Taatung Tatung - Vaishali Shroff

Non Fiction

Verdict: Read It (5/5)

Overview:

I believe I picked this book because of a recommendation in the paper. 

Revolving around language in India, this collection of short stories sheds light on some very interesting aspects of different languages that exist in India. 

What I Enjoyed:

The stories are short, but well-written. Covering a variety of different topics, there's something for everyone to learn.

What I Disliked:

There was not much I disliked in this book.

Summary:

I'm a sucker for stories, long and short. Cultural trivia and how things came to be also interest me a great deal. I would recommend this for anyone to read.

 

~Becky~

 

Sea of Poppies - Amitav Ghosh

Fiction
Verdict: Read it

Amitav Ghosh is another author that I am become extremely fond of reading. Sea of Poppies has taken two very different characters and placed them next to each other and you can't help but contrast them. 

One character, an orphaned white woman, leaves her adoptive home due to unreasonable restrictions. She comes from a place of privilege, sanitation, and servants. 

The other is a woman from the central plains of India. One that still covers her head, but had the courage to run away with a man after he foiled plans for her to be burned on her husband's pyre and is hunted there forward.

Both women find themselves on a ship headed to Sri Lanka in the hope that working on a plantation will bring them safety and a comfortable life - more comfortable than the one they are running from. 

Set in a time when Britain was present in India, the language is stunningly confusing to understand at first. It's a bastardized mix of English and Hindi that apparently was common and popular among the English when they colonized India. As someone who understands both languages, it's a confusing ride for a while. Once one catches on, it's very amusing as well as horrifying to watch both languages being butchered so badly with so much arrogance. 

Read it.

Becky

In Other Words - Jhumpa Lahiri

Nonfiction
Verdict: Read it if you have any interest at all in language

This was a different type of work from Jhuma Lahiri. Everyone is familiar with her brilliant novels. This is definitely not a novel. It's a peek into her personal life and her journey to move to Italy and learn Italian. Not superficial street Italian, the kind where she can read,  write, and be truly fluent.

As someone that has spent 6 years slowly wandering around learning Hindi, as well as moving to a different country, I found her manifesto on the joys and frustrations of mastering a new language very familiar. Her refreshingly honest look at how long and difficult it is to become fluent and competent in a language makes the reader contemplate how difficult communication can be when the familiar words are taken away and one is left floundering to find the correct word to express one's feelings - an essential thing for any writer. 

This probably won't appeal to everyone, but for those interested in Language, writing, and communication, it's well worth the time for this short work. 

Becky