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Saturday, August 10, 2024

931. The Romantics

The Romantics
Pankaj Mishra
1999
Around 290 pages




















We are definitely in a bit of a slump here, even the good novels lately haven't been very fun. I couldn't get into this one either, as it was teeming with minor characters I didn't care about, and was about 100 pages too long.

Brahman Samar has come to the holy city of Benares to finish his education and take his civil service exam. He meets many characters that represent the culture clash of east versus west, including Rajesh, a cynical student leader. He also falls in love with a Frenchwoman.

This just felt rather aimless to me, and didn't cover anything that we haven't seen before from previous authors. I do like characters with world views that are informed by the novels they read, as it's very relatable to a List psycho like me. 

Not horrible, but skippable.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Published in 11 different languages.

UP NEXT: Timbuktu by Paul Auster


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