The Cripple and His Talismans
Submitted by zen on 8 October, 2005 - 15:26.
Sock's Choice Review | Some Book Reviews
| Anosh Irani: The Cripple and His Talismans |
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| Author | Anosh Irani | | Made | Algonquin Books | | Date | 2005-04-15 | | Media | Hardcover | | Catalog | Book | | Sales Rank | 1276271 | | Availability | Usually ships in 24 hours | | Our Price* | US$22.95 |
*Price subject to change |  |
The Cripple goes on a quest for his missing arm. He met many "interesting characters", (or should I say sickly characters.) In the end he found... uh... I don't know what happen in the end yet since I haven't finished reading this book.
With only two chapters read, I already can say this is one of my most favourite books. I love this book not because it's sick (or should I say despite it's so sick and dark), but because it's full of riddles. It makes you think. I already felt somehow enlightened after just reading two chapters of this book.
Now I won't say this is a mainstream book, and its dark subject has deprive of the popularity it actually deserves. I would say the author is extremely clever and probably in the same level as Lewis Carroll. I will surely hunt down the rest of his books and devour them....
(after some searching, it seems this is the only book from this Author... oh well, I'll wait) |
Reviews:| Rating 3.5/5 from 3 reviews | | brilliant but unfortunately a sick tale | | Rating: 3/5 (1 out of 1 think this is helpful) 2005-08-01 | This is Anosh Irani's debut novel. I really admire his craft. His use of similies and allegories is just perfect.
A man wakes up in a Bombay hospital to find his arm has been amputated. He goes in search of it in the dark side of Bombay. Since most first novels are to some extent autobiographical, I continuously wondered what experiences were really part of the author's life. To strengthen my doubts, the experiences of the protagonist are written in first person singular (the character I).
On most occasions the incidents don't make a real sense. The slant gets confusing. What does the author intend to tell?
Is it the rediscovery of a missing part of the personality? Is this some kind of a spiritual quest? (I hope it wasn't) or was the intention to show the dark side of Bombay?
Though incidents have depicted vividly, sometimes they look so distorted as to be called 'ramblings of a psychotic mind.'
Still I must say I enjoyed reading the book and I wouldn't discourage anyone who wishes to read it. | | Hilarious | | Rating: 4/5 (1 out of 2 think this is helpful) 2004-08-16 | | I love this book. Anosh Irani has a wonderful wit. I've never laughed so much from a book. | | An odd tale of Bombay | | Rating: 4/5 (3 out of 3 think this is helpful) 2004-07-30 | Many books are referred to as "darkly comic." In this case, it's true. It's a dark tale but one that is genuinely funny. An unnamed narrator goes on a quest for his missing arm through the dark, impoverished, violent and funny side of Bombay.
The journey is episodic as the wealthy narrator encounters odd characters, wakes in new situations and generally moves through an absurdist world that reveals a Bombay he didn't know, as it also reveals a self he didn't know - or at least, he had been avoiding.
In the end, it is a quest for himself. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say a harmonization of himself through the discovery of a strangely and wonderfully contradictory Bombay. |
Editorials:Product DescriptionPrepare to enter a world where the norms of human behavior—even the rules governing time and gravity—are set on their heads. This dark and wry fable begins with the narrator waking up and discovering he is missing an arm. He has no idea how he lost it or how to find it—but as he searches the chaotic, often surreal streets of Bombay, he meets an absurd and marvelous cast of characters who offer him clues: a woman selling rainbows, a beggar living under an egg cart, a coffin maker who builds finger-sized caskets, a giant who lives underwater, a homeless boy riding the rails. They all lead him to Baba Rakhu, master of the underworld, who will reveal the story of his lost arm—for a price.
Funny and wise, violent and tender, The Cripple and His Talismans is an impressive debut. A bestseller in Canada, it has been compared to the works of Samuel Beckett, Lewis Carroll, and Salman Rushdie.
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