- Taschenbuch: 406 Seiten
- Verlag: Hodder & Stoughton (17. Februar 2011)
- Sprache: Englisch
- ISBN-10: 1848543085
- ISBN-13: 978-1848543089
- Größe und/oder Gewicht: 13 x 2,7 x 19,8 cm
- Durchschnittliche Kundenbewertung: 5.0 von 5 Sternen Alle Rezensionen anzeigen (1 Kundenrezension)
- Amazon Bestseller-Rang: Nr. 305.151 in Englische Bücher (Siehe Top 100 in Englische Bücher)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Serious Men
und über 1 Million weitere Bücher verfügbar für Amazon Kindle .
Erfahren Sie mehr
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Produktinformation |
Mehr über den Autor
Entdecken Sie Bücher, lesen Sie über Autoren und mehr
› Besuchen Sie die Seite von Manu Joseph auf Amazon
› Besuchen Sie die Seite von Manu Joseph auf Amazon
Produktbeschreibungen
Pressestimmen
Funny, diverting and original -- Guardian Manu Joseph's first novel elegantly describes collisions with an unyielding status quo, ably counterpointing the frustrations of the powerless with the unfulfilling realities of power. With this astute comedy of manners he makes a convincing bid for his own recognition as a novelist of serious talent, the latest addition to a roster of Indian writers who are creating fine literary art from their country's fearsome contradictions -- Peter Carty, Independent Manu Joseph's satirical tale of an ostensibly new India still in thrall to its caste-ridden and sexist traditions is so much more than a mere comic caper ... Sophisticated entertainment -- Catherine Taylor, Guardian The finest comic novelists know that a small world can illuminate a culture and an age...with this sad-funny debut Joseph does just that -- Boyd Tonkin, Books to light up lazy days, Independent He has written a debut novel that skewers a society where new ambitions and older class divisions co-exist. From the contrasts of contemporary India, he extracts pointed, often bitter comedy -- Sunday Times The writing is exuberant -- TLS A charming debut novel -- Guardian One of the strongest debuts of 2010, this bittersweet Mumbai tale of high minds and low plots never quite won the plaudits it deserves. Now it has a second chance ... More Lucky Jim than White Tiger ... Touching, hilarious, this collision between the Mumbai of stars and of mud rediscovers a deep Indian vein of humane and sophisticated comedy -- Independent
Kurzbeschreibung
Ayyan Mani lebt mit seiner Familie in einer trostlosen Hochhaussiedlung in Mumbai und arbeitet als Sekretär eines arroganten Professors am Institut für Forschung und Theorie. Doch er hat einen Plan, um die finanzielle Situation seiner Familie zu verbessern: Jeden Abend, wenn er nach Hause kommt, trichtert er seinem 10-jährigen Sohn das unmöglichste Wissen ein und präsentiert ihn der Fachwelt flugs als Wunderkind.
Eine schreiend komische Geschichte mit Anklängen an 'Slumdog Millionaires'.
Eine schreiend komische Geschichte mit Anklängen an 'Slumdog Millionaires'.
In diesem Buch
(Mehr dazu)
Nach einer anderen Ausgabe dieses Buches suchen.
Nach einer anderen Ausgabe dieses Buches suchen.
Tags(Was ist das?)Bei einem Tag handelt es sich um ein Schlagwort, das zum Produkt passt.
Tags erleichtern allen Kunden die Suche und die Sortierung ihrer Lieblingsprodukte. |
Kundenrezensionen
Die hilfreichsten Kundenrezensionen
Format:Taschenbuch
I loved this book. I love India so when I saw this book on a shelf at my local book store (sorry Amazon), I couldn't resist. This debut is funny, insightful and very much to the point in terms of understanding India(ns) from within. I could hardly put it away and wished it could've been longer than it already is.
What mischief are Adi and Ayyan going to come up with now that we aren't aware of?
What mischief are Adi and Ayyan going to come up with now that we aren't aware of?
Die hilfreichsten Kundenrezensionen auf Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
17 Rezensionen
15 von 16 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Astounding!
25. August 2010
Format:Taschenbuch|Von Amazon bestätigter Kauf
I cannot remember the last time a book was so relaxingly enjoyable. Though I've honestly used the words in other reviews; I truly did not want this one to end.
While the story is a satire of the social conventions of India, the real appeal of the novel is in the characters. There are two groups: Ayyan Mani and his family; and the scientists at the Institute of Theory and Research.
Though some of the scientists are stereotyped, they are portrayed so amusingly that I didn't care. Seeing them go about their 'work' was a hoot. The academic jealousy and fighting for funds showed that this is a constant in academia the world over.
Ayyan, his wife Oja, and their son Adi are marvelously portrayed and anything but stereotyped. Their lives and their place in the plot are handled in a manner that draws us to them. They became people I wanted to spend much more time with.
There are two plot lines running through the book. The main line revolves around that universal world of the academics and the social issues related to sex, castes and opportunities. The second, but even more enjoyable, line is about Ayyan and Oja's son, the 'genius' Adi - and especially Adi's relationship with Ayyan.
This is a book to be savored. I rarely read a novel a second time; but this is going to remain on my 'to be read' shelves. Even if I don't read it a second time, just seeing it will remind me of the enjoyable time I had and remind me to watch for Manu Joseph's next book. I hope it will come soon!
While the story is a satire of the social conventions of India, the real appeal of the novel is in the characters. There are two groups: Ayyan Mani and his family; and the scientists at the Institute of Theory and Research.
Though some of the scientists are stereotyped, they are portrayed so amusingly that I didn't care. Seeing them go about their 'work' was a hoot. The academic jealousy and fighting for funds showed that this is a constant in academia the world over.
Ayyan, his wife Oja, and their son Adi are marvelously portrayed and anything but stereotyped. Their lives and their place in the plot are handled in a manner that draws us to them. They became people I wanted to spend much more time with.
There are two plot lines running through the book. The main line revolves around that universal world of the academics and the social issues related to sex, castes and opportunities. The second, but even more enjoyable, line is about Ayyan and Oja's son, the 'genius' Adi - and especially Adi's relationship with Ayyan.
This is a book to be savored. I rarely read a novel a second time; but this is going to remain on my 'to be read' shelves. Even if I don't read it a second time, just seeing it will remind me of the enjoyable time I had and remind me to watch for Manu Joseph's next book. I hope it will come soon!
7 von 7 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Seriously satirical comedy of manners
24. Dezember 2010
Format:Taschenbuch|Von Amazon bestätigter Kauf
SERIOUS MEN combines serious charm, salacious wit, and combative, scientific cogitations that will appeal to lovers of subversive drollery. It is a comedy of manners, spotlighting the age-old caste consciousness of Brahmins vs. Dalits (formerly Untouchables), taking place primarily in a Scientific Research Institute and also in a Maharashtran chawl, an Indian tenement housing for the poor and lowly.
Two aging, eccentric Brahmin scientists at the Institute of Theory and Research in Mumbai vie for funds and advancement for their dueling theories of alien life. Meanwhile, younger Dalit clerk Ayyan Mani weaves his Machiavellian mischief with the insurgent dexterity of a snake in the grass, but a snake you want to root for. Manu Joseph allows the reader to perceive each character from several viewpoints, and in ever more dicey situations.
Ayyan wants more for his eleven-year-old son, Adi, than a fixed and dismal future typically available for a Dalit. His still-young wife has slipped into a cheerless existence of watching soap operas and automatic functioning, and he longs to inspire her passion again. Achieving these aims requires a cunning treachery and a fierce devotion, one that rivals the outrageous ambitions of the wizards he works for and nimbly intrudes on daily.
Filled with counterpoints and contradictions, as well as a sly merriment on every page, debut author Joseph spins a provocative yarn that builds slowly in the first half, and progresses with an ineluctable immediacy in the latter part of the story, luring the reader into a tight symmetry of scandalous adventure.
"Man is not searching for aliens. Man is searching for man. It's called loneliness. Not science."
Wry, intelligent observations fuel this delicious satire about the search for meaningful existence and the power to find it. Joseph blends an edgy morality tale with a soulful examination of family and love.
Two aging, eccentric Brahmin scientists at the Institute of Theory and Research in Mumbai vie for funds and advancement for their dueling theories of alien life. Meanwhile, younger Dalit clerk Ayyan Mani weaves his Machiavellian mischief with the insurgent dexterity of a snake in the grass, but a snake you want to root for. Manu Joseph allows the reader to perceive each character from several viewpoints, and in ever more dicey situations.
Ayyan wants more for his eleven-year-old son, Adi, than a fixed and dismal future typically available for a Dalit. His still-young wife has slipped into a cheerless existence of watching soap operas and automatic functioning, and he longs to inspire her passion again. Achieving these aims requires a cunning treachery and a fierce devotion, one that rivals the outrageous ambitions of the wizards he works for and nimbly intrudes on daily.
Filled with counterpoints and contradictions, as well as a sly merriment on every page, debut author Joseph spins a provocative yarn that builds slowly in the first half, and progresses with an ineluctable immediacy in the latter part of the story, luring the reader into a tight symmetry of scandalous adventure.
"Man is not searching for aliens. Man is searching for man. It's called loneliness. Not science."
Wry, intelligent observations fuel this delicious satire about the search for meaningful existence and the power to find it. Joseph blends an edgy morality tale with a soulful examination of family and love.
4 von 4 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Brilliant Satire and Incredible Style
18. November 2010
Format:Taschenbuch|Von Amazon bestätigter Kauf
I suspect other readers will find themselves slowing their reading of this brilliant novel because the setting and the characters are so unusual and so carefully crafted. For the first few pages I wasn't sure I was going to like this novel. But then I was caught in the author's web. We see on TV and in movies so many images of poverty in urban India. This novel depicts it but with a strange sense of humor, not exactly black humor. It is the intricacy of the points of view, most especially the central character's. Ayyan Mani, married to soap-opera-loving Oja, lives in a tiny abode, part of one of those we-are-just-a-step-above-poverty arrangements in which there is no bathroom and where people build an "attic," a crawl space, for privacy, i.e., a place to have sexual contact. They have a ten-year-old son who is a problem for the Catholic school he attends. You see, he is rather bright! And his father nutures that in him while Oja, the mother, is baffled by it and often annoyed.
So we have a story of their domestic lives.
And then there is the story of this absurd "think tank" where Ayyan works as a sort of secretary, one of those snoop types that the reader will truly love. Essentially absolutely nothing happens there, but the supposed intellectuals are so sure that they are making the most valuable contributions to something although what we really never quite know because they are divided into factions, one of which doesn't think there is anything to be gained by looking for alien intelligence in meteors.
So this is sort of Orwellian. But not really. And for those who have read Josh Ferris's wonderful satire "Then We Came to the End," well, I suspect you will enjoy this one too.
I think this book is going to be very well received. And hopefully given an award or two. Or three.
So we have a story of their domestic lives.
And then there is the story of this absurd "think tank" where Ayyan works as a sort of secretary, one of those snoop types that the reader will truly love. Essentially absolutely nothing happens there, but the supposed intellectuals are so sure that they are making the most valuable contributions to something although what we really never quite know because they are divided into factions, one of which doesn't think there is anything to be gained by looking for alien intelligence in meteors.
So this is sort of Orwellian. But not really. And for those who have read Josh Ferris's wonderful satire "Then We Came to the End," well, I suspect you will enjoy this one too.
I think this book is going to be very well received. And hopefully given an award or two. Or three.
Waren diese Rezensionen hilfreich?
Wir wollen von Ihnen hören.
Kunden diskutieren
|
Das Forum zu diesem Produkt
Fragen stellen, Meinungen austauschen, Einblicke gewinnen Aktive Diskussionen in ähnlichen Foren
Kundendiskussionen durchsuchen
|
Ähnliche Foren
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lieblingslisten
Ähnliche Artikel finden
Anhand des Sachgebietes nach ähnlichen Produkten suchen:
Ihr Kommentar
Möchten Sie die Produktinformationen aktualisieren oder Feedback zu den Produktabbildungen geben?
|
