The House of Blue Mangoes - by David Davidar

[nirosha sen]

Anyone read this book yet???? What's your opinion on this turn of the 20th century South Indian epic, based in the Trinevelly/Kilanad District???

Let's discuss.......

[nirosha sen]

Wow, over a month of putting in this thread, and I still have no replies or reviews????!! What's happening???? Nobody read this book, ever?????

[hehehewalrus]

Nirosha,
am a wandering gypsy to this forum. Noticed ur post. Is this ur first read of David Davidar?

[nirosha sen]

yup! Sure am! Still going thru his book, more like plodding Pa!!

[Querida]

Hi Niro sorry missed this topic totally...yes i have read this novel...it was very nice to have someone close to home write...but it truly in epic proportions and at times (the anglo gurl) is quite stereotypical...you feel in a way that the author was trying very hard to bring all the characters to come home again...though he was informative about such things as ayurvedic practices, mangoes, certain places etc... i love his passages on the tea estates it is almost like you are right there standing among the emerald dew drops...I like how proud and full his characters are.

[nirosha sen]

Thanks for that input, Querida!! :D To be honest, I waited to read this bk after the frenzy of the initial launch. Couldn't afford the dang bk earlier, as it was abt 60 rgt!! Am reading it now still.

Plodding is the word to describe alright! For some reason, I just can't find it gripping enough! It's a slow process to read it, maybe I'm taking my time like the author himself who was supposed to have taken 10 yrs Pa!!

I've just reached the part where Daniel Soloman returns to Chevathar to build his dream home!! Will keep you posted on the rest of my progress, before we could really discuss it even more. :D

Unlike the God of Small Things, my pulse ain't racing, though! I wonder why????

[nirosha sen]

Yup! Daniel Soloman has now embarked on a tour of India in search of the perfect mango. Certainly was a real lesson on the best Mangifera Indica! What exquisite names and mouth-watering to read too!! Perhaps it's due to the mango season we have here in M'sia too!!

Some parts of the book to date is a bit of a codswallop, I'm afraid!!

Like Daniel's father's relationship with White Man Chris Cooke who was asst. Collector in Kilanad. There was no indication of a friendship between the two men. Years later, Cooke greets Daniel warmly with a bear hug!! I found it just too far-fetched!!

Something else too!! The dream mansion Daniel builds at Chevatar has 58 rooms and houses like 100 people who had no part in the earlier narration but simply sprouted like mushrooms to take residence!! I found that way too incredible to stomach, Pa!! :lol:

[Querida]

hmmm see what i mean by epic-writing with its exaggerated epic proportions...

:lol: that's the same thing i was wondering...after all those years all of a sudden long lost friends?

read on...

[a.ratchasi]

For some reason I was unable to pick the book up though it had been lying around for quite sometime.

Finally, when I finally lifted it up and read, boy, it was such a drag. Only towards the mid of book one was the story beginning to pick up speed.

The relationship between Solomon and Daniel was exceptionally well outlined moreso, during the silambum practise.

Aaron was an interesting character but I dont I understand why he had to trust that scheming uncle of his and abandon his mom and brother. The way he looks up to his Joshua chitappa was well captivated.

Cooke was in awe of Daniel ever since he first set eyes on him.
Therefore, the bond shared by those two didnt seem out of place for me. Cook always believed that Daniel was different from the rest.

Charity and Lily - two ladies from different era who infused their presence in such subtle ways.

Vakeel Perumal was a real rascal.

Muthu Vedhar- typical get-up of an emotional village male. The head-on between Solomon and Muthu Vedhar was one of the best.

Ramdoss (become Daniel's confidante by sudden?)

Helen- nothing but a pain.

The way the Dorais embrace hindu culture was simply wonderful. None of the practise was done awkwardly nor was it overdone.

Will follow up on Pulimed once I'm done.

[nirosha sen]

If there's ever a book that leaves you deflated with a bad taste in your mouth, this is it!!!! One is easily forgiven for calling it the book of dead ends!!

After an excrutiating read, it was more like reading someone's beginner's effort in essay writing! A very lo........ng essay, I must say!!!!! :lol:

[nirosha sen]

If there's ever a book that leaves you deflated with a bad taste in your mouth, this is it!!!! One is easily forgiven for calling it the book of dead ends!!

After an excrutiating read, it was more like reading a beginner's effort in essay writing! A very lo........ng essay, I must say!!!!! :lol:

[a.ratchasi]

Pulimed

Davidar's planters fall into 3 basic groups, that is, the usual sniggering Britons, the 'good ones' and lastly the 'I-will-go-against-the-system' kind.

Metaphors could have been handled better, except for the last one.

Verdict: Take it as how it was presented; as three separate books. It will be less strenuous and becomes a pleasant read then. Otherwise, :roll: :wink:.

[nirosha sen]

The finale of 1946 - I thought it was the end of a painful episode on earth's history???? An entire world war had just ended; the world is picking up the pieces of its devastation and what have we here in the ripe imagination of Mr David Davidar????? - A leap frog into the past of a very different and distant India, by a very yuppie Indian contemporary!!

They are celebrating Christmas with a horde of relatives near and far, right???? What fascinated was the ones that came home from abroad????!!!! You have people from Mississippi, Vancouver and even Burmingham with a slew of different accents to boot!! Isn't this bullshit or what????? When did they migrate by any chance???? Was it during a raging world war????

Sure, you would have had a trickle of Indians leaving the sub-continent but wouldn't they have exchanged it all for bomb-shelters during that period????? To say they had sailed home just for Christmas in India, doesn't it sound far-fetched???? Did they even have a sizable Indian populace living abroad during that time????

Anybody else's suspicions aroused like me????? :roll:

[malayalee]

Hi!
As a Keralite who worked at nagercoil before moving abroad this book came as complete surprise.
First I hadn't had a clue till then that David Davidar had any connection with Nagercoil area. I picked it up from local branch of Ottokars, a reputed book shop chain in UK, as it was an Indian Author's book. I hadn't even read any reviews on it!!
Two being familiar with the place it was sweet nostalgia going through the book.
Must say if you have lived in that area of Tamilnadu, what is written looks more like fact than fiction!
I have noted that you haven't exactly liked the book but somehow I just loved it.
I was happy that the author didn't try to anglicize the local lingo or descriptions, a pit fall for most Indian English authors, especially when it comes to local foods, customs and festivities.

Sorry I have a difference of opinion, it is good book!

[nirosha sen]

Glad to see at least someone enjoying the book based on familiarity of the soil alone. :D

But as for me, as stated earlier, I just cannot digest Davidar's meandering story-telling without a real plot in sight. It was choppy at best and I suspect it was largely due to the long interval the man took in completing the book!!

If one truly compares his style of narration on the rustic goings-on of rural Kerala alone, I'd pick The God of Small Things anytime, Pa!! :wink:

[malayalee]

Hi!
First a correction. Nagercoil is not Kerala. I am a Keralite and loved God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Her success was able to describe the Kerala milieu near perfect in English, a warp where most Indian English authors fall prey to and make a mockery of everything. The ending of Arundhati Roy's book though was trifle abrupt.. as if she suddenly ran out of idea. (Recently John Grisham's visitation in to non legal terrain "Painted House" also had the same malady, ending was sort of enforced).
I worked for close to eight years in Nagercoil (KK dist in Tamilnadu) and had travelled a lot in the interiors and met and made friends with quite a few. When I read the book, I was surprised by the parallels in historical, geographical and life there in the book. Later only I realized that David Davidar has roots in Nagercoil.
It's a book which covers a vast spanse of time and it is definitely not a quick read. But it does echo the rise in fall amongst the families in Nagercoil especially in Nadar community there.
It was not geographical reason alone that I liked the book!!
I am not saying it's a classic by any stretch of imagination, but not bad either!!