Chowringhee

As a fan of Indian fiction, while not a huge reader of fiction in general, I did enjoy this book. At the time I started reading I didn't know it was written in 1962, which is even more of a testament to the timelessness of the writing. I would not have been surprised to find it was relatively contemporary.

I generally avoid plot outlines in fiction reviews, but I am not sure how I would summarise it anyway, other than perhaps the retelling of a short period of time in the main characters life, where after losing his job, he finds a new job in the Shahjahan Hotel in Calcutta.
As much as it is Shankar's story, it is also the story of the Shahjahan Hotel.

The writing is well constructed, it is clever and the characters, while generally tragic, are interesting and engaging.

So there is is, one of the shortest reviews I have written in recent times!

4 stars.

This feels like an observation of the author's time in an upmarket hotel in Calcutta in the early 1960s. Every employee seemed to fear for their jobs when something went wrong, even when it was hardly the employee's fault, and that kind of reminds me of some rental property owners I have met and their attitudes to the tenants. Bland and dull writing and far too long-winded dialogue about very little made this an utter bore for me personally. It took all of my energy to finish.