The Assassination of India Gandhi: The Collected Stories: Volume One

by Upamanyu Chatterjee

For over three decades, Upamanyu Chatterjee’s has been an utterly distinctive and daring literary voice, with few equals among contemporary writers of fiction. In the twelve long stories that comprise this volume, he investigates, as only he can, the absurd comedy and the grand horrors of the human condition.
The book opens with his most recent story, written in 2018, which follows Thomas Roe, the much feted English Ambassador to the court of Jahangir, as he bumbles through a subcontinent far larger than his imagination can accommodate; and it concludes with the title story, written in 1985, in which a young Sikh sequestered in his parents’ home in Mussoorie, and debilitated by jaundice and ennui, listens disinterestedly to news of Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi. In the pages between the two, a variety of lives and situations unfold: a middle-class family in New Delhi makes some surprising discoveries about Shakespeare, race, wealth, and its youngest daughter; mystery killings in small-town Madna teach an innocent civil servant some lessons about the Indian state; the classmates of a thirteen-year-old girl learn of her brutal murder; a boy has his revenge on a sexual predator, while another, far away, seeks release from the job of cleaning the dry latrine in his school; a single man in Bombay brings home a pair of sparrows; a European woman gives up on life in a South Delhi barsati; one hundred and thirty children disappear from a German village visited by a rat-catcher.

A magisterial collection of stories—each as rich as a novel—The Assassination of Indira Gandhi is destined to become a classic of Indian literature.

Upamanyu Chatterjee is the acclaimed author of the novels English, August: An Indian Story (1988), The Last Burden (1993), The Mammaries of the Welfare State (2000), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award for writing in English, Weight Loss (2006), Way to Go (2011), which was shortlisted for the Hindu Best Fiction Award, and Fairy Tales at Fifty (2014); and the novella The Revenge of the Non-vegetarian (2018), which was shortlisted for the Crossword Jury Award. In 2008, he was awarded the Order of Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government for his contribution to literature.

Genres: India

352 pages, Hardcover

Published April 4, 2019

About the author

Upamanyu Chatterjee is an Indian author and administrator, noted for his works set in the Indian Administrative Service. He has been named Officier des Arts et des Lettres (Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters), by the French Government.

Reviews

[Bidita · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75ish

[Divya Pal · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a refreshing change to read these stories after the author’s pornographic “Weight Loss”. The stories range from the poignant, to the raunchy and funny; from the scatological to the allegorical. The topics include history, ornithology, police, untouchability, homosexuality, crime and law; the reluctant IAS, marijuana stoked Agastya Sen makes a cameo appearance.
These are engaging stories about India and its myriad hues – the title could have been better. The assassination story is quite peripheral; there are richer yarns and some other true stories narrated in the author’s unique style.
At times, the writing style is typical bureaucratese – liberally sprinkled with parentheses, clauses and sub-clauses – but gripping all the same.
Waiting for the sequel!

[Santanu Bhattacharya · Rating 5 out of 5]

English, August is one of my favourite books ever and I wasn’t surprised that I loved this one so much. The intelligence of Upamanyu Chatterjee shows in every story - the research, the humour, the sensitivity, the craft. Every story, even though there is no single theme running through them, is interesting, relevant and informative. There’s something to learn and wonder about. A must read! I’m now waiting for volume 2.

[Yoginder Agarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upamanyu Chatterjee has a distinct style which involves the reader within his writings. The adventures of Thomas Roe is a delightful read into history. The various stories are very readable - some filled with mirth, some forcing one to think of new aspects on the issue. Good read.

[Dhruvank Vaidya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed bag of short stories. Some are quite brilliant. Others ramble on.

[Arunima · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thought of dnfing it multiple times. This literally spoiled my reading mood and now I feel sceptical of every book I think of picking up.

[Aditya Saraff · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely amazing book. Lucid revisitation of history and a seamless merge of fact and fiction, with the help of legends like Namita Gokhale

[ASHISH KALITA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I became a fan of Mr Chatterjee after I read English August. I collected other books of his, expecting the same sort of mood, but was somehow disappointed. Since this was a collection of short stories, I picked it up with a dual intention - one, to devour some stories at one go (a break from novels), and two, to see how one of my favorite authors handles stories of the shorter format.

I was impressed. Some of the stories were fictionalized versions of historical events - some quite recent, some of ages ago. The wit, humor and the unabashed take on life as such was quintessentially Mr Chatterjee. His use of long sentences sometimes feels cumbersome, especially while reading on the electronic format, but I have come to believe its the author's style. I will definitely catch up on the second volume in the near future, if there is one.