Riot: A Love Story Hardcover – Bargain Price, September 10, 2001

This is an ambitious book that succeeds. Based on several real events, it encompasses the Hindu-Muslim conflict, centuries old, the history of India itself, American naivete, corporate behavior in foreign countries, and the tragedy of people deeply emotionally ... involved in a relationship that has no future. The author leaves the reader with the hope that diverse peoples in the same country won't end up the same way. The style, with multiple points of view and "chapters" in different formats, e.g., diaries, newspaper articles, narratives, dialogues as in a play, is very difficult to pull off, and most writers don't succeed. They end up losing and confusing the reader. This author makes it work. I give a book 5 stars when it provokes thought and curiosity, tells me about something new, and makes me want to learn more. This book did it all.

The writing style in this book allows for multiple points of view and in a lot of ways allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions about what really happened. Very cleverly written compelling story with a very complex cultural & historical backdrop. The characters while interesting and compelling are not exactly likable or really even sympathetic.

Great read.

I always loved Shashi Tharoor's books and his writing. The narration method is probably novel, the book being written as excerpts from diaries, recorded conversations and newspaper clippings. The books revels in its cliches, including the pious south Indian civil servant, the arrogant american marketing executive, the go-get-it journalist , the profanity spewing Punjabi police officer and the fundamentalist saffron party men. The book deals with an Indian-American love affair set during a riot in a nondescript Indian village and its aftermath and in passing touches upon facets of India, mainly the rise of Hindu fanatisism during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

A friend turned me on to this novel. It's a fabulous story set in India, about an American young woman who is having an affair with a government official, is killed, and her parents are trying to figure out what happened. The story is told through news articles, diary entries, transcripts, letters, etc. The author did a great job capturing a variety of voices. Specific characters opened my eyes to the culture and history of India and the tensions between the Muslim and Hindu communities. Needless to say, it made me want to learn more. I was also excited to learn Tharoor is a writer for The Washington Post.

On a recent trip to India, I picked up this book. Already familiar with Tharoor's work (The Great Indian Novel) I was rather curious with what is in it. Must say I had half expected the same righteousness many intellectuals handle the recent sectarian violence with, be it in India or Israel. But reading it I was so ashamed that I had made such an assumption. Tharoor was at his anlaytical best. The neutrality one comes to expect (but seldom finds) from a journalist, the objectivity, the in depth analysis seasoned with absloute literary brilliance.
Tharoor acknowledges the contribution (at least of the details of a real riot) from one of his real IAS friends. The amount of research that has gone into the book tells us that even if he did not get the help from his friend, he would have still delivered. The style is unique- starting with newspaper clipping of a fictitious newspaper and then swinging from narrative to narrative, some Priscilla's , some from her parents (individually) and some from the luckless Laxman.
The historical details are presented in a totally unbiassed fashion. Unbiassed as in depicting both sides of the story, but wait, there is more to it. Unbiassed means also the courage to tell a tale in a way that is well researched. The beauty of it is that each party's account seems so real, so true but yet it is at odds with the other party's version. Tharoor has achieved the unachievable, making us believe (albeit for a short while) what we do want to believe and then quckly give it up and believe the next thing with equal conviction as we move along effortlessly from one narrative to another.
Do we feel sorry for Priscilla? Was she really in the wrong place at the wrong time? Well , depends on what you call a wrong place. For her it was the right place, at least for a while. Little girl traumatized by her fathers' infidelity-do they all become idealists and hopelessly inadequate? I think not. Do we even feel sorry for laxman? I am sure some people will- but why? I served briefly in the IAS myself. Much of what he says about the cadre is true (even the fact that IPS is next best) but to think that he is representative of the elite civil servants called IAS is wrong. While they may have similar moral turpitude (some may even be able to conveniently recite Oscar Wilde), I would have thought the pillars of Indian Civil Service have on an average stronger morals than what the cowardly Laxman manages.
I have collegaues who constantly bug me to tell them more about India, more about the conflict with Pakistan, more of the Gujrat riots. I usually do not oblige them. Now I don't have to. I can just give them a copy of Riot. I gave one of them the book recently and told him, all you ever wanted to know about India is in the book. I stick by it. It is not a travel guide, but it just as well might be. A travelogue of the journey through the heart and soul of India. That little district town in the Hindi heartland IS India. Shame I can not say the same about the Ram Charan Guptas and above all Laxman.
A fascinating book. For all of you who wanted to visit India and were curious about what is it that India does to you, I have one suggestion- READ THIS BOOK.