Two years in the city, amit chaudhuri, union books, 20, 320pp. Amit chaudhuri research database, the university of east anglia. Two years in the city pb reissue by chaudhuri, amit isbn. He is a fellow of the royal society of literature and professor of contemporary literature at the university of east anglia. The awardwinning author amit chaudhuri has been widely praised for the be. Arising from visits to sweet shops in the bylanes of calcutta, these poems brim with the excitement rs 795 rs 755. Chaudhuri observes and writes about calcutta with rare candor and clarity, making graspable the complex, ultimately ineluctable reasons for his passionate attachment to the place and its people. Already a poet, musician, critic and novelist, in calcutta amit chaudhuri bravely and brilliantly embraces new form that is, in many ways, the expression of the city itself.
It was a place he had loved in his youth and the place he had made his name writing about. But upon his return he discovered that the calcutta of his imagination had receded and another had taken its place. Mother teresa in theory and practice by christopher hitchens. A fellow of the royal society of literature, he lives in calcutta and the united kingdom, where he is a professor of contemporary literature at the university of east anglia. Amit chaudhuris most popular book is the bhagavad gita. Read calcutta two years in the city by amit chaudhuri available from rakuten kobo. A mesmerizing narrative, the book takes readers into the heart of a metropolis.
Like so many of his other stories and novels, the text is without major events or upheavals. Chaudhuri, though born in calcutta in 1962, grew up mostly in bombay, though the author returned to calcutta intermittently, spending holidays at his uncles house which inspired much of his fiction, he writes, before his parents moved back to calcutta in 1989. The deeply unserious, important work of amit chaudhuri. Amit chaudhuri is the author of several awardwinning novels and is an internationally acclaimed musician and essayist. Calcutta ebook by amit chaudhuri 9781908526311 rakuten. Amit chaudhuri is a novelist, essayist, poet, and musician. Indias great cities have been the subject of many outstanding travel books and now it is the turn of calcutta. The awardwinning author amit chaudhuri has been widely praised for the beauty and subtle power of his writing and for the ways in which he makes place as complex a character as his men and women. His novels include a strange and sublime address and freedom song. Calcutta by amit chaudhuri is an elegantly written, sweetsour.
Amit chaudhuri has 44 books on goodreads with 11284 ratings. Eventually, chaudhuri found his voice as an author in a kind of renaissance. Its a crazy quilt of a book that shows the authors ear for reproducing speech and his knack. The early poems are permeated with a sense of place and an understated but powerful belief in the capacity of language to renovate our perceptions of the everyday qualities we have now come to associate with chaudhuri s fiction. In st cyril road and other poems, his first collection of verse, amit chaudhuri brings together many of the poems he has written over the last two decades. A strange and sublime address, amit chaudhuris first book, features a bengali boy who spends his school holidays at his uncles home in calcutta. Nostalgic and probing, the authors account of his native bengali city that was never really his own encapsulates countless humming, modern indian stories. Calcutta ebook by amit chaudhuri 9781908526311 rakuten kobo. Amit chaudhuri is the author of five previous novels, one work of nonfiction, and. In lesser hands, such a book might easily stagnate. When chaudhuri first began writing a column for the calcutta telegraph called telling tales, he replaced the abstract and symbolic number that occupied the oped page of the english.
He is a professor of contemporary literature at the university of east anglia. The novelist amit chaudhuris lovely account of his native calcutta makes the same point about a place that is as different from eliots st. Calcutta by amit chaudhuri is an elegantly written, sweetsour portrait of a great indian metropolis the red sandstone nakhoda mosque in calcutta, built in 1926 photo. Calcutta by amit chaudhuri overdrive rakuten overdrive.
Chaudhuris calcutta has a different scope and intention to suketu mehtas maximum city about mumbai and to william dalrymples city of djinns about delhi, but like those books, it succeeds brilliantly in making sense of a place few of us can know. A mesmerizing narrative, the book takes readers into the heart of a metropolis relatively resistant to the currents of. Amit chaudhuri is a talented writer but this book is one slow starter. The awardwinning author amit chaudhuri has been widely praised for the beauty and subtle power of his writing and for the ways in which he makes. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias. Amit chaudhuri is the author of five previous novels, one work of nonfiction, and a number of books of literary criticism. Feb 27, 20 calcutta by amit chaudhuri is an elegantly written, sweetsour portrait of a great indian metropolis the red sandstone nakhoda mosque in calcutta, built in 1926 photo. One thing that i learned is that calcutta had a communist government for decades. Almost an hour ago, either krishna or jimmy had rung the bell, a continual pealing that seemed to release a spring in the backs of the boys and girls, who jumped out of their chairs and proceeded to throw, without ceremony or compassion, their books into their satchels. Amit chaudhuri, 6 october 1994 it was after school hours. His is a strange book equal parts memoir, literary history, sadeyed sitcom that may seem to belong to the growing genre of works of indian.
Rural migrants beg and go hungry on its streets right outside the lavish homes of. Amit chaudhuri born 15 may 1962 is a novelist, poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, singer and music composer. He was educated at the cathedral and john connon school, bombay, university college london, and at balliol college, oxford, where he wrote a doctoral dissertation on dh lawrence. Calcutta two years in the city amit chaudhuri calcutta pages demy. Jan 01, 20 chaudhuri launches off shobhabazar is in north calcutta.
Angloindian novelist and musician chaudhuri contemporary literatureuniv. He was a student at the cathedral and john connon school. Afternoon raag by amit chaudhuri and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Feb 02, 20 to a young amit chaudhuri, calcutta seemed its own strange, particular world and thrillingly modern. In 1999, amit chaudhuri moved back to calcutta, the city in which he was born. To a young amit chaudhuri, calcutta seemed its own strange, particular world and thrillingly modern. The two years in the title of this eloquent work of noblesse oblige is misleading, since the indianenglish author, musician, and professor of literature the immortals was born in calcutta. If you are not the type to persevere and doggedly get through the first 50 pages then you are going to give up too soon. Amit chaudhuri research database, the university of east. The awardwinning author amit chaudhuri has been widely praised for the beauty and subtle power of his writing and for the ways in which he makes place as complex a. He was elected as a fellow of the royal society of literature in 2009. Amit chaudhuri was born in calcutta in 1962 and grew up in bombay. Chaudhuris stories are spun out of a mix of history and family memoir, but the joy.
In the essays assembled in clearing a space, chaudhuri draws on his own experiences to offer an acute exploration of what it means to be a modern indian in relation to history. Memorys gold writings on calcutta by chaudhuri, amit and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Amit chaudhuri was born in calcutta in 1962, and grew up in bombay. Moving between calcutta and bombay, a strange and sublime address is structured around nine evocative tales. Amit chaudhuri, the distinguished indian novelist, poet, musician and university lecturer, is residentially bipolar. He divides his time between two extremely different cities, norwich and calcutta.
A mesmerizing narrative, the book takes readers into the heart of a metropolis relatively resistant to the currents of globalization. He read english at university college, london, where he took his ba with first class honours, and completed his doctorate on critical theory and the poetry of d. Chaudhuri s calcutta has a different scope and intention to suketu mehtas maximum city about mumbai and to william dalrymples city of djinns about delhi, but like those books, it succeeds brilliantly in making sense of a place few of us can know. Chaudhuri launches off shobhabazar is in north calcutta. Two years in the city paperback january 1, 20 by amit chaudhuri author visit amazons amit chaudhuri page. Amit chaudhuri was born in calcutta in 1962 and brought up in bombay. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Theres too much great literature on that intractable metropolis calcutta to mention here, and much of it remains inaccessible. In this vividly drawn and deeply personal portrait, acclaimed novelist amit chaudhuri chronicles the two years he spent revisiting calcutta, the city of his birth. First published in great britain in 20 by union books. Mcphee chooses another passage from chaudhuris excellent and highly quotable book as an epigraph for one of the books sections.
Two years in the city, by amit chaudhuri the irish times. Amit chaudhuri bestselling fiction and nonfiction books. His many international honors include the commonwealth writers prize. Later, it lagged behind as india underwent vast change, but now it can resist no more. But upon his return he discovered that the calcutta of his imagination had re. Now he brings these gifts to a spellbinding amalgam of memoir, reportage, and history in this intimate, luminous portrait of calcutta. Two years in the city, does not mourn a lost, genteel past as much as it investigates how this world of anglicized brahmins and quotidian poets was somehow ushered into the modernity of the citys current era. Amit chaudhuri is an awardwinning novelist, poet, essayist, activist, and musician. Amit chaudhuri audio books, best sellers, author bio. Amit chaudhuri is the author of five critically acclaimed novels, is a poet, an acclaimed musician, and a highly regarded critic. His father was nages chandra chaudhuri, the first indian ceo of britannia industries limited, and his mother, bijoya chaudhuri was a highly acclaimed singer of rabindra sangeet, nazrul geeti, atul prasad and hindi bhajans. Lawrence at balliol college, oxford, where he was a dervorguilla scholar. An engrossing journey through calcutta delves beneath its poverty and drabness. The author on the importance of dh lawrence, how alice munro inspired him, and early memories of reading ladybird books in bombay.