Prarambh by Gangadhar Gadgil
Its size put me off. 500+ pages in oversize hardbound copy. A quick look showed boring stuff but when I began at the beginning it proved to be interesting. Gadgil has written on today's Mumbai, yesteryear's Bombay while it was being made. It is history of Bombay when the British rule was getting consolidated in the country. However, it is history written as a novel. That is a point repeated by Gadgil but it comes across as very plain writing for a novel. What we have is a mix of some real and some fictional characters that occupy an old period beginning from 1818 and ending with 1860/1870 and actual developments in it.
The protagonist is Nana Shankarshet. Gadgil is very partial to the British officers and their efforts in establishing the rule of law in Bombay. Some prominent Parsee traders, mainly Jamshedji Jeejibhoy, are also written about in glowing terms. Gadgil is overwhelmingly in their favour.
Khushwant Singh has written on Delhi and he presents the city as a courtesan writing about herself and her life. We do not have in Marathi any other book covering a city in a novel. So credit is due to Gadgil on this count.
However, there is plenty of repetition here. Some pet phrases of Gadgil recur sometimes in one paragraph! Tighter editing was necessary.
Amitava Ghosh's Ibis trilogy came to my mind. It has a far wider canvas and Ghosh is so much ahead of Gadgil in both imagination and research.
Gadgil cites Gilian Tindall's 'City of gold' on Bombay. Will someone cover the 20th century and update the history of Mumbai?
Its size put me off. 500+ pages in oversize hardbound copy. A quick look showed boring stuff but when I began at the beginning it proved to be interesting. Gadgil has written on today's Mumbai, yesteryear's Bombay while it was being made. It is history of Bombay when the British rule was getting consolidated in the country. However, it is history written as a novel. That is a point repeated by Gadgil but it comes across as very plain writing for a novel. What we have is a mix of some real and some fictional characters that occupy an old period beginning from 1818 and ending with 1860/1870 and actual developments in it.
The protagonist is Nana Shankarshet. Gadgil is very partial to the British officers and their efforts in establishing the rule of law in Bombay. Some prominent Parsee traders, mainly Jamshedji Jeejibhoy, are also written about in glowing terms. Gadgil is overwhelmingly in their favour.
Khushwant Singh has written on Delhi and he presents the city as a courtesan writing about herself and her life. We do not have in Marathi any other book covering a city in a novel. So credit is due to Gadgil on this count.
However, there is plenty of repetition here. Some pet phrases of Gadgil recur sometimes in one paragraph! Tighter editing was necessary.
Amitava Ghosh's Ibis trilogy came to my mind. It has a far wider canvas and Ghosh is so much ahead of Gadgil in both imagination and research.
Gadgil cites Gilian Tindall's 'City of gold' on Bombay. Will someone cover the 20th century and update the history of Mumbai?
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