The Epic City

Choudury is undoubtedly a gifted writer who has a rare ability to simultaneously describe physical surroundings and the emotional, human stories that they contain. This is not so much a travelogue but rather a reflective work about his enduring connection with Calcutta, where he finds the enduring push and pull of hope, suffering, tradition, culture, modernity, and history. His evocative style reflects his love of poetry.

I do think the first 2/3 of the book is better than the final section, which suffered from a little too much didactic anthrpolologising, and at times became almost too specifically personal to effectively resonate with the reader.

Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned a lot about the history of Calcutta.