> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Tejpal-Histoire-de-mes-assassins/133530
> BAnQ (Taillefer G., Le devoir, 4 août 2012, E-8) : https://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/3451662

Un livre de "convergence" (où les différents profils se dirigent vers un point nodal) assez réussi. ( )

I had a hard time finishing this book. I'm not sure but I got a bit tired of lover Sara and the narrator's indifference to his wife, and some of the untranslated Hindi made me feel left out but by the end of the book I was glad to have stuck it out because it was rich tapestry of India. I'd love to see a movie made of this, but it would have to be shot in India with Indian actors and the issue of the sex scenes, I cannot imagine that going over with the authorities there from what I've heard about film censureship in India. The book also made me want to understand HInduism better as I didn't understand everything. ( )

The last great Indian novel I enjoyed reading was Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance, and that was a long time ago. I bought The Story of my Assassins at the Mumbai International (okay, Chhatrapati Shivaji International) Airport last January, not quite sure if I would read it, but I wanted to have the option. I finally dived into the book a couple of weeks ago and was initially not impressed. I found a cast of formula characters, the hinglish speaking protagonist, the bleeding heart social worker, the corrupt politicians, the incompetent police, the idealistic journalist, the wisdom spewing guru and the ineffectual wife. It all started off like a classic b-grade Hindi movie and I braced for disappointment.

I'm glad I persisted. The cheesy plot got really twisted, the writing got less gimmicky and the characters started to pulsate with real life. If Midnight's Children and A Fine Balance are the classic novels of Bombay, then The Story of My Assassins is the classic North Indian novel. My comfort with English has unfortunately meant I have very exposure to the great writers in Hindi and Urdu which has in turn meant I have almost no exposure to the stories of the Indian heartland. Tarun Tejpal has done a commendable job of telling some of those stories in this fine work.

Recommended. ( )