What do you think?
Rate this book
The Red Book
Fran�oise, an Australian photographer, travels to Bhopal in India, where twenty years earlier a gas leak killed thousands. There she meets Naga, a Tibetan refugee whose family died in the disaster, and Arkay, a Scottish traveller battling addiction who has found solace in Buddhism. As a testament to their time together Fran�oise assembles photographs from their lives into an album, the Red Book. The photographs tell their stories of love, struggle and transformation - pointing to the people they have been and who they will become.
- GenresIndia
265 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Meaghan Delahunt
13 books7 followersMEAGHAN DELAHUNT is the author of The Red Book and In the Blue House, which was longlisted for the 2002 Orange Prize, won the Saltire First Book Prize, a Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year prize and a Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book. She is an award-winning short-story writer and her stories have been widely anthologized and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She lectures in creative writing at the University of Stirling, having previously taught in St. Andrews. bBorn in Melbourne, Meaghan Delahunt now lives in Edinburgh.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 26, 2014
The Red Book is attractively bound and well written, but I bought it cheap in a remaindered store. So why wasn't it more popular? Perhaps just bad luck, or lack of promotion, but also perhaps because of the subject. The Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal shamed the west; the subsequent attempts to wriggle out of responsibility added further shame. This, and the fact that the victims and their families have still not received any significant compensation, is an uncomfortable subject for most westerners.
Delahunt does not set out to write a history of the event, it is simply the background against which the lives of three individuals from different continents became inexorably linked. The book is about fate, coincidence (or karma, by another name) and choices that we make. Francoise is a photographer, and the chapters are linked by short descriptions of scenes, textual photographs. The narrative itself extends this theme, and scenes unfold as in a slide show, or as in the red book in which Francoise collects her actual photographs. Arkay is an alcoholic and seeks refuge in a monastery. He gives up alcohol for years, but when forced to face up to the world he left behind he resorts to drink again. Naga is a Tibetan refugee, and after working as a houseboy he also becomes a monk. That's a lot of monks in a party of three, but Delahunt writes skilfully and knowledgeably about their world. Indeed, the writing has a meditative quality about it, the snapshots focusing the reader's mind, uncluttered by lots of description.
This technique might lead to a certain detachment (another monkish trait) but the three characters each tell their own story in the first person, chapters alternating between characters, skipping backwards and forwards in time, and the result is quite intimate. I cared about the characters.
It is a book that will not speak to all people but I enjoyed it. I would not recommend it to anyone simply looking for holiday reading, but if you are prepared to put your preconceptions to one side it is well worth considering.
Delahunt does not set out to write a history of the event, it is simply the background against which the lives of three individuals from different continents became inexorably linked. The book is about fate, coincidence (or karma, by another name) and choices that we make. Francoise is a photographer, and the chapters are linked by short descriptions of scenes, textual photographs. The narrative itself extends this theme, and scenes unfold as in a slide show, or as in the red book in which Francoise collects her actual photographs. Arkay is an alcoholic and seeks refuge in a monastery. He gives up alcohol for years, but when forced to face up to the world he left behind he resorts to drink again. Naga is a Tibetan refugee, and after working as a houseboy he also becomes a monk. That's a lot of monks in a party of three, but Delahunt writes skilfully and knowledgeably about their world. Indeed, the writing has a meditative quality about it, the snapshots focusing the reader's mind, uncluttered by lots of description.
This technique might lead to a certain detachment (another monkish trait) but the three characters each tell their own story in the first person, chapters alternating between characters, skipping backwards and forwards in time, and the result is quite intimate. I cared about the characters.
It is a book that will not speak to all people but I enjoyed it. I would not recommend it to anyone simply looking for holiday reading, but if you are prepared to put your preconceptions to one side it is well worth considering.
October 29, 2015
Kind of a two-and-a-half stars. While this book has its moments, I found it on the whole disappointing. The author was making obvious efforts to create unique and interesting characters, but they seemed just contrived to me and left me cold. The three narrators are very different people but speak with indistinguishable character voices. The elements I was really interested in – the process of photography, the Bhopal disaster, the monastic discipline – were merely skimmed. The descriptions were mostly piled on and never seemed to come together as a coherent image. It is quite possible that this was the author’s intention, to show the disparity of perception, but it made it a wearisome read. The synaesthesia theme might have been fascinating, but I found it merely led to a heap of meaningless similes (“yellow like a drum beat”) This book might have some hidden depth which has eluded me, but it’s equally possible that it is purely pretentious.
May 7, 2017
I read this about a week ago and it took me a little while to get into but once I did i quite enjoyed. It was pretty easy reading and I enjoyed reading about the characters' experiences in a culture that vastly differs from my own.
I also found the different P.O.Vs really interesting and enriching to the story. Having all of the characters' separate lives and take on things really improved the story and I feel as if it was a better way to get to know each character and their backstories rather than it all being told from one perspective. Normally I hate books that do this as it tends to draw away from the story and just feels unnecessary but this was an exception.
The way the story/characters were written was really interesting compared to most books. When reading the story I felt more of someone else in the story who just happened to be there rather than feeling as if i was one of the characters or if I were just floating above and watching everything unfold. It didn't make me feel disconnected from the story or as if I was actually in it and interrupting but a perfect balance.
(spoilers)
I kind of lost interest in the story towards the end (about 3/4 way through) as Fran and Arkay got into a relationship and the drama that rose from that came into play. Especially the baby in the end; it just seemed unnecessary and as if the author was running out of ideas to keep writing about. I have mixed feelings about Arkay dying in the end. I feel as if it kind of proved a point in a way or was like the clear ending to his life which just seemed right to happen. On the other hand, with the baby added to the mix, it all just seemed too much and not relevant.
(spoilers over)
Overall, I enjoyed the book but it was only really the first 3/4 that was the cause for this. The characters were really well-written and the plot, to a certain point, was engaging but not 'action-y' which was perfect.
I also found the different P.O.Vs really interesting and enriching to the story. Having all of the characters' separate lives and take on things really improved the story and I feel as if it was a better way to get to know each character and their backstories rather than it all being told from one perspective. Normally I hate books that do this as it tends to draw away from the story and just feels unnecessary but this was an exception.
The way the story/characters were written was really interesting compared to most books. When reading the story I felt more of someone else in the story who just happened to be there rather than feeling as if i was one of the characters or if I were just floating above and watching everything unfold. It didn't make me feel disconnected from the story or as if I was actually in it and interrupting but a perfect balance.
(spoilers)
I kind of lost interest in the story towards the end (about 3/4 way through) as Fran and Arkay got into a relationship and the drama that rose from that came into play. Especially the baby in the end; it just seemed unnecessary and as if the author was running out of ideas to keep writing about. I have mixed feelings about Arkay dying in the end. I feel as if it kind of proved a point in a way or was like the clear ending to his life which just seemed right to happen. On the other hand, with the baby added to the mix, it all just seemed too much and not relevant.
(spoilers over)
Overall, I enjoyed the book but it was only really the first 3/4 that was the cause for this. The characters were really well-written and the plot, to a certain point, was engaging but not 'action-y' which was perfect.
March 18, 2021
I think what the author was going for would have only been achieved if this had been a much longer book, though in that case I would not have finished it as I struggled through the 200 something short pages. The characters back stories were skimmed over but then supposed to whole great meaning to the book as a whole. Tying the 3 speakers stories together could have been done in a more elegant fashion but was choppy and over complicated. As for the romance, which there was very little but again was supposed to be an important theme in the novel, was at times cringe worthy especially in the sexual descriptions.
There are some heartfelt moments in the book and it has clearly been well researched. It features some nice imagery but would avoid this book in general unless maybe you were really bored on holiday
There are some heartfelt moments in the book and it has clearly been well researched. It features some nice imagery but would avoid this book in general unless maybe you were really bored on holiday
February 15, 2022
A fascinating read for anyone interested in Buddhism, and the relationship between Westerners and India, on several levels. Also the main character is interesting as a photographer. An absorbing and thought provoking read, deeply researched and beautifully written.
June 16, 2013
"The Red Book" is a story of 3 different characters whose story gets intertwined in India.
The first is an Australian photographer who visits India to do some compilation on the Bhopal Gas Disaster.
The second is a servant turned monk who loses his entire family in the disaster.
The third is running from his life throughout and then turns into a monk.
The parts of the story which covers the gas disaster are extremely touching and well written. Its interesting, though being an Indian, I knew so less about the world's worst industrial accident.
However, the overall novel gets lost in the multiple messages the author wants to convey. It just comes across as a compilation of some travel anecdotes, some love moments and lots of Tibetan monks duties.
Most authors from outside India like to cover the monks in India. So it was not a surprise that most of the novel gets lost in that side of the story and somehow the Bhopal gas just becomes a backdrop for the 3 characters to meet.
The pace is slow and doesnt engage you throughout.
The first is an Australian photographer who visits India to do some compilation on the Bhopal Gas Disaster.
The second is a servant turned monk who loses his entire family in the disaster.
The third is running from his life throughout and then turns into a monk.
The parts of the story which covers the gas disaster are extremely touching and well written. Its interesting, though being an Indian, I knew so less about the world's worst industrial accident.
However, the overall novel gets lost in the multiple messages the author wants to convey. It just comes across as a compilation of some travel anecdotes, some love moments and lots of Tibetan monks duties.
Most authors from outside India like to cover the monks in India. So it was not a surprise that most of the novel gets lost in that side of the story and somehow the Bhopal gas just becomes a backdrop for the 3 characters to meet.
The pace is slow and doesnt engage you throughout.
December 24, 2011
Really enjoyed this book. 3 main characters - an Australian photographer, a Tibetan refugee and a Scottish alcoholic. Set in India and largely in the city Bhopal 20 years after the gas disaster (gas disaster is a real event which occured in 1984). Got a little bit confused from time to time as the narrators of the chapters switched between the 3 main characters. A sort of love story, mixed in with some historical facts around Bhopal, mixed in with the individual stories of each characters. Well worth reading - I found this book in the Kloof library.
April 18, 2012
A gentle compassionate and confronting book .Francoise is an Australian photographer who goes to Bhopal to witness the continuing struggle twenty years after the accident that killed thousands.
She meets Naga a Tibetan refugee who lost an entire family in the disaster ,and Arkay a Scottish traveller, an addict who has found solace in Buddhism.
Francoise assembles photographs from these disparate lives time together and their lives in an album The Red Book.
She meets Naga a Tibetan refugee who lost an entire family in the disaster ,and Arkay a Scottish traveller, an addict who has found solace in Buddhism.
Francoise assembles photographs from these disparate lives time together and their lives in an album The Red Book.
October 10, 2010
Ok, ok, I was throat-lumped and teary-eyed by the end. In spite of not fully developing characters personalities, which gave me a feeling all through the story(ies) that I couldn't quite grasp onto anything- perhaps that's part of the intent here?- I was ready to throw in the towel and not go on living. I can't read things that are this sad. Gimmee warning labels.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2009
I really enjoyed this lovely story about three people in India; a Tibetan refugee, an Australian photographer and a Scottish alcoholic, united by their Buddhist practice and by their common interest in the gas disaster at Bhopal. Wonderfully written and moving, with a lovely Dharmic perspective.
March 10, 2016
It took me quite some time to finish this but I have to say that I enjoyed this book. Even though there's only little romance, this book depicts the stories for each of the characters, their problems, their behaviours, and how they developed themselves thru the experiences.
April 24, 2009
The seperate stories were really nice and interesting but when the stories come together it becomes a very beautiful and nice story. The characters are very interesting.
January 5, 2015
An average fast pace read set in the Bhopal tragedy background
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews