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Some Very Dignified Disclosures
It is an ordinary summer evening in a remote village near India and Nepal border; Roli’s mother and grandmother are quarrelling beside the well of their dilapidated feudal mansion. Roli is lurking in the courtyard; no one from her joint-family pays attention, and suddenly her father appears and clasps his wife’s throat. Roli watches in horror and envisions her mother’s spirit releasing from the dead body. Her future gets haunted by the twin spectre - mother’s ghost and father’s crime. The narrative moves to a small town, in the large household of a village acquaintance, where Roli shifts for higher studies, and encounters various fascinating lodgers, including an eccentric priest, who collects sundry items on streets to construct a house, and catches an exotic bird which dazzles the neighbourhood, a perplexing night watchman, whose mysterious doings make the priest lose his mind, a bored wife of a sailor, who dabbles in occultism, a scholarly librarian, who convinces Roli to accept her troubled past, and the unhappy wives of her landlord play an intriguing role in her attachment to another of the tenets- a temperamental young man, who becomes Roli’s love interest. The protagonist is an imaginative teenager. She loves reading and is attracted to people with mysterious backgrounds – very much like the characters of her favourite novels. A sympathetic village woman gifts her amber necklace, which smells like ambergris, and details many supernatural incidents involving it. Does the necklace hold magical powers? Will the fragrance of ambergris capture the man she loves? Can Roli find success on the treacherous winding roads of adulthood? Anumita Sharma is the author of The Curse of Yesterday. Inherently a poet, a wordsmith, and voracious reader, Anumita loves telling stories set in the rustic environment of Eastern India.
253 pages, Paperback
Published May 25, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 10, 2018
I would like to thank the author for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I am giving the novel a rating of 3.5!
The book introduced me to the genre of “magical realism.” According to Wikipedia, the genre is defined as, “Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a genre of narrative fiction and, more broadly, art (literature, painting, film, theatre, etc.) that, while encompassing a range of subtly different concepts, expresses a primarily realistic view of the real world while also adding or revealing magical elements.” (Source)
I practically know nothing about this genre, therefore I can’t compare this novel against genre benchmarks. Hence, I would only talk about the book and what I liked or what didn’t in my review.
I frankly admit that reviewing this book is a bit of a challenge for me. Nevertheless, I would try.
The narrator of the story is Roli, an “imaginative” teenager who lives in a remote village in the Indian state of Bihar. The story starts with Roli stating - “Father killed mother when I was fourteen.” Poor Roli had witnessed the event with her very own eyes and would also see her mother’s spirit leaving her body.
The narrative would then go on a flashback mode, come back to the present and then shift to small town where Roli would go for higher studies. She would take up accommodation in a large household of an old acquaintance.
Roli would meet many interesting characters in the new household. Some would become close friends, Roli would fall in love, experience the bitter pangs of rejection, but life would still go on. She would see the world outside her village, continue with her studies, oh! she would go on to study English literature in college. Books would be her refuge from grief. Elements of fantasy would keep popping up now and then. No! I am going to divulge anything more.
The author has done a great job of depicting the people – the adherence to customs, the pride of erstwhile nobility even in bad times, the prejudices, the myths, the aspirations, the poverty, the desperation, the simplicity of life as well as complicated human relationships. Roli meets so many characters – some are simple, some are not; some are relatives, some are acquaintances turned close friends; some are normal, some are eccentric.
The novel is elegantly written. The author has a way with words. I had to reach out to Google many a times to find the meaning of words. My vocabulary got improved, but at times I felt maybe more common words wouldn’t have made the writing less beautiful.
The downside to this novel would be the long sentences. Boy, these were so long and mixed with the typos here and there, I found it difficult to read. I believe that under the guidance of an experienced editor, the grammatical errors and issues with sentence structures could have been properly tackled. Some more effort on these issues and the book could have been so much better.
The end was a bit abrupt for me. Given a chance, I would like to know what happens next.
I understand that the book is not for everybody. Readers seeking a quick read for some time kill would not like this book. A person willing to invest some time, and ignore the typos might like the book.
I am giving the novel a rating of 3.5!
The book introduced me to the genre of “magical realism.” According to Wikipedia, the genre is defined as, “Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a genre of narrative fiction and, more broadly, art (literature, painting, film, theatre, etc.) that, while encompassing a range of subtly different concepts, expresses a primarily realistic view of the real world while also adding or revealing magical elements.” (Source)
I practically know nothing about this genre, therefore I can’t compare this novel against genre benchmarks. Hence, I would only talk about the book and what I liked or what didn’t in my review.
I frankly admit that reviewing this book is a bit of a challenge for me. Nevertheless, I would try.
The narrator of the story is Roli, an “imaginative” teenager who lives in a remote village in the Indian state of Bihar. The story starts with Roli stating - “Father killed mother when I was fourteen.” Poor Roli had witnessed the event with her very own eyes and would also see her mother’s spirit leaving her body.
The narrative would then go on a flashback mode, come back to the present and then shift to small town where Roli would go for higher studies. She would take up accommodation in a large household of an old acquaintance.
Roli would meet many interesting characters in the new household. Some would become close friends, Roli would fall in love, experience the bitter pangs of rejection, but life would still go on. She would see the world outside her village, continue with her studies, oh! she would go on to study English literature in college. Books would be her refuge from grief. Elements of fantasy would keep popping up now and then. No! I am going to divulge anything more.
The author has done a great job of depicting the people – the adherence to customs, the pride of erstwhile nobility even in bad times, the prejudices, the myths, the aspirations, the poverty, the desperation, the simplicity of life as well as complicated human relationships. Roli meets so many characters – some are simple, some are not; some are relatives, some are acquaintances turned close friends; some are normal, some are eccentric.
The novel is elegantly written. The author has a way with words. I had to reach out to Google many a times to find the meaning of words. My vocabulary got improved, but at times I felt maybe more common words wouldn’t have made the writing less beautiful.
The downside to this novel would be the long sentences. Boy, these were so long and mixed with the typos here and there, I found it difficult to read. I believe that under the guidance of an experienced editor, the grammatical errors and issues with sentence structures could have been properly tackled. Some more effort on these issues and the book could have been so much better.
The end was a bit abrupt for me. Given a chance, I would like to know what happens next.
I understand that the book is not for everybody. Readers seeking a quick read for some time kill would not like this book. A person willing to invest some time, and ignore the typos might like the book.
August 13, 2018
“Father killed mother when I was fourteen. I was virtually an orphan, my childhood was practically over, for me father had died on the same day he murdered mother, and the rest of my life could merely be its aftermath”Note: Free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Once again a review of mine shall start with me saying that I don’t know how to review this book. I’m a bit confused about the story as a whole but mostly it is bcz of the fact that this genre is new to me.
During my chats with the author, she told me that she classifies her book as Magical Realism. I must admit that I’ve never read that genre and so I can’t comment if it has been done well in that context or not. I mean I get what the genre is supposed to be like and the author has added those elements but just how well it’s been done, it’s not for me to decide and so I will only talk about the story and its impact.
Let me start by saying that this is one perpetually sad book! It maintains that sad and depressed atmosphere very well, as is needed.
“You could eat out your heart in solitude or brush it out with levity, life was an unsympathetic and belligerent mechanism, time tottered away happily or unhappily and rattled along even when you lay motionless.”Plot
The book trails the journey of Roli, a girl who witnessed her father murdering her mother. Set in a rustic backdrop of eastern India, the story follows how the life of Roli unfolds in the aftermath of the tragedy. What decisions she makes and what she goes through. I think the story line is pretty interesting and woven nicely but it’s not a mind blowing kind of a thing. But read this book attentively and you’ll feel that it draws a lot from real life, or is a real story, bcz it’s so well written.
Characters
The characters are extremely well shaped and you can see their reasoning for the things they are doing and saying except for just the one occasion. I really loved how Roli was shaped up and I felt connected to her. The rest of the characters are done equally well and i’d like to point out that the book has a huge female cast and the author has done great justice in bringing out the different personalities.
Writing
The writing is not for everyone, that’s for sure. It’s not for someone who wants a quick and easy read bcz the language used in the book is of some high order. Anumita has made me pick up a dictionary and Google words more times than any other author ever and for that I absolutely adore her and her book! The writing kept me reading despite the book maintaining a slow, albeit steady pace. I would also like to make a special mention on how well the intimate scenes are written! They were a pleasure to read bcz they so seamlessly fit into the rest of the story and have been worded really well.
Problem areas
The book has editing mistakes at a few places. Mostly there are misplaced spaces and nothing more but it is there. Not that it hampers the flow of reading and is very ignorable.
I didn’t see the reason for Roli’s intimacy with her childhood friend. I mean while it is very well handled, I sort of didn’t see the clear reasoning from Roli’s perspective.
Another thing that bugged me a little was the ending. Again, its well done and everything but I personally felt that it somehow didn’t give me the sense of closure. I wanted more about Roli and how her life shapes up and where she ends up.
Overall Impact
Overall, the book is beautiful! It’s so very well written that I am very happy to have read it and somewhat surprised too. The author warned me of being a little verbose at the outset and I must admit that during the first two pages, I thought that yes she is. But as the story went on, I realized that she really isn’t verbose. Her words sing and the prose is poetic! She paints a lovely picture and you love being in the story that she is painting and it feels amazing to have read from an author who isn’t holding back or dumbing down her work just to make it!
I loved how almost every chapter was brought to a well-rounded close and the book never lost steam. There is a severe lack of dialogues in the book and that can put me off but the almost poetic prose and the skilled description of settings not only created a very lovely experience but also managed to make up for the lack of dialogues.
I think, this book deserves love and attention from the readers and the author deserves full credit and applaud for writing this pretty little book. The more I interact with authors, the more I realize how tough it is to make a mark as an author even if you have the skill. And the more I realize it, the more content I become with myself for not falsely building up an author or a book bcz of vested interests. It makes me happy to know that I keep my reviews honest, if a little weird and incoherent, and help the authors in any small way that I can.
I am very glad to have read this book and I hope that Anumita will give me the chance to read her other book too. I wish her and her book all the luck and success and I hope she keeps writing. Don’t tone it down, Anumita, you’ll find your readers soon! All the luck! 😊
“We dont always choose the dark path deliberately when life offers splayed out choices, but we are the product of inadvertemt picks as much as well-contemplated choices and are destined to carry the wreckage towards the culmination”
October 7, 2018
I came across this book when I happened to read a review of it on Goodreads by a reviewer whom I admire, Anish Kohli. I was intrigued by the review, which seemed to be just the kind of book I needed at that time, so I began to read it.
A few pages in, and I was disappointed. I had high expectations from the book as Anish had mentioned that the author had managed to maintain a good balance between excessive description and poetic prose, but I felt that it contained just the opposite—verbose description and flowery prose. However, I continued, hoping that things would improve, but unfortunately, it started getting worse.
Not only that, I found a ton of grammatical errors in the book. The biggest problem was—the grammatically incorrect long sentences. First of all, long sentences itself are generally not recommended nowadays; it is a style adopted by writers in olden times, and it has become obsolete now. It is even identified as a grammatical error by simple word processors like Microsoft Word if you turn on grammar check. Moreover, the author has made a major blunder—comma splices. A comma is not a strong enough punctuation mark to separate two independent clauses by itself; thus, using it causes the clauses to be spliced together, as mentioned in almost all writing tips. Here is an article if you don't believe me—https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/module.... This mistake is repeated in almost all long sentences instead of separating the sentences by a coordinating conjunction like 'and' or 'but', or by using semicolons. Let me quote one such sentence from the book:
"I wasn't doing much, I was merely observing and thinking, every object I saw had a hundred previous association, my favorite seat in the courtyard under the harsinger tree mother had planted, grandfather’s discarded khadhaau patten, which so appealed to Anup and me as children, we often tried it on and walked clumsily, much to the amusement of father, his aaramkursi was decomposing in the courtyard and had been appropriated by a sunning tomcat, I still felt shaken when I approached the well, others were talking, talking, talking, their discordant voices spread voluptuously like a disease, dozens of piercing eyes were scattered about like poniards, smoke curled from dung fires and spun a grey miasma with mist, the house was swimming in the odour of curried potatoes, fried puris, cauldrons of boiling milk, clotted dahi, and gallons of sugary tea."
You get the drift (and you might have noticed one grammatical error as well—'previous association' instead of 'previous associations'). A lot of spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors are littered throughout the narrative. Let me give you a few examples:
“The town.” replied the woman. (should be - "The town,")
...that they were outraged I wasn’t living them. (should be - living "with" them)
Sushma was blessed with perfect house, perfect father (missing determiner, should be - "a perfect house" or "the perfect house")
So much had changed in short time that our tongues were blunted. (missing determiner, should be - "a short time")
“How about your school Roli? (missing punctuation, should be - "school, Roli?")
There is lack of staff even in colleges. (missing article - should be "a lack of")
observed secretly with rascally grin and derisive smirks (should be - "rascally grins")
and we exchanged few casual words. (missing article - should be "a few")
The part behind the screen was rather common looking class-room. (missing determiner again - should be "a rather common classroom")
Moreover, the author has used so many big words that the book would be a very difficult read not only for an average reader but for a regular reader as well. An example:
thought later, perhaps later, we could meet again to expurgate the embarrassment, and badinage about the giddy times, we could treat that unusual day with a complaisant irony if we tried.
Then, there are huge descriptions of totally unnecessary things (why a character is ambivalent OR the screen of TVs OR the verbose descriptions of what's happening in streets, which has nothing to do with the story) in page-long blocks. Even I am guilty of over-description in my book, most of which I have trimmed now, but I'm quite sure that even in the previous version, I had not described as much as her. I mean, I know it is important to describe the ambiance but it is not necessary to describe everything that the character sees. You should know what to exclude and when it is becoming too much. Also, there is no need to describe a house in detail (the color of the curtains, the whole architecture of the house and the surroundings) if the protagonist is just going to stay there overnight (like at her aunt's house). There are some examples below that you can read if you wish to.
age-old culture, most of it is conditioning, we are supposed to do things in a certain way not because there is any logic behind it; we are forced to do it because we’ve been taught since childhood that this is the right way. And the right way is to write with right hand. My natural inclinations were always to pick the wrong way. I was born leftie. I would eat with left hand, write with the left hand, gesture with left hand, and whoever saw me doing stuff the wrong way, would quit his or her task and scream that it wasn’t the right way. Folks at home had given up on correcting me but I had a vile schoolteacher, Sister Shikha. The first thing she did when she entered the class-room was to cane me and ask me if I’d quit writing from the left hand. ‘Have you stopped your devilish ways, you Satan?’ she would howl when she beat me. The right would inherit the kingdom of God and those left would be banished to eternal fire. Did she really want to save me from hell fire? She claimed she did and that God used right hand and Devil used left and that evil spirits lurk towards your left shoulder and to set it right the left side had to be caned harder.
Sunitaji’s husband had brought a most unusual faintly iridescent screen-guard for her TV and the audience had the illusion of watching a coloured screen due to the uneven prismatic patches cascading over the surface. The coloured parts did not quite align with the apparels or faces but the quirky blotches were delightful and a welcome change from a drab monochromatic screen of other TVs.
Shekhar’s institute was in a dusty lane not too far away, crammed with shops and traders, lined with mullioned windows and gaping doors of senescent houses, saturated with the smell of petrol, grease, vegetables, displaying its paraphernalia in the yellow refulgence of scorching sun. A petrol pump stood on the bend of the main road, from where you turned into the lane, which accounted for the petrol smell, there weren’t too many cars on roads in those days, but a small line of motorcycles and scooters near the pump was bellowing gas. A bhooja-waala was established on the bend, mixing puffed rice, chickpeas, onions, green chillies, and spices in a blue dabba, a group of children and women were huddled around him. I was familiar with the seller, and his open wooden cart geared up with several boxes full of the raw material, from which he mixed his tasty fare, he was often parked outside my college, and the girls were his regular customers. On the other side of the turn stood a butcher’s shop, a murdered animal I couldn’t recognise was hanging on the front, the grisly sight always gave me creeps. The butcher was fighting with an old shrew, who had spread a platter of fishes outside his shop, and was refusing to move. The stench was unbearable. I looked away, covering my nose with dupatta, and rushed into the lane. Several vegetable vendors were passing by with their stuff packed on similar thela, a kulfi-wala was tinkling the bell to announce his presence, and a Kashmiri pheri-waala was crossing by with his soiled bundle on a bicycle, which was odd, for they were usually seen in winters. The single-story and double-story buildings were discoloured, stained with seepage, people were moving in and out, you could catch snippets of their lives through uncurtained windows that opened into the lane, women bargained for vegetables through grills, a girl dressed in purple frock called out the kulfi-wala from her door, and he turned backward to oblige... (AND THIS IS IN A SINGLE TWO-PAGE PARAGRAPH)
Also, there are huge backstories of characters who have absolutely no role in the story and which have no other purpose other than distracting a reader and unnecessarily lengthening the book. For example, there was no need to describe the family history of her neighbor Dayaali, the Nilgai Baba, the driver Kaleem, and many others throughout the book.
The story got off to a bad start: the author has included so many characters in the opening chapter that it left me totally confused. Until about 25% of the story, reading the book was a chore. However, after that, the story settled down a bit and there were regular interactions with a fixed set of characters, which was good. Despite the frustrating descriptions which occurred every now and then, the flow of the story really improved. I went on to feel for the protagonist, and by the time the climax arrived, I was hooked to the story. However, after that, the protagonist does something which poured water over all the respect I had for her. Then, I was just waiting for the book to finish. The ending was strange, and I was just glad to finally complete the book.
The protagonist has been etched properly. We get to know all her thoughts, aspirations, and emotions. The protagonist has certain weird facets, though, like lying naked with her male friend in fields and smoking weed. Yet, the author did develop the protagonist well, and as I mentioned before, until the climax, I had begun to feel for the character. The slight twist before the climax was also well-written by the author. I liked it.
The language, as mentioned before, has a lot of flaws. However, there are flashes of brilliance which show that the author definitely has a flair in writing. Examples:
Grandmother had only one son and she wanted two grandsons to sweeten her deficiency.
misery and frustration lending my imagination a primitive strength.
Raindrops trundled down the meadows; the high decibel downpour shook and slammed the palm trees, roared like a foaming ocean, wind caterwauled like a witch, and spat sheets and sheets of deluge.
She has an excellent command over the English language and knows how to expertly play with metaphors and similes and weave beautiful poetic prose. However, as the saying goes—with great power comes great responsibility. And that is the sole reason I quoted examples from the book so that she can reflect upon her deficiencies and improve because if she can do that, she has the potential of becoming one of the leading literary fiction authors in India.
However, sadly, for this book I cannot give more than 2.8 stars.
A few pages in, and I was disappointed. I had high expectations from the book as Anish had mentioned that the author had managed to maintain a good balance between excessive description and poetic prose, but I felt that it contained just the opposite—verbose description and flowery prose. However, I continued, hoping that things would improve, but unfortunately, it started getting worse.
Not only that, I found a ton of grammatical errors in the book. The biggest problem was—the grammatically incorrect long sentences. First of all, long sentences itself are generally not recommended nowadays; it is a style adopted by writers in olden times, and it has become obsolete now. It is even identified as a grammatical error by simple word processors like Microsoft Word if you turn on grammar check. Moreover, the author has made a major blunder—comma splices. A comma is not a strong enough punctuation mark to separate two independent clauses by itself; thus, using it causes the clauses to be spliced together, as mentioned in almost all writing tips. Here is an article if you don't believe me—https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/module.... This mistake is repeated in almost all long sentences instead of separating the sentences by a coordinating conjunction like 'and' or 'but', or by using semicolons. Let me quote one such sentence from the book:
"I wasn't doing much, I was merely observing and thinking, every object I saw had a hundred previous association, my favorite seat in the courtyard under the harsinger tree mother had planted, grandfather’s discarded khadhaau patten, which so appealed to Anup and me as children, we often tried it on and walked clumsily, much to the amusement of father, his aaramkursi was decomposing in the courtyard and had been appropriated by a sunning tomcat, I still felt shaken when I approached the well, others were talking, talking, talking, their discordant voices spread voluptuously like a disease, dozens of piercing eyes were scattered about like poniards, smoke curled from dung fires and spun a grey miasma with mist, the house was swimming in the odour of curried potatoes, fried puris, cauldrons of boiling milk, clotted dahi, and gallons of sugary tea."
You get the drift (and you might have noticed one grammatical error as well—'previous association' instead of 'previous associations'). A lot of spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors are littered throughout the narrative. Let me give you a few examples:
“The town.” replied the woman. (should be - "The town,")
...that they were outraged I wasn’t living them. (should be - living "with" them)
Sushma was blessed with perfect house, perfect father (missing determiner, should be - "a perfect house" or "the perfect house")
So much had changed in short time that our tongues were blunted. (missing determiner, should be - "a short time")
“How about your school Roli? (missing punctuation, should be - "school, Roli?")
There is lack of staff even in colleges. (missing article - should be "a lack of")
observed secretly with rascally grin and derisive smirks (should be - "rascally grins")
and we exchanged few casual words. (missing article - should be "a few")
The part behind the screen was rather common looking class-room. (missing determiner again - should be "a rather common classroom")
Moreover, the author has used so many big words that the book would be a very difficult read not only for an average reader but for a regular reader as well. An example:
thought later, perhaps later, we could meet again to expurgate the embarrassment, and badinage about the giddy times, we could treat that unusual day with a complaisant irony if we tried.
Then, there are huge descriptions of totally unnecessary things (why a character is ambivalent OR the screen of TVs OR the verbose descriptions of what's happening in streets, which has nothing to do with the story) in page-long blocks. Even I am guilty of over-description in my book, most of which I have trimmed now, but I'm quite sure that even in the previous version, I had not described as much as her. I mean, I know it is important to describe the ambiance but it is not necessary to describe everything that the character sees. You should know what to exclude and when it is becoming too much. Also, there is no need to describe a house in detail (the color of the curtains, the whole architecture of the house and the surroundings) if the protagonist is just going to stay there overnight (like at her aunt's house). There are some examples below that you can read if you wish to.
age-old culture, most of it is conditioning, we are supposed to do things in a certain way not because there is any logic behind it; we are forced to do it because we’ve been taught since childhood that this is the right way. And the right way is to write with right hand. My natural inclinations were always to pick the wrong way. I was born leftie. I would eat with left hand, write with the left hand, gesture with left hand, and whoever saw me doing stuff the wrong way, would quit his or her task and scream that it wasn’t the right way. Folks at home had given up on correcting me but I had a vile schoolteacher, Sister Shikha. The first thing she did when she entered the class-room was to cane me and ask me if I’d quit writing from the left hand. ‘Have you stopped your devilish ways, you Satan?’ she would howl when she beat me. The right would inherit the kingdom of God and those left would be banished to eternal fire. Did she really want to save me from hell fire? She claimed she did and that God used right hand and Devil used left and that evil spirits lurk towards your left shoulder and to set it right the left side had to be caned harder.
Sunitaji’s husband had brought a most unusual faintly iridescent screen-guard for her TV and the audience had the illusion of watching a coloured screen due to the uneven prismatic patches cascading over the surface. The coloured parts did not quite align with the apparels or faces but the quirky blotches were delightful and a welcome change from a drab monochromatic screen of other TVs.
Shekhar’s institute was in a dusty lane not too far away, crammed with shops and traders, lined with mullioned windows and gaping doors of senescent houses, saturated with the smell of petrol, grease, vegetables, displaying its paraphernalia in the yellow refulgence of scorching sun. A petrol pump stood on the bend of the main road, from where you turned into the lane, which accounted for the petrol smell, there weren’t too many cars on roads in those days, but a small line of motorcycles and scooters near the pump was bellowing gas. A bhooja-waala was established on the bend, mixing puffed rice, chickpeas, onions, green chillies, and spices in a blue dabba, a group of children and women were huddled around him. I was familiar with the seller, and his open wooden cart geared up with several boxes full of the raw material, from which he mixed his tasty fare, he was often parked outside my college, and the girls were his regular customers. On the other side of the turn stood a butcher’s shop, a murdered animal I couldn’t recognise was hanging on the front, the grisly sight always gave me creeps. The butcher was fighting with an old shrew, who had spread a platter of fishes outside his shop, and was refusing to move. The stench was unbearable. I looked away, covering my nose with dupatta, and rushed into the lane. Several vegetable vendors were passing by with their stuff packed on similar thela, a kulfi-wala was tinkling the bell to announce his presence, and a Kashmiri pheri-waala was crossing by with his soiled bundle on a bicycle, which was odd, for they were usually seen in winters. The single-story and double-story buildings were discoloured, stained with seepage, people were moving in and out, you could catch snippets of their lives through uncurtained windows that opened into the lane, women bargained for vegetables through grills, a girl dressed in purple frock called out the kulfi-wala from her door, and he turned backward to oblige... (AND THIS IS IN A SINGLE TWO-PAGE PARAGRAPH)
Also, there are huge backstories of characters who have absolutely no role in the story and which have no other purpose other than distracting a reader and unnecessarily lengthening the book. For example, there was no need to describe the family history of her neighbor Dayaali, the Nilgai Baba, the driver Kaleem, and many others throughout the book.
The story got off to a bad start: the author has included so many characters in the opening chapter that it left me totally confused. Until about 25% of the story, reading the book was a chore. However, after that, the story settled down a bit and there were regular interactions with a fixed set of characters, which was good. Despite the frustrating descriptions which occurred every now and then, the flow of the story really improved. I went on to feel for the protagonist, and by the time the climax arrived, I was hooked to the story. However, after that, the protagonist does something which poured water over all the respect I had for her. Then, I was just waiting for the book to finish. The ending was strange, and I was just glad to finally complete the book.
The protagonist has been etched properly. We get to know all her thoughts, aspirations, and emotions. The protagonist has certain weird facets, though, like lying naked with her male friend in fields and smoking weed. Yet, the author did develop the protagonist well, and as I mentioned before, until the climax, I had begun to feel for the character. The slight twist before the climax was also well-written by the author. I liked it.
The language, as mentioned before, has a lot of flaws. However, there are flashes of brilliance which show that the author definitely has a flair in writing. Examples:
Grandmother had only one son and she wanted two grandsons to sweeten her deficiency.
misery and frustration lending my imagination a primitive strength.
Raindrops trundled down the meadows; the high decibel downpour shook and slammed the palm trees, roared like a foaming ocean, wind caterwauled like a witch, and spat sheets and sheets of deluge.
She has an excellent command over the English language and knows how to expertly play with metaphors and similes and weave beautiful poetic prose. However, as the saying goes—with great power comes great responsibility. And that is the sole reason I quoted examples from the book so that she can reflect upon her deficiencies and improve because if she can do that, she has the potential of becoming one of the leading literary fiction authors in India.
However, sadly, for this book I cannot give more than 2.8 stars.
October 28, 2018
First of all,I would like to thank the author for giving me the book for free in exchange of an honest review.
The plus points:
1.The story is believable.Its a big deal in fiction.The protagonist seems like one among us.
2.Once the story picks up pace,the reader can't keep the book down.The climax and the end are amazing.
The minuses:
1.The. author has an immaculate knowledge of the English language but I think the words used should be simpler when the story is set in rural India.
2.There are many unnecessary characters which take a lot of pages and the reader loses interest(which is why it took me a bit long to read)
Thus I would rate the book as 3.5 out of 5..
The plus points:
1.The story is believable.Its a big deal in fiction.The protagonist seems like one among us.
2.Once the story picks up pace,the reader can't keep the book down.The climax and the end are amazing.
The minuses:
1.The. author has an immaculate knowledge of the English language but I think the words used should be simpler when the story is set in rural India.
2.There are many unnecessary characters which take a lot of pages and the reader loses interest(which is why it took me a bit long to read)
Thus I would rate the book as 3.5 out of 5..
January 13, 2019
Thank you to the author for arranging an Amazon giveaway for the book in exchange for an honest review
Aren’t we like each other? We draw parallels between stories and real lives.
There are two types of books a person can adore: one, with that wonderful blend of language and narration, full of anecdotes, lyrical proses, complex character building and a story richly told through a well-spoken individual. And two, with simplistic language yet a deep dichotomy of characters and their pasts, so even though the book’s English is much too easy for your taste, you still find yourself entertained
Unfortunately, where Anumita’s book could have fallen in the first category, I find myself more unsatisfied than ever after having completing it. Don’t get me wrong; she is a master storyteller, but there is only so much contentment you can find in everyday tales of tea drinking and soliloquies about crushes until you begin to question where the story is actually going.
Some Very Dignified Disclosures (horribly named, if you ask me, because the title is a mouthful and frankly, I copy pasted it from my shelf as I still cannot recall it whenever I wish) follows a young girl named Roli who has just witnessed the death of her mother at the hands of her father. When her father is acquitted for the crime, Roli finds herself caught in between an argument over which of her family members will seize her land left to her by her mother. A benevolent uncle takes her side and our protagonist leaves with the profits from the property for the city to try her hand at secondary education. Over the next few years, we learn of her many encounters, adventures and woes as she navigates the harshness of city life.
The Story
I will say this upfront. It reads like an autobiography rather than a fictional story. My guess is that it is either based on the author’s life or of someone very close to her. I don’t know if she has ever acknowledged it to be as such but some parts just read like they have been lived before rather than conjured from imagination.
I want to say I liked the story but I find myself hesitating. Some parts were brilliant, some moved slower than a turtle and some were just…weird, I guess? Roli’s deep-seated obsession with a boy across the yard, the hushed whispers about her uncle’s second bride, the mysterious baba living downstairs with an equally enigmatic heavenly creature, and Roli’s quest to earn her beau’s love all make up the crux. But I still question some parts e.g.
We do get some rich dialogues that are the reason why I gave this book three stars.
There is no feeling more beautiful than the flashes of warmth and puffs of breeze in every pore of your body, listening to the hum of country sounds, lowing of cows, the chirping of cuckoos and mynas, and having intercourse with nature.
Marriage was nothing but willful prostitution. The flesh trade sanctified by hypocritical society. The surface gleamed. The painted brides were no better than lacquered furniture. Only young fertile bodies were capable of bringing their lords and masters on knees for some time. A consecrated victim, sacrificed again and again, till she was silenced altogether. It all happened. And it was happening right under my short nose.
I had not the seen the sea, but I was bewitched by its mystery, and the first glimpse of swelling sea made me realize that some of us relish being unmoored, we are utterly abandoned to the possibility of being carried far away, and getting thrown back on shore. What matters, in the end, is that short adventure on its oscillating waves.
The Characters
I am making this a separate category as it does form a huge part of the story.
- Roli:
She starts off as an annoying character, but as the novel progresses, you find you are unwittingly rooting for her, perhaps because she’s like a breath of fresh air as compared to every other female character from rural areas in any other book. People tend to see village girls as meek and subservient, those with little goals besides bearing twenty kids for their husbands and a book that focuses on a girl who refuses to bend down to society’s will really ticks all the boxes for me. In some chapters, the way she commented on the woes of girls in third world countries really struck a chord in me.
She was a village girl like me, blighting in an unfamiliar world, hiding poulticed bruises and deep craters within, the burden of life hadn’t broken our bodies, but our souls were ripped out, shattered in smithereens
Although her obsession with Alok appeared nothing but teenage infatuation, I did appreciate how much she grew through the books and reshaped her view on love.
Love is very much like a long race, you start with a sprint, cut down on speed in the middle, and lapse into walking towards the end. Whether you reach the destination stuttering or collapse before the finishing line, remains to be seen.
There were also tidbits of narration based on age-old lyrics every Urdu or Hindi speaking person would remember.
“Ye saara jism bojh se jhuk-kar dohra hua hoga
Main sajde mein nahi tha aapko dhokha hua hoga”
- Alok:
Roli sets her eyes on a supposed Greek god living across the lawn at her uncle’s home. She muses over their future together for the better part of the book, although if I have to be completely honest, I didn’t find him attractive enough, not even how Roli described him to feel anything for him. He was a passive character to me, one I found to be mostly awkward (rather than confident as was I think the intention to show him).
- Auntie Ji:
Ah, what a woman. Named dayan and dragon and whatnot, the woman really had a strong personality. The first wife of Roli’s uncle, auntie ji controls the household, and her husband’s second bride, with an iron fist. We see her in the start as a cruel serpent intent on hating her nemesis and then as a woman scorned and hated for barrenness. Her presence in the background, rather than in the forefront, serves to lend a semblance of “thrill” to the story as Roli discovers secrets.
- Chandra:
The second, and much younger, wife of Roli’s uncle, Chandra is every bit a village woman. She has married Roli’s uncle to help take some burden off her parents. Mother to a small child, she spends most of her time in a daze, having started getting second thoughts about her life choices. The story sees her go from a non-significant character to a very important player in Roli’s love life. The ending, I have to say, was a bit brutal but then again, it was expected.
The Language
Who doesn’t love a richly written text? Anumita does not disappoint when it comes to portraying seemingly mundane incidents as beautiful experiences through her mastery of English. It’s evident she’s a keen book lover from the way she enthuses over Roli’s passion for books (and one reason why I think she’s narrating her own life). There are many sentences I loved, because of the way they captured everything in a short paragraph:
He was not harassed by the brutal scene near the well and its spasmodic resurgence. He was untouched by the bewildering psychic vision, the symbolic drama, the translucent pool at the edge of the well
We were not cousins, but it did not signify then, we were kindred souls, wondrously tender, stewing in a delirium, our metamorphosis into adulthood was a sacred shuttle of profanity, it was one of those exalted relationships which had no name
I felt he was deluding me and giving the first lesson about the tricky intermediate terrain where most of us stumble before discovering our true mates. Lucky souls skip the prickly dark intermediate land, and for the unfortunates, it’s an everlasting sphere of grief and death, but the resilient ones endure the suffering, piteous cuts and bruises, avoid sinking in the marshy bogs, and squelch through the lotus-pond surface to catch perfect rainbows in stainless steel skies.
However, every side has a downfall. Where Anumita’s grip on the language is clear, it also serves to undermine a lot of the paragraphs, making them a jumble of random words grabbed off the thesaurus rather than coherent sentences. Some parts lost their meaning, some made little sense and some just seemed way too complex, to the point that I got tired of repeatedly opening the dictionary to check every word’s meaning. It didn’t help with the story-telling, as there is only so many nonsensical phrases such as “gamboges sunlight” that you can ignore. If I had one suggestion, I’d say most sentences deserve a breather; there is nothing wrong with using common words. In fact, if a simple dialogue portrays more meaning than a complex one and also doesn’t make a reader’s head hurt, then isn’t that better?
The Formatting
Kind of a hit and miss. Most paragraphs are a single sentence, the semi-colon has been over-abundantly used and there is so much detailed stuffed into every line, you wonder what is even happening. Granted it’s not a huge issue for me but some paragraphs could benefit from editing.
Overall View
Dichotomy, allegiance, infatuation, a glut of opinions and emotions, laughing, bleeding, retching, shoulder to shoulder
I had high hopes for the book, given the captivating blurb. I’d say I’m not disappointed but I am not entirely sated either. I would definitely pick up the next book by Anumita, should she wish to publish again as she did succeed in making me a fan of her work.
To conclude, definitely a book other people can easily award four or even five stars to and for sure a story I’d remember.
Aren’t we like each other? We draw parallels between stories and real lives.
There are two types of books a person can adore: one, with that wonderful blend of language and narration, full of anecdotes, lyrical proses, complex character building and a story richly told through a well-spoken individual. And two, with simplistic language yet a deep dichotomy of characters and their pasts, so even though the book’s English is much too easy for your taste, you still find yourself entertained
Unfortunately, where Anumita’s book could have fallen in the first category, I find myself more unsatisfied than ever after having completing it. Don’t get me wrong; she is a master storyteller, but there is only so much contentment you can find in everyday tales of tea drinking and soliloquies about crushes until you begin to question where the story is actually going.
Some Very Dignified Disclosures (horribly named, if you ask me, because the title is a mouthful and frankly, I copy pasted it from my shelf as I still cannot recall it whenever I wish) follows a young girl named Roli who has just witnessed the death of her mother at the hands of her father. When her father is acquitted for the crime, Roli finds herself caught in between an argument over which of her family members will seize her land left to her by her mother. A benevolent uncle takes her side and our protagonist leaves with the profits from the property for the city to try her hand at secondary education. Over the next few years, we learn of her many encounters, adventures and woes as she navigates the harshness of city life.
The Story
I will say this upfront. It reads like an autobiography rather than a fictional story. My guess is that it is either based on the author’s life or of someone very close to her. I don’t know if she has ever acknowledged it to be as such but some parts just read like they have been lived before rather than conjured from imagination.
I want to say I liked the story but I find myself hesitating. Some parts were brilliant, some moved slower than a turtle and some were just…weird, I guess? Roli’s deep-seated obsession with a boy across the yard, the hushed whispers about her uncle’s second bride, the mysterious baba living downstairs with an equally enigmatic heavenly creature, and Roli’s quest to earn her beau’s love all make up the crux. But I still question some parts e.g.
We do get some rich dialogues that are the reason why I gave this book three stars.
There is no feeling more beautiful than the flashes of warmth and puffs of breeze in every pore of your body, listening to the hum of country sounds, lowing of cows, the chirping of cuckoos and mynas, and having intercourse with nature.
Marriage was nothing but willful prostitution. The flesh trade sanctified by hypocritical society. The surface gleamed. The painted brides were no better than lacquered furniture. Only young fertile bodies were capable of bringing their lords and masters on knees for some time. A consecrated victim, sacrificed again and again, till she was silenced altogether. It all happened. And it was happening right under my short nose.
I had not the seen the sea, but I was bewitched by its mystery, and the first glimpse of swelling sea made me realize that some of us relish being unmoored, we are utterly abandoned to the possibility of being carried far away, and getting thrown back on shore. What matters, in the end, is that short adventure on its oscillating waves.
The Characters
I am making this a separate category as it does form a huge part of the story.
- Roli:
She starts off as an annoying character, but as the novel progresses, you find you are unwittingly rooting for her, perhaps because she’s like a breath of fresh air as compared to every other female character from rural areas in any other book. People tend to see village girls as meek and subservient, those with little goals besides bearing twenty kids for their husbands and a book that focuses on a girl who refuses to bend down to society’s will really ticks all the boxes for me. In some chapters, the way she commented on the woes of girls in third world countries really struck a chord in me.
She was a village girl like me, blighting in an unfamiliar world, hiding poulticed bruises and deep craters within, the burden of life hadn’t broken our bodies, but our souls were ripped out, shattered in smithereens
Although her obsession with Alok appeared nothing but teenage infatuation, I did appreciate how much she grew through the books and reshaped her view on love.
Love is very much like a long race, you start with a sprint, cut down on speed in the middle, and lapse into walking towards the end. Whether you reach the destination stuttering or collapse before the finishing line, remains to be seen.
There were also tidbits of narration based on age-old lyrics every Urdu or Hindi speaking person would remember.
“Ye saara jism bojh se jhuk-kar dohra hua hoga
Main sajde mein nahi tha aapko dhokha hua hoga”
- Alok:
Roli sets her eyes on a supposed Greek god living across the lawn at her uncle’s home. She muses over their future together for the better part of the book, although if I have to be completely honest, I didn’t find him attractive enough, not even how Roli described him to feel anything for him. He was a passive character to me, one I found to be mostly awkward (rather than confident as was I think the intention to show him).
- Auntie Ji:
Ah, what a woman. Named dayan and dragon and whatnot, the woman really had a strong personality. The first wife of Roli’s uncle, auntie ji controls the household, and her husband’s second bride, with an iron fist. We see her in the start as a cruel serpent intent on hating her nemesis and then as a woman scorned and hated for barrenness. Her presence in the background, rather than in the forefront, serves to lend a semblance of “thrill” to the story as Roli discovers secrets.
- Chandra:
The second, and much younger, wife of Roli’s uncle, Chandra is every bit a village woman. She has married Roli’s uncle to help take some burden off her parents. Mother to a small child, she spends most of her time in a daze, having started getting second thoughts about her life choices. The story sees her go from a non-significant character to a very important player in Roli’s love life. The ending, I have to say, was a bit brutal but then again, it was expected.
The Language
Who doesn’t love a richly written text? Anumita does not disappoint when it comes to portraying seemingly mundane incidents as beautiful experiences through her mastery of English. It’s evident she’s a keen book lover from the way she enthuses over Roli’s passion for books (and one reason why I think she’s narrating her own life). There are many sentences I loved, because of the way they captured everything in a short paragraph:
He was not harassed by the brutal scene near the well and its spasmodic resurgence. He was untouched by the bewildering psychic vision, the symbolic drama, the translucent pool at the edge of the well
We were not cousins, but it did not signify then, we were kindred souls, wondrously tender, stewing in a delirium, our metamorphosis into adulthood was a sacred shuttle of profanity, it was one of those exalted relationships which had no name
I felt he was deluding me and giving the first lesson about the tricky intermediate terrain where most of us stumble before discovering our true mates. Lucky souls skip the prickly dark intermediate land, and for the unfortunates, it’s an everlasting sphere of grief and death, but the resilient ones endure the suffering, piteous cuts and bruises, avoid sinking in the marshy bogs, and squelch through the lotus-pond surface to catch perfect rainbows in stainless steel skies.
However, every side has a downfall. Where Anumita’s grip on the language is clear, it also serves to undermine a lot of the paragraphs, making them a jumble of random words grabbed off the thesaurus rather than coherent sentences. Some parts lost their meaning, some made little sense and some just seemed way too complex, to the point that I got tired of repeatedly opening the dictionary to check every word’s meaning. It didn’t help with the story-telling, as there is only so many nonsensical phrases such as “gamboges sunlight” that you can ignore. If I had one suggestion, I’d say most sentences deserve a breather; there is nothing wrong with using common words. In fact, if a simple dialogue portrays more meaning than a complex one and also doesn’t make a reader’s head hurt, then isn’t that better?
The Formatting
Kind of a hit and miss. Most paragraphs are a single sentence, the semi-colon has been over-abundantly used and there is so much detailed stuffed into every line, you wonder what is even happening. Granted it’s not a huge issue for me but some paragraphs could benefit from editing.
Overall View
Dichotomy, allegiance, infatuation, a glut of opinions and emotions, laughing, bleeding, retching, shoulder to shoulder
I had high hopes for the book, given the captivating blurb. I’d say I’m not disappointed but I am not entirely sated either. I would definitely pick up the next book by Anumita, should she wish to publish again as she did succeed in making me a fan of her work.
To conclude, definitely a book other people can easily award four or even five stars to and for sure a story I’d remember.
June 13, 2018
A well imagined story with an exhaustive story lineup. The book is divided into 32 chapters. The book talks about emotions as to how one would feel especially when he or she is alone. The protagonist is an imaginative character who has done complete justification to the character assigned.
Honestly speaking, it is really difficult to pen down a story capturing all the essentials of a human life without leaving aside a single emotion which would be a real jackpot for those who love a family related story line.
While what happens to Roli, the protagonist as she has witnessed her own father killing her mother, in the future is one of the most interesting plot, she comes across lot of events in her life which includes a priest who constructs his house with the items he gathered from the streets.
The story has also captured the love life of the Roli and how she fells in love with her man after being consoled by the wives of her landlord. If you are a lover of a fast paced stories or a thriller buff, you may not be liking this but having said that, if you appreciate a good story, this is something you wouldn't want to miss it.
Honestly speaking, it is really difficult to pen down a story capturing all the essentials of a human life without leaving aside a single emotion which would be a real jackpot for those who love a family related story line.
While what happens to Roli, the protagonist as she has witnessed her own father killing her mother, in the future is one of the most interesting plot, she comes across lot of events in her life which includes a priest who constructs his house with the items he gathered from the streets.
The story has also captured the love life of the Roli and how she fells in love with her man after being consoled by the wives of her landlord. If you are a lover of a fast paced stories or a thriller buff, you may not be liking this but having said that, if you appreciate a good story, this is something you wouldn't want to miss it.
July 25, 2018
If I have to describe this book in one word, it would be 'ambrosia'. The earthy tale woven into delicious language completely blended into the monsoon mood for me. I was reminded of Siddharth Shanghvi's 'The Last Song of Dusk'.
As I read the first sentence, I knew this story was a trap for the senses. And to read it in such potent rich language. While reading the book, I paused few times, only to savour the sentences. The book completely jelled with the monsoon magic.
Many of us have stories to tell but do we have the right words to give them life?Anumita is getting better with every book. Every character is well sketched and you can vividly watch the events happening before your eyes. The places and surroundings are so well contoured that I could see them in my mind's eye. And to top it all, the story is bound in rich language that not only evokes imagery but fall on the tongue, literally.
A delicious read, sad and real. Roli becomes one of your own as you get entwined in her life; wishing to shield her from the pathos of life. It's the kind of book that stays in mind, for long time. Now already waiting what story Anumita will bring for us to read next.
As I read the first sentence, I knew this story was a trap for the senses. And to read it in such potent rich language. While reading the book, I paused few times, only to savour the sentences. The book completely jelled with the monsoon magic.
Many of us have stories to tell but do we have the right words to give them life?Anumita is getting better with every book. Every character is well sketched and you can vividly watch the events happening before your eyes. The places and surroundings are so well contoured that I could see them in my mind's eye. And to top it all, the story is bound in rich language that not only evokes imagery but fall on the tongue, literally.
A delicious read, sad and real. Roli becomes one of your own as you get entwined in her life; wishing to shield her from the pathos of life. It's the kind of book that stays in mind, for long time. Now already waiting what story Anumita will bring for us to read next.
August 31, 2018
The book revolves around a girl called ‘Roli’. The story starts with Roli witnessing her father mercilessly murdering her mother. She feels that she saw her mother’s soul move out of the body and go in the well. This has a great impact on her life.
I was totally hooked on this book from the very beginning. The writing style of the author is simply amazing. The book is written like poetic prose which makes it a true pleasure to read. The way the scenes and surroundings have been described was really vivid. I do feel that the language was a little difficult for a beginner to understand, but I truly loved it. It is not a fast-paced book; however, I did not feel that it was being dragged or never did I lose interest in the book.
Read the complete review on my blog - http://blushesandsparkle.com/some-ver...
I was totally hooked on this book from the very beginning. The writing style of the author is simply amazing. The book is written like poetic prose which makes it a true pleasure to read. The way the scenes and surroundings have been described was really vivid. I do feel that the language was a little difficult for a beginner to understand, but I truly loved it. It is not a fast-paced book; however, I did not feel that it was being dragged or never did I lose interest in the book.
Read the complete review on my blog - http://blushesandsparkle.com/some-ver...
July 17, 2018
"We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing."
—Charles Bukowski, The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship
‘Some Very Dignified Disclosures’ shall be rightly regarded as a read of a girl’s diary than considering it to be a novel.
The novel centres the life of one particular character called ‘Roli’. Staring from the childhood, where she is compelled to witness the murder of her mother, to the day where she herself is pulled into the covers of death – the portrayal of story unfolds in an elegant way. The waves and swirls in the life of Roli is put in words, added with every detail from her emotions to her surroundings.
To comment on language, it is courtlier and refined as if it is meant for literate people. One cannot easily dive into the story with a language which is this much dignified but once you analyse, you will never fail to discern the in-depth denotation.
The story swiftly takes a turn in the setting from village to town life, however dated back to 1980’s, each scene is explained in a detailed manner pointing out every minute movement, which actually makes the reader to visualise the situation with the scene still lingering in our minds.
The various stages in the life of a girl, with all kind of emotions and bonds experienced by her is the one basic things that builds and holds the story up. The way how she connects with a third person, how she lost that connection with her close ones, the way she struggles to hold her love, how things slip from her hand in front of her eyes, her helplessness and every other thing will root to your heart.
Just like the cover picture of the book, the life can also may look colourful when seen through naked eyes, but there are some dark lines, unseen often by our naked eyes, which is the actual picture of life.
—Charles Bukowski, The Captain Is Out to Lunch and the Sailors Have Taken Over the Ship
‘Some Very Dignified Disclosures’ shall be rightly regarded as a read of a girl’s diary than considering it to be a novel.
The novel centres the life of one particular character called ‘Roli’. Staring from the childhood, where she is compelled to witness the murder of her mother, to the day where she herself is pulled into the covers of death – the portrayal of story unfolds in an elegant way. The waves and swirls in the life of Roli is put in words, added with every detail from her emotions to her surroundings.
To comment on language, it is courtlier and refined as if it is meant for literate people. One cannot easily dive into the story with a language which is this much dignified but once you analyse, you will never fail to discern the in-depth denotation.
The story swiftly takes a turn in the setting from village to town life, however dated back to 1980’s, each scene is explained in a detailed manner pointing out every minute movement, which actually makes the reader to visualise the situation with the scene still lingering in our minds.
The various stages in the life of a girl, with all kind of emotions and bonds experienced by her is the one basic things that builds and holds the story up. The way how she connects with a third person, how she lost that connection with her close ones, the way she struggles to hold her love, how things slip from her hand in front of her eyes, her helplessness and every other thing will root to your heart.
Just like the cover picture of the book, the life can also may look colourful when seen through naked eyes, but there are some dark lines, unseen often by our naked eyes, which is the actual picture of life.
September 13, 2018
I don’t read Indian authors but I am very happy I read Some Very Dignified Disclosures when a friend recommended. None of the new Indian author have mastery on English language like this author. It is must read if you like poetry kind writing. I related with Roli’s life because she is like one of us but she is also not like one of us. She is lovable and unlovable. She has an amazing journey and it has unexpected end. I especially loved the end. I recommend it strongly for the author’s brilliant language.
September 14, 2018
This story is about a small village girl named Roli. The main protagonist Roli faces a parental crisis in very small age as her own father kills her mother due to a family fued. As such there is no story but number events that happen with Roli. A magical necklace given by her friend Ayesha which had a imaginational power of making any boy under her control. When she use that necklace she gets what she wants but later on it becomes otherwise. While reading this book I felt lot of time why author has written this book what is the reason and I would say by reading this I have not yet understood the same. This book shows how a girl with no confident lives her life without parents how she makes her living. How life gives her courage and strength to live. Best part of the book is the language used by the author it made me keep a dictionary handy. English used in this book is little tough. Rated 3 for the same. Overall I would say a ok Goodread... 😊
August 13, 2018
I can easily classify this as the first Indian magical realism book I’ve read and I truly loved it. The overall effect was exquisite and I was hooked from the very first pages. The fact that it was written in poetic prose, made the effusive paragraphs almost lilting and soothing to me. The imagery that the author has created through the patterns her words create, is very picturesque indeed.
The writing style of the author is something that I have fallen in love with. The language used is beautiful but somewhat of a higher level and hence may not be easily understandable to beginners. The poetic tune that the author has inlaid the words with, are beautiful and exquisite and I have found no fault with them at all. Although the pacing isn’t fast, it is definitely well-matched with the narration and the actions taking place. The whole experience was something dreamlike and ephemeral and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now, I do feel that while I was hooked from the very first pages, there will be a few who may find the beginning a bit slow, but fret not! Once you think it catches speed, you’re in for the ride of a lifetime. A lack of dialogues may also put off some people but the autobiographical way of narration is a personal favourite and moreover, I think it did great justice to the story.
When it comes to the characters, the author has done well to let the readers interpret for themselves, the protagonist, as the story unravels through her own eyes. Roli as a protagonist was a beautiful person and I will be lying if I say that I do not relate with her at all. Apart from that, her own self is admirable. The other multitude of female characters were all nice to read about- the author has nuanced upon different qualities through each of them.
I also especially loved the way the author has kept the ending- it’s not close-ended but it’s definitely something close. The open and kind of an ambiguous ending left the scope for many possibilities afterwards and keeps the reader reeling long after finishing the book.
I have really loved this experience, and Some Very Dignified Disclosures has included itself into my most-loved books list and I shall definitely recommend it to others as well! I
The writing style of the author is something that I have fallen in love with. The language used is beautiful but somewhat of a higher level and hence may not be easily understandable to beginners. The poetic tune that the author has inlaid the words with, are beautiful and exquisite and I have found no fault with them at all. Although the pacing isn’t fast, it is definitely well-matched with the narration and the actions taking place. The whole experience was something dreamlike and ephemeral and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Now, I do feel that while I was hooked from the very first pages, there will be a few who may find the beginning a bit slow, but fret not! Once you think it catches speed, you’re in for the ride of a lifetime. A lack of dialogues may also put off some people but the autobiographical way of narration is a personal favourite and moreover, I think it did great justice to the story.
When it comes to the characters, the author has done well to let the readers interpret for themselves, the protagonist, as the story unravels through her own eyes. Roli as a protagonist was a beautiful person and I will be lying if I say that I do not relate with her at all. Apart from that, her own self is admirable. The other multitude of female characters were all nice to read about- the author has nuanced upon different qualities through each of them.
I also especially loved the way the author has kept the ending- it’s not close-ended but it’s definitely something close. The open and kind of an ambiguous ending left the scope for many possibilities afterwards and keeps the reader reeling long after finishing the book.
I have really loved this experience, and Some Very Dignified Disclosures has included itself into my most-loved books list and I shall definitely recommend it to others as well! I
August 27, 2018
This book turned out to be an exquisite and amazingly fresh read which kept me hooked even after finishing the book.The writing style of the author is really good .Anumita has created such picturesque scenes through her words that you can vividly see and feel her emotions.The best part is the poetic texture added to the narration.The vocabulary used by her is immaculate.
The pace is also well matched with the story.The protagonist Roli , her character is so well sketched that you will fall in love with her,other characters also have been very beautifully portrayed.
The climax is awesome, it left me thinking about it for a long time.
The pace is also well matched with the story.The protagonist Roli , her character is so well sketched that you will fall in love with her,other characters also have been very beautifully portrayed.
The climax is awesome, it left me thinking about it for a long time.
September 28, 2021
This is a second book by Anumita Sharma after ‘The Curse of Yesterday’ yet the author’s style isn’t that of an amateur but of the professional. Each word is chosen carefully and crafted in the story.
A book of humble means and beginnings that transforms itself into the complex tapestry of human beings. The story is beautifully woven, with characters that range from the steadfast and quixotic to the conniving. Glorious characterizations that are truthful and yet not condemning, but understanding that life creates an infinite array of circumstances that we must come to terms with in order to survive.
In short, this book grows on you!
A book of humble means and beginnings that transforms itself into the complex tapestry of human beings. The story is beautifully woven, with characters that range from the steadfast and quixotic to the conniving. Glorious characterizations that are truthful and yet not condemning, but understanding that life creates an infinite array of circumstances that we must come to terms with in order to survive.
In short, this book grows on you!
September 20, 2018
"some very Dignified disclosure" is a well placed with a plethora of mystical, fantastical, biographical elements.The author introduces characters with images & biographies inline with the text.The prose is dense with high literary language.Central to the story is the relation with some very Dignified disclosures here as the protagonist Roli goes through her life.. following an afternoon while her father killed mother.all of a sudden a orphan, a teenage girl Roli traverses her life and others too. The book is beautifully painted just like the cover of this book is. The imagery of this book is lush.the characters are curiously, magically lopsided. The native meanders, detour, takes off in a confusing multitude of directions,which ineffably enrich the writing style into poetic prose.somehow I felt ,I was reading midnight's children. I did never lose interest, despite the initial plodding pace.yes it was leaking the certain dialogues that kicks it up reading into excited level. But I am pleased I did.The climax was amazing, not so close-ended, leaves a room to continue another phaseof this story line.overall reading this book was an enthralling experience. Author imagination, writing styles are remarkable.looking forward to the next work of her.😊 a book that you will never be able to forget,albeit,the book will go slow in the beginning...give it a patience, it's worth it.Highly recommended to those people who are fan of Gabriel Garcia Marquez works.( Wonderful pakage of memoir with a touch of magic ).
September 24, 2018
This is a story of an imaginative teenager Roli. She loves reading and is attracted to people with mysterious backgrounds- very much like the characters of her favorite novels.
The story begins with Roli witnessing her father murdering her mother. And then all of a sudden her life turns upside down. The book is written from Roli's point of view. You get to see her emotions, thoughts,dreams and battles, a journey of a teenager who grows up without parents.
The book is written in poetic prose. I am in love with the writing style of the author. The story is magical and woven in an amazing way. The characters are built up very well. You won't be able to forget this book. There are so many different emotions and feelings that we experience but we don't always find words to express them. The author has done a brilliant job in putting every emotion of Roli in words💙
Also the title and cover of the book are very thoughtful and intriguing. Can't wait to read more of her work.
Definitely a MUST READ. .
The story begins with Roli witnessing her father murdering her mother. And then all of a sudden her life turns upside down. The book is written from Roli's point of view. You get to see her emotions, thoughts,dreams and battles, a journey of a teenager who grows up without parents.
The book is written in poetic prose. I am in love with the writing style of the author. The story is magical and woven in an amazing way. The characters are built up very well. You won't be able to forget this book. There are so many different emotions and feelings that we experience but we don't always find words to express them. The author has done a brilliant job in putting every emotion of Roli in words💙
Also the title and cover of the book are very thoughtful and intriguing. Can't wait to read more of her work.
Definitely a MUST READ. .
September 9, 2018
It is horrifying to witness the death of your own mother by your own father.The book depicts the life of Roli who has just recently witnessed the same and how it changes her life. It's just like a dairy of Roli that gets a reader to know about her thoughts, her feelings, her battles and her dreams. Along the storyline Roli meets alot of other people like the eccentric priest, night watchman, bored wife and the unhappy wives of landlord along with the love of her life.
The book depicts both sides of the coin, it depicts the colorful side of the story too as well as the dark side. Though the start may be a little tough for the begginers as they may have to decipher some words.
The characters have been well described and it will make you visualize the story as you go through.
The more you read this book, the more it becomes intriguing.
An Amazing write up by Anumita Sharma that will add colours to your life just like the cover of the book.
The book depicts both sides of the coin, it depicts the colorful side of the story too as well as the dark side. Though the start may be a little tough for the begginers as they may have to decipher some words.
The characters have been well described and it will make you visualize the story as you go through.
The more you read this book, the more it becomes intriguing.
An Amazing write up by Anumita Sharma that will add colours to your life just like the cover of the book.
September 17, 2018
Anumita is an outstanding author. Her books deserve more attention and readers who explore multifold layers of her stories. One can say that her works aren’t for everybody because of the manner of her writing but for readers who love good writing she is must read. Her prose is luminous and magical elements have deep metaphors. She exposes the patriarchy of society effortlessly and gives us very strong women characters.
April 10, 2020
I got the book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
So I was finally able to finish it mainly the book picked up in last 100 or so pages something I have found many books do. So the rating is really high 3.5 so kudos Anumita for bringing me here :) you know what I mean.
This is a book set in some part of Bihar set sometimes during 1980s and though it didn't seem like it at the beginning but it's a memoir a fictional memoir but memoir nonetheless there were actually some very dignified disclosures here as Roli goes through her life following an afternoon when her father killed her mother. Suddenly an orphan and lost in the teenage years Roli explores her life in her home and outside. Explore herself and others. Finds friendship loses friendship. Goes to a small town to study further and so on and on. The story is nice and I really liked the pace it picked in the last 100 or so pages like I said earlier. Somethings will seem inexplicable but Anumita the author has already explained that this book's genre is Magical Realism.
I did have few issues with the book and that's primarily has to do with the language used or rather the heavy vocabulary used in the book. The reason behind my issue is that it looked intentional as in that the words might have been put later by replacing their synonyms because what I found was that most of the chapters had only first few paragraphs with nice informative words while the later parts of the chapter would be largely simplish English. And later chapters were largely absent from the high literary language or high english and it's not like I had to run away for dictionary every few words but it still took away some fun from this life story and also made it little difficult to continue with the book initially.
Before I repeat a cliche' the cover of this book was gorgeous. It's a watercolor painting and is simply brilliant. If I haven't said it before I love beautiful covers like any other book lover.
But like they say never judge a book by it's cover or not even by half of it's pages from the beginning because I have seen lot of books recover even in the last 50 pages and this was fun throughout. So give it a chance and maybe you would find a new favorite author or maybe you would improve your vocabulary you would learn something. So read and find it yourself and then Keep on Reading.
People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
So I was finally able to finish it mainly the book picked up in last 100 or so pages something I have found many books do. So the rating is really high 3.5 so kudos Anumita for bringing me here :) you know what I mean.
This is a book set in some part of Bihar set sometimes during 1980s and though it didn't seem like it at the beginning but it's a memoir a fictional memoir but memoir nonetheless there were actually some very dignified disclosures here as Roli goes through her life following an afternoon when her father killed her mother. Suddenly an orphan and lost in the teenage years Roli explores her life in her home and outside. Explore herself and others. Finds friendship loses friendship. Goes to a small town to study further and so on and on. The story is nice and I really liked the pace it picked in the last 100 or so pages like I said earlier. Somethings will seem inexplicable but Anumita the author has already explained that this book's genre is Magical Realism.
I did have few issues with the book and that's primarily has to do with the language used or rather the heavy vocabulary used in the book. The reason behind my issue is that it looked intentional as in that the words might have been put later by replacing their synonyms because what I found was that most of the chapters had only first few paragraphs with nice informative words while the later parts of the chapter would be largely simplish English. And later chapters were largely absent from the high literary language or high english and it's not like I had to run away for dictionary every few words but it still took away some fun from this life story and also made it little difficult to continue with the book initially.
Before I repeat a cliche' the cover of this book was gorgeous. It's a watercolor painting and is simply brilliant. If I haven't said it before I love beautiful covers like any other book lover.
But like they say never judge a book by it's cover or not even by half of it's pages from the beginning because I have seen lot of books recover even in the last 50 pages and this was fun throughout. So give it a chance and maybe you would find a new favorite author or maybe you would improve your vocabulary you would learn something. So read and find it yourself and then Keep on Reading.
People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
October 11, 2018
Name- Some Very Dignified Disclosures
Written by- Anumita Sharma
Published by- Pratishthaa Films & media
Pages- 253
Ratings- 5🌟
Storyline-
The story belongs to a young protagonist Roli. Roli suffered through the horrors of her childhood in which she witnessed her father murdering her mother. She carried her past through her entire childhood and teenage years. She meets several people in her life some of them even tries to help her through her horrible past in some ways which are even supernatural. Will Roli be able to find her path and solace?
Review-
●A story which will astonish you with an amazing plot.
●The character of Roli is what made the story work wonders.
●The supernatural element was also an unexpected turn.
Personal Views-
I crave to read books like this one. The books which will take me through stories I have never read or experienced. A brilliant work by the author, I hope she writes more such stories that'll make us fall in love with reading again.
Written by- Anumita Sharma
Published by- Pratishthaa Films & media
Pages- 253
Ratings- 5🌟
Storyline-
The story belongs to a young protagonist Roli. Roli suffered through the horrors of her childhood in which she witnessed her father murdering her mother. She carried her past through her entire childhood and teenage years. She meets several people in her life some of them even tries to help her through her horrible past in some ways which are even supernatural. Will Roli be able to find her path and solace?
Review-
●A story which will astonish you with an amazing plot.
●The character of Roli is what made the story work wonders.
●The supernatural element was also an unexpected turn.
Personal Views-
I crave to read books like this one. The books which will take me through stories I have never read or experienced. A brilliant work by the author, I hope she writes more such stories that'll make us fall in love with reading again.
July 22, 2018
2.5/5
Was given an ARC by the author. This is the author’s second book and there is a definite confidence in her writing style. The book tells the story of a young girl from a village, who witnesses her father murdering her mother; and how her life is informed by that one senseless act of violence.
However, despite the meandering, sometimes tense look at the life of one ordinary girl, some aspects of the book weren’t the best. The writing style is colloquial and archaic both and the shift between the two is jarring at times. The words ascribed to characters sound foreign. You don’t expect characters from a village, uneducated in English, to be using the words the author does. The difference between character and author voice is entirely missing here. At any point of time, the language doesn’t accurately represent the characters speaking it.
However, the author excellently uses language and imagery to describe everyday feelings and emotions with just a hint of whimsy.
“Memories of the village had lesser poignancy. Grief had tickled and settled under my skin.”
It’s not my most favourite read, but the book shone through with some real moments.
Was given an ARC by the author. This is the author’s second book and there is a definite confidence in her writing style. The book tells the story of a young girl from a village, who witnesses her father murdering her mother; and how her life is informed by that one senseless act of violence.
However, despite the meandering, sometimes tense look at the life of one ordinary girl, some aspects of the book weren’t the best. The writing style is colloquial and archaic both and the shift between the two is jarring at times. The words ascribed to characters sound foreign. You don’t expect characters from a village, uneducated in English, to be using the words the author does. The difference between character and author voice is entirely missing here. At any point of time, the language doesn’t accurately represent the characters speaking it.
However, the author excellently uses language and imagery to describe everyday feelings and emotions with just a hint of whimsy.
“Memories of the village had lesser poignancy. Grief had tickled and settled under my skin.”
It’s not my most favourite read, but the book shone through with some real moments.
February 9, 2019
Loved it.
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