What do you think?
Rate this book
Kathmandruids: Monomyths & Meanymyths
The book opens with the daily routine of a confident fixer satisfied with the state of his floating faeces, flowing finances and flying friends. It then narrates the story of an adroit networker leveraging her position for pecuniary benefits. A smug bureaucrat makes the ascendant dealmaker and descendent aristocrat work in tandem to make the arriviste fall in line.
It is said that the upper-upper middle class with a modicum of education and adequate income are permanently afflicted with status anxiety. The dread of falling down, the fear of remaining in the same place or the hunger to climb up creates chronic restlessness. It's extremely difficult to narrate their banal lives in an arresting manner. But the author has seen Kathmandruids from close quarters as this class multiplied its net worth by bleeding the country dry. He tells some of their tales in English as she was spoke by those educated at convent schools of India and Nepal.
The narrative is interspersed with commentaries about history, culture, society, politics, economy and contemporary affairs of the noughties. The ambitious enterprise of telling everything possible about interesting times of Kathmandu in a thin volume has made the novel slightly complex and it invites the readers to engage with the book rather than flick through its pages.
It is said that the upper-upper middle class with a modicum of education and adequate income are permanently afflicted with status anxiety. The dread of falling down, the fear of remaining in the same place or the hunger to climb up creates chronic restlessness. It's extremely difficult to narrate their banal lives in an arresting manner. But the author has seen Kathmandruids from close quarters as this class multiplied its net worth by bleeding the country dry. He tells some of their tales in English as she was spoke by those educated at convent schools of India and Nepal.
The narrative is interspersed with commentaries about history, culture, society, politics, economy and contemporary affairs of the noughties. The ambitious enterprise of telling everything possible about interesting times of Kathmandu in a thin volume has made the novel slightly complex and it invites the readers to engage with the book rather than flick through its pages.
422 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
1 person is currently reading
15 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 3, 2019
The book written in lively and playful language has two intertwined layers, one would be classic story or novella while the other kind of basic introduction to cultural history of Kathmandu valley. While the story part is quite entertaining and full of interesting motives, the historical part is dull as it basically repeats the things which can be found elsewhere from travel guides to books dedicated solely to the topic. Author tries to pepper these parts with some humor but it did work only for the people already familiar with the issues and those would find it boring anyway. To add insult to injury, these parts are intolerably long and repetitive. Anyway the book is still worth of reading as it's quite honest portrayal of the current sorry state which is Nepal.
March 9, 2020
A comprehensive story taken out from history and present status of Nepalese society. A good read but very repetitive as you go through the pages.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews