In Custody: Tie-In Edition [Paperback]

Anita Desai (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

Asked to interview India's greatest poet, Deven sees a way to escape the miseries of life as a small-town scholar. But the old man he finds deep in the bazaars of Old Delhi bears no resemblance to the idol of his youth. Deven is fooled, bullied and cheated, and drawn into a new captivity. From the author of CLEAR LIGHT OF DAY.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Mti edition (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140239324
• ISBN-13: 978-0140239324
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,444,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good depiction of real life, January 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: In Custody: Tie-In Edition (Paperback)

It's been a while since I've read it, but am inspired to write about it since this book is far superior to the one I'm reading now by the same author (Journey to Ithaca). I loved this book. I feel that Desai truly captured the feeling of a bygone time (which was bygone already in the story). The frustration the poor lecturer felt at his failed attempts to record the great Urdu Ghazal master, which led to one disaster after another...poor loser, is felt by the reader. If you've ever been to India, you can just imagine the setting, the streets, the buildings, the city where the lecturer goes to make his recordings. The underhandedness of the Master's mistress, and the drunken stupidity of the "chumchas" is so typical, as is the nagging wife of the lecturer who just doesn't understand his artistic pursuits. Desai gave this book a wonderful ending too. Despite all that went wrong, the Master still saw through his drunken haze the sincerity of the lecturer and left him "In Custody," of his compositions. A masterful, bitter sweet ending.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great BUT only if..., May 31, 2005

By 

Raghuveer - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Custody: Tie-In Edition (Paperback)

...you are familiar with Urdu and the nuances of life in the Indian sub-continent. Am not at all surprised by some of the negative reviews; it is almost impossible to understand this book if you cannot attempt to relate to an unfamiliar culture and are looking for fairy-tale character transformations. Though the main theme of the book (decadence of something that was once majestic) is universal, the means of exploring it is decidedly ethnic.

This book will give you a fascinating glimpse into the life of a minor celebrity and other commoners in small-town India. Having grown-up in India, I can swear I met a few of the characters in the book, so real they seem. Be prepared for a serious read for Anita Desai's style is that of a strict and no-nonsense school teacher. You feel some power in her sentences and any humor is unintentional; this is her lament for the (probable) extinction of Urdu. But the flow is straight-forward and the book is completely accessible and so you can finish it fairly quickly.

And while you are at it, watch the movie as well. Directed by Ismail Merchant, it captures the spirit of the book and holds its own as a mini-classic with stellar performances and mellifluous music.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interprets the standard of Urdu Poetry very elegantly., February 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: In Custody: Tie-In Edition (Paperback)

I have read the novel, and watched the movie also. To me both seemed great. But, its absolutely not for those people who are ignorant with the standard of Urdu Language and Urdu Poetry. Urdu Language is a mixture of different beautiful languages, including Arabic and Persian. In my opinion, people related to literature, who do not understand Urdu Poetry are missing something very important.

This novel In Custody is a story of a teacher who is asked by his friend to go and take interview of a very famous Urdu Poet, Nur Saahib. He was inspired by Nur Saahib poetry from his childhood, but when he meets him, Nur Saahib is not the kind of man he had an image of. Anyways, as he was bound to take his interview he does his best to do it, but different difficulties rose from Nur Saahibs wives, friends and other characters. Ultimately in the end, Nur Saahib sends his collection of Poetic Pieces to Deven (The person who interviews), and leaves this world.

Asad I Khan.