Two Lives

There's a Hindi word, Dhaayi, which means two-and-a-half, and Vikram Seth has said that if there was an equivalent word in English, this would have been called Two-and-a-Half Lives. The two lives of the title are those of Seth's great-uncle and aunt, Shanti and Henny. The half would have been Seth himself, who lived with the couple when he first went to England and who continued to stay in close touch with them throughout their lives.

Between them, Shanti and Henny have personal experience of almost everything the twentieth century could throw at them. They became friends in Germany in the 1930s. Shanti was born into colonial India, injured while serving as an officer in the British Army during World War Two. Henny, a German Jew, escaped show more to England a month before war broke out. Her mother and sister died in the Holocaust.

This story would have been interesting in any hands. But Seth's love for the couple shines through, and makes it especially moving. Seth traces their story through letters, as well as conversations with Shanti and with other relatives and friends of the family. He has an unerring eye for the telling details, which means that his narration makes the well-known sequence of events horrific all over again. For example, he reproduces an exchange of 25-word telegrams between Henny and her mother and sister in the early 1940s, which were sent through the Red Cross. Almost comically short, all they say in effect is 'I am well, thinking of you, write soon'. But four months passed between each one. show less

This is an interesting idea: writing biographies of relatives is normally the province of self-published amateurs rather than well-known novelists, unless of course the relatives happen to be distinguished figures themselves. It's maybe considered as being a bit below the dignity of a serious literary figure; fortunately, Seth seems to be a "try anything once" sort of writer, who's not afraid of stirring up a little family dust.

Seth here has a go at applying his novelist's insight to untangling the various threads in his personal relationship with, and understanding of, his great uncle and great aunt. In the process, he brings out some interesting ideas about the ways extended families and groups of friends ("Wahlverwandschaften") work, show more the way we relate to people of different generations in different stages of our lives, and how little we sometimes know about the significant events in the lives of people we are close to. This works very well, and I found a lot in this aspect of the book that I could identify with.

The book works rather less well when you read it as conventional biography. The non-chronological structure is sometimes confusing or requires a lot of repetition for us to keep track of the sequence of events, particularly in the section that is based on Henny's surviving letters from the 1940s; there are big chunks of historical background material that will be redundant for almost all readers; there are some areas of his subjects' lives that we would gladly know less about (their health problems in old age, for instance), and others that Seth seems strangely uninterested in, like Henny's working life.

A little disappointing, perhaps, but definitely worth reading. show less

Two Lives: A Memoir is the first Vikram Seth book I've read (I seem to be making a habit of introducing myself to authors who primarily write fiction by reading their non-fiction work; the only Barbara Kingsolver book I've read is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and On Writing is the only Stephen King book in the house, although I haven't read that one yet.) I found the title of the book slightly misleading – while the book is certainly about Seth's uncle Shanti and aunt Henny, it's also very much about his relationship with them.

The book is divided into five independent parts, each approaching different facet of the story. It starts off with the young Vikram Seth arriving to live with his aunt and uncle while he attends school in show more England, and his perceptions of them. Then, we learn about Shanti's life, then Henny's, then their life together. I was expecting the book to be more narrative than it was; a large portion of it quotes various interviews and letters. Much of the narration that accompanies the quotes seems more like annotation or clarification of context. At first, I found this annoying, but I got used to it.

The story of Shanti and Henny is certainly makes fascinating reading. Shanti is a Hindu from India who studies dentistry in Germany, and Henny is the daughter of the Jewish family he boards with while doing so. However, their love story blossoms in England. Both of them are remarkable people in their own right – Shanti is a much-loved practising dentist, even though he lost one of his arms in World War II. Henny's story is quite tragic; her mother and sister do not make it out of Germany, and she has to face many truths about her family and friends after the war is over. I think her correspondences were the most interesting part of the book – we got an intimate look at how she coped with a tragedy of the magnitude of the Holocaust. She always remained incredibly dignified and restrained, though.

At times, I found myself wishing that the book was a little more focused. It seemed like Seth structured the book around trying to present every bit of information that he had (especially about Henny), rather than build a cohesive narrative. At other times, I appreciated the tangents and extra details about the couple's family and friends.

I also had mixed feelings about the author talking about his own feelings at various points in the book. On the one hand, they made it feel more intimate – he is in fact, writing about the aunt and uncle that he loves and respects, so it's nice to see that come through. On the other hand, some of the things he said seemed superfluous and distracting; for instance, he talks about the different areas of the world and technologies that Germany has had an impact on (including some thoughts on the future.)

Originally posted on my blog. show less

Vikram Seth’s work is always a surprise. Whether it’s a travel memoir, a book-length poem, or a brilliant epic of Indian life, he is bound to be investigating something new.

And this book is no exception. Seth’s memoir focuses little on himself, mostly on his aunt and uncle. Shanti Uncle was an Indian dentist, trained in Germany but later an officer for the English forces during WWII. Aunty Henny was a German Jew, a dear friend during Shanti’s student days and only his wife many years later, after she fled the Nazis and settled in England.

Seth’s treatment of his beloved relatives, their heartbreaking trials and the intense disappointments of their lives is both gentle and honest. It is a story that investigates race, show more nationality, war and family, and clearly a book that has taken Seth himself on a difficult personal journey. Traveling with him, the reader is invited to look at issues both historical and contemporary, but always within the compassionate frame of an intimate family portrait. show less

Vikram Seth never writes the same book twice. I don't know what's next, but it would not surprise me too terribly much if it were a brilliant 200-page coloring book about a family of flamingos. (It would, of course, have a sonnet in the dedication. It's nice to have at least one constant.)

This one is a memoir of his great-uncle Shanti and great-aunt Henny, and it's an excellent memorial to two people he loved. It's generally interesting, often gripping. With that said, the last section in particular might have profited by a ruthless attack with a large set of pruning shears.

Certainement un de mes livres de l'année!!! L'auteur indien nous raconte l'histoire plus que remarquable de son grand-oncle "Uncle Shanti" et de sa grande-tante Henny, Allemande, avec lesquels il avait passé plusieurs années lors de ses études à Londres et pour lequel il était devenu le fils qu'ils avaient jamais eu.

Vikram Seth réussit incroyablement bien à rendre vivantes ses deux personnes, leurs familles, leurs amis - par des lettres, des photos - et aussi les évènements historiques qui allaient influencer de façon dramatique leurs vies - la mère et la soeur de Henny étaient mortes dans les camps de concentration et Shanti avait perdu un bras lors de la guerre, d'autant plus grave qu'il était dentiste. Une fois de plus show more je me suis rendue compte que le sort de deux individus auxquels on s'est attaché peut être bien plus bouleversant que les chiffres "nus" de millions de morts anonymes.

Une histoire d'amour émouvante aussi d'autant plus qu'elle n'est pas du tout à l'eau de rose et même un peu longue à démarrer:

They believed in each other's abilities, in each other's character and in each other's love. It may not have been a requited passionate romance, but it was deep and abiding concern. Beset by life, isolated in the world, in each other they found a strong and sheltering harbour. show less

When Vikram Seth, an Indian author of acclaim, was seventeen, he went to live with his uncle and aunt in London in order to attend school there. The first part of the book, and frankly one of the most interesting parts, is the story of his childhood spent bouncing between India and England and the account of his intense schooling. Once Vikram is fledged, he keeps in touch with his surrogate family, and after his aunt dies, decides to begin interviewing his uncle in order to someday write a dual biography. It's an interesting idea.

Shanti Seth was born in India and in 1931 moves to Berlin to study dentistry. He ends up rooming in a Mrs. Caro's house, despite Mrs. Caro's daughter Henny advising her mother not to take in the black man. show more Despite this initial impression, Shanti and Henny become friends and the two of them have a busy social life in Berlin. In 1939 Henny flees the coming Holocaust and with the aid of her fiancé’s father escapes to London. A year later Shanti joins the British Army's Dental Corp. He serves in North Africa and Italy, is seriously injured in the battle for Monte Cassino, and returns to London to continue his dental career. Henny has been in London since the war began, and the two of them continue a rather lopsided relationship until they are married in 1951.

The memoir has the potential to be fascinating: an Indian man's relationship with a Jewish girl in pre-war Berlin, the loss of her family and many friends in the Holocaust, and her extensive correspondence with friends in post-war Germany. However, I found reading the book rather like being stuck watching someone's interminable home movies. Shanti fails to share with his nephew any insights into his life, so the account is rather flat and uninspired. Henny is more complex with secrets that are only revealed through correspondence discovered after her death. Unfortunately she didn't keep copies of all of her letters, so too often the account is construed from what friends wrote to her. This reading between the lines is frustrating and leads the author to assumptions that can never be proved.

To balance the personal stories, Vikram adds occasional chapters meant to provide historical background, but he is not an historian, and the chapters stick out like the interruptions they are. So the book ends up neither fish nor fowl, neither interesting history nor compelling personal narrative. During the last section, when the author returns to the present and his uncle’s decline, I began wishing the book would just end. Then came the reading of the will and the inevitable ensuing family drama. The end was a welcome relief. show less