J. G. Farrell (1935–1979)

I enjoyed this book. Though a work of fiction, JG Farrell made extensive use of contemporary diaries and accounts written by English residents at the time of the Indain Mutiny, to enable him to write authentically about the imaginary siege which is the subject of this book. At times I found it hard to believe that he had not passed significant periods of his life in India. His account of day-to-day life, and specifically his feel for the lives of the British in 19th century colonial India seemed authentic (as if I know anything much myself!). Though his characters are drawn with affection, there is something of the feeling of caricature in many of them, and in particular for the very few Indians depicted in the book. Several of the personalities are at once heroic and near-insane, but the abiding impression is that The Empire doesn't come out of this at all well, though individuals may.… (lisätietoja)

Oh dear. The fault lies with me. Everyone seems to rate this book. And I rated JG Farrell's 'The Seige of Krishnapur'. So what's wrong with me?

If I see a book through the first 20 pages or so, I generally see it through to the end. I got through more than 100 pages of this one before thinking that life was really too short to wade through the rest.

I was initially unterested in the Major and his attempts to meet again for the first time in three years the woman who, perhaps, was to become his wife. Like him, I was intrigued by the seedy and crumbling hotel (think Miss Havisham meets Fawlty Towers) where he was to renew this relationship.

But after a while I ceased to care. The quirky narration which I could see might be charming simply iritated me. So I gave up.

In a different frame of mind I might come back to it though. Watch this space.… (lisätietoja)

Reason Read: 2023/November botm
I've owned this one for awhile and I liked the previous novel by Farrell that I read but never seemed to get around to reading this one.
This is the Lost Booker that was awarded for books of 1970 that never got a chance to win the Booker. Farrell wrote this Trilogy about the British Empire and the end of that empire. In this one, we are emersed in "the troubles" which was an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998 and perhaps it isn't completely resolved. The story is told around a hotel called The Majestic. We think grandeur but it is a decaying ruin. I saw the hotel as representing the British government in Ireland that was no longer grand and losing its hold on Ireland. I saw the two girls; Angela (protestant) and Sarah (Catholic) also representing "the troubles". One reserved and dying out and the other growing in strength from wheelchair to ambulatory. The story occurs at this hotel so in many ways it is isolated from what is happening outside the hotel but slowly the outside turmoil invades the hotel. Another great read by the author who died too young.… (lisätietoja)