Surface: A Novel [Paperback]

Siddhartha Deb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2006

Amrit is a reporter for the Sentinel, dispatched to 'the region' on the vaguest of assignments. Despite his initial reluctance, he is hopeful he may uncover enough of interest and intrigue to make the front page. And he has the perfect place to start: a photograph he's uncovered of a young woman, involved in pornography, taken captive by a shadowy insurgent group and paraded before the press as a lesson to others like her. 'Illusion and delusion, fronts and set-ups are riffs that run through this novel and Amrit's journey into the region turns out to be a metaphor for a remarkable voyage of self-discovery and self-realisation' Observer 'Deb has created his own impressively autonomous world ...As the title suggests, nothing is as it seems in this book, and Deb brings the shadowy, almost dream-like 'region' to vivid life with specific and well-chosen physical details in this confidently imagined, cleverly constructed and finely written novel' Sunday Times

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Siddhartha Deb was born in India in 1970 and moved to New York in 1998 on a fellowship. He has worked as a journalist in Delhi and Calcutta, and written for the Guardian. This is his second novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 262 pages
• Publisher: Picador (June 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330489240
• ISBN-13: 978-0330489249
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,363,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well Written but Pointless Novel, March 16, 2008

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C. Baker "cbaker" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Surface: A Novel (Paperback)

Surface is a very well written but ultimately disappointing novel set in Northeast India that has had a history of insurgent violence that is both political but often borders on politics as justification for what amounts to organized criminal activity. The story centers on Amrit, a disaffected reporter for the Sentinel in Calcutta. After discovering and becoming captivated a photograph of a young woman who was possibly executed by an insurgent group for being in porn films, and having made contact with a supposed representative of a German magazine interested in a story on North East India, Amrit takes off to the region to uncover the story.

While the prose is wonderful the novel itself is a disappointment. The story meanders from one scene to the next as Amrit uncovers the mystery of the young woman and the conclusion is unsatisfying as the reader wonders why either Amrit or the reader made this journey to begin with.