The Far Field

Following her eccentric mother's death, Shalini can't stop thinking about a salesman who visited their Bangalore home frequently in her youth, entertaining her and her mother with stories, though they purchased goods from him but once. Figuring since she's just spinning her wheels out of college anyway, Shalini impulsively hops aboard a train to Kashmir in search of Bashir Ahmed, the salesman from long ago. Kashmir, with its religious conflicts and tensions, proves to be a very different place from Bangalore, especially for a privileged and naïve young woman.

This was an eye-opening story and a reminder that India is huuuuuuge, and almost like completely different countries from region to region with respect to language, culture and show more human rights. The book is beautifully written, but it is heartbreaking. Be forewarned: There is neither a happy nor even a hopeful ending. show less

This was my first book selection as a Book of the Month member, and it did not disappoint. While I don't typically reach for character-driven 400 page novels, the BOTM description sounded appealing.

Set in Bangalore and then Kashmir, we follow Shalini as she seeks a man from her mother's past. Early in the book, we learn that her mother (an erratic, troubled, difficult woman) has died.

Shalini wants to find Bashir Ahmed, a Kashmiri clothing merchant who had visited her mother and developed a friendship with her, during Shalini's childhood. She receives considerable help (a level unbelievable to me as a midwesterner American) from strangers during her journey, and we learn more of the political trouble in Kashmir.

The novel, told by show more Shalini in past tense, switches between timelines: her childhood and present time. It's the perfect way to tell this story. It was fascinating to read about Shalini and her parents, and also her time in Kashmir. Despite the slow build, I kept with the book wanting to find out what would happen next.

I found Bashir Ahmed's story to be very sad, but his son's was particularly heartbreaking. I suspect Shalini feels tremendous guilt over his disappearance, and you could see some parallels with Bashir, his son, and interactions with Shalini and her mother. The Ahmeds would have been much better off to never encounter Shalini or her mother.

Shalini's sexuality is a recurring topic in the book. There is a childhood instance of an inappropriate sexual encounter with a teenager, and perhaps that is a factor contributing to her unhealthy, potentially manipulative instances of sex in the novel.

I'd suggest adding The Far Field to your TBR stack if you're seeking a well-written debut in an international setting, which will explore a troubled parent-child relationship and a woman trying to make sense of her life. The ending ...isn't wrapped up in a tidy bow; there are some unresolved aspects and unknowns, and I'm mentioning that with a spoiler tag because I know some readers will want to know ahead of time to avoid frustration.

I personally felt satisfied with the conclusion, though very sad and wanting to read the first two chapters again. show less

Shalini is a well-meaning but self-absorbed young woman whose mother committed suicide while she was in college. Unable to work out what she wants to do with her life, she finds herself unemployed and restless and heads off to Kashmir in search of one of her mother's friends who Shalini admired as a child. She stumbles into a simmering but temporarily calm mess in which Hindus and Muslims are seemingly living at peace with each other, while government soldiers seem intent on starting trouble and having fun beating up 'militants' when they get bored. Having grown up sheltered from such things, Shalini cannot imagine that the stories she heard about violence in Kashmir might have real world counterparts or that her actions might influence show more the safety of the people around her. She does finally start to grow up, but maybe not fast enough to avoid causing irreparable harm. show less

"I am aware that I am taking no risks by recounting any of this, that, for people like me, safe and protected, even the greatest risk is, ultimately, an indulgence. I am aware of the likely futility of all that I have told here, and, I am aware, too, of the thousand ways I have tried to excuse myself in the telling of it. All the same, whatever the flaws of this story or confession or whatever it has turned out to be, let it stand."

After the death of her mother, Shalini, a privileged young woman from Bangalore, sets out on a journey to Kashmir in northern India to find Bashir Ahmed, a Kashmiri salesman who was a frequent visitor to her home when she was young and who she thinks might have something to do with the loss of her mother. show more Once there, she finds that the region of Kashmir is on edge, with turmoil and violence threatening to erupt at any moment. She stays with a family in a remote village and quickly becomes entangled in their lives; but, she soon finds the closer she grows to them, the more she threatens both their safety and their way of life.

There were so many layers to this book – the politics of Kashmir, the relationship Shalini had with her mother, her journey to find Bashir Ahmed, etc. – but more than anything, I felt that this book was about privilege and its costs. Shalini makes clear from the beginning that, on this journey of self-discovery, she made a lot of mistakes. Although she had often had good intentions, her naivety was destructive, often in unforeseen ways. Others had to pay the cost for her privilege, and while she acknowledges this, she also says that, no matter what she does, “It will make no difference in the end.”

Overall, this book floored me. It was so unexpectedly beautiful and devastating and memorable – and to think, I only picked this up on a whim. The writing was gorgeous and evocative that even the slow parts moved along. The author wrote well-developed multi-faceted characters that utterly invested me in their stories. Not to mention the fact that the cover is striking (if unassuming). Even the narrator of the audiobook was phenomenal: her narration was a completely immersive experience that added an additional layer to the story. Everything combined made this into an unforgettable book that will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.

https://allisonsadventuresintowonderlands.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/madhuri-vijay... show less

"I am thirty years old and that is nothing."

Following the story of Shalini, who is searching for answers and an old friend, The Far Field is achingly beautiful. This novel exposes the complexity of marriage, love, violence, ignorance. Madhuri Vijay is a phenomenal writer who is able to fold harsh reality and grief into the a beautiful story about love through the eyes of a narrators that feels invincible.

I fell in love with this book and its characters; I feel as if I lived the story of this book right along with Shalini. At the end of this book, I find myself wondering about Shalini's future in a way that I never have before. Shalini felt so vivid, so real, that I can't bring myself to believe that Shalini is just a character. show more Throughout the novel, Shalini experiences her privilege and her naivety though she does not realize it at the time.

I am so glad that I read this book because I feel like I am walking away with a whole new understanding of the complexity of human relationships, and the way situations like in Kashmir and Kishtwar can be distorted.

I strongly recommend this book to everyone. I cannot stress this enough, this book is phenomenal, and certainly a new favorite of mine. show less

Shalini, the protagonist is a spoiled, self-centered, selfish, naïve, and privileged young woman. Normally not what I like in a character but her journey to Kashmir revealing political upheaval, violence, poverty and much more make this book well worth the read.

This book took me by surprise. I often go into books not really knowing much about them. And this one I knew absolutely nothing about at all. I could tell by the author’s name that she was South Asian and I wondered what the flowers and the title meant.

From the first chapter, we know that this is not a happy story. The narrator, a woman aged 30, talks about a man who vanished from his home in the mountains, a man who vanished partly because of her, because of things she said and things she didn’t say. And she also mentions the death of her mother. A woman who could be vicious, a woman who could be snarky.

“It’s hard not to wonder how much might have been prevented if only I had loved him more, or, perhaps, loved her a little show more less. But that is useless thinking, and perilous. Better to let things stand as they were: she, my incandescent mother, and I, her little beast.”

Shalini travels to Kashmir in search of a man who was once a big part of their lives – her and her mother’s. She doesn’t know anyone else there but somehow these complete strangers help her, let them stay with her. She becomes a part of their lives. Yet her being there threatens their safety.

I loved reading about the mountain villages in Kashmir. I have never been to Kashmir or India but when I was in university, I traveled to Nepal to do a trek to Annapurna base camp. And while it was years ago, I can still picture all those little mountain villages we walked through and stayed at. I always remember marveling at these two young kids in school uniform – an older girl and a younger boy – skipping and hopping down the path ahead of us, out of their village and off far away to wherever their school was, something they did every day, twice a day, probably passing many other foreigners like us who were slowly clomping and stomping their way through the mountains.

It also brought to my awareness the conflict in Kashmir, something I know little about, but wanted to know more of after reading this.

The author writes beautifully but her main character Shalini was not easy to connect with. She sometimes seems a bit naive for her age and that proves disastrous for the people around her. But I loved reading about Shalini’s foray into village life in Kashmir, so far and different from bustling Bangalore where she’s from. And it’s these little moments that make this book a beautiful and moving one. show less