerized by the dazzle of 60's Calcutta!
I've discovered this book when you guys chose it for the group read last summer, but had no time to join you then so that Chowringhee ended up on my bookshelf being overlooked too many times. Well, I've finally picked it up expecting a light read which would offer some easy entertainment set in Calcutta and I wasn't disappointed. As I used to work in a hotel for a while myself, I recognize some of the behaviour of guests and staff, even though of course times have changed and a small family-run hotel at Salzburg really can't be compared to the Shah Jahan at Calcutta :-) I enjoy this book more than I expected. The narrator is very human and moving in his naivete and Bose-da is just my absolute favourite.
I had to get used to the way of telling the story: Shankar highlights different personalities, gives us their biography, their love and life stories, to then drop them and start concentrating on yet another character and topic. The technique is quite cleverly chosen as somehow the coming and going of different people resembles the constant change of clients at a hotel. Like a hotel clerk, the reader gets glimples of the life of those passing by, to lose track of them as soon as they've checked out.
I have about 80 pages to go and will probably finish the book today as I'm down with a cold and will spend most of my Easter Monday in bed and the bathtub trying to get better.
Welcome back Julia :)Even i've had this book for long, but never got around to pick it up as my to-read pending list is constantly piling up.
Thanks so much for the lovey welcome back - I'm following the group quite constantly, but I haven't been able to join any discussions on a regular basis recently. I really enjoy the impact I get - I would never have heard of Sankar without this group, and I've quite enjoyed the read and will try to get hold of The Middleman as well.
I had just typed a review, but somehow it got lost :-( Now I'm too lazy to repeat everything.....
You may find this book ordinary in the initial 100 pages or so. But , trust me , the ending 70 pages or so are lovely.I, myself loved this book. Actually i was excited to read this book because i had read The Middleman by this author and that book was really nice and thought provoking.
Coming back to the point, it is a coming of age story and the characters are so vivid. It is as if you know them in real life, specially the character of satta bose. Let me know, if you still find the book ordinary after completing it .
Read the original Bengali text...Too good!
Indian Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
The Middleman (other topics)Hotel (other topics)
Chowringhee (other topics)
eagerly waiting to start off with and discuss this epic Bengali novel by Shankar, which was a major success in W. Bengal in the sixties, as I have come to know. So discussion leader, buck up.