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The Far Field
Gorgeously tactile and sweeping in historical and socio-political scope, Pushcart Prize-winner Madhuri Vijay's The Far Field follows a complicated flaneuse across the Indian subcontinent as she reckons with her past, her desires, and the tumultuous present.
In the wake of her mother's death, Shalini, a privileged and restless young woman from Bangalore, sets out for a remote Himalayan village in the troubled northern region of Kashmir. Certain that the loss of her mother is somehow connected to the decade-old disappearance of Bashir Ahmed, a charming Kashmiri salesman who frequented her childhood home, she is determined to confront him. But upon her arrival, Shalini is brought face to face with Kashmir's politics, as well as the tangled history of the local family that takes her in. And when life in the village turns volatile and old hatreds threaten to erupt into violence, Shalini finds herself forced to make a series of choices that could hold dangerous repercussions for the very people she has come to love.
With rare acumen and evocative prose, in The Far Field Madhuri Vijay masterfully examines Indian politics, class prejudice, and sexuality through the lens of an outsider, offering a profound meditation on grief, guilt, and the limits of compassion.
In the wake of her mother's death, Shalini, a privileged and restless young woman from Bangalore, sets out for a remote Himalayan village in the troubled northern region of Kashmir. Certain that the loss of her mother is somehow connected to the decade-old disappearance of Bashir Ahmed, a charming Kashmiri salesman who frequented her childhood home, she is determined to confront him. But upon her arrival, Shalini is brought face to face with Kashmir's politics, as well as the tangled history of the local family that takes her in. And when life in the village turns volatile and old hatreds threaten to erupt into violence, Shalini finds herself forced to make a series of choices that could hold dangerous repercussions for the very people she has come to love.
With rare acumen and evocative prose, in The Far Field Madhuri Vijay masterfully examines Indian politics, class prejudice, and sexuality through the lens of an outsider, offering a profound meditation on grief, guilt, and the limits of compassion.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 15, 2019
About the author
Madhuri Vijay
6 books275 followersMadhuri Vijay was born in Bangalore. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, and her writing has appeared in Best American Non-Required Reading, Narrative Magazine and Salon, among other publications. The Far Field is her first book.
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November 3, 2019
Winner of the 2019 JCB Prize for Indian Literature
The Far Field follows Shalini, a young woman who is adrift and grieving after her mother’s death, as she journeys from her comfortable home in urban Bangalore to a Kashmiri mountain village. Shalini is searching for a man who had disappeared from her mother’s life years before. But while she seeks to unravel the events that led to her mother’s death, Shalini’s presence sparks danger for the local residents.
Madhuri Vijay’s prose is elegant and understated, and she does such an amazing job of evoking the sights, sounds and smells of each locale in vivid detail, that it’s almost like being there. The bustling streets and shops of Bangalore; the insularity and tensions of military-occupied Kishtwar; a struggling remote village against a backdrop of spectacular mountains - all are brought to life with startling clarity. The setting and its inherent tensions catalyse the dramatic events, but you don’t need more than a passing familiarity with Kashmir’s history to follow this story.
Virtually every character is emotionally distant, either by inclination, upbringing or political necessity, and while this does at times make for a chilly read, it fits the book completely. For the Kashmiri characters their outward reserve is part stoicism, part ingrained secretiveness required for survival in an area defined by decades-long territorial disputes. They are all grieving the death or disappearance of loved ones, much like Shalini, the fish-out-of-water narrator. Some much-needed vitality is injected in the forms of two characters: Shalini’s mother, audacious, brittle and erratic, who calls her daughter ‘little beast’; and sunny Amina, a Kashmiri villager whose hospitality towards Shalini has disastrous consequences.
At 450 pages this isn’t a quick read, and the story takes its time to unspool. I never found it boring though, and it struck me that as Shalini was adjusting to the slower pace of life in a mountain village, I was being asked to do the same. The Far Field is an absorbing read and a very assured debut.
The Far Field follows Shalini, a young woman who is adrift and grieving after her mother’s death, as she journeys from her comfortable home in urban Bangalore to a Kashmiri mountain village. Shalini is searching for a man who had disappeared from her mother’s life years before. But while she seeks to unravel the events that led to her mother’s death, Shalini’s presence sparks danger for the local residents.
Madhuri Vijay’s prose is elegant and understated, and she does such an amazing job of evoking the sights, sounds and smells of each locale in vivid detail, that it’s almost like being there. The bustling streets and shops of Bangalore; the insularity and tensions of military-occupied Kishtwar; a struggling remote village against a backdrop of spectacular mountains - all are brought to life with startling clarity. The setting and its inherent tensions catalyse the dramatic events, but you don’t need more than a passing familiarity with Kashmir’s history to follow this story.
Virtually every character is emotionally distant, either by inclination, upbringing or political necessity, and while this does at times make for a chilly read, it fits the book completely. For the Kashmiri characters their outward reserve is part stoicism, part ingrained secretiveness required for survival in an area defined by decades-long territorial disputes. They are all grieving the death or disappearance of loved ones, much like Shalini, the fish-out-of-water narrator. Some much-needed vitality is injected in the forms of two characters: Shalini’s mother, audacious, brittle and erratic, who calls her daughter ‘little beast’; and sunny Amina, a Kashmiri villager whose hospitality towards Shalini has disastrous consequences.
At 450 pages this isn’t a quick read, and the story takes its time to unspool. I never found it boring though, and it struck me that as Shalini was adjusting to the slower pace of life in a mountain village, I was being asked to do the same. The Far Field is an absorbing read and a very assured debut.
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November 30, 2018Why I love it
by Brianna Goodman
When you work at BOTM, you read …. a lot of books. So many that at times I’m not even sure which ones I’ve got in my bag. So when I grabbed The Far Field as an in-case-I-run-out-of-things-to-read-this-weekend, it was a rare moment of serendipity; I had no idea I was packing a book so wonderful that it would become my favorite read of 2018.
The Far Field follows Shalini, a young, fairly well-off Indian woman, who travels to the politically fraught region of Kashmir in a bid for closure after the death of her mother—a fearless, hot-tempered woman to whom Shalini was loyal. Instead, she finds herself swept into the lives of a family of generous people who offer her shelter and support, even as violence upends their lives. But the closer Shalini becomes to the villagers she meets, the more her presence threatens their safety.
You know that feeling when a book is so good you forget you have a body that needs to eat, sleep, and move around? Yeah, that’s what The Far Field did for me. I was transported by Shalini’s story—her heartbreaking relationship with her mother, her search for a life of meaning, the often infuriating choices she makes—and by the stories of the Kashmiri people living under constant scrutiny by police. The novel is both richly drawn and easily digestible (think Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko ), and it gave me book hangover for days. I’m thrilled to recommend this moving debut to the BOTM community, and I cannot wait to see what Madhuri Vijay writes next.
Read more at: https://www.bookofthemonth.com/the-fa...
by Brianna Goodman
When you work at BOTM, you read …. a lot of books. So many that at times I’m not even sure which ones I’ve got in my bag. So when I grabbed The Far Field as an in-case-I-run-out-of-things-to-read-this-weekend, it was a rare moment of serendipity; I had no idea I was packing a book so wonderful that it would become my favorite read of 2018.
The Far Field follows Shalini, a young, fairly well-off Indian woman, who travels to the politically fraught region of Kashmir in a bid for closure after the death of her mother—a fearless, hot-tempered woman to whom Shalini was loyal. Instead, she finds herself swept into the lives of a family of generous people who offer her shelter and support, even as violence upends their lives. But the closer Shalini becomes to the villagers she meets, the more her presence threatens their safety.
You know that feeling when a book is so good you forget you have a body that needs to eat, sleep, and move around? Yeah, that’s what The Far Field did for me. I was transported by Shalini’s story—her heartbreaking relationship with her mother, her search for a life of meaning, the often infuriating choices she makes—and by the stories of the Kashmiri people living under constant scrutiny by police. The novel is both richly drawn and easily digestible (think Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko ), and it gave me book hangover for days. I’m thrilled to recommend this moving debut to the BOTM community, and I cannot wait to see what Madhuri Vijay writes next.
Read more at: https://www.bookofthemonth.com/the-fa...
March 7, 2019
Audiobook...narrated by Sneha Mathan..
.....great vocal!!!
Shalini, 30 years of age at the start, was from the city Bangalore, in India. She came from a wealthy family.
As a child - she remembers an animated traveling salesman - Bashir Ahmed - that visited her family. Bashir then disappears from their lives....wasn’t seen for a decade.
Shalini loved her mother - but their relationship was confusing to her as a child. Her mother had a strong vivacious confident personality at times - and down right cold - or aloof - arrogant - sarcastic - and borderline mean at other times. But Shalini looked up to her mother- hoping to please her. She admired things about mother - wanting to be much like her.
Her mother always seemed most happy when Bashir visited. His stories about his village in Kashmir brought out the best in both mother and daughter.
After her mother dies- grieving and restless....Shalini takes off to a Himalayan village - in Kashmir - hoping to find Bashir. She thinks he knows things - secrets - about her mother which she is determined to find out.
Shalini figures out - her mother and Bashir must have been having an affair - not far from under her father/ husband’s eyes.
Arriving in Kashmir brings a new set of problems.
A family in the village takes Shalini in.
It’s while being in the village that Shalini sees how completely different life is than how she grew up.
Nobody is wealthy or privileged in the village.
The poverty and political strife - especially between India and Pakistan- is maddening.
This story reads like a memoir of a woman’s life...
coming into her own identity- finding her own voice... with many universally themes.
I spent close to a year in India in the mid- 70’s. I love the culture of India.
This novel has the perfect Indian storytelling spices and seasonings -
balanced with love - war - and the challenges of both.
Beautiful debut!!
.....great vocal!!!
Shalini, 30 years of age at the start, was from the city Bangalore, in India. She came from a wealthy family.
As a child - she remembers an animated traveling salesman - Bashir Ahmed - that visited her family. Bashir then disappears from their lives....wasn’t seen for a decade.
Shalini loved her mother - but their relationship was confusing to her as a child. Her mother had a strong vivacious confident personality at times - and down right cold - or aloof - arrogant - sarcastic - and borderline mean at other times. But Shalini looked up to her mother- hoping to please her. She admired things about mother - wanting to be much like her.
Her mother always seemed most happy when Bashir visited. His stories about his village in Kashmir brought out the best in both mother and daughter.
After her mother dies- grieving and restless....Shalini takes off to a Himalayan village - in Kashmir - hoping to find Bashir. She thinks he knows things - secrets - about her mother which she is determined to find out.
Shalini figures out - her mother and Bashir must have been having an affair - not far from under her father/ husband’s eyes.
Arriving in Kashmir brings a new set of problems.
A family in the village takes Shalini in.
It’s while being in the village that Shalini sees how completely different life is than how she grew up.
Nobody is wealthy or privileged in the village.
The poverty and political strife - especially between India and Pakistan- is maddening.
This story reads like a memoir of a woman’s life...
coming into her own identity- finding her own voice... with many universally themes.
I spent close to a year in India in the mid- 70’s. I love the culture of India.
This novel has the perfect Indian storytelling spices and seasonings -
balanced with love - war - and the challenges of both.
Beautiful debut!!
March 18, 2019
I love books about Asia and this one is a winner.
Shalini is a young woman adrift. Her beloved, mercurial mother has just died and Shalini is recently graduated from college, living with her father in Bangalore and going through the motions in a dead end job. On a whim, Shalini decides to track down a former friend of her mother’s, a mysterious door-to-door salesman who shared a secret bond with Shalini and her mother. Knowing very little about this man’s whereabouts other than he lived in a remote Himalayan village in Kashmir, Shalini sets off to find him.
Shalini’s journey is a coming of age story, a family drama and an exploration of political, class and cultural strife in northern India. Vijay does a masterful job of developing her characters and creating ambience and atmosphere. I felt like I was there with Shalini every step of the way. It’s a long journey and a slow one at times, but I enjoyed the ride - even though I wanted to smack Shalini upside the head more than once.
Excellent debut novel for Vijay. I will definitely look forward to reading what she writes next!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for an Advance Reader Copy of this novel. My review, however, is based on the hard copy version.
Shalini is a young woman adrift. Her beloved, mercurial mother has just died and Shalini is recently graduated from college, living with her father in Bangalore and going through the motions in a dead end job. On a whim, Shalini decides to track down a former friend of her mother’s, a mysterious door-to-door salesman who shared a secret bond with Shalini and her mother. Knowing very little about this man’s whereabouts other than he lived in a remote Himalayan village in Kashmir, Shalini sets off to find him.
Shalini’s journey is a coming of age story, a family drama and an exploration of political, class and cultural strife in northern India. Vijay does a masterful job of developing her characters and creating ambience and atmosphere. I felt like I was there with Shalini every step of the way. It’s a long journey and a slow one at times, but I enjoyed the ride - even though I wanted to smack Shalini upside the head more than once.
Excellent debut novel for Vijay. I will definitely look forward to reading what she writes next!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for an Advance Reader Copy of this novel. My review, however, is based on the hard copy version.
December 31, 2018
Tl;dr: The Far Field has passages of gorgeous writing but pulls the novel equivalent of a hamstring trying to prove its point about privilege and what it does (nothing good) and how it blinds you.
The Far Field is the recollections of Shalini, a thirty year old privileged woman living in Bangalore who shares what happened to her when, as a twentysomething grieving the death of her mother, she decided to track down a traveling salesman from Kashmir who visited their home (and who her mother was fascinated with) when she was a child/teenager.
As you can imagine, the trip has Shalini realize how different and difficult the lives of others are, while she seeks to find meaning and purpose not just in the actions of her volatile mother, but in her own life. This leads to a series of revelations and actions that don't change her life but do manage to ruin the lives of others.
The writing is gorgeous, although Ms. Vijay tries way too hard to create a poetic and meaningful ending and winds up overgilding the lily.
The Far Field is at its best when describing the beauty of and loss in Kashmir, and how all the conflict that's happened has largely been glossed over by the world. The sections that focus on Shalini's time there are the best in the book.
Shalini's mother is, of course, a large presence in the book, and The Far Field does a good job of showing how difficult it was for her, constrained by society and broken by her (largely untreated) mental problems, as well as how Shalini coped (or tried to) with her mother's swings from joy to despair and beyond, while assuming that somehow, the journey she takes will help her understand.
In the end, she breaks herself and, more importantly, others as well. The Far Field is about privilege and the consequences of it, but spends so much time belaboring this that what could have been a spare, haunting novel is a winding road that loops back over and over again.
Sometimes less is more.
The Far Field is the recollections of Shalini, a thirty year old privileged woman living in Bangalore who shares what happened to her when, as a twentysomething grieving the death of her mother, she decided to track down a traveling salesman from Kashmir who visited their home (and who her mother was fascinated with) when she was a child/teenager.
As you can imagine, the trip has Shalini realize how different and difficult the lives of others are, while she seeks to find meaning and purpose not just in the actions of her volatile mother, but in her own life. This leads to a series of revelations and actions that don't change her life but do manage to ruin the lives of others.
The writing is gorgeous, although Ms. Vijay tries way too hard to create a poetic and meaningful ending and winds up overgilding the lily.
The Far Field is at its best when describing the beauty of and loss in Kashmir, and how all the conflict that's happened has largely been glossed over by the world. The sections that focus on Shalini's time there are the best in the book.
Shalini's mother is, of course, a large presence in the book, and The Far Field does a good job of showing how difficult it was for her, constrained by society and broken by her (largely untreated) mental problems, as well as how Shalini coped (or tried to) with her mother's swings from joy to despair and beyond, while assuming that somehow, the journey she takes will help her understand.
In the end, she breaks herself and, more importantly, others as well. The Far Field is about privilege and the consequences of it, but spends so much time belaboring this that what could have been a spare, haunting novel is a winding road that loops back over and over again.
Sometimes less is more.
January 8, 2019
"The Far Field" is narrated by Shalini, who tells us at the opening, “I am thirty years old and that is nothing” — an acknowledgment that she is neither young enough to be innocent nor old enough to be wise. She delivers this searching story in a trance of sorrow, still stunned by the cruelty she witnessed and the disaster she precipitated.
Like Anuradha Roy’s recent novel, “All the Lives We Never Lived,” “The Far Field” is about the search for a missing mother in India, though it takes a wholly different approach. Vijay’s narrator is the child in a wealthy but miserable family. Her mother is a mercurial, sarcastic woman whose “tenderness was as devastating as her viciousness.” Throughout her life, the only time Shalini saw her mother truly happy was during a few visits from a traveling salesman named Bashir. Strangely unintimidated, Bashir charmed both mother and daughter with fantastical stories of his home in Kashmir. Shalini gradually developed the impression — intense but unarticulated, as a child’s impressions often are — that her mother and Bashir had fallen in love during those pleasant afternoons in their living room.
We learn of these encounters intermittently and only after. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
Like Anuradha Roy’s recent novel, “All the Lives We Never Lived,” “The Far Field” is about the search for a missing mother in India, though it takes a wholly different approach. Vijay’s narrator is the child in a wealthy but miserable family. Her mother is a mercurial, sarcastic woman whose “tenderness was as devastating as her viciousness.” Throughout her life, the only time Shalini saw her mother truly happy was during a few visits from a traveling salesman named Bashir. Strangely unintimidated, Bashir charmed both mother and daughter with fantastical stories of his home in Kashmir. Shalini gradually developed the impression — intense but unarticulated, as a child’s impressions often are — that her mother and Bashir had fallen in love during those pleasant afternoons in their living room.
We learn of these encounters intermittently and only after. . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...
April 10, 2022
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The Far Field is a striking debut novel. Madhuri Vijay has written a remarkably taught and exceedingly incisive slow-burner, one that will likely make the reader experience many unpleasant feelings, such as uncertainty, frustration, and unease.
After her mother's death Shalini, a young woman from Bangalore, becomes detached from her daily existence. Increasingly alienated from others she makes the impulsive decision to travel to a remote Himalayan village in Kashmir where Bashir Ahmed—an old friend of her mother's— lives.
In an interview Vijay describes Shalini as being "remote and closed-off, so hamstrung by doubt and suspicion, that even [she], as the writer, occasionally felt suffocated by her voice". Well, I agree 100% with her. Shalini can be overwhelming. Her arrested development makes it hard to totally condone her for her behaviour but she has plenty of cruel and selfish moments that will make it really hard for readers to forgive or sympathise with her. Her vulnerabilities certainly come through, for example, she is hesitant to demonstrate her feelings or to simply share her thoughts with the people who could potentially become her friends. Vijay has depicted her in this way quite intentionally. To me, Shalini's inability to act was yes deeply frustrating but it was also believable and it augmented the friction between her and other characters. Time and again readers will wonder if this time around she would be able to really live in the present and connect with others.
Her journey does not follow the classic 'coming of age' that often occurs in similar novels (where a character travels somewhere to 'find themselves' or to come 'to terms with their past). Shalini's experiences in Kashmir are far more realistic. An ingrained distrust still dictates a lot of what she does. I was really saddened and angered by her half-hearted attempt at a friendship with Zoya and Amina. Shalini seems desperate to fill in the hole left by her mother's death but she is also very reticent about revealing her innermost self. Then again, the two women, however likeable, also do not make things easier.
Shalini was deeply naive and self-centred, blind to her privilege and often does more harm than good. The few times she actually 'acts' or says something important she usually ends up doing or saying the wrong thing. She seems unable to read other people or to take in account what they too might be hiding/protecting their true emotions. Having lived a life of comfort Shalini doesn't seem to realise that not everyone knows those same comforts (which she has taken for granted).
Given that Shalini is recounting her journey to Kashmir years after it, she often expresses the wish to have acted differently, and there are a lot of 'if onlys' which furthered the tension of her story.
There are chapters that focus on Shalini's childhood and on her intense relationship with her fiery mother. It is perhaps because she is so young (and sheltered) that Shalini does not notice how trapped and unhappy her seemingly strong mother was. Their strained relationship takes its toll on both mother and daughter.
This novel depicts Shalini's desperate attempts to belong and to reconcile herself with the way in which she treated (and was in turn treated by) her mother. Sadly, Shalini often acts under the wrong impression, and she either misunderstands others and or ends up being misunderstood by the ones she claims she cares for.
Vijay renders the way in which language can betray one's intention or the way in which words often are inadequate and cannot express or convey what we truly think or feel.
This novel has a lot to wrestle with but it does so in a paced manner. This story is one of ambivalence and dissolution; the plot rests on the novel's setting(s) and on Shalini's interactions with mainly two other families. While the author does not shy away from portraying the religious conflict occurring in Kashmir, she focuses more on the experiences of various individual characters — the way in which they themselves are affected by dispute between India and Pakistan — rather than offering a dumbed down 'overview' of Kashmir's long history of violence. Having Shalini as the narrator allows readers to glimpse Kashmir through the eyes of an 'outsider'.
This is a story about privilege, guilt, grief, cowardice, and failed connections. Amidst the novel's bleak realism there are some heart-rendering moments, and Vijay's lyrical writing allowed me to briefly forget of the discomfort created by her story. I kept hoping against hope that the ending would provide some sort of not quite magical solution but that it could at least give me some closure...but I'm afraid to say that the ending is what makes this a 4 star read rather than a 5 one.
Anyhow, I will definitely keep my eyes open for more of Vijay's stunning and heartbreaking writing.
“Over time, I told myself, I would try to deserve them all. […] I had chosen this place, these people, this life, with its secrets and its violence, its hardness and its beauty, and even thought I was not yet worthy, even thought I would never belong, I would not leave.I would stay and try.”
The Far Field is a striking debut novel. Madhuri Vijay has written a remarkably taught and exceedingly incisive slow-burner, one that will likely make the reader experience many unpleasant feelings, such as uncertainty, frustration, and unease.
After her mother's death Shalini, a young woman from Bangalore, becomes detached from her daily existence. Increasingly alienated from others she makes the impulsive decision to travel to a remote Himalayan village in Kashmir where Bashir Ahmed—an old friend of her mother's— lives.
In an interview Vijay describes Shalini as being "remote and closed-off, so hamstrung by doubt and suspicion, that even [she], as the writer, occasionally felt suffocated by her voice". Well, I agree 100% with her. Shalini can be overwhelming. Her arrested development makes it hard to totally condone her for her behaviour but she has plenty of cruel and selfish moments that will make it really hard for readers to forgive or sympathise with her. Her vulnerabilities certainly come through, for example, she is hesitant to demonstrate her feelings or to simply share her thoughts with the people who could potentially become her friends. Vijay has depicted her in this way quite intentionally. To me, Shalini's inability to act was yes deeply frustrating but it was also believable and it augmented the friction between her and other characters. Time and again readers will wonder if this time around she would be able to really live in the present and connect with others.
Her journey does not follow the classic 'coming of age' that often occurs in similar novels (where a character travels somewhere to 'find themselves' or to come 'to terms with their past). Shalini's experiences in Kashmir are far more realistic. An ingrained distrust still dictates a lot of what she does. I was really saddened and angered by her half-hearted attempt at a friendship with Zoya and Amina. Shalini seems desperate to fill in the hole left by her mother's death but she is also very reticent about revealing her innermost self. Then again, the two women, however likeable, also do not make things easier.
Shalini was deeply naive and self-centred, blind to her privilege and often does more harm than good. The few times she actually 'acts' or says something important she usually ends up doing or saying the wrong thing. She seems unable to read other people or to take in account what they too might be hiding/protecting their true emotions. Having lived a life of comfort Shalini doesn't seem to realise that not everyone knows those same comforts (which she has taken for granted).
Given that Shalini is recounting her journey to Kashmir years after it, she often expresses the wish to have acted differently, and there are a lot of 'if onlys' which furthered the tension of her story.
There are chapters that focus on Shalini's childhood and on her intense relationship with her fiery mother. It is perhaps because she is so young (and sheltered) that Shalini does not notice how trapped and unhappy her seemingly strong mother was. Their strained relationship takes its toll on both mother and daughter.
This novel depicts Shalini's desperate attempts to belong and to reconcile herself with the way in which she treated (and was in turn treated by) her mother. Sadly, Shalini often acts under the wrong impression, and she either misunderstands others and or ends up being misunderstood by the ones she claims she cares for.
Vijay renders the way in which language can betray one's intention or the way in which words often are inadequate and cannot express or convey what we truly think or feel.
This novel has a lot to wrestle with but it does so in a paced manner. This story is one of ambivalence and dissolution; the plot rests on the novel's setting(s) and on Shalini's interactions with mainly two other families. While the author does not shy away from portraying the religious conflict occurring in Kashmir, she focuses more on the experiences of various individual characters — the way in which they themselves are affected by dispute between India and Pakistan — rather than offering a dumbed down 'overview' of Kashmir's long history of violence. Having Shalini as the narrator allows readers to glimpse Kashmir through the eyes of an 'outsider'.
This is a story about privilege, guilt, grief, cowardice, and failed connections. Amidst the novel's bleak realism there are some heart-rendering moments, and Vijay's lyrical writing allowed me to briefly forget of the discomfort created by her story. I kept hoping against hope that the ending would provide some sort of not quite magical solution but that it could at least give me some closure...but I'm afraid to say that the ending is what makes this a 4 star read rather than a 5 one.
Anyhow, I will definitely keep my eyes open for more of Vijay's stunning and heartbreaking writing.
November 29, 2020
Argh. This one is troubling for me.
Shalini lives in Bangalore. She comes from a family of wealth. She has a tense relationship with her mother and after her passing, she seems lost. She's 30 and still living at home with her father. While growing up, there was a visitor to her mother from Kashmir. Bashir Ahmed, visited frequently and charmed her with stories he told, and frankly, charmed her mother as well. Shalini sets out to find Bashir Ahmed to ask more about her mother and confront him about why he left her. But Kashmir is not the place for visitors, it's erupting into violence and has been for some time. Here, Shalini enters this world and the lives of the people who live there.
Argh. I loved this one...it was about a 5 star read for me. Then, the last few chapters happened and argh. The book took a completely unexpected turn and I can't figure out why. It's a slow burn of a read, a character driven story. I love these types of books. The audio narration was great. I kept looking for more and more things to do in the kitchen so I could continue to hear more of the story (I listen mainly in the kitchen while making meals). Then with 45 mins left, the character did some things I don't understand and it completely changed my view of this story. I wanted Shalini to be changed by everything she saw and learned. I wanted hope. But in the end.....she seemed to just slide back into life. She was a coward. Just like her mother yelled at the visitor from Kashmir.
Shalini lives in Bangalore. She comes from a family of wealth. She has a tense relationship with her mother and after her passing, she seems lost. She's 30 and still living at home with her father. While growing up, there was a visitor to her mother from Kashmir. Bashir Ahmed, visited frequently and charmed her with stories he told, and frankly, charmed her mother as well. Shalini sets out to find Bashir Ahmed to ask more about her mother and confront him about why he left her. But Kashmir is not the place for visitors, it's erupting into violence and has been for some time. Here, Shalini enters this world and the lives of the people who live there.
Argh. I loved this one...it was about a 5 star read for me. Then, the last few chapters happened and argh. The book took a completely unexpected turn and I can't figure out why. It's a slow burn of a read, a character driven story. I love these types of books. The audio narration was great. I kept looking for more and more things to do in the kitchen so I could continue to hear more of the story (I listen mainly in the kitchen while making meals). Then with 45 mins left, the character did some things I don't understand and it completely changed my view of this story. I wanted Shalini to be changed by everything she saw and learned. I wanted hope. But in the end.....she seemed to just slide back into life. She was a coward. Just like her mother yelled at the visitor from Kashmir.
May 29, 2019
Shalini, the only child of an upper-middle class Bangalore couple, has stalled. Twenty-four, a college graduate, privileged and beautiful, she should be coasting into the next stage of her life. Instead she is mired in grief over her mother's recent death. Unable to find meaning in her work or her few friendships, Shalini hovers over memories of her mercurial, moody mother, searching for clues about herself. The only part of her past which moors her, the only time she can recall her mother's happiness, centers on Bashir Ahmed, an itinerant clothing merchant who appeared on their doorstep one day when Shalini was a young girl. He is from the far northern state of Jammu & Kashmir, but bases himself 2,000 miles to the south in Bangalore. Bashir becomes a central figure of Shalini's childhood, his infrequent and unannounced visits fill the shadowed, silent home with laughter and fables and life. Then one day Bashir is gone, and never returns.
Sacked from her job, Shalini decides on a whim to travel north in search of Bashir, to tell him the news of her mother's death and perhaps learn what Bashir meant to her to have brought her so much joy. She has one clue to Bashir's whereabouts: a story once told that he claimed was set in the town where his wife's family lived.
In classic hero's journey structure, Madhuri Vijay creates a deeply intimate story of a woman searching for personal identity in a place caught in political turmoil. As a child, Shalini has only a tacit understanding of the deep rift in the mountainous state of Jammu & Kashmir between the Hindu and Muslim populations. As a young adult, living so far away and so deeply in her own head, she pays little attention to the continued conflict. But once in Kashmir, she becomes embroiled in the turmoil, to catastrophic effect.
Shalini is taken in by a family which exists in poverty, but also great dignity and sense of purpose. Her own privilege and drifting existence are called out by this family's need to be in constant motion to keep themselves in food and fuel high in the mountains, where homes cling to the hillsides and one must walk uphill bent over to keep from falling into the valleys thousands of feet below.
This is an astonishing debut. Vijay's prose is gorgeous and evocative, poetic in its spareness, immersive in detail and content. Her themes and settings are epic and majestic, and yet this is a deeply intimate portrayal of friendship, betrayal, grief and remorse. The characters are rich with complicated histories and behaviors; the reader's heart is broken open time and again by the people who guide Shalini into a better understanding of herself and the world.
Savor this exquisite, wise novel. You will learn something of modern India, the striking contrast of urban hyper-modernity and rural traditions, of religious discord and political collision, and of a love that transcends any map on the page.
Sacked from her job, Shalini decides on a whim to travel north in search of Bashir, to tell him the news of her mother's death and perhaps learn what Bashir meant to her to have brought her so much joy. She has one clue to Bashir's whereabouts: a story once told that he claimed was set in the town where his wife's family lived.
In classic hero's journey structure, Madhuri Vijay creates a deeply intimate story of a woman searching for personal identity in a place caught in political turmoil. As a child, Shalini has only a tacit understanding of the deep rift in the mountainous state of Jammu & Kashmir between the Hindu and Muslim populations. As a young adult, living so far away and so deeply in her own head, she pays little attention to the continued conflict. But once in Kashmir, she becomes embroiled in the turmoil, to catastrophic effect.
Shalini is taken in by a family which exists in poverty, but also great dignity and sense of purpose. Her own privilege and drifting existence are called out by this family's need to be in constant motion to keep themselves in food and fuel high in the mountains, where homes cling to the hillsides and one must walk uphill bent over to keep from falling into the valleys thousands of feet below.
This is an astonishing debut. Vijay's prose is gorgeous and evocative, poetic in its spareness, immersive in detail and content. Her themes and settings are epic and majestic, and yet this is a deeply intimate portrayal of friendship, betrayal, grief and remorse. The characters are rich with complicated histories and behaviors; the reader's heart is broken open time and again by the people who guide Shalini into a better understanding of herself and the world.
Savor this exquisite, wise novel. You will learn something of modern India, the striking contrast of urban hyper-modernity and rural traditions, of religious discord and political collision, and of a love that transcends any map on the page.
January 21, 2019
The main character in The Far Field is a prickly, emotionally disconnected young woman who travels to Kashmir to seek a connection with her dead mother. Even though I was frustrated with Shalani, there is much to appreciate in this novel. Her relationship with her mother and separately, her father were vividly drawn. Both settings, a wealthy home in Bangalore and the mountains of Kashmir were new to me and eye-opening. Focusing on just one small area Vijay illuminates a complicated political landscape (that I was ignorant of) in a way that resonated with me. I was impatient at times with the pace - it moves slowly, sometimes stalling. Shalani's journey takes some perseverance - but it is worth it.
February 2, 2019
A 3, 3.5 star book elevated by a 5 star audiobook narrator
Watch me discuss this book in my January wrap up https://youtu.be/KzWZqocgqwY
Watch me discuss this book in my January wrap up https://youtu.be/KzWZqocgqwY
January 30, 2019
Book is about the mid-twenties Shalini who goes on a journey to find someone after her mom dies.
This book was slow and long. Scenery descriptions were cliché and bland which is disappointing in a book about such a vibrant place. Plot points seemed highly manufactured (maybe the title should be "The Far-Fetched") and the potential to be interesting was mostly never realized. All in all really not into it.
I disliked the protagonist with a kind of detached distaste due to the fact that she was so one-dimensional. Flashback scenes as told by the protagonist cited other characters calling her intelligent or frightening. I kept waiting for her to display those traits but she never did.
The protagonist had at least 3 instances in the story where she could've "learned" something. Instead, in each of the (repetitively similar) scenarios she made equally fantastically inept decisions. Perhaps she's simply not intelligent enough to learn. The book is about taking responsibility for far reaching consequences...but the narrator never learned anything.
This book was slow and long. Scenery descriptions were cliché and bland which is disappointing in a book about such a vibrant place. Plot points seemed highly manufactured (maybe the title should be "The Far-Fetched") and the potential to be interesting was mostly never realized. All in all really not into it.
I disliked the protagonist with a kind of detached distaste due to the fact that she was so one-dimensional. Flashback scenes as told by the protagonist cited other characters calling her intelligent or frightening. I kept waiting for her to display those traits but she never did.
The protagonist had at least 3 instances in the story where she could've "learned" something. Instead, in each of the (repetitively similar) scenarios she made equally fantastically inept decisions. Perhaps she's simply not intelligent enough to learn. The book is about taking responsibility for far reaching consequences...but the narrator never learned anything.
December 27, 2018
I started out really enjoying this book, but as I got further and further in, I found the characters frustrating. What struck me most was the theme of cowardice, every character had it and it stopped them from getting what they wanted. When I finally finished the novel, I just felt sad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2019
At the end of last year, I decided to actually use my NetGalley account and request eARCs: I read some amazing ones, two of which were written by new favourite authors: Meg Elison & Samanta Schweblin.
My first ARC for 2019 is Madhuri Vijay’s remarkable debut novel, The Far Field and I couldn’t be more thrilled: the writing completely swept me away, creating a vivid picture of the beauty of and the tragic and brutal conflicts in Kashmir and Kishtwar. It deals with social and political issues, privilege versus poverty, grieving the loss of one’s parent, mental health, and finding one’s purpose in a violence-torn world. The characters, albeit flawed and guilt-driven, are well-developed and, I’d add, their actions are infused by their author with thought-provoking philosophical depth.
I simply flew through the last 200 or so pages. Couldn’t put it down!
4.5 stars
*Thanks to NetGalley & Grove Atlantic for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Far Field RELEASED JAN 15, 2019.*
My first ARC for 2019 is Madhuri Vijay’s remarkable debut novel, The Far Field and I couldn’t be more thrilled: the writing completely swept me away, creating a vivid picture of the beauty of and the tragic and brutal conflicts in Kashmir and Kishtwar. It deals with social and political issues, privilege versus poverty, grieving the loss of one’s parent, mental health, and finding one’s purpose in a violence-torn world. The characters, albeit flawed and guilt-driven, are well-developed and, I’d add, their actions are infused by their author with thought-provoking philosophical depth.
I simply flew through the last 200 or so pages. Couldn’t put it down!
4.5 stars
*Thanks to NetGalley & Grove Atlantic for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Far Field RELEASED JAN 15, 2019.*
December 19, 2018
4.5 stars
A couple of weeks ago, I started seeing this book everywhere - Instagram, Facebook, you name it... When I learnt it was set in India, I knew I had to read it.
The story follows a 24 year old Shalini, a privileged young woman from Bangalore, who, after her mother's death, decides to set off on a journey to find her mother's long lost friend from Kashmir. The narrative switches between the presence and Shalini's childhood memories of her eccentric mother. Finding a pleasure in mocking and ridiculing people, Shalini's mother was not an easy person to be around. While the scenes of Shalini's mother's outbursts seemed entertaining to me at first, my heart soon started to ache for the poor child.
It is not easy to describe this book as I feel that my summary above doesn't do it justice. There are a few different layers to the story. The Far Field is a story of a young woman's journey to self-discovery, a complicated heart-wrenching mother-daughter relationship, and ultimately, forgiveness. It also offers a sensitive insight into the conflict in Kashmir.
I found the writing extremely powerful. It transferred me back to India within the first few chapters. Even if the build up can seem a bit slow, the prose is beautiful, compensating for the slower pace. The only thing that frustrated me at times was Shalini's behaviour. I thought she came across too naïve for her age, but thankfully, the story was compelling enough for me to forgive her.
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A couple of weeks ago, I started seeing this book everywhere - Instagram, Facebook, you name it... When I learnt it was set in India, I knew I had to read it.
The story follows a 24 year old Shalini, a privileged young woman from Bangalore, who, after her mother's death, decides to set off on a journey to find her mother's long lost friend from Kashmir. The narrative switches between the presence and Shalini's childhood memories of her eccentric mother. Finding a pleasure in mocking and ridiculing people, Shalini's mother was not an easy person to be around. While the scenes of Shalini's mother's outbursts seemed entertaining to me at first, my heart soon started to ache for the poor child.
It is not easy to describe this book as I feel that my summary above doesn't do it justice. There are a few different layers to the story. The Far Field is a story of a young woman's journey to self-discovery, a complicated heart-wrenching mother-daughter relationship, and ultimately, forgiveness. It also offers a sensitive insight into the conflict in Kashmir.
I found the writing extremely powerful. It transferred me back to India within the first few chapters. Even if the build up can seem a bit slow, the prose is beautiful, compensating for the slower pace. The only thing that frustrated me at times was Shalini's behaviour. I thought she came across too naïve for her age, but thankfully, the story was compelling enough for me to forgive her.
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Want to read
May 29, 2022the indie bookstore i went to had a signed copy of this :p so so happy to own it, cannot wait to read this gem <33~~!
October 13, 2019
This novel captivated me from the first sentence to the last. (So many readers have already summarized the plot that I don't feel the need to do it here.) Vijay has created a conflicted protagonist, at once savvy and vulnerable, whom I wanted to protect from all the hardship I felt she was about to face. Vijay also built a convincing portrait of Shalini's mother, a complicated woman who was hard on her daughter (calling her "little beast"). She loved Shalini fiercely but kept pushing her away. While this isn't a mystery, it felt like one; I was dying to know how the mother died, which isn't revealed until the end of the book. While this isn't a travelogue, it felt like one; I reveled in the details of everyday life of the people in the Kashmiri hills. And while this isn't a coming-of-age novel, it felt like one; Shalini learned more about herself--her strength and her inadequacies--during her Kashmiri quest than she had in her 30 years of living.
March 1, 2020
Sharini, a 24-year-old affluent girl from Bangalore, India, encountered the realities of life after the passing of her mother. In her search for Bashir Ahmid, who used to sell clothes to her mother, she ventured off to the northern region of Kashmir and discovered a new life, new values, and new mission, after being confronted with the often violent politics in the region. It was betrayal and lies that would force her to grow up fast the most. Her youthful ignorance which inspired her choices(often self-centered and shallow), affected the people she came to love the most. She had to find inner peace and address the rest of her life with hope.
How can one beat this desciption from the blurb:
Gorgeously tactile and sweeping in historical and socio-political scope, Pushcart Prize-winner Madhuri Vijay's The Far Field follows a complicated flaneuse across the Indian subcontinent as she reckons with her past, her desires, and the tumultuous present.
Six years after her experience, in her thirtieth year on earth, Sharini would write:
However, her zest for life and her determination to make changes which she can live with, brought healing. She went in naive, but came out wise.
Although her mother seemed to have psychological challenges, she managed to bring sarcastic wit and so much love to her daughter's life. I loved Sharini's mother. What I appreciated most of this novel was the respect for the reader as well as all the people populating the narrative. It was a dark, somber journey, but covered in light of many hues.
Just a truly satisfying, wonderful read.
How can one beat this desciption from the blurb:
Gorgeously tactile and sweeping in historical and socio-political scope, Pushcart Prize-winner Madhuri Vijay's The Far Field follows a complicated flaneuse across the Indian subcontinent as she reckons with her past, her desires, and the tumultuous present.
Six years after her experience, in her thirtieth year on earth, Sharini would write:
This country, already ancient when I was born in 1982, has changed every instant I've been alive. Titanic events have ripped it apart year after year, each time rearranging it along slightly different seams and I have been touched by none of it: prime ministers assasinated, peasant-guerillas waging war in emererald jungles, fields cracking under the iron heel of drought, nuclear bombs cratering the wide desert floor, lethal gases blasting from pipes and into tehn thousand lings, mobs crushing against mobs and always coming away bloody. Consider this: even now, at this very moment, there are people huddled in a room somewhere, waiting to die. This is what I have told myself for the last six years, each time I have had the urge to speak. It will make no difference in the end.This novel was really immensely enjoyable: unique voice, reality in splendid color, a mystery, a confrontation of modern values (or lack of it) and different hues of truth. Madhuri Vijay painted life in multi fassets: tradition, culture, class-differences, geography, politics, and family values. It was a gripping, fascinating journey for the reader, but also sad.
However, her zest for life and her determination to make changes which she can live with, brought healing. She went in naive, but came out wise.
Although her mother seemed to have psychological challenges, she managed to bring sarcastic wit and so much love to her daughter's life. I loved Sharini's mother. What I appreciated most of this novel was the respect for the reader as well as all the people populating the narrative. It was a dark, somber journey, but covered in light of many hues.
Just a truly satisfying, wonderful read.
November 4, 2019
This is a devastating story about flawed humanity, family relationships and the consequences of abused trust. This is an amazing first novel by Madhuri Vijay. The characters in this novel are complex and compelling and I felt invested in their futures. The fictional world revealed to us allows for the discussion of crimes that are clearly not entirely safe to discuss in a non-fiction format. I’m left thinking about how, in places like Kashmir, we make so many assumptions about what is happening based on the narrow funnel of news we are given and also how easy it is to manipulate our views and intentions. It’s one of those stories you don’t want to leave.
An excellent review
https://amp.scroll.in/article/942489/...
An excellent review
https://amp.scroll.in/article/942489/...
June 16, 2019
Will be recommending this one for a long time. Riveting, beautifully written and timely. Definitely on my 2019 favourites list.
October 21, 2019
I don't understand why this book had rave reviews.
I have so many problems with this book.
For one, none of the characters are fully developed. The protagonist(Shalini) is not just naïve and stupid but sometimes even irritating. Her actions/thoughts show no maturity whatsoever. The plot and the characters set in Kashmir are totally cliched. The only saving grace - if there is one - is the strained relationship of mother and daughter. Now that I reflect, it makes me wonder if it is the same author who wrote both the beginning and end of this novel. Because, the writing at the beginning is very mature with a lot of sensitive and nuanced observations. Somehow, it's all lost when it comes to the end.
Second, the book is too long - especially in the middle - the story simply doesn't move forward. Third, except for the mother - daughter interactions, it feels like all the other dialogues never went through the editing phase. In the attempt of sounding "familiar" they come across as cliched, labored and again - irritating.
I quickly switched from reading this book to listening to audio book. The narrator is however, outstanding and made the reading a lot more bearable.
Finally, if anyone is looking for a south Indian's gaze on Kashmir; forget it, this novel has nothing to offer.
I have so many problems with this book.
For one, none of the characters are fully developed. The protagonist(Shalini) is not just naïve and stupid but sometimes even irritating. Her actions/thoughts show no maturity whatsoever. The plot and the characters set in Kashmir are totally cliched. The only saving grace - if there is one - is the strained relationship of mother and daughter. Now that I reflect, it makes me wonder if it is the same author who wrote both the beginning and end of this novel. Because, the writing at the beginning is very mature with a lot of sensitive and nuanced observations. Somehow, it's all lost when it comes to the end.
Second, the book is too long - especially in the middle - the story simply doesn't move forward. Third, except for the mother - daughter interactions, it feels like all the other dialogues never went through the editing phase. In the attempt of sounding "familiar" they come across as cliched, labored and again - irritating.
I quickly switched from reading this book to listening to audio book. The narrator is however, outstanding and made the reading a lot more bearable.
Finally, if anyone is looking for a south Indian's gaze on Kashmir; forget it, this novel has nothing to offer.
August 20, 2023
A gorgeous, riveting account of grief and human connection. Through the eyes of narrator Shalini, we examine the ways in which our memories effect our image of the people around us, how far we are willing to go in order to forge bonds with others, and how we move forward when those relationships break down. The Far Field is also a chilling and immerse look into the political environment in the state of Kashmir, highlighting issues of corruption, classism, and religious tensions. This is an incredibly strong debut, filled with vibrant prose and painfully earnest emotion; it is a meditation on what we would do if we could have a second chance in life, and what we can do with the voice we have in the present.
May 9, 2019
“I am thirty years old and that is nothing.” novel’s simple yet devastating first sentence sets the tone of the novel. “This country, already ancient when I was born in 1982, has changed every instant I’ve been alive. Titanic events have ripped it apart year after year, each time rearranging it along slightly different seams and I have been touched by none of it…” — The Far Field, Madhuri Vijay
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Madhuri Vijay’s “The Far Field” blew me away — elegantly & exquisitely written, strong command of storytelling, page-turning plot, and vivid imagery captivated me from the start to finish. I felt like I was right there all along with the protagonist Shalini, as she journeyed from Bangalore to Himalayan village in Kashmir in search of a lost figure from her childhood. An exceptional debut novel, it’s hard to believe this is the work of a debut novelist. This novel is definitely one of my favorites of 2019 so far. And that cover! One of my favorite covers of the year.
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Reeling from her troubled mother’s death, drowned in grief & restlessness, Shalini embarks on a journey from her comfortable, privileged life in Bungalore to Himalayan village in Kashmir, a troubled region caught in a violent political war between India & Pakistan, in search of Bashir Ahmed, a charming traveling merchant who used to visit when Shalini was a child. Ahmed, who had his own set of problems & secrets, disappeared suddenly and hasn’t been seen for over a decade. Only time Shalini can recall her mother being happy & laughing were those times when Ahmed visited the family. Shalini’s father is a successful businessman who travels often. The novel does not explicitly state anything happened between Shalini’s mother & Ahmed, although it seemed platonic, you can assume that they had feelings for each other; at least, her mother for sure. Shalini believes that Ahmed may holds the key to understanding of her mother’s death & bring closure with her mother’s passing. I think the narrative told in two time frames — Shalini's childhood in Bangalore and Shalini's adult trip to Kashmir worked wonderfully in unfolding of the story.
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wow!!! —> “The beauty of the novel is that it renders the life of an individual or a society comprehensively by recreating minute details, and the most beautiful moments are where by the eloquence of the voice the mundane is ruptured,” writes the author Feroz Rather.
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Shalini is quickly welcomed by a family in Kashmir and is able to bond with village, then eventually makes contact with Bashir’s family. But it is not without any trouble, she is soon confronted with political warfare, violence, militia presences, and is overwhelmed by how vastly different life is in this region compared to her life in Bangalore. It’s a slow-burning novel, but there’s lot to take in, it’s a coming-of-age & complicated family story interwoven with examination of grief, loss, and love & pressing Indian political conflicts, all tied together in one epic, fully realized, intricately layered debut novel. engrossing, profound, and heartbreaking, I highly recommend it!
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Madhuri Vijay’s “The Far Field” blew me away — elegantly & exquisitely written, strong command of storytelling, page-turning plot, and vivid imagery captivated me from the start to finish. I felt like I was right there all along with the protagonist Shalini, as she journeyed from Bangalore to Himalayan village in Kashmir in search of a lost figure from her childhood. An exceptional debut novel, it’s hard to believe this is the work of a debut novelist. This novel is definitely one of my favorites of 2019 so far. And that cover! One of my favorite covers of the year.
.
Reeling from her troubled mother’s death, drowned in grief & restlessness, Shalini embarks on a journey from her comfortable, privileged life in Bungalore to Himalayan village in Kashmir, a troubled region caught in a violent political war between India & Pakistan, in search of Bashir Ahmed, a charming traveling merchant who used to visit when Shalini was a child. Ahmed, who had his own set of problems & secrets, disappeared suddenly and hasn’t been seen for over a decade. Only time Shalini can recall her mother being happy & laughing were those times when Ahmed visited the family. Shalini’s father is a successful businessman who travels often. The novel does not explicitly state anything happened between Shalini’s mother & Ahmed, although it seemed platonic, you can assume that they had feelings for each other; at least, her mother for sure. Shalini believes that Ahmed may holds the key to understanding of her mother’s death & bring closure with her mother’s passing. I think the narrative told in two time frames — Shalini's childhood in Bangalore and Shalini's adult trip to Kashmir worked wonderfully in unfolding of the story.
.
wow!!! —> “The beauty of the novel is that it renders the life of an individual or a society comprehensively by recreating minute details, and the most beautiful moments are where by the eloquence of the voice the mundane is ruptured,” writes the author Feroz Rather.
.
Shalini is quickly welcomed by a family in Kashmir and is able to bond with village, then eventually makes contact with Bashir’s family. But it is not without any trouble, she is soon confronted with political warfare, violence, militia presences, and is overwhelmed by how vastly different life is in this region compared to her life in Bangalore. It’s a slow-burning novel, but there’s lot to take in, it’s a coming-of-age & complicated family story interwoven with examination of grief, loss, and love & pressing Indian political conflicts, all tied together in one epic, fully realized, intricately layered debut novel. engrossing, profound, and heartbreaking, I highly recommend it!
January 16, 2019
I have mixed feelings about this one. Despite its heft, it read pretty quickly, but I wish the author or her editor would have worked on the pacing of the story. It felt like the beginning and end happened really really quickly, and the middle just draaaagged on. It could have been about 50-75 pages shorter, and would have made the narrative stronger. I also don't know how I feel about the story as a whole; the main character did not seem to have any breakthrough or major emotional development despite everything she saw and went through, and felt as stunted and selfish at the end as she did at the beginning. I did like the difficult mother-daughter relationship, but none of the other relationships felt realistic; would she really be so attached to Bashir Ahmed, Riyaz, Amina, or Zoya? Why? The narrator takes this long journey that should have been so transformative and altering, and yet there was no growth or development.
June 1, 2023
4-4.5 stars
The Far Field is a stunning novel, and one that made me feel so viscerally. It's a novel about how much we impress ourselves upon the people we meet, and just how much those impressions reverberate in ways that significantly and seriously alter the course of people's lives. More to the point, The Far Field concerns itself with choice and with power: who is afforded the power (that is to say, the privilege) to choose, and who gets to exercise power over others--whether intentionally or not--in the act of choosing. This all seems very grandiose, but in fact what is so distinctive about Vijay's writing is the specificity and nuance with which she is able to present and unravel these themes.
And let's be clear: Vijay's writing is just sublime. At 432 pages, The Far Field is a little on the longer side for a work of literary fiction, but it is worth every page because Vijay doesn't waste a single one. That The Far Field takes its time as a narrative means that it has the space to unfurl and develop the grounds upon which its characters make the choices that they do; the intricate scaffolding that prompts, informs, changes, justifies, and clinches those choices. In The Far Field, choice is as much a conscious act made in the moment--a character choosing to disclose or withhold, to do or not do--as it is a culmination of smaller moments that, layer by layer like sediment, harden into a choice. Those finely wrought layers are what Vijay renders so brilliantly: the subtle shades of emotion, the small intricacies of a conversation, the gradations of a dynamic. Her writing is sensitive to her characters' inner lives, evoking a kind of softness in the way that it draws you into their vulnerabilities. And yet there is always a sharpness, too, to Vijay's writing: moments where you follow along, taken in by the story, until the writing shifts just so and nicks you, like a papercut. All of this--the writing's complexity, the way it's so carefully attuned to those smaller moments--comes together to create an ending that is as stunning as it is devastating. By the time you get to that ending, everything has been set in place for the novel's parts to simply and resoundingly click.
And just as Vijay's story is finely crafted, so, too, are her characters. I found Shalini, our main character and narrator, to be endlessly fascinating: she is at once naïve and cynical, sympathetic in her loneliness and desperation for connection, and yet also prone to flares of impetuousness and resentment that make her more complicated and thorny as a character. Then you have her mother, who is such a brilliant character: often abrasive and contemptuous, and yet also drawn with a startling vulnerability that balances that abrasiveness without ever negating or diluting it. (The first thing we're told about Shalini's mother: "Somebody once described my mother as 'a strong woman.' From the speaker's tone, I knew it was not intended as a compliment.") I'm not usually one for mother-daughter relationships, but I was utterly taken in by Vijay's poignant characterization of these two: the love they have for each other, but also the enduring distance between them, that thread of estrangement that Shalini seems to always have felt around her mother, and that extra bit of herself that Shalini's mother never really showed her or gave her access to. And these are just two characters among many, all of whom feel so real and vital, regardless of how much time on the page they actually had.
It's challenging, sometimes, to describe what a novel is like because the exact quality of an author's writing can be hard to pin down. Insofar as I can pin down its writing, then, The Far Field is a novel that is all layers, each one delicate and precise and carefully crafted, so that what you get in the end feels substantial but not overwrought, complex but not convoluted--a work that is as impressive in its whole as it is in its constituent parts.
"I am aware that I am taking no risks by recounting any of this, that, for people like me, safe and protected, even the greatest risk is, ultimately, an indulgence. I am aware of the likely futility of all that I have told here, and, I am aware, too, of the thousand ways I have tried to excuse myself in the telling of it. All the same, whatever the flaws of this story or confession or whatever it has turned out to be, let it stand."
The Far Field is a stunning novel, and one that made me feel so viscerally. It's a novel about how much we impress ourselves upon the people we meet, and just how much those impressions reverberate in ways that significantly and seriously alter the course of people's lives. More to the point, The Far Field concerns itself with choice and with power: who is afforded the power (that is to say, the privilege) to choose, and who gets to exercise power over others--whether intentionally or not--in the act of choosing. This all seems very grandiose, but in fact what is so distinctive about Vijay's writing is the specificity and nuance with which she is able to present and unravel these themes.
And let's be clear: Vijay's writing is just sublime. At 432 pages, The Far Field is a little on the longer side for a work of literary fiction, but it is worth every page because Vijay doesn't waste a single one. That The Far Field takes its time as a narrative means that it has the space to unfurl and develop the grounds upon which its characters make the choices that they do; the intricate scaffolding that prompts, informs, changes, justifies, and clinches those choices. In The Far Field, choice is as much a conscious act made in the moment--a character choosing to disclose or withhold, to do or not do--as it is a culmination of smaller moments that, layer by layer like sediment, harden into a choice. Those finely wrought layers are what Vijay renders so brilliantly: the subtle shades of emotion, the small intricacies of a conversation, the gradations of a dynamic. Her writing is sensitive to her characters' inner lives, evoking a kind of softness in the way that it draws you into their vulnerabilities. And yet there is always a sharpness, too, to Vijay's writing: moments where you follow along, taken in by the story, until the writing shifts just so and nicks you, like a papercut. All of this--the writing's complexity, the way it's so carefully attuned to those smaller moments--comes together to create an ending that is as stunning as it is devastating. By the time you get to that ending, everything has been set in place for the novel's parts to simply and resoundingly click.
And just as Vijay's story is finely crafted, so, too, are her characters. I found Shalini, our main character and narrator, to be endlessly fascinating: she is at once naïve and cynical, sympathetic in her loneliness and desperation for connection, and yet also prone to flares of impetuousness and resentment that make her more complicated and thorny as a character. Then you have her mother, who is such a brilliant character: often abrasive and contemptuous, and yet also drawn with a startling vulnerability that balances that abrasiveness without ever negating or diluting it. (The first thing we're told about Shalini's mother: "Somebody once described my mother as 'a strong woman.' From the speaker's tone, I knew it was not intended as a compliment.") I'm not usually one for mother-daughter relationships, but I was utterly taken in by Vijay's poignant characterization of these two: the love they have for each other, but also the enduring distance between them, that thread of estrangement that Shalini seems to always have felt around her mother, and that extra bit of herself that Shalini's mother never really showed her or gave her access to. And these are just two characters among many, all of whom feel so real and vital, regardless of how much time on the page they actually had.
It's challenging, sometimes, to describe what a novel is like because the exact quality of an author's writing can be hard to pin down. Insofar as I can pin down its writing, then, The Far Field is a novel that is all layers, each one delicate and precise and carefully crafted, so that what you get in the end feels substantial but not overwrought, complex but not convoluted--a work that is as impressive in its whole as it is in its constituent parts.
December 18, 2019
The novel started out strong in the first couple of chapters but after that, disintegrated completely and neither the story nor the characters made any sense to me. But the writing was really good and it's a debut, so 2*.
June 17, 2019
A staggering, devastating debut novel. Read it now!
April 18, 2020
Three years after her mother’s death, 24 year old Shalini decides to leave her privileged life in Bangalore to travel to a village in Kashmir. She wants to track down a traveling salesman who had been her mother’s friend. Her mother had been a complex, sharp-tongued, force of nature who didn’t suffer fools gladly. Frankly, she was a much more interesting character than Shalini, who took naïveté to the level of stupidity. Her chronic self absorption caused terrible harm to people gracious enough to have housed her.
I found the book to be too long and too slow. I kept reading because of the mother and because I was interested in the description of the situation in Kashmir. The political situation is very complicated and I didn’t come close to fully grasping the positions of the various factions. The writing wasn’t bad and I would be willing to read another book by this author, even though I didn’t love this one. 3.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I found the book to be too long and too slow. I kept reading because of the mother and because I was interested in the description of the situation in Kashmir. The political situation is very complicated and I didn’t come close to fully grasping the positions of the various factions. The writing wasn’t bad and I would be willing to read another book by this author, even though I didn’t love this one. 3.5 stars
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
March 2, 2020
I can't believe this is a debut novel, it's such a profound, moving and absorbing story, and so beautifully and confidently written, too. This novel is also a masterclass in characterisation, character development, and creating a vivid setting.
From the start I was pulled in by the complicated relationship between Shalini, the main character who's also the narrator, and her emotionally volatile and elusive mother. After her mother's death, Shalini in her grief decides to find a Kashmiri man who used to visit her Bangalore home when she was a child, because she believes he had a rare connection with her mother and understood her better probably than anyone, including Shalini. She leaves her comfortable but purposeless life in Bangalore for the mountains in Kashmir, visiting the region for the first time, and in her journey she's forced to confront her class privilege, the militant politics in Kashmir (the story is set during the 90s), and her internal struggle to trust and open up to others.
Kashmir politics is something I knew little about, and I haven't seen many books at all written about it. But I'd say "The Far Field" is not really aboutthe insurgency and conflict in 90s Kashmir, not in a broad or in-your-face sense, but the politics isn't just something happening in the backdrop of the story either. Instead, the politics is weaved into Shalini's experience of self-discovery, and I really like that - it's an immersive way to get to know more about the complexities of the situation.
Shalini's such an interesting character and narrator! When she yearns for motherly affection and attempts to form friendships with the women she meets (Zoya and Amina), but struggles to open up to them, I really ache for her, especially as the frequent flashbacks suggest that Shalini's difficulty in opening up to others is linked to her agonising attempts to connect with her mother. I love that female friendship is a focus in this novel, BTW; that's also rare to find in stories, and Shalini's relationships with Zoya and Amina are very powerfully written in this novel. Another rare thing the novel gives us is an examination of privilege that isn’t Western & white vs non-Western & non-white. There are complex layers of privilege within non-white and non-Western groups too.
"The Far Field" explores many things, but I think the core questions it investigates are about the unintended problems and wreckage created by good intentions, intentions to help others in a less fortunate position than us: For those of us who are relatively privileged to be ignorant and naive about the injustices in the world, when we try to break out of our ignorance and want to do something, what does that really mean? How do we offer real help and make useful change from the position of a privileged outsider? And as injustices continue to happen around the world, how do we constantly act to stand against them while also going on with our lives?
The novel doesn’t attempt to answer these questions, even at the very end. I've read reviews saying that they dislike Shalini and the ending of the novel because the ending isn't the neat conclusion of enlightenment we usually get for a story about self-discovery. But I think that's what makes this novel so uniquely profound, real and refreshing. I find the ending powerfully realistic and thought-provoking in this way.
Thank you to Pansing Singapore for sending a review copy.
From the start I was pulled in by the complicated relationship between Shalini, the main character who's also the narrator, and her emotionally volatile and elusive mother. After her mother's death, Shalini in her grief decides to find a Kashmiri man who used to visit her Bangalore home when she was a child, because she believes he had a rare connection with her mother and understood her better probably than anyone, including Shalini. She leaves her comfortable but purposeless life in Bangalore for the mountains in Kashmir, visiting the region for the first time, and in her journey she's forced to confront her class privilege, the militant politics in Kashmir (the story is set during the 90s), and her internal struggle to trust and open up to others.
Kashmir politics is something I knew little about, and I haven't seen many books at all written about it. But I'd say "The Far Field" is not really aboutthe insurgency and conflict in 90s Kashmir, not in a broad or in-your-face sense, but the politics isn't just something happening in the backdrop of the story either. Instead, the politics is weaved into Shalini's experience of self-discovery, and I really like that - it's an immersive way to get to know more about the complexities of the situation.
Shalini's such an interesting character and narrator! When she yearns for motherly affection and attempts to form friendships with the women she meets (Zoya and Amina), but struggles to open up to them, I really ache for her, especially as the frequent flashbacks suggest that Shalini's difficulty in opening up to others is linked to her agonising attempts to connect with her mother. I love that female friendship is a focus in this novel, BTW; that's also rare to find in stories, and Shalini's relationships with Zoya and Amina are very powerfully written in this novel. Another rare thing the novel gives us is an examination of privilege that isn’t Western & white vs non-Western & non-white. There are complex layers of privilege within non-white and non-Western groups too.
"The Far Field" explores many things, but I think the core questions it investigates are about the unintended problems and wreckage created by good intentions, intentions to help others in a less fortunate position than us: For those of us who are relatively privileged to be ignorant and naive about the injustices in the world, when we try to break out of our ignorance and want to do something, what does that really mean? How do we offer real help and make useful change from the position of a privileged outsider? And as injustices continue to happen around the world, how do we constantly act to stand against them while also going on with our lives?
The novel doesn’t attempt to answer these questions, even at the very end. I've read reviews saying that they dislike Shalini and the ending of the novel because the ending isn't the neat conclusion of enlightenment we usually get for a story about self-discovery. But I think that's what makes this novel so uniquely profound, real and refreshing. I find the ending powerfully realistic and thought-provoking in this way.
Thank you to Pansing Singapore for sending a review copy.
May 5, 2020
Kashmir along with its individuals,the society, lives and experiences are so layered that no 400 odd pages can do justice to the nuances. At best one such facet can be examined. The same has been done through the journey of a girl who naively, stupidly and unwittingly interferes in the lives of persons who take her in unquestioningly and make her part of their family, with tragic results.
I loved the prose - lyrical and the author had this ability of painting pictures with her pen
I loved the prose - lyrical and the author had this ability of painting pictures with her pen
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