Tuesday, April 5, 2011

An Atlas of Impossible Longing - Anuradha Roy



An Atlas of Impossible Longing, Anuradha Roy, Free Press (paperback edition) 2011

An Atlas of Impossible Longing opens with a beautiful, movie-like vision of a abandoned mansion -a "folly" in rural India- being consumed by the waters of a rising river. This "drowned" house is both the prelude to our story, and the place to which the characters will ultimately return. In between, this novel tells the tale of three generations of a family, their loves and losses, from the early 1900's to the years just following India's Partition in 1947.

The story proper begins with Amulya, a successful businessman and his socially isolated wife Kananbala, living with their family in remote Songarh. Kananbala is slowly overtaken by dementia, she becomes a witness to a murder and neighborhood scandal, the sons marry, and the family experiences a profound loss: their son Nirmal's wife returns to her childhood home (the "drowned" house) and dies during childbirth, leaving an infant daughter behind. Years later, Nirmal returns to Songarh, where his daughter Bakul has been living with Kananbala, Meera (the widow of a distant relation), and an adopted boy, Mukunda. A nice romance begins to build between Nirmal and Meera, and a devoted-friendship-verging-on-romance between the young Bakul and Mukunda, but social taboos and expectations force them apart. The third and last part of the story is told by Mukunda as a young man, trying to reconcile his fate, his choices, his responsibilities, and his desires.

I found An Atlas of Impossible Longing to be well-written with some very lovely language and descriptions, but the storyline and characters did not inspire very deep, sustained affection. This might be due to the story having been divided into three distinct parts, but I think more so because the narrative overall didn't quite achieve enough momentum or coherence. Several of the characters and their stories were either not fully developed or left with loose ends. For example, I thought Nirmal and Meera were perhaps the most appealing characters, with the most engaging plotline - but Meera was dropped entirely before the third part of the novel. I was prepared to be won over by Mukunda as a young adult, but was not really convinced either of his inner turmoil or his passion for Bakul - and thus the conclusion, rather than leaving me sighing, left me feeling a little flat.

I enjoyed An Atlas of Impossible Longing - it is a very interesting read, but it did not sweep me off my feet nearly as much as I hoped it would.

A complimentary copy of An Atlas of Impossible Longing was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are mine alone. Other bloggers participating in today's tour are invited and encouraged to leave their reactions and blog links in the comments below.

Happy reading!

15 comments :

  1. Good review :)
    But it sounds so very sad!

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  2. I enjoyed the book, it was heartbreaking.

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  3. Kath and Lisa, thank you so much for your comments, and definitely agree that it was a sad story. Despite some things I didn't think completely worked, I was very glad to have read it.

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  4. Such a cogent and insightful review. Your plot summary - and these are tougher to craft than many might believe, no? - is a thing of beauty, and your critical response balanced and insightful.
    Interesting: we both had similar responses to the first two sections and the novel as a whole, but opposite perspectives on the final section... http://whatsheread.blogspot.com/2011/04/atlas-of-impossible-longing-what-she.html
    I'm impressed with your blog, and will follow you hereafter!

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  5. Thank you so much for your generous comment and the follow, will pop right over to read your review.

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  6. Loved your review! I myself couldn't really get into it and thought it was average.

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  7. Thanks so much for your visit & comment Lorri, look forward to reading your review.

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  8. I love the detail of your review. It was a heartbreaking book. I thought it was enjoyable but it would be a rainy day book for me. Here's my link.

    http://release-notes.blogspot.com/2011/04/review-atlas-of-impossible-longing-by.html

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  9. Thanks so much for your comment and visit, enjoyed reading your very lovely review.

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  10. Love your blog name.

    Now following you....found you on the Book Blog find followers link.

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  11. Thanks so much for your follow, Elizabeth- I follow you as well. I love your picture- is it Ireland?

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  12. Sounds like a book that I'd like to read. Have you read "A Suitable Boy" by Vikram Seth?

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  13. You might really enjoy it. I don't think I did read A Suitable Boy, or it was so long ago I've forgotten the details. Have read many others set in India that I've enjoyed - most recently Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna, which I thought was wonderful.

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  14. What a concise and well written review! And I agree with you about being frustrated by not caring enough about the main characters, while others I was getting interested in took off, never to be heard from again, or were left hanging. I really wanted to know more of the story of Chacha & Chachi. I suppose it would have had to be a much longer book. Still, it was a great story & I enjoyed reading it.

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  15. Thank you so much. Very interesting to hear you had a similar feeling about it! She has a new one coming out "The Folded Earth" (in India now, in the US - ?). I would like to read it when it arrives here, do you think you will?

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Thanks for visiting - thoughts welcome.