Friday, January 25, 2013

Chasing the monsoon by Alexander Frater

A big disappointment. The book might be interesting for foreigners who wish to think of India as a land of snakes and poverty.

Though it is non fiction, the writing style is pure fiction. The book is the journal of an Australian who traveled from Kerala to chirapunji, following the south-east monsoon.

The story begins with his neck injury. The co-patients talked about chirapunji so he embarked on the trip.

As the author flew from one place to another and lodged in expensive hotels , whatever views he expressed are similar to what elite of India usually have. He talked a lot about meteorology , without explaining the terminology. How many can understand lines like "sky is filled with cumulus "? What is the percentage is readers who know that cumulus is a type of a cloud? Instead of boring me with his childhood memories, he could have made it informative. And I don't understand how the marital problems of the couple who gave him the idea of chasing the monsoon are related to this book.

There is more description of beautiful women he came across in India than the monsoon. Everywhere he go, he met people who either speaks good English or none at all. None of the Indians in the book talked in pure butler English. Interestingly many use the phrase " touch wood ".

" Never since Somerset Maugham has rain seemed so romantic " - Observer .

Above line is printed on the back of the book. If observer is right, then Somerset Maugham's works on rain must be pathetic. No part of the book can really considered as poetic or philosophical. His difficulties with Indian bureaucracy and his experiences in Kolkata are the only parts I enjoyed reading. Extensive description of hotels, people he met coupled with many dialogs made it look like work of fiction.

After I finished, I cursed Hyderabad for not having a good library , I could have saved the money spent on it.

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