The Last Jet-Engine Laugh

Joshi, Ruchir

ISBN 10: 0002570890 / ISBN 13: 9780002570893

Edité par Flamingo, London, 2001

A propos de cet article

Flamingo, London, 2001. First edition. Book condition: near fine and with an unread 'feel'. Dust jacket condition: very good - unclipped and with only minor shelf wear around the edges. Ruchir Joshi's writing is sharp, loose, fluent and varied. Set in the not-so-distant future, and in the belligerent wannabe superpower that is India. Para, a tomboyish fighter pilot, flies sorties against the Pak-Saudi alliance. She is trained to kill, to be a deadly instrument for the military ambitions of an ultra-modern state. Yet it is less than a hundred years since her smart, principled grandparents met on a non-violent demonstration against British rule in Ahedabad, falling in love as they were trampled by the mounted police. Their only son, Paresh, grows up to drift through life, torn in different directions all at once, though he does produce an entirely spirited, directed daughter - Para.

N° de réf. du vendeur 1302951

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Last Jet-Engine Laugh
• Éditeur: Flamingo, London
• Date de parution: 2001
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0002570890
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780002570893
• Reliure: Hardback
• Édition: First edition.
• État de l'article: Fine
• État de la jaquette: Very Good
• Type de livre: Book
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Modern Fiction

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

This is a debut novel from India of an utterly original kind. Joshi has found a style and a form in which to say new things about the Indian experience in a new manner. Like Roy, Joshi is doing something entirely fresh. The novel takes three generations of a Gujarati family and uses them to track the course of Indian history back to 1930 and forward into the first decades of the next century. The grandparents are disciples of Gandhi, smart, sarcastic and principled; they meet on a non-violent demonstration against British rule in Calcutta in the 1930s, fall in love while falling under the army's baton. Their only son, Paresh, our principal narrator, grows up to drift through life, torn in different directions all at once. In turn, he produces a daughter, Para, who is tomboyish, aggressive, martial, and, in her sequences in the book, a squadron leader in the Indian Air Force when, in the near future, India is at war with a Muslim Pakistani-Iranian alliance. She therefore kills people for a living and is the antithesis of her grandparents' principles of Gandhiesque non-violence, civil disobedience and passive resistance. This trajectory of Indian history from non-violence to belligerent jingoism is reflected in key episodes in the lives of this family. All four key characters are fascinating, and each of the setpieces in which they figure is stunningly handled by Joshi. The writing is sharp, modern, fluent and varied. Joshi is equally adept at handling crowd scenes, midair battles, sexual farce and embarrassing encounters. It is a book that is jaded and yet principled, ribald and yet serious, laddish and yet sensitive. It feels authentic, considered and moving at all times. It's a winner.

À propos de l?auteur

ruchir joshi is a trained and practising filmmaker in India. Born and raised in Calcutta, he now lives in Delhi. This is his first book.