Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Muddy River – By P.A. Krishnan


I have been guilty of a few things, not trying for one, putting off things for later is another one of the habits I want to get rid off and this is where I thought I should begin.
On 14th November last year I received a book from BlogAdda called “The Muddy River” as a part of their book reviewers program.

What I liked about this book was that the author wasn’t scared to take on a complex story as this and actually executing it to perfection. This is book is a take on the political situation of Assam, the corruption in India and the way bureaucracy is in India, while the loss of a child of  the central protagonists adds another angle to the story line.

The story is of Chandran who is a bureaucrat in Delhi who gets transferred to Assam when he runs into his seniors, threatening to pull a plug on the existing corruption scenario there. Assam being in turmoil for the obvious reasons is not a likeable posting for any one.

The story moves forward with the kidnapping of Mr Ghosh and how Chandran sets out to ensure the release of Mr Ghosh, when the company refuses to pay the ransom as demanded by the naxals. But there is more to the book.

With the loss of their only child Priya, Chandran and Sukanya have started to drift apart. This subplot gives in a dose of emotions which never go over the top.

While these are the ingredients to the story line, the narrative of the story is in the book in a book style. It definitely adds to the layers of this book and makes the book a good read albeit a challenging one too. I must say that despite various layers to the narrative, it is clean and crisp, so will never confuse you.

This is definitely not a breezy read but pick up this book and finish it at your own pace and you would marvel at the narrative of the book. Having said that I have not read many books on the Indian political scenario, but this was a good beginning for me and I definitely can recommend this to others too.

Ok, now that the review is done, I must apologize to the BlogAdda guys especially Harish. I am sure there were quite a few abuses hurled my way, something that I definitely deserved. But BlogAdda has been the reason why I wrote the last two posts of mine and I hope I don’t give up this blog.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!