Manil Suri's The Age of Shiva

Book Received:

The Age Of Shiva by Manil Suri
Bloomsbury
464 pp; Rs 495



One shouldn't write about a book before one has read it. But then some rules are made to be broken. One good thing about being a member of an online book club- I am able to get new books at roughly the same time as my friends living in the big cities of India.

Manil Suri's The Age of Shiva is one book I was looking forward to reading. And now that it is here I look forward to savouring the craftsmanship of this U.S. based Professor of Mathematics who also writes novels.

Suri was born in Mumbai and teaches mathematics at the University of Maryland (USA). His first novel The Death of Vishnu received rave reviews and (so important in today's age) a six figure advance (in US dollars).

The reviews have all been adulatory. A few samples:

"In The Age of Shiva India's birth as a new nation parallels a woman's complex psychological journey confronting tradition and modernity. Exchanging sentimentality for clear vision, Suri reveals an immense humanity, and a tenderness for women making their way in a world of men. Drawn by this compelling narrative, I read this marvelous book in one sitting." —Kiran Desai, author of The Inheritance of Loss, winner of the Man Booker Prize 2006.

"Both intimate and epic... a majestic story about love and its unexpected consequences" - Amy Tan

"...consistently engaging and provocative. It’s only January yet, but it’s unlikely that there will be many better novels this year." - Jai Arjun Singh in Tehelka

"... like the Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar, he is blinded by the beauty of the feminine. Even though he is excessively diversionary, in The Age of Shiva, it is as gleaming as a tear drop." - S Prasannarajan in India Today.


Do read Jai Arjun Singh's review in Tehelka - Click here. And also his blog entry on the book - Click here

Meanwhile, I will get on with the book....
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UPDATE. Feb 1 2008.
Not all reviews have been adulatory as I wrote earlier. I happened to see one by Kalpish Ratna in the magazine Outlook dated 4 February. A few extracts:

If you, dear reader, abjure primetime Hindi soaps, then Manil Suri's new novel is not for you....

The myths of Andhakasur and Ganesh - often read as Indian versions of the Oedipus complex - are intricately ramiform, and Suri never peers beyond the surface.

Indian publishers, who deem novels written in India as scarcely worth the paper they're written on, must read The Age of Shiva. It might shame them into reconsidering the slush pile.


From my scrapbook: An interview with Manil Suri when he attended the Jaipur litfest in late Jan. From a supplement of the Hindustan Times dated 31 Jan. Click to see larger (and readable) image.