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Summary: Superb writing on a fascinating period in India's history.
Review: "The first sign of trouble at Krishnapur came with a mysterious distribution of chapatis, made of coarse flour and about the size and thickness of a biscuit; towards the end of February 1857, they swept the countryside like an epidemic." When I was a young teacher living in China in 1984, an English colleague traded me his well-worn copy of The Siege of Krishnapur for my stack of back issues of The New York Times. Set during the British Raj, Krishnapur is the story of a slow-brewing sepoy rebellion and yearlong siege at a remote hill station, loosely based on the Indian Mutiny of 1857. (The sepoys comprised the native Indian regiments of the British army.) The late novelist J. G. Farrell perfectly captures the beauty of the Indian landscape. With deft irony, he tweaks the complacent, insular attitudes of the British ex-patriots, who are bewildered by the rage directed at them by the native population. More suspenseful and less sentimental than other famous epics about the Raj, Krishnapur is a wry, funny book.Incidentally, Farrell wrote two other comic novels about hapless Englishmen caught up in the sweep of history: Troubles, set in Ireland, and The Singapore Grip, set in Malaya on the eve of the Japanese invasion.
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Summary: ROARING SATIRE, FUNNY, POIGNANT COLONIAL IDIOSYNCHRASIES..
Review: 1857 is a seminal year in the history of India but I'd bet most Indians could only associate it with a foggy notion of some big-time rebellion against the East India company, involving the ilk of Queen of Jhansi. A more intricate level of detail about the Sepoy mutiny and its lack of any highfalutin weaponry is mostly lost. That a Brit would capture that time so vividly and with such insouciant wit is staggering. Between Farrell's "Troubles" (about Irish liberation struggles) and this book I am convinced that his historical backdrops should be required reading in schools. The premise of this novel is simple: during a time of the Sepoy "siege", the idiosynchrasies of the English colonialists in Residence remain as quirky as ever -- a risibly uppetty "expat" attitude that is shown to have made the mutiny inevitable in the first place. Yet, Farrell's brits are not card-board characterizations of arrogance but more akin to oddball misfits in the wrong place at the wrong time. For instance, reports of unrest in Barrackpur, a sepoy mutiny in Berhampur, and unforeseen problems in Meerut create a sense of unease for the reader, but in the carefree hedonistic confines of the colony, "There was no cause for alarm and, besides, now that everyone had finished eating, a game of blind man's bluff was being called for." Note that unlike the impressions of some other reviewers, the author does not need to overindulge in racial parallels between the Indians and the British. His characters are too busy making fools of themselves in their own Residence. Which makes it harmless humor, for those who are sensitive to such things. I own a second-hand, badly mutilated copy of this little novelette, purchased from a ubiquitous warehouse mart in Mumbai for Rs. 15 (about 25 US cents). Yet, this is one of my most treasured possessions. You need to read it to know why.
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Summary: Jane Austin Clone Saved By Cannibal Spaniel
Review: I am no admirer of the Victorians or their oddball social constructs, so the first third of "The Siege of Krishnapur" was a chore. In depth discourses on dance etiquette in mid-nineteenth Calcutta? My ar*e! "This is as tedious as Pride and Prejudice!" I thought. But, old J.G. was one of our boys, so, I had a shot of Jamie and read on. To delight my capricious little heart, the novel improves dramatically with the addition of conflict. As soon as the mutiny begins in earnest, the text takes on a tension. Characters begin to do interesting things, the plot takes its grip, and there's relevance to the airy philosophies that are bandied about. The siege brings a wealth of accurate historical insight and information, and some of the imagery is striking. Best of all, it's done with humor. There's an absurdity to the whole thing that would make Matt Groening proud. "Begorah!" I said to myself. "What started off as dreary as a Dublin January has become a first-rate historical novel full of quirky characters, laughs and action! Fair play to ya, Farrell." If he had included the Indian perspective, I'd have walked away with a well-rounded understanding of the whole shooting match. Maybe that's intentional, though: the book as it stands made me curious enough to read up on the events of 1857 from the Indian POV. Fave scene: Lucy and the bugs. Great stuff! Three and a half stars out of five.
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Summary: My greatest 'find' of the decade
Review: I had never heard of J.G. Farrell or The Siege of Krishnapur until one day I was scanning a list of winner of England's Booker Prize and I noticed that Siege was out-of-print in America. I was so intrigued I sent off to England for it, but it is now also available in the U.S. The novel narrates the story of the British community at Krishnapur during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, when the entire community holed up in the Residency (like a governor's palace) for months under siege. Farrell's style is highly cinematic, reminiscent of great movie epics about that era, such as "The Man Who Would Be King," - lots of scope, majesty, explosions, and bright-red uniforms, added to the day-to-day domestic squabbles of the community. Farrell's take is not a shallow war novel though; he is witty, ironic, inspired, and sad in turn. The book features remarkable turns of fortune and engaging details on every page, all of which were dramatically motivated and apt. (Examples: When the besieged run out of ammunition, they create canister shot by stuffing ladies' stockings with silverware. There's a sudden infestation of flying bugs that will make you jump right out of your chair. Two doctors have an argument about the cause of cholera with dramatic consequences. A lucky shot by a Lieutenant....well I won't spoil it for you.) The main character, the Collector, seems to stand in for all of Britain as he is transformed by his Indian experience: first arrogance and a passion for bringing British `civilization' to the uncivilized, then bravado as he stands up to the initial assaults, then despair as he watches the failure of mere ingenuity to overcome the natives. In a wonderful little coda at the end of the book you can see how he has been utterly transformed by the experience. A wonderful find, a 'must read'! I'm off to read the rest of Farrell's novels!
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Summary: An unpromising title but an excellent book
Review: I was made to read this at school. I was not too excited -- it looked unpromising. However, it turned out to be an outstanding book - full of adventure and great characters that develop through the difficulties of the situation (the siege). A great read.
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Summary: Engrossing mini-epic of a rebel siege
Review: In "The Siege of Krishnapur," J.G. Farrell takes on the task of writing about a redefining moment in the history of the British Empire in India. In 1857, sepoys--Indian soldiers serving the British--conducted a mass rebellion against their superiors and the colonists in a violent effort to restore the Moghul emperor to power. After the rebels besieged cities across the northern areas of the country, including Lucknow (renamed Krishnapur in the novel), they were quelled by the resistance of the British and allied Sikhs, who did not wish to return to Moghul rule. The event prompted Queen Victoria to dissolve the British East India Company which had controlled the commercial and administrative policies of the country and establish India as a formal part of the British Empire.
Farrell places the action of the novel in a British cantonment outside Krishnapur which comprises a community of bungalows, larger buildings, and a Residency. The cantonment is overseen by an officer named Mr. Hopkins, the Collector, a title which serves double duty because he is fond of collecting various curios with which he decorates the Residency. As news of sepoy insurgencies reaches the cantonment, Hopkins worries that the unrest might overtake Krishnapur and rallies the troops for protection. Chief among these is Lieutenant Harry Dunstaple, whose sister Louise and father, a civil surgeon, also live in the cantonment. However, the true hero is a mild-mannered, timorous young writer named George Fleury, assigned by the East India Company to report on the advances in civilization made by the Indians under British rule, who by the end of the story will be transformed by unexpected courage.
When the sepoys slowly but surely advance upon the cantonment, the siege becomes a reality and lasts practically throughout the summer, during which the colonists must contend with cramped quarters, dwindling supplies of food and ammunition, the threat of disease, and monstrous swarms of black flies, all while trying to avoid being killed by enemy fire and flying debris. Like novice campers who aren't used to "roughing it," they have made awkward attempts at preserving a British standard of comfort in this foreign culture and climate, but the physical demands of the siege finally force them into a savage state.
Farrell pays considerate attention to his minor characters, remembering that there are many kinds of lives in the balance. Fleury's sister Miriam, who has accompanied her brother to the cantonment, proves to be a valuable medical aid; the physician Dr. McNab argues with his rival Dr. Dunstaple about the proper treatment of cholera; the resident minister, called only the Padre, is convinced that the insurrection is a heavenly judgment against the colonists for their sins; a dishonored, suicidal woman named Lucy Hughes, finds redemption; and Hari, the English-educated, gadget-minded son of the Maharajah of Krishnapur, who has befriended the colonists, takes shelter in the cantonment during the siege.
For a novel written in 1973, the style of "The Siege of Krishnapur" is unabashedly traditional; making no pretense of any type of modernism, it simply tells its story in colorful detail and muscular prose, recalling the tense narrative spirit of Kipling and Conrad. Although it is based on a historical event, it is much more about its characters and how they are affected by the siege than it is about the historical forces that drive the event. What Farrell has achieved here is a very neatly structured and satisfying fictional picture of British colonial life in India during an extraordinary time of turmoil.
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Summary: A wonderful and classic historical tale.
Review: Sometimes reading other books makes you return to a novel. In my case reading Burmese Days from Orwell ( a gripping satire of the moral bancruptcy of colonial life) and the recently published A Glass Palace by A. Ghosh ( a historical novel on Birma wriiten by an Indian writer, highly recommended) made me pick up my old copy of Farrell's Siege again. Much more benign than Orwell, but no less effective in his description of the decline of Colonial Rule, Farrell's book should be on the short list of readings for everybody interested in the history of Colonial Rule in general and India in particular. The book describes, in a nutshell as one of the reviewers quite aptly remarked, the transformation of a group of self-confident and morally superior rulers to a group of helpless people in an alien environment. It shows in a beautifully described way the rapid decrease in moral cohesion which resulted of their change in circumstances. In a way, the books mirrors the decline of Western Rule we have seen in the past 150 years and serves as a wonderful reflection of the behaviour of the West in the past. In my view it ranks amongst the very few top novels ( like Passage to India and Jewel in the Crown and the earlier mentioned Birmese Days) of the colonial past. It is a shame that this book is not among the standard range of books offered in the bookshops anymore because it is as much part of our literary history as it's more well known contemporaries.
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Summary: "What a lot of Indian life was unavailable to Englishmen."
Review: The bloody Siege of Krishnapur in 1857 is the pivot around which the action revolves in this Booker Award-winning novel by J. G. Farrell, but Farrell's focus is less on Krishnapur and the siege than it is on the attitudes and beliefs of the English colonizers who made that siege an inevitability. He puts these empire-builders under the microscope, then skewers their arrogant and superior attitudes with the rapier of his wit, subjecting them to satire and juxtaposing them and their narrowly focused lives against the realities of the world around them. Remarkably, he does this with enough subtlety that we can recognize his characters as individuals, rather than total stereotypes, at the same time that we see their absurdity and recognize the damage they have done in their zeal to spread their "superior" culture. From the opening pages, Farrell builds suspense as the English colony ignores reports of unrest in Barrackpur, Berhampur, and Meerut. The flirtations of the single women, the amorous attentions of the young men, the boorish and insensitive behavior of the officials, the gossipy whispering of their wives, and the unrelenting efforts to maintain the same society they enjoyed at home--with tea parties, poetry readings, and dances--all attest to their degree of isolation from the world around them. When violence breaks out in Krishnapur and all the inhabitants take refuge in the colonial Residence, Farrell turns it into a microcosm which illuminates their misplaced values and goals as they interact with each other and face dangers from without--and from within. The siege continues for more than three months, with bloodshed, disease, starvation, lack of water and medicine, and the summer weather taking their toll. Farrell's dark humor is unparalleled. Using irony, understatement, and a sense of the absurd, he conveys his disapproval of colonialism without resorting to the harshness of polemics. By concentrating exclusively on the English in the Residence and not on India's local population (ironically reflecting the approach of the colonizers themselves), he makes their behavior appear ridiculous in its own right, rather than ridiculous in comparison to other cultures. Mr. Rayne, the Opium Agent, calls the sale of opium, "progress." The Padre cannot understand why the Bible was originally written in an obscure language like Hebrew, rather than English, which is "spoken in every corner of every continent." A dying man offering up his last, heartfelt prayer is told by the Magistrate, "Yes, yes, to be sure, don't worry about it." The heads from a collection of small sculptures of the "great minds of Europe" are used as deadly explosives when shot becomes scarce. Through his precise imagery, his acute eye for memorable and revealing details, his unerring ear for dialogue, his ability to maintain pace and suspense, and his humor, Farrell creates a historical novel with the enduring qualities which make it as relevant today as it was when published thirty years ago. Mary Whipple
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Summary: A Prize-Winning Novel Filled With Wit & Irony! Superb!!
Review: The Indian soldiers, called sepoys, in the Bengal army of the British East India Company rose against their British rulers in Meerut in May 1857, and the violent uprising quickly spread throughout British ruled India. The action in J. G. Farrell's Booker Prize winning-novel revolves around the bloody siege of Krishnapur. Farrell's point of view is unusual because, instead of focusing on the uprising as a whole, or the siege in particular, he homes in on the British colonialists who administered and inhabited Krishnapur. Mr. Farrell did not need to contrast the English with the Indian population to illustrate the colonials' narrow-mindedness, absurdity or their attitudes which made the rebellion all but inevitable. Using superb wit, irony and satire Farrell clearly portrays his characters with their pretensions of cultural and religious superiority and their narrow focus on life. Krishnapur's chief administrators, like those throughout the Empire, were seemingly impervious to warnings of the upcoming upheaval - and there were many. Even when news was brought to Krishnapur's Collector, Mr. Hopkins, of the savage rebellions in other parts of India, he remained almost surreally calm and detached. "There was no cause for alarm and, besides, now that everyone had finished eating, a game of blind man's bluff was being called for." Preparations for a long siege were finally made and all British subjects and Eurasians were offered shelter at the Residency. When the sepoys finally take-up arms and attack, Farrell's characters find themselves under siege from within and without as the long period of confinement, terrible heat, dwindling food and water supplies, disease and death take their toll. These besieged middle class English men and women are given the opportunity to show the stuff they're made of in this extreme situation and some, remarkably, rise to the occasion, surprising even themselves. "The Siege of Krishnapur" has become on of my favorite novels. Farrell's extraordinary writing, his imagery, eye for detail, dark humor and ability to maintain suspense are outstanding. He creates and develops characters as individuals and portrays their growth and/or decline with the eye and intensity of an artist. Above all, Mr. Farrell's view of the British middle class, who ruled an empire and were confronted with history in the making, deeply effected me - and made me laugh too. Most highly recommended!
JANA
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Summary: An entertaining and instructive book, and good literature
Review: THE SIEGE OF KRISHNAPUR is certainly a gripping novel. It might be very well classified as a historical novel, since it is an account of the Indian Mutiny in 1857. It goes well beyond that, however. Farrell makes a wonderful use of point of view, focusing on very many different characters at different points ( he even penetrates the conscience of a dog which has a crush on an English subject at one point !), creating hilarious situations by revealing their thoughts and opinions about themselves and other characters to us. Needless to say, more often than not, these perceptions fly in the face of the perceptions of other characters. Farrell does not neglect exploring the philosophical issue, either : apart from dealing with the obvious point of the clash of cultures, he opposes rational, neoclassical characters to romantic ones,and he makes a fervent Protestant Padre sustain interesting and certainly humorous arguments with a staunch rationalist, a sarcastic atheist and a "popist" Catholic priest in the midst of the despairing situation of a siege in which the British are running out of food, dying of cholera and seeing their lifestyle crumble. If there is any flaw to THE SIEGE OF KRISHNAPURl, it is that due to the numerous characters in the novel, Farrell finds it difficult to do them justice at certain points: characters disappear and then are woven back into the narrative again, and the reader is often left wondering what has become of them in between.
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