The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. FarrellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
"He had come to believe that a people, a nation, does not create itself according to its own best ideas, but is shaped by other forces, of which it has little knowledge."
Holy cow.
All books are time travel machines, but there are degrees to how absorbing they are. It doesn't get any better than this!!! I tell you, I WAS in the Siege of Krishnapur!!! Or rather, the real one that took place in Lucknow, in 1857, when the Sepoys mutinied against the British and tried to kill the men, women, and children who hid in the Residency for four months.
My heartrate has yet to get back to normal. I was panting as I raced through the last chapters! It was as if I was watching the drama unfold all around me, so vividly did Farrell make the characters and setting come alive.
I was sooooo happy to close the final page, to find a table laden with enough food and water... singing praise to God that I have a comfy bed and a safe place to sleep in tonight. Fresh from reading about the horrors and deprivations of a four-month siege, this is one of those books that makes you glad you were born in the 21st century and you're not a colonial minority in a country where everyone wants to kill you.
There's something in the book for everyone! I particularly liked the conversations and mini-debates between the idealists and materialists, those who believed in the cause of spreading Civilization versus those who were in India purely for material wealth, and even the occasional religious (Protestant vs. Catholic) and medical arguments (how best to treat cholera?).
I absolutely loved my first Farrell, and will look out for his other works. This was a very rare blend of pathos, history, philosophy.. and astonishingly, humor! This is highly recommended, especially for those who are in a reading funk. If Farrell doesn't shake you from it, no one can!
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