Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek ShanbhagMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
One reviewer compared this book to Chekhov. Well, that was enough to pique my interest. At first I was surprised at how slender the book itself was, almost a novella more than a novel. I went in with no expectations and no plot awareness and was quickly engaged. Shanbhag's book is evocative for middle class Indians, in how well he depicts the day to day life of a joint family, finding the magic in small details that linger with you and float to the surface of your memory unexpectedly. As a slice of life, showing the nuts and bolts of regular life, it is excellent. However, the book did seem to end unexpectedly for me. A critical eye could say that it meanders a little (if a novella can meander) but that would mean that we can pin down exactly what the book is about. And I'm not sure I can do that. I finished it feeling that I had almost certainly been deprived of another hundred pages. But the comparison to the Russian master are worthy, there is definitely the same insight, love (without judgment) of his flawed characters..Evocative and way too short.
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