Rishi
Accept it for what it is.... A gossipy, tabloidish, and often slapdash account, albeit one with a lot of access to Trumps White house and senior staff. Its a fun read but it's main utility is to enable an open discussion of stuff that more serious reporters have known for ages but have not been able to attribute to specific people... That Trump is a petulant, narcissistic child who nobody respects.
i tried to read this but just couldn't do it. Cole is talented, and his writing has a poetic touch and an elegant style. The problem is that it is asking altogether too much to expect the reader to follow the often mundane and meandering thoughts of the protagonist with no real narrative arc to help propel the story.
I can understand why this book might leave people feeling uncomfortable and anxious. But I think a lot of people falsely equate this to alack of quality. This book is utterly brilliant. it is supposed to make you uncomfortable...you are supposed to get angry. the protagonist is deeply flawed by design. I can honestly say that this book will have a lasting impact on my life.
I thoroughly enjoyed Kalkatta. Basu has a knack for bringing the city's sights,sounds, and smells to life, and creates an engrossing world that is often hidden or out of sight. The narrative moves at a good pace and holds the reader's interest.
The shortcomings of the novel are in the character development. Most characters exist as archetypes rather than real people, designed to fill a role and enable Basu to make a point. It would have been good to get a little bit more substance from some of these characters, who had the potential to be very interesting, as evidenced by Rani and Miri. Strangely, although we spend the entire novel with Jami, he remains somewhat aloof and ephemeral....again perhaps because he's more of a cypher than a complete character. Basu seems to have preferred creating a mosaic rather than a character driven novel.
I found the ending to be somewhat abrupt, but I understand the reason why it ended as it did .