Raja Rao (1) (1908–2006)

This short but impactful novel tells of life in an Indian village in the last years of the Raj, and the way that Gandhi's thought arrives in the village (through a young man called Moorthy, who sees the Mahatma speaking and is inspired to give up his 'foreign' ways and bring the message to his village) and gradually spreads. It's not universally popular - some of the villagers don't see that 'politics' affects them - and many of the powerful respond with financial pressure ("Well, well, he show more said to himself, every squirrel has his day, and now for every Congress member the interest will go up to 10 and 20 per cent") and even violence. And yet, the message continues to inspire the villagers. One of the many interesting things in the book is how the villagers' response is linked to religion - some of them treat Gandhi as a god, for example, and after acts of Satyagraha (non-violent resistance) the villagers feel the same euphoria as they do after taking part in temple ceremonies at religious festivals.

It will sound horribly shallow to say that this book looked as if it was going to be hard going! - apart from the subject, my copy has tiny print crammed closely together on the page. But it was anything but - it has a very story-telling style (the narrator is an old woman of the village) which rushes on, bringing in all sorts of detail of character and surroundings, making it very vivid. show less

Rather than detail a plot that is entirely beside the point, I would like to emphasize the seamless prose that moves from enigmatic conversations to abstruse philosphy in unyieldingly intellectual yet poetical prose. Apparently Rao intended this to be the first of a trilogy, but I believe age caught up with him. Still it is a remarkable capstone for a career that begin simply with Kanthapura, matured into the metaphysical yet more easily accessible The Serpent and the Rope and led, finally, show more to this extraordinary book. show less

If you are at all interested in the history of India I recommend that you read Kanthapura. Set in 1930's India, the story of the lives of the inhabitants of a small village are told by a nameless narrator. The impact of Mahatma Gandhi's ideas bring change. I must admit to not knowing much about this period of history or Gandhi's influence on the lives of the people of India. It did take me a short time to get used to the narrative style - heavily influenced by the traditional story telling show more of India - but it made the characters seem real. A very interesting book. show less

The Cat and Shakespeare / Raja Rao
1.5 stars

What the *bleep* was that!!!? Is there such a thing as “philosophical fiction”? That may have been this. I don’t think there was any kind of plot. From what I could gather there as a man with a wife and a mistress (one, I’m not sure which, was “woman”… not “a woman”, just “woman”). He has a daughter (“child”, not “a child”, just “child”). He works. A boy child got sick, a cat appeared somewhere along the way, a boss show more died, the mistress was pregnant (and I think had a baby). I think. The book gets the extra half star for what I think I actually followed in the book (since I was surprised that I managed to follow anything – at least I think I did!). Sorry if any of what I mentioned as a spoiler – my apologies if I’ve ruined the book for anyone! show less