About
Author: Upamanyu Chatterjee (India)
Genre: Socio-Political
Setting
Place: Somewhere in Deccan India
Time: 1980s
My Rating (see what this means)
My Subjective Rating: 3
My ‘Objective’ Rating: 2.7
Introduction
Agastya Sen or August – the protagonist from Upamanyu Chatterjee’s book the ‘English, August’ is not the most likeable of characters. He is a liar, lazy and prone to self-pity. It is not surprising then that, despite having one of the most coveted jobs in India – a post in the Indian Administrative Services, Agastya finds himself miserable.
To be fair, it is not inconceivable that a privileged urbanite will find misery in a the backward heat of the hinterlands, however cushy the job. What makes the book charming is that it hilariously follows Agastya’s failure on a path otherwise laid out for (notions of) success. For Agastya like Marcus (Aurelius) –
“seemed to have more problems than anyone else — not the soul- squashing problems of being poor, but the exhilarating abstract problems of one immersed wholly in his self.”
Review
Nothing really happens in this novel. At least nothing that really registers with the disinterested protagonist Agastya Sen. Neither do the tens of colourful characters – mostly bureaucrats – interest him unless he was looking for a free meal that lets him avoid the terrible ‘shite’ his cook seems to be serving him. The rest is mostly smoking, drinking, mechanical masturbation or whatever his restless mind comes up with.
Thankfully, for the reader, the book is not as uninteresting as it is for Agastya. However, I did find several of the tens of colourful bureaucrats in the novel – displaying all the traits Indian bureaucrats are famous (or infamous) for – corruption, ineptness, self-aggrandizement, pettiness and an occasional do-gooding – somewhat faceless – i.e. they didn’t register with me either.
Likewise, while the novel was quite funny in parts when it registered – for instance – the one time when Agastya manages to achieve something it was more because he wanted to spite some contractors and nothing else, at other times, Agastya’s wallowing does get boring eventually.
All in all – the novel does a great job communicating the boredom of an unremarkable small town. Does it get a bit boring along the way – perhaps. But, not unlike unremarkable small towns, it does have its charms every so often.
Picture Credits:
- Cover Picture: An old lost movie by the same name