Anita Desai tells the story of an ineffectual man who is determined to interview a famous Urdu poet. First published in 1984, this novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize that year. This is the first novel I’ve read by Desai, and I hope to read more of her novels (as well as those written by her daughter Kiran Desai). The novel takes place in India and is told in the third person.
Deven is a professor of the Hindi language in the small town of Mirpore. He is given the opportunity to interview a famous Urdu poet, Nur, thanks to his friend Murad who publishes a magazine and bullies Deven into accepting the proposal. Deven is plagued with inadequacies and finds himself in a bit of a tragedy of errors as he attempts to secure time alone with the poet for the interview. Nur is now elderly and lives in Delhi with his wives. Deven must now face the reality that his hero is of course human with both flaws and weaknesses.
It’s a story about poetry, and also about the Urdu language that is becoming obsolete in the modern world of India. It’s also an existential character portrait of Deven, who lacks confidence in himself and is looking for meaning in his life through this interaction with his hero, the famous poet.
Publisher: Random House
Date: September 11, 2013
9 STARS
FTC Disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this review.
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