Product Description

In the Spring of 1857, with India on the brink of a violent and bloody mutiny, Krishnapur is a remote town on the vast North Indian plain. For the British there, life is orderly and genteel. Then the sepoys at the nearest military cantonment rise in revolt and the British community retreats with shock into the Residency. They prepare to fight for their lives with what weapons they can muster. As food and ammunition grow short, the Residency, its defences battered by shot and shell and eroded by the rains, becomes ever more vulnerable. The Siege of Krishnapur is a modern classic of narrative excitement that also digs deep to explore some fundamental questions of civilisation and life.

---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1355 in Books
• Published on: 1996-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 314 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review

"The first sign of trouble at Krishnapur came with a mysterious distribution of chapatis, made of coarse flour and about the size and thickness of a biscuit; towards the end of February 1857, they swept the countryside like an epidemic."

Students of history will recognise 1857 as the year of the Sepoy rebellion in India--an uprising of native soldiers against the British, brought on by Hindu and Muslim recruits' belief that the rifle cartridges with which they were provided had been greased with pig or cow fat. This seminal event in Anglo-Indian relations provides the backdrop for J.G. Farrell's Booker Prize- winning exploration of race, culture and class, The Siege of Krishnapur.

Like the mysteriously appearing chapatis, life in British India seems, on the surface, innocuous enough. Farrell introduces us gradually to a large cast of characters as he paints a vivid portrait of the Victorians' daily routines that are accompanied by heat, boredom, class-consciousness and the pursuit of genteel pastimes intended for cooler climates. Even the siege begins slowly, with disquieting news of massacres in cities far away. When Krishnapur itself is finally attacked, the Europeans withdraw inside the grounds of the Residency where very soon conditions begin to deteriorate: food and water run out, disease is rampant, people begin to go a little mad. Soon the very proper British are reduced to eating insects and consorting across class lines. Farrell's descriptions of life inside the Residency are simultaneously horrifying and blackly humorous. The siege, for example, is conducted under the avid eyes of the local populace, who clearly anticipate an enjoyable massacre and thus arrive every morning laden with picnic lunches (plainly visible to the starving Europeans). By turns witty and compassionate, The Siege of Krishnapur comprises the best of all fictional worlds: unforgettable characters, an epic adventure and at its heart a cultural clash for the ages. --Alix Wilber

Mariella Frostrup, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
"Inspired, funny but ultimately tragic look at colonialism in India. It has an unusual exuberence"

Review
"Inspired, funny but ultimately tragic look at colonialism in India. It has an unusual exuberence" (Mariella Frostrup INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )

---

Customer Reviews

Subarashi desi.
Superb. One of the best books I've ever read and I've read more than 10. Very well written, exciting, Farrell keeps the tension really well with his, apparently, natural writing style. There are even a couple of moments of outright comedy which, rather than seeming out of place in such an horrific setting, contribute to the pathos of the whole book. This is a great book. Nice one, Farro.

The best book I have read in years!
My interest in this book was piqued when it was nominated for the 'Booker of Bookers'. On reading it, I was not at all disappointed. It ticked every box I could hope for - excellent characterisation, well plotted storyline, free indirect discourse that Jane Austen would be proud of,and an enormous amount of wit. At times I was laughing out loud at the antics of the characters under pressure of the siege. A truly excellent novel that I thoroughly recommend.

Interesting but unremarkable
A novel with a great reputation which I found somewhat underwhelming. Principally it is a satire on the British class system of the time, hardly original even in 1973, it is quite amusing in parts. However, it is quite slow, the siege seems to take forever to happen, then go on forever, and the satire at times a bit laboured.

As novel set in India the Indians are either absent, ignorant or violent - or all three. I appreciate this is the author showing the British protagonists point of view. But without any counterbalancing view it leaves the novel rather lacking in drama or debate in my view.

Much is made of the novels balancing of historical accuracy with humor and certain darker view of the collapse of civilized values. But for me it does none of these particularly well. For a satirical romp with well researched historical detail you would be better off with Flashman. JG Ballard writes much better on the subject of the collapse of civilized values under extreme conditions. While for a rounded picture of the British in India The Raj Quartet is far superior.

It not a bad book - but for me not a great one either.