Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Other Side Of The Table by Madhumita Mukherjee



Book name : The Other Side Of The Table 
Author: Madhumita Mukherjee
Publisher : Fingerprint  
Rating: 4/5 
Source : Publisher 
Genre : Fiction (Epistolary)

 Synopsis from Goodreads  Circa 1990.
A world drawn and woven with words.
A bond punctuated by absence and distance...
Two continents. Two cities. Two people.
And letters. Hundreds of them.
Over years. Across oceans. Between hearts.
Between Abhi, who is training to be a neurosurgeon in London, and Uma, who is just stepping into the world of medicine in Kolkata.
As they ink their emotions onto paper, their lives get chronicled in this subtly nuanced conversation through letters ... letters about dreams, desires, heartbreaks, and longings... about a proverbial good life falling apart, about a failed marriage, a visceral loss, and about a dream that threatens social expectations...
Letters that talk. And don't. Letters about this and that. Letters about everything...
Letters with a story you would never expect.(less)


My take on the book 
There are books that will cry hoarse and demand you to  pick them up , and there are the unassuming ones that will quietly work their magic on you . Before you  reach the last page of the book , it  would have successfully cast a spell on you. The Other Side of The Table belongs to the second variety. I have always loved reading epistolary books ; this books hasn't disappointed me as well .Letters fly back and forth Abhi, who is a neurosurgeon based in London and Uma, a feisty girl stepping into the world of medicine in Kolkatta. What do they write about ? anything and everything that goes on in their life.

Madhumita has done a great job in capturing the essence of both the characters through the letters they pen. Uma who appears rather immature and impetuous at the beginning mellows into a resilient woman as things get tough at work and with her domestic front. Abhi , who initially comes across as a level-headed intelligent chap turns pessimistic when he gets ill.Lovers lost , disappointments faced, new achievements conquered - the letters tell them all.

The language is lovely and the editing taut.  Despite being an erudite piece of fiction, the book is amazingly easy to read and not pretentious one bit.The pace is just right and will keep you hooked till the end. I read this book in not more than two stretches , and wanted to sorely get back to the book when I couldn't read it in-between . Which is why I think that this is a rather good book , as not many books make you want to drop everything else you are doing and get back to them pronto.

Overall, a thought provoking book that will weave its magic on you.

My rating 4/5

Many thanks to Arcopol from Fingerprint  for sending this copy across.
    

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like an interesting one!! Bookmarking it for future!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Extremely well written book.. I am surprised you haven't reviewed it yet.

    ReplyDelete