Book 181: The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee
Book 181: The Lives of Others.
Author: Neel Mukherjee, 2014.
Genre: Period Fiction. Family Saga
Other Details:Hardback. 516 pages.
Calcutta, 1967. Unnoticed by his family, Supratik has become dangerously involved in extremist political activism. Compelled by an idealistic desire to change his life and the world around him, all he leaves behind before disappearing is this note … "Ma, I feel exhausted with consuming, with taking and grabbing and using. I am so bloated that I feel I cannot breathe any more. I am leaving to find some air, some place where I shall be able to purge myself, push back against the life given me and make my own. I feel I live in a borrowed house. It’s time to find my own… Forgive me…"
The ageing patriarch and matriarch of his family, the Ghoshes, preside over their large household, unaware that beneath the barely ruffled surface of their lives the sands are shifting. More than poisonous rivalries among sisters-in-law, destructive secrets, and the implosion of the family business, this is a family unravelling as the society around it fractures. For this is a moment of turbulence, of inevitable and unstoppable change: the chasm between the generations, and between those who have and those who have not, has never been wider. - synopsis from UK publisher's website.
Having only recently read 'The Lowland' by Jhumpa Lahiri I was almost immediately struck by the similarities in themes with this novel, including the havoc caused by a younger member of the family becoming involved with the Naxalites. However, I appreciated that The Lives of Others stayed focused on events in India. Mukherjee brought the country , its landscape, peoples and culture vividly to life.
I found the story-telling to be excellent even if the majority of characters were fairy unsympathetic. I felt that the political aspects were heart-breaking in terms of the injustices and exploitation portrayed. Even more so was the clear indication that things have not changed between the 1960s and the 21st Century. Yet this gave the novel an even greater impact..
It was a novel that I could not exactly say I enjoyed as it contained uncomfortable scenes yet swept me into the lives of its characters very effectively. In retrospect I wish I had created a crib-sheet to keep track of the many characters. I also found the font used by the publisher for Supratik's unsent letters to be almost unreadable.