In Custody
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Review
"A remarkable piece of work... A magnificent novel." - Salman Rushdie, "Observer"
"A major attempt to tackle serious themes... extraordinarily rich in incident and detail." - Sebastian Faulks
"Anita Desai's most subtle and mature work to date... She retains an unforced and powerful ease in conveying the colour and sounds and sensations of Indian life." - "TLS"
"A major attempt to tackle serious themes... extraordinarily rich in incident and detail." - Sebastian Faulks
"Anita Desai's most subtle and mature work to date... She retains an unforced and powerful ease in conveying the colour and sounds and sensations of Indian life." - "TLS"
Product Description
Touching and wonderfully funny, In Custody is woven around the yearnings and calamities of a small-town scholar in the north of India. An impoverished college lecturer, Deven, sees a way to escape from the meanness of his daily life when he is asked to interview India's greatest Urdu poet, Nur - a project that can only end in disaster.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Touching and wonderfully funny. "In Custody" is woven around the yearnings and calamities of Deven, a small-town scholar from Mirpore in the north of India. An improvised college lecturer, Deven sees a way to escape from the meanness of his daily life when he is asked to interview India's greatest Urdu poet, Nur. But every attempt will only end up in desaster.
A beautiful book, mingling melancholy, disappointment and lots of humour. I recommend it most warmly.
A beautiful book, mingling melancholy, disappointment and lots of humour. I recommend it most warmly.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this book maybe 15 years ago, and laughed from start to finish as the disillusioned lecturer discovers the flaws of his lifetime hero, and battles with the frustrations of married life, an unsatisfactory job and the general hassles of everyday life in India. Re-reading it at 40, in an unsatisfactory job, living and working in a poor and stressful area of London, it seemed a lot less satirical, and rather more painful read, but still very funny. And it made me change jobs!
Format:Paperback
Anita Desai - is a well reputed Indian writter. In custody, is a very touching story where a common man Devan tries to make a feeble attempt to save the fate of 'Urdu' and in the process destroys his not so perfect life. Desai not only describes the perils faced by the language but also describes in parallel the fissuring of the Indian society and with that the tragic death of relationships. Not only are the words well choosen and the story well written but she has been successful in giving life to her characters. Devan's meek character depicts the traditional India and his friend Murad and other characters show the modern India where people are ready to take advantage of you if you permit them.
The story is both funny and sad. All in all a beautiful tale!!!
The story is both funny and sad. All in all a beautiful tale!!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thought it would never end
I hated this book. I thought it would never end. I have never disliked a main character as much as I did Deven, the selfish, weak, pathetic dullard that he is. Read more
Published 23 months ago by LalaB
well written but miserable
I was travelling in a country where nobody spoke English so I took a few books out of the college library. This was one if them. Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2009 by Paul ramone
You can never put a poet in custody even on tape
This novel was written in 1984. It is long before the emerging power of India today in the field of software and computer technology. Read more
Published on 29 July 2008 by Jacques COULARDEAU
Memorable and poignant, beautifully told
Set in Mirapur and Delhi this lovely novel concerns Deven a teacher at a small college. He is asked to go and interview the poet Nur for an Urdu jounal. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2008 by A. Hope
Maybe its me?
Prose meets poetry in a perfectly dull encounter which seems like an interminable short story. It begins okay but gradually drifts into the mundane never to recover. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2007 by Mark Dickens
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