Book Reviews - Contemporary Fiction

[Oldposts]

Review of Pankaj Misra’s “The Romantics”
Misra, though not as overwhelmingly literate or wise as some of my esteemed favorites, is definitely one who delivers emotional integrity in his characters. By exploring the intimate with egoless sincerity, he probes the universal dreams and dread.

Samar, the narrator is a bookish young man who moves to Benares in the late 80s to prepare for his Civil Service exams. Samar’s exposure to the outside world begins with an English neighbor, Miss West, who further paves the way for his first pangs of love. With confessional intimacy and an eye for detail, the narration won me over early. The narrator being a focused-yet-passive, intelligent-yet-naïve, young man works handily into the novel’s machinations. The psychological insights the Misra gets for each character’s actions and hang-ups are so real and touching. And the object of his love, Catherine, haven’t we all pined for someone like her at least once in our life?

Though the narrator is a romantic to the core, the novel doesn’t spare the reality of the classes, politics, students, terrorists, the desperation of youth, and the gulf between the east and west. The transition in Samar seems natural and gradual. Misra sensitively fills every page with youthful longing that a sense of bittersweet melancholy resonated in me long after the novel was over.