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Shashi Tharoor

Author of The Great Indian Novel

39+ Works 2,824 Members 62 Reviews 4 Favorited

About the Author

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Works by Shashi Tharoor

The Great Indian Novel (1989) 668 copies
Riot: A Love Story (2001) 181 copies
Why I Am a Hindu (2018) 141 copies
Show business (1991) 100 copies
Paradoxical Prime Minister (2018) 32 copies
The Hindu Way-Hb (2019) 21 copies
Tharoorosaurus (2020) 15 copies
India: The Future is Now (2013) 15 copies
Kerala, God's Own Country (2003) 12 copies
Ambedkar: A Life (2022) 3 copies
Inde (2008) 3 copies

Associated Works

What’s Language Got to Do with It? (2005) — Contributor — 51 copies
Passages: 24 Modern Indian Stories (Signet Classics) (2009) — Contributor — 10 copies

Tagged

1001 (8) 20th century (9) Asia (15) Asian History (7) biography (23) British Empire (14) British history (11) colonialism (24) ebook (10) economics (14) empire (11) essays (16) fiction (89) globalization (8) goodreads (11) Hinduism (8) history (122) History of India (11) humor (14) India (272) Indian (19) Indian History (19) Indian literature (17) Indien (19) Kindle (8) literature (10) Mahabharata (10) non-fiction (110) novel (26) owned (9) politics (48) read (8) religion (13) Roman (8) satire (19) South Asia (16) to-read (275) unread (11) wishlist (8) writing (8)

Common Knowledge

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Reviews

I picked this book hoping to learn something about a topic that I knew nothing about. And I did learn a great deal, but it was written with such an angry, biased tone that it left me wishing I had chosen a more neutral title. I'm quite sure I didn't get the full story.
 
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Iudita | 5 other reviews | Sep 13, 2023 |
"Divide and rule," "The Raj, " "indentured servitude." If you're of Indian descent, you've probably heard your older family mutter these words with disdain yet never really grasped the sheer horror of British terror that informed their disgust.

There is a rising tide of apologia for colonialism. The ilk of Niall Ferguson sincerely believe that it wasn't all that bad--and they'd be right if all you had to go on were their fantasies of colonial uplift. This is where Shashi Tharoor shines. He simply lays out the best possible excuses for defenders of Britain's treatment of India and then demolishes each nostalgic delusion with historical context, records and facts.

Ultimately, Tharoor's positive argument is pretty simple when you get past all the Imperial gloss: Indians were people. Their lives mattered just as much as yours and mine--but this could never be the case during British rule in India.
… (more)
 
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Kavinay | 2 other reviews | Jan 2, 2023 |
Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read: "Ah, Bollywood. What fun to learn some about this side of the Indian culture. Ah, the brave heroes, and the beautiful heroines!"
 
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MGADMJK | 1 other review | Nov 1, 2022 |
Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read: This was a great Indian novel! Parallels an Indian classic (The Mahabharata , an ancient Hindu epic), satirically telling the history of Ghandi and his impact on the British occupation of India. Long but fulfilling; re-read some day!"
 
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MGADMJK | 17 other reviews | Oct 29, 2022 |

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Statistics

Works
39
Also by
3
Members
2,824
Popularity
#9,085
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
62
ISBNs
134
Languages
5
Favorited
4

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